#'if the choice is between you and the galaxy fuck the galaxy i choose you'

[swaps55]

Hiiii currently doing yet another Opus readthrough to help maintain my sanity and have had an absolute earworm of a question; I can't remember if this has come up before, but if Daniel never disappeared, if he was still around by the time the games events roll around, how do you think Sam would be different?

This is SUCH a good question. Because while Sam's desperate need for approval from his mother is one of his primary drivers, another is the guilt he feels about his father. He believes that his very existence robbed his father of the life Sam imagines he wanted - N7 - and he made it his mission to live the life his father didn't get, to repay the debt.

And the thing is, both of those things are integral to him becoming Commander Shepard.

So what happens if Daniel doesn't go missing?

I don't think their relationship is magically fixed. It was only his disappearance that knocked it into Sam's head that his father was so much more than Sam believed him to be. He didn't even know his father had gone through any of the N program until after he was gone. So if he doesn't have that moment of clarity at age 15, when does he have it, if he has it at all?

I still think the N program is something Sam would have pursued - he had his eye on it before Daniel went missing - but I imagine Daniel would have finally told him about his own history with the N program as an effort to talk him out of trying to get back in.

Now, the Sam who went into the N program without losing his father would have been far less angry at the world. The Sam who had Daniel still would have been ready to fight god in the target parking lot, but that Sam picks the fight for lack of something better to do. The Sam who did lost his father has so much anger at himself and at the universe that didn't even bother to look for him, that he'd fight god because he wants to see him bleed.

So when Daniel tells Sam about his own experiences with N1, this Sam might have listened. After all, most of his disdain for his father came from believing he wasn't the brave hero his mother was, because Daniel worked a desk job on a space station while his mother was out exploring the galaxy. Learning that his father gave up the N program because he wanted Sam, when his mother won't give him the time of day unless he's earned a commendation - might have changed everything between them.

And if that happens...maybe he does give up the N program. Which means he doesn't play the same role on Torfan, if he's there at all...which likely means he doesn't even wind up on the 'Yang. Would he still be a hell of a soldier? Yes. Would he be the person everyone looks to when the galaxy is in peril?

No.

One of the many things I love about Sam is how everything that makes him Commander Shepard is the result of Sam's own needs not being met.

But if Sam doesn't suffer that pain - if he gets the nurturing and love he needs and deserves - the price is the entire galaxy. His mother has to emotionally neglect him. He has to lose his father. He has to go down the dark path that almost costs him his soul. He can't realize the love of his life is right in front of him until the weight of the galaxy sits square on his shoulders. He has to die. He has to be resurrected. If any of those things don't happen, if at any point the holes in him are filled by the love and support he deserves...everyone dies.

I've worked out enough of my plan for the end of ME3 to know it will play out in such a way that the only hope this cycle has for surviving the reapers is Sam. Not just because he is the baddest badass who ever badassed, but because the paths he has walked, the things that he has done, and the things that have been done to him create a unique set of circumstances that literally no other being in the galaxy could replicate.

It has to be him. And saying no would condemn the entire galaxy.

So basically, TL;DR, if Sam doesn't lose Daniel, Sam would be so different the reapers would win.

[utterlyazriel]

i was talking not long ago to @djarinova about how if i were to write a mando series what would it be about and then i rewatched tangled (2010) and then i braindumped and said it would go a little like....

you’re a quarry. not even a particularly unique quarry — you’re the wife of some lord, maybe he’s empire, maybe he’s not, but one thing is for sure; he’s got credits.

enough to lure in even the mandalorian who usually despises a hunt so pitiful as tracking down some spoiled wife who’s grown bored of her rich husband and decided to escape away with her affair.

he’s done this song and dance a thousand times, each wife dramatic in the way they complain of how their rich lord husband doesn’t love them, but din knows life is about choices & living with them — stars forbid the worst choice these women make are marrying a heartless man for his coin. he has little sympathy.

you are different from the get-go, first being that you’re alone. in the days he tails you, it’s clear you have no one watching your back, no other partner in the picture that you’re running off to elope with.

he’s been given strict instructions to bring you in alive, as usual when retrieving pesky wives, but you fight like you’ve truly got nothing to lose, managing to make your fingernails bleed with how you fight him.

he wins easily. and then you’re silent as you’re lugged back to the ship, not complaining, not moaning and groaning but just quiet, your eyes taking in everything around you as if it’s the last time you’ll see it.

it’s only as you’re settled down in the ship, bound hands between your knees that you speak — “i can get you three times your reward.”

and just as he’s beginning to think you’re different, like clockwork the bargaining begins.

“you’re not in any position to negotiate.”

you shake your head as though he misunderstands, “no, i don’t— you can still complete your bounty. but if you-” you inhale catches, as you choose your words carefully, “if you delay it, pretend i was harder to find than in actuality, i can make sure he pays you handsomely."

and that gets din’s attention, his body language betraying nothing, his helmet tilting to the side just an inch. “what’s in it for you?”

you laugh mirthlessly as you stare at your bound hands, aware of how ironic what you’re about to say is. “a few more weeks of freedom.”

this, din doesn’t buy. you married this man by your own choice— he knows because he did his research. he’s not in the business of tracking down slave brides or anything of the like. your marriage is completely legitimate.

he says as much, not sure why he’s even giving this conversation time of day— he should be taking off right now, setting course for your home planet, back into the arms of your waiting husband.

yet, he says, “you had your freedom. you chose this marriage.”

you deflate at his words and somehow din doesn’t feel like he’s won the conversation at all. he turns, prepared to head for the cockpit when you speak once more, “i didn’t know.” din stops. he doesn’t turn, doesn’t even tilt his head but that’s enough for you to keep talking, “i— he knew my father, they were friends. i knew him as a child and he used to teach me writing when he came to the house.” something heavy sinks into the bottom of din’s stomach at your words, somehow knowing where this is heading. surely, your father wouldn’t have allowed it.

but din’s seen the galaxy’s worst and knows very well that he would’ve. “i didn’t know what i was signing, i didn’t even know i was signing anything,” you say, voice tight. “just two weeks, please, it’s all i ask.”

it had already taken a week to find you. three weeks to track a bounty with no ability to fight would tarnish his reputation no doubt. but… he believed you.

“i can give you a week,” he says and doesn’t wait to hear your thank you, trudging up to the cockpit, wondering what the fuck he was going to do with an extra passenger for a week.

then you have a classic star wars montage — din decides his best course is to keep visiting new planets as if he’s hunting and you’re more than happy about that.

it takes a bit of back and forth before you convince him you do need your hands free to feed yourself — unless he wants to?— and he snaps the cuffs off you with a curt reminder that there’s nowhere you can hide from him. the threat doesn’t land because you’re too struck by the new planet, a landscape you’ve never seen before.

you tag along to the market and despite coming from a wealthy family, it’s as though you’ve never been outside before. you touch everything, fingers feeling every fabric and texture, and din has to step in when a vendor gets too angry at your lingering, pleasantly surprised when you snip back in the local language.

as you wander, din can’t keep his curiosity tamped down, asking how you learnt the language when you clearly haven’t travelled much— and you respond that, despite its glamorous appearance, there’s little to do as a lords wife and you’ve spent your years in the library, practising different dialects.

“su cuy’gar,” (hello) you say, turning back to him with a smile and din literally stumbles in surprise, hearing the mando’a roll off your tongue. he can’t think of a response so he just strolls past you silently, heading back for the ship.

you think you’ve upset him, maybe offended his culture, but as you walk half a step behind him, he holds out an offering of food, clearly only for you, given the helmet situation. he doesn’t put the cuffs back on you when you get back to the crest.

it’s only a week but it feels like a lifetime — for the both of you. you get to drink in every type of planet, frozen ones, scorched ones, ones bursting with plants and ones crawling with lava.

after the third one, maybe you imagine it but you can’t help but feel like din’s adjusting his choices, sticking to the leafy planets with hot springs to swim in and fruits galore to gorge on. his initial condition of only giving you strict rations is broken quickly and you wonder if he’s letting himself be selfish, indulging in things he normally wouldn’t just for your sake.

when you travel, you stick close for the sake of safety and the two of you murmur in manda’o when you need to be discrete and only once do you save his ass, stepping in front of a flung blade that buries into your thigh. he scolds you vehemently as he patches it up and you let him, too shocked that he’s insisting on doing it despite your two free hands.

he saves your ass ten times over, always managing to pull you back from heated discussions and bar brawls, din having an instinct that you’re barely beginning to form on your own and maker, you had no idea people killed each other this much out in the world.

you insist on cleaning a nasty gash on his arm, almost tucked beneath his pauldron and you never, never even ask about seeing his face.

even though you wish it never would, the week still ends.

“home time,” you say, trying to keep the glumness out of your tone. you have no intention of stalling or guilting the mandalorian who kept his side of the deal. your month on the run was only ever going to be a brief reprieve from the reality of your life.

the mandalorian gets quiet in your last day and as he sets the coordinates to your home planet, he doesn’t say a word. he’s suddenly the same mandalorian who hunted you down a week ago again, steely and cold as his armour.

the flight is short and in a manner of hours, you’re walking down the ramp back into the mouth of your home that begs to swallow you whole.

you keep your end of the deal, conjuring up some story of how the reason it took so long was you were hours away from being sold off into some of the human markets and mando is the reason you weren’t.

“he deserves handsome reward”, you whisper, almost embarrassed by the role you play with your husband now that it’s being observed by the ever silent mandalorian, his visor unmoving. “don’t punish him for my foolish decisions, my lord.”

your husband, thankfully, falls into your words easily and agrees to the high payment, triple what had been promised. you ask only to thank the mandalorian who saved you life as you leave, stepping closer and murmuring

“vor entye, mando,” (thank you) your eyes on his dark visor, for once, wishing you could see beneath it. he doesn’t say anything and you think that’ll will be all, the final words of the best week of your life forgotten from hours ago.

then…

“din.”

you halt, unsure of what it is he’s said.

“my name is din.”

you take the last gift from the world, the name of your hunter who showed you mercy, and watch the crest rise and leave the skies — certain you’ll be content with the memories of the week.

it’s not contentness that finds you though; it’s torture, knowing what’s outside, right out of your reach.

you don’t slide back into your old life at all, you’ve outgrown your mould and discomfort prickles at every severance of your autonomy.

your husband increases the guards around you ten-fold, til you don’t have a single moment alone. you reside in the library and leaf through the books on mandalore, finding more comfort in them than you ever had before.

it’s a quiet evening and you’re absentmindedly drawing circles on the page before you, dreading the upcoming banquet with your husband when you hear a fizzle outside, quickly following by a rapid succession of hits.

a thud hits the ground and you scramble to your feet, knowing with a sinking feeling that it’s your guards, not the intruder, who’s taken the fall.

you hit one of the bookcases as you back up and turn, hiding behind it as the door opens— and you recognise the glint of armour in a moment. it’s second nature to step forward, towards him.

his visor catches the motion and he goes rigid. for a moment, you both just stare at each other, barely processing that he’s come back.

he came back, for you.

“do you want to stay here?” he asks, modulator not hiding the strain in his voice. its not from lack of breath though.

“no,” you answer truthfully, taking another step forward.

“do you want to leave?” he says. “with me?”

you’re nodding before he’s finished his sentence. “yes.”

and then you’re following him through the halls, sticking close like you learnt to do, your heart thumping din, din, din, because never in your life has someone done this—come back and made it your choice.

you manage to make it out the boundaries of the property, your heart rising in your chest at the sight of the razor chest over the ridge when something catches around din’s knee and he crumples with a grunt.

you stop in an instant, dropping to your knees and hands fluttering as you try to tug him to his feet, horror twisting in your stomach at the sight of the arrow through the back of his knee, between his shields of armour—

“din— din, you have to get up,” you say, voice wobbling.

you don’t even get a chance to hear his reply, arms circling you and tugging you back, the guards of your husband having caught back up. and then you’re fighting, twisting in the ridiculous gown you’re in, yowling and scratching in that way that din has only heard once before, the day he found you himself.

as din himself is hauled sluggishly to his feet, it’s with the realisation that something coats the arrow still in his flesh, some poison that’s weaving into his blood.

he’s hauled to his feet and dragged back with you, forced to endure the torture of your cries, the endless no’s that leave your lips. it’s only as he drags his helmeted head up, eyes begging to see you, does he realise your cries are not for yourself— you’re still fighting, not tugging away from your captors, you’re tugging towards him.

you’re both brought before your husband, forced to your knees as he glares down at you, fury engraved upon his face.

“the very man i pay to return my wife is the next to steal her from me?”

the lie surges up within you easily. “no! no, it was a plan of my design. i… i tempted him with credits to help me escape.”

and if din wasn’t already captivated by you before, the very notions of your words that shield him, even when he brought you back to this monster— his heart stirs in his chest.

and what’s worse is that it works.

your husband turns his wicked anger and focuses it on you, stalking forward with a promise of vengeance— “escape? you cannot escape from what you have chosen. what you signed, what you promised to me.”

din seethes beneath his helmet, watching how you shudder and bow beneath the words, til you’re only a shadow of the self he saw in that one week. “yes. you’re right. i should have known better.”

din surges forward with a new wave of strength, blatantly ignoring the awful singing of the wound in his leg— the poison is weighing him down but it’s not enough to dull his senses.

he headbutts the guard behind him, holding his shoulders and takes out the three surrounding him in quick succession— but a sharp ping against his shoulder, a blaster shot, sends him to the ground again with a loud groan. you know instantly what poison coats the arrow in his leg, what you’ve watched killed a hundred trespassers over the years.

“stop it!” you plead, stepping forward to try to reach him, your movements futile as your husband’s hand snares in your hair, ripping you backward.

“stop,” he snarls. “trying to get away from me,”

“no!” you cry, twisting and clawing at his arm, gleeful when he shouts and releases his tight hold. you drop square on your ass and scramble back, putting yourself between the barrel of your husbands blaster and your mandalorian.

“i won’t stop. i will never stop trying to get away from you for every minute of every day, for the rest of my life,” you pant. your husbands face grows more gnarled with every word but all you can hear is the faint breath of din behind you, growing weaker with every breath.

“but,” you begin.

“no,” din’s voice comes from behind you, reedy and weaker than you’ve ever heard it.

“if you let me give him the antidote,” you voice trembles. you’re running out of time. “i will stay with you. i will never try to leave, never try to escape—”

“no,” din says again, barely a pained murmur. you continue on, chest heaving as you stare down your husband. “i will be your wife, just like you want, i promise. just let me heal him.”

the blaster wavers before your face and you hold your breath, waiting judgement before finally it’s lowered an inch— your husbands hand sneaking into his pocket to steal a vial of the antidote. he tosses it into the sand before you with a sneer and turns his attention to his remaining guards. “cuff him.”

you’re snatching up the vial before he’s even finishing speaking, turning with a speed that makes your hands blurry. you scramble to din’s weakening form, hands fussing as you realise you need to find some bare skin to puncture.

apologies garble out your mouth as you yank up the flight suit on his arm, putting the vial between your teeth to pop off the end, revealing the needle. you can hear how laboured din’s breathing is even though his modulator and you hurriedly line the needle up, preparing to push— when his arm sways back, away from the needle.

“no,” he says once more, breathless. “not… for your freedom.”

you make a noise that might be a sob, grabbing his arm and pulling it forward, shaking your head.

“i’m not worth dying for.” you counter, voice trembling, and you jab it into his arm before he can argue, a pained groan threaded through his modulator as the antidote spreads rapidly.

your chest heaves, the finality of what you’ve done sinking in, especially as the guards step forward, cuffs out and ready. your husband drawls your name, casual and snide, as though he hasn’t just terrorised you and nearly killed your closest attempt to a saviour.

“goodbye, din,” you whisper softly, you lean back, drawing a deep breath, prepared to relent, to submit— when din’s gloved hand reaches out, catching your arm with an alarmingly strong grip.

you barely get a moment of confusion before he’s murmuring, “get down,” and cocking his wrist, something blue lighting up.

you fold in an instant, trusting him completely, and din’s hand tugs you forward so you’re upon him, his hand shifting up to cup back of your neck. something whistling dangerously close to your ear and you screw your eyes closed, hearing several yells and thuds.

din’s body rolls, tucking you beneath him as the loud shot of a blaster goes off, burying in the dirt beside your head. another follows it and there’s another thud, a crumpled body hitting the ground.

the silence rings out, deafening in the rush of your emotions and the ebbing sounds of the fight. your eyes spring open and you stare up at the dark visor in disbelief, unable to grasp the hope rising in your chest. is he alive? are you alive? is… this real? are you free?

“breathe, mesh’la,” din commands softly.

you realise you’re holding your breath and you deflate as it rushes out of you — then din’s shifting back, groaning as he lowers himself to the ground. you realise there’s blood beneath you and you follow it in a panic to his leg, still leaking blood around the arrow wound.

“your leg—“

din waves you off, already pushing to his knees with a woozy balance. “i’ll deal with it at the ship. c’mon.”

he stands like it’s no big deal to have an arrowhead still stored in his flesh and you rush to your feet, only just then looking around at the bodies littered at your feet. a dozen guards or so and… your husband.

he isn’t moving but something sudden seizes at your throat and you reach out to grab din’s blaster, unloading several shots into your husbands body for good.

din’s gaze is on you when you stop pulling the trigger and for a moment, you wonder what he’ll think, then he nods, a minuscule motion, and holds out his hand for the blaster.

you hand it over and he holsters it, hand hovering for a moment as he assesses the distance between here and the ship. you take the pause and gently reach for his arm, slipping beneath it to take some of his weight, hearing the surprised inhale from under his helmet. together,

the two of your straggle back to the crest, trailing blood but lighter with the knowledge you never have to return — that your mandalorian trusts you enough to patch his leg up and then asks you, gruff and low, where it is you want to go next.

your choice.

[dalekofchaos]

Context

Choice 1.

So there's nothing wrong with Cerberus and The Collectors, but I really feel like The Terminus Systems was wasted potential.

I recently replayed ME1, and this line of thinking really hit me in regards to the Terminus Systems. In ME1, the Terminus Systems are an extremely vague, undefined entity, but also a very important one. The ME1 codex mentions dictators rising and falling, with the species within the Terminus Systems constantly battling against one another. Not only is it not Council space, it's not human space--it borders but is crucially outside the human colonization efforts in the Attican Traverse. It's practically terra incognita, having been mapped by the turians via an interferometric array--which implies that they haven't really explored it much in-person. Nihlus and Captain Anderson mention in the beginning of ME1 that neither the Council nor the Alliance wants to get dragged into a war with "the species in the Terminus Systems." Hell, the main reason the Council doesn't let Shepard go to Ilos alone at the end of ME1 is to avoid conflict with the Terminus Systems.

From this it is not hard to guess that the Terminus Systems of ME1 were designed as a temporary blank spot that was going to be important for ME2 or ME3. They seem somewhat organized, and they are comprised largely of species we have not been introduced to yet. The Citadel species seem to have limited information about them. There's lots of potential with the Terminus Systems, then, for a hypothetical ME1 sequel. They can be an entity which might threaten Citadel space, or stymie Shepard's efforts to learn more about the Reapers. Conflict between them and the Citadel, or conflict between species within the Terminus Systems, may have to be navigated by Shepard in future games. Some of them might align themselves with the Reapers like the geth did. Entire new games could have introduced entirely new content for the player to explore.

Of course, what we end up getting for the Terminus Systems in ME2 is a Mos Eisley (Omega) and then . . .not much else. The region is mostly used for one-off recruitment or loyalty missions, and these tend to take place in isolated places. The Terminus Systems also seem to be entirely run by species we have already been introduced to (other than the lowly vorcha). It's a bunch of merc bases and Cerberus labs to raid.

In view of this, it seems so tragic that Bioware was forced to make a game taking place in a whole 'nuther galaxy a couple years ago. ME1 set up a framework that gave the ME2 and ME3 writers a lot of creative space, and then they wasted that space so thoroughly (ME2 by not really being about the Reapers; ME3 by making the game about a full-scale Reaper invasion that we can't stop) that the writers had to dodge away to Andromeda, and abandon the now-mangled framework that ME1 had left behind. I love the companion missions in ME2, but in a sense they were incredibly lazy. They took a blank space on the map and filled it with stuff like . . . a trash planet filled with human mercenaries, or a prison ship for Council species, run by a turian. None of these places had to exist in the Terminus Systems, except to cultivate the general "dark renegade" aesthetic ME2 was trying to go for.

With that out of the way, my pitch is that The Normandy is never attacked and Shepard's next mission is to infiltrate the Terminus systems.

Shepard has to fake his death, so a staged attack on the Normandy is orchestrated.

Shepard would be brought back as Solomon/Alison Gunn. Build up their own empire and slowly gain intel about what The Terminus Systems are planning, what Cerberus and the Shadow Broker knows and what the Terminus Empires know about The Reapers

Choice 3.

The thing that annoyed me most about ME3 is the fact that Harbinger is not the main threat. The Illusive Man is. Harbinger has been built up as the big bad since ME2. “YOU HAVE FAILED. WE WILL FIND ANOTHER WAY.” He says as he discards the Collectors. Then his speech to Shepard as the base blows up. “Human, you’ve changed nothing. Your species has the attention of those infinitely your greater. That which you know as Reapers are your salvation through destruction. You will surrender your potential against the growing void. We return, and you will rise. We are the harbinger of your perfection. We will bring your species into harmony with our own. Your species will be raised to a new existence. We are the beginning, you will be the end. Prepare for our domination. Prepare for our coming.” Then in Arrival, he came pretty damn close to unleashing quick subjugation and harvest upon an unprepared galaxy. Upon Shepard foiling his plans. “Shepard. You have become an annoyance. You fight against inevitability. Dust struggling against cosmic winds. This seems a victory to you. A star system sacrificed. But even now, your greatest civilizations are doomed to fall. Your leaders will beg to serve us. Know this as you die in vain: Your time will come. Your species will fall. Prepare yourselves for the Arrival.” The perfect final villain right? Unfortunately, Cerberus was more focused on than The Reapers. My problem with Cerberus and no Harbinger is Too many Cerberus, too few Reaper forces in plot. We fight Cerberus more often than the reapers. Hardly any boss fight and the one with Reaper Destroyer on Rannoch was more an interactive movie than fight. During the Horizon mission in Mass Effect 2, Harbinger was solidified as the Big Bad. It was menacing and ominous, with just the right amount of annoying. It taunted us throughout the game, telling us how insignificant we were, and how our actions were pointless. It was willing to posses drones through the Collector General to fight us personally, and when we killed the host, it tossed them aside. Harbinger even gave the typical “You haven’t seen the last of me!” villain rant. It made any fire fight frustrating, and that made me want to kill it even more; I hated Harbinger. Many games fail to do that. Harbinger was an enemy which I looked forward to defeating. I had the desire to annihilate. In Mass Effect 3, I got a codex entry and a cameo. Harbinger just swoops in at the last second and blows my friends and I to hell(and lets the Normandy save them), then flies off. Personally, I would have loved to hear Harbinger’s menacing monologue, it drove me on. I would have felt a deeper motivation to take the fight back to Earth if it told me how much destruction the Reapers were causing, how many lives were lost. I felt cheated when I got to the final mission, only to suddenly realize it was largely absent from the game. Harbinger has been replaced. Replaced by the Illusive Man and Kai Leng. The former is an old acquaintance, albeit one now controlled by the Reapers. The latter is a space ninja from a terrible book.

See also my pitch to make Harbinger the Big bad of ME3

Choice 6

This might just be me but I think Cerberus should have been on our side in ME3 and The Batarians should have been fighting for The Reapers. Makes sense Cerberus has just been a rouge organization doing what the job no matter what the cost(even if the cost is atrocities) and instead of indoctrinating themselves they could of studied it to make themselves immune to indoctrination and The Illusive Man's goal was to use any means necessary in order to destroy The Reapers. I also like the idea that you know you can't trust him, but he does get results. The Council and The Alliance are desperate, so they accept a partnership with Cerberus.

The Batarians have always held a grudge against The Alliance, The Council and would have wanted revenge for Bahak/ Viper Nebula. The fact that there are no consequences for what we had to do in Arrival from The Batarians just doesn't make any sense and you'd think this would give The Batarians the motive to turn to The Reapers. Hell in the Terra Nova DLC in Mass Effect 1 it seemed to me that Balak was already indoctrinated and Balak’s revelation of the ��Batarian rebellion” makes it seem like they would be the perfect tools for The Reapers.

Balak will be the new Saren figure. If you killed Balak, then The Reapers would just bring him back. The first act of war for the Batarians was the destruction of the Viper Nebula, so their retaliation was killing Udina. Prior to the Reaper invasion of Earth, Udina would go to Omega to make peace talks with Aria. The Batarians attack and gain control of Omega, Aria is ousted(but saved by General Petrovsky) and Udina is executed live for the galaxy to see.

Because of Udina's execution and Anderson leading the resistance on Earth. The Illusive Man is now the Human Councilor. Miranda and Kai Leng would be squad members. Depending on if you gave TIM the Collector Base or destroyed it, he will either keep you in the dark or help you at every turn.

Think of the Cerberus War Assets

Cerberus Scientists

General Oleg Petrovsky

Collector Base

Cerberus Fighters

Cerberus Phantoms

Cerberus Engineers

We would get a big mission to deal with the Batarians, Priority:Khar'shan. If you do not deal with the Batarians, there will be major casualties. However half of the Batarian forces are not indoctrinated and just want to end the mistakes of their government and live. Balak wants to kill the rebellion of his people. Ironic. Somehow Balak has placed enough bombs on the planet to destroy everyone who is resisting Reaper indoctrination. We can either. Talk Balak out of it. Telling him to resist and fight for your people(which WOULD gain Balak as an ally) or talk Balak into killing himself. Or the true Renegade option is to kill Balak and order a strike that wipes out the Batarian forces, but sacrificing the Batarian Rebellion. The leader of the Batarian Rebellion would join your squad if Balak dies.

By the time we get to Priority Earth everyone is on the same page and united against the true threat, The Reapers. And it is Harbinger who is the final boss

Choice 8

I still don’t understand why there was never a Batarian squad member. There would be so much angst and conflict, especially if we are a Colonist Shepard and after Arrival. We would be coming to terms with the situation and overcoming our differences and the Batarian squadmember wanting to repent the sins of the Hegemony and hoping his actions could redeem his species. Maybe it could be Balak or a Batarian who is a Hegemony loyalist who wanted blood for Bahak system. Someone who holds a personal grudge against us and is only willing to join to make the Reapers pay in blood. But over time Shepard and said Batarian learns to overcome their differences and see each other as friend and works together to destroy the Reapers.

Choice 9.

Save or Sacrifice the Council is utterly pointless. You either have a band of useless assholes who refuse to help you or a band of useless assholes who have reason not to help you.

After doing a Sacrifice the Council Playthrough....I am just dumbstruck by the wasted potential.

In ME2 a lot of the Council Races despise you and humanity. Volus and other lesser races back Humanity The Council Races are even reported of having a Separatist like Rebellion. I mean I get it. We have bigger issues, but you're seriously telling me you're willing to throw all that storytelling out the window?

The Human Council I came up with

Chairman Udina or Anderson

Charles Saracino, Martin Burns(Saracino only if you endorsed him and chose Udina. Burns if you negotiated with Biotic Terrorists and chose Anderson)

Admiral Mikhailovich

Anita Goyle

With the Human Council, they pledge their full support and blessing to Shepard's venture against The Collectors. Anderson voices discomfort towards Cerberus, while Udina is curious to a dangerous degree and Mikhailovich urges Shepard to use them and tehn destroy them. Meanwhile Goyle has a fascination with EDI.(IYKYK)

We could play peacemaker. Trying to slowly ease a peaceful transition to the Council races, which causes Udina to call for Cerberus and after stopping the Coup, you can choose Udina's replacement instead of it never being brought up again or if you choose to enforce Humanity's dominion over the Council, this causes the Council Separatists to embrace The Reapers.

It's not perfect, it's honestly better than nothing.

Choice 10.

Throughout ME1 and ME2, there would be hints of the Crucible.

Anderson and Nihilus mentioning "Prothean databanks" that would take lifetimes to decrypt. I'd also have Anderson, Hackett and Udina hinting that they know how secretive and prideful the Asari are and have a hint they know their supremacy comes from the Protheans, they have a secret, "so do we" and make comments that what they have will give the Alliance an edge against the Turians. Then in ME2, The Illusive Man reveals he knows what the Alliance are hiding and insists he has the key they need to unlock it. You get a build up, you get a secret rivalry with the Alliance and the other races and with TIM and Cerberus holding the key to unlock the secrets of the Crucible.

Choice 11.

It bugged me to know end that all we get is Alliance and merc based weapons. We get like a few Turian, Asari and Krogan weapons and one Salarian based pistol. We should have a weapon of every weapon class for each race. Human, Asari, Turian, Krogan, Salarian, Batarian and so on.

Choice 12.

We should've gotten to see the other races as Husks.

Salarians, Drell, Hanar, Krogan, Quarian

Alternate Reaper Husks.

CODEX entries:

Reaper Salarian. Goblin:

The Goblin, named after the mischievous entity from folklore, is physically weaker than even basic human Husks. However, it makes up for it in tactical planning, surpassing even a Marauder or Collector. These Reaper units have built-in cloaks that allow them to traverse the battlefield in safety until they can strike their enemies from behind whilst they least expect it. In addition to this deadly ability, Goblins can shoot super-heated plasma at their opponents in a similar fashion to Alliance combat engineers to burn their enemies, as well as drain the kinetic barriers of their enemies to restore their own.

Reaper Asari/Salarian Hybrid. Gorgon:

Taking inspiration from the Greek myth, the Gorgon is a mix of Salarian and Asari that have been enhanced with Reaper nano-tech. As it’s namesake implies, the Gorgon is capable of stopping enemies in their tracks, though this effect is achieved through biotic Stasis fields cast from its claws. However, this isn’t all that the Gorgon is capable of. In addition to Stasis fields, Gorgons can throw out Reaper-made proximity bombs that explodes into a biotic wave that drains an opponent’s kinetic barriers and stamina whilst also increasing the Gorgons’ durability. As well, if allied forces come in too close, the Gorgon can either deter them with their claws or send out a wave of overloading electrical energy that can easily take out kinetic barriers and stun enemies.

Reaper Krogan. Berserker:

This husk variant is the result of converting a Krogan by the Reapers. Like the species they were created from, Berserkers are tough and fierce, having strong armor plating that can resist small-arms fire. They’re equipped with Reaper-made incinerators, which are designed to flush enemies out of cover and into the open. As a Berserker advances and the enemy is out in the open in close-quarters, they enter a “berserk” state, whereby it charges straight into its opponent in the hopes of bashing the unlucky soul with its head and fists. Additionally, if gunfire or tech/biotic abilities manage to damage their skin underneath their armor plating, Berserkers can partially heal themselves if given time, though it’s only a small portion & much slower than a Gargoyle.

Reaper Quarian. Witch:

Named after the famed cult entity, the Witch is the result of the unfortunate capture and conversion of certain Quarians by the Reapers. Designed with a support role in mind, Witches are equipped with bio-mechanical tools designed to repair sustained damage of nearby husks. It will generally avoid direct combat, but if given no other option, a Witch can lash out with its claws and send out two Reaper drones to assault its enemies with their miniature GARDIAN lasers.

Reaper Elcor. Behemoth:

The Behemoth is a Reaper creation, formed from an Elcor. Like Ravagers, Behemoths are artillery units, designed to thin out crowds and pierce defenses. However, instead of twin launchers, a Behemoth has a single large mass accelerator cannon attached to its back that fires off an extremely powerful round that can decimate even heavy vehicles such as a Mako tank. Unlike the species they are created from, Behemoths aren’t afraid to get in close to their enemies, raising their upper body to a degree almost never seen in regular Elcor in order to slam their forearms onto the opposition below.

Reaper Volus. Bloat:

The Bloat is a Reaper husk created from a Volus. Due to their unstable physiological structure and lack of any real physical prowess, Reaper nano-tech compensates by grafting a set of tripod legs to the base of the husk, allowing it to be mobile enough to pursue enemies. However, due to the instability of the internal organ systems with the process, Bloats are naturally primed to self-detonate upon close contact with opponents, making these units out as little more than suicide bombers for the Reapers. However, due to the powerful explosive radius of these detonations, it is advised to maintain a distance.

Reaper Elcor/Volus Unit. Battlewagon:

An evolution of the Behemoth and Bloat husk variants, the Battlewagon is a never-before-seen Reaper creation that differs from nearly all others. The most intriguing difference to normal Reaper forces is the non-grafted connection between the Reaperfied Elcor and Volus. Like the Behemoth, the Elcor in this unit serves as a heavy weapons-fire platform. However, unlike the Behemoth, instead of a single large cannon, there is a platform mounted on the husk’s back, which houses two built-in mass-accelerator machine guns taken up by less heavily Reaperfied variations of Bloats. The Elcor platform is used as a means of movement across the battlefield to allow the Volus to fire at enemy forces from the platform’s back with ease. With the 180 degree field of view of each gun and these weapon emplacements being positioned back-to-back, the Battlewagon is a force to be reckoned with.

Reaper Drell. Shade:

When the Reapers began harvesting various species throughout the galaxy to use as ground forces, the war-torn and resource scarce Rakhana provided an excellent site for the conversion of Drell into Shades. With these Reaper nano-tech enhancements, Shades are stronger and more agile than the species they reigned from, allowing them to be very flexible and acrobatic in physical combat. This agility is made even deadlier by the additional grafting of blade gauntlets onto their forearms, which they use to slash at enemies as well as focus pulses of biotic energy for ranged combat. In addition to this already deadly arsenal, Shades are capable of ejecting an enhanced version of their original dermal neurotoxin in a gaseous form if opponents manage to get the jump on them in close-quarters, disorienting them with its hallucinogenic effects, allowing for an easy escape or ambush.

Reaper Hanar. Ceph:

The Ceph is the product of Reaperfied Hanar. Due to the aquatic nature of Hanar resulting in required technological assistance, Reaper nano-tech improvises by using precise mass effect fields to allow these husks to hover above the ground, freeing up their movement. Naturally weak-bodied like the species they’re created from, Cephs rely more on getting up close and personal to their enemies to either strangle them with their tentacles or sedate them with powerful toxins to either be killed, harvested, or turned into husks without resistance.

Reaper Drell/Hanar hybrid. Chimera:

The Chimera, as the name implies, is a mix of species, specifically a Drell and Hanar, that have been converted by the Reapers. This particular creation has the lower limbs of a Drell and the upper body of both Drell and Hanar, bar the limbs of the Drell. With this configuration, this hybrid bypasses a Hanar’s natural inability to move on land by giving the creature the agile limbs of a Drell, allowing quicker movement. However, the added weight hinders this abomination’s ability to effectively leap and jump, limiting it to accessible ramps and walkways. Due to the lack of the Drell’s arms, the tentacles of the Hanar are used instead for grappling with opponents or spraying them with a neurotoxin that surpasses even that of a Shade or Ceph.

Reaper Pyjak. Imp:

This small husk of a creature is a Reaper conversion of a non-sentient species, a Pyjack. Extremely frail in overall structure, these units are designated mainly as scouting units with the intention of slipping into small areas of enemy complexes to inform other Reaper forces of enemy positions. Though they are merely scouts for the Reapers, they are not without defense, possessing a small mass accelerator gun in what was once its head that serves as a deterrent if it is cornered by allied forces.

Reaper Varren. Hellhound:

The Hellhound, as referred to by Alliance troops, is a product of Reaper conversion of a Varren. The nano-tech upgrades heighten their senses of hearing, sight, and smell, allowing them to detect enemy forces from a good distance away and even when they’re in very hidden locations. As well, Hellhounds possess a highly pressurized synthetically grafted jawline designed to crush armor. Additionally, like the Varren they once were, Hellhounds will hunt in packs, flanking opponents and covering any exits to secure the capture or kill.

Reaper Vorcha. Gargoyle:

A product of Reaper nano-technology, the Gargoyle is created from a Vorcha. Whilst similar to normal human Husks, Gargoyles are faster and more agile, being able to quickly run up to opponents to slash at them with their claws and dodge incoming projectile fire. As well, Gargoyles are very acrobatic, regularly leaping across great distances and jumping up to great heights. An additional ability that remains from their previous life as Vorcha is their extremely high cell growth due to their hyper-concentrated stem cell base. This natural feature allows them to quickly heal any damage sustained if given a few moments. Finally, the Gargoyle can spit a highly acidic liquid in close quarters if its claws aren’t enough, and this acid extends to their healing factor, preventing any close-quarter counter methods while they heal by way of acid spray from wounds.

Reaper Yahg. Golem:

The Golem is a large Reaper unit created from a Yahg. Due to their naturally aggressive demeanor and great size and strength, Yahg that have been converted into Golems pose a significant threat to allied forces. These units are equipped with arm-mounted cannons similar in principle to the main weapon of Reaper Destroyers and Capital Ships, but on a smaller scale, and are designed to flush hardened enemies such as Krogan out of cover and decimate kinetic barriers and armor. As well, due to their impressive stature, Golems have a tendency to advance on their enemies whilst hosing them down with their cannons, closing in to brutally beat down their opponents in close quarters.

Reaper Kalros/Reaper Thresher Maw. Typhon:

After her titanic battle with a Reaper Destroyer on Tuchanka, Kalros went into hibernation once again. Unfortunately, the Reapers took notice of this event and managed to capture and convert Kalros into a gigantic modified husk of her old self, the Typhon, a namesake fitting due to her stature as the largest organic to have ever existed to date. With these new upgrades, the Typhon was outfitted with a cannon similar to a Destroyer’s that was placed in the mouth region, as well as several smaller mass-accelerator emplacements running down the length of her body, all complimented by heavy armor plating across its body. Despite these enhancements, the Typhon retains the main style of attack as other Thresher Maws, rising up from below and utterly crushing any opposition. Allied forces are advise to steer clear of this massive monstrosity, and are ordered not to engage under any circumstances.

While the artist doesn't list a Reaperfied Geth, ME concept artist Matt Rhodes has a concept for a Reaper Drone. In my opinion, this would work perfectly for a Geth Husk

[thehollowwriter]

Ok so since i love sad but bad boys i'm gonna ask blaze for your event-

How about reader(gender neutral or fem your choice) who is blaze's childhood friend and tries to make him realize what his mother wants is not what he wants

Thank you! (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞

Hi! Sorry for the late reply! Yaaay a Blaze ask <3

Warnings: None. Word count: 520

(Pls reblog and leave a comment ♥️)

Art by @/moonyasnow

Choose

Blaze sat on one of the rocks closest to the shimmering water of the sea, throwing and catching a smooth, circular rock as he stared at the horizon. It was painted with beautiful purples and oranges as the sun gradually dipped down to welcome the night, giving Blaze at least something to appreciate on this shitty shitty day.

"You should get in," you said to him from your spot within the water, your tail flicking back and forth happily. "The water's wonderful."

"No." Blaze muttered. He didn't feel like changing forms right now. It was such an exhausting process.

An awkward silence reigned for a moment. Blaze kept throwing and catching his rock. Eventually, you spoke. "Your mom again?"

Blaze didn't answer for a while. He stopped throwing the rock and stared at it, turning it over in his hands.

"...I didn't get a main role in our theatre production." He growled out after a while, his voice softer and rougher than usual. "Not even a side character. I'm... 'too wooden'. Mom says she's wasting money and time on me if this is what she gets back for all those acting lessons..." He put his head in his hands. "I'm tyring. I'm trying so hard, but she just doesn't care. Now she wants me to do lessons and advice from Vil fucking Schoenheit."

You didn't say anything for a while. The same string of thoughts you always had every time Blaze mentioned acting flooded through your mind.

'You shouldn't have to be an actor,' you wanted to say, 'Do what you want. Don't you want to choose what to do with your life?'

You rarely did, though. He got so upset every time. But a question on the tip of your tongue escaped before you could stop it.

"Blaze," you said before you could stop yourself. "Is acting what you really want to do? It's more your... your mom's wishes than your own."

Blaze glanced at you, then threw his rock. It skipped across the water before sinking below the waves and into the ocean's depths.

"Of course it's what I want!" He hissed venomously. "I don't even like Alchemy that much. It's just an interesting subject!"

You drew in a breath, refraining from pointing out that you never mentioned alchemy.

"But you don't like acting either." You insisted. "You always hate going to classes. You said you wanted to be in a different club too-"

"Because I hate hearing Vil talk like he's all that when his daddy's money gave him everything! I would like it if that bastard wasn't there!"

You grinded your teeth. "Blaze, you've never been happy about anything to do with acting. You don't like acting. This isn't what you want, Blaze, it's your mom who-"

"Will you shut up?" Blaze hissed. "I'm going to be an actor, and I'm to be Vil Schoenheit levels of famous! You can either support me like a good friend should or get lost."

There was a long pause.

"Okay, well," you said, hiding your hurt. You picked up a smooth circular stone of your own and threw it in the same direction as Blaze threw his. It only skipped a few times before sinking. "Best of luck."

A heavy silence reigned between the both of you. You stared at Blaze. You stared at his face, the way his jaw set in a grimace, and the way his eyes seemed to water.

He could do so much more, be so much more, but he didn't want to. Or he didn't think he could. It hurt to see. But you stayed silent.

You disappeared into the water and left Blaze to sit on his rock. Alone.

-End

A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading! Blaze is a bit mean, sorry :(

Tagging: @distant-velleity @br3adtoasty @rainesol @theleechyskrunkly @jovieinramshackle

@galaxies-and-gore @cyanide-latte @cynthinesia @officialdaydreamer00 @krenenbaker

@offorestsongs @kitwasnothere @elenauaurs @boopshoops @inotonline

@1dont-really-know @kazumify @minteasketches @elysia-nsimp @skrimpyskimpy

@casp1an-sea @offorestsongs @tixdixl @poisoned-pearls @the-trinket-witch

@ramshacklerumble @ghostiidasponk @thegoldencontracts @the-banana-0verlord @cloudcountry

@skriblee-ksk @twstinginthewind @lumdays @theolivetree123 @natsukishinomiyaswife

@authoruio @jewelulu @raguiras @honeynclove @moonyasnow

@skibidibabygirl @paperclvps

[coyotemaximum]

finally have voiceclaims for my full list of bots... for now...

i'd like to publicly thank my partner for a LOT of these; most of mine are very self-indulgent so you could probably tell which are mine and which are theirs LGDSHGDS. but they were a massive help and provided some very awesome suggestions and critiques on my choices.

i also have corresponding roles for quite a few of these, which i'll outline below, as well as any particularly interesting bits :]

Elita: Tara Platt as Washimi in "Aggretsuko"

Wheeljack: Rhys Darby as Russell in "Half Life: Alyx"

Hot Rod: Yuri Lowenthal as Oliver Swanick in "Fallout New Vegas"

Blurr: Ben Schwartz as Leo in "Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"

Megatron: JK Simmons as Fletcher in "Whiplash"

Starscream: less focused on a specific role, but based HEAVILY on this part in no more heroes 2

Soundwave: Jake Busey as The Radioman in "Spec Ops" (read my fic about it smiles?)

Skarab (my oc): Zelda Williams as Cassandra Jones in "Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"

Swindle: Fred Tatasciore as Repo Mantis in "Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"

the cassettes, thundercracker, and skywarp are the most self-indulgent picks by me hands-down, but holly's voice is just EXACTLY what i imagine for TC so i don't feel bad about it. i'm not too far into IDW2005 but from what i saw of ratbat, he and brennan are both so good at going on impassioned tirades about pretty much anything. that combined with my realization that vic would be a good ravage, and oops all dropout!

soundwave would still have the filter i think, but in battle it would drop as he slips into something of a gladiator persona, harkening back to his days in the pits of kaon. it's also something of a separation between his role as communications officer and his role as spy.

i uh. straight up did not know nolan north has been in tf stuff before, much less that he's been CLIFFJUMPER before. i only found that out after choosing him and then checking his wiki page. so uh. i'm awesome basically grins.

i am respecting ben schwartz's wish to voice every blue character from people's childhoods, yes, but also i simply think he'd be REALLY good for blurr? what can i say, ben's the king of blue shitheads.

skyfire being bdg came about from me looking at my "because god has cursed me for my hubris, and my work is never finished" sticker and going "hm. yeah, that's him in a nutshell." he never asked to be in this war, he just wanted to explore the galaxy with his boyfriend partner and now his partner is on the other side of a civil fucking war and also his home planet is dead so basically he's having the worst time ever. but at least he can look at seals whenever he wants......

[shadowsofdread]

i don't know man. i've said it once, and i'll say it again, but i really like the fractured alliances plotline for what it does for theron's character because it demonstrates how far he is willing to go for what he believes in. for the people he cares about. the PC escapes the train, obviously, with the power of plot armor, but if we ignore the fact that the PC has that plot armor - what does it communicate about theron, that he was willing to risk your life (and if not your life, than extreme bodily injury at the very least) in order to sell the lie that he turned on you, so that he could - hopefully - figure out whatever vinn atrius' plan was and stop it, or lay down the breadcrumbs fast enough for you to pick up the trail.

it is a flawed storyline that's very convoluted and really tests one's willingness to suspend their disbelief but if you actually sit down and say "okay, fine bioware, i'll buy this" it's so ... he not only blew up a train, but he left a massive war droid behind to slow you down. and, granted, he's seen you fight bigger things, but there's always the risk, isn't there? and he takes it. because the alliance, everything they've built, the galaxy, is important too. i won't say More Important - i feel that because of how much theron cares about the individual, the infinitesimal, the personal as well as the big-picture, i think his stomach would turn trying to turn this into a trolley problem. because ... you're important to him. what you have done is important to him. what you've sacrificed, and what you've given to him, is important to him (god i wish i had recorded the stuff from Echoes of Oblivion, but maybe i can find the scene on youtube). maybe it's not Important in the galactic scale, but that's huge for him.

anyway. because i can't stop thinking about ziost. this is why i think theron would not hesitate to defend himself, even with lethal force, from hyroh (when hyroh isn't himself, right now, when the lights are off upstairs and he's been cannibalized into someone's puppet). because hyroh is important to him. hyroh refused to Choose or Compromise. hyroh accepted the offer to return to the jedi order but he did not compromise. he offered no ultimatums. he would not give up theron, and what they had, to be a jedi again. but he also was not going to give up on the order, and even if satele or the council took an issue with the Nebulous Undefined Thing between hyroh and theron, they'd have to put him in cuffs and ship him off to belsavis or just kill him then and there if they had any plans on keeping him out of this anymore. he's been hiding long enough.

and i think that's a choice that's more characteristic of what hyroh would actually do - hyroh hates being forced into ultimatums, or trolley problems, or compromises, because fuck you, first of all, and second of all, if you don't trust him, that's your problem - and it's a choice that ... theron would not want, i think, to be expected to make any ultimatums in return, if it came to it. and hyroh would not ask him to, but he also wouldn't want theron to feel that guilt. so, fine, if he's not going to ask theron to Choose Between, then shit, he's not going to either.

hyroh actively refused to engage with the stupid galactic hypothetical trolley problem that the order's treatise on non-attachment at least partially hinges upon: that if it comes down to the person you love, and the greater good, you have to go with the latter. hyroh met theron and cares so deeply for him and says "nah, i'm not fucking doing that" and!!! it's!!! idk man i think that's really important to theron!!!! because if hyroh gave an ultimatum and said "if you have an issue with me and my homoerotic platonic best friend soulmate whatever we are, then i'll just leave", if he Chose Theron, that'd - that's still accepting the game, and playing by the rules of that game. and frankly, i think hyroh and theron's love language is looking at the board and going fuck this. these rules are stupid and flipping it over. try to checkmate me now, asshole.

anyway. hyroh is so deeply important to theron and vice versa. and, it is because of how important they are to each other, and that relationship, and everything they admire about each other, that theron would kill hyroh, if he had to. it's not intentional to kill him, rigging the ship to explode, but he knows it's a possibility and he accepts it. and this is not choosing hyroh or the world. there is not really any choosing hyroh anyway, right now, because hyroh's not home. theron's not going to be able to find a way to snap hyroh out of it in the next few seconds he has to think about the emotional and moral dilemma right in front of him. and if he wasted those seconds trying foolishly to talk hyroh out of it and died for it - that wouldn't be what hyroh would want, would it. because there's still people here who are alive and aren't damned. there are people here who can be saved and for hyroh, it's not the trolley problem, it's not the "you are a mathematician every time you pick up your lightsaber", it's not "how much is a life worth", it's not any of that. but there are people here, and they are still alive. it is honestly that simple. so what can theron do, right now, to make sure those people live?

(there is also the part where hyroh is screaming and ripping out the insulation of his own mind because he can see this all happening and who knows how long he's been possessed, and how many people he's slaughtered, and he sees no way out in this present moment, no way to stop himself from killing yet another person, and a person he knows, and cares about, and wants so badly to live - hyroh in that moment would want theron to kill him, just for that)

theron knows this about hyroh. time and time again, he is always making the choices to save and protect. he's not going to sit down with a calculator about which action will net the most amount of lives saved, the greatest good. and he will not compromise.

the difference, though, is were the roles reversed, hyroh could likely easily disarm a possessed theron long enough to figure out a way to - if only temporarily - free him from vitiate's control.

theron, genuinely, does not have this option. so he takes the risk, because it means he'll get away, and he can keep going, and he can try to fix this or limit the amount of destruction. maybe hyroh will live. maybe he won't. but - he knows and cares about hyroh, and he knows hyroh would want him to live, and there are still people here, and he would know, too, that this is not theron playing the game of "who matters more?" hyroh still matters to him. hyroh still matters to him.

[t0ast-ghost]

S3 EP19 (Requiem For Methuselah) let me guess. Kirk is romancing.

Forthwards:

- beaming down together <3

- uh oh a time limit!

- Spock grabs McCoy’s arm to get him out of the way of the fire

- very drawable right here

- Kirk is not fucking around today

- wow. Just wow.

- A SHAKESPEARE FIRST FOLIO?!? This guy is fucking rich holy shit

- She’s just like me when I watch Star Trek

- I like that she wants to talk to Spock about science :))

- “What is loneliness?” “It is a thirst. It is a flower dying in a desert.” Wow

- “Thank you, Doctor. I will have a brandy.” “Do you think the two of us can handle a drunk Vulcan? Once alcohol hits that green blood—” They’re adorable

- fuck off fuck off fuck off (edit: this is probably about them immediately flirting with Rayna)

- Bottles of colourful liquid. You think one of them is ketchup?

- Does Kirk know how to play pool? Is she showing him for no reason? He seems to know what he’s doing…

- I love that Spock likes playing musical instruments

- His boyfriend is dancing with a woman RIGHT THERE. I wonder what a rewrite of this would be like with canonical queer Kirk in a relationship with Spock and McCoy and why he would choose to dance with her. Cause I think he should be able to just enjoy doing stuff like dancing and holding hands without it being romantic. AND THEN MCCOY WALKS INTO THAT OMG THE DRAMA

- Damn Kirk isn’t interested in Spock’s info dump about Brahms. Tragic.

- and they’re kissing

- The way Kirk just pushed her out of the way-

- YEAH SAVE YOUR BOYFRIEND SPOCK!!!

- Flint kinda wishes that the bot killed Kirk

- Yeah it sucks to be home schooled

- This is becoming like Twilight but without the baseball and vampires

- This is a horrible power imbalance between Flint and Rayna

- And they’re kissing (Nichelle nichols futurama clip where she says "I had to kiss Shatner) (edit: here's the clip at 1:26)

- WHY IS HE SHAKING HER LIKE THAT BRO WHAT THE FUCK

- Kirk’s ass damn why is Flint hiding the Ryetalyn

- “(Spock): Captain, I shall get the Ryetalyn.” “(Kirk): Why you?” “(Spock): There may be dangers within.” “(Kirk): Let’s find out.” “(Spock): Let me go alone captain.” “(McCoy): Why? Get to the point, Spock. If there is one.” “(Kirk): We’ll all go.” Kirk and McCoy ARE NOT about to let they’re boyfriend go into a dangerous area alone

- OMG SHES BALD! (She’s bald and she’s torturing people who have hair)

- “Her only flaw, she is not human.” THATS HER FLAW??? First off Spock is RIGHT THERE. Second I'd say the flaw is that she's being controlled by a awful man

- Wait what? this guy is DA VINCI?!? And still no bitches...

- “She is my handiwork, my property.” EW DISGUSTING KILL HIM

- HE JUST BLOOPED THE ENTERPRISE OUT OF EXISTENCE

- I’m giggling

- “Give me back my ship. Your secret is safe with us.” YOU’RE JUST GONNA LEAVE HER?

- “Because you knew I could bring her emotions alive.” Bleh

- Kirk gets absolutely beat the fuck up

- “No. Do not order me. No one can order me.” YES GET IT! YES

- “She’s human. Down to the last blood cell she’s human. Down to the last thought, hope, aspiration, emotion. She’s human. Her human spirit is free. You have no power of ownership! She’s free to do as she wishes.” Kirk’s so happy for her!

- “No man beats me.” “I don’t want to beat you. This is no test of power. Rayna belongs to herself, and she claims the human right of choice. To be, as she wills. To do as she wills. To think as she wills.”

- Okay but she shouldn’t have to choose between two men. There’s so many more out there in the galaxy

- OH NO DHES SEAD

- “What happened?” “She loved you, captain.” Spock just admitted Kirk’s drop dead gorgeous

- This is giving boyfriend vs. father vibes which I hate. I hate that this is how women are treated. As burdens to be thrown from one man to the next. This is reminding me of A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen it's a pretty short play and the ending is phenomenal for the time

- Kirk is lonely :(

- “If only I could forget.” Spock spends several seconds staring at Kirk and contemplating until McCoy comes in

“Oh thank heavens, sleeping at last.” McCoy just wants Kirk to get a good nights rest

- yeah

- “You see, I feel sorrier for you I do for him…because you’ll never know the things that love can drive a man to. The ecstasies, the miseries. The broken rules, the desperate chances. The glorious failures, and the glorious victories. All of these things you’ll never know, simply because the word ‘love’ isn’t written into your book. Good night, Spock.” “Good night, Doctor.” WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT AND WHY HAVENT I SEEN AN EDIT TO THAT. Also now I REALLY wanna write a mcspirk fanfic based solely on THAT

- “I do wish he could forget her.” BOTH McCoy and Kirk wished for this and so Spock does something crazy for his loves omg omg I’m gonna throw up wtf

- there’s literally romantic music playing in the background as Spock leans down to mind meld and says “forget”

Well

Masterpost

Episode written by Jerome Bixby

[maulfvckers]

OK SO HEADCANNON TIME

Maul was re-alived by the Son. Just like Ahsoka was re-alived by the Daughter.

So we know this for Ahsoka because it's done right in front of you and we have the bird and all that jazz. "In plain light," so to speak.

BUT what happened to the Son at the fall of Mortis? Well if you look at it carefully they're immortal beings that aren't exactly bound by space and time. So the Son being pretty damn powerful but probably not as much as the Father. He decides to live on in a dark sider. So... Who's desperate enough, emo enough, and stupid enough to accept the literal embodiment of evil?

Our boy Maul.

It explains a lot about him. It gives a pretty neat Watsonian explanation for his change in voice, it explains why Sidious literally never thinks of him again and is kinda surprised that Maul's alive, and it even explains his weird behavior in Rebels (again a Watsonian explaination). His voice changes because it's literally the Son's voice. Sidious genuinely thinks he died because, well... He did. And his seemingly erratic behavior and split motivations would fit pretty neatly with two different souls fighting for dominance in one body. It even gives a little insight into how Maul was able to "see" more than the average force user even more so than just having the context of his abuser taking over the galaxy.

But we don't see this right? Well... In line with the "light/dark" dichotomy that star wars loves. The reveal of Maul's possession isn't as straight forward or "hidden in the dark." (Yeah it's simple but *sighs* Star Wars) But we DO see it. We see it with the repetition of "the chains are the easy part. It's what goes on in here is hard," by the Son on Mortis as he talks to Ahsoka and by Mauk when he see him on Lotho Minor. We also hear it in his voice. These choices made by the animators were not mistakes in this sense.

We also can see how this plays out in Maul's general inability to draw from the light side even while not being a Sith just like Ahsoka has a general inability to draw from the dark side even while not being a Jedi. For the both of them, they're more or less fixed in their alignments. It explains how no matter how hard Maul tries to do the ultimately right thing by seeking to destroy Sidious, he's never going to experience the connection that comes from being in the light. It's just like no matter how much she despairs that she'll fall to the dark side, Ahsoka never really does (okay I gotta say Warsonian a third time cos I will lose my shit if I say what I really think).

So what does this mean for the narrative? For those two specifically, I think they're a little less in line with the idea "you can choose to be good or bad" and little more "wouldn't it be fucked up if you were possessed by the literal embodiment of evil/good and didn't even HAVE a choice no matter how hard you tried?" And you get some deep thing about free will and moralizing about how great it is. Cos if there's anything Star Wars loves to do it's moralize about things!

So that's just my take on them and I'm sure I'm not the only one that thinks this, bit I'd love to hear from your frens. Take care!

-♥️-

granmaul

I love this, and I'm going to throw in a devil's advocate "Doylist" thought for the hell of it: Witwer voices both the Son and Maul and has a really good grasp on the lore. I think we can feel his influence in both characters' acting, and those similarities may be deliberate choices in their design so those echoes become apparent when looking closely at the execution:

The Son of Dathomir and the Son of Mortis.

I'm particularly fond of your headcanon because I think there are mirrors between the architects (the Celestials, assuming the Mortis Gods were part of that ancient race -- I like to think so but unconfirmed in canon afaik) and the fruits of their efforts, no matter how far they've fallen from the tree.

Thoughts, frens?

Darth Maul is alive truthers, speak up or forever hold your peace.

[itslouisan]

My interpretation on space beth x beth

Disclaimer: yeah I hate the incest and fucking clone part so much, but I do have my own interpretation and point of view to TRY to make it less ehhh weird, but yeah it's just MY views

Okay so we see how problematic Beth is in a way, I mean she's clearly a mom that plays favorites between her children to extremes, neglects Morty a bit, is a bit overbearing and controlling, functional alcoholic, and so on, some of Beth's traits are justifiable in my opinion since y'know, neglect and unfilling life since she's clearly unhappy with her current life situation (romantically and I dare say professionally), though some parts of her just scream narcissism and a sociopath who refuses to seek real help or accept she's wrong. Like when Rick points out in the froopy land ep how fucked up she was, yes he wasn't THERE to see Beth being so fucked up since he isn't HER biological father in a way but a version of him, but clearly as he takes items out of the box we can see Beth was always this way, EVEN WHEN BOTH PARENTS WERE AROUND and even asking items that could be harmful to her own parents, and yeah her Rick was in the fault for enabling in it but it's also on her for asking those items in the first place, but the important part is that even when C-137 proves his point, Beth switches the blame to HIM, refusing any accountability or taking in her faults or even the clear dangerous tendencies she has, a narcissistic trait is exactly that, refusing to accept you're wrong and shifting the blame to another person to avoid actually saying you did something wrong and apologizing putting yourself down the pedestal and the "untouchable" and ego you have, we also have that scene of her choosing Summer over Morty WITH NO HESITATION, the countless scenes of her avoiding any issues AND her buries it with wine, but most important, Prime Beth, the Beth that is the mother of our Morty, saying how she was happy that C-137 but HER OWN SON was gone, which is just... fucked up clearly no version of Beth can SHOW the love to both her kids or family in a healthy way due to her issues, she's basically seeing Morty as an extension of Jerry and her own failures and problems but maybe also of her Rick mistake in abandoning her with THIS, which takes me to the line she has when asking C-137 abt what choice she has and that "she's out of excuses to not be what she is" which leads to the events of the creation of space Beth, so what could space Beth symbolize? I see it as what Beth wanted to be, her ideal self, not tied to anything, but also, someone who is achieving her "true potential and purpose" by saving the galaxy, maybe proving HERSELF and everyone else wrong who thought her carrier and life choice, cause now she's alone, strong, independent, and doing something big enough for her ego, but different from C-137 who put in those shoes felt empty in reality and full of grief for his real family and moved by the need of revenge, Space Beth seems like an absent mom, she talks SO MUCH on how Rick left her, but she would've done the same to her kids, and I dare to say she only comes by BECAUSE OF HERSELF AKA THE OTHER BETH.

So the moment these two meet OBVIOUSLY they'll be attracted to each other, it's a narcissist's dream come true, but also, I like to think Space Beth is something Beth (in earth sense, the family Beth) needed to truly evolve and perhaps, MAYBE change as a person now she can see the other side of this coin, the moment Beth and Space Beth get together is only Beth accepting what she could've have been, what she is, and how she feels about herself, but also AFTER THAT her relation with the family sees to improve slightly, showing that once she came with the amends of the "what ifs" she can start evolving, it's not only about loving a clone of yourself or idealizing the ideal version of yourself, the one you wanted to achieve so bad, it's about that ideal self, maybe, they'd want you as you're as much as you wanted them, maybe what you consider ideal, would've want what you are and have, so they being together is just that

Anyway thanks for listening to my ramble, I don't even know if it made sense jwj

[free-imaginations-for-you]

DIMMED LIGHT

ONE SHOT

Kim Taehyung x female Reader 

In this absence of any noise, i felt a very great comfort. It was so quiet you could hear my heartbeat taking on the melody of the rainbeat with every drop that splattered down the car on this rainy night. I still could not believe it, how could he do such a tumult in the restaurant, because his delusional self thought that the waiter was flirting with me. Honestly I must admit that his protective side was always a trait that drew me to him but that strong emotion mixed with the uneasiness he had felt within himself for several weeks, like him and I were moving away from each other, like he could be replaced within a blink of eye, was a deadly poison.

„Who the fuck do you think you are?“ was the last thing he spit with an evil smirk in his face, his eyes burning with pure anger. Everything happened so fast, the next thing I saw was Taehyung's fist slamming merciless into the waiter's face with full force. The awful noise is still in my ears, making me flinch whenever I imagine the scene in front of me. To be honest it‘s not the first time that such thing happened, but he vowed me to control hisself, he promised me that even when he has his outburst I never had to fear him. His outburst tonight was different from the ones I witnessed before. I can’t get it of my mind, how empty and lifeless his eyes were when they met mine while i tried with all my might to calm him down, to prevent the situation from escalating. Actually he was aware I was scared to death, he knew that I get anxious whenever someone get’s in a physical fight. It’s not like he didn’t know how upsetting this situation was for me, but he simply choose not to care about my feelings neither my wellbeing. In this moment he just wanted to prove a point, to me, to the waiter, to the restaurant, to the whole world.

It’s not a surprise that we‘ve had a tense situation for weeks, neither of us trying to state the obvious, that the spark between us is slowly but surely fading away. Words can not express how happy and exciting I was when he suggested the date in the first place. First of all he wasn’t really the romantic lovely dovley type to organize a candlelight dinner for the two of us. So in my irrational mind I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity for me to remind myself of all his good qualities which is why i fell in love with him, really hoping that the guy i fell in love with four years ago is still there waiting for me to put him out of the the dark. It feels like the Taehyung i fell in love with is gone since the day he put this personal success above all else. I‘ve always admired his ambition, but often it feels like he‘s a bird flying higher and higher, without looking back what he‘s leaving behind and I have no choice but to watch him fly from my golden cage that i had unconsciously built for myself since the day i vowed to be there for him no matter what.

Maybe it was the way he knew exactly what to say to me with those sugar sweet little lies or maybe it was me who was willing to believe every lie he told me, like an idiot closing my eyes to the most obvious thing. The way he had the power to destroy every fibre of self confidence and self love i had in me. Making me doubt myself, making me feel like the lowest version of myself. He made me feel so high above the sky, giving me the feeling of protection, love and respect. Actually slowly but surely he made me forget the beauty of the rise, because the feeling of the freefall was an hundred times worse. One positive thing came out of this situation, the fact that he put me through this made me, made me realize that I won‘t let this happen ever again. Not now, not tomorrow, not in an hundred years. Believe it or not, I made up my mind, no force in the world, no-black magic, not even his sprakling brown eves that promised me whole universes and galaxies, could revent me from putting my wishes and wellbeing first. The raindrops hit the ground loudly and relentlessly on this stormy and rainy night, instead of the tears that i vowed not to let fall. Even the cloudy and dark weather was on my side, it felt like the whole word was sharing the feeling of sadness and loneliness with me with every raindrop that fell on the cold ground.

It felt like forever but we‘ve arrived at the apartment. Not a word left our lips since the moment we left the restaurant. In all honesty I wasn‘t even ready to face him, to look him in the eyes after everything he put me through tonight. The second we entered the apartment, I made my way to the couch, I didn't even have the strength to take off my shoes nether my coat nor turn on the light. This darkness gave me a familiarity and comfort, it’s sad to say that’s the way i spend the last couple of weeks waiting for Taehyung to return home. No to be more precise I waited every night in darkness with the hope that he will enlighten the apartment with the light that his old self carried within him. It’s time to wake up from my dream and face reality, the light within him dimmed down, there is not much left of his old self.

„It not my fault, he should‘ve known what he got into the moment he started undressing you with his filthy eyes.“ he stated monotonous in a low voice while standing at the doorframe crossing his arms. „He was not flirting nor undressing me with his eyes, he was simply being polite. If you would pay attention to something other than your self for once in your life, you would have notice that he was like that with all the costumers there.“ I countered as i leaned back at the couch with a firm but calm voice, feeling tired and drained out from this messy situation. „I couldn‘t fucking care less how he acted with other women. What i don‘t tolerate is the fact he could not take his eyes off what‘s mine.“ he said angrily not understanding why you would try to defend him.

„Are you even listening to yourself? First of all i‘m not your possession and secondly just admit that you just wanted to make a point and show everyone that no one can mess with you and you enjoyed the feeling of megalomania, that you‘ve gotten used to over the last few months at my fucking expense, without wasting a fucking thought on how I felt the whole time.“ i voiced out my voice nearly breaking, feeling like every word i uttered turned to smoke slowly fading away, not even reaching him. „That‘s not true and you fucking know it.“ he said feeling hurt, trying his best not to give weight to the words you just spit. To say that he was unaffected by your statement would be a lie. The only way Taehyung could prevent himself from shutting out completely and distancing himself, was by making you feel the crushing grief he is feeling deep inside his heart. „Don’t you think that if you would know your fucking boundaries from the beginning we wouldn‘t be here in the first place. Do I have to remind you whenever we leave the door that you are in a relationship? Stop being „nice“ to every fucking male you meet, that‘s making you look so fucking pathetic.“ he screamed his voice getting louder and louder with every word coming out of his mouth, the pure sarcasm in his voice while saying the word nice didn’t go unnoticed by me. His eyes were filled with pure rage and pain. I shook my head closing my eyes not wanting to believe that he could say such hurtful things to me.

„We are over.“ i simply said those 3 words that have been lingering in my mind for so long, while standing up from the couch, feeling like a weight was lifted off my soulders. „What do you mean?“ he asked feeling panic and anxiety starting to grow inside his thorax. „I‘m so done with the way you‘ve been treating me the last couple of months I deserve so much better than this.“ i stated while pointing at us. „I gave you everything I had inside of me and you gave me nothing but pain in return. You are not the Taehyung i fell in love with, you are not the person I vowed to love, to look after, to never leave and let go anymore. Actually you don’t respect me nether do you love me after all those words you said to me and I can‘t continue this relationship for another moment.“ i confessed what I had in my mind for so long, finally making up my mind for good. He felt his heart shatter, making it impossible for him to utter a word while watching you leave the door. The best thing that ever happened to him left and he couldn‘t do nothing but watch you leave.

[purple-fox-girl]

Refuse is the worst ending in gaming (that I can recall)

No, I don't mean in terms of a bad ending like Shepard dying in the Collector Base. I mean bad in terms of quality and generally: everything about it. As much as we joke about lol red green blue, I think the actual choice between Destroy and Control is a bit more interesting than people give it credit for. To me, both of those lie outside the traditional paragon-renegade spectrum. I can see why either kind of Shepard would choose either option. Synthesis kinda reads like a picture perfect Golden Ending to me so I'm less fond of it? Like, yeah, Shepard is dead, but the entire deal with the synthesizing is treated as just- a good thing? Refuse is just fucking stupid. It feels like a joke from BioWare, like "oh you didn't like the options, well here's a forth!" and you just DOOM THE GALAXY. Shepard can sacrifice this cycle of the Milky Way right at the finish line because they "don't want to play the stupid star child's game" or whatever. If you're willing to let all of your allies, friends and potential lover die (or WORSE since Reapers don't JUST kill everyone and bounce) just to prove a point: why not just do destroy? The main thing about destroy is that you basically have to genocide the Geth (if they're still alive) and kill EDI, along with an unknown number of synthetics. Ostensibly, you also sacrifice Shepard (altho they can somehow survive if you have high enough MS). Refuse does not alleviate the issue here, since the Geth and EDI and Shepard would die anyway and it would STILL be YOUR choice. Would you rather kill one race and a close friend and yourself to stop the galactic space god enemy, or would you rather KILL THE GALAXY EXCLUDING THE SPACE GODS? Sure, the next cycle defeats them, but so what? YOU could have defeated them and chose not to! I can't with this fucking ending, it is objectively the worst ending in a game that, on paper, had endings that didn't feel like a clear cut "good or bad" to me (except synth but I don't care for that one either). At least Synth still feels satisfying from a narrative point of view. Fuck Refuse lol

[swaps55]

currently replaying me1 and just finished virmire :( anyways, I noticed that the game places you conveniently between kaidan and ash when you have to choose between them, and I was wondering what sam would do if he was already at the AA tower with ash when the "choice" is presented---if he was simply too far and it took too long to reach kaidan. how would he react, during and after? would he still fight saren if kaidan died, or call it quits right then and there?

What an excellent question!!!

If Sam was already with Ashley when "the choice" was given to him, even if it was futile, he'd try. If it was anyone else he'd cut his losses and move on. But Sharjila happened. And the beacon nightmares happen. And he made Aslany a promise. "I would come for any of you." Sam would die to keep that promise, and he would here. He'd put Ashley and the salarians on the Normandy and go for Kaidan, even if the act of love wouldn't save anyone. At this point in time, I think he is incapable of doing anything else.

But for the sake of a fun thought experiment, let's say he tries to get to Kaidan, but something something he doesn't and Sam is somehow still rescued while Kaidan dies. Don't worry about the details; they don't matter.

I think the Sam who loses Kaidan before Sonata is a very different Sam than the one who loses Kaidan after Sonata. The love is there either way, named or unnamed. Sam loves Kaidan on Virmire just as much as he does in the rain in Vancouver. But on Virmire he still doesn't understand it for what it is.

He loves Kaidan. He wouldn't fight you if you told him that. He doesn't understand he is in love with Kaidan. Sonata is when that clicks, and saying it out loud is the first time he's asked for something he wants. So the Sam who loses Kaidan after Sonata is someone who has given the galaxy everything and only asked for one thing in return. When the galaxy takes that away, fuck the galaxy. He owes it nothing, and it will only get cold indifference from him. The reapers can have it. He doesn't give a damn.

But before Sonata he hasn't made that admission. That one request. He doesn't yet understand this crucial, vital part of himself that is desperately in love with someone. And if he doesn't have that realization until after its too late, he would be so angry. At himself. At Saren. At the reapers.

And he would want everyone to feel that pain.

He'd lash out at the people who cared about him. He'd pour everything he had into winning. He wouldn't care about the cost. He is the Butcher of Torfan, after all. The galaxy would learn why.

And in the end the victory would mean nothing. It wouldn't bring him solace or closure. At some point he'd be forced to feel grief rather than rage, and the only way he gets through that is if there is someone who is stubborn enough to stick by him when he's at his worst. And Sam is not easy to stick with when he's at his worst.

You might think it would be Anderson.

I'm betting it's Aslany.

[flowerslut]

hello my favourite author! I saw you respond to a comment and you said you were choosing between Carlisle and Emmett to get got got alongside Alice. What did you imagine that would pan out like? As in how would Carlisle have reacted in those situations i’m so curious

hello sweet friend thank you for granting me such a title :’) I’m happy you’re enjoying the story!

this is such a fun question that goes back to summer 2022 when I was rambling about it to the besties. a lot of these screenshots are spoilery, so they're under a cut, but here's what some of the brainstorming looked like on my end over here, including @goldeneyedgirl's galaxy-brained takes that helped me make little choices here and there (and @allicekitty13's encouragement)

but for the most part my main question that inspured the decision itself was "if I did some unspeakable bullshit to a character, who would be my most fucked up choice" and unfortunately that honor fell to emmett. 😔 but carlisle and edward were the other two contenders for the honor of being esteban's scratch pad alongside poor alice

its good fucking food your honor. also 10/10 highly recommend befriending the fic mastermind in your fandom so they can sprinkle these nuggets of angsty whump-spiration in your rotted little garden 🤩

[istillbelieveinmagic142]

AND ANOTHER THING.

I get for story purposes it’s supposed to imply that it (the miracle cure ‘vaccine’) would’ve maybe worked and Joel blablabla—‘condemns’ (gag, for hamfisted already proving who’s side the narrative wants you to be on instead of trying to balance between BOTH perspectives being more right or wrong) humanity to die out and never return to its formal glory, but in all likelihood—NO scientist is getting something like that right on the first try. Ellie’s kind of an anomaly at the moment with no others like her found yet??? You’re telling me he’s just gonna kill her & hope for the best in using what he has over her brain tissue/nerves or whatever the fuck?? What if it doesn’t work, & then the evil (because YES, you are EVIL if you try to knowingly slaughter a child, even for the ‘greater good’ that a humanity who survives on Ellie’s death wouldn’t even deserve & might as well end up being The Original Sin TM 2.0, and fuck the game and the show for trying to imply this bitch of a doctor was a decent human being. Maybe he had depth/cognitive dissonance enough to save animals/zebras or whatever while also being willing to vivisect a CHILD, but that still doesn’t make him not scum that deserved what he got) doctor gets it wrong, & then he just blew humanity’s only chance at a cure, because he didn’t have any goddamn patience?

You know the REAL reason he was rushing things? Because that asshole sorry excuse of a ‘father’ (you can’t tell me he didn’t fill Abby’s head with propaganda if she’s somehow cool with the idea of also being slaughtered if it was her) KNEW if he ASKED Ellie to sacrifice herself/gave her a choice there was a risk she’d say no. THAT’S why he chose to kill so quickly in the name of ‘humanity’. Because he knew it was going to be his only shot to do it in a way that would trick a CHILD & FATHER FIGURE into allowing it to happen. I’m not above knowing one life isn’t worth more than a billion in a scenario where one has to CHOOSE between who to SAVE. But this is NOT that. This isn’t asking: is it moral to choose one life over all of humanity/the world/galaxy/whatever fandom you’re in? (ie; echoing my blorbo Anakin vibes who I judge him for). Instead, this stupid game/show is asking: is it moral to allow a CHILD to be slaughtered so humanity can be ‘saved’ into continuing on/not going extinct. And guess what? The answer to that is a big fat NO. If humanity’s survival depends on slaughtering a CHILD, then it deserves to die. 🤷‍♀️

Fuck Abby Anderson, & fuck her hypocrite of a father. The bastard deserved what he got. And so did every single scientist Joel killed who were willing to slaughter a—again from the top of my lungs since some fans don’t seem to understand how the doctor wasn’t a ‘poor little innocent man’ Joel murdered to SAVE Ellie’s life from being taken from her—CHILD to ‘help’ humanity continue on.

As even IF humanity would even DESERVE to continue living after something pure evil like THAT was how the species went on.

Hope Abby and all of her friends die screaming under Ellie’s boot.

Yeah, I got a lotta rage. Lol. I don’t usually write anti meta about a character like this (and believe it or not it ISN’T meant to antagonize her fans and is just so I can vent my thoughts on my personal blog), but dear LORD this half baked cold bitch of a character that was so clearly shoved down our throats out of the game developer’s need to ‘preach’ to us about some hamfisted theme of ‘revenge bad!’ and ‘Ellie should’ve let goooo and healedddd like dear saintly ABBY! Isn’t she sooooo much worse than our buff queennnn? 😜😒🙃’ fills me with the most white hot rage imaginable.

They will NEVER get me to care about her. I have never understood exactly what audience’s might hate about being ‘preached’ to, until I was basically having it shoved in my face twenty four seven to try to make me feel bad for Joel’s murderer/torturer: “ooooh, Abby and Lev are just like JOEL AND ELLIE! 🥺 Don’t you feel baddd for them and see Abby isn’t a bad person at alllll just like dear Joelllll.” The way it’s just SO transparent what they’re trying to do by making Abby turn softer from her absolutely disgusting and heartless introduction shows just how much they were working to try and force the audience’s sympathy instead of allow Abby to EARN it herself. The entire narrative clearly blares loudly: “(gasp) 😱 See what a MONSTER Ellie has become! She should’ve broken the cycle of violenceeee. It’s HER fault she loses more since she doesn’t quit and let Abby get away with murdering her father figure/ruining her lifeeeee.” 😤🥶🤬😒

Maybe I wouldn’t despise Abby so much if it wasn’t SO damn clear from the beginning that the game developers are completely on her side and act like what she did was justified when it LITERALLY FUCKING ISN’T! By all accounts and purposes, Joel used self defense/man slaughter/whatever the legal term is to DEFEND Ellie—a CHILD—to save her life and to keep her from being MURDERED. Every person he killed was trying to stop him from saving Ellie, and therefore every person he killed in that Firefly compound were COMPLICIT in trying to have a CHILD murdered in the most horrifying manner by being cut apart like a frog WITHOUT EVEN GIVING HER THE AUTONOMY TO CHOOSE FOR HERSELF!!! How does this shit not REGISTER with everyone? How is there even ONE person who can say he made the wrong decision here? The ONLY thing I will say Joel did wrong is lying to Ellie about it, but that’s it. It’s literally it. Other than that, Joel did everything right.

You can argue he didn’t necessarily do it for the REASON it was truly right (ie; about Ellie having the autonomy to choose over her own life and death or whether it was a more human/understandable/still selfish fear of not wanting to lose another daughter again), but you literally CANNOT say that Joel was wrong for saving a CHILD’S life from being slaughtered like some guinea pig. Anyone who says so is just… wrong. 😭🤷‍♀️ There is NO scenario where it will EVER be morally correct that a CHILD being SLAUGHTERED is the ‘lesser evil’ to save a humanity that wouldn’t even deserve to exist anymore after that.

God, it’s NEVER gonna happen, but I HOPE Ellie kills this cold hearted bitch in the show. I have NEVER despised a character more than I despise Abby Anderson. And that’s saying something, because Negan from The Walking Dead is already Number #1 in my ‘they could never make me love/forgive you’ book. He and Abby might just be tied for first place, because the narrative for BOTH fandom story genres just LOVE to bend over backwards to try and inorganically make them seem sympathetic to the audience and give some halfhearted ‘redemption arc’ with a kid half the time to ‘prove’ they’re decent now and everyone should get over what they did and acts like the heroes/main characters are somehow the ones who MADE them have to react in certain heartless ways.

I’ll admit Negan’s arc tries more than Abby’s arc (at least in the OG Walking Dead show. Once they threw in a wife and kid for ‘sympathy’ points, they basically threw any chance of SHOWING Negan ORGANICALLY working to try to become a better person/realize his mistakes in an ORGANIC way in the garbage by having it all being about trying to humanize him with a wife and kid that weren’t even earned and that he got offscreen). What does Abby get? She gets her Ellie 2.0 kid on screen. But it’s SO obviously hamfisted to be a dark mirror of Joel and Ellie’s relationship to drum up sympathy that it just enrages me and I can’t take it seriously. It reminds me of when my brother made me watch this show called The Last Ship and how one of the women characters named Rachel (the love interest being fridged! Who would’ve guessed!) are killed off for the main male character’s man pain, and how IMMEDIATELY the next episode/Season they have an ‘old ex-girlfriend’ show up which is SO clearly meant to be—‘here’s replacement Rachel!’, that I could NOT help but hate the character immediately, despite the fact she wasn’t necessarily a bad person or that badly written. But since it was SO obvious what the writers were trying to pull—I despised the character and felt rage whenever she was on screen because she was so clearly just ‘replacement Rachel’ and it drove me crazy.

THAT’S how I feel about Abby for The Last of Us. The game developers SO clearly try to force down your throat that Abby is a dark mirror ‘replacement Joel!’ that you’re supposed to learn to love and want to win and get away from Ellie’s wrath, and I fucking hate it. I always will. I refuse to accept this half baked manipulation into trying to feel bad for a character who tortured someone to death. If Joel was killed for some of the bad things it’s implied he’s done before Ellie, that might be different. But he’s not. The narrative condemns him for his DECISION TO SAVE ELLIE, and says that it was ‘wrong’ to not allow humanity to continue on from the backbone of a CHILD’S slaughter, and I will always call BS on that. Joel didn’t deserve his fate, and Abby SURE as HELL didn’t deserve the right to kill him. Fuck her, and fuck the way the narrative bends around her to justify her actions when they’re just as hypocritical as they sound.

Joel, get up... THE LAST OF US (2023- ) — 2.02 “Through the Valley”

[toyota-supra]

If you could choose to be born again as something else, what would you be?

I always love asking people this one but I find it that I'm the kind of person who would, if given the choice between any living creature, choose human every single time.

if I genuinely had to give up on humanity I don't think I would want to be a living thing at all. I understand that it's cheating, but I want to breathe beyond breathing and exist as something else. I wish I were a car engine. or a lake. maybe even a forest. fuck it, a planet. a galaxy.

if I am bound to this world by the laws of the living I want to be a human because I just feel like I need to. not out of external obligation, but internal desire.

or a deep-sea fish, I guess! they seem chill!

[californiannostalgia]

Things They Could've Done Differently in Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness

A list of ideas, in no particular order

*SPOILERS FOR MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS*

1. Give Benedict Cumberbatch a Monologue to Act with (bonus points if it's about the million bad endings he had to sort through to find the Endgame option): Instead of a short convo in the benches, have the doctor who got dusted come up to Stephen at the afterparty of the wedding. In fact, have several people ask for his autograph or talk to him like he’s a celebrity beforehand, casually questioning him about the biggest call he made with the fate of the universe. When the past colleague questions the validity of his choice, maybe Stephen gets fed up, and the conversation goes something like this:

Doctor Colleague: What if you’d done [    ] before― Stephen: Nope, wouldn’t have worked, [    ] and [    ] goes off too soon, shit gets blown up, everyone dies, try again― Doctor Colleague: Then what if you’d [    ]― Stephen: Again, no, [    ] and [    ] means [           ], everyone dies! Doctor Colleague: But what if― Stephen: No, no, it doesn’t work! I looked through a million other choices we could’ve made, and we lost every single time. You think I made that call based on, what, personal preference? I saw the universe die more times than you can fathom, I saw galaxies crumble, why does everyone think― My opinion had no sway in the decision I made. I made the only choice I was supposed to. (etc.)

2. Show at least one way Stephen's disability impacts his daily life: Maybe his hands shake too much to steadily hold a glass. Maybe he can't get a key in the lock at the first try. It's either his hands or his magic, and Stephen chose magic. Show us the consequences.

3. I feel like the scariest villain should've been an Alternate Strange: We can keep the creepy chase scenes and all the emotional scenes with Wanda, Elizabeth Olsen’s performance was phenomenal and I love her. But everyone was talking about how Stephen has the potential for great evil. I feel like we should’ve gotten payoff on that.

4. At least One Alternate Christine should die in front of Stephen: I loved what they did in What If (tv series), we should’ve gotten to see Stephen’s grief on live-action too. Especially since it creates a direct parallel between him and Wanda. (They each only have the one love interest over countless timelines, yet they still can’t hold onto them, huh. Cruel fate.)

5. Elaborate on the Scarlet Witch Prophecy Thing: We needed a set-up of the prophecy in the movie before the actual reveal of the temple.

6. Wanda destroys the Big Bad Strange's universe (fulfilling the Prophecy―no one said anything about which universe) and seals the both of them in eternal combat: This feels like a better idea than what happened in the movie. Also it’s a cool parallel with an Alternate Stephen from the What If series.

7. More dreams about Alternate Stephens Fucking Up: Stephen should’ve just been constantly dreaming about instances where he makes the wrong choice and destroys the world. Drill it into his head that if he strays from the path, the world is done for.

8. Let Stephen complain about how apparently the only path for him is the straight and narrow one: If divergence from the Path guarantees certain destruction of the world by his own hand, how much freedom does he truly have? Show us what's so special about this superhero who sees everything that could go wrong with him every night he dreams, then wakes up to not do those things. He's tempted, he's afraid, and he Chooses not to do wrong.

9. Put more focus on Stephen giving Wanda a Second Chance: If he fucks up, it spells the end of universes, so he Can't fuck up; he has that pressure on him. But Wanda's fuck-ups don't automatically destroy universes. Wanda's fuck-ups can be recovered from. Let Stephen give Wanda what he will never be able to have across so many thousands of timelines: a second chance after a grief-stricken fuck-up. Trust her to help him fight the Big Bad Evil Strange.

10. Let Stephen snark and whine about his difficult life and still unfailingly do the Right Thing: We must remember that he is a smartass. Maybe he still gets jealous of practicing surgeons. Maybe he gives life-saving advice to doctors of alternate dimensions who are trying to save an Alternate Christine, whilst wishing he could do the operation himself. Let him complain about how everyone is hounding him about Turning Evil all the time. He rolls with the punches, accepts the madness that his life has become and the hard choices that are asked of him, but he can still complain about them all the way.

(I'm just choosing to focus on the two main characters here. I think a lot of the side characters deserved to be written better, but elaborating on that would make this post really long.)

TL;DR: Stephen and Wanda are characters with so much potential. They’ve got backstory, they’re morally complex, they’re uber-powerful and nigh impossible to keep in check. The only one that can stop them is themselves, apparently. Isn’t that interesting? Morality, power, corruption, accountability, grief, and sacrifice. When you’re faced with the physical manifestation of your choices, right or wrong, how do you grapple with the consequences?