#(and for those of you who were lured here by my post about my aliens class: same guy)
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astriiformes · 8 months ago
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[Guy who placed a bookstore order for one annotated version of Dracula and Inter-Library Loan requests for two others today voice] I'm being so normal about my interests right now. So normal.
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abduloki · 3 years ago
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Star Wars Visions *spoilers*
Just watched all 10 episodes and I got to say they’re pretty awesome, except for 2 episodes which I feel is a bit slow and dull. Even so, they’re still watchable.
So here are my personal 5 favorites!
The Duel
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Set in an alternate history, 20 years after the fall of the Feudal-Jedi Empire, a lone wanderer known only as "Ronin" witnesses a legion of former stormtroopers attempt to besiege a small village.
Ronin fights the leader of the bandits, a self-declared Dark Lord of the Sith armed with a heavily-modified lightsaber while his droid saves the villagers; Ronin eventually lures her into a trap and kills her.
Fans of Japanese Classic Samurai films like Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo, Lone Wolf and Cub, Zatoichi and the likes can instantly tell the strong influence in terms of it’s setting, cinematography, story and characters.
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It’s interesting that the savior turns out not to be a Jedi but a mysterious character with a red lightsaber. He seems to collect red kyber crystals from every Sith he had slayed and gave one to a villager, to ward off evil.
I’m really curious to know more of this character as he is neither Jedi nor Sith. So who is he exactly? If he is a Sith, he does not seemed to be consumed with anger and power, and still have a good conscious of a Jedi.
But seems that there is an upcoming novel exploring this character’s history, called “ Star Wars Visions: Ronin “.
The Village Bride
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Years after the Great Jedi Purge, a fallen Jedi named F is drawn to a remote planet by an explorer named Valco. Valco explains that bandit raiders have reprogrammed old Separatist battle droids and are holding a village hostage.
The village chief's daughter Haru and her fiancé Asu intend to surrender to the bandits as collateral the following morning, while Haru's sister Saku wants to fight the bandits.
A fallen Jedi with a tragic past. I don’t know what exactly but those brief flashbacks were full of pain which caused her to finally step out of hiding in order to save the village and the girl who reminded her of her younger self.
I love how this episode has a mix of Japanese Shinto influence where the villagers are deep believers in protecting nature that the chief’s daughter was willing to sacrifice herself to prevent war which will destroy the planet.
And I love how the Jedi’s attire has a traditional Korean Hanbok’s influence. Anyway, I would love to know more about her history of what happened to her.
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The Ninth Jedi
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Many generations after the Jedi Order became mostly extinct, Margrave Juro, the Jedi ruler of the planet Hy Izlan, invites seven Jedi to his aerial temple in order to receive lightsabers, whose design has been lost to time. 
On the planet's surface, the blacksmith Zhima finishes constructing the other seven lightsabers, including one for his teenage Jedi daughter Kara. Kara departs to meet Juro with the lightsabers when her father was captured.
To be honest, I really did not see that coming as I seriously thought Juro to be the Sith who lures the surviving Jedi into a trap but it turns out the “survivors” are actually Jedi Hunters who wants to kill Juro and any Jedi returning.
The concept of a sabersmith is interesting as it follows a different approach of the Medieval period of Japan and Europe where the blacksmiths are the ones that created the swords to be used by the Samurai and Knights.
I really want to see their adventures continue with Juro, Kara and the young Jedi apprentice, Ethan I think? Would be interesting to see a Jedi Master Juro with two apprentices, Kara and Ethan as they attempt to re-establish the Jedi Order.
The Elder
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Centuries after the death of Darth Bane and the initial extinction of the Sith, Tajin and his Padawan Dan are sent to explore the Outer Rim when Tajin senses a disturbance in the force. 
They land on an isolated planet and arrive at a remote village, where they learn of a mysterious elder man who hiked onto the mountaintop and concealed his presence from the Jedi.
Their relationship reminds me of Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi. I love them so much that I got shocked when Dan appeared to be dead but was relieved to see him alive in the end as I want to see more of these two in the future.
The setting, cinematography, story and characters are a bit like The Duel, with heavy Japanese Classic Samurai Film influence where the antagonist enjoys dueling with a skillful swordsman worthy of his time and skill.
In The Duel, the protagonist is a former Sith while here, the antagonist is a former Sith who apparently left the Order before it fell apart. Unfortunately, Tajin and Dan are unable to investigate further after the Elder blew up his ship.
Lop and Ocho
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During the reign of the Empire, a rabbit-like alien slave named Lop escapes her captors on the planet Tau and is discovered by the planet's clan leader Yasaburo and his daughter Ochō, who adopted Lop into their family.
Seven years later, the Empire has occupied their planet and is exploiting it for its natural resources; Yasaburo wants to drive the Empire off their planet, while Ochō wants to cooperate with the Empire. 
Honestly, I can’t decide between this and the Village Bride as I love these two the most equally. The story started off nice and happy with Lop being freed of slavery and running into the arms of those she would call her family.
But tragically, the arrival of the Empire drove Lop and her father away from each other due to their differences in their beliefs in protecting the planet. It’s heartbreaking to see how the sisters became “enemies”.
Given a choice to choose just one episode to make a sequel series of, I would choose this as I really want to see how things will end with Ocho and Lop. Seeing the looks on Lop realizing she had lost Ocho to the dark side is just... 😭
Overall
All in all, I can say that Star Wars Visions left me feeling like Kylo Ren. I mean, seriously, they deserve their own mini-series! This is how you explore the vast universe of Star Wars without making everything about Skywalker, the right way.
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Like every one of my review post, this is just my own thoughts and preferences as everyone have their own depending on their expectations and tastes, and what they look for when watching this series.
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vostokovasmelina · 4 years ago
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— 𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝟑𝐂. (𝐬.𝐰.)
𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢  |  𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐢  |  𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭
characters: fem!reader; sam wilson; archibald the tabby cat; sarah wilson (mentioned)
word count: 2.1k+
warning: none (no tfatws spoilers yet)
series summary: after the blip, sam wilson gets home to an unpleasant surprise - his key doesn’t fit the lock anymore and his apartment is now inhabited by a stranger and a grumpy feline. however, the unusual encounter is only just the beginning of their post-blip lives and the reader soon learns that what life takes away, it can give back in the most particular ways.
a/n: if this flops, i’m quitting.
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Sam was tired. Truly, utterly tired. It felt like he hadn’t felt anything but fatigue for the last few days, the kind that seeps deep into your bones and cozies up in your marrow, the kind that never seems to leave. Like, ever again.
He knew he was probably supposed to call Sarah and tell her he was on his way. They had only talked once since he came back, right before Tony’s funeral, and even that was a rather brief telephone call. His sister had told him there was something he needed to know but Sam had said they would talk once he got to hers. First, he needed some rest. A short nap would do, really. And a cup of strong black coffee. Or maybe two.
He parked his car where he always had; the space furthest to the left, right under his favorite maple tree that looked so pretty in the autumn and kept the inside of Sam’s car relatively cool in the summer. He watched for a while as the light spring breeze played with the fresh green mane of this majestic old lady, and felt a soft wave of calm rush through every tiny particle of him. He was home. The battle was over and he was on his way to his family. He wouldn’t take that nap. He’d just get his stuff out of his car and put Cap’s shield somewhere safe - he would deal with that later.
But he would have that coffee. He did deserve a treat after all.
Sam had no trouble getting inside the building, thanks to a delivery guy leaving right when he was about to enter. He took a deep breath, just a short second before making his way up the stairs to the third floor. He had been told at least a million times that what felt like five seconds to him, had actually been five years for those left behind. And still, the dirty old apartment complex had not changed at all, not even a tiny bit. Everything had stayed the same; the chipped grey paint on the dense walls, the rusty banister, the dusty steps... It felt like a time capsule. It felt safe, it felt like home.
Except it wasn’t anymore.
As soon as he got up to his floor, he knew something was off. He didn’t realise at first but he did approach the door to his apartment more carefully, with a slight shadow of a frown on his face. Sam slowed down his last few steps and looked the door up and down, down and up again, checking every corner for something out of the ordinary, something that was not meant to be there. When he found nothing, he chuckled to himself. So stupid. He had become paranoid. It was only natural given his job but honestly, it had been high time he had calmed down. So he slid his hand into his jacket pocket to grab his keys, and with a small smile lingering in the corners of his lips, he tried to unlock his door.
And that was precisely when his smile fell.
The key just wouldn’t go into the lock. Sam tried to insert every single one of them, even went as far as attempting to force his car key through the tiny hole, which obviously didn’t work. His anxiety was slowly building up in his stomach again and just as he looked down at his key charm, he realised what had made him so suspicious the first time - his doormat was gone. His black scraper had been replaced by a dark green carpet doormat that looked like it was in desperate need for a wash. Or maybe a one-way trip to the dumpsters.
Eyebrows furrowed, Sam looked up at the rusty number 3c on the door and, once sure it was indeed his apartment, he thought he’d try his luck with the doorknob as well. His fingers were already wrapped around the cold metal when the door swung open with such force that Sam froze for a few seconds.
“I’m warning you; I’m armed!”
Sam immediately threw his hands into the air and even took a step back from your doorstep. He was frozen for a few seconds and only relaxed when he saw what you were actually holding in your hands - a tabby cat in one, and a bottle of deodorant in the other. He let out a silent sigh of relief at the sight and slowly brought his arms back to his sides, but he made sure to stay put and not to approach you just yet.
“It’s alright! I mean no harm.”
*  *  *
Several minutes later your heart was still racing, threatening to punch a whole through your chest and making a getaway down the corridor. However, you slowly relaxed your muscles as your breathing started to calm down, too, still staring the stranger dead in the eyes and making sure to hold Archie as steadily as your shaking hand could. Once you had decided you trusted the words of the man standing before you, you dropped your other hand holding the almost empty - and therefore useless - bottle. However, you did keep your distance and wrapped your now free fingers tightly around the doorknob on the inside, ready to smash it into his face the moment it would be necessary.
“Can I help you?” You asked, cradling your uninterested cat closer to your chest and burying your fingers deep in his soft fur. You raised a wary eyebrow at the stranger standing in your doorway who himself seemed just as suspicious as you were. As if he had any right to.
“Yeah...” 
You watched him look you up and down, your little grey feline jumping to your defence and staring the man dead in the eyes as if daring him to spend one more second eyeing you. And it worked. With a tiny frown he looked you in the eyes again and continued. Good job, Archie.
“Who are you?”
You thought he was joking. So you laughed and then saw the man’s face and then felt bad. He was absolutely not joking. He was genuinely confused and obviously had no idea who you were. And it was not like you were a celebrity around here but you had built quite a decent following of fellow plant-lovers over on Instagram, so you were actually mildly offended.
But it was alright; you decided to let it slide and give this stranger a chance. Who knows, maybe he had been following your updates on your snake plant stories. He did look like a snake plant kind of guy.
And maybe you could also clear up the confusion around why he had been trying to break into your home just a minute ago.
So you told him your name and when he still looked as confused as ever, you looked at him expectantly, shifting Archie’s weight from one arm to the other.
“And... who are you?” You finally decided to help him out and even offered him a tiny smile, which evaporated the second you heard his answer leave his lips.
“Sam Wilson. I-”
“Sam Wilson?” You cut him off and stared at him for a few seconds, trying to process the information. The longer you looked, the more obvious the similarities got and you cursed at yourself silently for not having realised it before. Sarah had warned you about it the moment the news broke out but she had also promised to deal with it and let you know once she had enlightened her brother. You had been expecting a phone call or maybe a text, definitely not the brother himself right on your doorstep.
“Yeah. Why?”
You had already opened your mouth to answer but were interrupted by Archie who had obviously had enough of being cradled like a baby and since the drama seemed to have ended, he was no longer interested. You let him land on the floor gently and nudged him in the direction of your tiny living room before turning back towards Sam and opening the door several inches wider.
“You know, I really think you should come in.”
“No, I have to call my sister and-”
“You haven’t called Sarah yet?!” You exclaimed, stopping in your tracks and shaking your head ever so slightly. “She’s gonna be so pissed, man.”
You watched him furrow his eyebrows and do that thing again where he looked you up and down, down and up again as if you could be an alien in disguise trying to lure him into some intergalactic trap. As if you hadn’t just tried to protect yourself with an empty deodorant bottle and a kitten. Sam Wilson clearly was a poor judge of character.
“Yeah, I know your sister, get over it. Would you please come inside?”
You put on your most friendly smile just for him and stepped aside, gesturing Sam inside the apartment you both knew so well. He gave you one last wary look before stepping over the threshold, and you rolled your eyes at him behind his back before closing the door behind the two of you.
*  *  *
“Tea? Or maybe coffee?” Sam heard from behind him and did a double take before turning towards you, already making your way to the tiny kitchen area  divided from the living room only by a worn wooden table. Sam watched you take out two identical white mugs from one of the cabinets and felt his stomach jump up into his throat and fall back into its place again; that was exactly where he kept his mugs, too. Well, used to keep them.
“Oh, ugh, coffee. Please. Black. One sugar.”
He saw you nod and get to work. Sam did wait for a while for you to start the conversation and finally explain to him what was going on. When that didn’t actually happen, he turned his head to look around, trying to shake off the weird feeling he had seeing you feel so at home in what used to be his home just a few days ago. Or five years ago. Question of perspective.
The first thing Sam noticed once he had actually taken the time to look around was green. What, at first glance, had slipped his attention was now screaming at him from every corner of the apartment. The living room was filled to the brim with houseplants. There were handsome little pots of plants on the windowsills, on the bookshelves, even on the kitchen counter. What hadn’t fit higher, got place on the floor.
You had turned the apartment into a botanical garden.
“Hey, plant lady? Is this even legal? It feels illegal.” He gestured all around the room and you followed his movement with your eyes, a tiny grin creeping its way onto your face but disappearing the very next second. Sam tried his best to play along and act like he hadn’t even noticed.
“Oh would you look at that, you can actually form full sentences,” you teased, giving him a side-eyed look before handing him your mug filled with hot black coffee, which Sam took gladly, ignoring the drop of sarcasm in your voice.
“Those are actually fine,” you continued after the first sip of your tea and pointing at the cat yawning on the dirty old couch in the middle of the living room. “Archie is the only problem here. But hush, he’s a secret.”
“How can you keep a cat here in secret?”
“I bribed the superintendent,” you whispered, leaning a little closer to Sam and flashing him a perfect albeit forced smile.
“Old Charlie? No way!” Sam scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief.
“O-ho, yes way! Everyone has a weakness and I’ve found our old Charlie’s.”
“Which is...?”
“... a secret I’ve vowed to take to the grave with me,” you replied and gave emphasis to your words with a tiny nod of your head, leaving Sam slightly disappointed but smirking nonetheless.
In the short silence that followed, he took another sip of his hot coffee, enjoying every millisecond of the burning, bittersweet sensation before finally addressing the elephant in the room. Because even though his suspicions had somewhat settled, Sam was still completely confused about how on Earth you could possibly know his sister and talk about her so casually. And you must have been thinking of the same thing because as he looked at you above his now half empty mug and your gazes met, you closed your eyes and let out a sigh, gesturing towards the small kitchen table.
“Let’s talk, I guess.”
*  *  *
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ashintheairlikesnow · 3 years ago
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Hey Ash
So this has been on my mind for a while now.
I mean some of the whump is real cruel-and i know we humans are not to be predicted at all-yet i can't take it off my mind that any fiction has a touch of reality to it.
Um not accusing anybody of anything but Has anyone-group of people to be specific-been hurt -IRL-in a systematized way like in those box boy stories or signed a contract,giving away their lives or whatever....i mean i hear about creepy things like in deep web and mystery boxes and i just can't help questioning what if some of these stories are happening to people in the real life not just in our fiction stories or what if some of our stories are based on something like that,like,is there any solid evidence?
Some days, it's overwhelming and i guess i'd like to hear what other whump community members think or know about this
This question is probably weird and not well formulated but it's been on my mind for a while now and i just need to know
CW: For discussion of true crime cases that involve rape, kidnapping, abuse, consensual cannibalism, etc
Oof, well, this is kind of an intense question.
I would say, to some extent... yes, there's probably aspects of the story that have occurred to some extent in real life here or there. There is the story of Colleen Stan, a woman literally kidnapped and kept in a box, repeatedly assaulted over the course of years. She was even coerced into signing a "contract" of slavery for life.
Human trafficking networks often go to great lengths to carefully lure vulnerable individuals by offering them a "better life", or an escape from their problems.
Cults often pull people in by "love-bombing" them, or by burying them in affection and hiding their true purpose, and then withholding that earlier affection while subjecting the cult members to malnourishment, abuse, torture, sexual assault, extreme sleep deprivation, and repetitious chanting that numbs the mind and is designed to make it more suggestible.
There’s even a very famous case of two men who met online and one agreed to be murdered and consumed by the other in a case of “consensual” cannibalism. 
Bram recording and posting his torture of Danny references a couple of times a true story where a man who had abducted a young girl was caught because he was live-streaming his torture of her, and one of his viewers realized this wasn't an act, freaked out, and called the FBI to report it.
So, in that sense I suppose you could say yes, there is a touch of reality. But the simple truth is that there is no fiction without a touch of reality to it, because we wouldn't connect with it otherwise. Think about fantasy novels, or sci-fi. Even if they take place on an alien world with alien characters, there will be some aspect of reality within the story - perhaps the protagonist is searching for their missing child, and how many stories have we heard about abducted or missing children with parents desperate to find them? Perhaps the protagonist has magical powers and is going through training at an elite institution where they suffer from violent bullying and harassment - there are plenty of stories about children who are viciously bullied, many of us have experienced that ourselves.
Writers often pull details from real events to add a sense of connection and realism to even the most fantastical stories. I would argue this isn't really any different.
The Room, a book and movie which became more or less a national household name, is a direct reference to multiple real-life kidnappings where women were rescued who had been held for so long they'd given birth while in captivity.
In the Silence of the Lambs movie, Buffalo Bill (the serial killer they are trying to catch before he kills again) pulled inspiration from multiple real-life serial killers.
The killer in Scream was based on the Gainesville Ripper.
The BBU isn't really happening, but there are pieces of it - the concept of breaking people down through abuse, malnourishment, repetition, and torture - that exist in real life.
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ynscrazylife · 4 years ago
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can you do a oneshot where Human B!D is in the hospital for some reason? Her sisters are takin turns staying with her, but she's really bummed about missing game night so all the superfriends come and they have game night in B!D's hospital room?
 Game Night at the DEO 
Summary: The Superfriends and the eldest Danvers’ sisters adjust their game night plans to accommodate Y/N’s hospital visit.
Authors Note: Thanks for requesting!
Request to be on a Taglist (or multiple) here! (Taglists are at the end of the fic)
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PSA: Do NOT copy, steal, translate, plagiarize, republish, etc any of my works on Tumblr or any other platform. Also, do NOT claim any of my works as your own. All of these works are either requests I’ve gotten that people have wanted me to write or original ideas I’ve had for works. If you happen to take inspiration from anything I’ve written and want to write something inspired by that, please a) ask me first and b) IF I say yes, credit me as inspo in your post by tagging me and link whatever work of mine that inspired you. Thanks.
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Ironically, Alex and Kara had been sitting in Kara’s apartment, setting up the games for the game night which was the following weekend, when they got the news. Y/N had worked late that day for her job at the DOE and was sent on a last minute mission which was supposed to be simple and harmless right before she wrapped up for the night. Unfortunately, it was a trap. Some evil guys had wanted to lure out a superhero and when they did, they attacked Y/N. She just about managed to escape, but J’onn had to inform the older Danvers’ sisters that their younger sister was now in the DEO built-in hospital.
It was safe to say that the women did not take the news well. They dropped everything they were doing and Kara flew them to the DEO. Within minutes, the superhero and the agent had burst into the medical ward, frantic and yelling to anyone and everyone around about their sister and her condition. 
Luckily, J’onn had been sitting in the waiting room, also anxious for news since Y/N was like a daughter to him, but he managed to be a bit calmer than Alex and Kara. He rose from his seat and just locking eyes with the alien managed to calm the sisters down. In quick strides, they were standing in front of J’onn, eyes wide, wanting - needing - to hear what happened and some good news. 
 “The doctors are still doing tests to see the extent of her injuries, but she’s going to be okay,” was the first thing he said. 
Both Danvers’ let out breaths of relief and they slumped in the chairs across from J’onn, who sat back down as well. After a couple minutes of the trio just observing each other and their surroundings, Alex plucked up the courage to ask what she and Kara had been wondering ever since the phone call. 
“What did they do to her?” 
J’onn shifted his gaze to his lap. After a beat, he answered. “After she arrived at the scene, she stopped answering her comms since she was fighting. When she ran in the opposite direction of them, though, we checked in. All she said was ‘ambush’ and ‘too many’ before she stopped replying, so a team went out to her last known location . . . They found her unconscious-” he gave Alex and Kara a moment to process this. “-and two of the guys had ran after her. Our agents found them and interrogated them, and they admitted that they had faked a fight on the streets to draw a superhero out since they claimed they despised superheroes. They wanted to bring all superheroes down, but they didn’t except for Y/N to escape. They beat her up and hurt her real badly.”
The three fell into silence. The information was overwhelming, impossible to swallow. Both women were filled with great concern but also unbeatable rage, their minds conjuring up images of Y/N fighting and then running. It broke them.
They only snapped out of their thoughts when the doctor emerged, and her face was unreadable, lips drawn into a tight line, holding a slim paper in her hands. “Agent Danvers will heal,” she announced, and then glanced down at her paper. “She’s greatly bruised, cut-up, and has a minor concussion - she suffered no major injuries, though. We’ll have her stay overnight and then we’ll see when she can be discharged tomorrow.” 
The three nodded and scrambled to her feet. “Can we see her?” Kara asked, her voice sounding strained. The doctor nodded. 
Alex and Kara went in first to find their younger sister laying bandaged-up on the bed, but giving them a small smile. Immediately, the brunette and blonde rushed over to her, asking her if she was okay and how she was feeling. 
Y/N just sunk further into her pillows and took her sister’s hands, quieting. “I won’t lie, I’m not feeling great, but I’m okay - just really tired,” she admitted. 
They nodded and didn’t press her any further, allowing her to sleep.
---------------------------------
The next morning and Y/N was eager to get out of there. She didn’t stop talking about the game night which was going to be that night and how she really wanted to catch up with everyone and play. Alex and Kara couldn’t blame her and hoped that she could get discharged, too, but were still a little concerned. 
They were her sisters, how could they not be?
Nonetheless, the doctor came in and instructed Y/N to stand up and walk around and see how she felt. Alex and Kara sat in their chairs, eyes darting back-and-forth between each other and Y/N, who nodded, easing herself out of bed.
She stood up and smiled — everyone else smiled, too — and prepared herself to take a walk around. However, after she took her first couple of steps, that was when her dizziness hit. “Woah,” she mumbled, putting a hand to her head and stumbling back.
Kara, who was closest, leaped out of her chair and steadied Y/N, gently pushing her back on the bed. The doctor frowned and checked her papers. “Dizziness isn’t good, what are you feeling?” She asked.
Y/N thought for a moment, scrunching her face up. “I think-I think those guys yesterday night . . . Now I remember, I think they blasted me with uh, this device that I’ve seen before. It weakens you. Drains you,” she said.
The doctor muttered under her breath, made a note on her paper, informed her that she’d have to stay at least one more day, and then left.
As soon as she did, Y/N explained that it must have been one of the DEO’s devices to her sisters (who knows how they got their hands on it), but pouted, unhappy that she wasn’t discharged.
Alex and Kara soon recognized this and had a silent conversation, resulting in Alex staying with Y/N while Kara made up a fake excuse to go out into the waiting room and make some arrangements.
She called the superfriends — Lena, Winn, J’onn, James, Brainy, and Nina — and told them that game night was still on, but held at a different location this time.
Everyone “RSVP’d” and at 7:00, they all showed up with Y/N’s favorite: PIZZAAA!
To say she was surprised to see everyone walk through the room’s door was an understatement. Her jaw dropped (especially when she saw the pizza) and she grinned, beyond overjoyed to see everyone. She didn’t care that she was injured, and gave them all hugs anyway (well, half-hugs, since she was laying down).
Everyone asked her how she was and she just responded with, “Better now that you’re here.”
Alex and Lena opened the pizza and got everyone slices while Kara got drinks. They ate pizza and turned on the med’s room T.V, which was filled with the basic channels but the superfriends did dramatized commentary to make Y/N laugh, and she did.
Afterwards, the games began!
Everyone split into teams, and everyone wanted Y/N on theirs. She ultimately went with Nia, and the teams were: Y/N and Nia, James and Winn, J’onn and Alex, and Lena and Kara.
First up was Pictionary! Y/N and Nia dominated everyone else. Then, they went into an exciting couple of rounds of Monopoly (which lasted forever), and Lena and Kara came out on top. To close out the night, they finished up with Never Have I Ever (lots of things got revealed there).
All in all, staying at medical wasn’t so bad. The bed’s mattress wasn’t horrible and Y/N got to have game night like she wanted to! She was never more thankful than that moment to have the amazing sisters and friends that she did.
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ryukyuan-sunflower · 5 years ago
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Mugen: The Embodiment of Shintoism’s Redemptive Delinquent, Susanoo-no-Mikoto
Before I get into this Samurai Champloo analysis, I first want to make this clear that this is all interpretations I have made. There’s no actual direct information about the Shinto stuff (that I’ve seen), but I found a lot of parallels. There’s also a lot of variations in Shinto myth! So you may find some different but similar details.
To begin, one would at first think Mugen would be a representation of Amaterasu, Kami of the Sun, because of his association with red, fire, the sun, and the rooster in his title image. (Rooster’s represent the dawn and they were used to lure out Amaterasu from a cave). And in contrast, Jin would be associated with Susanoo, God of the Ocean and Storms, because of his association with water, and the aquatic fish in his title image. However, based on everything I am about to list, it is the exact opposite. Mugen and Jin are supposed to be like Yin and Yang, their elements canceling each other out. However, the two do possess traits of one another. For Mugen, it’s Jin’s samurai honor and morality. For Jin, he has Mugen’s stubbornness to not follow those he considers unworthy.
Mugen and Susanoo’s Personalities
Susanoo in his earliest myths, is seen in an extremely negative light. He is violent, rude, wild, arrogant, and loathed by the other Kami for his impulsive actions. In particular, his older sibling Amaterasu despises him. She by comparison, is benevolent and calm. He is the embodiment of chaos in stark contrast to his sister who represents “the balance of the universe”. Susanoo’s appearance is also supposed to be disheveled.
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Susanoo, along with his two siblings, were born after his father Izanagi cleansed his face, after visiting the polluted underworld known as Yomi.
But...while Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi were born from Izanagi’s eyes, Susanoo was born from Izanagi’s nose last. The Kami believe that Susanoo had already absorbed some of the impurities of the underworld, and was tainted at birth.
This idea of being “lesser” fits very much in how Mugen is treated by society. The Ryukyuan people were heavily subjugated and experienced severe discrimination by the Japanese.
Ocean And Storms Symbolism
Susanoo is most notably the Kami of the Ocean, Storms (particularly rainfall) and Harvest (also because of rainfall). Later though, he ends up becoming the Kami associated with Love and Marriage. This will be explained further later.
Mugen has a heavy affiliation with the ocean, because of his previous occupation as a pirate and being born and raised in the penal colony island known as Taramashima which is near Miyakoshima in the Ryukyus. It’s the circular island on the bottom left, below.
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We know Mugen is from here because the black figures that try to send him to the afterlife are known as Paantu. Paantu are deities from a Miyako Island festival that cast out evil spirits by throwing sacred mud on houses and people. In addition, Taramashima was used as a penal colony for Ryukyuan criminals during this time period, and is affiliated with Miyakoshima since it is so close by.
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Also, in one of his most defining moments, he swims and emerges from the ocean in episode 25 to save Fuu.
More interestingly, Mugen is definitely associated with storms and typhoons (heavy tropic storm).
The Ryukyuan Islands have a long association with typhoons, because they were so common there throughout history, causing much damage and famine. In World War II, the Battle of Okinawa, known as the bloodiest Pacific battle, was called “The Typhoon of Steel”. In 1972, Okinawa made the flower of the coral tree or the “deigo”, their prefectural flower. 
These flowers can be seen in episode 14, during Mugen’s flashback.
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What is interesting...is deigo flowers are a symbol of disaster or catastrophe, namely typhoons. There is an Okinawan belief that the more deigo flowers bloom, the more typhoons there will be. In this episode, which is all about Mugen’s past, we are given double symbolism of the ocean and storms, when he nearly drowns during a severe rainstorm.
In addition, while Mugen’s sword is never named in the anime or manga, his blade is called “Typhoon Swell” in the Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked PS2 video game.
Fall From Grace and Rivalry with Amaterasu
Because of Susanoo’s bad attitude, chaotic personality, and destructive nature, Izanagi, chief of the Gods deemed Susanoo unworthy to live in the Heavens. So he was banished.
Accepting his fate, Susanoo decided to visit his sister Amaterasu before his departure, who had long been his rival that he fought with often.This is largely because Amaterasu as Izanagi’s first child, had divine right to rule, while Susanoo was the youngest and was believed to have impurities. Their rivalry is a symbolism of sunshine versus rain. Both are needed for the harvest, but too much of either causes famine. 
This sounds a lot like Mugen and Jin, who cancel each other out.
When Susanoo went to see Amaterasu, the lands shook, and Amaterasu grew suspicious he was causing trouble, so she met him dressed in men’s clothing and in armor. To prove he had good intentions in saying farewell, Susanoo challenged her to a contest of who could create the most gods, in order to prove his sincerity.
Amaterasu took his sword, and broke it, forming three male kami. Susano took her necklace and broke it, forming 5 female kami from the magatama beads. There’s some variations to who exactly won. One says that Susano raged happily since he made more. Another says Amaterasu used trickery, and told him that the 5 female goddesses belonged to her, since they were made from her necklace and the 3 male gods were his since they came from his broken sword. This then infuriated him.
This is similar to how Mugen and Jin broke each other’s swords in episode 26, and neither really won.
Either way, Susanoo went wild, either from rage or pride and committed several heinous deeds, namely destroying Amaterasu’s rice fields and defecating in her palace. He also flayed and killed a holy horse and threw it at Amaterasu’s holy loom, which killed one of her servants.
The holy horse seems to be important to me.
Mugen’s last antagonist of the series are the three Satsuma brothers. In particular, Umanousuke is his biggest enemy who had kidnapped Fuu, tied her to a cross, and brutally tortured Mugen after he gave up his sword to free her. I am no expert, but from what I can gather, “nousuke” in a name, means second in command beneath a lord. And “Uma” means “horse”.
After his belligerent acts, Susanoo was then thrown from the Heavens to inhabit the earthly plane, which is considered to be Japan. Similarly, after Mugen’s pirating in Satsuma, that negatively impacted Umanousuke and his brothers, Mugen finally made it to Japan.
Susanoo and Mugen’s Redemption: Saving a Woman
Despite having been seen as a wild and evil God, there is one story that redeems him, showing him as heroic, and also allows him to reconcile with his sibling.
After Susanoo was cast out of the Heavens, he walked the lands of Japan. This is similar to Mugen being shunned by society for his astigmatism of his prison tattoos, as well as being an illegal alien in Japan, since he hails from the Ryukyuan Kingdom, which at this time period, is in a very complicated relationship between China and Japan.
It is while Susanoo is in the land of man, that he for the first time, is shown actually caring for another person: a young girl.
In his travels, he meets a sorrowful, elderly man and woman who are weeping over their daughter. Susanoo curiously asks why they are crying. 
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They tell him that they have lost seven of their daughters to a sea serpent named Yamata-no-Orochi (8 forked serpent) who has devoured them year after year. Now, it is time for the sea serpent to devour their last and youngest daughter: Kushinadahime.
In an uncharacteristic act of sympathy, Susanoo offers to help them. He tells the old couple to give him their daughter so he can protect her. 
Upon entering the teahouse of episode 1, which was owned by an elderly couple...Mugen meets Fuu for the first time and saves her.
Susanoo transforms Kushinadahime into a small comb and hides her in his hair so that the serpent can not find her. Then, he goes off to kill the giant snake. He gets the serpent drunk off of very strong sake, and slays it.
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From the serpent’s tail, Susanoo acquires the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi (the sword of gathering clouds). This sword has come to represent virtue.
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After saving the girl, Susanoo asks her father for the girl’s hand in marriage. And then, after this, it would seem his new wife had tamed his tumultuous heart. She becomes venerated as the Kami of Rice and bears his 5 children. Many temples and festivals honor them together to this very day!
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It is after this point, that Susanoo is no longer seen merely as the violent, antagonistic god of storms. He also becomes venerated as the God of Love and Marriage because of his heroism and love for the girl he saved.
A violent, belligerent sinful killer who falls from grace...who is redeemed by protecting a woman and becoming a hero...
You probably see where I’m going with this. Mugen and Fuu are heavily implied to have a subtle romance in the series. But if you’re confused by this and need sufficient evidence, please let me know and I’ll provide my many posts that explain it in detail. I will merely bring up one scene here, in order to tie Mugen’s connection with Susanoo, who has become the God of Love.
In episode 21, Sara tells Mugen “Powerful hatred and rage swirl within you. I cannot tell if it is sadness. It is as if you have never once been loved.”
When Mugen falls to the ground, and Sara readies her blade to kill him, Fuu jumps across his body to shield him from Sara, and begs her not to kill him. In this moment, Sara gasps, and spares Mugen’s life. In this moment, she realizes she was wrong. There is one person who does love him, enough to put her own life at risk.
This is very similar to Susanoo. Up until the point of saving Kushinadahime, he was hated by all the Gods, including his own family. But when he saved her life, she married him, implying her appreciation and love for him.
“In Search of New Lands, I Build a New House”
Immediately after marrying Kushidahime, the lovers travel around Izumi before they can find a suitable place to live. Upon arriving in Suga, Susanoo happily states "Coming to this place, my heart is refreshed.” and then built a lovely palace for him and his wife. Upon its completion, Susanoo composed a song.
The many-fenced palace of IDUMO:
“Of the many clouds rising— To dwell there with my spouse Do I build a many-fenced palace
Ah, that many-fenced palace!”
In Episode 14, during Mugen’s flashbacks, a folk song called “Obokeuri Eeumi” plays. Because it is possibly Ryukyuan (or from Kyushu) , and also deals heavily with poverty, and being unable to sustain one’s family, it is safe to say the perspective could be Mugen’s. It is especially important that the very last image he sees when the last lyric of the song plays is Fuu’s face. This last lyric is about the narrator’s lover.
Obokeuri Eeumi (Obtain Our Bearings):
In search of new lands, I build a new house I thatch the house with reed stalks, gathered neatly in bundles. I thatch the house with reed stalks, gathered neatly in bundles. At the stone wall, let us celebrate the golden house, that was built by a hundred carpenters. At the stone wall, let us celebrate the golden house, that was built by a hundred carpenters. Let us celebrate the golden house, that was built by a hundred carpenters.  August is fast approaching, and yet I have nothing to wear I want to dress up, so brother, will you lend me just one sleeve? I wish to dress my children and loved ones… in the one kimono that I own. As for me, I will wear vines… that I plucked deep in the mountains. The light of the harvest moon shines down, illuminating the world with its divine light. When my lover sneaks in to visit me, I wish that the clouds would hide that light just a little.
Both songs are about building a house to live in with one’s loved ones, with a mention of encroaching clouds. Because Susanoo composed his song, and Obokeuri Eeumi specifically plays for Mugen’s near death experience, these songs are reflections of their characters.
Making Amends With the Rival
At some point, before or after building his home, he visits Amaterasu, his long time rival, and offers his sister the sword he acquired from killing the snake, so that the two may finally reconcile. This sword makes up the three Imperial Regalia, along with the Yata no Kagami mirror and the jewel Yasakani no Magatama.  After this moment, Amaterasu and Susanoo are no longer bitter enemies, and finally accept one another as siblings.
On the same journey of redemption that Mugen took, in which he saved Fuu time and time again, by the end, Mugen was able to reconcile with his longtime rival, Jin.
More Minor Amaterasu and Jin Symbolisms
It is from Amaterasu that all Japanese emperors claim descent. For that reason, she is the embodiment of the Japanese people. I think this is very similar to Jin, who is a representation of the ideal Japanese samurai with all of its virtues.
When Amaterasu fled from the heavens because of Susanoo’s many insults, the world became a dark and stormy place, because there was no longer any sun. Amaterasu did not want to leave the cave as she grieved for the servant Susanoo had killed. Though it might be reaching, I saw this very comparable to episode 11 of Samurai Champloo, where the trio were stranded in Hamamatsu with perpetual rain. Here, Jin states “I hope that the rain will never stop. Then, I can stay here forever.” when in reference to staying with Shino.
Amaterasu was also insulted by her husband Tsukuyomi for killing her friend, the Kami of Food, and thus never saw him again. This is a representation of the Day and Night cycle, since Tsukuyomi is the Kami of the Moon. I found this similar to Jin having to part from Shino for three years because of her stay at the Divorce Temple. In addition to that, he met with her at night when he purchased her at the brothel. But when the morning came, she told him it was “time for the fairytale to come to an end.” 
When Jin parts ways with Shino, the bridge they met on is shown one last time. Except this time, there is no more rain. There is only sunlight. 
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This is a representation that he must continue on his own journey for the samurai who smells of SUNflowers, for it is his duty, just as Amaterasu reluctantly left her cave at the behest of the other Gods...because it was her responsibility to have the sun rise in the sky again.
In conclusion
Mugen and Susanoo were both hated and considered evil. Both were outcasts. But their chivalrous actions in saving a young girl they cared about redeemed them.
Mugen and Susanoo both had a rival that was their polar opposite, but in the end, the two were able to reconcile and value one another.
(And I found another excuse to ship Fuugen.) 
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ryttu3k · 4 years ago
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Part 2 of my season 12 reaction posts! Find part 1 (Resolution of the Daleks to Fugitive of the Judoon) here!
Praxeus
Thoughts on Doctor Who - Praxeus!
OKAY FIRST. THANK YOU, SHOW, FOR FIXING A BIG ISSUE I HAD WITH THE FIRST SEASON. So they were doing a thing where they’d introduce incidentally queer characters, have a female character mention her wife, stuff like that, only for them to die. This episode had Jake and Adam, married/separated/it’s complicated couple, who face huge amounts of danger, who both come close to dying, but who survive! And have a Big Damn Kiss! And walk off together holding hands! They survived!!
Plotwise, I enjoyed it a ton while watching, although in retrospect it did feel a bit free of danger. The companions were never in true peril because the Doctor can home in on them automatically, and we never got the true scale of the risk of infection, since the only people we saw get infected were in isolated areas. I would have liked to see, for instance, the threat of Praxeus spreading beyond just the very Hitchcockian birds; all of the peril was on an individual level.
Good message, if unsubtle. Mind you, that’s kind of Doctor Who’s thing, and it pisses off conservatives, so all for it, really XD (They must have loved the core relationship in this episode, too!) Like. Subtle doesn’t work. There are literally climate change deniers that exist. Sometimes you actually do have to tell a message with all the finesse of a sledgehammer because .
(Side note, I was deeply concerned when I saw the cowriter was the guy who did the hot mess that was Kerblam!, so at least this was just an unsubtle and kind of questionably written story instead of an actively harmful one.)
The companions: Ryan seems a fair bit more confident on his own? His initial scenes with Gabriela showed that he’s starting to work well even without backup, and picking up the bird proved to be a damn good call. Yaz and Graham were a fun pair, and Yaz got a lot to do when she and Gabriela (again!) got to explore, and I can definitely understand the conflict between curiosity/doing what’s right and safety when it came to the teleport scene. She does seem to be bordering on the reckless. Intriguing!
Minor plot snag - Graham knows how to set up an IV, presumably because of the shitload of time he spent in hospital! …And yet he doesn’t know what a pathogen is?
Friend note!
“fun fact about graham seemingly not knowing what a pathogen is! in my reading of the scene, i saw it as graham knowing what one was. with "Well, I’m glad you asked that…!” he seems like he’s actually sort of pleased with himself, like he’s about to launch into an explanation, and then IIRC there’s a very brief shot at Ryan giving him a Look and Graham immediately changes tone to “…cause I didn’t want to look stupid.” he immediately changes from boosting his own ego to bolstering ryans and im love"
In which case, good shit gooood shit.
SFX - the infection was creepy as shit. The very obviously puppet bird near the lab was hilariously bad.
Apparently the filming was tricky because it was super windy so all the shorts of Thirteen with her hair Like That weren’t planned, it just kind of happened. Love a fluffy ruffled Thirteen.
So anyway. People calling for more plot focus - literally this is the Doctor trying to distract herself and not focus on the plot! This is her avoidance tactic! Emotional honesty? Who’s she? She’ll get back to it eventually, but for now she needs a distraction after being punched in the emotions. Give her that for one episode, c'mon.
Ryan: “…I do a lot of running.”
Graham: “Whatever is giving off those weird readings… is on the other side of that wall!” Yaz: *silently turns scanner around* Graham, not skipping a beat: “…is on the other side of that door!”
Yaz: “I don’t want you to panic, but… we followed one of those things through a teleport and now I think we’re on an alien planet.” Thirteen: “…well, you don’t do things by halves!”
Thirteen: “That’s why you smell of dead bird! I thought you’d changed your shower gel.”
Thirteen: “I’m having half a thought. Ooh, this one tickles!”
Thirteen: “What can I say? I’m a romantic~”
In conclusion, Doctor Who said gay rights.
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Can You Hear Me?
Thoughts on Doctor Who - Can You Hear Me?
Trigger warning for discussion of depression and suicide.
You know you're in for a wild ride when iView warns for horror themes instead of science fiction themes.
Overall: at first impression, it felt sort of mashed together? There's 14th century Aleppo, and there's 21st century Sheffield, and there's a deep space station, and there's creepy monsters and dream villains; I do kind of wonder why Zellin targeted a random girl in Aleppo as source for his pet monster, although targeting people like Ryan's best friend makes sense if he's deliberately trying to lure the Doctor to him.
The theme, on the other hand, of mental health resiliance and reaching out, was done incredibly well. Oh yeah there'll be more comments about it - the Guardian described it as 'adventures in Wokeness' - but damn, sometimes you need to hear it. I loved getting more of Yaz' backstory, about being a desperate teenage runaway at the point of being suicidal, and her reunion with the older woman legitimately made me tear up.
But like, goddamn. Her nightmare - she's still hearing that. She's still hearing her sister saying that she should "do it right this time" and that this time she won't call and that no one is coming and holy fuck. God this makes so many of Yaz' scenes incredibly painful in retrospect, knowing that she was at that point only three years before and that she's still dreaming that shit! It makes her recklessness terrifying!
Ryan's nightmare, and his experience with Tibo - it's quite reflective of the Doctor, too. She wasn't there, and Gallifrey burnt. And Ryan is realising this now, and really thinking about the potential future in Orphan 55. I think this is absolutely foreshadowing Ryan leaving at the end of the season (there's been a lot of speculation given Tosin's new TV role), and I think Ryan and Yaz' discussion at the end of the episode was a definite hint in the direction of Ryan choosing to going back to Earth.
Would have really liked Graham, during his talk with the Doctor, to gently remind her that she can talk about her own problems, although I can understand the narrative choice on why she didn't (although, yeah, would have been good for Graham to ask). Because, yeah, if anyone needs a sympathetic ear (...sans fingers) or a shoulder to lean on, it's her!! The entire theme of this episode was like... reaching out. Conquering your fears with the help of others. Sharing your fears to lessen them. Getting help. And the Doctor deliberately... not doing that makes it into an actual Thing that I think is going to seriously be addressed by the end of the season.
It's been such an ongoing theme. A bunch of episodes have started with an obviously depressed Doctor. The Fam has tried to raise the issue multiple times and have discussed it amongst themselves even more. Scenes like Yaz' reaction after being abducted in Spyfall (...which makes her, "I thought I was dead" part even more worrying) and being comforted by Ryan, not the Doctor... her whole reaction to Graham being like, "I'm glad you talked to me but I literally can't do the same in return" - if it's not addressed by the end of this season, it's at least going to have to be an ongoing theme, because it's becoming very deliberate now.
An interesting note: the actor who played Zellin (an immortal manipulator of nightmares) also voiced the Remnants (who were the first to mention the Timeless Child in The Ghost Monument). Coincidence or deliberate?
Assorted thoughts:
"I'm still quite socially awkward." There's socially awkward and there's emotionally repressed... (I saw a description of it on Tumblr as 'weaponised dissociation' and... yeah. And also yikes.) Also the way she was so closed in on herself, basically hugging her arms to her body! On a semi-related note, talking to herself in Aleppo was a bit depressing. Like it's continuing the theme of The Doctor Does Not Like Being Alone.
The finger thing - ew ew ew ew it's in their EARS ewww D:
Stylistic comment: the traditionally-styled animation for the Immortals' game was gorgeous.
"Try not freak out, yeah, but you're on a floating space platform trapped in a gravitational pull between two colliding planets."
"Thanks for lending a helping hand!" Companions just being, "...Doctor p l s."
On an old lore note, loved the callback to Eternals, Guardians, and the Toymaker! On a concerning note, man, the Doctor has so many issues with immortals. They abandoned Jack, there was the punishment they gave the Family of Blood, they had those Issues with Ashildr (from what I've read), now this, an eternal punishment with no chance of redemption, perhaps because she knows what immortality does? Parallels with the Doctor as quasi-immortal too, which Zellin even pointed out.
"You're wrong about humans. They're not pathetic. They're magnificent. They live with their fears, doubts, guilt. They face them down everyday and they prevail. That's not weakness. That's strength. That's what humanity is."
(Contrast: "That's what humanity is." The Doctor isn't human. She's not prevailing against her fears, doubts, and guilt.)
In conclusion, literally everyone but the creepy immortals needs a hug.
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The Haunting of Villa Diodati
Thoughts on Doctor Who - The Haunting Of Villa Diodati!
tfw you think you're just going to get a nice spoopy historical and instead get major plot?
Overall impression: Well, Jack is going to be pretty miffed, given that the Doctor had to do precisely what he didn't want to happen - giving the Lone Cyberman what it wanted. To save Shelley, and also to save the future, although that does bring up the question on if the death of one person can rewrite the future, why doesn't that apply to literally everyone? Fletcher the valet and Elise the nurse died too, do their deaths have the same impact? Either way, the Doctor takes the Cyberium for herself - then realises that the Cybermen are inevitable, and returns it. And now she's trying to go and stop them. So... a bit conflicting in the message there, I think.
Yeah. Bit of a Trolley Problem there.
The characters were really fun. I did enjoy seeing Mary's sense of morbidness, but also her kindness and sympathy towards the Cyberman; you can see the foundations of Frankenstein there. I'm seeing some criticism of how Byron was portrayed as a coward, but eh. Nice little callback to Ada. Also I love how one of the rules was 'no one snog Byron'. Put that dirty boy back, you don't know where he's been! Glad Claire realised that too, although historically, she was already pregnant with his daughter at that point (and that didn't go well at all)... Either way. Good display of all these bright young reckless things.
(And yes, they were young. Byron was the eldest at 28. Shelley was 23, Polidori was 20, Mary and Claire were just 18. And while Claire lived to 80 and Mary to her 50s, the three men all died young, too - Byron at 36, Shelley at 29 - yes, from drowning, Polidori at just 25. Also wasn't mentioned that Polidori also created something on that Dark And Stormy Night along with Mary's Frankenstein - he wrote The Vampyre, the first modern vampire story!)
The Lone Cyberman (and I am deliberately using that instead of 'Ashad') - creepy as shit. Not just the whole Frankenstein look, but the way he acted! Not emotionless and blank, but actively manipulative and sadistic! Mary showed empathy and he actively threw it back in her face! I mean, yikes.
House was terrific and also spooky as hell. (Am lowkey miffed that no one went "VIBE CHECK!") The jumbled layout was quite Castrovalva, and I actually really dig that Graham got to see some actual ghosts. Ghostly sandwiches!
I think we got actual confirmation here that Yaz does have feelings for the Doctor? (Bleeding Cool News is pretty sure that it was for Ryan, but... lmao no.) BBCA twitter certainly thinks so!
Claire: "His answers only increase the enigma." Yaz: "I know someone like that." Claire: "This enigmatic person of yours... would you trade them for reliable and dull?" Yaz: "My person's a bit different..."
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I MEAN.
(It got deleted. So. There is that.)
Thirteen: "Hmm. Fourteenth... no. Fifteenth century... touch more umami." (Doctor, have you been playing Detroit: Become Human again?)
Mary: "I don't think they're really from the colonies!" Byron: "No, she... is from somewhere much, much stranger." Polidori: "The North."
Thirteen: "YOU HAD ONE JOB."
Cyberman: "You appear courageous. But your vital signs betray a heightened state of anxiety." Thirteen: "Or as I like to call it... Tuesday."
Thirteen: "Yeah, 'cause sometimes this team structure isn't flat. It's mountainous, with me at the summit, in the stratosphere, alone. Left to choose. Save the poet, save the universe. Watch people burn now, or tomorrow. Sometimes even I can't win."
Claire: "You pursued Mrs Doctor without a care for my presence, belittled my thoughts and opinions... and then proceeded to use my person as a human shield." Byron: "...And?" Claire: "And the spell is broken... my lord." Polidori's face: "haha you fucked up dude"
Next week: Shit Hits The Fan.
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Ascension of the Cybermen
In lieu of a proper post for Ascension of the Cybermen, here are a list of questions we need an answer for.
Will Graham and Yaz survive, on a giant carrier full of Cybermen?
Who is Brendan, and what is his relevance to the story?
What is the Boundary?
How is Gallifrey in the Boundary?
How was the Master in Gallifrey, and not trapped by the Kasaavin?
Who is Ko Sharmus and why am I getting Yana vibes?
Who is Ashad and what is his story? (And why is his theme such a literal banger?)
Is he an actual Cyberman? Because I'm totally getting this impression he's human in armour?
How did Brendan survive being shot, and why did his non-ageing father and mentor do that?
Why did it look like a chameleon arch?
Is Ethan's tech-savvy just warzone familiarity or something more sinister?
Are there any other large human populations left?
Was I detecting a hint of romantic tension between Graham and Ravio?
What's up with Yaz?
Why did the Cyberium get sent to that time period?
Who or what is this alliance Jack is a part of?
How do the Time Lords and the lie of the Timeless Child come into it?
WHO THE FUCK IS BRENDAN?
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The Timeless Children
WELL THEN.
While I gather proper thoughts on The Timeless Children, here are the questions I had from Ascension of the Cybermen, now with answers!
Will Graham and Yaz survive, on a giant carrier full of Cybermen?
Yup! Disguises for the win!
Who is Brendan, and what is his relevance to the story?
Brendan is a filtered overlay memory of one of the Doctor's former lives.
What is the Boundary?
An anomaly, as far as I can tell.
How is Gallifrey in the Boundary?
No idea!
How was the Master in Gallifrey, and not trapped by the Kasaavin?
No idea!
Who is Ko Sharmus and why am I getting Yana vibes?
A big damn hero.
Who is Ashad and what is his story? (And why is his theme such a literal banger?)
We're still not actually sure. Either way, he's an action figure now.
Is he an actual Cyberman? Because I'm totally getting this impression he's human in armour?
Yeah, sort of.
How did Brendan survive being shot, and why did his non-ageing father and mentor do that?
Because Time Lords.
Why did it look like a chameleon arch?
It's probably related technology! If the chameleon arch rewrites memories, this one just wipes them.
Is Ethan's tech-savvy just warzone familiarity or something more sinister?
Just warzone familiarity. Poor li'l bean.
Are there any other large human populations left?
Possibly! If the Boundary really did send them to random places, there still could be surviving pockets elsewhere in the universe.
Was I detecting a hint of romantic tension between Graham and Ravio?
Maybe a bit XD And now they're all on Earth, who knows?
What's up with Yaz?
Who knows?
Why did the Cyberium get sent to that time period?
Ko Sharmus sent it. Didn't send it far enough.
Who or what is this alliance Jack is a part of?
Same organisation Ko Sharmus is part of. Also, young!Ko Sharmus/Jack please.
How do the Time Lords and the lie of the Timeless Child come into it?
In so many ways.
WHO THE FUCK IS BRENDAN?
The Doctor!
More thoughts later!
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Thoughts on Doctor Who - The Timeless Children.
...Actually, first thought is the title. Timeless Children? Hmm.
Anyway. That is... sure a literally mind-blowing revelation for the Doctor, yes! Like, damn, the discovery that you're not even the species you thought you were, that your adoptive parent spent lifetimes abusing and experimenting on you, that your memories were routinely erased by people you thought you could trust (including your adoptive parent), that you're literally the progenitor for your entire species, that you've lost who knows how much time and who knows how many memories... yeah. Damn.
What's an appropriate birthday present for someone turning ten million?
Also, huh. Amidst all the old lore and casual mentions (like Borusa!) that got mentioned - were they taking hints from the Cartmel master plan? About the Doctor being some kind of founding figure for Gallifrey? Not exactly written as Cartmel had it, but that big main concept of the Doctor as a sort of... foundation piece of Time Lord culture was still actually there.
Brain of Morbius Doctors confirmed, I guess. I guess even Four was going, "...the fuck?"
Cybermen = still scary. Regenerating Cybermen = felt somehow obscene. Like, no, that's just fundamentally not right. Like the TARDIS responding to Jack by noping the fuck out kind of not right. God. And the Master was completely and utterly magnificently batshit, like, more than usual, come on, dude, you know they'd kill or convert you the second you turned your back.
Still. Deeply, deeply entertaining to watch just from a villain perspective, completely Chaotic, and like... I do understand where he was coming from? His entire life is a lie. His entire life is because of the Doctor, who, I think it's fair to say, he has Complicated Feelings regarding. (Their entire interaction this episode was a giant power play. Like damn guys just get into BDSM and leave the would-be genocide and universal takeover.)
Tecteun = Rassilon, I'm assuming. Goddamn. Like they were a pompous abusive asshole from the outset, this just kind of makes it worse. I also wonder if Rassilon chose the Master specifically to get the drums because he was friends with the Doctor? That actually may have been something the Master worked out himself, too. I mean, I'd be pissed off as well :-\
Also, how many people know about this? I assume Gat knew, since she was implied to be responsible for the mind wipes, but was it like... a super tightly-held secret or was it something a lot of higher-ups knew? Because that's fucked up tbh
Thought on the Master. Okay, he's hugely furious that he's been lied to, that the entire origin of his people is based on a lie, that his greatest friendrivalloveenemy is incredibly special and that a part of her is in him and not in the fun way, but like... I'm also wondering if he's looking at the Time Lords, the way they turned him into their puppet, how they drove him insane for their own purposes, then looked at the Doctor - someone who has also been used, abused, experimented on, manipulated, controlled, and went, "No. This is an injustice and the Time Lords need to be punished for it."
Oh, saw a nice theory regarding the TARDISes - Ruth!Doctor had the original busted police box TARDIS. When she was eventually taken in to be mind-erased, they sent the TARDIS off to storage to be eventually repaired. The Doctor manages to steal that one, goes to Earth, and it immediately gets stuck again because it's still broken. Explains how Ruth!Doctor can have the police box while also being pre-everything.
I really want the Doctor and Jack to sit down and have a nice chat about being timeless undying constants of the universe. Also for Jack to get one of the spare TARDISes around. Be kinda funny if he got the Master's old one, given the Year That Never Was, but it really is just sitting there. (Poor TARDIS stuck as a tree on a random wartorn planet in the far future, though!)
Also, Jodie was fucking magnificent in this episode. The hurt, the absolute fury, the almost glee when she's telling the Master he can't break her, her refusal to press the button at the end (so much like Nine's "coward or killer?" moment!)... just... so good.
Beautiful post I saw here on Tumblr - the Doctor as the Timeless Child, making the choice to help.
Amazing post here on Tumblr about abuse and repressed memories. Even if the Doctor doesn't remember it all, the abuse they underwent at the hands of a beloved parent figure still informs a hell of a lot of their behaviour, but it doesn't define them. The Doctor's need to run = informed by abuse. The Doctor's desire to help crying children = informed by abuse. The Doctor being an inherently good person = being their own person, no matter what their upbringing, no matter what their past was. They made the choice to be the Doctor, and that's a hell of an important thing.
Extremely painful post I saw on Tumblr about the Doctor being 'hip with the kids' by calling her companions her Fam but hell if they're not more family to her than her actual adoptive mother ow my heart.
Also, the scene between Yaz and Graham was so sweet <3 I do want to see Yaz, at some point, admit that sometimes she's so terrified she can barely move, and to tell him what she came so close to doing when she was sixteen, and Graham to just go, "Yeah, but you keep going." Also I'm trying not to think about how Yaz would respond to the Doctor going off on a suicide mission when Yaz was suicidal just three years earlier because ow my heart. She knows that Ko Sharmus went after her, she knows the Doctor might be alive, but either way, she's just seen someone she loves leave with the intention of dying (and Ko Sharmus too, actually). Someone please give her a hug. Actually please just let the Fam have a big group hug in general.
"Have you ever been limited by who you were before?" "Huh. Now that does sound like me talking."
So, remaining questions to be answered next season!
What actually is the Doctor? Since they were found near the Boundary, they could be from anywhere. It's fair to say they now are recognised genetically as a Time Lord, but what were they originally, why were they abandoned in the first place, and are there any more of their original people out there?
How do the Remnants know about the Timeless Child, or were they just picking up on that unconscious knowledge from the Doctor's own mind?
Like... we're generally under agreement that the Master, the eternal cockroach, survived, right? Despite definitely being lowkey suicidal like oh, was hoping the Death Particle would kill me? Like the Death Particle was made by the Cyberium, it could have gone, "Nah, keeping this one."
What's going on with the Kasaavin? Remember them? Still out there, stationed all through time and space? And are we going to see Daniel Barton again?
Is something going on with Yaz?
Will the Fam stay on? (I personally think Ryan will elect to stay on Earth to account for Tosin Cole's new TV role, and if Graham and Ravio enter a relationship, he might too.)
When will we see Jack again? If he was connected to the Lone Cyberman arc, that seems... pretty conclusively finished, unless we're going to learn more about it?
Is it Christmas yet?
............so the Christmas/NY special is going to start with Jack using his vortex manipulator to bust the Doctor out of prison and get back to the Fam and it'll never be mentioned again, right.
"At least buy me diNNER!!"
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ducktastic · 4 years ago
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2020 Gameological Awards
Over on the Gameological Discord, we have an annual tradition of writing up our games of the year not as a ranked list but rather as answers to a series of prompts. Here are my personal choices for the year that was 2020.
Favorite Game of the Year
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I didn’t know what to expect when I walked into Paradise Killer. I knew that I liked the vaporwave resort aesthetic from the game’s trailer and figured I was in for a Danganronpa-style murder mystery visual novel with an open-ended murder mystery at its core. Those assumptions were… half-right? The game definitely plays out like the exploration bits of Danganronpa set on the island from Myst but with far simpler puzzles. What I didn’t expect was to fall so deeply in love with the environment—its nooks and crannies, its millennia of lore, its brutalist overlap of idol worship, consumerism, and mass slaughter. It makes sense that the world of Paradise Killer is its strongest feature, since the cast of NPCs don’t really move around, leaving you alone with the world for the overwhelming majority of your experience as you bounce back and forth between digging around for clues and interrogating potential witnesses. And despite what the promo materials indicated, there IS a definitive solution to the crimes you’re brought in to investigate, the game just lets you make judgment based on whatever evidence you have at the time you’re ready to call it a day, so if you’re missing crucial evidence you might just make a compelling enough case for the wrong person and condemn them to eternal nonexistence. Am I happy with the truth at the end of the day? No, and neither is anybody else I’ve spoken to who completed the game, but we all were also completely enthralled the entire time and our dissatisfaction has less to do with the game and more to do with the ugly reality of humanity. I’ve always been of the mindset that “spoilers” are absolute garbage and that a story should be just as good whether you know the twist or not and any story that relies on surprising the audience with an unexpected reveal is not actually that good a story, but Paradise Killer is a game about piecing together your own version of events so I feel that it’s vital to the gameplay experience that people go in knowing as little as possible and gush all about it afterwards. Just trust me, if the game looks even remotely intriguing to you, go for it. I’ve had just as much fun talking about the game after I finished it with friends just getting started as I did actually solving its mysteries myself.
Best Single Player Game
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I honestly missed out on the buzz for In Other Waters at launch, so I’m happy I had friends online talking it up as Black Friday sales were coming along. The minimal aesthetic of his underwater exploration game allows the focus to shift more naturally to the game’s stellar writing as a lone scientist goes off in search of her mentor and the secrets they were hiding on an alien world. It only took a few hours for me to become completely absorbed in this narrative and keep pushing forward into increasingly dangerous waters. In Other Waters might just be the best sci-fi story I experienced all year and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys sci-fi novels, regardless of their experience with video games.
Best Multiplayer Game
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Look, we all know this year sucked. 2020 will absolutely be chronicled in history books as a fascinating and deeply depressing time in modern history where we all stayed inside by ourselves and missed our friends and family. It was lonely and it was bleak. Which is why it made my heart glow so much more warmly every time I got a letter from an honest-to-goodness real-life friend in Animal Crossing New Horizons. Knowing that they were playing the same game I was and hearing about their experiences and sending each other wacky hats or furniture, it lightened the days and made us feel that little bit more connected. Sure, when the game first launched we would actually take the time to visit one another’s islands, hang out, chat in real-time, and exchange gifts, but we all eventually got busy with Zoom calls, sourdough starters, and watching Birds of Prey twenty-two times. Still, sending letters was enough. It was and still is a touching little way to show that we’re here for one another, if not at the exact same time.
Favorite Ongoing Game
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Zach Gage is one of my favorite game designers right now, and when I heard he was releasing a game called Good Sudoku I was sold sight unseen. The game as released was… fine. It’s sudoku and it’s pleasant, but it was also buggy and overheated my phone in a way I hadn’t seen since Ridiculous Fishing (also by Zach Gage) seven years ago. Thankfully, the most glaring bugs have been fixed and I can now enjoy popping in every day for some quick logic puzzle goodness. Daily ranked leaderboards keep me coming back again and again, the steady ramp of difficulty in the arcade and eternal modes means I can always chase the next dopamine rush of solving increasingly complex puzzles. It’s not a traditional “ongoing” game the way, say, Fortnite and Destiny are, but I’m happy to come back every day for sudoku goodness.
Didn't Click For Me
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With Fortnite progressively losing me over the course of 2020, finalizing with my wholesale “never again” stance after Epic boss Tim Sweeney compared Fortnite demanding more money from Apple to the American Civil Rights movement (no, absolutely not), I dipped my toe into a number of new “battle pass”-style online arena types of games, and while Genshin Impact eventually got its hooks into me, Spellbreak absolutely did not. With graphics straight out of The Dragon Prince and the promise of a wide variety of magic combat skills to make your character your own, the game seemed awfully tempting, but my first few experiences were aimless and joyless, with no moment of clarity to make me understand why I should keep coming back. Maybe they’ll finesse the game some more in 2021, or a bunch of my friends will get hooked and lure me back, but for now I am a-okay deleting this waste of space on my Switch and PC.
"Oh Yeah, I Did Play That Didn't I?"
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I remember being really excited for Murder By Numbers. Ace Attorney-style crime scene investigation visual novel with Picross puzzles for the evidence, art by the creators of Hatoful Boyfriend, and music by the composer of Ace Attorney itself?! Sounds like a dream come true. But the pixel-hunt nature of the crime scene investigations was more frustrating than fun, the picross puzzles were not particularly great, and the game came out literally a week before the entire world went into lockdown which makes it feel more like seven years ago than just earlier this year. I remember being marginally charmed by the game once it was in my hands, but as soon as my mind shifted to long-term self care, Murder By Numbers went from hot topic to cold case.
Most Unexpected Joy
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I was looking forward to Fuser all year. As a dyed-in-the-wool DropMix stan, the prospect of a spiritual sequel to DropMix on all major digital platforms without any of the analogue components was tremendously exciting, and I knew I’d have a lot of fun making mixes by myself and posting them online for the world to hear. What I didn’t expect, however, was the online co-op mode to be such a blast! Up to four players take turns making 32 bars of mashups, starting with whatever the player before handed them and adding their own fingerprints on top. It sounds like it should just be a mess of cacophony, but every session I’ve played so far has been just the best dance party I’ve had all year, and everyone not currently in control of the decks (including an audience of spectators) can make special requests for what the DJ should spin and tap along with the beat to great super-sized emoji to show how much they’re enjoying the mix. Literally the only times my Apple Watch has ever warned me of my heightened heart rate have been the times I was positively bouncing in place rocking out to co-op freestyle play in Fuser.
Best Music
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Only one video game this year had tunes that were so bumpable they were upgraded to my general “2020 jams” playlist alongside Jeff Rosenstock, Run the Jewels, and Phoebe Bridgers, and that game was Paradise Killer. 70% lo-fi chill beats to study/interrogate demons to, 20% gothic atmospheric bangers, 10% high-energy pop jazz, this soundtrack was just an absolute joy to swim around in both in and out of gameplay.
Favorite Game Encounter
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It’s wild that in a landscape where games let me live out my wildest fantasies, the single moment that lit me up in a way that stood out to me more than any other was serving Neil the right drink in Coffee Talk. Over the course of the game, you serve a variety of hot drinks to humans, werewolves, vampires, orcs, and more, all while chatting with your customers and learning more about their lives and relationships. The most mysterious customer, though, is an alien life form who adopts the name Neil. They do not know what they want to drink and claim it doesn’t make a difference because they cannot taste it. Everybody else wants *something*. Neil is just ordering for the sake of fitting in and exploring the Earth experience. It’s only in the second playthrough that attentive baristas will figure out what to serve Neil, unlocking the “true” ending in the process. Seeing the typically stoic Neil actually emote when they tasted their special order drink? What an absolute treat that was.
Best Free DLC of the Year
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It’s still only a couple of days old at the time I’m writing this, but Marvel’s Avengers just added Kate Bishop, aka Hawkeye, and THANK GOODNESS. Almost every character in the game at launch just smashed the endless waves of robot baddies with their fists and that looks exhausting and uncomfortable. Hawkeye (the game calls her Kate Bishop, but come on, she’s been Hawkeye in the comics for over 14 years, let’s show her some respect) uses A SWORD. FINALLY! Aside from that, I’m just having a blast shooting arrows all over the place. She and Ms Marvel are the most likable characters in the game so far, so I hope they keep adding more of the Young Avengers and Champions to the game, and if the recently announced slate of Marvel movies and tv shows are any indication (with America Chavez, Cassie Lang, and Riri Williams all coming soon to the MCU), that seems to be what Marvel is pushing for across all media
Most Accessible Game
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Nintendo is, first and foremost, a toy company. They got their start in toys and cards long before video games was a thing, and they still do more tests to ensure their video game hardware is childproof than anybody else in the industry (remember how they made Switch cartridges “taste bad” so kids wouldn’t eat them?). This year, Nintendo got to rekindle some of their throwback, simplistic, toys-and-cards energy with Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics, a Switch collection of timeless family-friendly games like Chess, Mancala, and Backgammon, along with “toy” versions of sports like baseball, boxing, and tennis for a virtual parlor room of pleasant time-wasters. The games were all presented with charming li’l explainers from anthropomorphic board game figurines, and the ability to play quick sessions of Spider Solitaire on the touch screen while I binged The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix made Clubhouse Games one of my most-played titles of the year. Plus, local play during socially-distant friend hangs was an excellent way to make us feel like we were much closer than we were physically allowed to be as friends knocked each other’s block off in the “toy boxing” version of Rock’em Sock’em Robots.
"Waiting for Game-dot"
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I get that everyone loves Disco Elysium. I saw it on everyone’s year-end lists last year. I finally bought it with an Epic Games Store coupon this year. This year was a long enough slog of depressing post-apocalyptic drudgery, I didn’t want to explore a whole nother one in my leisure time. I’ll get to it… someday.
Game That Made Me Think
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Holovista was an iPhone game I played over the course of two or three days based on the recommendation of some trusted colleagues on Twitter and oh my goodness was I glad that I played it. What starts as a chill vaporwave photography game steadily progresses into an exploration of psychological trauma, relationships with friends and family, and the baggage we carry with us from our pasts. In this exceptionally hard year, I badly needed this story about spending time alone with your personal demons and finding your way back to the people who love and support you. Just like with Journey and Gone Home, I walked away from Holovista feeling a rekindled appreciation for the people in my life.
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discoscoob · 5 years ago
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Bless me, Master, for I have sinned
Pairing: Dhawan!Master/You
Summary: A total rip off of the kneeling scene from Fleabag, all credit for this goes to Phoebe Waller-Bridge and this post
Word count: 4,2k
Warning: I’m still fairly new to writing smut, basically this is only my second time and the first I’m actually posting so apologies in advance, please be kind 🙏🏻
 The Master had shocked you many times but you had to admit that seeing him stood at an altar, with a bible held in his hands and a dog collar around his neck as he officiated the wedding ceremony of your cousin and her fiancé, was up there at the top of the list of his biggest shocks. 
You hadn’t seen him in months, you had been travelling with him behind the Doctors back after the events with the Kasaavin, since the both of you had grown attached while he was pretending to be O. It all came to a halt when he one day gave you an ultimatum, which was for you to decide whether you wanted to travel with him or the Doctor, telling you that whichever one you chose meant you could no longer see the other. It was one of those head or heart decisions, in the end you had went with your head and every day since you had wandered how differently you would have ended up had you gone with your heart.
You slouched further into the uncomfortable wooden church bench, luckily you weren’t sat too close to the front, you were grateful for the ridiculously large hat you had chosen to wear, by simply tipping your head forward it would cast a shadow over your face and make you less recognisable. 
You spent the remainder of the ceremony bouncing your knee and chewing your lip while glancing at the exit, knowing if you left early you would only draw attention to yourself so you waited until it was over and everyone had left their seats to dodge through the crowd and straight for the double doors, what you didn’t expect was for the Master to be stood at the entrance of the church, nodding and smiling as everyone left, even shaking some people’s hands if they offered. 
You dipped your head once again, this time hiding your face completely beneath your hat as you quickly jogged past him, hoping the old lady who had decided to start telling him about how she also got married in this church was enough to keep him distracted. 
Once you made it to your car you checked all your mirrors and let out a sigh of relief when you saw he wasn’t following you, after removing your hat and placing it on your passenger seat you started your car and began your journey home.
However after you got home you still couldn’t stop thinking about him, he was in your town pretending to be a priest, you wondered how long he had been here and why he was here, was he looking for you? That didn’t make sense, he knew where you lived, if he wanted you he could just show up on your doorstep anytime he liked. 
It was after you had got into bed for the night that you realised you wouldn’t be able to sleep with all these unanswered questions in your head, begrudgingly you threw your covers off you and began to get dressed, you were going to pay him a visit.
 •
 When you entered the dimly lit church you couldn’t help the shiver that shot down your spine, you had never been in a church at night before and you hated how hauntingly airy it felt, so you wrapped your arms around yourself as you warily made your way down the isle. 
The sound of pop music echoed through the empty hall and you followed the noise until you arrived at an archway at the side of the alter, from there the warm glow of a light partially leaked into the shadows and lured you towards it. 
When you entered the room, the sound of banging caught your attention and you turned your head in the direction of it to find the Master jumping with his arms stretched out above him, trying to reach for something in one of the higher shelves of a cabinet. He was too distracted by this task to notice your presence so you looked behind you for the source of the music and found the stereo, you reached out and hit the switch to turn it off
“Oh fuck!” The Master immediately startled when he saw you stood there and he scrambled backwards with his arms in front of him as if you were a threat, still letting out a string of curse words.
“Woah,” you breathed out through a small laugh, somewhat amused by his reaction.
“Oh my god I thought you were just in my head then!” He thought out loud, as he blinked rapidly, his arms still held out in front of him as he shifted his weight on his legs, he brought his hands up to his eyes as if he was going to rub them just to be sure they weren’t deceiving him but he stopped himself to point at you instead, “I mean, you were in my head then... but now you’re there.” He waved his hands around as he spoke, it was pretty obvious from the way he was acting that he had had a little bit to drink... or a lot.
You laughed a bit, unused to seeing him behave this way but you gave him a dubious look as you asked, “are you okay, Master?”
“Fuck you calling me Master like it doesn’t turn you on just to say it.” He smiled boldly at you with both hands placed on his hips, he was still dressed up as a priest though his collar hung open now to reveal the top of his chest, the hair there just peaking out from beneath the fabric. 
You stood wordlessly, unsure of how to even respond to what he just called you out on, I mean it wasn’t exactly false but you weren’t going to admit it out loud, your silence was enough and it seemed he realised that as he let out a single hum of a laugh.
“Do you wanna drink?” He offered you.
“Yeah,” you found yourself answering before you could even think about it, you knew that probably wasn’t the wisest decision but it was too late now he had already placed the empty glass on the table.
“Don’t move.” He ordered as he turned around the fetch the bottle, you couldn’t help the way that little instruction made your stomach do a slight flutter.
That’s when he went back to what you had caught him doing when you walked into the room, jumping at the cabinet with his arms stretched above his head, “I don’t seem to have the fucking reach anymore.” He complained as he continued to jump and you watched him curiously. 
“God help me.” He spoke under his breath and with one more jump the bottle was flying out of the cabinet, “woah” he gasped as he quickly caught it before it smashed to the floor.
He gave you a look before he moved back over to the table, you followed him as he poured you both a glass before he picked them both up by their rim, offering you yours.
“Here’s to chaos,” he raised his glass towards you, “and those who get in the way of it.” 
You weren’t exactly sure what he meant by that but you raised your glass to his anyway and they met in the middle with a little ping before you each took a gulp... or two... or three, if you’re the Master. 
“I’m sorry about–“ You began to apologise for choosing the Doctor over him, you weren’t sure why but you felt as though you had to as you looked upon the broken state he seemed to be in.
“Forget about it.” He dismissed before he quickly changed the subject “look at this!” He smiled, placing his glass on the table to turn around to open the closet behind him, he pulled out a priest’s robe and of course it was purple, you smiled nodding, you should have expected it, “look at it!” He enthused, “I knew I wanted a bold... this colour.” He gestured towards the garment. “So beautiful, isn’t it?” He looked at you as if this was completely normal, as if he wasn’t the Master, the renegade Time Lord who destroyed his own planet, now stood here with you in a church, pretending to be a priest as he fawned over one of his robes, refusing to acknowledge the obscurity of it all.
“What are you doing here?” You finally asked him the question you came here to get the answer to, he paused, standing across from the table with his hands clasped in front of him and his head hung so he didn’t have to look at you, he stepped forward and reached for his glass, it seemed he was suddenly very interested in it’s contents as he stared into it while he shifted his weight back and forth until he got the courage to look up at you finally.
“Come with me.” He nodded his head towards the door as he began to walk over to it, you weren’t sure if this was leading to him answering your question or if he was trying to change the subject but you guessed the only way you would find out would be if you followed him, so that’s what you did. 
 •
 You were stood in front of the confession box, face to face, you still couldn’t tell where this was leading but by now you were sure that it was a way to distract you just enough so he wouldn’t have to give you any of the answers you were looking for since he seemed to expect you to be the one to tell him your secrets, rather than the other way around.
“You go in there, I go in there.” He explained to you, pointing to each cubicle of the box, the irony of an alien who wasn’t from your planet explaining one of earths customs as if he had better knowledge of it than you did, sometimes you forgot how much time he had spent on earth, technically he had lived on this planet longer than you had, maybe he did have more knowledge after all. You shook your head, that was too much to think about right now especially when you realised he was really serious about getting you to do a confession with him.
“You’re going to make me tell you all my secrets so you can ultimately trap and control me.” You joked.
“Yeah,” he giggled, before his face shifted to a more serious expression. “No, you tell me what’s weighing on your heart and I listen without judgement and in complete confidence.” 
“Wow how much time have you spent here, did you read that from a script?” You laughed through a gasp, shocked by how precise he was getting this priest act.
“Shut up,” he light-heartedly grumbled at your teasing, “come on.” He encouraged you.
“I’m not a catholic.” You protested.
“Neither am I.” He shrugged and had you been religious you would have stepped away from him in fear he would spontaneously burst into flames, since you were sure that standing in a church and being a fraudulent priest while admitting you weren’t a catholic was asking for trouble. 
“Come on.” He urged you some more, keeping his voice soft. “Just do it.”
“Alright.” You softly agreed and then you both made your way in to the separate cubicles. 
“Okay now you say ‘bless me Master for I have sinned-“
“I’m not going to say that.”
He ignored your interruption and continued with his instructions. “‘it’s been insert days, years months since my last confession’ then I say ‘that’s okay blah blah blah’ until you tell me what’s on your mind... tell me your sins!” He eagerly encouraged you and you were laughing.
“Why would I tell you my sins?” You spoke through a broad smile.
“Because... I want to know.” He told you in a hushed tone, as if it were a secret.
So you decided you would, with a quick gulp of your drink and a deep breath, you would play his game.
“I’ve stolen things... but you would know about that since you were usually the one encouraging me to do it. I’ve had sex outside marriage, something else you already know about.” You laughed to yourself, “a lot of masturbation, a bit of violence and of course the endless fucking blasphemy.”
“And?” He prompted you to share more, it wasn’t hard to see you were holding back.
“And...” You paused, questioning whether or not you really wanted to tell him.
“Go on.” He pushed you.
You took another big gulp of your drink, to try and calm your nerves.
“And... m’frightened.” 
“Of what?”
“That I got it all wrong...” He remained silent as he patiently waited for you to elaborate, “I thought choosing the Doctor was the right thing to do but if it was why do I still think about you every single day and what my life would have been like if I chose you instead?” 
“Do you still travel with the Doctor?” He had asked and you automatically shook your head before he remembered he couldn’t see you.
“No,” you answered quietly.
“Do you miss it?” 
“I miss you.” You confessed, “I think you should have made the decision for me, I would’ve done anything you told me, I trust you would’ve got it right and I wouldn’t be spending every single day thinking about what could’ve been because I would‘ve actually been doing it. So just tell me what to do,” you pleaded, your voice strained from your overwhelming emotions. “Just fucking tell me what to do, Master!” 
Silence. You felt your heart begin to pick up as you waited for him to say something, you dropped your head in dejection.
“Kneel.” Finally came his instruction.
Everything went still for a moment and you questioned whether this was reality or if you had just began daydreaming. Your eyes travelled up to the grid of the confession box.
“What?” You wanted the confirmation that you heard him correctly, that this was real.
“Kneel.” He said softer this time, “just kneel.”
You took a deep breath while you blinked down at your lap, your lips were slightly parted as you lifted your drink to slowly place it on the ledge in the confession box and with that you carefully lowered yourself to your knees in the cramped space, the wood creaked as you moved. Once you were on your knees you arched your neck back and chewed your lip while you waited for what was next. 
You really hope he wasn’t going to get you to pray this was not what you imagined–
The curtain to the cubicle was abruptly pushed to the side to reveal the Master standing before you in all his glory, your breath hitched in your throat while your lip slipped from between your teeth, your mouth rested slightly parted. You stared up at him with doe eyes which conveyed all your desire while he glared down at you with a hard stoic expression.
Your eyes followed him as he gently lowered himself to his knees, one leg at a time and once he was done he was still looking down at you since you knelt with your bottom rested against the back of your ankles while he kept his thighs up right.
He brought his hands up to your face, just letting them hover before he ever so lightly traced the back of his fingers down your jaw until his thumb slightly brushed your chin.
You couldn’t help the way your eyes kept flicking down to his lips and you hoped that they displayed all your need for him and he had enough mercy to grant you your desire. 
Much to your delight he leant his head towards yours and you craned your neck towards him, your lips met in a tender kiss, his fingertips brushed up your throat and the fine hair at the back of your neck stood to attention.
When you pulled away from the simple kiss, you briefly glanced at each other, just to see the affect you had on one another but your glazed eyes barely managed to meet before each of you were focusing your concentration onto the others lips. You fell into another kiss however you decided you needed more than just soft and tender so you pushed into it further, raising your thighs and he chased your lips with his own as you continued to rise until you were stood on both feet, with him not far behind, your mutual desperation increased at a rapid rate. 
You began blindly stumbling, with your hands trying to grab each other anywhere and everywhere all at once, both of you refusing to break the kiss to move in a more effective and safer fashion, until you were pushing him into the door of the confession box. 
You brought your trembling fingers up to where the button should be for his trousers but you had trouble finding it until you recalled he was wearing a robe so you hastily grasped the fabric in your palms trying to get it all out of the way from where you wanted to be which only caused you to grow frustrated.
“Skirt and trousers?” You complained, although you had to admit it made sense considering priests had to be celibate it’s not like they had any need for clothes that allowed for easy access.
He helped you along as he bunched up the fabric in his arms and you were finally able to unclasp the button of his trousers, you felt the fabric which the Master had been holding bunch up against your wrist as he let it drop in favour of wrapping his arms around your waist, deciding he needed to pull you closer, so with your chests flush you blindly walked him until the back of his knees hit a bench and he collapsed onto it with his legs spread wide open, allowing you enough space to drop to your knees between them. You steadied yourself by clutching each of his thighs as you lowered yourself to the ground, never breaking eye contact.
His eyes still shone despite the lack of light in the empty church hall and his jaw hung slack, you caught the way his chest rose and fell with his heavy breaths as he closely watched your every move while he urgently gathered the excess fabric of his robe to get it out of your way.
“I should have never let you go.” The Master panted, “I should’ve kept you all to myself the moment you started travelling with me, I was a fool to share something as precious as you with anyone else, let alone the Doctor.” 
While he was talking you had managed to get his zip down and began palming him over his underwear, you could already feel his length straining against the material from how desperate he was for you.
“You don’t have to share me anymore.” You promised him, while you slowly pulled his trousers and boxers down together until his member was freed from its confinement, it sprung up against his stomach and the Master hissed from the feeling of it suddenly coming into contact with the cold air, churches weren’t exactly renowned for being the warmest of places.
He didn’t have to suffer for long as you were soon wrapping your warm palm around the base to drag it up to his tip, letting your hand  slightly twist around the head before dragging it back to the base to repeat the routine.
His breathing grew even heavier and you didn’t miss the way the muscles of his stomach twitched as you paid close attention to the head. 
With one fist buried into the crumbled up fabric of his robe, keeping him grounded, he moved his other hand to comb his fingers through your hair to secure a fist full of it at the crown of your head.
“That’s enough teasing, pet.” He huffed, urging your head closer to his length and who were you to disobey your Master?
You lowered your head, never breaking eye contact as he watched you with his lids lazily dropped. You brought your tongue out to give the head a quick lick before wrapping your lips around it and hollowing your cheeks as you dragged your head back up until it released with a pop, after that you flattened your tongue against his base and dragged it all the way to his tip which you swirled your tongue around before you closed your lips around it once again, this time moving your head down his shaft and the Master encouraged you further with the fist full of hair he still had a secure grip on, until the blunt head collided with the back of your throat and you let out a splutter, he loosened his grip allowing you to freely raise your own head but you just brought your mouth to his tip before you where sinking back down again as far as you could go.
“So good for your Master,” he breathlessly praised you, which only spurred you on further as his hips began to involuntary thrust up into your mouth, chasing his impending high. 
He broke your eye contact when he threw his head back against the back of the church bench, moaning your name in pleasure and you saw his Adam’s apple bop up and down, swallowing a gulp from the way his mouth watered.
You began to quicken your pace, hollowing your cheeks harder and rubbing the part you couldn’t reach with your hand to bring him towards his orgasm. 
By now your eyes had started watering from the attack on your gag reflex but you didn’t mind since your eyes weren’t the only things that became more damp with each thrust that hit the back of your throat, you clenched your thighs in an attempt to offer yourself some relief but it didn’t go far. 
“M’gonna come,” he warned you through clenched teeth, it was the only noticed you got before his hips bucked towards you a few times until finally his release spilled onto your tongue as your name spilled out of his mouth, he had tightened his grip on your hair making your scalp burn from the harsh hold but it only sent a wave of pleasure through the pit of your stomach. 
Once his body relaxed so did his hold and he gently ran his palm over your scalp to sooth you as he caught his breath, his head still rested back against the back of the bench, you tucked his now half hard member back into his underwear before you nuzzled your face into his palm which he had brought to your cheek after he had stroked it through your hair. 
You had your eyes closed you hadn’t noticed he was reaching forward for you until you felt his hands gripping you under your arm pits, urging you to your feet, you did as he wanted and his hands slid from under your arms and down your rib cage until they gripped your waist and he pulled you down to straddle his lap.
He looked up at you, his eyes bounced back and forth between yours before he extended his neck towards you to capture your lips with his own, his hand moved up to the back of your neck to keep you in place, while his tongue brushed across your bottom lip. 
Your own hands were rested on his shoulders to keep yourself steady, you couldn’t help the way your hips began to grind into his as you searched for anyway to relieve the tension that had built from providing him with pleasure.
After he felt your hips rhythmically stroking against his he moved his hands to your love handles to still your movements with a bruising grip.
You whined in protest but he gently shushed you, dragging a finger over your lips.
“Does my human need her Master?” He taunted, and you desperately nodded as you looked into his sparkling eyes, looking more himself than he had the entire night, a broad smile creeped on his face when he saw the yearning in yours. 
“Use your words, love.” He urged.
“I need you, Master.” You mumbled, vocalising your desires was something you still struggled with but when you travelled with him he had always encouraged you to be vocal, not only did it make it easier for him to know exactly what you needed he revelled in watching you beg him.
He gently patted your thigh, prompting you to lift off his lap with a quick peck to your lips.
“Come on, love, let’s go to my tardis, where I can take proper care of you.” He promised, and you weren’t going to turn him down, not ever again, you still hadn’t got the answers you had come here for but that could wait, for now you had better things to do.
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takaraphoenix · 4 years ago
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Thoughts on reboots?
Thanks for playing, dear! ^^
Kay so my general thought on reboots is: Mixed feelings.
For my detailed thoughts, I gotta split reboots up into their sub-categories, because my feelings on the matter vary depending on what kind of reboot it is.
Personally, I recognize five different kinds of reboots. So let’s go through them and I’ll tell you what I think.
1. The Nostalgia Kick
The most common of reboots; people have nostalgia for A Thing so you are banking on the fact that these people will be lured in to watch it based on nostalgia - it is guaranteed money, because the thing comes with an already promised and established fanbase of money-spending people.
Now, to make a nostalgia reboot work, you need more nostalgia than just that of the people in front of the screen - the people in charge of making it need to share that nostalgia. I’d like to name DuckTales here, because you can feel the love and care that goes into this reboot, you know the people making it love the thing as much as you love the thing and that, in the end, makes the result really good.
So even if the money-givers who greenlight a reboot are in it for the money, a nostalgia kick reboot can still work if you also put the people with nostalgia behind and even in front of the camera, not just in front of the screens and I am very much in favor of those, I think it is wonderful to revisit something that you love.
2. The Second Chance
Let’s just assume the motivation behind greenlighting these all is just... always corporate greed, for the sake of saving time and focus on the project itself, okay?
The second chance reboot is something where the original had potential but the potential wasn’t reached - be that writing, acting, or being cancelled without ever really being given a chance.
The new Percy Jackson series falls under this category; either you look at it as “cancelled too soon” because we ever only got 2/5 movies and deserve to see the story through to the end, one way or the other, or you see it as a poor execution in the movies and want it to get that second chance at getting it right.
I love the second chance reboot, I think it is a very justified kind of reboot, because sometimes, for some things something just didn’t work out - be that the people in charge not being a good fit for the project, the actors not fitting, or it just isn’t the right time for that particular thing just yet and a later audience might just find more enjoyment in it.
3. The Update
Much like the second chance, there’s a good core to the original. But by today’s standard, it’s kind of outdated.
Be that through racist, transphobic, homophobic or misogynistic depictions/jokes/writing that were a testament of their time - which does not excuse them, but that is simply where they came from. That was what the entertainment industry of the time was, ugly as it may seem.
Take every TV show from the 90s that is just... all white. Literally just... all white, not a single character of color, not even in a minor role. And even the ones where there are characters of color, but only in a minor role. Shows that are entirely and completely heterosexual. Shows and movies where the whole focus on only on the men and the women are, at best, damsels in distress with big tits who serve the male gaze and are nothing more than trophies.
The core plot of these things can be good. Heck, even the overall writing can be great. But there is just certain aspects that were simply done that way back in the day that do not fly today anymore and the story itself deserves to be retold, but in an updated manner.
Absolutely loving these kind of reboots. Give me the story I enjoyed, but make it more diverse. Tell a different version of the story.
4. The Untouchable
Well now, this one is outstanding compared to the others that talk about the objective form of story; this one is entirely subjective.
The untouchable is one that every person has to define for themselves; it’s that thing you love so overwhelmingly much, you don’t think it should ever be touched, because it is perfect just the way it is.
In some cases, it may still have flaws, like the in Nr. 3 described outdated problems, but there are just too many things that can’t be recreated - specific actors, the overall chemistry of the cast, the writing in details in particular, certain ways of execution that just aren’t done that way anymore (like, say, 2D animated Disney movies). And despite it being something that could be updated in certain aspects, you value the other parts too much and know they can not possibly be recreated so it shouldn’t be touched at all.
As an example, I’d just throw Star Wars out there, because I am fairly sure that people would march the streets with pitchforks if Disney were to announce an actual reboot of the trilogy; there is a reason they went with sequels and not a reboot, because even Disney knows that this is an untouchable franchise for too many nerds and they would be alienating their audience by doing a reboot.
While nostalgia is the thing that draws people in with reboots, there is a fine line you walk and if you are clever about it, you know when to not reboot.
Same goes for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot - they realized that ACTUALLY rebooting this would not fly, so they went with making the new story about a new Slayer, instead of recasting Buffy Summers. That way, the nostalgia crowd WILL still sign up because it is still the thing they loved, it’s the same universe, it’s a continuation of the original story, but it doesn’t touch and thus potentially ruin the thing that the people really love.
If you tackle a reboot project and realize that what you’re working with might be a big untouchable and go about it differently, that can still work out really well. But I wouldn’t count these kind of sequels as reboots, since they are generally seamless continuations, so they’re nonwithstanding for this post’s point.
Generally, if someone is doing a reboot of something I, personally, see as an untouchable, the expectations set are impossibly high - you already love the thing, after all, so they need to bring not just their A Game but their A+ Game to it to make you love this new thing.
It’s about a 90% fail rate, in my experience. And I hate it. I know this one is harder to grasp, because it is a very individual thing - from person to person and from franchise to franchise - but if they try and reboot something I love to bits and pieces and don’t do it justice, that’s... the singularly most disappointing form of reboot and I really hate it.
Hence the “don’t reboot, continue” approach, but since it is not always a universally acknowledged untouchable but rather just something you yourself hold in such high regards, that just doesn’t always work out the way you wish it.
5. The Dumpster Fire
Now, number 5 is one that, in a Venn diagram of reboots, cuts into all four previous ones!
Bad, lazy reboots. If the people making it are solely banking on your nostalgia and don’t actually give a crap, they think slapping the name of the thing on it will be enough and they don’t have to put efford into it. Think of 90% of Disney’s bullshit live-action reboots of their animated classics. Lazy jerk-off reboots for the sake of nostalgia, money making and keeping licenses. Disgusting. Needs to die.
This can happen with absolutely every other category of reboot - they don’t put the care into it, they half-ass it. Often times, the fact that it is a reboot is already symptomatic of that; they were too lazy to come up with something new so they slap a new coat of paint onto something that already exists. If there is no spark there, no show that the people actually give a damn about making this thing good and think that nostalgia alone is gonna bring butts in seats, it’s honestly doomed to fail from the beginning.
Worst case scenario? The bad reboot is such a dumpster fire, the fire catches onto the original and ruins it for you too. Say, the interpretation of a character or other element is just so fundamentally wrong and bad that even looking at that character in the original doesn’t spark joy anymore because it just... makes you remember the bad take on them?
Genuinely, this is the form of reboots that need to stop. If someone reboots something, there needs to be a reason for it - beyond money. Personal investment, a genuine idea for how to make it better/how to update it, something to make this reboot both, worth making and worth watching.
Ask Me My Thoughts On [insert whatever you want here]!  
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kinetic-elaboration · 4 years ago
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February 17: 2x07 Catspaw
It’s not Halloween but it is my mom’s birthday so a very good opportunity to watch Catspaw.
So we start with Sulu and Scotty missing on an away mission but why exactly the Enterprise is here and what the away mission was is not explained...
Also speaking of interesting and unusual combos--Scotty and Sulu!
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
I like Uhura’s nails. They go so well with her communications board. Even her job is stylish.
Oooh, possessed dead mannequin crew member warning the ship that it has been cursed?? Very promising.
Also falling like that was an impressive stunt.
Lol Assistant Chief Engineer Dealle is in charge because the first and second in command are going after the third and fourth in command. What would TNG have to say about that??
According to the Amazon trivia, Uhura was supposed to be the next in command and in charge of the ship in this ep but NBC didn’t want a woman in charge and can I just say that if this is true we were ROBBED.
Oooh mysterious fog.
Chekov and his terrible wig. Should have left him in charge.
Also it’s interesting that this is the first Chekov episode in production order and he’s actually not the navigator. He’s Spock’s backup.
This is like a game of telephone: Chekov tells Desalle to tell Uhura to tell Kirk.
This is a very serious, creepy, mysterious opening in a lot of ways (the dead crewman mystery) but I remember this as more of a goofy, silly episode. (But actually upon having now seen the whole thing... it’s more serious than I remembered in its sci fi concepts! I guess I was just remembering the witches lol.)
Honestly those witches... I guess Macbeth is a pretty big part of Earth Lore lol. I think McCoy is alarmed and unsettled by this while Spock is more intrigued and Kirk just thinks it’s dumb.
I love Kirk’s face when Spock’s only comment is “bad poetry.” Hilarious. Like “I love you but please be more helpful. This is Serious Time not time to play games and fuck with me.”
I really like Kirk in this episode. He’s giving off smart, curious explorer vibes. (Although I will say, with the whole episode down... he is very harsh on the aliens. I mean he lost a man in the opening and so he’s not down to clown but still.. I think he overestimates their hostility some.)
Creepy castle. Trick-or-treating. I want the deleted scene where Kirk explains Trick-or-Treating to Spock.
Kirk looks so frustrated by the cat.
“I’m not that green.” Lol.
What a talented cat actor!! Trot trot trot.
“Bones? I mean...the other Bones?” Maybe a different nickname today. That’s a really underrated joke.
I wish they’d picked up on Spock and put some Vulcan horror in there too. (Although I guess creating horror tropes wasn’t exactly their intention...) I wonder what Vulcan subconscious horror is like.
That was actually a pretty cool transition from the dungeon to the dining room.
Kirk would be more impressed with all this if they hadn’t killed someone. He’s never up for fun and games when someone’s dead. He’s very dubious about all of this, especially the cat.
Hmm, they are not native.
Kirk’s face just screams: “So the cat...is talking...to you?” (Actually you know what, I do think it’s very interesting that Korob can understand Sylvia even when she’s speaking in a different language.)
I bet young Spocks read about wizards and familiars and was super taken with the idea.
I don’t believe for one second that Spock’s thoughts are black and white lol. This decadent bitch? No way.
None of this is Kirk’s interest. Illusions, weird tricks, people who don’t give straight answers. This is not the way to impress him or make him want to help you in any way.
McCoy the jewel expert. These look real!
You like shiny stuff right humans? Pretty crystalline forms for you?? Not in a post-scarcity utopia!
McCoy has just realized this woman IS the cat.
Hmmm, telepathy, like Spock’s?
I want that Enterprise necklace!!
“You do with your minds what we do with tools.”
Lol at Kirk thinking he’s won because he can send another search party. Like... how’d the last search party work out for you?
Mmm, Kirk looking at the necklace. That’s some Acting.
Credits to navy beans.
“An Earthman like yourself...”
These aliens are very interesting. Very, totally alien, as Spock says. This idea that they tried to read the humans’ minds and missed their target is just so cool. Like, they weren’t trying to create a weird Halloween experience, they thought they were creating a familiar home for the aliens. “Oh, a castle, just like home!”
So it sounds like this planet is not that far away from Earth. The aliens are coming closer...
Haha Sylvia says she’s not a puppet but ironically--she is exactly, literally a puppet.
I’m just going to say it: Sylvia is one of the best female characters in TOS. Like should I be insulted that the lady alien went insane and emotional and messed everything up? Probably but I prefer to think of it as her being intrigued and invested in her own power and possibilities and then she goes overboard.
Anyway this is Macbeth whoops
“You torture our specimens.”
So what is their mission??
Hmm, she’s really into Kirk. And he knows just how to manipulate her: telling her she’s not really a woman, she’s not real, then transitioning into Honeypot Mode.
“I can be many women,” she says and just puts on different wigs.
Whoops she found his conscious mind. So much for manipulating her.
And so the familiar becomes the wizard.
This is sad; they could have become friends with the aliens. Korob doesn’t seem so bad.
Big cat!! Really big cat! Not the most terrifying creature at all; the nicest and softest. I'm not convinced that cat is big; I think it's pretty obvious the hallway is just small. However, I like the idea. I wish I had a super big cat to be friends with.
[Cat screams continue]
“Well at least we found them.”
Spock is so unruffled. "Hmmm, this is most unpleasant. If only we had some kind of weapon or something..."
“I got the transmuter. It’s mine now.”
Sylvia is obviously still into him lol.
“Don’t let her touch the wand.” It’s a transmuter Spock have you not been listening?
THE PUPPETS.
Spock wants to study them. Of course he does. And so the specimen becomes the scientist and the scientist the specimen.
...Overall an interesting ep. But I do have some questions. One of those eps that leaves a lot of world bulding unsaid, which leaves room for fun speculation.
So, first, these aliens came from very far away, and now they’re in our galaxy. Mom question if it was an “invasion.” I think so, at least in a neutral sense. But what was their purpose? Why were they traveling to new planets? Do they need something their planet can’t give them? Or are they just exploring for fun/curiosity--as we ourselves do?
Sometimes they’d speak as if they had some greater mission--the references to the old ones, their insistence on getting the humans’ help as if they relied on it, their “tests” like they were looking for something specific--but the actual mission was never stated or even hinted at. So I guess it’s just as possible they were exploring as intelligent beings do, and then found these humans, and came to really like them and just thought the alliance (or possible further study) could be advantageous.
Are these two the only aliens left or are there others back home? I assume there are others but it wasn’t completely clear if the “old ones” were memories or beings with, like, literal oversight.
Also, why were Scotty and Sulu on the planet in the first place? Spock says the planet has never known to have beings on it. So was the Enterprise just like triple checking that or did they have a reason to go down? Did Korob and Sylvia lure them? Because I felt like Kirk's annoyance with them was rather unfounded if his men just invaded their home first. I tend to think that they were in the area and something on the planet attracted them--that the aliens specifically wanted them to come down. That, and the killing of Jackson, would make Kirk’s reaction to them more reasonable.
I’m not saying I don’t have sympathy for the aliens because I definitely do. Like, we would absolutely do the same thing: find the interesting specimens and examine them. These are curious aliens. A lot of what they do seems to be in fun also--providing the humans with a setting they think the humans will like; offering them things; playing around with illusion. Of course then there are hostile actions--like killing Jackson, manipulating Scotty, Sulu, and Bones, and harming the Enterprise. But it’s not entirely clear to me if these are meant to be hostile actions, or if they just don’t see them as that serious--or perhaps, serious but worth it. Also some of it might just be Sylvia going power-mad (like the Enterprise torture, which Korob didn’t like).
I wonder what the aliens were doing on the planet before the Enterprise arrived. Were they in their real forms, or were they creating other illusions? They took these forms (human and cat) from the Enterprise crew’s mind so one would assume they looked different before the Enterprise got there. Were they on their way somewhere else? Could they have already known about Earth, even?
I like these aliens because they really do feel alien. I think that’s very difficult; a lot of sci fi (including Star Trek, often) presents aliens against the bar of humans: how are they different from humans, as opposed to, what are they like? These aliens have some very impressive powers: mind-reading, mental control, shapeshifting, “magic.” But their powers also have limits: they don’t always read minds correctly, for example, and Sylvia is so easily corrupted by her newfound love of sensation. And like I said before, their actions seem erratic and the morality of them hard to parse, perhaps because they’re just operating on a completely different moral plane than people.
Like, why DID they kill Jackson? Did Sylvia do it just because she could? Was it part of the test? Korob says later “you were warned not to come and you came anyway, that shows loyalty,” and the nature of the warning--the curse--was also taken from the horror subconscious. So maybe they thought this is how you communicate with humans, and the idea that killing one of them was so egregious didn’t occur to them, either because they see the humans as specimens, and would no more mourn our deaths than we mourn the deaths of lab rats (or than Kirk et.al. mourned the aliens tbqh), or because they just have a different relationship to death on their planet.
And what was the purpose of taking control of Scotty, Sulu, and Bones? Some of the dialogue implies that control is part of their telepathy--and yet they seem more than capable of reading minds without actually altering what the object of the mind reading does. Do they gain control when they go particularly deep in their interrogations? Why are they interrogating that deeply at all, and what are they STILL looking for after taking control of 3 people?
Another possibility is that they had too many specimens and didn’t know enough about them to feel comfortable letting them all roam free. They were outnumbered 5 to 2. The fewer people who are free, the easier to interrogate them and learn about them--they also use physical restraints at times, and after they try talking to 3 and find it too much, they switch to talking to 1 at a time.
And then finally, as with the killing of Jackson--it might just be something they did because they can. And I have to say, humans would be the same. Like if we had a group of aliens, we’d use the tools at our disposal to corral and restrain them and then learn about them, not necessarily malevolently, but for our own safety and sense of power and control. And some people probably would cross lines. Like, Korob and Sylvia aren’t entirely benevolent OR malevolent. They’re just alien.
The transmuter was very weird. I have to say, it didn’t really make sense. They seemed to use their powers just fine without it most of the time, which is why I’m inclined to think Sylvia wasn’t lying when she said it just magnified their abilities. BUT then why did destroying it destroy all the illusion? It seems pretty obviously just a plot device that would allow the episode to wrap up in an hour.
I’m also confused and intrigued by the line that they used the transmuter to get to the planet. How do you use it to travel?
And...why did they die in the end? If those were their real forms, you’d think being returned to them wouldn’t harm them in any way. And yet they seemed to disintegrate right there. They did seem very delicate and we don’t know what their native planet was like. Perhaps they needed the transmuter/their shape-shifting abilities to survive on this planet at all.
Actually just occurred to me--the transmuter. Maybe their mind reading abilities are inherent but their shape-shifting isn’t. Although that raises the question of how they could have built something so big when they are so small--does the wand itself change shape and size?
One interesting thing about these aliens is that even though they appear as humans without being humans, they are NOT energy beings like a lot of other aliens who shape-shift to human forms. They haven’t transcended to a state beyond teh physical form. Unlike the Organians or the aliens from Return to Tomorrow, there’s no sense that they are purposefully evolving or striving toward being so mentally powerful that they no longer need the body--they do have bodies and they are physical beings, but one of their, imo, inherent powers is this extreme mental capacity, including a version of telepathy and a version of shapeshifting.
The Amazon summary says they are “aliens on a mission of conquest” but I don’t think that’s true.
Anyway idk if I had other thoughts but I’m becoming decreasingly coherent so I think it’s time for bed!
Next up is I, Mudd. I’m not a big Harvery Mudd fan but I seem to remember there were some funny bits in that ep so it should be fun.
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mercy-of-the-ashes · 4 years ago
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My Complete Thoughts On Haiji Towa and My Experiences As A Haiji Fan
Hey, guys. It’s been a while since I made a new post. I’m hardly on Reddit, but that’s obvious. As you can see from the title, I rewrote my Haiji post again, but I assure you, it’ll be the last time I do this. After all this time, I left out so many details, and I wanted to make sure I say everything that I want to say here. That way, I can just move on while knowing I got everything off my chest. Obviously, this post is about, you guessed it, Haiji Towa, the most controversial and hated Danganronpa character of all time. And it’ll also be about me and my experiences as a Haiji fan. It’s a very long post, so please bear with me.
Note: I do not want to cause drama by posting this. I’m not targeting anyone nor do I want anyone to target me for this. I’m just going to state all of my honest opinions about Haiji and my experiences in the fandom, and what I think about both. If anyone doesn’t want to read what I have to say, please turn back and ignore my post. You have been warned.
Haiji Towa is, believe it or not, my favorite Danganronpa character. Yes, I said it and for the first time since I joined the community a long time ago, I’m not ashamed anymore. However, I’m not blind to the hate he gets on a daily basis. I’m well aware of it, along with other things I’ve experienced for more than a year now. So for the third and final time, I’m going to explain my full stance on Haiji without leaving anything out. Again, I’m not defending him for what he is in canon. I don’t condone his actions in any way, shape, or form, so always keep that in mind.
Now Haiji is hated for a variety of reasons, and I’m going to list them and discuss my own opinions about each one. So let’s begin!
1. Haiji’s a pedophile! Why do you like a pedophile?!!
To start things off, I’ll get the obvious one out of the way. I know and understand he’s a pedophile, but it doesn’t mean I like him for that reason. That’s a disgusting reason to like him, and I’m not one of those people. I’m not deliberately ignoring that little detail from his character because I like him. Just because I like him *doesn’t* mean I support pedophilia. I hate that they made Haiji one, and the worst part is I accidentally found out about this way before I even got to Chapter 4 during my friend’s playthrough of Ultra Despair Girls. I’ll admit I was in denial, and I wanted to believe it was some sort of misunderstanding. Sadly it wasn’t one. Some say it was just a lame joke Haiji made, but I don’t know. Regardless, it broke my heart because I didn’t have a problem with him before that happened. But despite this, I couldn’t bring myself to hate him like 95% of the fandom. And I shouldn’t be forced to hate him. I hate the fact that he’s a pedo, not the character himself. Call me insane if you want, but it’s the truth.
2. Haiji’s a child abuser!
Another thing that I know and understand. Yes, the way he treated Monaca was wrong on so many levels, including calling her an alien or unwanted and always reminding her that she’s unloved. Abuse is and will always be wrong. Haiji hated her out of bitterness and jealousy, especially when her genius intellect started to shine, and he just didn’t care about her at all. What he did to a child was cruel, there’s no denying it.
3. He’s a jerk, a coward, a horrible leader.
I’d say that I’m not blind to this as well, but this is just me having to repeat myself over and over. I know what he’s like. Haiji’s a jerk and a coward who didn’t fight back against the kids and Monokumas. He didn’t do much for the Resistance, but he should be given some credit for trying to keep the surviving adults safe. Sure, he didn’t do anything until Komaru’s inspiring speech, but he did what he thought what was best for the survivors. The keyword is “thought.” And I have a feeling I know what someone might say immediately, which will lead to the next point in a moment.
I’m not familiar with leadership, but I know Haiji’s not a perfect leader. People have pointed this out a lot from what I’ve seen. He accused Komaru and Toko of luring the Monokumas even though it wasn’t on purpose. He didn’t listen to anything they had to say. He doesn’t fight back right away. But did it ever occur to anyone that he doesn’t know much about leadership? He didn’t know what he was doing, just like any inexperienced person would if they wound up in a similar situation. But he did have some good points. I actually sympathized with him when he first appeared. He didn’t want to fight back if it meant risking the survivors getting killed. Also, Haiji did admit he was being a coward later on, so he knew he wasn’t being a good leader. He’s not the perfect leader you would expect, but he did try. Of course, his bad choices do hinder what should have been decent choices.
4. Haiji’s selfish!
Alright, his desire for revenge is selfish. He cared more about himself and what he wanted out of this, but if he truly didn’t care about others, why did he form the Resistance in the first place if he didn’t care about anyone else? I don’t approve of him wanting revenge against the Warriors of Hope and the brainwashed kids, but I understand why he would feel that way.
5. Haiji wanted to kill all the kids!
The scene from Chapter 5 is one that I will always remember. I confess that I was against Haiji for wanting to break the controller, even if it meant killing all of the brainwashed kids. His selfishness, rage, and revenge intensified here. He even attacked Toko, a character I used to despise. She’s not a favorite, but even I hated when he threatened her. Haiji was an irrational bastard throughout this chapter, and hating him for this reason is valid just like the first two. But I still understand his behavior here. Also, note that I didn’t include the other two reasons, so I’ll get to that in a moment.
Now that those reasons have been covered, I can get to the part where I can discuss my overall opinion. All of these reasons for hating him are valid, and some of them are more valid than the others. But I want to do something first. For this next part, shove the pedophilia and child abuse aside. Pretend those traits don’t exist for a moment.
Put yourself in Haiji’s shoes. You are the heir of Towa Group, a conglomerate that will be all yours someday. During your life of luxury in a city that you are destined to run someday, you discover you have a stepsister, Monaca. She later surpassed you and is helping the company, making you feel angry and jealous because a child managed to surpass you. You feel threatened and useless, and you develop an inferiority complex.
To not make matters worse for you, you just ignore her (considering how the wheelchair “accident” already happened). As long as she’s making the company profit, you don’t care what she does. The company is what matters to you. But little did you know, those Monokumas she’s developing are “death machines”, but you’re too late to realize it. You choose not to risk the company exposing everything, so you don’t say anything to not lose everything you’ve been working hard on for a long time.
Then suddenly, your father is killed right before your eyes by the same Monokumas. You barely manage to escape, but unfortunately, you get attacked too. Your arm is ripped apart and you scream in pure agony as children laugh at you. It’s a traumatizing experience for you, but because of all the conflict, your emotions take over your mindset. You blame it on the children. Monaca, who had manipulated everyone, is the enemy in your eyes. You begin to hate the children with all your heart, and wish for vengeance.
You’re forced to hide, unable to fight back after what had happened. You try to think of a plan, but deep down, you’re too afraid to do anything. Everything was traumatizing to you, so you just remain hidden from danger all while making sure the survivors don’t suffer the same way. But when words of encouragement inspire you to fight back, you rally up all the others to fight the kids that you have grown to despise for what they’ve done. Blinded by hatred, rage, and revenge, you don’t care if the kids die. You’ve suffered so much, you just want it all to end at all costs.
This only explains some of his actions, but seeing things from his perspective is key to understanding Haiji’s way of thinking. I did this because people don’t seem to notice that Haiji’s an emotion-driven man. He’s intelligent despite people claiming that he’s an idiot, but his emotions clouded his logic. He can’t think logically because he’s so fueled by revenge. He’s not an idiot, he’s inexperienced. He didn’t know what he was doing. His emotions dominated rationality, which in turn led to the way he was in-game. Being selfish and filled with revenge alongside being emotion-driven and unable to think clearly makes sense.
“But he’s a pedophile and an abuser!” I know that already, but I’m not defending him about that. Excluding the forced pedophilia and abuse, all of Haiji’s actions aren’t being excused here. I’m not excusing any of his actions at all. Understanding them and supporting them aren’t interchangeable. I wouldn’t be writing this post if I were the blind fangirl who believes that he did nothing wrong, something that people accuse me of being. Well, apparently it’s false. I can like a character without liking everything that a character does. Liking everything about a character is a dangerous mindset that I don’t have.
On to my next opinion. Haiji Towa had a lot of wasted potential. I don’t know why all of his untapped potential was never utilized. He had so much going for him, it kind of hurts to see a lot of ideas being poorly executed. In my honest opinion, Haiji could have been written better. UDG intended to make characters fall into the gray area, but even without the obvious stuff, Haiji still could have worked to fit with the theme that not everyone is completely good or completely bad. The pedophilia and abuse were forced and unnecessary to me because with everything else, Haiji already fit the theme of the game. The extra push was overkill in my eyes.
And then there’s the argument which states that he was meant to be hated, so that’s why Haiji is the way he is. Some people even told me that I missed the point of his character. No, I didn’t. I know he was made to be hated, but wasn’t Monaca the one meant to be hated? Why drag Haiji into it? Anyway, even if Haiji was made to be hated by everyone, I’m not obligated to like it. For me, they ruined him, ruined what could have been a great character, and I know there are people who feel the same way.
Haiji wasn’t allowed better writing. He didn’t get more focus, and never had a chance to get redemption. If they had taken better care of his character, Haiji could have been an antihero type of character who would get a redemption arc. He had plenty of traits that fit the character type, so all he needed was redeeming qualities and more focus to make him less of a plot device and more of an actual character. I like antiheroes, and that’s what drew me in to his character.
Why am I passionate about a character everyone hates? This will shock people, but Haiji and I have a lot in common. Again, the pedophilia and abuse do not count. We are emotion-driven and insecure. It can be proven by those who know me, and even I’m aware of how emotional and insecure I can get. We don’t always think logically, and it screws us over. We are cowardly and paranoid, too afraid to take risks, and we are hotheaded by struggling to see when we are wrong and don’t ask or accept help. We get jealous of others who upstage us (except I never abused nor will I ever abuse anyone), and we do hold grudges.
Haiji and I are both passionate in our own ways, and we are both intelligent when we can be. Plus we dress casually, and we can be sarcastic and laid-back when we’re not jerks. Yes, even I can be a jerk towards others, but my positive qualities outweigh my negative qualities.
However, unlike Haiji, I’m trying to overcome whatever flaws we both share, but it takes time to improve myself. Trying to be more confident and rational isn’t an easy task. Heck, I still struggle with accepting help from others. Also, I used to be vengeful towards others for a variety of reasons, especially after I was emotionally abused by a toxic friend, but I’m doing better now. I still express bitterness towards her and people who have hurt me recently, but I’m not out there seeking revenge.
Removing the pedophilia and adjusting some things, Haiji could have had more depth, only he wasn’t allowed more attention. It’s pretty sad when I think about it. He’s one of the most realistic characters of the series, and he was handled improperly. All of this is why I was driven to do something about it, which now leads to my own portion of this post.
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My experiences as one of the few Haiji fans have resulted in mixed feelings about the fandom. When I realized I liked Haiji more than expected and started to see the hate he constantly gets, I knew I was taking a risk when I decided to tackle something. That something was my goal to create an AU Haiji Towa. I never saw anyone do it before, so I knew it would cause problems, but I did it anyway.
Basically I started writing stories where Haiji isn’t a pedophile or an abuser (at least not to an extreme). My stories gained attention as time went on, and I admit I got so excited knowing that people acknowledged my efforts. So I kept going with them alongside my Haiji roleplay accounts. In a sense, I made this into a commitment, plus I was having fun writing a more likable version of Haiji. But there was a problem that I didn’t realize until recently. My Haiji was too different to the point where he was an OC.
I won’t lie, I refused to see it, but people did question my efforts because of it. I’m embarrassed to look back on those memories now that I know they were right. It’s no wonder he was rejected in Killing Game roleplays. That problem is now solved now that I’m rewriting all of my Haiji stories. They are stories that are now deleted, but they will come back but better. The way I roleplay Haiji was altered as well. It felt like all of my efforts were for nothing, but they weren’t. For my new portrayal of Haiji, I’m going to lean more towards canon, but considering how his backstory and personality are lacking in some areas, I can still take creative liberties with my AU Haiji.
I know I’m saying all of this as if nothing bad had happened, but I did say I’ve developed mixed feelings about the fandom. First off, the hate towards Haiji fans is ridiculous and disturbing. I’ve never seen so much hatred for a fictional character, ranging from wishing death upon him to hating actual people. Hating Haiji is valid, but the fact that people hate those who like him is taking things too far. They are falsely accused of being pedo/abuse apologists. I experienced that myself, and it’s annoying.
In my case, I was accused of glorifying Haiji Towa, so anything to do with him was banned from a place where I usually hang out often. Talking about him, roleplaying as him, anything related to Haiji, is banned. What made it hurt for me is the rule seemed like a call-out. Why? It said it doesn’t matter if it’s an AU Haiji, it’s still an issue. Just because I like him doesn’t mean I glorify pedophilia and abuse. I said this a million times to those people, yet my voice remained unheard. A minor detail was when they also accused me of liking him just because he’s attractive. Yes, I do believe he’s handsome, but that’s not the only reason why I like him, or else why would I write this post? Why make this if I’m a “shallow fangirl” who doesn’t see issues with him? I’m not stupid to behave like that, and I hate it when people misunderstand or underestimate me.
Another embarrassing moment was when my tastes in characters was questioned. They told me that I shouldn’t like characters like that, but again I don’t like Haiji for those obvious things. The same can apply for any character. People can like whatever character they want without supporting everything that they do. So, if I like Korekiyo, I support incest? I like Kokichi, do I approve of compulsive lying? What about Tenko, does that mean I hate men? NO. I don’t support any of those things.
And another thing, I like Haiji, but that doesn’t mean I’ll do the same things as him. Liking a character doesn’t equal being the character. Hating a character doesn’t equal hating people who happen to like a character. People like characters for thousands of reasons, and doing this sort of thing puts Haiji fans in a negative light when we don’t deserve it. Without a doubt, there are Haiji fans who…like him for being a pedophile and/or an abuser, but those are a minority of Haiji fans. Fans that should stay away from me and everyone else. Not all of us are pedo/abuse apologists, and these false accusations only serve to demonize us when we are innocent.
I hate to bring up this next thing, but it’s something that caused me to lose trust in people. This whole time, I thought they encouraged and supported me for liking Haiji and my efforts to create my AU Haiji. It turns out they didn’t. On one hand, I understand why and I can respect that. I’m not trying to change everyone’s opinions with this post. The reason why this hurt was I trusted them. I thought they were on my side, but then I realized they have been questioning me and never appreciated my efforts the whole time.
Two things come to mind. The first one is I don’t care if people hate Haiji, but people should at least respect those who do. Hate Haiji, but respect me. But if people hate me in the process just for liking Haiji, then there’s nothing I can do about that. As for the second thing, I know not everyone will appreciate my AU Haiji. Even after they made me realize the way I’ve been writing him, it won’t resonate with everyone. It’s not a big deal there, but I still felt like they lied to me, as if my efforts have been invalidated. The same people didn’t attack me directly, but it doesn’t change the way I feel.
What’s worse is, I almost tried to write Haiji as he was in canon because they believed it was the right way to do it if I wanted to give him a redemption arc. I was forcing myself to do it, but my heart kept telling me this isn’t what I want to do. I can’t stick with all of canon, it goes against my principle to keep the pedophilia and some of the abuse out of my AU Haiji. That’s what I’ve been doing all this time, and I’m not going against that. I’m sorry to those the people who suggested it, but I don’t want to do it. My plans for my own version of Haiji wouldn’t work if those things were intact. I’m done trying to please others. I’m a writer, and I like to write stories that don’t make me feel like I’m forcing myself to write something in some way. I want to write what I want, not what others want. So my plans for my AU Haiji will be a combination of all of the things I added to him, and what’s canon to make him a better AU Haiji. But no pedophilia and abuse (at least the severe kind of abuse). Ever.
I apologize if I sounded irritated in some places, but I’ve had a lot of emotions bottled up and I just knew writing this post would help me release them in a more productive way. The last things I want to say is all of this toxicity in the fandom is insane. I don’t hate anyone. I used to, but I realize I don’t care anymore. It’s a waste of time. What I do care is people should be allowed to like whatever they want without people breathing on their backs and making them feel bad.
If I hadn’t tackled my AU Haiji, I wouldn’t have returned to writing ever again. I was in a bad place because of the abusive friendship I had dealt with years ago. I haven’t written anything for years until I became a Haiji fan. Haiji, or Danganronpa in general, revived my love for writing. And I wouldn’t have met my friends on Discord if I hadn’t done any of this. It’s thanks to them that I’ve done so many things that I never imagined myself doing, and it’s thanks to them that I’m doing my best to improve myself as a person. It’ll be a long journey, but I don’t have to do it alone. So despite the toxicity, it was worth making it this far.
I’m lucky that I’m still here doing what I want to do. There were times when I wanted to just give up, but I have friends, real friends, who support me and don’t want me to give up on what I love. And I won’t. Besides, there are Haiji fans out there who feel the exact same way as me. If people could give them a chance, give us a chance, they could see that we’re great people. In the end, I didn’t just write this post for myself. I wrote it for all the Haiji fans out there that are afraid to speak up. And they’re right to stay hidden, and personally, I hope they see this post.
Alright, I’ve said everything that I wanted to say. I hope you guys took the time to read this lengthy post. Please respect my opinions, I never wrote this to cause any harm, but I needed to say everything that I’ve wanted to say for so long. Now I can put this to rest and move on.
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moscarific · 4 years ago
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Some of you might have noticed that I have a new fandom. As often happens, the fandom itself isn’t new: Roswell, New Mexico, has aired for two full seasons on the CW, and a lot of the fans jumped on board at or near the beginning. I, on the other hand, sauntered in late, martini in hand, and binged the whole thing on Netflix in a week to get my mind off the fact that my HVAC had died in the middle of a heat wave and nobody could figure out how to fix it. The stubborn appliance is now fixed, and my condo is now a placid 74 degrees Fahrenheit throughout, but in the time it took, I not only watched all of RNM but wrote and posted my first fic in the fandom. It is a classic case of new fandom glow, and all it took was an aggressively mediocre TV show about attractive queer aliens and two weeks of sustained negotiation with the heating-cooling repair company.
Since I have friends in the fandom and they seem happy that I’ve shown up - especially since I brought martinis for everyone - I’m now on a Discord server where a lot of the RNM fandom stalwarts hang out. (Discord: yet another fandom platform that reminds me that the days of Livejournal were terrible but also makes me feel ancient.) Here I am, two days after joining the server, giddily chatting with my fellow nerds and plugging away at fic #2, when someone starts fretting that everyone is leaving RNM fandom and there will soon be nobody left. 
In my mind, this fandom is vibrant. My Tumblr dash is full of new gifs, fanart, and stories. The Discord is not overwhelming, but there is plenty of action, most of it on topic. AO3 listings indicate a steady stream of new material. It’s possible that things have slowed down since the initial boom, but this fandom is still moving at a healthy clip - especially since, as someone else on Discord pointed out, we’re in the middle of a long show hiatus (made longer by the pandemic and by some behind-the-scenes tsuris) after a season that mostly separated the fandom’s consensus OTP. 
My reaction to this concern is that RNM is the kind of fandom that has legs. At first, that was an inkling, fueled by the desire for more Malex fic to be injected directly into my bloodstream, but the more I thought about it while folding laundry (You know what else got fixed last week? My dryer. I am so happy. Never get old, kids.) the more I saw myself responding to a pattern. The upside to being old - and by old, I mean that the Star Trek fans I used to hang out with on a Yahoo Group dubbed me a Brassy Old Fandom Queen in approximately 2002 - is that you have perspective. 
At this point, I have written upwards of 200 stories in something like 50 fandoms. (Not all of these stories are on AO3; some of them are buried on Dreamwidth where they belong.) You know what still gets read? Stories in fandoms with a large amount of canon that is readily available on a major streaming platform. I haven’t watched a Gilmore Girl since there was a Bush in office, but I still get kudos almost daily on Rory/Paris fics that are older than the characters were in the first season of that show. Sometime around 2011, I wrote Mass Effect femslash because I was modding a fic exchange and took a difficult sign-up for the team, and that thing still gets read all the time. Not only are my own Star Trek: DS9, Teen Wolf, and Firefly fics still being discovered by new readers, but I continue to find new fanworks for all of those fandoms on my Tumblr dash and on AO3, mostly created by people who just now took a deep dive on Netflix and fell in love for the first time. Some of these canons have become dated, and several were not great in the first place, but they’re easy to become obsessed with and to say fresh things about. They’re also easy to maintain interest in. I’m not really creating new works in any of these fandoms anymore, but I eagerly pick up new fanworks by others when they come my way. One of the best fics I’ve read in the past year is a sparkling Garashir AU that you should read if you have any DS9 feelings at all. I’ve been disillusioned with the central Avengers storyline of the MCU for years now, but I’ll be damned if I ever stop reblogging Stucky gifsets.
You know what doesn’t get new fans or fanworks? Short, time-dependent fandoms that everyone consumes at once and then gets tired of quickly. I got a bajillion kudos in the first 48 hours when I wrote my one and only Venom fic, and I don’t think anyone has touched that thing since. It’s a pretty good fic, but nobody cares anymore. A decade ago, everyone was wild for Kradam, but I suspect that if I ask the dewy-eyed college students on my dash what a Kris Allen is, they will blink at me with sweet incomprehension. Last year, when Good Omens was the place to be, I followed a bunch of fandom-specific side blogs, all of which are now either abandoned or so slow they’re effectively defunct. I have dim memories of lingering on endless LJ photosets of Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson at some point in 2008, but I think we have erased this from our collective memory. In all of these cases, people got all their ideas and excitement out in one explosion of fannish energy, and then they moved on - usually drifting back to the large-canon fandoms they’d come from.
The flavor of this month is The Old Guard. Everyone is making gifs and writing fluffy backstory for Nicky and Joe. Almost everyone will be bored with this by Halloween. By then, there will be some other movie or RPF ship or live musical extravaganza that we are all either obsessed with or incepted into via fannish osmosis. Fandom needs these large, centralizing events to remind ourselves that we can all feel something in unison. But they don’t last.
That’s not to say that one kind of fandom source is better than another. Gilmore Girls is not a purer or more admirable source text than Lost Girl simply because you have forgotten that one of these shows exists. It’s just that some canons are better equipped than others to draw in and retain new fans, while others can’t sustain themselves without collective fannish energy to prop them up. And the best way to sustain any fandom is to lure your friends and neighbors into it, whether by talking up the merits of the canon or linking everyone to That One Fic or reblogging pretty gifsets until they give in. If everyone’s leaving the party, make a fresh batch of martinis. Chances are, a lot of people wanted to keep hanging around anyway, and a bunch of others were lurking by the door, wondering whether it was safe to come in.
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edificationcoach · 4 years ago
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A Message to the people of Earth from an E.T Commander Valiant Thor for the years to come! 2021 and beyond…Any December 21st and various agendas. (This must be read by every human on this planet)! CRITICAL!!! Ways to Be a Better Human Being
This post is about an interesting interview done by Elisa Herrera with Commander Valiant Thor channeled by Elena Danaan. Elena Danaan channels some higher benevolent beings and of them is her protector Thor-Han through an implant in the back of her head.
Thor-Han activates this device and Elena begins to channel his words. I highly recommend you to read her book “A Gift From the Stars” here. It’s worth reading as it tells you a lot of things that happened to Elena personally but also shares important information about humanity especially the Powers that are controlling us from shining forth and putting us humans in a vicious circle of imprisonment which dearly affects our evolution.
Elisa Herrera is an amazing healer and quantum hypnosis specialist (QHHT) with who I plan to have a session within the near future. She collaborates with Elena to do live sessions and interviews on Elena’s Youtube Channel (Elena Danaan) and her channel (Quantum Healing of the Soul – Elisa Herrera) also make sure to check out her website for Quantum Hypnosis sessions at https://www.quantumlifetransformations.com/
Commander Valiant Thor is a benevolent  E.T who was sent by the Galactic Federation of Worlds and the Council of Five to Terra (Earth) in the past and met with many country leaders one of them was the 34th U.S. President of the U.S.A Dwight D. Eisenhower advising him and some other leaders from the coming danger which was plotted by malevolent Extreaterrstial beings. Commander Valiant Thor spent some time in the Pentagon guiding and advising President Eisenhower.
There are some names that I may have misspelled like: Nibiru or Nibu? But I made sure to spell Ciakahrr pronunced Sicar or Sycar and Maytrei pronunced as Mytra correctly. I also assure to make the necessary changes to some of the Alien names as I don’t want put a blame on any wrongly. If you spot any errors of any kind please share them immediately in the comment section.
Note: Make your own judgment when you read, use your heart chakra, and put your intention upfront to discern and find the truth. I hope this helps humanity.
Let the interview begin.
Elena: This interview was requested for a very long time. Valiant Thor wasn’t available, until recently a few days ago, Thor-Han surprised me that Valiant Thor accepted to connect and answered his request, and long story short, he’s here with him upstairs, as I say, and I am going to connect. I will be able to interact with you. I am going to connect with Thor-Han and relax, connect to him telepathically and let us all surround ourselves in a Merkabah of light.
Elisa: Yes. Okay, so let me know when you’re ready for the first question.
Elena: I am connected with Thor-Han, and he’s in a room, such a round table, and Valiant Thor is there at his right hand in front of him there is the high commander of the station supervisor of the station.
I don’t know what they are…Well, Ardana is here to supervise the conversation. So I am ready to hear the first question, and Thor-Han will pass it to Valiant Thor and we tell you what he answers.
Elisa: So first I want to say hi to Thor-Han and tell him we all love him very much and we are so very thankful for putting this together for us. And I know you can tell them telepathically so I won’t wait. Well, he can hear me. So as you.
The first question is I want to make sure I’m addressing him as he would like to be addressed I don’t know again if Valiant Thor is his name or what exactly would he like for me to address him?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Commander Val.
Elisa: All right fantastic. So, Commander Val, thank you so much for being here we are so very thankful. So how did the decision to come to Earth come about so people are aware of why you came.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): I was commanded by the Council of five. And the Galactic Federation, to help the Terrans to not compromise themselves in making a bad choice. You were about to make a big one. Which eventually happened at the end. I was commissioned to help you find a way, not to accept to commit to an unfortunate agreement. This is why I came.
Elisa: Well, first tell us what your message was and then we can see what would happen…
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): My message was, and still is. We cannot interfere at your place. We need your decision. And your agreement. You have the free choice. You have free will. We are not deciding for you. This is the law of all species in this galaxy. And the other protection of the Federation. And the great Council of Five. They were nine at the start but now are five.
Now, you have always the choice. You always had the choice. You always will have this choice for your destiny. I needed to ask and the answer. I didn’t have it, you had it in a time of despair, fear, you were about to make an unfortunate decision. My Council and the Federation, have tried to convince your leaders, not to make this mistake.
At the time, a fleet of (CIAKAHRR) allied to a fleet from the Nibiru you call Orion came to enforce the ground forces of those, you call reptilians. They came to offer an agreement to your leaders.
We came to ask him not to commit to this because they always do like this. They always ask and seduce with the best technology, weapons, and powering the weak. When I say weak. I mean, those under the weakness of their greed.
 The federation and the great Council of the five offered you help and assistance. This help and assistance were turned down. I stayed a few years on a mission to keep on influencing your leaders to change their minds. Most of them didn’t. I left. This took me three years of relentless effort.
The leader of the USA was a very kind, clever and enlightened, man. His soul was mixed, not from here your Terra (Earth). This leader couldn’t move. He was a prisoner in his own house. I tried to work to convince him to be stronger than the ones around him lying to him, luring him but he didn’t succeed, and before he left, he left a message. This message was a warning against who truly controlled, your planet. My message, the message I was telling at this time, and I tell today more than ever.
The reason why I came is to tell these words again. You have free choice. It is only of your free will. That you will ask for assistance. Ask not as begging the Federation, and the council. Ask not in fear, not like children or scared animals. Ask as equal. If you want to enter membership with the Federation. You need to consider yourselves as such, ready to enter because you are peaceful people, equal in wisdom to the heaven required to enter membership. Ask assistance, ask with your heart as equal.
Ask for our assistance as equal, and we will answer, not begging, not with anger, not with despair. But with a strong will as equals. You have a free choice we cannot assist you.
If you do not ask officially, as equals, do not consider the Federation, and the Council as superior beings, as long as you do this, you will not be able to assert your authority. If you consider yourselves as inferior beings, you will not be even. I need to tell, as well, that there are many operations, going on, on your planet, which I will not disclose but tell this…
We are helping you liberating your planet. As much as we can without the agreement of your leaders. It is all in the universe. The question of agreement, free will, and flow. Stand up, look at the sky not as something above you but as you in it then request assistance from the Galactic Federation, and the Council of Five as free human beings, considering you inferior to the power, such as the Galactic Federation is not putting you in a place of power. It is putting you in a place of a slave, you require assistance to liberate yourselves from a state of slavery. So do not consider yourselves as slaves to a religion, to political power, not even the Galactic Federation to require assistance from slavery to not consider yourselves as slaves, as inferior but as much evolved and powerful as all the members of the Galactic Federation. This is the message I wanted to assert ask for assistance this way. Begging won’t be answered.
Elisa: Thank you. So, what would have been different? How do you think the world would be different now if we would have been able to do what you asked us to do?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): You would have medical technology. Your world would be in peace and had less war and would be insignificant. You would have changed your system of energy. All the big establishments would have been dismantled. The power would be for the people of Terra, which I like to call Earth. If you had listened, we would have intervened openly eradicating all the reptilians from your undergrounds. Because agreeing with us, you would have broken your agreement with the reptilians. That is all you needed to do. But this help was always turned down by your governments.
Enslavement is first in the mind. Secondly, it is physical enslavement is eradicated by will request assistance officially. Some of your leaders have started two of them to understand. The two most powerful of your leaders have requested assistance, not in the right way. But we are working with them. Once they will have eliminated those who tie them down. They will be free and we will intervene. We cannot kill your people. We cannot eradicate those who turned to the dark unless you start doing it yourself and request assistance in your work.
This is not diplomacy. This is the law of the universe. You need to request the right way.
Elisa: So, do you know if our current President is aware that he has the option to request help from you? Does he know that he can do that?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Yes. We told him.
Elisa: When you were here as you know we have many leaders, all over the world. Did you also try to speak to any other leaders? Like the Russian leader back then? Or any of the other leaders and other countries, or was it just the US?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): No, I went everywhere.
Elisa: Okay. So, they all said no?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): My time, among the leaders, is over. But I met a few some decades ago. The American leader was clever and wanted to refuse agreement with the Ciakharrs, and he planned to do so. But he didn’t know that behind his back that his military complex and generals had decided otherwise. The CIA is not a good institution and not helping humanity. There is something I wish to say, Commander Ardana wishes not.
Elisa: What comes to mind is that those agencies that were controlling the president at the time and still do. If they’re infiltrated by reptilians, and they are the ones you know, actually making the decisions. Then, they’re never going to agree to ask for help from their enemies. So I just don’t see how we would have been able to get out of that anyway…
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): We are neutralizing reptilians in power. A senator and a President had decided to request the assistance of the Federation and break the agreement with the Ciakharrs, and the Orion alliances.
They were both assassinated. Now, times have changed things will be done differently. Assistance has been requested. I do not tell who requested. Three leaders requested. But now it is the moment when we do clean up around and I will not disclose operations. I will just say, Oh, the Terran human race, needs to request assistance, because it is a whole race, it is not necessary that the whole planet, does it just a good number. Every night go outside, look at your sky. You may see a little dot, which means the station where I stand, you will not know it is there. request assistance. As a member of the Galactic community. Say that you are all ready and request assistance. You will see things change.
So how can you hear us? I mean I know I go out there all the time asking for people to show up and nothing ever happened so how do we know that you’re hearing us.
Elisa: How do we know that you are hearing us?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): They hear your hearts. When you elevate your consciousness you become visible to them in the Federation, because they are more elevated in consciousness. If you elevate your vibration, your consciousness, you become at the same level and ready to talk to them. This is why I was telling you do not request in anger or in a feeling of inferiority but request with a high vibration consciousness open being part of the whole and everything. You are spiritual beings. Do not forget, and you are free. You just need to acknowledge it and to embrace it and to claim it to the universe. You are free beings.
Elisa: If we or they were to go outside, they would need to say I have free will. And I’m requesting help from the Federation the Galactic Federation of Worlds.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Yes.
Elisa: Okay, and I would think that we want to do that as we concentrate in our heart space?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Push away all anger, push away resentment. Do not be manipulated. Be sure we will answer. Do not keep bitterness in your heart. This won’t be heard. They only hear when you speak equal to equal.
Elisa: I think we can do that, hopefully, we can get the message out, and as to as many people as possible to get this moving. Do you think there’s, there has to be like a certain percentage of people to do it?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Everywhere around your planet. It is not the number. Yes, it matters. Surely, but what is important also is that it happens everywhere in all countries, part of your planet diversified geographical positions.
Elena asks Commander Val: Could you please have an idea? Give us a number, say a rough number please? 100 million, a 100 million of Terrans (humans) would be enough.
Elisa: Okay, well, there’s our answer.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): You need to grow in consciousness. You can be surprised how many Terrans are awakened on this planet. A 100 million seems to you, a big number, but in truth, there is such a number of awakened Earthlings. They just don’t have all the confidence and the opportunity to speak out. We have the Council of five, they’ve done good work of awakening the souls and the vibrations of this planet.
Elena asks Commander Val: I have a question for you. I know you spoke about the Council of Five, you are a member of the Council of Five and the Federation as well? Could you please explain?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): I am a member of the Council of Five because my planet is administrated by the counsel of Five and the Galactic Federation has an outpost there, for which I am working. I have the uniform of my people in the regulation of the Galactic Federation. I work for both the Council of Five and the Galactic Federation.
Elena: Thank you.
Elisa: I know I heard that you came and then you decided to stay after you left! Did you actually come back and stay for a little while, are you still here?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): After I left, I didn’t come back for a while…Five years. And afterward, I was commissioned again against my liking. I requested a different mission. I now order the fleet from my planet, and interact very few with your leaders. I keep on contacting sometimes with main leaders. And this is all. At the time, I was living in the United States of America. I didn’t stay all the time there. I visited other countries of your world, to meet with other leaders. So I didn’t really stay in one place. Hmm. Okay,
Elisa: So then the three years that you were in the Pentagon. Then, were you in and out, like, I know that you were that you’re able to be dematerialized and go elsewhere. So were you at that time also visiting different leaders as well during those three years in the Pentagon?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Yes, I was. As I said I didn’t stay in the same place. I was mainly living, staying in this pentagonal building because this was the eye of the operations for your planet. There was made agreements with the grey species that you dislike, and the reptilians. It was where all your fate started.
Elisa: Are you able or allowed to tell us what agreements were made on our behalf? Because I think these agreements were made on our behalf! I think we should have the right to know what was agreed for us.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Yes. These agreements were made. First, with the (Zahrog from shant vahaly. You call this system Zeta Reticuli.
These were sent to teach you crying for help in exchange for technology. They asked your leaders about the material for their genetic experiments to enhance their race, which they said was dying. The (Zhrogd) was with the solipsiray) both races are clones denaturated with altered DNA slaves to the Ciakharr Empire. Agreements were made with (solipsiray). These agreements, once made allowed the Ciakharrs to settle, as well as the Nibiru alliances, search us. The Maytre the Kiily Tokurts), the grey and other races, mainly (Maitra) from (Megopay) that you call Andromeda.
They have a presence in Nibiru area Orion, you say. These agreements were as such that your government in America, offers facilities, under the ground to conduct experiments to store, people and in exchange, they would give you useful technology to enhance your weapon systems, your devices to make war and give the one who makes the agreement, great power upon all his enemies.
The agreement for the abductions was that prisoners would be borrowed, as well as sick, mentally sick people from hospitals that is why in some hospitals you have undergrounds.
There was a set number of abductees allowed by the American government but the Nibiru and the Ciakharrs overpassed the agreements and the abductions didn’t respect what first was agreed.
Slowly the setup mind control centers and dug a big web of undergrounds and they are all main military bases. The government of America couldn’t refuse, because they were tied by fear, and the more they wanted to resist the more, the (Maytrei and the Ciakharrs) were offering gifts to shut them down. This is how very fast progress has been made in your war devices. Prototypes, new ways of piloting your devices but in exchange your governments closed their eyes upon the horrific practices happening with their consent under their ground. These were the agreements, the (Ciakharrs) always do the same. They never show themselves at first, they always send (The Zerog) and (Salipsaray) to trick.
You made agreements with the greys. But in truth, you made agreements with the (Ciakharrs) Empire and the (Nibiru) alliance. These were the agreements. I tried to tell you not to do this, that if you accept our systems, we can help you to deactivate all your weapons and help you get on together in peace. And the technology… We will pass to you, will be for the good of your people, medical devices to harness free energy. But it was declined. Because war and greed were more seducing your leader. At the time I met him, wanted to listen to us and agree with us but his military and their helpers decided otherwise. Have you understood?
Elisa: Yes. And so that I just want to make sure we confirm that..the President was President Eisenhower right?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Yes. He was a friend to me. I tried to help him.
Elisa: So, how the reptilians get involved in all of this?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): There were a presence and an ancient contingent living on the ground, who was not very harmful.
How did they get involved…They go through the galaxy, seeking worlds to concur. They found yours. They just wanted to have it, the food, the genetic material to create, mostly for their empire, and trade them with the (Nibiru). You know, these two groups do not get on together. But for some causes they do.
Elisa: Were the reptilians here, when the greys came to try to do this treaty, this agreement?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): An ancient colony of Naga in your underground world. They were not interfering with the surface. They were not in contact anymore with the Ciakharr Empire, although there was an ancient colony of them.
When the Ciakharr Empire, came back. They allied with their ancient colony, which was already underground living peacefully. But they get them to ally once again, to the filling of conquest. So there was an occupation of reptilians already, but not having to do with the agreements. You’re better not know everything that is going on under your feet.
Elisa: Yes, I agree. I want to know more, I want to know but I also don’t want to know too much because I don’t want this conversation to go into a lower vibrational space. We want to make sure that we keep it higher vibrational. But I think it was important to know what was happening at the time when you came so it gives people a reference point of why you were here.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Yes. I’d like the people of Earth to think and to know that they have the power themselves to chase the reptilian and Greys alliances and their empires from their world. We cannot group for them. You need to realize this fact. You have the willpower your energy is not trapped but it’s an illusion. Enslavement is an illusion first in the mind. This is like a matrix. The enslavement is an illusion physical portion but if you decide to take back your power the chains will break because what keeps you vulnerable to the physical (Ciakharrs, Nagas, and Nibiru) is here.
If you elevate your consciousness, they will be fearful, they will not attack you. Fear is the illusion we have many contingents working together with your contingents allied to your armies that you do not know. I tell you now to physically wipe out all these beings from underground your planet. Many operations are going on now at the moment as I speak to you. And this is our job yours is to elevate to your consciousness as fast as you can. Keep your feelings as high as you can. This is difficult to comprehend but believe me, it makes sense and it is your solute.
Elisa: Okay. All right. Thank you. So, something that I’m hoping will help is to get people to believe that you really were here, and, you know, what can you tell us to provide proof to those that you know don’t believe that you were here and met with our leaders. Is there any information that you have that you can say that, you know, that would prove that you were real and that you were here?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): This is a difficult question. I cannot show myself. I cannot disclose the private life publicly of the persons, I met. What do you want me to tell you?
Elisa: I don’t know I’m trying to think of maybe something that you saw in the Oval Office when you met with the president or maybe something you saw in the Pentagon something that can be verifiable somehow.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Let me think. There were many objects in this room. But I remember something on the edge of the desk. There was a sphere of glass. It was pretty with bubbles steel inside the glass. It had blue in color. There was on the wall, two swords crossed under a pattern, like arms. There was an eagle this beautiful bird sculpted above this. There was a lot of light coming through the window. There were very thin curtains. But I didn’t come to describe to you the decoration of the President’s office.
Elisa: Right! So I think that’s plenty. I really appreciate that. What did you when you were here, was there anything that surprised you about us positively as humans?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Positively. Yes, your ability to be curious to always wanting to know more than you know. This is the very ability that encouraged the Galactic Federation, to help you. Because of this ability to be curious of always wanting to know more, your thirst for knowledge. This we call it hope for a species. When a species doesn’t want to learn and stays stable in its certainties like the (Ciakharrs), the species does not evolve, spiritually, your ability to connect inter-dimensionally is something that amazed me. You have so many abilities. I like your curiosity.
 Sometimes you imagine too much. That is not a good point. You need to channel this ability if one thing I liked about your people is curiosity.
 The second one is love. You love each other, your family, your children, your partners, your parents, and your friends. This also is hope. I found many loving people. My friends that you name…I don’t know, yes they say… Oh, my friend… My friend, Dwight Eisenhower was a very loving man. His heart was very gentle. His love for his family touched my heart. At the time, I didn’t have children. And his love for his family that I sensed in his heart made me wanting my own family. He was enlightened. So, I have met many people who became friends. Their hearts were filled with love for their siblings. Love is your power. Curiosity is what will save you. Because always, you will want to be better to know better to do better. This is how evolution works.
Elisa: How are you able to stay in touch with the President? How were you able to stay in touch with him somehow once you left?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): When I was there, his bodyguards hated the way I was materializing at will. So they asked me to stop doing this. So that is why I moved to this building. And the President would come to this pentagonal building to visit me. It wasn’t that far from where he lived. And when I wanted to visit him, I was brought there in a car it was long and annoying, but I was following and respecting their procedures. After I left, I kept in contact twice with him. He could tell you if he could but he regretted it when I left.
Elisa: Oh yeah, I’m sure.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): We kept good contact twice. I contacted him. We had a long conversation. And I said I am sorry many times to him. He understood.
Elisa: So did you make any other friends while you were here that you kept in contact with our human friends?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Yes, I will not disclose all their names. Yeah, I met a strange man. His name was Frank!
Elisa: Yeah, he wrote the book? (Frank E. Stranges: Stranger at the Pentagon)
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): He wrote many books about me. That is why I stopped seeing him. He was very enthusiastic. I wanted to meet all representatives of the religions of your people. I met one of each. This one was very enthusiastic. He wanted me to confirm his beliefs. You know, we have a rule of noninterference. Even in your religions. I encouraged love and peace that is taught in the religion of this man…Christianity.
At the start, it was, I believe, a very positive spiritual person, who became an institution for power. I will not speak too much because I do not wish to tell things that are upsetting for these videos…
 My friend was an acquaintance. He said I was his friend. I liked him. He was amusing, I brought him on board to my ship because he was close.
This…He wrote in his book, but I was sad to read that what he retained from his experience in my ship. And my encounters with him were through the eyes of his religion, everything I said… I am authorized to tell you. I gave him information about free energy, about the way your people could heal. I told him he can write about it. But he did it still throughout the eyes of his religion.
If you acquire his writing, you need to decrypt beyond the belief of his religion because in this galaxy there isn’t any global religion. Every culture has its own beliefs. Primary before one day they open and elevate their consciousness and discover that all the gods, they imagine a one and only flow of life, energy, and love that all the people in the galaxy and I suppose the universe call source. The source is consciousness. But you understand this only once you have left the religions, which are part of primary culture. There is no dogma. There are no rules. There is only energy, and an energy that is conscious and sentient that animates everything with life.
 Do not be mistaken, source is not a God nor goddess nor anything above you. The source is within everything. And you can connect to it by connecting with your self. Your heart is like a portal to the source. We do not choose to harm primary beliefs, because we have the law of nonintervention that forbids any member of the Galactic Federation, to alter primary beings.
Elisa: But you could say, you could agree that what was written in his book was not how you said it to him.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Absolutely not.
Elisa: It was not that you stated, all these things that I mean, we’re very religious and talking about Jesus Christ and the Lord and all these things and so I just have to make the comment that I find it amusing that a man of God would lie would go, you know, write a book and lie. So, that was a little bit disappointing to see but I wanted to make sure that I could confirm with you that the things that are religious in his book did not come from your mouth.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): It did not. But at the time, people needed it. In that time, in this place in the world, your people considered this religion, very importantly, what was written in this book was speaking about love. But in the way that people understand. It was unfortunate because my teachings do not include any Earth, religious systems. I also met with other religious representatives. They did not feel compelled to write a book. This man, Frank was very original and wanted to prove that his religion was above all the others on your planet directly high on the planet where I leave that you call Venus. We do not have Earth, religions. We have adopted the belief in a manner source.
Elisa: Well, I think religions are manmade right? They were made on earth so they belong…They’re just on our Earth.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): The message of your Jesus Christ was love. He was elevated highly in wisdom. This only message would have sufficed but it didn’t because leaders in your ancient times took the opportunity of their popularity, to create a system of power and mind control. Now, this mind control power is the Vatican infiltrated until its highest positions, by those who are not your allies. The green-skinned once. I’m not allowed to say more…
Elisa: Thank you very much for that confirmation. Okay. Did you have any encounters with the men in black at all when you were here? Or did they leave that for mere humans?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): I saw some. They were just starting to be created by the service of the CIA. A secret faction, working with Ciakharrs. They are not all humans. Some are synthetic life forms, based on a simple structure known as reptiloid. They by groups in the group, you will have a mind-controlled human from Earth. Here is what they are. Sometimes you can meet the human, once you can speak with them. But the synthetics are very dangerous. They are employed to scare, those who feel compelled to speak. This is what I can say!
Elisa: okay, but they didn’t. They didn’t try to court you in any way or tried to get you to leave or, you know come after you. They didn’t come after you?!
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Their presence was becoming asserted when I left. They also work with the military complex. There were 12 high-grade officers that were controlling everything. These 12 men had power greater than the president. The president needed to request authorization to have access to the files containing what they knew. These 12 men. This institution is still operational. It hasn’t been dismantled. It is no more secret. And I will not disclose where they moved.
Elisa: Now this is the Air Force right? It’s the Air Force that started all of it? The US Air Force?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Partially.
Elisa: Um, what happened to the rest of your crew I know you came with your brother and two ladies that came with you? What happened with them?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): One of the ladies became my wife.
Elisa: Oh, okay. Interesting.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): My brother was with me. The two other women, and two other men. We were a crew of seven that became 12 at the end, the technicians, and the pilots. I can also pilot as I have had a military background. Now, I am a Commander. Also having the great of ambassador. My crew if you want to know all came back with me on Nara. Nara is the planet you call Venus. I sometimes come back for my new missions with my brother here on Earth.
Elisa: Okay, so you have a new mission Are you able to tell us what that is?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Surveillance and reporting.
Elisa: Okay, so you don’t get involved with any humans.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): No, I wish not to. I have learned my lessons. This time is an exception.
Elisa: Yes, and we’re grateful. Trust me, We’re so grateful.
So, everybody went back to Venus, and can you tell our audience, how are you able to live in Venus if we know that the atmosphere is not conducive to live right now?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): We live in biodomes half-buried cities. The atmosphere is 96%, carbon dioxide. And we have created a shield that reflects the light and the power of your star from this shield of acidic, sulphuric acid clouds reflecting the sunlight. We gain energy and it helps us powering our cities, our engines. And from this shield also we draw protection. You cannot see what is happening under the shield. We live in, doom cities. And a lot of our cities are extended underground, where we recreate viable environments.
Elisa: So it’s like half on the top and half on the bottom kind of thing.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): 10% on the top. We need this because the atmosphere of Nara has changed. In the past, there was water and continents. And when the great war in your Sun system occurred we needed to change and go underground, because the atmosphere of our planet was ripped off, partly, and the balance changed because the radiations from the Sun hit the surface and destroyed everything. This is when we created the shield to stop the radiations.
Elisa: I mean you were here and you need didn’t need any special equipment to live here. Why wouldn’t you guys just move here?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): There are many of us already here. We look like you but you don’t see or notice us. But in order to be able to breathe in your atmosphere, we need to alter our DNA and modify ourselves also prepare our skin to bear the radiations of your Sun as it reaches through your atmosphere. We do not usually breathe the same atmosphere. So all of us who are able to come and leave and work on Terra (Earth) have received an enhancement to be able to breathe and not die from the radiations. There is also the gravitational adjustment.
Elisa: Okay so did you have to do anything when you went back to Venus or you’re fine when you go back since they had to change your DNA to be here for those three years when you went back was there…Did you have to do a change?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Yes. This is why the missions are long. We need to adjust. All the facilities related to the Federation and the Council of Five have regulations in the air pressure and gravity. So you can go any places anywhere in any outpost of the Federation. And you have average regulation of the pressure and gravity. Then everyone can breathe the same air and bear the same gravitational ratio. This is difficult to comprehend for you, but it is the science, which, when you understand it, will be is easy and simple.
Elisa: What dimension and density are you?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): We are in the same dimension as you are. The density we can move between three and five. This is just a molecular attunement and you will be able to do this.
Elisa: You mean in the future?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Yes.
Elisa: So based on your experience and all the observations made since the last time you were here openly. Do you see more aperture and maturity in the human society, to make great changes to a new paradigm and a new lifestyle for the good of all people? Have you seen a change in us?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Well yes I have seen you have evolved since the time I came the openness of your heart, and consciousness. You are more aware that you are not alone in the universe, because your heart can sense, other life forms around you, and comprehend that now you are only a pebble in the great universe, the consciousness have opened your souls and you are starting to encounter the awareness of their true nature I’ve seen the difference. When I came the first time, your minds were very restricted in very restraining structures of thinking.
Now, you have liberated your words and your speech. You have a better way of expressing yourselves. You have developed technologies that allow you to speak throughout the whole planet freely. You have developed satellites that allow you to do so. You have grown up in spirituality. You are now going through the great awakening of these species. This is the difference I have seen. But unfortunately not enough. You need to work, keep on working more. You need to find peace within your feelings then you will make peace with everyone else. This is what I have noticed…The opening of consciousness.
Elisa: Good, I’m glad that you did, and have noticed a difference. I would have been worried if you said no…(laughing)…Sorry only I didn’t mean to laugh at you but…
Elena smiles saying: (Thor-Hand and Commander Val looked at each other and burst into a laugh) It was nice to see that…
Elisa: We understand that the Galactic Federation is not to interfere with the natural process and evolution. And it’s clear that Terra (Earth) has been going through a natural process as we already know. So the question is why was the. Actually, you know what, I’m not gonna ask this because it’s not really relevant um…I’m not gonna ask that.
Elena laughs and says: I’m going to make you laugh. Yeah, I saw Val Thor (Commander Thor) turning to Thor-Han telling him she’s feeling nervous.
Elisa: No, I just, I’m nervous because I don’t want to run out of time without everybody getting their questions answered.
Elena: Thor-Han said that you have time.
Elisa: And I also don’t want to aggravate you like I don’t want to give you questions that we can ask Thor-Han at a different time when the questions that I want to ask need to be like I said at the beginning of the chat, they need to be about you, or about Venus or about you know when you came and that kind of thing so I’m trying to keep the questions to that. So another question that we had here was…How did you handle all the lower frequencies that involve being here? Did they affect you at all? Although you know having all that fear and like, I know that our frequency is lower than possibly you so…
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): I kept away from it. I had my way of protecting myself by mind shield.
Elisa: Can you teach us how to do that now? Is that something humans can do?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): You can all do this, you just decide to create an energy field around your head that nothing can pass through.
Elisa: So it’s intention. Certain intention or just the thought of…or the intention of creating that around your head?!
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Intention, creative intention, your brain once receives the impulse of the intention, from the higher being creates electromagnetic wavelength that you can modulate to manipulate whatever you wish around you, especially thoughts of other beings will not protect it. the intention comes from the being gives impulse to the brain of the body. The brain creates electromagnetic waves. You can create a shield with this method. This is nature, you all do this you do not realize, but you all send out these electromagnetic waves throughout your brain.
One day, as we wanted to teach you. And as you will now discover by yourselves, this ability can make you do things at distance. Like for instance, moving objects, or piloting devices ship your cars, your planes anything by consciousness, creating electromagnetic waves that you modulate, and you give shape by your intention. The power is in your mind. In every level of your mind. Thought or energy, or even electromagnetic. You know that your planet has an electromagnetic shield, you do too. You can modulate it by your brain and thoughts. That is how you can keep away all interferences.
Elisa: Wow, awesome, thank you so much that’s super interesting.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Mind Control also works like this, when the waves are sent from far like satellites. This exists.
Elisa: Wow, awesome. Thank you, so you know at the beginning I had asked you if you, you know what to call you, and so, when I’m reading yours that  Frank stranges book it said that you had a different name?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Valiant is not my name.
Elisa: Okay, So what is your name?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Valiant has been invented from Val. Val is my real name, Val Thor.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Valiant is an Earth word which means brave.
Elisa: Right. And that’s why I was wondering about that name (Val Thor).
Elisa: Have any members of commander Val-Thor’s race been in contact with our current President? I mean Trump?!
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Yes. As the world on this planet goes we made contact not, especially the people from Nara, that you call your evening star Venus. But the Federation! And they are working together with this leader. I am asked, not to tell more.
Elisa: Okay, no that’s good I knew you gave me more information than I expected. So thank you so much. You know, it gives us comfort, believe it or not I mean, I know that there are certain things you’re not supposed to tell us but sometimes there are things that you tell us that do give us hope, and that’s one of them to know that at least, you guys have, you know that you’ve at least tried.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): When we do not tell. It is not because we do not care, or we do not do anything. It is because if we would, it would compromise the course of things.
Elisa: Yes. Great. No, I understand I promise you I understand, you are surely protecting us.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): I was telling this young lady earlier (Elena). We will never let you down. We never had, and never will.
Your future is in your hands. We are just here to walk beside you, and avoid you to fall. You walk your path. We cannot walk this path for you. We can just hold your backs for you not to stumble, not to fall. If you want our assistance, just raise your hand and hold our hand. We have never let you down. We were here all the time. And we will never let your humanity down. We are here until you reach your destination in the next level. And the next step of your evolution. And at the end, we will be here with you, together hand in hand holding each other, you know, arms, and you will have understood, then only why we weren’t showing ourselves. There was a reason.
Elisa: Yes, we are so grateful for this. And we want you to know that we are so very grateful we know that you are all doing sacrifices for us, and we don’t see them and I think it’s really important for people to realize that so many races are here helping us and we have no clue, and we’re not going to have a clue. We’re not going to be informed. But we have to trust that that’s happening. We have to keep hope because hope is what keeps the vibration high, we have to stay in a high vibration.
Elisa: How old are you in Earth years?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): In, Earth, years! I am more than 330 years.
Elisa: Wow. So how old were you when you came?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): I came, many times. But when I came to meet your leaders, I was 290, years old, of your time.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Time doesn’t pass the same way. On my planet, I age slower. The way I count my years is not the same way you count yours. My time is slower. Although my planet evolves around the same Sun faster. This is called distortion. A complicated science, the difference of years in my age doesn’t follow the same rate and speed, as it would if I had stayed on Earth, all the time.
Elisa: Okay. All right. So would you have, physically, aged, according to your planet, even though you were on our planet right?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): I aged, slightly as If visibly, I would have aged 10 years. I know I’m confusing, your minds.
Elisa: So, and we are almost out of time, so there is a big thing happening for us on Earth in the next 10 days or so, when the planets are going to align and we’re going to have the biggest amount of beautiful positive light coming into our planet. Is there anything special, you’re going to do during this time? Can you tell us anything about it?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): I suppose you are speaking about the planetary alignment, the solstice. The two Jupiter and Saturn. This is not the solstice. So, this has nothing to do with this planetary alignment. The fact this planetary alignment occurs one hour before the solstice point is an occurrence that is very rare and has nothing to do with the mechanism of the solstice.
Elisa: So the important part that we want to know is the solstice, on December 21, 2020 Is there anything special? What can you tell us about that day, that day?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): On the Northern hemisphere of your planet, the nights will be the longest and on the Southern hemisphere the shortest astronomical coincidence, with a planetary alignment is interesting because it will create a gravitational pull on your planet, which will be efficient upon the whole planet, of course, this will trigger slightly the tides and the geomagnetism and the electromagnetic field of your planet will have a slight pull towards the alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, which will be close even closer than usual. So anything that will be fluid will feel this pull. So it will be the moment to stop moving and sit and allow the gravitational flow to open the energies that are constructing your biofields. It will feel the gravitational pull, and many blockages, personal blockages can then unlock. I recommend, because of this gravitational pull that you can allow your emotions and allow yourselves to connect with the flow of the universe. This is what I would suggest doing during these combined astronomical events of the natural solstice, that occur twice a year, and has nothing extraordinary with the pull of the gravitational of Saturn and Jupiter, which is this that is important, that it occurs on your Solstice has only a metaphorical incidence.
Elisa: Yeah because there are some people that think there’s a solar flash and that the Earth is going to go dark and all kinds of scare fear tactics are being put out there. And I just want to make sure that people understand that nothing major is going to happen and Thor-Han has already told us this in a different broadcast. But people still keep asking about the 21st of December,2020. So, Commander Thor-Han was speaking of this earlier with me and supervisor Ardana. There is a lot of manipulation by fear and also using humanity’s ignorance. I would advice anytime something is told to scare you, or put you in a situation of mental or emotional dependence, you shall refuse it and you shall educate yourself upon the facts and the scientific truth. Please do not follow words, unless science can prove to you that these words are true and honest anything that is inducing fears it is not to be taken. This is typical of Dark Ages scaring people with messages predictions to enslave people’s minds emotionally. Seek for the facts.
Elisa: Yeah, absolutely. And that’s why I bring it up because they keep asking and asking and so it’s important for them to know that nothing is going to happen on the 21st, other than what Commander Val here, explains.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): The Sun flares are the big excuse. These are always used. Stop with sun flares, your Sun produces flares continuously. It has rhythms and seasons. It has seasons where the flares are more important. All of this is predictable. Do not believe anything If it is not double-checked scientifically.
Elisa: Okay. And the last question I have for you is if you were involved at all with the decision of haying a shed to disclose information about the Galactic Federation recently. Do you know who I’m talking about?
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): The people I am working on behalf of was involved with his revelations. Yes, I had a discussion with Commander, Thor-Han before also about this news. You must not merge together two different information. What this Terran man has disclosed is talking about the Galactic Federation of Worlds. This institution, I’m working for has contacted some of your leaders, not that far in time. Quite recently. To help your people to get out of slavery. We are working together with these leaders. Now, you must not confuse this information that this man disclosed, with the agreements, made in the late 1950s with the Ciakharrs.
These agreements, which took place between 1954 and 1957 were not made with the Galactic Federation, offers. They were made with the Ciakharr Empire and the alliances of (Nibu Orion, and the Maytre from Andromeda). These two pieces of information are separate. Please do not mix.
Elisa: Yeah, absolutely. Okay, we are past our time. It has been an absolute pleasure speaking with you. I just want to thank you so much and I hope that in the future as humans start being better spiritually that you’ll decide to maybe come back and visit us.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): I will for sure, with my family. Because by the time technology on your planet will have advanced with a great step.
I believe your people, have a bright and long enjoyable future ahead. We are here at this moment, helping you as older brothers and soon we will live as a family on the same soil us living with you on Terra (Earth), and you living with us on the other outpost of the Federation.
I would have spoken with you about all the miserable things and events that are occurring in your solar system on different planets, such as your satellite moon. Mars, it’s two satellites, Pluto. But I will not because knowing these things will not make you advance in consciousness, because these things may disturb and bring lower vibration, or fear. Do not look back, look ahead. Because ahead is where you are heading.
I trust from the bottom of my heart. And all I have endured on your planet I always knew each second that I was doing this. And during that time I had hope, and I believed you would succeed, and I still do. I am here, never far, either on a mission on your planet, either on my world, Narra (Venus). Always, not far, and now, I have connected with Thor-Han and I will keep in contact with him. And we will work together. So never we will be far from each other although, I am discreet in contacts, you will be able to reach out to me. If you need to ask something.
Elisa: Oh, wonderful.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): I was privileged to be able to express myself publicly once again. And now I will let you, but please do not forget, express yourselves as individuals, not owned by fear but filled with wisdom. We will meet again. We will never let you down.
Elisa: Thank you so much, sending you much love hear from everybody on the chat page.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Love is what binds us all.
Elisa: Yes.
Elena (Commander Valiant Thor): Goodbye, my friends.
Elisa: Goodbye. Thank you.
Elena: Thank you so much.
Thor-Han disconnects the device which is connected to Elena. Elena says that the device is closed but she is still connected telepathically with Thor-Han.
Elena was seeing everything through the eyes of Thor-Han. Commander Thor-Han repeated the questions of Elisa through Elena to Commander Valiant Thor.
Elena keeps explaining what Commander Val told her as a Federation they won’t let humanity down. Those words meant a lot to Elena as she says that he really meant it and he has such a powerful and beautiful aura and a lot of charisma and he is such a good person…gentle. His kind words of “We will never let you down” carried the whole Galactic Federation Races that are here for us present around now and even sacrificing their lives. They are here for us and will never let us down. We need to keep that in our minds and even during the moments of fear and despair when we want to shout objecting why things are this or that way. They are here on Earth. They have been always here.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post and wishing that it was an eye-opening. Make your own judgement. Remember everyon’s path is different and as humans we have a lot to learn. One of my purposes in this life time is to help myself help others and share what I believe to be the truth. I’ll keep on digging and pave the way for many to come to our awaited Golden Ages.
Love & Gratitude
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gasp-iwrotesomething · 5 years ago
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Could you please write a scene where Cal and MC say ‘I love you’ for the first time? Every Friday I’m checking to see if Cal is on the schedule 😂 I miss him so much, but I can’t wait for Season 3!
I do too, anon! It’s unfortunate that he hasn’t been on the schedule yet and I think that’s why I’ve been so eager to do these Cal requests lol (but he is now, I just got back to this request today lmao)! Anyway, your request is cute and I’d love to write it. Thank you for requesting and I hope you enjoy!
I just realized that a bunch of my Cal fics are about them fighting demons 🙃
Summary: Caught in a trap, Cal turns to MC and asks a dire question. It’s brusque in the face of danger and a weirdly complicated question to answer on MC’s part. Will she say what she’s been thinking for a while or will the trap close in too fast for that?
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Cal and MC slunk towards the location in question, their hands entwined. They had been wary of the credibility of the messenger, considering that they had been a random civilian that could’ve easily been one of Alejandro’s puppets. It had been the same with Brody, where he had been deployed to kill Cal and then once he failed, he was murdered and tossed aside like nothing more than a weapon gone dull. But that was all Alejandro saw in Brody--just another pawn to play with until he couldn’t anymore. What about Brody’s family? Did he have any? Are they still wondering where he is? The charging thoughts within MC’s head dissolve as her emotions take hold, twisting and rapping her heart. It was best not to think about it anymore--he was already dead and there was nothing she could do for him now. Ahead, the deserted convenience store loomed over them, casting a tall shadow onto the pavement. No wind whistled and no cars honked--no people whispered and no people even walked except for Cal and MC. It was so strange to see a facet of Vegas empty and devoid of humanity when that was all you saw in the City of Sin. MC didn’t like the implications it gave--the grave threat that bubbled the convenience store in. If something went wrong, if one of them was hurt... no one would know. Well, not right away, at least. She was more afraid of the consequences of entering alone with Cal then she was of Alejandro’s potential allegiance to their summoner--the most she felt for the guy was fierce anger for siccing Brody on Cal. If he had stayed dead that night...
Well, maybe Alejandro should’ve been afraid of the consequences of his success more than his failure.
Cal keeps MC a step behind him for her protection as he pushes the glass door open, the toll of a small bell overhead missing. MC notices that the bell itself is missing, ripped off somewhere in between time’s journey. Maybe that was a good thing--if the person they were meeting didn’t know they were here yet, then that gifted them some extra time and even an upper advantage. With his gun drawn, Cal motions to MC with his free hand to stay close to the entrance. “Stay put,” he demands grimly, “this might be one of Alejandro’s schemes.” Though MC would prefer to not be alone in such an eerie environment, she nods. There was no use putting up a fight--it would just waste time that could be more useful spent exploring the abandoned convenience store. But, luckily, the troupe was lurking not too far away; ready to leap to their defense if anything did happen. That also contributes to her willingness to stay behind. Cal pivots around and stalks carefully throughout the convenience store, his head peeking out over the decrepit shelves. Because of his height, MC could see him traverse through the aisles--and even if the darkness swallowed most of him in shadow, just knowing that he was still there made her feel secure. At her post, MC casts her eyes around the store, noting how all of the fluorescent lights were smashed and the shelves in some form of disarray.
It looked like a tornado had ripped through this place.
Suddenly, there’s a strange scratching noise that drifts down from the ceiling tiles and MC jumps. What the hell is that?! A rat maybe? The scratching is a little rhythmic--stopping then starting again once a second passed. MC shrinks towards the wall behind her as trepidation hollows her stomach. As it repeats again and again, MC recognizes that the sound eerily repeats the same as it had sounded before. Almost like it was a recording, played over and over again. Alarm bells ring in her head. If it keeps repeating, then that means it’s a distraction. Alejandro’s trying to distract us. Immediately her first reaction is to search for Cal but he’s already on his way to her, his features sharp. “Did you-?!” “Yeah, I heard it too,” Cal intercedes as his frame edges close to MC’s, acting almost like a shield, “stay sharp. He’s got something up his sleeve.” That sense of safety, of ongoing security, flares warm in her chest and MC can’t help but cling to his solidity, silently expecting the worst. 
Almost as if on cue, demons seem to spill out from the shadows, webbing out in the convenience store, snarling.
Cal takes that as a cue as well, lifting his pistol towards the hulking figures in the dark. A heavy tension falls over the store as the demons creep closer, their eyes shining in the pitch darkness. The cold metal of her own gun still felt a little alien as she cradled it in her hands--still, after weeks of practice, the weapon still felt strange to hold. Through her fear, MC slides on a determined expression--she wasn’t going to let them get the best of her. Besides, Cal’s here; he’d never let anything happen to me. I won’t let anything happen to him either. She had to be strong for him, if not only for herself. Cal reinforces the barrier he established between MC and the demons, blocking her from their reach. A stray breath could spring them into action--something that could end with Cal and MC’s defeat. Cal must’ve alerted the troupe, he had to of--MC could almost sense it. They’d be okay... right? MC couldn’t shake this continuous feeling of danger beyond just the demons’ apparitions. Please be wrong, intuition, please.
Then it was all happening at once; demons racing towards them, Cal’s pistol firing bullet after bullet.
Only then does MC realize she has one too. One after the other in quick succession, the demons fall, unable to dodge Cal’s practiced aim. For MC, however, it’s not so hard. She fires at two that were flanking the fray, their eyes danger as they inspected Cal and MC. One shot dives through the shoulder of one of them--who howls in pain--while the other barely scrapes his arm. Angered, the demons together pounce to attack but are stopped but Cal’s quick hand, quickly shutting their attempts down with just two measly bullets. 
MC’s head was spinning with the adrenaline of it all and she felt like every breath was a waste of time that could’ve been used to fight back harder. Even as Cal sprays down a whole group of demons, more come and replenish their numbers--there seemed to be no end. MC and Cal are herded into a corner as they fight against the waves upon waves of demons. Before they even knew it, they were entirely surrounded without the firepower to lessen those barriers. That swelling grasp of panic catches up to MC and she presses herself close against Cal, rallying in his firm and comforting presence. At least she was with him. She noticed that his pistol clicked when he pulled the trigger, indicating that he had run out of bullets. When was the last time that happened? The demons crowding them had picked a good time to start a fight; they were far off their guard. “Damn, where are they?!” Cal whispers fervently under his breath. He’s talking about the troupe. They said they’d jump to help them the moment Cal and MC were in peril, and yet... 
There was no sign of their promised rescue.
Maybe... maybe they were ambushed too. That’s probably what’s taking so long. But the suppressing atmosphere and the constant veil of doom cast around them made that belief give nothing but discomfort. Suddenly, Cal whirls around and his hands frantically grip MC’s shoulders. There’s an edge of panic circulating his eyes; a frothing sea under darkening clouds, troubling winds. She was threatened by the tide of unease he relents, her legs threatening to cave under the pressure; on her arms, MC could sense the subtle shake spreading down to his hands. Somehow, though, the same disorienting emotion-heavy blue that sensitizes her steely confidence is the same blue remedy to lure her in; create a bubble, separate the feasible danger from their gravity. MC was so close to him and the warmth he gave reminded her of a night-in spent curled around a fireplace--warm and comfortable. It almost made her feel silly for being afraid. “MC, listen to me,” Cal declares, the hands clasped on her arms shaking her lightly, “I need your trust in me right now. Do you trust me?”
Although the realms of what he was about to say were endless, MC hadn’t expected something like that.
A simple yet passionate request for trust--trust in Cal. Oddly enough, MC could feel her chest illuminate with the glow of his words, a new layer of warmth added for every syllable. Cal needs me. He needs my trust in him. That thought spins mindless circles in her head, swirling faster and faster until they were permanently ingrained in her brain. A smile climbs up her cheeks; she couldn’t help it. Even now, surrounded by literal demons who’d waste no time at all ripping them apart, MC saw all the ways she fell for him. It was so clear.
Absentmindedly, MC softly speaks. “Always. I love you, so I trust you.”
She hadn’t even meant to say ‘I love you’, but once she did, MC could feel this growing concoction of anxiety and anticipation and embarrassment in her belly. It rose as she watched his eyebrows rise, his lips part, his eyes widen. Cal seemed astounded by her admission but that awe wears off quickly. The trick shooter shakes himself out of it, almost like a dream, and the fingers digging into her arm lose some of their force. They still trembled slightly. “You... that’s good,” he stammers a little, “I trust you too... maybe more than I can say right now, unfortunately. Around all these demons.” Within the next moment, the arms latching onto MC lose their grip and instead, one curls around her waist tight while his other hand pillows the back of MC’s head. MC can barely even react before he’s skillfully ducking around the throng of demons, dashing for something MC can’t quite tell at first. Her chin was perched on his shoulder, allowing her to watch all of the anger that passes over the demons’ faces. “Hold on tight, will you? It’s going to be a bumpy ride.” Cal whispers into her ear. There’s a knowing edge to his tone that has MC bracing for the worst. She clings to him, hard, wondering what he was planning.
Her answer is given through thousands of glass shards falling around her, the deafening noise of shattering windows filling her ears as the gunslinger slams out of the display window. 
MC whimpers and clutches him a little tighter. Small bits of glass bounce innocently off her body, falling down on the pavement with a tiny tinkling noise. Her ears rang as Cal continued to move, dashing away from the convenience store with an entire mob of demons following him. Everything moved in a blur and she could feel the wind swimming through her hair. A weird calm settles over, suppressing the trepidation that had plagued her thoughts. That plague was washed away by the memory of her admission and the way Cal sort of... dismissed it. The sentence stuck to her like gum, tacky and unavoidably irking. Thousands of thoughts charge her. Why didn’t he reciprocate her admission? Why be cryptic? Why admit he trusts her, then leave her with nothing to hold onto? Hadn’t the idea that they shared a common ground of trust, a specialized bond of trust and companionship, been clearly shown before?
Lastly, how did he feel about it?
Cal’s reply had been quicker than MC had anticipated. But she was reluctant to admit that they had been ambushed by possibly hundreds of demons. Of course Cal had been hasty to respond; their lives were on the line! He had been so shocked at first, then his touch had become gentler, almost like he felt relief or something similar to that feeling... Am I wrong to think that way? MC didn’t think so but the impeding insecurity she felt made her stance sway slightly. Maybe that reaction meant nothing. Maybe he was just snapping out of his shaken state at her words. Maybe... maybe that declaration of trust was his way of shooting her down without putting a more direct meaning in his words. Maybe that was his way of saying that that’s all he felt; trust in her. Nothing more, nothing less. Just an ally to side with when problems awaken. The idea of that complies a certain composition of saddened disappointment and unconditional happiness. Still embraced in his all-encompassing person, MC’s grip lessens an inch. She could feel the fierce rush of his heart, the slight vibration it gave. For a moment, she wonders what made it race like that--besides danger. What exactly was the mechanism that caused him to feel things that made his heart react?
More specifically, what were the things he held dearest? Who did his heart beat for the most?
Around them, MC notices that his speed has slowed and the herd had been reduced to a few fast-runners; the rest were out of sight. Maybe they’d get away in tact and alive, after all. Her questions have turbid answers that all float in her head, wavering bubbles of interest that popped at the slightest hints of tension. Maybe... Cal just wants to say it back on his own terms. Maybe he’s not at that place yet... maybe his statement of trust was his way of reciprocation. Just like before, the suggestive meaning gave a new glimmer of hope to MC. If her intuition was right and Cal just wasn’t prepared to give his true answer yet, then MC could live with his dismissing. If he wasn’t ready, then MC would be willing to wait. She’d always wait--she’d waited weeks, why not wait a few more in his company?
All the while, as Cal helped dismantle her after they had escaped the demons, MC held onto the response to her ‘I love you’.
It bred a whole new sense of rapture in her chest that was a sun of hope and love and delight. Being patient wasn’t such a hard thing to do for the person you loved.
So what was the harm in being patient for the one you treasure above all else?
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Thank you again for your request! I had so much fun writing with this and I hope you love this as much as I loved writing it! Oh and I’m sorry that it took three whole weeks to get to your request, but I hope the length and quality (eh) can make up for it!
If you want to request something, here’s the Prompt List, here are the Guidelines, here’s Who I Write For, and here is where you can Request me.
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atamascolily · 5 years ago
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Lily reads Star Wars: Red Harvest, part six
In which EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE (and no, I do not exaggerate). Eat your heart out--oh, wait, sorry, eat someone else’s heart out. My bad.
(If you’re just joining me, check out the “Red Harvest” tag on my blog for previous posts)
We left off with Darth Scabrous waiting for Zo in the library. There's the obligatory villain monologue with some much-needed backstory.
“This library,” he said, “is the oldest part of the academy, older even than the tower itself. It was constructed over a thousand years ago by a Sith Lord named Darth Drear. He founded the academy, back when the planet itself was young. The ancient writings tell about how he used his first students as laborers. For hundreds of years, the Masters at the academy believed that a good many of those students died down in these very chambers, using the Force to move hundreds of tons of snow and ice and dig out these corridors and chambers to house Drear’s vast collection of … specimens. It was thought that Drear worked the students until they died from exhaustion.”
Blah blah blah Sith holocron blah blah blah eternal life. The usual stuff.
“Before he died, Darth Drear wrote of the final stage of the process—the step that he himself was never able to achieve. He dispatched his sentries to a nearby planet to abduct a Jedi and bring him to the secret temple underneath the library. After ingesting the elixir, in the final hours before his body gave in completely, under exactly the right circumstances and conditions, Drear planned to use a ceremonial Sith sword to cut open the Jedi’s chest while he was still alive, and eat his heart. Only then, with that final infusion of midi-cholorians still warm from the Jedi’s blood, would the decay process be held back—granting the Sith Lord his ultimate immortality.”
I TOLD YOU THEY WENT THERE.
The plant!zombies show up again - turns out they weren't really dead! They carry Zo down to the Secret Sith Basement at Scabrous's command, where the sacrifice is to take place. But don’t worry, not!Qui-gon is in hot pursuit! The tree librarian grabs not!Qui-Gon and dangles him in the air. I am LIVING for this. “No need for your weapon here,” the voice said. “Not in this place of learning. We are both learned beings, are we not? Enlightened and informed by the written word. No need for the encumbrances of physical violence.” It uttered another bulky, dusty chuckle. “Look upon me, if you like. Seek my face.”
There's a bunch of book avalanches. not!Qui-Gon  goes into the tree!Librarian's head at his own urging and sees his memories
It was the librarian’s name, Trace realized, his patronymic, and somehow he knew that on his home planet it meant “lover of knowledge,” a perfect choice for—
HOW DID HE END UP ON A SITH PLANET AS THE SITH LIBRARIAN IF HE WASN'T ACTUALLY EVIL?? Sadly, we don't get answers.
Also, more relevant to the plot, not!Qui-Gon sees the secret Sith basement being built and gets caught up on all the backstory that Scabrous already revealed. Then everything catches on fire and not!Qui-Gon uses the Force to retrieve his lightsaber and create an air bubble to ward off the flames.
He looked at the lightsaber, laboring to evacuate every other thought from his mind. At the Jedi Temple, they had taught that it was never a matter of manipulating the object, but of eliminating the space that separated you from it. Yet at this moment, the object in question had never felt so far away....
The timing of what happened next was critical. Deactivating the bubble, he opened his hand, and the lightsaber flew into it. Its handle was almost too hot to hold, but the solidity of it had never felt better in his life.
I like this attention to detail in my Star Wars.
Not!Qui-gon gets pulled down to the basement via plant zombies for the final showdown as the library burns around him.Good-bye, Tree Librarian -- you may have been evil at the end, or perhaps this whole time, but you were fucking rad.
The mechanic is still alive and in hiding. He gets lured out by Kindra's pleading, only to reveal it was a trap by the zombies and she's a prisoner. The zombies rip her to pieces but the mechanic gets away. I’m so mad because even though I knew it was a trap, and I knew she was going to die, I hoped she got a more badass ending. Sigh.
Meanwhile, the bounty hunter and the newly liberated HK droid discover the zombies are hiding INSIDE the Tauntauns, a la Aliens and it's gross, and now we have zombie tauntauns, too. Turns out the HK droid hates the Sith too! But the bounty hunter got sprayed with tauntaun spit so now he's infected. Good thing droids can't get this... right?
Scabrous tries to kill Zo but not!Qui-gon makes a dramatic entrance and stops him. Not!Qui-gon gets murdered while Zo watches in horror and... I guess he really has more in common with Qui-Gon than I initially thought!
Scabrous transforms into his final form, but the orchid wakes up just in time, and Zo tells it to grow while she starts going to town on the Scabrous and slaughters him with his own sword. It doesn't take, so she switches to her brother's lightsaber, which does better, since it actually cauterizes.
She climbs out of the pit after Scabrous is dead, only to find the rest of the zombie horde waiting for her. The bounty hunter and droid rescue her, but they're attacked by the academy's perimeter cannons, so everthing gets worse fast. The droid jumps out and turns to the lasers on the tower, destroying everything - including the orchid if it's still alive? I'm a little fuzzy on the details here. Fortunately, the mechanic is flying the plane and he's okay.
Zo goes into the trophy room, only to find that the bounty hunter is now a zombie, but he locks himself in a cage before he turns and tells Zo to send him out the airlock, which she does--along with the entire grisly contents of the room, and a last zombie stowaway. FINAL GIRL VICTORY.
Zo returns to Jedi Greenhouse Planet, traumatized but alive. Turns out the guy who we thought was dead in the bounty hunter attack at the beginning of the book is actually alive, so that's good. There's a new orchid waiting for her:
You were with my seed-brother, the orchid said, arching toward her. Is that true?
Yes, I was, she told it, and thought about the voice of the first orchid, the one that she still heard in her mind. I still am, in a way. He saved my life.
Really?
Bennis smiled again, the indulgent smile of a proud parent, and gave the orchid a small pat.
D'awwww. Wait, so the original orchid isn’t really dead? She can still hear him even though it’s gone and they’re separated? Did I miss something in the tumult of the finale?? Or is Zo being metaphorical here?
Also, I’m so curious how the Jedi just... got another orchid so quickly. In our world, orchids can be clonally propagated in HUGE batches, so the AgriCorps could potentially be churning these things out at a massive rate. This raises WAY more world-building questions that this book is NOT going to answer, and it frustrates me, but I doubt the author knows much about actual orchids, so... *shrugs*
But cuteness aside, Zo decides she'd rather study on the Jedi Temple at Coruscant (the mechanic will take her) because she has too much PTSD. Also, this means that if anybody else tries to kidnap the new orchid, they won’t get Zo! I don’t know why the Jedi are even raising these orchids, given that they’re in demand on the Sith black market. Didn’t Zo explain they were the critical ingredient for an awful zombie plague?? DID NOBODY LEARN FROM THIS EXPERIENCE??
This is supposed to be a happy/hopeful ending, and it kinda is, but Zo apparently doesn’t know / the author forgot that the Jedi Temple was destroyed when Corsucant got sacked eight years earlier (as Trace tells us in his introductory scene)... which means she's walking into ANOTHER haunted temple nightmare and doesn't realize it yet. We'll call it.. Red Harvest II: Coruscant Nights, or maybe just Blue Harvest. How about that??
Frode would be waiting for her with the ship, ready to take her back to Coruscant, and whatever might be waiting for her there. The mechanic would be good traveling company, she sensed—there was a low-key air about him that bespoke dozens of untold stories, events that had made up his life and taken him to the unlikely destination of Odacer-Faustin. She felt herself already beginning to trust him.
Wow, I was not expecting this dude to survive, but okay. Also, he got tagged in the beginning as kinda greedy (scuttling the engines of the other bounty hunters to sell) and kinda lazy/stupid/opportunistic/desperate (for ending up as the mechanic for Sith Hogwarts in the first place). But okay, whatever, I guess.
And the moral:
The future was scary, but you couldn’t avoid it, anymore than you could outrun the past.
OR  A MASSIVE ZOMBIE HORDE, AM I RIGHT??
Wow, that was a trip.
I feel like this was better than I had any right to expect from the premise, but still felt like a B-grade horror movie. I like the tantalizing hints of what world-building we do get, and I think this novel is excellent fodder for future horror/Halloween fics. Otherwise, I’d skip this unless you are a “must read everything in Legends” purist, enjoy Sith shit, enjoy watching Sith die in horrific ways, and/or a diehard plant nerd like me.
RANDOM TRIVIA: Wookiepeedia says the first draft had a character named  "Middish Sunblade, modeled after Holden Caulfield, but Sunblade was removed from the rewrite because he was whiny and nobody could stand him," which is just too true and too funny for words. Also, an actually-in-character Holden Caulfield expy would last approximately 30 seconds at Sith Hogwarts before being stabbed... I’m just saying.
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