#(yup there is in fact ragequit)

[askctpebbsi]

Bebbles I offer you this creature made by one of your fellow iterators, maybe he could be a companion to you? Just be careful with him he does bite.

[pt-disconnected]

Anonymous Ask Responses #13

As expected, not too long after the new part, a bunch of asks came up! And as usual, I'll be replying to them here! At this point even if they're not all Anonymous, they all get put in here for the sake of making it a single post. Most of them are Anons so I guess the name sticks? Either way, here's the questions- along with another bit of art by @athenwrench at the end (thank you for the art!)

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First, a little segment of people who are happy to see Gaster getting completely destroyed.

"Pt gaster is pissed"

Pretty much, yeah. How unfortunate that Player had to pull a Jevil and go for chaos- since chaos is unpredictable. (Insert 'The World Revolving' here, alongside PT!Gaster screaming.)

"Peck you gaster lol"

Yup. Just a big peck neck right there. Bigger than DJ Grooves if I can say so- although the Conductor may disagree. And yes, I am a fan of A Hat In Time.

"Pfft 'slot face' perfect name for pt gaster lol" (This ask was delayed for a bit, so to whoever sent this, sorry I ended up missing it for so long.)

I mean, it's kinda a given. And also it makes him more akin to a bishop rather than a knight in terms of the shapes of chess pieces.

And now, back to our regular programming.

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"I live to see kris smiling"

Can 100% relate. I think seeing Gaster get completely one-upped and then just ragequit would make most anyone who hates him smile. Which probably includes most of us.

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"I think Susie’s reaction was pretty much everyone’s reaction to Gaster being a Lightner lol"

Yeah, pretty much! Nobody really expected that- we probably all expected Gaster from Undertale, but no- he's human. Lynx really pulled a fast one on us there!

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"Who is your favorite Deltarune character from chapters 1 and 2"

From the games? I'll have to be honest, that's a pretty good question. I kinda have a tie between a few of them.

Firstly there's good ol' Spamton G. Spamton. I really think he'd have been a nice character to know had we seen him before... well, whatever happened to him. But the strings that held him up, and yet dragged him down, made him someone else entirely. I kinda feel bad for the guy.

Then, we have Ralsei. Wholesome goat boi- need I say more? Though some people speculate there's more to him than that, I think that the reason he talks with Kris while we're watching the others is because of Kris being concerned about what we might do. They're insecure- they wanted to talk with Ralsei on his own, so that nobody else would know what might be going on. Perhaps there's more than just us controlling Kris- after all Kris is always asleep before doing... well, whatever happens at night during the games. And lastly, while Noelle is also very high on the list, the character who snags the third spot is...

Berdly.

Yes, I know. It's insane. But dammit I relate to the guy. Partially because of the stress put on him because he's seen as being so smart (though the reasons for my end are different), and partly because...

Well, let's just say I have probably well over 5k Pokémon TCG cards. If not more.

So yeah. I'm a bit of a geek in some ways myself.

...Oh yeah, KK is also a fun character. He actually would let us buy 400 bagels if we had the room in our inventory. Great guy.

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@prhthezanko:

"Was that a chess pun? Nice. So out of curiosity, did Susie see any defining features that the Player might identify? Since I know you believe the player didn't see the Ralsei and the others against Gaster, so they wouldn't know the backstory, could they maybe put 2 and 2 together with his appearance being similar to Gaster?" Yes, that was in fact a chess pun. I wanted to do something creative with the ACT menu, and the moment I saw that the one consistent option was 'Check', I knew right then what I wanted to do. Because that one option is what is consistent throughout both Undertale and Deltarune- so the opportunity to make something unique from it was perfect. (And I mean, come on, with PT!Gaster, it was bound to make for a good scene. Especially with how much board game referencing he does... that made it so much better, throwing him off with the same thing he does.)

As for your question, Susie probably would have seen the scars, but the Player may not fully put the pieces together since they didn't see Gaster themselves- at least, not after his helmet broke. But during the next encounter, well... I can only give you a simple reply.

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And now for the bit of art by @athenwrench... it may not be the best, but nobody is perfect right off the bat. And even after a while, nobody is perfect. So I'm still quite impressed regardless!

"Yup, he's pissed. I went for a sort of pasty white appearance because he hasn't seen the sun in who knows how long."

I definitely like the detail of how the slot in the helmet is still seen- although the question remains, how the heck does he see through it?! Does he have a camera on the outside and screens inside or something stupid like that? It's really kinda baffling.

But yeah, he definitely hasn't seen the sun for... what was it again? 66.5 years?

That's gotta be a lot of lost vitamin D. Stunned that they're still going- the bunker must've had supplies of the stuff.

————————

And with that, we have reached the baker's dozen of Anon Ask segments! Hopefully the next part of the story won't take nearly as long- though I can't say that it'll be out this month, for which I apologize. I'm gonna be taking a small vacation at the later end of the month, during which I'll likely not be online much. So I'm most likely replying early-mid March.

But when I get back, trust me I'm going to be writing the next part for you all. I really appreciate how much you all enjoy the story, and I hope that I can keep it enjoyable!

Until then, see you all!

Oh yeah, before I forget:

LynxGriffin has been reposting a new project, I don't know for sure whether or not it's him working on it (I think it is, but if it is, he seems to be keeping it quiet. Probably for a good reason.)

However, whether he's the one making it or not, I still really like how it looks and works, and it's only just about to start the real story. So if you haven't checked it out, you should do that now!

Anthrofractal

I'm going to be adding this to the pinned post as well, alongside a link to DemoPhone's Chronology story! So if you ever want to check those out, you can always find the links there!

For real this time: see you all later!

[galaxyslime]

literally almost set the tv on fire when they fuckin animated imagine dragons into the show. is it not enough that i had to scramble at the beginning of each episode to skip that god awful intro?

YUP i was about to ragequit when i saw them just standing around for no reason. the fact that they intermittently use imagine dragons music in the show during Cool Badass scenes is actually a hate crime against me specifically. i genuinely really dislike the music choices they made, the techno music with the steampunk aesthetic has the same rancid feeling as electroswing. i think the bottom side scenes are the worst offenders with the music and General Epic Badassery tho, and it sucks bc i really really love the trashy art deco and the side characters down there.

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: PMMM Rebellion - Part 1

Showtime! Tephi has seen Rebellion now, so I’ve got the all clear to watch it myself. For planning purposes, I’m keeping a list of break points q_3 suggested (14:30, 30:30, 41:30, 54:30, 1:07:30, 1:23:50, 1:33:30) as planned stopping points between posts, barring ragequits. I’ll be watching the DVD, but feel free to follow along on Netflix! Because apparently the movie is on Netflix, as I only recently discovered when I went there to rewatch some Madoka episodes in preparation for this. All right! Time to dive back into the world of Madoka Magica. Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Movie - Rebellion

Main menu is split between Ribbon!Homura looking off to the left, and the cover art of Magical Girls on the right. Light flute music playing. Black background, a small but bright pink light growing larger in the screen “We are the ones who pray for hope, embrace curses and fight ever onward. We are Magical Girls.” I think this is Homura narrating. Light shows itself as a Soul Gem, as Homura talks about how in obtaining miracles Magical Girls take a “destiny of battle” upon their souls. And that the destiny ends with the “salvation of oblivion”. Off to a cheery start, here! But! “By disappearing from this world, we could escape our fate of despair.” That’d be the change Madoka made, taking MGs away before they Witchified. Now the Gem’s falling through water, to a window? “Someday, that final day will come. As we wait for the Law of the Cycle to lead us away, we continue our unending battle.” Um, is it just me or am I hearing voices in the background? Can’t make out what they’re saying. “In this irredeemable world, forever repeating its tragedies and hatred, I dreamt that I encountered that familiar smile once again.” Camera is now looking over a sprawling city (Mitakihara, right?) at night, lots of shining steel and glass structures. But a series of colorful lines snake through the air putting out lights, then the artstyle starts getting trippy. Silhouettes of ballerinas?

Uh, now there’s a 2D teddy bear/doll thing dancing? Which just spat out a couple of smaller teddy bears and SWEET MADOKA they just blew through a building! The heck? This is clearly a Witch, what with the Labyrinth and wanton destruction and all, but how? Weren’t Witches replaced by Wraiths in the new world? As is, Teddy Doll is now resting to the graceful classical music and looking at the ballerinas Wait is that Madoka!  It’s Madoka! Which… raises so, so many questions. But whatever, just look at her! So cute, shooting her bow into the air… and then frantically dodging the arrow storm. Hmmm, inexperienced Madoka? Teddy Doll runs from the barrage- and is followed by bubble-bouncing Sayaka? Ok, so this has to be an earlier timeline if they are here. Now Kyoko’s joined in the chase! Sayaka and Kyoko both attack Teddy Doll, lovely teamwork between these two, but it slips away from them into a building. Where it sits down at a dinner table? Wait, what’s going on now? There’s a French-style song with an accordion about “dreaming of the morning”, and Madoka just entered with a basket of bread. She’s feeding the Teddy Doll? And Sayaka and Kyoko just came in with more food?

Mami! Artillery Magical Girl is here, with some floating guns and And What the fuck is that thing doing here It’s Dessert Witch, the one that ate her head It’s right behind Mami What the hell Ok, what the hell just happened. Dessert Witch just sat down at the table, there was a huge burst of light as our girls just kept smiling. What is going on? Madoka wakes up? Ah, an odd dream. Wait, are you holding a giant orange Incubator plush? That’s INCUBATOR! GET OUT! That thing is lurking on Madoka’s shelf. Stop acting cute, you freak. I know what you’re capable of. Don’t say “Good morning” to it, Madoka! Cherry tomatoes getting cut? Ah, it’s like the first episode at Madoka’s house! Father gardening, Madoka getting her hungover Mother out of bed. There’s a change in the bathroom dialogue, instead of talking about Hitomi’s love letters it’s about how she’s dating Kyosuke. Well! Isn’t that convenient! Wait, no, this is the show that launched my Ship of Death. Nope nope not pursuing that.

Hey, looks like Madoka already has her Soul Gem in the form of her ring. Confirmation of earlier timeline. Also, Ms. Saotome’s talking about the end of the world in class? She's upset that her students are hooking up while she’s still single? New student transferring to class that day? Hmmm, a certain Mysterious Transfer Student, is it? “I wonder what they’ll be like? I hope we can become friends.” Oh, I have no doubt of that, Madoka. And then the Incubator ruins the mood by showing up. Bleh. Same sweet breakfast scene between the family, Madoka heads out while still chewing her slice of toast. The Incubator hitches a ride on her shoulder, and our Protagonist laughs. Ugh! Stop with the suspense, Urobuchi, looking at Happy Madoka just makes me more and more nervous. A light poppy song comes up, with credits? Intro sequence? Light gloved touches form a tree-shrouded pond, and MG!Madoka strides across the water. Now she’s seated at a carnival teacup ride, as Sayaka and Kyoko spin one of the cups. Daw, they’re on a daFRIENDLY CARNIVAL OUTING BETWEEN FELLOW STUDENTS. Ha, almost got me there, Urobuchi! Homura at the same park at night? Looks up at the sky which is raining white feathers. Madoka walks through a field of flowers next to the amusement park, then through the park hand-in-hand with Sayaka. Now it’s fall (Sayaka is in an adorable beanie and sweater) and they’re joined by Mami. Now it’s winter and Kyoko is chasing Sayaka for withheld food, she trips into Blue-Hair and they tumble to the ground entOH GEE HOPE THEY DIDN’T SCRAPE THEIR KNEES. Whew, too close. Spring again as the four walk up to a white-dress Homura? Homura’s surrounded by gears now, until a hipcheck from Madoka snaps her out of her doldrums and she’s dragged into the amusement park. More flashes of gears, then a carousel where Homura is kneeling and has muted colors, while the other four girls cheerfully dance. Showing how she’s separated from their time? Flashes back to the lake, Madoka extends a hand to help Homura up from her kneeling position. Homura reaches out- Madoka’s hand crumbles to sand? What? Homura’s now in what looks like a desert with stone pillars in the background. Cries? There’s a black earpiece-thing in the sand with a purple gem? And yeah, we end in the desert, the movie’s title coming up.

Well, ok then. I’m completely lost. What does all this mean? Back to the light peaceful music as we repeat the first episode, Madoka meets up with Sayaka- and Kyoko? So she’s going to school with them in this timeline? Quick zooms confirm that the girls have their rings as well, and Sayaka compliments her for her work last night. So they did fight the Teddy Doll? The girls walk into the school, and man the studio got even more animation money for this movie, didn’t they? Lost of students running around, the building looks even more ostentatious that before. Standard Magical Girl chatter about “Oh, I didn’t get the reading done/Meh, I didn’t bother doing the homework, can I copy yours?” Sayaka takes offense to Kyoko trying to copy off of Madoka, they squabble as Madoka tries to play peacekeeper. Even the Incubator pats her head in ‘sympathy’. In class, Teacher’s saying that just because the Mayans were wrong about Doomsday, doesn’t mean that they’re safe! Um. Ok then? Alright, maybe you should take your meds lady. It was bad enough when you wasted class time ranting about your exes, why don’t you do your job. “Well, to be honest… I think perhaps the ending of the world may not be such a bad thing.” Ok really now, you- “After all, I’ve had my fill of dealings with men and love and so forth. If I must carry on this way and have my age rounded up to 40 from now on, I’d rather everything just ended at once, in one fell swoop.” Ah, ok then. Teach’s just having a midlife crisis. Move along, nothing to see here.

Say hello to the Mysterious Transfer Stu- wait. Homura has her glasses and braids? Is this the first timeline, in fact? Even not being so Mysterious, the class all gives a gasp as she enters. And are those blushes I see on our characters' faces? Especially Maodka? Daw, that’s CUTE THAT SHE LIKES WHAT SHE SEES WAIT NO I MEAN IS HAPPY TO SEE A NEW FRIEND. HAH, DODGED THAT ONE. Huh, Homura’s cheerfully saying hi, no hesitation. So not the first one, then. Yup, brushing back her hair she flashes her Ring, our other MGs immediately recognize is for a Soul Gem. Right, this isn’t her first pass so she’s already got her powers. And maybe it’s still early enough she can be happy about the thought of saving Madoka? Now we’re on the roof, apparently Mami already knew about Homura, thought it’d be fun to surprise the other girls. Homura says she should have introduced herself last night, when they were fighting the- Nightmare? Translation change between the show and movie? Mami confirms that she was around last night, and that she has significant power as a Magical Girl. Homura protests that she is more of a support role that anything (still early enough she hasn’t been raiding armories for weapons). Sayaka welcomes the help, as does Kyoko “provided last night wasn’t a fluke”. Madoka grasps her hands, and welcomes her to the team.

All right! Now, what to say about the movie so far? AAAAAAHHHHHH THE DESSERT WITCH IS ALIVE IT IS FOLLOWING OUR GIRLS WHY WHY WHY WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!?! Ahem. So, obviously Dessert Witch being around is a Big Deal. Question is, what does it mean? All the signs are pointing toward this being an earlyish run for Homura, not the second because she didn’t immediately spring to blurt out Madoka’s secret, but early enough that Looping Fatigue hasn’t set in yet, nor has she developed her full combat style. However, now that I think about it I’m not sure all the mentions of Nightmares instead of Witches are translation changes anymore. What we saw of Dessert Witch in the show was an entity that wasn’t that cunning, mostly just focused on eating or destruction like the other Witches. But maybe there was a change this timeline. Maybe this time the Witch is taking a more subtle approach, is tricking or brainwashing our Magical Girls to clear out other Witches under the guise of “hunting Nightmares”. Which brings up some rather stark concerns about where this movie will go. Homura knows the truth, knows what Dessert Witch is and can recognize that something is wrong. So it’s only a matter of time before she rebels (title relevance!) and tries to take it out. But I don’t think the manipulated girls are just going to stand by for that. Hmmm.

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Defenders #11: A Dark and Stormy Knight

December, 1973

“Dark and Stormy Knight”? I get it! Because.... because the Black Knight?

Right. Well. Anyway.

This is an okay cover. Conveys the nature of the threat they’ll be facing and illustrates Dr. Strange’s stunning overestimation of his own abilities. But I just have to wonder. Where is Valkyrie’s cover bubble?

Last time: Dormammu tricked the Defenders into thinking they needed the Evil Eye to unstone Black Knight from when Enchantress turned him into a statue as an eternal testament on how rad she is. A lot of nonsense and shenanigans ensued but the Avengers and Defenders together defeated Dormammu and claimed the Evil Eye. Or rather, Scarlet Witch did most of the work.

This time: Time to fire up that bad boy and see if it works. Yup. This is technically the last part of the Avengers/Defenders War. The war is over but it would kind of feel dumb to not address whether the big motivating factor of so much of the event could be saved or not.

So lets start as Dr. Strange points the Evil Eye at the fourth wall.

Both teams are back on Earth now. And although there is a lot of damage from the dimension merge and monsterificaiton of people, if Scarlet Witch hadn’t gotten the Evil Eye to eat Dormammu Earth would now be a land filled with mindless monsters under Dormammu’s rule.

Nick Fury goes up to thank her for saving humanity but she blows him off. She doesn’t want humanity’s thanks. She was just doing her Avengers duty. I see she’s still a bit nettled over those anti-robot suicide bombers.

Trying to avoid an awkward conversation, Fury tries to swing the conversation toward the Defenders but Dr. Strange instantly wipes his mind. In fact, he wipes knowledge of the Defenders from everyone’s minds, except the Avengers.

What a douchey thing to do, Dr. Strange. Its his wish that the Defenders remain unknown to the world at large. Maybe he just doesn’t want to be blamed for gathering the Evil Eye and indirectly causing this disaster. Either way, his desire for privacy probably doesn’t outweigh the entire population’s desire not to have their synapses scorched.

Anyway. He does it. With the power of the Evil Eye, Dr. Strange wipes knowledge of the Defenders, cleans up the damage left behind by the dimension merge, and poofs away the Defenders.

At least he cleaned up after himself.

So at Strange’s sanctum, Dr. Strange uses the Evil Eye to turn himself into a statue.

Its for a good reason, swearsies.

Oddly, someone forgot to tell the colorist that the Black Knight should still be a statue too. Womp womp.

Dr. Strange astral projects away from his stone body into that cool space land that the Black Knight’s spirit had retreated to. While he’s at it, he muses on the irony that Dormammu lied about the Evil Eye being used to help the Black Knight when its being used to help the Black Knight.

But when he gets to the arbitrary space spot where the Black Knight’s spirit should be, by the Many Moons of Munnopor, it isn’t!

Meanwhile, while the Defenders wait for Dr. Strange to finish up what he’s doing, Hawkeye muses.

He’s probably going to quit the Defenders. He likes them but he ragequit the Avengers to prove he could make it on his own and if he just immediately joins another group, how would that look?

Plus, being tricked into fighting the Avengers put a sour taste in his mind mouth.

Namor agrees. “Being in a group is not the way one demonstrates his true worth.” Namor himself is planning to quit after this mission.

And then Dr. Strange comes back. He starts to explain that the Knight has vanished mysteriously when the Defenders vanish mysteriously. With that most mysterious of sound effects: the FOOM!

The Defenders now find themselves in a world of deserts, fortresses, catapults and oh hey, its the Black Knight. Just the man we were looking for!

They’re a confusing but welcome sight for sore eyes but there’s no time for casual conversation! They’ve ended up in the 12th century Crusades and the Arabs are attacking!

Hahaha, I don’t want to be anywhere near Marvel’s Saturday Morning Cartoon conception of the Crusades.

Neither does Dr. Strange, although for different reasons. This isn’t his war so he’ll just use a spell to immobilize the attackers so the Defenders can get their bearings.

Hulk is fed up with... pretty much everything by this point so just pounds the ground, knocking the attacking Arabs off their feet. And then the other Defenders jump in to help now that Hulk has kind of made their decision for them.

And then a grey version of the Hulk attacks.

Noooo, not Joe Fixit. A gnome of some sort. Except a big gnome. Wish they didn’t make it look so much like the Hulk. It’s not confusing so much as it is off-putting.

Anyway, Dr. Strange and the Silver Surfer blast the gnome, Temax, to no avail. Hulk attacks only to get swatted away.

Dr. Strange reiterates his desire to avoid conflict and teleports the Defenders away before Temax can throw a really big rock.

MILES AWAY, the Defenders plus the Black Knight reappears. There’s no immediate danger so you know what that means!

Exposition time!

Black Knight explains that because of a spell cast by Merlin at the time of Camelot’s collapse, his spirit was yoinked back in time to possess the dead body of his dead ancestor, the original Black Knight. Their spirits have mingled and he’s on a quest to find and fight the man who murdered the original Black Knight, MODRED THE EVIL!

Who also died centuries ago but his essence lives on and can appear anywhere, anytime. Which sounds hax.

Because of Modred’s interference, King Richard was captured and made an Arabian prisoner in the middle of his crusade. And Prince John, instead of being a lion in England trying to get a meddling fox, has taken command of Richard’s army and is planning to desert the king. Also, he’s teamed up with Modred.

The spell that yoinked Black Knight brings opposition to Modred. So it brought Black Knight into this time to fight him and it must have caught up the rest of the Defenders too, to even the odds against the magic that Modred wields.

Basically: Merlin did it.

Later that evening, the Defenders have a plan.

They sneak into Richard’s prison in the guise of really conspicuous priests. And then they split up. Dr. Strange, Namor and the Hulk will go after Modred. The rest will go to free the king.

Black Knight takes a second to grouse that Valkyrie has his sword but Hawkeye says hey you left it unattended on your body. Losers weepers.

Meanwhile, the ‘get Modred’ side of things follows a hunch of Dr. Strange’s. There’s only one corridor of the fortress with no sand on the floor. Clearly, that means the gnomes absorb the sand, leaving the floor clean.

And then they get spotted when two people arguing over a bet drop a torch and see that the Hulk has green feet.

Before you can say ‘man gangrene is really bad huh’ Hulk and Namor have punched them unconscious but too late to keep them from crying out.

Meanwhile elsewhere, Valkyrie ponders that she feels no love for the Black Knight. I don’t remember if I mentioned it but early on when she first joined, she had an irrational love for a man she knew for five minutes. Whether it was just a side-effect of her creation by the Enchantress or something else is unknown to me. But it seems to have worn off.

Anyway, they rescue Richard.

And then get attacked by three gnomes, one of them still looking uncomfortably like the Hulk, another looking like the Hulk if he became a monk, and the third not being very Hulk at all good job.

Anyway, the Defenders get their shit rekt. They all get one feeble attack before being knocked sprawling by the gnomes.

Valkyrie tosses the Ebony Blade to the still standing Black Knight and he has a moment of confidence where he reaffirms his bond to the cursed sword, the singing power locked deep within its polished black metal, and that he was born for battle. This is why he is the Black Knight!

He valiantly rushes forward proclaiming that the Ebony Blade can counter magic!

And he gets even more rekt than the other Defenders.

Damn.

Elsewhere, the other party finds Modred, Prince John, and Chandu the Arabian wizard. Chandu is summoning more gnomes.

The Defenders leap to attack, Dr. Strange confidant that using the Evil Eye will swing the battle in their favor.

But Chandu casts a spell against Dr. Strange and knocks him for a loop. Its magic that has never been directed against him before. Because Chandu is calling on the same forces Dr. Strange usually summons. Womp womp.

Also sorta implied that Dr. Strange doesn’t have access to those forces right now because he hasn’t chronologically befriended them yet.

And then Namor punches Chandu right in his goatee.

And then gets tackled out of the fortress by the gnome Chandu was summoning. There’s a bit of bad news, best news though. Bad news: the gnome hits like a mack truck’s gamma-irradiated cousin and Namor is hurt pretty bad. Best news: the gnome tackled him into an oasis. Not only does the water reinvigorate Namor, it also happens to be the elemental weakness of the gnomes.

The mohawked gnome starts melting. 

Now this is something Namor can get behind. “For as I understand so well, water and land ultimately destroy each other!”

You do you, Namor.

And he do do him. He smacks the oasis so hard that he sends a wave through the mystic chamber where the Defenders are fighting Modred and co AND into the tower where the other Defenders got their asses kicked trying to rescue Richard.

And thus today Namor is MVP.

But something occurs to Namor. The whole Avengers/Defenders War was pointless. For many days, the Defenders fought hard to gain the Evil Eye. But it was Merlin’s spell that yoinked them back in time. And it was the simple cleansing power of punched water that saved them from the gnomes. The Evil Eye hasn’t done jack or shit!

Maybe that can be remedied? Because Prince John picked it up from where Dr. Strange dropped it when Chandu zapped him. And boy Prince John is just going to flip the board, so to speak.

And then Prester John shows up and goes ‘nope’ and force summons the Evil Eye to his hand. And he blasts Modred and Prince John unconscious.

Prester John explains that he sensed that the Evil Eye had been restored so he traveled through time to retrieve it. Because he can do that. Shut up.

And even though he has recovered the Evil Eye before he ever obtained it, he’s going to stay in this era because Prester John doesn’t care for your 20 cent paradoxes. Prester John has important Evil Eye owning to do.

Anyway, not only does he belong in this era, he tells Black Knight that he does as well. What with his valor, skill in swordplay, and love of the life chivalric.

PRESTER JOHN KNOWS ALL.

Black Knight admits that he never felt comfortable in the 20th century and could never get interested in being a full-time Avenger (you never even tried!). He’s going to stay in the past!

Dr. Strange is strangely (hah) comfortable with their whole quest being pointless. And since Black Knight already has a body in the past, Strange is just going to keep the stone body in the present. It looks good in his study.

King Richard doesn’t understand any of this high-concept nonsense but he’s happy to have Black Knight if he wants to stay.

And then Prester John sends them Back to the Future with the Evil Eye. Because that is also something it can do.

Back at Strange’s Sanctum, Hawkeye calmquits the Defenders. He thought about becoming part of the team but its not really what he wants. And he’s off to have solo adventures.

Namor also quits. He has to go spend more time in Atlantis. But he’ll be back if he’s ever truly needed. Likewise for the Silver Surfer, except for the Atlantis thing. And likewise for the Hulk, except for the Atlantis thing or the promising to come back thing.

And off they fly or jump hella high in different directions.

Leaving just Valkyrie and Dr. Strange behind, wondering if they’ll ever see them again.

Considering there’s a ‘next time’ box, I wager there’s a strong possibility.

Anyway, that was the real, true actual conclusion to the Avengers/Defenders War. It kind of falls flat. Its good to get resolution on the Black Knight even if that resolution is ‘nah I’m going to stay in the past and help with the Crusades.’

Because of his love of swordplay and valor and chivalry. He is the worst kind of ‘I was born in the wrong century’ person.

But after being fought over so long, the Evil Eye was ultimately pointless. Well, I guess it sent them home. But it would have been a dick move of Merlin to yoink people from the future without a way to send them back.

I think overall this didn’t need to be part of the Avengers/Defenders War. Its not a satisfying conclusion. All it does is tie up a loose end that the Avengers themselves weren’t interested enough to see followed up on.

Also, if Prince John was defeated here, when will he sign the Magna Carta? You’ve destroyed history, you idiots!