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zillychu · 1 year ago

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woke up from a dead sleep last night realizing I could make soroku flavored pitch pearl and no one could stop me

edit: you know what? I'm feral and I won't apologize. more under the cut bc this is my house

I slammed this out all at once so I apologize for the quality but I'm having EMOTIONS

so imagine. bc of the way Danny was quickly resuscitated, his ghost only barely started forming. With the excess blast of ectoplasm from the portal being created, that little whisp was given form even after Danny's soul returned to his body.

except this ghost (Phantom) slowly comes into consciousness while trapped in Danny's body. they're separate entities sharing one body, but Phantom doesn't really have a sense of self right away. he pieces together vague fragments of Danny's memory to get a basic understanding of the world, and is mostly just observing like a backseat passenger.

Phantom starts reflexively protecting Danny, his powers and instincts bleeding through when his emotions are high. Danny doesn't really transform, and his personality doesn't totally shift that much at first because Phantom’s mind isn't complex yet. but as time goes on, and Danny has tense conversations with ghosts, Phantom realizes that's what he is. he's a ghost, somehow trapped in his old body. and even now, this early on, he already feels separate. he doesn't have all the memories Danny has.

this slowly turns into horror. into rage. sorrow, mourning a life he never got and will never get to have. forever trapped behind the eyes of someone else, never able to interact with the world. Phantom's rage eventually boils over until it allows him short bursts of taking over Danny's body. it starts out small–a stray hand moving without his consent, knees locking up, ghost abilities going awry. Danny can start feeling emotions that don't belong to him. get vague impressions, almost hears a voice inside him.

and eventually, Phantom is able to fully take over. this is when Danny “transforms". at first, Danny blacks out because his consciousness isn't used to being shoved into the back seat. but eventually, he's awake for these “episodes", trapped in the back of his mind while Phantom controls his body. this only happens when ghost stuff is happening, when Phantom feels threatened enough. he's not protecting Danny, he's protecting himself. Phantom knows instinctively that if Danny dies, he dies too. he's not a normal ghost, he wouldn't be freed. he'd simply disappear.

at one point after a fight, Phantom can feel Danny struggling to take back control. and he talks to Danny for the first time, acknowledges he's there. asks how it's fair that Danny is the one that gets to exist. but Phantom is tired and weak, he slips back into the passenger seat.

over the next few days, he's able to start talking to Danny even while he's not driving. though he's not chatty, it's only when necessary. and Danny knows, can feel it across the link between them–Phantom hates him. the ghost he created is desperate to find a way to take over completely. and as time goes on, Danny realizes with horror that it might actually be possible for Phantom to do that. he grows stronger every day, can stay transformed longer, controls Danny's body with much more ease.

it's only through a chance meeting with Frostbite that Danny and Phantom fully learn what happened to them. Danny feels sympathetic towards Phantom now. this isn't a malevolent ghost, it's a person who was never given the chance to live. who's trapped. who has to watch someone else live a life they're just as deserving of.

and Phantom feels that emotion from Danny. is so shocked by it, he doesn't know how to handle it at first. it takes him a while to contemplate, to talk to other ghosts like Frostbite. until one day, Phantom realizes… he feels sympathy for Danny, too.

neither of them asked for this. both of them deserve to live. Danny didn't do anything wrong. they're both villains to each other's story. and if anything… doesn't Phantom owe his life to Danny in the first place?

Phantom takes over less often. Danny doesn't feel hatred from him anymore. anger, yes–but not aimed at him. in fact, Phantom starts controlling their body in little ways in order to protect Danny from things that aren't even dangerous. just to avoid pain that would only affect the human tethered to him.

it isn't long before they're separated, either thanks to another ghost or Danny's parents. they're thrown apart in the middle of a horrific fight, and when Danny sees Phantom's equally shocked expression, he's terrified.

this ghost that hated him for so long–at best, Phantom would leave him defenseless. at worst, surely some part of Phantom still wants to kill him for stealing away his chance for autonomy.

and yet, when fire rains down on them, Phantom risks it all to grab Danny and get them both to safety. they're still both shaken and stunned this is even happening, but Phantom is able to nervously be like shit shit shit okay stay here don't go anywhere or I can't protect you, okay?

after the fight is over and dust settles, Phantom offers Danny his hand. they stare at each other and god if this isn't the weirdest thing. like, uh, okay, what now? they decide to go see Frostbite, who confirms that they're fully separate now. they ask if there's any chance of merging again and Frostbite assures it's impossible.

Phantom asks, even if I overshadowed Danny? or stay real close? yes, it's nothing to worry about. they leave, and back in the quiet of Danny's room, they talk. Phantom isn't sure what to do. now that opportunity is in front of him, he feels paralyzed. Danny does his best to let Phantom know that… they might be separate now, but if he ever wants help or even just a friendly ear, he's here for him.

Phantom is quiet for a while. then says maybe he just needs to rest first. he'll think about it tomorrow. they're both exhausted and injured. Phantom asks quietly… if he could rest in Danny for the night.

Danny's shocked, and–really confused. Phantom blushes and is like I don't know what my haunt is yet, I don't know where to go, but I know… you're kind of my home. now that I know I can leave whenever I want, it's not something bad anymore. I miss feeling your heart next to my core, just a little bit.

and Danny is just as surprised when Phantom overshadows him, then quietly nestles into the passenger seat again. he didn't realize how he got used to feeling Phantom with him. it's a feedback loop of contentedness, and Danny sleeps easily. (they also find out while sharing a body, Danny gets to reap the benefits of Phantom's supernatural healing)

anyway that's all I got for now thank u for coming to my ted talk

#I'll be honest. it has interested me. I've read fics. I'm just more interested in other stuff for dp #but the prospect of pitch pearl 'enemies to friends also maybe they kiss about it' has me sweating nervously #the struggle and angst of defining yourself against your progenitor. the defiant sorrowful anger funneled into misplaced hatred #only to slowly realize your progenitor is a sweet person who didn't condemn you. they even fight for you to have your own agency #so once you finally have your own body you'll do anything to protect that person you've come to truly care about #and because you shared a body for so long. because you had the same origin. you know them as well as you know yourself #you're not incomplete but you still hold half of each other #HAHA WOW anyway I'm in danger :)#don't. don't look at me #should i even tag this. yeah okay #Danny Phantom #pitch pearl

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utilitycaster · 10 months ago

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The thing that gets me abt the framework of downfall and the way Ludinus(and some ppl in the tags who seemingly are trying really hard to roleplay Ludinus) read it is that they're like "look at how the gods meddled and laid low to destroy this bastion of human achievement, they had no right and should have let themselves be systematically exterminated/have the world burn instead" when. Setting aside the revelation that the gods who struck down Aeor made themselves mortal to do it-- as in, they were on the exact playing fields of humans when they made their move and it wasn't some huge peacocking of power against upstart humans to strike them out of the sky-- the Divergence is going to happen. We KNOW the Divergence is going to happen. The gods are going to create the divine gate and remove any chance that they can ever do something like this again. "Blaugh, look at them meddle and plot-" and? Whatever they do, we know that the sun will shine once more. Melora, as brutal as she is as the starved Asha, will plant a tree of hope in the most destroyed wastes of Wildemount. And they will ensure that the suffering they wrought in the calamity, in Aeor, can never ever repeat the same way they had done it. Which is a HELL of a lot more than can be said for Ludinus who is actively reviving every cycle he can

first off "some ppl in the tags who seemingly are trying really hard to roleplay Ludinus" took me OUT so thank you for that.

I just reblogged a post with a quote from Cooldown that I think is really relevant in understanding the whole story of the gods and how we got to this point but like, just to summarize (and debunk a few things, hopefully) from the beginning of the episode to the end re: the life of the gods:

Gods (possibly aspects of the Luxon?) crash-landed on Exandria BECAUSE of what is all but outright said to be Predathos.

As far as I can tell, no deals were made between the gods and the Titans. The only person who has said this from what I can tell is Asmodeus, who I would not consider a reliable source of truth. Or rather: one might have been made but there's no corroboration that I know of.

They created the people of Exandria and sealed away Predathos both prior to the Schism

The Schism occurred when the Titans decided to attack the people (which to be clear - the people had been there for long enough to build that weird ruin on Ruidus with a portal, like, I would love to know what prompted the fight of the Schism since it had pretty clearly been millennia of coexistence).

The Betrayers decided the move was to leave and start over, and the Primes felt that was a dereliction of duty to the people. That's what the quote is about - it's about the fact that Erathis's motivation for being a Prime Deity isn't "mortals are my blorbos!" it's "we have an obligation to our creations" and more generally that the Prime Deities are invested in their domains for the overall good of Exandria but not necessarily the specific good of Aeor. (Taliesin follows it up with (as Melora) "You'd have to tear me from this fucking planet" w/r/t the idea that you cannot, in fact, destroy your bad first draft simply because it would be more convenient to you.)

Betrayers get sealed, unsealed, events of EXU Calamity occur (notably: the titans are all dead. you can fight about whether this was just or right later but they're gone and killing other people won't bring them back; the titans are largely used as a pearl-clutching prop by people with no arguments that are perhaps actually relevant to the current situation), and perhaps 50 or 60 years into the conflict the gods call a truce re: Aeor's Obtenebrator and commit to decades of living as mortals (and therefore limiting themselves considerably)

And so here we are

And I think this really gets to the point. Because ultimately, the argument in favor of leaving Aeor be is "when someone points a gun at you, lay down and die" and the argument in favor of the Betrayers is "when someone tells you to abandon your (living) obligations for them, do so." The former is despairing and nihilistic and the latter selfish and, well, a betrayal.

There is something profoundly nihilistic about Ludinus, for all he talks about freeing people and a better world. He's destroyed a city of innocents. He's indoctrinated hundreds if not thousands of people and many of them have died in his service; he's the architect of an empire and many wars in its name and is actively working with a second one. He's been killing fey and he's even physically given himself over to the cause. There is no crime or sin people attribute to the gods that he has not done himself in measures beyond nearly every other mortal. Like, I really think he's at a point where he just is unwilling to "lose" even though he has a friendless life and a legacy of violence and has destabilized the entire world and the weave of magic itself. I think he has to believe there's something on this Occultus Thalamus for him because if there isn't, he, like the Prime Deities, probably can't just pick up and start over. All he has left is to give in to just letting the world burn in the hopes that at least he gets the satisfaction of what he hates burning with him.

Basically, sounds like a rough time to try to roleplay him in the tags.

Something else you (and others) bring up is that amid all the "history is written by the victors" the story of Aeor and of the gods has actually painted them as far harsher. The story doesn't say that they were first chased to Exandria unwillingly and did not come in conquest; the story, as this post notes, evokes vast divine might striking down a city from the heavens and not like, living in fragile mortal forms during one of the most dangerous times in history and arguing amongst each other over how they can save both themselves and Aeor and if that's even possible. Like, even if you see the gods as the victors of this story rather than simply the survivors, the "unedited" version of the story makes them far more sympathetic.

You also mention the Divine Gate and that's a really interesting thing to me because the existing status quo of Exandria is actually remarkably nascent if you think about it. The Founding had gods, titans, and mortals. Post Schism had the Prime deities and mortals (and it is worth noting this is when the people of Exandria became the most technologically advanced; you want to talk about the Titans and Betrayers, you need to cover that the price of the wonders of the Age of Arcanum was that they were not present). Calamity had all the gods and mortals again, and the current era is the first where the gods are behind the gate. It's kind of a compromise between all the things that have tried to destroy one another - Betrayers and Primes are separated but all are free within their realms and can indirectly contact mortals; technically, so can Predathos. None can directly be on Exandria. Is it ideal? No. It's a compromise, and the sealed can become unsealed (which, consistently, goes very badly) but it's the option that doesn't involve the total annihilation of anyone. Ludinus seeks, by setting off this horrible cycle again, to undo that fragile imperfect compromise with a goal of wholesale slaughter. He provides no option for the gods other than "die by my hand" when even some of the gods were desperately trying to find other options for Aeor as of a day prior to its destruction. He's simply wallowed in his trauma for centuries, becoming colder and more unfeeling and less empathetic and more arrogant than the gods he accuses of the same flaws.

#answered #Anonymous #critical role #cr spoilers #cr downfall #ludinus da'leth

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huggywuggysuppy · 28 days ago

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hi i just read your e!gem post (same anon) and yeah. e!gem is such a fantastic character 💜💚 i don't have much to say that you practically touched all the points as to why gem's pov and her character in empires felt so special to me 🏔

but now i'm interested in your traffic!gem thoughts, because she's also one of my favorite blorbos to think about; on one hand she's really difficult to crack because a lot of things don't really seem to face her (at least after secret life) and she like, barely creates attachment to material things. on the other hand, her relationship with pearl does help to know gem as a character better because of how uniquely they treat each other (both in sl and wl).

i definitely think she tries to put a facade of "i don't heavily care about death or anything because this is all a game" while also constantly bringing back secret life, almost like that season and what happened (end portal, eye taken 'against her will', a camel and the weight of leadership she never desired) haunts her to some degree that she won't ever admit outloud. some things she brings back are certainly remembered with fondness (her saving that camel during ep6 and then making sure it stayed safe in the barn... you could tell she missed pearl) and others are not (she does not like sacrifices after sl).

the idea that a celestial being, who had been boundless all her life and held control over every aspect of her existence, now keeps coming back to the games because she wants to recuperate what, for the first time in all her life, she lost during sl (her agency? control? freedom?) is an interpretation i'm a fan of rn, but ofc there's so many other things you can delve into (i could rant way more about how she actually is her own biggest enemy and that ties into her trying to not care too much about people and stuff after sl but it’s kinda late lol).

as for fic recs, i definitely recommend this series from dustaundonut (https://archiveofourown.org/series/2796937) basically a canon divergence that explores a reality where corrupted!gem isn't cured, roseblings are really nuanced and complex, shinyduo is shinyduo, and the world is still moving forward. updates for the main fic are slow, but it’s still soooo worth it for the great narrative. one of my faves ever

(also i do think someone should put all gem variants in one room and see which one comes out of the room as a better person and which leaves wanting to commit more crimes)

Hey !! Thank you for all of this !! I’m so proud of my Empires 1 Gem analysis, glad you enjoyed and extra happy you want to hear more :)

I'll do my best.

Traffic Gem’s theme is control. She is constantly fighting to maintain it, to get it back, to pretend she has it, while the whole world makes it their mission to take it from her. She’s a trophy, threat, leader, lover, and at the end of the day: she is and has lost. The tragedy of Gem is her inability to fulfill her full potential, how her situation leaves her no option but to resign, giving a glimpse into what could have been if she was allowed. And the triumph of Gem is when she rejects that, spins things around so her only option is committing, delighting not in the spoils but in the hunt.

Gem is wonderfully difficult to pick apart, with Traffic!Gem as the worst offender -- most of my #analysis were posted during WL trying to figure her out. But the fun is in discovering another aspect/layer that completely changes an interpretation. All to say: this isn't my first crack at Traffic Gem, and it certainly won't be the last. Written mostly in January, I was gonna wait till I had a companion fic to post with this (EDIT: now posted!) but Simple Life April Fools spelled soooo much out, I can't resist posting now. Enough disclaimers, let’s get into the great Gem analysis!

Traffic Gem, willingly or not, is the villain of everyone's story. Even her own.

Gem (and most other mcyts) are very utilitarian with adapting to what reputation is thrust on them: as it's the smartest decision if she wants efficient power/control over the situation. There's less legwork for her in establishing motive, skillset, tone, etc. and makes her very accessible to other players: they already know her story and can work around/within it. Her HC intro season having a cottagecore theme and really her cute girl aesthetic in general is fitting into a marketable stereotype that she can then go on to subvert. And this is the fun of CC's in general, especially for the audience! The difference comes in how freely they're able to act.

In every season Gem is sought after by others: defending them, being a target, challenging them to act. If she's standing near someone, she can't be ignored, and people are always seeking her out. Many other traffic villains (Scar, Martyn) don't try taking leader at the same time, and the few that have (Ren, Lizzie) dedicate their time entirely to managing it. Gem has the worst combination because she can't turn it off: she's too aware of playing the physical and social game (and playing it well) to not lead. Because of her skill she must be used and fought against. Funnily enough Scott has this same problem, which is why he usually attaches to someone with a similarly strong reputation (social and/or skill) to mask his movements. Grian also falls victim, but his position as gamemaster and first victor often takes the heat off: people trust him to prioritize lore and not overextend. Obviously Gem and Scott would also like to RP, have you seen them, but to individual players it's more tactical to be wary.

So Gem is caught in a terrible cycle. If she embraces her villain leadership status, she has power over the server, but will never catch a break or get to tell any other type of story. And if she tries to reject her reputation, an uphill battle on its own, she'll be targeted anyway for an entire season, without the allies to block the bullets. She still finds ways to thrive in subversion: Gem explicitly follows the rules of the Life Series to the letter: passive till it kills her, because everyone's expecting her to murder from the start. Gem loves playing the villain, her SL aesthetic lives rent free forever, but also longs for peaceful episode segments and initiating her own shenanigans -- which can only come when others are independent. Oddly, I think Real Life demonstrates her ideal vibe: everyone was a lot more laid back so while she was still feared and followed, it wasn't stopping her from having fun. Meanwhile, Simple Life is her nightmare. All this to say: Gem has a lot of complex emotions around embracing slash being forced into villainy and leadership.

Gem uses this reputation for her benefit. She doesn't have much choice.

Let's talk about how other players see her, and what she does about it. Gem was typecast as everyone’s antagonist before she even entered the games. Subbing in for Cleo with her only direction as “Kill Etho if you can” only cemented her reputation. In her actual seasons, she shows sportsmanship with her kills, but rarely seems (or really has reason to be) apologetic for them. Gem takes initiative to gear up and becomes a problem if left alone too long, all the while grinning behind honeyed words and pretty walls. And even regardless of any actions, she’s known for pvp and building prowess, cutting wit, and seemingly effortless control over most situations. If Gem's this deadly when she's forced to hold herself back, what is she like at full power? She can never be under the radar because Gem’s entire existence is a challenge.

The contrast between SL and WL is insane. SL feels like a joyride: she’s got her historically closest allies and they’re completely loyal, the server is entirely at her mercy either in competitions and dragon fights or actively hunted as prey, she even gets to rp toxic yuri with no consequences! And then in the final hour her hubris blinds her to both Scar and Pearl's feelings, and she dies in disgrace. WL Gem is significantly more skittish: narrowing her field of view to only a few goals and broadcasting how uncomfortable she is with everyone paying attention to her all the time. Making a point not to tryhard for kills, merely surviving out of obligation, Gem acts like she's given up everything. She's trapped by the narrative, so she stops fighting against the current. Obviously, at least.

And the other players are clearly off balance from this change. They're unsure whether to fear Gem's machinations as if she was at the height of her boogeyman army, or to hang out sympathetically at her base. Most opt to take the safe route and target her anyway: only to face tauntingly little resistance as she uses their attempts as evidence to her innocence. Is her head still a trophy if she stands still under your minecart? Why are you making her a more dangerous color? Gem admits she played "aggressively passive:" her offense was a manipulatively weak defense. It aims to disorient others and gain sympathy for herself. There's a clear rebranding effort at play, all to change popular opinion towards Gem into something favorable.

Lifelong Allies (by accepting they all want you dead.)

After SL, Gem changes targets from directly winning to interpersonal goals. She’s already demonstrated her strength, though learned the hard way that nobody will ever leave her alone long enough to safely take her win. And since she's joined late, there's no foundation of trust or love to fall back on -- if anything, she's almost ostracized -- so now she chooses to build one. Gem needs strong allies, but even stronger ties to her enemies. If Grian and/or Pearl hadn’t intervened, had they gone for the other enemy instead, she almost certainly would’ve been crowned. Don’t be fooled by her facade: Gem never gave up on winning. Everything she does in WL is setup for her next Red rampage.

If there’s anything she learned from Scott, it’s having relationships everywhere. She wants to have a stronger tie to them so that when it comes down to a 2v1, the worse side isn’t Gem. They don’t have to love her or even want her to win, they just have to want the other person to lose more. To do this, Gem butters up every player -- she only truly denounces the G's, everyone else receives kindness and civility. She also constantly calls out the enormous target on her back, both for sympathy, but also making every attempt on her life impersonal. If everyone’s targeting her, she has no reason to be enemies with you even if you do kill her. She's friendly, if blunt, and competent enough to deserve the win, if only everyone would leave her alone! Boldly, to an almost insane degree, Gem is trying to circumvent her reputation as "Biggest Threat" into "Enemy Of Your Enemy."

Why team with Joel? As she's building bridges with all players, she also covers her tracks with the other greatest threats. Among Grian, Scar, Martyn, and arguably Etho, (all of which she also dedicates extra time to befriending,) Joel is the best fit for her mission. Loyal to the grave, there's no risk of a surprise betrayal. He doesn’t put much effort into peace talks or reputation, so he’s a perfect contrast against the smiling, hands up, ‘peaceful’ Gem. Although aggressively lore-phobic: often off-setting the tone of her story moments (most glaringly trying to kill Pearl in the finale while they’re talking,) even that demonstrates her being a storyteller instead of a sweat. He’s also competent and the perfect Champion: their team does win as a group effort. She directs him towards targets, quietly takes heat off him, and they keep each other alive to the finale. Gem more or less succeeds with Joel, and establishes her position as unfairly targeted, mostly harmless, maybe there's someone better to go after...

But Gem can't befriend everyone. …Unless (and they never got off that camel.)

Singling out the G’s fits perfectly into her “enemy of your enemy” plan, since EVERYONE can get behind stopping GGG. The G’s are the only other team that faced constant sweat allegations, despite their clear intent to infight and do lore -- something Gem clocks as she's experiencing the same thing. Also, the G's have an arsenal of messy dynamics with everyone from past series and many would target them before Gem. Beyond that, it's implausible to befriend everyone, nevermind the stigma when you're called out on being a floater (BDubs, Impulse.) But more than any convenience or necessity: Gem loves a nemesis. To say nothing of entertaining content: if her attention seems focused on someone else, she's not aiming for you, and they're both getting weaker in the process. Though, that only actually hurts Gem if her and her enemy are properly fighting.

Pearl sees through exactly what Gem is doing. If anyone's an expert on being trapped by the popular narrative, it's Pearl. As such, Pearl doesn't want to win, and only really cares about uplifting her loved ones -- and having chaotic fun while she's at it. She's the only player (except maybe Grian) who doesn't want to kill Gem, for reputation or for a safe victory. Sure, she's pressured into it by Gem's promise of a 1v1 on red, but that’s all in service of murder camel reuniting. Her attempts are half-hearted, and Gem only fights back when a third party gets involved (poor Impulse), maintaining the enemies illusion while functionally just having fun/RP. (Not that I think Pearl ever wants to be bloodthirsty 5 AM again anyway, although Gem sure does.) Pearl also takes a “yes, and” attitude to everything Gem does ever, and willingly slides into the role she needs Pearl to be: pulling more attention than Gem, and (depending on what the players/you're looking for) villainous and/or heroic while she’s at it. As long as Impulse is off the radar (and he is compared to the dramatic GGG), Pearl is fine with whatever. And Gem serves her in return: an undeniable threat to target despite Pearl’s allies’ objections. There's enormous flexibility in the storyline too: since neither of them really care about the 2v1, or trying to win this time for that matter, they can spend as much time as they want taking it in any direction. In a quiet, twisted way, being Gem’s nemesis is the best way Pearl can help her.

(Eternal dynamic of Pearl, willing to jump headfirst into whatever Gem's up to, not caring about what'll happen to her own reputation, or even fate, so long as it helps Gem and makes her happy. That unconditional safety allowing Gem to reach higher, unleash her full potential, and having a safe place to land if she falls. And she uses that power to take care of Pearl in return ohghghhh. For the shippy interpretation, I direct you to my ao3 :)

Of course there are consequences to this playstyle. The G’s are very scary on their own to be enemies of, although Gem has unusually strong relationships with all four, so they probably won’t hold a long lasting grudge. Maybe. Moreover, Gem is publicly called out for her unreasonable beef with Pearl, the consequences of which may create an actual enemy in the future if Pearl ever lets herself properly hold her exes accountable. Most of all, it makes Gem look cruel or — worse — sloppy, both of which discourage others from working with her / being on her side. But even with all these downsides, Gem vs. the G’s succeeded in balancing her reputation. And it’s undeniably a highlight of WL.

Yet a villain needs her thematic demise :/ or “what is a victory but other people?”

The best Gem moments and stories are when she gets to have fun doing what she wants. The Boogey Army, lore with Pearl, even the moments of peace at her base where she talks to the camera about her process. But the most disappointing is when she’s forced physically and narratively into a box. Gem is constantly pushed into passivity because it’d be ‘unfair’ — also punished by the rules, unable to instigate until the gimmick (inconsistently) or other players send her to yellow/red. But in WL, Gem had organized things so that when she finally went Red, the most compelling and coherent option was murdering those who wronged her, finding long awaited closure with Pearl, and a satisfying final death that laid groundwork for next season. Unfortunately, by nature of the game/rules, they didn’t have the time or space to execute that throughout the season let alone the finale, resulting in her hard work falling flat.

And isn’t that frustrating? Her playstyle is dictated by the rules and, despite appearances, puts control of her actions/storyline in other players hands. SL worked because Gem could satisfyingly get herself on Yellow and interact with/terrorize other players within the rules. But WL left no time or room for either. She’s a villainous character — decided for her and embraced for maximum effect — and so it’s agonizing to take all the heat with none of the payoff. Gem always finds ways to work with it: building relationships, supporting Joel and Scar and others in getting kills, salvages a rushed makeup with Pearl, but it’s not her lore, her joy, her victory. It's dying to a mob, alone at her base, with only a sardonic outro as closure. And yet she keeps on trying anyway.

The stakes are too high for Gem. She wants to win so badly, in spite of the target on her back preventing her honest victory. So she weaves her own story into the villain narrative: an underdog, or at least a lesser enemy, that treats you kindly and deserves the win. Gem creates a rival in Pearl to showcase her innocence and a weakness so others let their guard down. All of this to promise that, when she goes Red, she can finally get some murder -- some control back. Yet Gem falls, unsatisfied and unfulfilled, before she can take her moment to have fun and thrive. Traffic Gem is constantly fighting for control, and we yearn and fear for when she finally realizes her hunt.

E1 Anon thank you for the ask !! I've been preparing a major Traffic Gem analysis for a while, and your prompt was the perfect jumping off point. There's still so much to talk about, but I think I've covered the major points here, at least until the next ask. So excited to see what develops next in Life Series that’ll add even more depth :) Thank you for reading!

Bonus Thoughts: Real Stakes cc!Gem, Meta Worldhopper Gem, and Taking Her At Face Value c!Gem

No Gem character is complete without intense interconnectivity between her worlds. Everything above is the Traffic Gem intent/action analysis, as seen and interpreted by other players. But here are some other more Gem centric ideas that I'd be remiss if I didn't discuss.

Traffic Gem is intense because the stakes are real.

Life Series is a microscope for mcyts. It's a Situation with just enough guidelines to build a cohesive story, a finite time limit incentivizing risks, a sandbox of character dynamics and with players they already have history with to utilize and alter. Part of the lightning-in-a-bottle value is seeing the mcyts at 100%: using their full arsenal of improv, relationships, production, and lore, on the most elite stage they have right now. One's content, brand, fandom, their very legacy, is indisputably shaped by Life Series. It’s an insane level of pressure even by mcyt standards. And Gem enters that as a newbie four seasons in, with all eyes on her.

If Wizard Gem is a collection of her themes into one masterpiece, Traffic Gem is the refined core of GeminiTay: who she is without any structure to fall back on, how she operates in the middle of chaos, and what she fights for when she can't have everything. It’s an ornate quilt versus a knight’s sword: you admire the comfort and handicraft of the quilt, but the sword challenges anyone to wield it — with varying levels of mastery. That's why Traffic!Gem is such a beautiful challenge compared to all her other characters: she is overpowering and raw, and her very presence challenges you to investigate deeper.

CC's often say their characters are exaggerations of themselves, but Gem's Traffic character is directly interwoven with her general CC struggle. Sorted into a box of "scary, competent, cottagecore," it's interesting that much of her battle is breaking out of her reputation. Gem loves playing around with perception, it's "how she gets away with things," and Life Series demonstrates both the strengths and weaknesses of her openly deceptive brand/playstyle. (I also consider False and Keralis this subtype, and can rant about this endlessly.) While she's soooo careful to not overextend, Gem is constantly beating back the "too good at PVP/minigames/etc." accusations, often to the point of handicapping herself. The more actions she takes, the closer she gets to winning, the louder the outcry to stop her -- even in the name of "fairness." And she subverts expectations by embracing that role for her own ends. I think that's beautiful.

Worldhopping! Yippie!

I could go on about the delicious c!Gem lore around an eldritch creature originally delighting in the death game, until struck with the horribly real betrayal woven into every single player, having a nihilistic and desperate attitude in every game afterwards. But this post by rainecreatesstuff already covered that beautifully. I think this is 100% intentional on Gem’s part: she keeps a lot of her machinations behind the curtain but loooves character building and consistency. Her "its fine" mantra fits perfectly in anyway. Similarly, much to appreciate from the Watchers specifically choosing her to join the games and cull the herd. Gem carrying on the eye-lost-to-portal plot is a fun nod to that interpretation. Imagine if she gets to boogeyman again in the future. Personally, I love a Worldhopper Gem who actively seeks to change events -- as opposed to simply enjoying the chaos and/or getting her feelings sent through a woodchipper by the Watchers -- but both interpretations are great.

An important aspect of Worldhopper Gem for me is how she actually cares way too much about every world. You’d think remembering tons of them and knowing it’s all roleplay would make her detached and here to have fun, and oh how she tries, but she can’t stop loving everyone too much and is always punished for it. Her fondness for Impulse, Scott, and Pearl, is thrown in her face in SL. Despite calling in dragons and fighting tooth and nail, Empires 1 gets raptured. Everything always ends. and Gem knows it from the start, and still she cries for every fallen world. Something to be said for loving her friends in every universe too!

Grumpy, impatient, and hurt Gem - what does she actually want to happen?

While I subscribe to a very tactical and intentional Gem — targeted actions influenced by her emotional priorities — the spiteful pure emotions Gem is worth discussing, especially regarding Pearl. Things like laughing as the barn burns, SACRIFICES, "did you even look me in the eye during our murder camel... happenings?" Gem is CONSTANTLY using whatever's being done to her and trying to manipulate it into something she can accept. She desperately wants to go on a murder spree with Pearl again, camel included, but doubled down on playing hard to get so now they're circling each other like (pathetic, wet) cats. It annoys her to no end that she keeps getting interrupted by murder attempts and base visitors, so she hides her irritation and pretends she's already given up on a safe, intact, quiet base, all the while grumpily snarking and retreating to the woods. Part of the fun on SL was being a yellow name and too scary to approach, getting to menace others just by standing next to them, so why is it taking so long to get there this time? Surely somebody should be able to kill her on their own. Gem is perpetually unsatisfied, and not even hiding it all that well, yet players seemingly refuse to see past her evil cottagecore facade. Much to be gained and appreciated in a grumpy, pretending to be detached Gem, who cares a lot, actually, and would appreciate if somebody would take the hint and let her murder already!

Thank you again for reading!! Stay tuned for the companion fic going up on my ao3 sooner or later :)

EDIT: now posted!! take a look!!

#analysis #life series #geminitay #gem also REALLY understands pearl's traffic character like im not joking when I say number 1 fan #'you understand holding grudges across seasons' 'when you KNOW you did nothing wrong' 'if he was really supporting you'#she wants pearl to let loose on scott sooooo bad #she misses her murder wife :(#ask #trafficblr #the great traffic gem analysis #this close to linking my other posts like footnotes in an academic work #for more life series themes see: pearl/forgiveness. martyn/service. impulse/ambition. scar/transactions&value #how awesome that i still have to watch emp2 and last life. what pages and pages of analysis will i get out of those

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soratsuart · 3 months ago

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Random TDP thought but I very much enjoyed that the animal sidekicks all have distinctive personalities and are characters of their own to a certain point instead of just being kinda there and serving as comedic relief sometimes.

Like. Many shows will just give characters animal sidekicks for the sake of it and not do much with them with counted exceptions (looking at you The Owl House, I love the palismen but other than Flapjack most of them didn't do much, not even Luz's). In TDP, meanwhile we are introduced to Bait from episode 1 and he's always had a very distinct personality even before the reveal that Ezran can understand animals (thus allowing for better chances at having animals express themselves and giving them personalities).

Bait is grumpy and rolls his eyes at the kids antics a lot, but he undoubtedly loves them all a lot and tries to help them to the best of his ability, be it by acting as a comforting presence when they're sad, literally acting in the face of danger (as part of a plan or otherwise) to help them or doing silly things to cheer them up like helping Callum cheer up Rayla in s7. He also has his own stuff going on, tho! I enjoy how easily jealous he gets of all the other animals (or dragon) when he first meets them only to eventually warm up to them and protect them or comfort them too! He's such a fun character and TDP wouldn't be the same without him. When I tell you I'd die for this glowtoad-

And then there's Stella! When they introduced her I was a bit worried this would be one of those instances where they give the female protagonist an animal sidekick just cuz the male protagonists had one and then do nothing about her, but turns out I was wrong! Stella is so charismatic and fun. She's cute and loving but also mischievous. She has turned out to be such a great help for the characters and I like how much she tries to help Rayla, sometimes to her own detriment like when she fell trying to catch the pearl. The fact that she has an habit to just grab whatever catches her eye is so funny to, little thieving monkey... The fact that her magic makes her a legit threat in combat caught me by surprise tho (THE FUCKING PORTAL DECAPITATION IN THE FINALE, HELLO???)

I can't say much about the bailings because they don't have that much going on for them yet. They're literal babies and their personalities aren't that distinctive in comparison + haven't had the chance to develop themselves yet, but it's nice they have at least some preferences displayed already like Hat just deciding that they want to be with Soren specifically from the get go or Jellybug having a sweet tooth. I'm also a big fan of Sneezles sticking with Callum and helping Stella make Rayllum real again (our MVPs for real those two)

Over all just. Idk, I really like these little creatures a lot, they make me smile whenever they appear on screen and I really enjoy the fact the writers made sure we'd have reasons to care for and get attached to them. They're a very important part of this show too, even if they might not be as noticed as the human, elf and dragon characters

#the dragon prince #tdp #tdp spoilers #tdp bait #tdp stella #tdp sneezles #tdp hat #tdp jellybug #little creatures who i love very much #no mentions of zym cuz even if he behaved a lot like a dog dragons still are self aware and have their own cultures #they're not pets nor animal sidekicks #anyway. long ramble lol #of all the character analysis i have and this is the first i decide to do #and I'd do it again i just think its funny #soratsu speaks

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veliseraptor · 2 months ago

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Top 5 Tea blends, go!

oooh oh boy okay. I tried to see if I could do this without going down to look at my tea stash (it turns out I could not)

revealing my shame as not a terribly sophisticated tea drinker. oh well

Portal Tea's Creme de la Earl Grey. It's what I'm drinking right now! I usually have at least one mug every day, usually two, sometimes three. I have evangelized this tea to multiple people and gotten multiple people drinking it. It is genuinely so good.

Lake Missoula Tea Company's Evening in Missoula. I need to get more of this one because while generally I am a black tea drinker sometimes you need a good herbal, and this is one of my favorite herbals. I discovered it in a coffee shop in my hometown and it's so tasty - includes (among other things) lavender, peppermint, vanilla, spearmint, and rosehips.

Pearl Fine Teas' Cinnamon Orange Black. There's a couple different specific blends that scratch this itch for me (Good Earth Tea Sweet & Spicy is somewhat similar) but this is a new-to-me one that I'm really enjoying. Pretty much what it says on the tin plus a little clove.

Harney & Sons' Victorian London Fog. I'm a big earl grey drinker in general and this one used to be my main squeeze before I got hooked on the Portal Tea blend. I still really like it, though, for a slightly smokier flavor (which is interesting, as I'm generally not a "smoky flavors" person.

Stash Tea's Peach Black Tea. This was the first tea I really fell in love with and it remains one that I have a lot of affection for, which is kind of weird considering I'm otherwise pretty steadfast on not liking fruit-flavored teas. I like this one. Should really order more of it, I've been out for a while and just too lazy to put in the order.

I used to like Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice but lately I've found when I got it that it doesn't brew as strong as I like my tea, which was a disappointing development.

bonus mention for (not really a blend but) the pandan tea that I got at a couple places in Thailand that was so good but I have no idea what the actual blend was. maybe pandan and lemongrass? not sure but I need to know so I can make some myself

#conversating #yesistolethisurl #top five meme #lise memes

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tubbytarchia · 2 months ago

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Do you have any thoughts on Lizzies’ secret life character?

Sad. Tragic in more ways than one. Imagine a deep frown on my face

Although I lovee Lizzie's character to death, I don't think I'm so good at verbalizing my thoughts in depth about her, but I am trying to write a general opinion piece on her. As far as Secret Life goes, I really like how antsy she is to do things that are likely to harm her even when not required to. Eg her immediately going for Cherry trees in spite of them being in a dangerous spot, her trying to save the camel from Mumbo, her readily jumping into the End Portal... Although in that last instance she did seem to just not think about it and be under the impression that she could instantly snipe the dragon kill lol. It's a bit sad even before the party that she's alone since she bounces off everyone so well, but I'll always believe in her. She at one point says "I might be better alone" which is referring to Mumbo regarding a task, but even so it felt like appropriate though sad foreshadowing

I don't headcanon seablings outside of ESMP1 simply because I don't see a portrayal of such a dynamic outside of it, but Jimmy and Lizzie do have multiple cute interactions in SL, like them shaking their asses at each other to communicate lol, it's a shame that the one notable interaction they have is Jimmy accidentally killing her :(. I didn't remember them having so many interactions even if they were brief, I need to rewatch more of Lizzie's Life POVs because the ass shaking is something siblings would do, I have to admit

I also need to point out that I love Lizzie's and Pearl's dynamic as few interactions as they have. The way she's drawn to the same qualities in Pearl that she's drawn to in Joel and with no hesitation rewards her as promised when Pearl gets her a bone, even whilst Joel is trying to appeal to her. And Pearl remembering her slumber party the next session without being reminded was probably the nicest anyone was to her about having missed it

But of course, the sad lonely slumber party... It does not get any easier to watch (or that episode in general. Her idea of getting everyone into the end to pass the night was a genius idea but alas) but god bless Joel. God bless. The one real one. The one constant. And him remaining vengeful on Lizzie's behalf means so much to me. Of course Lizzie's failure of a party and failure to seek much revenge for it resulting in her early death is the tragedy of it all. No less tragic than anyone else dying first but sad nonetheless. And it continues the trend of Lizzie permadying due to a third party which is arguably the most tragic part of her character that I think would make for banger analysis

It's even more tragic to me though that her character gets made out to be all about the SL death while I see little discussion about her actual character outside of that. And also people placing importance on her death because of Jimmy. I absolutely understand it was always going to be at least a little about Jimmy regardless of who would have died first, but the amount of talk I see that makes her character all about her failure and death, and then that death all about Jimmy, makes me sad because I think there's a lot to say about her. So I tend to be adverse to any kind of canary labelling and "She took the bullet for Jimmy/her brother" kind of sentiments, although I do think that the SL finale is still significant and I understand why it had the impact it did on the fandom. Just not personally a fan of a lot of the responses to it

#blabber #lizz.ie

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fandomsfordays21 · 3 months ago

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So funny going between Tiktok and Tumblr for many reasons but especially bc there are so many of what I like to call, "fandom puritans" among Tiktok users.

These are the average people who joined fandom during/around the quarantine and started clutching pearls at basic fandom behavior and refused to learn basic fandom etiquette.

So funny to see people crying and bitching in comment sections about ships or saying people were weird/other things for hear me outs...

People thinking all ships need to be completely healthy and canon. There's an odd hatred for enemies to lovers there as well as literally any queer ship.

People saying ao3 needs to be censored??? Like??? The whole point of tags is so you can avoid stuff or find what you want???

People there think being a robofucker is only valid if it's a cyborg or human appearing android and think a monsterfucker is only valid if it's a human appearing monster. Saying you want to fuck a Eldritch being on there or saying you want to fuck a non humanized version of Wheatly from Portal will fill your comment section with people who are weirded out or just mad for some reason???

Anything that's even vaguely suggestive or sexual will cause outrage there even though most Tiktok users are also absolute sex fiends. I've never seen the word "gooner" thrown around so much it kills me.

The Rabbit Hole song situation even though vocaloid is known for having very dark or sexual songs.

When a person draws a human version of a character/draws a character in their style and their style isn't "Skinny, white, cishet, and conventionally attractive" people lose it.

I've made a post before mentioning how weird people are there about Sonic or other male characters having top surgery scars even though you see them all the time here.

(I would bet money that the transphobic Cross post would have had the opposite effect there.)

Trends go so fast there. It's been 2 days why are you saying this trend is dead or that you're late??

Someone posted a video saying "hear me out" on a grandfather clock and everyone was losing it in the comments but I agreed and knew most people on this site would agree too.

Not to mention the vocab there is entirely different. It's like a whole other language sometimes why do they talk like that???

It's such a culture shock and half the time I feel like I'm at a zoo looking through glass or that I'm looking at a petri dish of bacteria under a microscope.

Doing or saying pretty much anything will get you the electric chair it's really sad but also interesting to watch and I want to do stuff to upset them like a scientist testing the reactions a rat has to certain stimuli.

#shitpost #tiktok toxicity #tiktok #tiktok users #they're a whole different species and I need to figure out what caused that evolution #so that I can provent myself from falling victim mostly but still

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itspheenixbaby · 3 months ago

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my group in my kpop dr

im a bit of a prude and embarrassingly prideful. scripting scenarios with people who exist in my original reality was uncomfortable for me (there isnt anything wrong w doing that tho), so i really went all out with the group members i made. and my God i really love these mofos. (kinda unprofessional but idgaf). which is funny since in all my other dr's i dont care much about my social circles. i might just keep adding on to this list for a while.

now playing...dance tonight - lucy pearl.

music :

the group is self producing, but only for our solo projects. we collaborate with each other frequently. everyone has musical experience, but not in the same fields or with the same approach, so group collaborations are often a learning experience. all fourteen members have an ever expanding solo discography, most of which goes unreleased other than the occasional leak or release.

were very different artistically, save for appreciating soul music & Caribbean music, but not incompatible. however our differences are a leading factor. to avoid disagreements we dont get too involved in the groups music production other than song writing and possibly remixes. however we do all love our groups music a lot and have a say in the general direction it goes in.

dorms :

chaotic. not just because of the members but how many people are going to be coming in and out. i wanted a way to meet other idols in a laid back setting. so i scripted were all extremely popular among other idols so they frequently visit our dorms. either to hang out or make music. but that poses a difficulty: there are fourteen of us. which is a good thing in terms of getting a variety of people (which is my intention), but if everyone brings over only one person at the same time thats 28 people in a few apartments. if everyone brings five of their friends over at least once 70 people have been in or near my apartment. it sounds fun in theory but it might just end up pissing me off.

cluttered. seemingly always music playing somewhere in the dorms. whether its someone is making a song or a playing one. every bedroom has a completely different aesthetic. opening a door feels like opening a whole ass portal. instruments all over the place, smells like food or desserts half the time, colorful chaotic & borderline over decorated shared spaces, animals ranging from birds to cats and genuinely inexplicable property damage & stains.

P.S : unrelated but is dance tonight really not sampled/interpolated in level up???

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sherlockggrian · 2 years ago

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I have an idea for an au that I really want to post art for but absolutely cannot wait to get out to the world

hermitcraft/desert duo spiderverse au. hear me out.

Scar is a spiderman named spider-guy (and he looks like the hotguy outfit). His nemesis is Watcher (the prowler) who’s Grian (obviously) but they spend more time flirting than actually fighting. He lives in this 80s superhero comicbook universe New York and has a bow and spiderweb arrow? and a TON of merch.

Doc is Doc-oc (obviously) and Ren is his assistant. they open a portal to the multiverse. Scar meets Spider-Grian (spiderman? cuteguy?) who’s like more of Grian’s hermitcraft personality. Mumbo is his roommate/scientist.

I didn’t get that far in the story but I think Watcher dies (gets shot like the prowler) and his this whole emotional moment with Scar where they reveal their faces and Scar realizes Watcher is the Grian from his universe. Watcher is more Grian’s life series personality (angsty lol), while Spider-Grian is basically cuteguy, who despises merch and publicity and everything.

Also there’s Spider-Pearl who looks super badass, there’s Spider-Gem who’s an elf from a fantasy unvierse, there’s Silent Spider (Etho) and Spider-Moss (bdubs) who are basically just spider noir and spider ham.

Xisuma is like Miguel who runs the spider society thing. Basically everyone can have multiple versions of themselves in different dimensions and there’s a spider-man for every hermit. It’s incredible. I’m obsessed with it.

#please i want to draw for this so bad i dont have the time #hermitcraft #copyrighting this idea btw dont come for me #spiderverse au #hermitcraft spiderverse au #desert duo #goodtimeswithscar #grian #scarian #watcher grian #hc #spark speaks #hcsv

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sippin-on-bichlorine · 1 year ago

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percy jackson show’s changes from the book that… could have been done better

• not completing the quest in time. what was the point of having an expiration date if in the end zeus was like ‘ok nvm’??

• four pearls instead of three only to make grover lose his…..so now….we’re back at three again

• whatever happened in the lotus casino

• or at waterland

• and at crusty’s😭😭 i remember that being one of my favourite scenes in the book when i read it as a child and it lasted not even three minutes

• generally the way these three kids seem to know everything? like, medusa i get - it’s one of the more famous myths. the lotus casino? eh, it’s a stretch. but procustes? c’mon! they remove the suspence and the wonder of discovery in favour of a bland out-of-context explanation and it really takes away from the story (and i get that annabeth and grover might know more about the greek myths and i even get that in the show it’s very clear that sally prepared percy for all of it, but they’re not omniscient ffs)

• also the complete absence of luck and chance. everything seems to happen for a reason, everything is tied to the prophecy. no pink poodle, no random excursions on st louis arch because annabeth’s a massive nerd, nothing

• percy accusing luke immediately. in the book it takes a venomous scorpion for percy to realise something might be off, but in the show he’s accusing luke straight away???? this kid’s fatal flaw is loyalty he would tear his limbs off before even thinking that someone he called a friend might have betrayed him

• apparently now backbiter can open portals even inside camp so there goes the whole plot of the fourth book i guess??

• gabe turning himself into stone by mistake. now there are two things that bug me: 1) in the show gabe isn’t abusive, and petryfing someone for being a bit of an arse doesn’t seem like adequate punishment 2) it takes away from sally’s character development outside of being percy’s mum (= being able to free herself of an abusive relationship and in doing so getting the money to go back to school)

• this is very nit-picky but the thrones!!!!! where is my weird assortment of different thrones that showcase the powers and personality of each god??? where’s poseidon’s fisherman chair??? where’s demeter’s grass throne??? why does everything need to be so stale and gray????

#percy jackson #pjo #pjo tv show #pjo series #annabeth chase #grover underwood #rick riordan

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bxbym3t4l · 6 months ago

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Why I think Gem is such an Underrated 'character' in Secret Life

Since she was the newest player in the series I mean she didn't really know the stuff other people do for lore and shit, her whole task where she had to open the end portal she did some cool lore stuff with that but didn't take it too seriously, saying she had to use her OWN eye to fill the last ender eye slot, I mean thay itself has some shit about her orgins in the life series and if u check her different colour skins for the game it shows it did have some impact on her

^ to continue on the stuff about her skin u can see how there is a skulk like texture going on her arm and stuff which is probably again, an impact from changing her own eye into an ender eye and messing with supernatural shitLike 4 episodes after this lore stuff she gets the bogeyman curse where she has to eliminate and kill almost everyone on the server, it turns into an apocalypse, and I personally think she's an underappreciated villan, After though everyone thanks her, everyone that she did kill and put I the apocalypse which could be some sort of aftereffect, but for Grian he's the only one (out of the people she talks to) that is 'mad' at her even though she didn't even kill him. The Finale is also so important to her lore and stuff, In the finale Grian attacks Her, Impulse and Scott, which makes it a 1v3 and in the end they end up killing Grian, her alliance with the mounders (Joel, Bdubs, and Pearl (well also Mumbo but Mumbo is already dead at this point)) is broken, including her alliance with her best friend Pearl. Which obviously had some impact on her because she THOUGHT that at the end Pearl would make a choice to try and be on friendly terms with Gem, Since it would be her characters first time seeing a perm death of her friend when Impulse dies she's obviously devastated and turned to Scott and went something along the lines of "he's dead Scott why'd they kill him!!" after Impluse dies, (and everyone else) The final 4 are Scott, Gem, Pearl and Scar (Scar being the supposed Villian of the whole series) and Gem had the least amount of hearts out of Scar, Pearl and herself, but had more than Scott, Scott asked her to kill him so that she could have a higher chance of winning, Making it to the final 3 and devastated by another death of a friend but also having much more materials to fight. She thought that "I can't kill Pearl, Pearl is gunna win this", And when she goes to fight with Scar, both Scar AND Pearl try to fight her. She feels betrayed and teleports away with an enderpearl, they both follow her, Scar and Gem fight it ou with Pearl just watching from the sidelines, When Pearl did join in Gem said "2v1 you guys are gross!!" Right before she died, The fandom is always saying she was such a hypocrite, but both times, she DIDNT initiate the fight, each time she didn't. have. a. choice. PLUS even if she did start the fight she was just mourning the loss of 3 of her greatest allies, Impulse and Scott who are dead and Pearl who betrayed her. I just find Gem such an Underrated 'Villan' because for Scar he was the "Villan" because it's what the role forced him to do, but Gem realistically in the apocalypse thing, could have only killed one Person and not led it like an army, She chose to lead them, Because she only had to kill one person and help the second person with the kill.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk

(This is all MY interpretation of how her lore makes sense, don't try and fight me)

Also if we think about the few lore implications with how they show how she didn't tell Impulse what she was going to go do, it could show that with her character, with Secret life being her first full experience it would have impacted her ability to trust and be honest.

(Again most of this is normal stuff that the creators do in the SMP I just enjoy writing lore for their characters based on how they act)

#geminitay #secret life #secret life spoilers #geminitay theory #please dont try and fight me on this im just a little Canadian who likes to figure out lore implications in normal actions

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sjsmith56 · 1 month ago

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Assignment Bucky Barnes, Chapter 31 - Face to Face

Summary: Bucky is sent to June 1943 to help intercept Mason. First, he has to stop someone else from the future from making a big mistake.

Length: 4.1 K

Characters: Bucky, Peri, Mrs. Houseman, Merton, OFC (Barnes descendant)

Warnings: Historians are flawed humans, just like everyone else.

Author notes: I wanted Bucky the chance to meet one of his descendants.

<<Chapter 30

The presence of the two women, a tall redhead and a shorter brunette, were a big surprise to Bucky when he stepped out of the portal, still grasping the redhead's arm. When he had last seen the attractive redhead in the way she looked now, it had been a one-night stand in 1940.

"Pearl ... Peri," he said to her. "How is it possible?"

"I explained it before about taking years off," she said. "I'm not the same Peri that you met in Sam's living room. I'm from another 30 years beyond that Peri. My identity is now Paulina, and I infiltrated the headquarters of Lowell Pierce Mason." She noticed he seem startled at the name. "Yes, he is a descendent of Alexander Pierce, through his daughter. He's the leader of Phoenix, the current incarnation of HYDRA. I think you remember Victoria."

The shorter woman came forward and Bucky's mouth opened as he saw the head librarian of the Greenpoint branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.

"Mrs. Houseman? You're a historian?"

"I was," she said, glancing at Paulina, "until I ended up here during a time when the historians lost contact with headquarters. Fortunately, I knew where to find Merton, and he gave me a place to live while he helped me get a job at the library. Then I met Edward and chose to stay."

"Now that we have that reunion finished, we need to talk," said Paulina, getting down to business. She gestured around her as Bucky noticed they were in a sparsely furnished apartment. "You and I will stay here in this flat. Merton will be joining us soon as we need him to distract someone while we intercept Mason, the doppelgänger May Weatherly, and a third person."

"Do you know who the third person is?" asked Bucky.

"Yes, but before I tell you I think you should know something." She looked hesitant to continue until Victoria spoke.

"He should know," she said. "She is family."

"It's one of your descendants," said Paulina. "She's only 19 and had infiltrated Mason's headquarters on her own. I should have stopped her, but I didn't even see her until the day Ariel was rescued. I was on my back, bleeding from a gunshot wound and she was angry, almost out of control. She followed the other two here to kill them but if she does that she'll be arrested on her return to the future on several charges of unlawful death. If we can stop her first and send her back, she'll only face misdemeanour charges. A slap on the wrist would be her punishment."

"What's her name?" asked Bucky, curious.

The two women glanced at each other again and grimaced.

"Peri," said Paulina, finally. "She's named after one of her ancestors."

"So, you're family as well?" asked Bucky in a cynical manner. "I'm not moving a muscle until you tell me the truth, Paulina." He put a harsh emphasis on her name. "For all of your claims of objectivity you seem to have interfered a lot in this timeline. Why? What the hell was so important that you did all of this?"

Victoria stepped forward and placed a hand on Bucky's arm. "You have every right to be angry but remember that historians are still human. We love, we hate, and we sometimes make decisions that make sense at the time then we try to make amends for our mistakes. Sound familiar?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked her, slightly calmer but still irritated.

"I'm Ariel's birth mother," said Paulina. "Merton is her birth father. She was conceived by IVF because I wanted the perfect historian to study you, one who could have a relationship with you and find out what really made you tick. You are such an enigma to history, even with your notoriety. Before the war your behaviour was such a mystery, openly courting and sleeping with many women cementing a reputation as a lothario, not being involved in anything more than casual relationships, yet you stayed quiet about your conquests. Why was that Bucky?"

"None of your business," he responded, his ire up at her turning this on him. "So, Ariel knew she was your homegrown spy?"

"No, she didn't know," interrupted Victoria. "Peri and Merton were found out, and almost kicked out of the guild for their plan. The chair wanted the pregnancy terminated but relented when it was suggested that Ariel be raised by an adoptive parent, with no knowledge of her parentage. Peri asked me and I agreed as I wasn't ready to go back to the past anytime soon after my last assignment. I raised Ariel as my daughter under my real name, Skye Paxton, until she was 16."

"Skye was declared dead when the Reapers, Lowell Mason's first terrorist group destroyed the historian's headquarters," said Peri. "She was on duty in the portal room along with six others. To save their lives, one person sent the others back a year, except the explosion that destroyed the facility affected the stability of the portal. Skye was sent back to 1928, and became younger in the process. She sought out Merton and for a year none of our resident historians could contact us and we couldn't contact them."

"Why would Mason destroy the building? That sounds like the actions of a madman. Why wasn't he arrested then?"

"I was chair by then, not an easy process after you've spent almost 16 years in subordinate positions," replied Paulina. "I had just authorized a sanction on a young woman, a true believer of Mason's ideology, who was being trained to seduce you into impregnating her. It was always about your genetics, Bucky. The Winter Soldier worked because of your genetic makeup and Mason wanted an army of your descendants for HYDRA to take over the world after World War II. Somehow, he found out about Ariel early on and began training his own daughter to do what Ariel was supposed to. After I sanctioned his daughter, he went mad with revenge, but he managed to do it without leaving evidence, all while recruiting followers from his university political science teaching position. He found May Weatherly, seducing her at a young age." She noticed the look of disgust on Bucky's face. "Oh yes, he is degenerate in more ways than one. With one of his followers on the guild council he was able to get her into the program. When I reinstated the assignment on you, she was in serious consideration for it, but Ariel's abilities were too much for anyone else to be considered. It wasn't nepotism that had her assigned to you, it was her own qualifications and thoroughness."

"So where does Peri Barnes, I assume that is her name, fit in?" he asked.

"She's a bit of a rebel," smiled Paulina. "For the past year she was supposed to be in training for the Avengers. They are still a force to be reckoned with. As a descendant she does have super soldier capabilities. Then she suddenly went AWOL. No sign of her until she appeared shortly before the raid on Mason's building. Once she ascertained I was alright she left me, after calling for a medic. The force that came to rescue Ariel learned that three people came back to this time, Mason, Weatherly, and after some hacking into their security cameras, Peri Barnes. I can only assume she intends to kill both of them. They can't be killed in this timeline; they need to face charges in theirs. We have to find Peri before she puts herself on a road to ruin."

"What date is it today?" he asked. "We have to find her before Steve gets transformed, right?"

"Yes, we do," confirmed Paulina. "It's Saturday, June 19, 1943. His transformation is Tuesday, the 22nd and he'll return to his flat later that afternoon to pack in preparation for Senator Brandt's war bonds tour. We're expecting May to be there, waiting for him, dosed with a pheromone booster. Merton is going to intercept Steve before he gets to his flat, take him for a drink, dinner, whatever he has to in order to delay him. Us three will deal with May and Mason, as he'll be nearby to make sure it happens. Peri will likely try to take them at the same time, but I would rather find her before then, before there's a chance she can make things worse."

"Is the location of Steve's flat common knowledge in the future?" asked Bucky. "I could always stake it out and watch for anyone who doesn't belong there. I'm pretty sure I can see them before they see me."

The two women looked at each other and agreed it was probably a task that Bucky would be better suited for. Paulina was still recuperating from her gunshot wound and would be using a modern medical kit to speed up the healing process. Victoria had taken several days off from work, using vacation hours and leaving the former Miss Warren in charge until her expected return on June 23. In this timeline Ariel had only left just days before, still reeling from young Bucky's betrayal, a fact the older version was very well aware of. When Merton arrived with some groceries the two men shook hands, and he confirmed Paulina's account of Ariel's rescue in 2142. While Victoria and Paulina went into her bedroom to continue her medical treatment Merton raised a small brown paper bag to Bucky.

"Drink?" he asked.

Bucky nodded and put the groceries away while Merton poured out two glasses of whiskey.

"I know what Ariel is to you," said Bucky as the historian handed him his glass, "and to Paulina."

"You must think we're terrible people," replied Merton. "I wanted to tell her so many times."

"At least you were there for her, after I messed things up," countered the solemn super soldier. "I'm not really angry. Hell, I grew up with lots of kids whose mother was really their grandmother, raising her daughter's illegitimate child as her own. People are human. Some of her trauma about losing her parents was real, wasn't it? Losing Skye at the age of 16, never knowing her father; even though what she told me was made up it wasn't that far removed from the truth."

"We try to keep traumatic events like that in the persona's life linked to a similar event in the historian's life," said the historian. "Makes it more authentic. We pushed her too hard for this one. She wanted to marry you, wanted to stay and wait for you, even knowing you wouldn't return because she loved you that much.

Both men took another drink, then stared into their glasses. "I don't think she loves me anymore," said Bucky, suddenly. "She was so angry with me at Peri's apartment. As long as she's safe I'll be happy with that and go back to 2024."

"Then you'll be giving up without a fight," replied Merton. "That was her grief and anger talking. She recognized Sam as the one of the men who rescued her and Rebecca in 1940. Once he identified himself, she knew you were the other man and asked about you. I think a week being held captive has tempered her feelings considerably about everything. Knowing your partner, he likely had a good talk with her on the flight back to headquarters. Paulina said her 2142 version told him everything, even things that I don't know, because I don't know everything. I do know that when I get back, I'm going to tell Ariel who I really am because I still want to be part of her life, whether that's still in 2142 or 2024."

They continued drinking their whiskey as Bucky thought over what Merton said. He was still thinking about it hours later when he approached Steve's flat. Grinning as he found the spare key, he unlocked the door, put the key back, and quietly entered the small space, locking the door from the inside. The memories of times spent there flooded his mind as he stepped onto the cracked linoleum floor and took in the darkened space, seeing the tiny icebox and cast-iron stove, the rickety countertop that hid the bathtub beneath it, a sink and a cupboard on the wall. A small table for three was in front of a built-in sideboard filled with Steve's art supplies. The bathroom was even smaller than he remembered it. Considered a luxury to have a private one in those days, it came with a sink and toilet. Then he saw what was considered the bedroom, with the same bed that he and Ariel slept in for three nights when he was back on leave at Christmas in 1942, so they could have time alone together. Looking at it now it was indicative of just how poor Steve really was but for those three nights it was a haven for Ariel and him.

While his thoughts were filled with those moments, Bucky heard quiet footsteps coming up the stairs outside. Stepping into position near the door he flattened himself against the wall, listening as the person located the key and inserted it in the lock. Just like he did, the person replaced the key in its hiding place then opened the door carefully. Aware of their heartbeat Bucky waited as the person hesitated at the door. Calming himself, he felt his own heartbeat slow, and an icy sense of readiness filled his body. As the door was closed behind the individual, he stepped forward, grasping their neck and pushing them against the wall. With his other hand Bucky flipped the light switch and came face to face with a young dark-haired woman, with eyes as blue as his. At first, she fought back with surprising strength, but as his gloved left hand tightened around her throat, her efforts slowed down, and she began to gasp.

"Who are you?" he asked. "Why are you in Steve's flat? I'll lessen my hold if you stop struggling and answer my questions. Do you comply?"

Her eyes grew big, and she took a better look at him, at the dark hair and beard, and the dark eyes that were almost hidden under the cap he had pulled low over them.

"I will comply," she sputtered, and Bucky released her throat but blocked her from leaving. She rubbed where his hand had gripped and coughed a few times then stood up and looked at him with a confused expression. "Who are you?"

"Answer me first," said Bucky. "Then we'll talk." He indicated for her to go in and sit at the table. "Know that I can tell when a person is lying."

He observed her carefully as she approached the chair, watching as she glanced at the window in the bedroom, knowing that she was considering throwing herself through it.

"I can stop you before you even get to the window," he said, seeing the surprise on her face as he voiced it. "Now sit, be a good girl, and tell me your name and why you're here."

As she sat, he pulled his chair over, placing it directly in front of her. Then he took his cap off so she could see his face fully.

"I don't understand," she began, but he frowned at her, and she nodded. "My name is Peri Barnes, and I'm here to wait for the traitors to arrive. It's my plan to stop them permanently." She watched his face, looking for a reaction. "Who are you?"

Smiling, Bucky took his left glove off, inwardly pleased at the reaction he got from her. "I think you know."

"How do I know you're not one of Mason's future soldiers, sent on a mission to stop me?" she asked defiantly. "You could be sent from the alternate timeline to make sure I don't succeed."

"Or I could be the original Bucky Barnes, changed slightly so I wasn't easily recognized by my family," he said. "I could have been sent here to 1940 by Peri Wayne to make sure that Lowell Pierce Mason didn't kidnap Ariel Black and replace her with May Weatherly. Then I could have been brought to this specific time to prevent her from seducing Steve Rogers after his transformation."

Peri's mouth opened, then closed and she swallowed. "You're him?" she asked. "The real one? It's not in any historical documents that you were here."

"For good reason," he said, then he leaned forward. "Were you planning to kill Mason and Weatherly?" Her face coloured but she stayed silent. "So, you're planning to violate my most sacred promise to myself, to never kill again."

"But they deserve it!" she exclaimed, her anger surging out of her. "He wants to bring back HYDRA and the Winter Soldier program. When they failed with replacing Ariel they chose plan B, to get Steve Rogers to make May pregnant. They recruited me, not aware of who I was because out in public I go by Patricia Warden." She noticed the look on his face. "Everyone wants to be friends with a member of the famous Barnes family. I just wanted to be accepted for who I was."

"I believe you," he said gently. "Peri, you being here has placed our mission in jeopardy. I'm here with three others and we plan to take Mason and Weatherly into custody and return them to 2142 for a very public trial."

"They deserve to die," she replied bluntly, her face set.

He nodded. "Killing them would satisfy you briefly but taking a life is not an easy thing. Since I left HYDRA I've killed a handful of people, only as a last resort when I had no other choice. Their deaths still bother me. It sounds to me like you've appointed yourself judge, jury, and executioner. Sounds like what HYDRA did when I was their Fist."

"It's different," she spat. "I'm not trying to take over the world. I'm trying to make it right."

"By ruining your life in the process?" He looked intently at her. "There's nothing right about that. You'll throw everything away if you kill them. Guild security will arrest you, put you on trial for causing unlawful deaths, and the Barnes name will be associated with a killer, once more. Have you learned nothing about what lengths I went through to leave the killing behind?"

Her lips began to tremble, and she put her hands to her mouth to suppress the sob that threatened to erupt. As tears began forming in her eyes, Bucky shifted to put his chair beside her so he could put his arm around her. The dam of tears broke, and she buried her face in his chest, crying profusely. Reaching into his pocket he took out his handkerchief and offered it to her. She chuckled when she saw it which helped her stop crying.

"It's a family legend that you always carried one of these," she said, after cleaning the tears off of her face. "A clean one at that."

"I always have one to offer a lady in distress," he answered. "So, you're my what ... great great granddaughter?"

She nodded. "I'm descended from your oldest son, Sam, although I guess I shouldn't have said that. I'm not good at keeping things under wraps. Probably, why I'm flunking out of the Avengers."

"Is there a reason you chose that profession instead of something else?" he asked.

"I'm a screw up," she said, then she took a deep breath. "Thought I was representing the family tradition, although I could have gone into libraries, or history, or antiques. I just wanted to make my mark; you know?"

He did know and he squeezed her shoulder. "Listen, I worked on the docks, had dreams of being a pro boxer, and even took a course in technical drawing when I had the idea that I could be a draftsman, or an architect. I didn't want to go to war, but I found that I didn't mind being a soldier. Not the killing part, but the planning and organization of missions. Being part of a unit, they become like family to you and protecting that family becomes part of the job. When I was finally free to set my own life I floundered, lived on my pension, and had nightmares all the time. Working with Sam Wilson and starting the Avengers up again felt right and they accepted that my participation would not extend to killing, except under the most dire of circumstances."

"But what if I don't want to do anything that the family has done before?" she said. "What else could I do?"

"Anything," he replied. "Be a carpenter, be a writer, be a carnival barker." She looked at him, confused. "They don't have carnivals anymore?" He shook his head, bothered by that. "You're what 19? You can try many things before you find what's right for you. Be true to yourself and don't go down a path just because it's well worn. Don't be afraid to choose something different."

"What now?" she asked, then nodded when she saw the expression on his face. "You're going to send me back, aren't you?" She stood up. "Alright, my first arrest. Hopefully, my last."

Bucky stood up beside her and hugged her, then placed the chairs back, exactly as they had been. He took one more look around the flat and turned off the light as she opened the door. While he waited, she found the key and locked the door from the outside, replacing the key in its hiding place.

"How did you know where to find that?" asked Bucky.

"I guess it was a story you told your kids and your grandkids, and it made its way down through the years," replied Peri.

They walked down the steps of the building and out into the darkened street. As they began walking Peri stepped up the pace. When Bucky looked sideways at her, she raised her eyebrows and gestured forward with her head in the universal nonverbal language asking, "Wanna race?" Before he could respond she took off, laughing while she opened a good lead against him. With a grin he started running, easily catching up to her and for the remainder of the distance back to the other flat they ran side by side, feeling the exhilaration of how effortless it was.

When they arrived back at the other flat, she recognized Merton and Paulina. They both assured her she wasn't in serious trouble. It would likely be enough to get her kicked out of the Avengers, considering she went AWOL to come back in time illegally.

"That's okay," replied the younger Peri. "I wasn't really cut out for it, anyways. Grandpa here made me realize I didn't have to follow anyone's path but my own."

"As long it's legal," clarified Bucky. "And don't call me Grandpa. You know you have to keep this quiet. I'm not supposed to be here."

Paulina offered her a handshake. "Thank you for knocking out the one who shot me," she said. "How did you know I was undercover?"

"I didn't," said Peri. "Not until I heard Mason order the guy to take you out, that you were a traitor to the cause. He was a lousy shot. Where did Mason find those people, anyways? Most of them were complete amateurs."

"There are always people who feel disenfranchised," said Merton. "People like Mason use them to advance their own purposes. He fills their minds with messages that they are special and needed to implement change. As soon as he gets what he wants from them he discards them. His trial will show him for the pedlar of lies that he really is."

The sound of a portal opening distracted them as Victoria adjusted the controls on her device. Shyly Peri offered her hand to Merton, whispering that she knew who he was. He pulled her into a hug, whispering back that they would talk on his return. Then she looked at Paulina, who just nodded, still keeping her professional distance. Finally, she faced Bucky. Before she could say anything he hugged her and kissed her on the forehead.

"Stay on the right path for you," he said.

Smiling grimly, she turned towards the portal and stepped inside. When the signal arrived that she was safely through Victoria shut it down and the four looked at each other. It was late and they had many preparations to make before Tuesday. Even though Mason and Weatherly were the most recent believers from the future they didn't know how many of Mason's followers were still in the past. Everything could still go very wrong, changing the future in the process.

Chapter 32>>

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