#Zhang Danni

[natlacentral]

ianousley be careful with this post. it has jumpscares.

[my-jokes-are-my-armour]

New pics of the Hansa.

Still no Joey 😭. But we see several in costume ! I like Zoltan a lot, I won't lie.

[teenwolfpackincorrectcaptions]

What's everyone's thanksgiving plans?

(I do not speak for Teen Wolf or Paramount+. This is for fun.)

[sun-and-yue]

瀚海亦可开出绿洲

[adamwatchesmovies]

Ip Man 3 (2015)

Ip Man 3 may offer the same expertly choreographed martial arts scenes as its predecessors but this movie’s entire front half is worthless. By the time it picks up, it’s too little too late, particularly when you consider the lame antagonists, bad performances and manufactured drama.

In 1959, Ip Man (Donnie Yen) must help the principal of his youngest son’s school. Property developper Frank (Mike Tyson) wants it for the prime real-easte it sits on. His criminal underling, Ma King-sang (Patrick Tam), will stop at nothing - not even arson or kidnapping - to convince the principal (Tats Lau) to sell. Meanwhile, Ip Man’s wife, Cheung Wing-sing (Lynn Hung) receives dire news from her doctor.

You get a bad feeling as soon as you realize they've cast Mike Tyson in the film. The man’s not an actor and even non-English speakers should be able to tell. What purpose does he even serve, except to - once again - introduce some “foreign devil” antagonists for Ip Man to defeat and then shoo away from his home? It certainly isn’t to give us something new, as Tyson is an English-speaking boxer - just like Taylor "The Twister" Miller from Ip Man 2. With his trademark face tattoo and daughter who looks NOTHING like him, it’s like he’s a time traveler.

You could’ve eliminated Frank altogether and only had Ma King-sang as the film’s villain. He’s certainly despicable enough and it might even be a nice change of pace for Ip Man to go up against someone who doesn’t have god-level martial arts skills. Unfortunately, this plot causes only frustration. Ip Man’s son is kidnapped, and not for ransom. Poor little Ip Ching will be sold into slavery unless the principal sells his building. “Alright!” you think to yourself. “These idiots are stupid enough to challenge Ip Man, a martial arts legend who’s saved China’s honor twice already. He’s always been cool, calm, and collected but now, the gloves are off. It’s time for him to go ballistic and teach these monsters a lesson.” but then, he doesn’t. The rescue is undertaken with the same intensity as a no-stakes match between old friends. Our hero doesn’t seem to care, so why should we? It’s a recurring problem with the film. People don’t call the police when witnessing crimes, even if it’s something as blatant and serious as an assassination attempt. I know the police are corrupt (they’re led by a white man, so how could they not be?) but Ip Man’s a respected member of society. He has close friends in the department. You could at least try!

This third chapter in the series isn’t all bad. It’s surprisingly effective when we move away from the school action plot and deal with Ip Man and his wife. There are tender, romantic scenes between them as they spend what could be their last days as husband and wife. Here, the film shows off some good performances. Despite this refreshing storyline, it eventually becomes frustrating as well. Ip Man spends all this time defending the school - his son's school, which is being threatened by ruthless gangsters. He's so dedicated to this cause that Wing-sing begins resenting her husband. She’s worried he won’t be there for her if her illness gets worse. Why she doesn’t just tell him the very important news she got from her doctor, I don’t know. Once they begin spending time together, a second antagonist, another practitioner of Wing Chun called Cheung Tin-chi (Zhang Jin), comes in. On paper, he's a great adversary. He's studied from the same school as Ip Man but applies the technique in different ways and morally, Tin-chi is little more than a glorified thug. Unfortunately, the picture fails to take advantage of these opposing dynamics. See, earlier in the film, Tin-chi accepted money to hospitalize one of Ip Man’s friends. We know he’s rotten but Ip never learns what Tin-chi did! How could writers Edmond Wong, Chan Tai-lee and Jil Leung miss that?!

Ip Man 3 often repeats what we’ve seen before and fails to take advantage of the natural drama that should emerge from its story. Despite some good performances and well-choreographed fights, it’s often tedious and feels phony. With the series once again teasing Bruce Lee but not utilizing him, it feels like they're just releasing more chapters to string us along. (Original Cantonese with English subtitles, June 4, 2021)

[katiemcwrath]

The Trio: Jia Acosta, Moon Daewon (Danny), and Qiu Yunlong (Yun)

And if we stop to look around There's room for all of us So we'll find out There's love in all of us To fly, to live, to die and finally feel alive

[zelandiangelo]

ty for the tag!! i couldn't get them to upload in a grid if i did them one at a time so i just uploaded them all at once and the order is random LOL..... i will tag the characters individually if anyone wants to know who they are

Tagging @fuckinmemesman @yesterdarling @sweetcomforts @hey-cringelord @meiyanaalexia and if anyone else sees this and wants to do it feel free! :)

Hello ppl! Just to keep it afloat i once again started to have a tag game!

So, your favorite anime, manhwa, games ect. Characters Anyone tbh!!

I have way too much-

Tagging: @mizz-sea-nymph @nicasdreamer @tinyy-tea-cup @rorlokiswifey @bimmismalice @vilereign @monstertreden @rukia-writes @praisethesuuun @kinaoryi @amoexii

@das-jaim3 @sethmp3 @jonquilclegane @twinklemylittlestar @justvir @alonelyidiotwholovescats @zendersenders @etoilesbonbon @queen-shiba @anticapitalistclown @radioactivesweet @togetherhearted

@izanami462 @gnomeykins-xx @chrispywhispy @aresarmyblog @miha-chi @snowmantita @riseofamoonycake @kinchan-palace @asheervasilissa @cosmicmeliii @jamesleecult @julihehe @swallowtail-lotus @daughteroftyche08

+everyone else! Sorry if i forgot someone!

[demifiendrsa]

New stills from Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action series including first look at Casey Camp-Horinek as Gran Gran, Danny Pudi as The Mechanist, Maria Zhang as Suki, Tamlyn Tomita as Mayor Yukari, Sebastian Amoruso as Jet, and Arden Cho as June.

Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender will premiere on February 22, 2024.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Reviews: Netflix Avatar: the Last Airbender (Book 1)

(Thanks @knightsweeties for this cute GP)

Now I have AVOIDED looking at spoilers, and opinions of others until After I had made my own conclusions.

A lot of people are mixed on this series. With only one thing being consensus:

The last airbender movie < Netflix Avatar the last Airbender < Avatar the last Airbender

Aside from that, opinions have been all over the places. On how great or how bad the show is.

I will be going over my thoughts on it in the following categories.

The Action (fight scenes)

The Effects (from bending, CGI, and costumes)

The characters

The Plot

The changes

Does it capture the Spirit?

How does it stand on its own?

Conclusions.

(Spoilers below, but let’s get Right into it)

____________________________________________

The Action

So I’m going to say this. The action in this series is great. In my opinion it’s the strongest point in the series.

The battles from invasions, to simple one on one fights are very well done, some aspects even surpassing the original. Like the invasion of the Northern Water Tribe, you really feel the place is under attack.

And the bending battles are pretty gorgeous. It’s impressive to see the fight between Katara and Paku done serviceable well.

Though one flaw is the fact that sometimes showing the fight or attack actually took away from the impact of story beats done in the original. Seeing the attack on the Air Nomads actually took something away from it. Seeing Aang discover that horror is much less impactful.

And seeing Zuko fight in his Agni Kai against his Father also took a lot of bite from the scene. If Zuko never fought back it would have been so much more traumatic.

But they were still good fighting scenes.

Solid 9/10

____________________________________________

The Effects.

The Costumes in this are Gorgeous! Especially Kyoshi warriors. The characters mostly look as if taken straight from the cartoon. The Face stealer himself being ABSOLUTELY HORRIFYING to look at in Live action. He is a sleep paralysis demon.

Appa and Momo both look great. The effects of the cities, and the blending are beautiful.

The bending also looks pretty clean. Though I admit the water bending was a bit lacking but the Fire looked ESPECIALLY fierce.

There is so much detail jam packed in this it’s amazing.

Though, I will say that it’s not flawless, some of the things do come off a touch goofy. But that could be more of uncanny valley with some of the bending.

8/10

___________________________________________

The Characters

And it wouldn’t be Avatar without the Characters in it.

And before we do anything, let me say, ALL of the characters look like the character they are playing. It’s like Netflix genetically modified them to Look like the character.

Dallas James Liu’s Portrayal of Zuko is PERFECT. Matching Season 1 Zuko’s personality to a T.

Zuko actually gets more development and his relationship with Iroh and the Crew are expanded upon more. That Funeral scene with him and Iroh broke my heart.

Maria Zhang’s Suki is also an incredible performance.

DANNY PUDI AS The Mechanist. (They cast Abed!) that was a fun surprise.

But now that we talked about what I loved about the characters… now to get to the negatives.

Aang feels so mopey. Yes Aang has his sad moments. But instead of being a hyper optimist with a penchant for fun, he is more like a depressed kid that has occasional bits of being a kid. I don’t blame the Actor, I just feel it’s more the writing

But if Aang got a downgrade in character, Katara was SHREDDED to practically nothing. The strong yet caring Katara was so… Passive. Even her big moment fighting Paku felt so… lack luster. It pained me to see this girl who was so strong come off so… passive.

Sokka did lose a chunk of character and development, but it wasn’t AS detrimental as one would believe. It’s still cruddy. But there was some stuff added that helped cushion the blow.

Appa and Momo were not as present because expenses (but at least they were fine)

King Bumi is dead. I don’t know WHAT was the plan behind Bumi, but this felt so… twisted and off. This isn’t the Bumi that taught Aang the lesson about how not everything is as it seemed. It hurt me to see such an accurate look be so inaccurate.

Azula and her friends felt like a down grade. I know what they were trying to go for. But I just didn’t feel that EDGE she had. It felt so.. pitiful.

On a positive

Jet and his team were still fun and a bit psychotic.

Ozai actually coming off as more competent.

And Admiral Zhao being incompetent yet super Egotistical was a change I welcome.

The bounty hunter Jun, flirting with Iroh was a change I wasn’t expecting but loved.

The Face Stealer may have looked more terrifying… but his actual action was mid… aside from the nightmares.

The rest of the character acting was a mix.

I gotta put this at… 5/10

When most of the main cast feels so bland it really takes away from the story.

____________________________________________

The Plot

So the season still follows the general plot of Book 1 of ATLA.

Katara and Sokka find the Avatar who got frozen for a long time. They go travel to help Aang find a Waterbending master so he can start learning to bend and save the world.

Now interestingly since it only has 8 episodes it sort of Blends together several plots into one episode. And this causes a lot of changes… and the effects of it are… well… a mixed bag at best and almost completely undefinable at worst.

Episode 4 being especially messy.

Now there are additions and changes from the original because of the constraints of Live Action.

Like not specifying that Aang has been gone 100 years, and actually changing certain story beats to references in order to save on time.

In some cases, it’s understandable. In facts being a one to one retelling would be boring.

The problem is that the story feels more like it’s pushing the characters rather than the characters pushing the story. Aang had agency, but now there is even more forced Agency.

I did like the changes that made the fire nation more competent. (I’ll discuss further in the next section)

But overall, I felt that the story was speed blitzed and super monologue heavy at its worse. It’s nothing incoherently awful. But it’s very lacking.

4/10

_________________________________________

The Changes

There were a Lot of changes done to this in comparison to the original series. So for this. I decided to make a new system.

I will list the change. If you see this Symbol (+) it’s a change I am fine with. If you see (-) it’s a change I didn’t like. And if you see (\) it means I’m indifferent to it.

-Fire Lord Sozin wiped out Air benders in person (/)

- Aang got lost in a storm by accident, not actively running away (-)

- Katara and Sokka lose the feminist development (-)

-No penguin sledding (- -)

-No Haru (-)

-Avatar Kyoshi take over (+)

-Zuko has a journal about the Avatars (+)

- Jet in Omashu (/)

-Teo and his father in Omashu (+)

-Bumi is jaded. (-)

-Secret tunnel early (-) (it’s weird that Sokka and Katara go in there, there is more I don’t like but I will just leave that out for now)

-The Funeral for Iroh’s son. (+++)

-The Agni Kai with Ozai was changed (-)

-The crew of Zuko is revealed to be the division that would have been sacrificed. (+)

-Aang never Water bends (-)

-Azula’s whole character alteration, and earning the blue flames (-)

-Less Serious Roku (-)

-Koh’e whole deal (-)

- Zhao’s death is different. (-)

-Yue having a bigger connection to Sokka (+)

-Fire nation demonstrates far more competence (+)

-

There are more but most of them I’m more understanding because of Time Constraints.

I will give credit that a lot of the changes I didn’t like but they did try something.

3/10

______________________________________

Does it capture the Spirit?

This is where I have to say Kind of.

When you see the references, Cameos, and the small details. You can tell there is some love for the original series. The attention to details and the bending choreography is gorgeous and Almost seamless.

It’s where we get to the core of the show that feels different.

For example. The Netflix version of One piece. There are a TON of differences, but the core of the characters felt the same. The spirit of the show was still clear. It was handled with love.

With this series, I can say there is a respect for ATLA, but the core seems to have a different focus.

So I put this at 5/10

As there are some things that you can see have reverence, but other things that don’t.

_________________________________________

Conclusion.

The stark defenders of the show say you shouldn’t compare it to the Original because it will seem worse. While also then comparing how much better it is compare to the live action movie.

Here’s the truth, if you watched ATLA, you are not going to expect this show to be better than the original.

If you didn’t watch the original show, you would probably be entertained, and since this show explains basically everything, you won’t need to know as much as the viewer going in… but there is also a lot going on.

If you were to go in and watch this show with 0 understanding of the show. I’d say 6 maybe 7 out of 10.

But if you are a fan that cares about the show. I have to put it at 5/10

And that’s where I put it.

5/10

It is watchable, but I’m not absolutely smitten with it.

I’m willing to give book 2 a chance… but I’m iffy. On it.

[sywtwfs]

Team USA for 2024 ISU Championships

World Championships

Men: Ilia Malinin, Jason Brown, Camden Pulkinen (Alt: Maxim Naumov, Andrew Torgashev, Jimmy Ma)

Women: Amber Glenn, Isabeau Levito (Alt: Ava Ziegler, Elyce Lin-Gracey, Starr Andrews)

Pairs: Emily Chan/Spencer Akira Howe, Ellie Kam/Danny O’Shea, Valentina Plazas/Maximiliano Fernandez (Alt: Chelsea Liu/Balazs Nagy, Isabelle Martins/Ryan Bedard*)

Ice Dance: Madison Chock/Evan Bates, Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko, Emily Bratti/Ian Somerville (Alt: Caroline Green/Michael Parsons, Eva Pate/Logan Bye, Emilea Zingas/Vadym Kolesnik)

Four Continents Championships (announced before Nationals)

Men: Tomoki Hiwatashi, Camden Pulkinen (WD), Andrew Torgashev (Alt: Maxim Naumov, Liam Kapeikis, Jimmy Ma)

Women: Amber Glenn (WD), Lindsay Thorngren, Ava Ziegler (Alt: Elyce Lin-Gracey, Audrey Shin, Starr Andrews)

Pairs: Ellie Kam/Danny O’Shea, Chelsea Liu/Balazs Nagy, Valentina Plazas/Maximiliano Fernandez (Alt: Isabelle Martins/Ryan Bedard, Maria Mokhova/Ivan Mokhov)

Ice Dance: Madison Chock/Evan Bates (WD), Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko, Caroline Green/Michael Parsons (Alt: Emilea Zingas/Vadym Kolesnik, Oona Brown/Gage Brown, Eva Pate/Logan Bye)

Junior World Championships

Men: Daniel Martynov, Jacob Sanchez (Alt: Beck Strommer, Taira Shinohara, Lucius Kazanecki)

Women: Josephine Lee, Sherry Zhang (Alt: Logan Higase-Chen, Sarah Everhardt, Elyce Lin-Gracey)

Pairs: Olivia Flores/Luke Wang, Naomi Williams/Lachlan Lewer, Adele Zheng/Andy Deng

Ice Dance: Leah Neset/Artem Markelov, Elliana Peal/Ethan Peal, Yahli Pedersen/Jeffrey Chen (Alt: Jenna Hauer/Benjamin Starr, Caroline Mullen/Brendan Mullen, Olivia Ilin/Dylan Cain)

*Pending TES minimums

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

[the-monkey-ruler]

Journey to the West (2021) 宇宙探索编辑部

Director: Kong Dashan Screenwriter: Kong Dashan / Wang Yitong Starring: Yang Haoyu / Ai Liya / Wang Yitong / Jiang Qiming / Sheng Chenchen / Guo Fan / Gong Geer / Luo Yiyun / Luo Juan / Guan Yuntong / Wang Xueyi / Lang Wumei / Cui Lishu / Wang Yu / Liu Qi / Sun Xiaochen / Chen Ping / Song Jingdong / Tan Tian / He Li / Xian Zhibin / Li Di / Fu Chunyang / Tang Ying / Deng Haorong / Li Danni / Zhang Yaluo / Wang Yaogang Genre: Comedy / Science Fiction Country/Region of Production: Mainland China Language: Mandarin Chinese Date: 2023-04-01 (Mainland China) / 2021-10-17 (Pingyao International Film Festival) Duration: 118 minutes Also known as: The Story of the Universe Editorial Department/Journey to the West IMDb: tt15072612 Type: Reimanging

Summary:

Tang Zhijun (played by Yang Haoyu) is the editor-in-chief of the editorial department of "Cosmic Exploration", a science fiction magazine born in the 1980s. Today's magazine is declining, and Tang Zhijun has become a down-and-out, lonely man. But he is still obsessed with finding extraterrestrial civilizations for decades. Finally one day, he received an abnormal signal that seemed to come from the depths of the universe, so he summoned his fellow wanderers, and with the question that puzzled him all his life, he once again embarked on a journey to find aliens.

Source: https://movie.douban.com/subject/34941536/

Link: N/A

[bizarrequazar]

GJ and ZZH Updates — February 18-24

previous week || all posts || following week

This is part of a weekly series collecting updates from and relating to Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan.

This post is not wholly comprehensive and is intended as an overview, links provided lead to further details. Dates are in accordance with China Standard Time, the organization is chronological. My own biases on some things are reflected here. Anything I include that is not concretely known is indicated as such, and you’re welcome to do your own research and draw your own conclusions as you see fit. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or additions. :)

[Glossary of names and terms] [Masterlist of my posts about the situation with Zhang Zhehan]

02-18 → Nothing of note.

02-19 → The Instagram posted a photo of "Zhang Zhehan" at the scam concert with an overlay of "Zhang Mama's" face.

02-20 → Nothing of note.

02-21 → The Instagram posted another London vlog.

02-22 → Third anniversary of Word of Honor's premiere.

→ The Instagram posted a video of "Zhang Zhehan" that I did not subject myself to watching.

→ Danny, the professional basketball player involved in the the 2021 girlfriend smears against Zhang Zhehan (see [here] [here] and the Shenzhen Gang section of [this post]) and the Zhang Sanjian scam ([here]), has lost a social media partnership and will potentially be blacklisted by the Chinese Basketball Association after slandering other players on his podcast. Sources: [1] [2]

02-23 → Addition 03-04: The cram school that included slander against Zhang Zhehan in their test prep books after 813 are facing scam claims and resulting refund requests of 40 million RMB.

02-24 → Gong Jun posted six photos of himself in a restaurant. Caption: "Happy Lantern Festival!!!" His studio reposted this with the added caption, "The Lantern Festival, winter is over @ Gong Jun Simon wishes everyone a happy Lantern Festival~ Come and have a bowl of tangyuan, and be happy!" Fan Observations: Some fans managed to sleuth out what restaurant he was at, and discovered that the photos were taken in their Wenzhou (温州) room.

→ The Instagram posted a video of the scam concert.

Additional Reading: → A late addition to last week: Tumblr user @moniquill posted an article about a group of anti-Indigenous extremist Wikipedia editors. Among the editors listed is OnCamera, the editor who has also been maintaining the misinformation on Zhang Zhehan's Wikipedia page since 2021. (previously discussed under 2023-02-07, original exposé by Flora [here].)

previous week || all posts || following week

This post was last edited 2024-03-04.

[twoidiotwriters1]

The Curse of Oenone (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: Ara has never done anything wrong in her entire life idk what you mean -Danny Words: 2,112 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter // Next Chapter Listen to: 'As The World Caves In' -by Sarah Cothran

LXI: Back by Unpopular Demand: Me

"You won't stay."

"But—"

"Ara, if I have to throw you overboard I will!" Leo frowns.

Ara's eyes brim with tears. "We can't even have a proper goodbye..."

"There is no goodbye in this," Leo gestures at Frank. "Hey! Make sure to take her with you!"

"Leo!"

"We don't have time for this," he insists, also holding back tears.

"HOLD ON!" Zeus warns them, getting ready to toss them out.

Ara doesn't even get to take one last look at Athens before the sky flickers and changes at the speed of light.

"Jason!" Leo screams. "Hurry!"

Everything around breaks and flies off the deck, Ara unclasps her harness and watches Frank and Hazel as they try to get closer.

"Go!" Leo urges her. "Go, go, go!"

"LET'S GO! MOVE IT! CUT THAT OUT!" Bufford keeps screaming. 

It isn't wise to distract him while he's desperately trying to keep the ship in one piece, but love blurs all her coherent thoughts. "Leo..." she turns to him, trying one last time.

"Leave!" He screams with an anger she's never heard before.

Frank rises off the deck as a dragon with Percy, Annabeth, and Hazel on his back, Ara sees him fly in her direction ready to seize her. "Fine!" She yells at her boyfriend. "Leónidas Valdez if you don't survive this, I'll kill you!"

Leo laughs. "I love you!"

Frank's claw hooks on her cloak and pulls her out of there. As they fly down to the hill where the Athena Parthenos is standing, Jason catches up to them and starts giving instructions. "Hazel! Those three cohorts are in trouble! If they don't merge with the rest of the demigods—"

"On it! Go, Frank!"

"Drop me there!" Ara spots a familiar shape in the mob. "Jason, Piper, you come with me!"

"Alright, General!" Jason responds. Frank flies past the hill and opens his claw. 

Ara lands on top of Pollo the Nemean lion, and slits a monster's throat with her crossbow. On each side of her Piper and Jason land and draw out their swords. The monster dissolves and she glares at the army before her, pulling the lion's mane so he stops running.

"Who missed me?" Ara smirks at the monsters that are quickly scattering away from her.

"About time!" Reyna says over the cheering of demigods. "Glad you could join us!"

Piper smiles. "We had some giants to kill!"

"Excellent! Help yourself to some barbarians."

"Why, thank you!"

"General Jackson!" Nico slashes a monster without paying much attention. He looks pale and barely alive. "Good timing. Where's the ship?"

Jason and Ara look up, the girl feeling a bit faint when she sees the wreckage the Argo II has turned into.

"Gods," Nico makes a face. "Is everyone okay?"

"Leo..." Jason says weakly. "His plan is in motion."

Nico nods, locking eyes with her. "He'll be fine."

"Of course," she pushes back her fear to focus on the fight.

"But just in case... For Leo."

"For Leo," Jason looks at Ara and nods.

"Where is Octavian?" Ara demands out loud, slashing through the monsters like they're cardboard figures, guiding Pollo with only one hand. "I wanna give him a proper send-off!"

"Ara?!" Connor Stoll looks at her with his mouth wide open. "When Lily said you looked different, I thought she meant sunburned!"

Ara pulls the lion's mane so it comes to a halt once more. She smiles down at her friend. "You're here, that means Saggio is close. Where?"

Connor opens his mouth to respond but Frank's voice cuts through. "Repellere equites!"

"Ave, Praetor Zhang!" Reyna greets him.

"Ave, Praetor Ramírez-Arellano!" He responds. "Let's do this. Legion, CLOSE RANKS!"

"Legion, cuneum formate!" Reyna yells. "Advance!"

"Hey, Birdy!" Percy calls behind her. " Lost something?"

The army of Greeks goes wild the moment they spot him and Annabeth. Lily Saggio is with them.

"Strategus!" Her eyes are fierce, but they seem happy. "Your armies wait for instruction!"

Ara feels ten times stronger at the moment. She turns Pollo to face the girl. "Brigadier Saggio, you see the monsters?"

"Yes, General."

Ara unsheats Lily's dagger and tosses it back to her. "I want them all dead."

"Let's kill stuff!" Percy shouts with enthusiasm.

Everyone gathers around Ara and charges into battle. Ara notices Nico and Will Solace sneaking to the opposite side of where the fight is happening, she looks further ahead and sees where they're going, a dark grin forming on her face. 

She turns to Annabeth and Lily. "Take the lead on this group."

"Yes, General," Lily lifts her dagger. "Let's go!"

Ara has barely slipped off Pollo's back when the ground shakes, and she looks up to see a gigantic mount of dirt emerge from the mud. "AWAKE," Gaea growls. "Little fools. The paltry magic of your statue cannot contain me."

"Bitch," Ara curses, glaring at the mighty woman before turning around and following Nico's trace, which isn't hard because the ground seems to be dying wherever he sets foot.

"The whole earth is my body," Gaia boomed. "How would you fight the goddess of—"

FOOOOMP!

Ara stops and gasps. Festus just tackled Gaea, and there, confidently seated on his back, is Leo. "Pipes! Jason! You coming? The fight is up here!"

"Gods, I wanna marry him," she whispers in joy.

Ara.

The girl gives a start and looks around, but no one there seems to be paying her attention. She frowns, maybe she heard wrong. The girl quickly forgets about it when her eyes land on Nico and Will, both standing next to an onager. She looks at Gaea with a smile.

"I should give her a proper send-off..."

"Octavian, get away from the onager—That isn't safe!"

"Of course it's not! I will shoot Gaia down with this machine!" Will and Nico are facing Octavian, who is wearing the most dreadful assessment of jewelry she's ever seen. 

The sky darkens when Jason and Piper fly up to meet Leo, a storm cooks above their heads as Jason gathers all his power.

"You see?" Octavian continues frantically. Ara thinks she might be hallucinating, but his skin seems to be smoking. "The gods approve of my actions!"

"Jason is making that storm," Nico points out with annoyance. "If you fire the onager, you'll kill him and Piper, and—"

"Good! They're traitors! All traitors!"

"Listen to me," Will presses. "This is not what Apollo would want. Besides, your robes are—"

"You know nothing, Graecus!" Octavian reaches for the lever. "I must act before they get any higher. Only an onager such as this can make the shot. I will singlehandedly—"

"Centurion," a new guy appears, tall and buff. 

Ara recognizes him from Frank's stories, he's a son of Venus—something like a half-brother to Ara but not quite like the ones from Aphrodite. Ara's eyes travel down Octavian's clothes. She gets a pleasant thrill down her spine when she gets a very horrific idea.

"Michael! Excellent!" Octavian squeals, making her skin crawl. "Guard me while I fire this onager. Then we will kill these Graeci together!"

Ara gets to work in silence, pulling his cloak further into the mechanism. She hates this guy like she's never hated anyone before, he brought all these monsters to her camp, terrorized her family for weeks and weeks, and paraded around wearing that atrocity of an outfit. He's insulted her in every possible way.

Out of the corner of her eye, she thinks she sees Nemesis, perhaps she was the one who guided her here, but Ara refuses to acknowledge her. She gets up and circles the onager. "Michael Kahale, isn't it?"

The boy looks at her, his posture stiffening. "Strategus."

Ara smiles. "At ease, soldier. Let me talk to your Centurion."

"General," Michael nods, stepping back.

Octavian might've jumped over every rank from the Roman army, but he can't jump Ara, above her there are only gods, and even for him, that would be too much.

"No!" Octavian squeaks out in anger. "I'm your superior, you idiot! You don't listen to her!"

"You and your army, and your army's parents answer to me, Octavian." She speaks sternly, having perfected that voice after a whole year of practice. "You've caused destruction and death. You will yield, or face the consequences."

"NEVER!" He spits, eyes wide and crazy. "I will be remembered as the savior of Rome!"

"Apollo hates you, you psychotic jerk," Ara presses. "Yield or I'll make sure you never stir trouble for any of my camps ever again."

"Octavian..." Will tries to intervene, but Nico pulls him back.

"Our General is talking."

Ara knows he saw her pull the cloak inside the mechanism, she sees the way he looks at her: displeased but determined to stand by her.

"Liars, tricksters til the last minute," Octavian's hands hold onto the lever. "You cannot defeat me."

Ara sighs. "Octavian, I could snap you in half like a twig... but I'd rather put you to better use."

The girl pretends she's about to attack Octavian and he screams, cutting the rope that's keeping the onager's lever in place. The ammunition flies up with Octavian's cloak firmly tucked in by her, and Ara feels zero remorse as the guy disappears into the storm.

Her eyes find the other ball of fire in the sky that is Festus, and both explosions reach Gaia at the same time, making her stomach churn with apprehension. Next to her, Michael Kahale speaks. 

"Goodbye, Octavian." He turns to her. "What are our orders, General?"

The storm swallows the explosions for a moment but the fire gains force, vaporizing everything in the sky, not just Gaia, but also Leo and Festus.

Ara's vision starts to darken. "Cease fire."

Will catches her, and the girl faints without saying another word.

Ara spends two days in what can be considered an actual comma, when she wakes up she's damp with cold sweat and it takes her a full minute to recognize the room, then she realizes she's in the Big House, and someone is next to her napping.

"Will," she says hoarsely, barely able to open her mouth. "Will Solace!"

The boy drops his clipboard, quickly scrambling to his feet. "Ara! Thank Apollo, you're awake!"

"I won't be thanking Apollo for anything in the next few months," Ara groans, trying and failing to rub her eyes. "What day is it?"

"It's been three years, everyone went off to college but I volunteered to look after you this summer."

"Ha ha," she replies, struggling to keep her eyes open. "Gods, I feel like crap. What happened?"

"You've been asleep for two days—well, a day and a half, technically. I couldn't bring down the fever, we even submerged you in a bathtub full of ice. It was crazy Ara, you were—"

"Burning alive," she starts coming to her senses. "Will, the campers—"

"We had losses," he tells her, pressing a wet cloth on her forehead. "But not as bad as last time..."

Ara's pulse picks up again as she asks the next thing. "What about the people in the storm?"

Will turns the cloth over, Ara's temperature still warming up the material too fast. "Jason and Piper came down seconds before the explosion but Leo... Cabin Nine spent the whole day picking up bits and pieces of the Argo II, but there was no sign of Festus."

Ara closes her eyes. "Yes, that was the plan."

"No, Ara," Will sighs, not understanding. "The explosion was massive. There was nothing left because the fire destroyed everything."

"I need Nico," she says dryly. "Please, tell me he's around here still."

"He's been following Lily and Connor around like a guard dog ever since—"

"Take me to him," Ara tries to sit up but the world turns upside down and she falls sideways. "Or tell him to come," she says in a strangled voice. Will doesn't try to fight her, he knows arguing is useless. "Don't tell anyone else I'm awake yet," she adds quickly. "I need a moment, then we can handle the funerary—"

"We did that already," Will eases her. "Nico and Chiron did it. Lily and Clarisse have taken care of the rest... I saw your cloak, you got like five blessings in two months," the boy shakes his head in disbelief. "I'm surprised your body didn't melt."

She gulps. "Please, bring Nico."

"Did he die?"

Nico takes a seat next to her bed. "He died. Hazel and I felt it. And then..."

Ara sits up at his pause, feeling anxious. "I need to know."

"Well, we sort of... lost track of him. One minute his soul was there, and then... don't know, it was nowhere to be found."

"Festus had the physician's cure."

"We all saw Festus explode."

"You didn't find pieces."

"The explosion was too strong," Nico frowns. "And you threw a ball of fire at him for good measure, remember?"

"He made it out."

"You can't know that."

"You don't know the opposite," Ara argues. "He needed to survive to break the curse. You say he's not in the Underworld, and judging by how I'm feeling, my body's purging centuries of disease."

Nico stares at her. "...I'd like to believe you."

"Then believe me," Ara says earnestly. "It's better than the alternative."

He gets up and gestures at her closet. "Get dressed, everyone will feel better if you show your face at today's campfire."

Next Chapter –>

Taglist.

@siriuslysirius1107 @ask-giggles1303 @im-planning-something-look @bandshirts-andbooks @coolninjapaper @thewaterlily @whenisthefall @1randomcomic @you-bloody-shank @sunflowergraves @owlalex44 @taylordaughter @typicalsolangelolover @writingmia @espressopatronum454 @slytherinnqueen @orbitingpolaris @obxstiles @ellipsisspelled @thepixiechicksh @ebony-reine-vibes

[super-shapeshifter-showdown]

LINEUP

I am currently making matchups+brackets, here’s who’s competing

Also if you guys have image suggestions for anyone listed below please send them in asks!

Fandom- character(s)

1. She-Ra - Double Trouble

2. Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard- Alex Fierro

3. The Owl House- Vee

4. Pokémon- Ditto

5. Skullgirls- Double

6. My Little Pony- Queen Chrysalis

7. Star Trek Deep Space 9- Odo

8. Ben 10- Ben Tennyson

9. Teen Titans- Beast Boy

10. CPU Kerfuffle- Larry the Florida Man

11. Super Paper Mario- Mimi

12. Sanders Sides- Janus Sanders

13. Norse Mythology- Loki

14. Adventure Time- Jake the Dog

15. Ninjago- Mystaké

16. Lego Monkie Kid- Sun Wukong

17. Journey to the West- Sun Wukong

18. Wild Kratts- The Kratt Brothers

19. The Shapeshifting Detective- “Sam”

20. Val & Isaac - Space Dread

21. DC- Martian Manhunter

22. Blaze and the Monster Machines- Blaze

23. Final Fantasy 7- Vincent Valentine

24. El Goonish Shive- Grace Sciuridae

25. The Shapeshifter- Dax Jones

26. Encanto- Camilo Madrigal

27. Aladdin- Genie

28. Welcome to Demon School Iruma-Kun- Alikred

29. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure- Mikitaka Hazekura

30. Odd Squad- The Shapeshifter

31. The Thing (1982)- The Thing

32. Critical Role- Yu Suffiad

33. Fullmetal Alchemist- Envy

34. Pizza Tower- Fake Peppino!

35. Star Twinkle Precure- Yuni

36. Sonic the Hedgehog- Mimic the Octopus

37. Sky High- Magenta

38. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves- Doric

39. Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess- Link

40. XMen- Mystique (Raven Darkholme)

41. Splatoon- Inkling

42. Steven Universe- Amethyst

43. Lovecraft mythos/Call of Cthulhu-Nyarlathotep

44. Heroes of Olympus- Frank Zhang

45. Gravity Falls- Experiment #210

46. Half Life but the AI is Self Aware- Benrey

47. Prototype (2009)- Alex Mercer

48. Danny Phantom- Bertrand

49. Transformers- Starscream

50. Don��t Hug Me I’m Scared- Stain Edwards the Forever Boy

51. A Hat in Time- Shapeshifter

52. MCU- Loki

53. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door- Dooplis

54. Marvel comics- Loki

55. Animorphs- Tobias

56. Howl's Moving Castle- Howl Pendragon

57. Fairy Odd Parents- Wanda and Cosmo

58. Kirby- Kirby

59. Deltarune- Jevil

60. Ranma 1/2- Ranma

61. My Hero Academia- Himiko Toga

62. Ace Attorney- Maya Fey

63. Undertale- Mettaton

64. Celtic Mythology- Selkies

[theravenchild]

Name: Hellendil Melinae

Birthday: September 24th

Zodiac Sign: Libra

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual (He's just figuring it out during 5th year)

Height: 6'1.5" (≈186.5 cm)

Eye Color: Blue

Hair: Long brown hair with auburn tones more visible in bright lighting. Hair is straight, but he typically wears it in a braid so it often looks wavy. As an adult he wears it pulled back in a low pony for work or formal occasions and loose any other time.

Blood status: Half-blood

House: Ravenclaw

Wand: 11.5 inches Cedar with Dragon heartstring core, pliant

Patronus: originally a Ragdoll Cat, it changes to an Occamy at the end of fifth year

Animagus: Norwegian Forest Cat

Favorite Classes: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy, History of Magic

Favorite Magical Creature(s): Thestrals, Mooncalves, Kneazels

Friends: Amit Thakkar, Natsai Onai, Sebastian Sallow, Ominis Gaunt, Poppy Sweeting, Nerida Roberts

OC friends: Lydia Parkinson, William Abbott, Maya Catapang, Wren Zhang, Ren Aries, Amara Ambrose, Felix Åberg, Theodora Devlin, Danny Gibson, Gwendolyn Foxworth, Eve Makaroff, Vanessa Nott.

Love Interest(s):

Fanfic - Sebastian Sallow, Elvira Dougherty (OC)

RP - ???

RP AU - William Abbott (Helliam) ❤️

Personality: Hellendil is a sweet, outgoing boy who places a high value on friendships and those he cares about. He has a strong desire to help those in need which sometimes leads him to neglect his own needs. He is soft hearted and often finds himself upset when his actions cause emotional or physical harm to someone or something he cares about. He is intelligent and enjoys reading and studying, especially with a companion. He generally has trouble with decision making because he tends to look at all possible perspectives to weigh the options. He dislikes conflict and would prefer to find a diplomatic solution, but is aware that is not always an option.

Wore the dark arts outfit his first day of classes and promptly traded it for leather armor/adventure gear.

Received the scar on his right brow while fighting the troll in Hogsmeade with Natty.

He adores Thestrals and will stop to watch them anytime he sees them. He also prefers riding one to using a broom.

Family: Hellendil is the youngest of four children and one of two to inherit magical ability from his mother.

His mother is a metal charmer and jeweler from Wales, who met his father when traveling in search of suppliers of metals and precious gems for her art. His father is a muggle blacksmith/metal worker who was blissfully unaware of the magical world until their meeting. His love for her was strong enough that it endured the shock of finding out she was a witch. They married and resettled in Wales where they raised their four children.

[coreofgold]

Late to the party but Baldur's Gate 3 owned me and the lack of motivation hit hard. However, finally getting toward doing the starter call! There's no cap so like and comment for as many starters as you like. It might help break me out of the slump.

Agastuma Zenitsu-blind date with Jake Wheeler (0-??)

Aloth Corfiser-going with Kieran Hunter (0-??)

Anya Forger-going with Diana Holland (0-??)

Astarion Ancunin-Blind date with Freya Beauchamp (0-Freya vcndetta)

Ban Yue-going with Sylvie Slytherin (0-??)

Beelzebub- going with Gu Soo Oh (0-??)

Ding Tao- blind date with Alex Mercer (0-Xiao Chiye mvsicinthedvrk, Shen Zechuan masqce, Qi Zhuyin masqce)

Dizzy Tremaine- going with Sam Maek Jong (0-Jester circleofstarrs)

Gil Legume- going solo (0-??)

Hua Cheng- going with their husband Xie Lian (0-Xie Lian mvsicinthedvrk)

Ignis Scientia- blind date with Nico D'Angelo (0-Nico irresistiibles)

Jeremy Smith/Bonnie- blind date with Daniela Dimitrescu (0-??)

Julian Alfred "Jaskier" Pankratz- going solo (0-Yennefer mischiefxmuses)

Kaoru Sakurayashiki- going solo (0-??)

Kili Oakenshield- blind date with Lorelai Gilmore (0-Lorelai spellbcok)

Lan Jingyi- going with Belphegor (0;-Wei Wuxian mvsicthedvrk, Anya spellbcok)

Lan Xichen- going with Nie Mingue (1;-Jin Guangyao masqce, Nie Huaisang irresistiibles, Nie Mingjue)

Lang Ying- blind date with Beth Corcoran (0-??)

Legolas Thranduilison- going with Bloo Kazoo (0-??)

Lu Ten- going with Jae Yoo (0-??)

Luis Serra Navarro- blind date with Derek Hale (0-??)

Luo Binghe- going with Shen Qingqiu (1-Shang Qinghua irresistiibles, Ning Yingying irresistiibles, Shen Qingqiu)

Markl- blind date with King Clawthorne (0-??)

Michael Afton- going solo (0-Charolette mischiefxmuses)

Montgomery Gator- blind date with Tylor Tuskman (0-??)

Shen Wei- blind date with Arnold Novak (0-??)

Shi Mei- blind date with Fabian Prewett (0-Mo Ran tragcdysewn)

Taka- going with Apollo (0-??)

Vax'ildan Vessar- going with Lee Yeon (0-Percy mischiefxmuses, Ellie circleofstarrs)

Wen Ning- going with Danny Phantom (0-??)

Wu Xi- going with Jing Qi (0-??)

Xiao Xingchen- going with Xue Yang and Song Lan (0-??)

Zhang Chengling- going with Louis Duck (0-??)