#a journey all by itself

[rustingcat]

Chapter 3 Kara

"For years I felt the weight of Krypton, its legacy and history laid on my shoulders, and I felt like a failure for never having the chance to educate Kal. But after learning about Argo, it's like some of this weight was lifted off my shoulders, knowing I'm not the only one out there who remembers, that it's not on me. Yet, I feel detached? I don't know, it feels different from what I remember. I mean it is different, it's nothing like how Krypton was, but they are all Kryptonians. You know what I mean?" Kara turned to Lena, she wasn't sure what she was hoping to find in her eyes, but it softened the moment they met.

"I think so." Lena nodded. "Although, considering that you were barely a teenager back then, it would make sense."

"I suppose." Kara swallowed hard.

They were sitting on Kara’s couch with the plans for the machine laying in front of them.  It was two days after they had come back from Argo. Kara had managed to translate most of it, enough for them to at least start.

"You mentioned that you can basically control how the child would turn up with the matrix, right?"

"Not exactly, you can't control your child's every decision, but essentially yes. You can choose how they look, and you can choose their um… brain type? We had a name for it in Kryptonese."

"So did your parents choose what you would be?" Lena finally asked.

"In some ways, yes." She said a bit distanced. "They didn't care much about my appearance or gender, but they made sure my mind would be sharp, curious and analytical. Basically creating me to be a scientist before I was even born. And it worked, you know? I grew up loving it. As my dad said, I was the youngest person to be considered to join the science guild, and I bet I would've gotten in too."

Lena remained silent. Not that she expected her to say anything, but she wasn't sure what to do nex.

Kara took a sip of her water. Staring intensity into the plans, yet not really focused on them she continued talking. "I thought about it a lot, you know, how my life would look like had I grown up there. What could I have created, how many lives I could've improved, how much I could've advanced our species. But the more I think about it the more I realised how lucky I was to escape that fate." Kara finally dared to raise her head, meeting Lena's gaze as she felt her eyes fill with water. "Am I a bad person for thinking that?" Her voice broke as the tears started running freely down her face. 

Lena scooted over, engulfing her dearest friend in a tight hug. "Not at all." She whispered in her ear. "There's nothing wrong about finding happiness. But we'll make sure that if we ever make this public we'll do our best so that no one could use it to put more pressure on anyone." She combed her fingers through her hair to ground her.

Kara exhaled a breath she wasn't aware she was holding. The reason the plans were not yet fully translated were not because of language complications or any math difficulties, but because she couldn't bring herself to complete it. It felt too heavy of a task.

"It's just- that I love my job. I love singing, painting, and playing games with my friends and I know that I would've never gotten to do any of that had I lived on Krypton. It was all about doing your part, and not much else. And there are still many many good things that I loved about Krypton and many problems I have with earth. But I still prefer to be here, and I feel awful about it. Like I failed everyone, I failed my purpose in life."

"You are Kara Zor-El Danvers. Your name tells a journey and your journey is not yet over. You are not a bad person for having emotions. You've been through a lot and you still came out on top. You are still so full of kindness, love, and hope. How can that be a failure? How can it be anything but the greatest thing in life? You are amazing Kara and I'm sure the rest of your journey would be just as amazing."

"Thank you." Kara whispered into her neck in a sob.

"How about we order another pizza and watch a movie instead?" Lena suggested, whispering quietly in her ear.

"Yeah," Kara smiled weakly. "That would be great."

[haunted-xander]

One thing I really love about Marcille is that despite her deep fear of outliving her loved ones, she never, never let's it get in the way of her making bonds and getting close to people. She loves deeply and strongly and she doesn't try to supress that! She embraces it wholeheartedly! Her friends are so important to her and she's not ashamed or scared of it!

Actually, out of all the characters, I'd say Marcille is one of the ones who care the most about bonds of friendship. She's angry at Namari for leaving after Falin got eaten and holds that grudge up until Namari helps defeat the Undine (and therefore having 'proven' herself). She's shocked and upset when Chilchuck explains his policy of payment and that he's not really here bc of friendship. She puts a lot of focus on the party being a Group Of Friends rather than a team of hired hands dedicated to the specific role(s) they are paid for. Which of course makes sense since she joined the party to begin with because of her friend! To her, the party has always been 'Falin and her brothers' friend group' rather than a hired party. (A little reminder: Marcille was the most recent member when the story starts. She never met the previous members who left so the team of Laios, Falin, Chilchuck, Namari and 'Shuro' is what she's always known it as.)

When she becomes dungeon lord, the thing that manages to snap her out of the Winged Lions grasp is the earnest care and love her party is showing her. Literally 'power of friendship'ed their way through the Lions hold and gave her her clarity of mind back.

And!!!! At the end of the feast right before they're about to attempt to revive Falin again, she says!!! this!!!!

She's ready to accept that Falin might not come back, even after everything. The entire story she's been running away from death, from having to outlive her loved ones (in this case: Falin). But here she is, ready to let her stay dead if this last attempt doesn't work.

And it's not giving up. It's realizing that she did all she could, and that it's okay. Because she still got to meet and be friends with Falin. That time with her might be just a speck in the length of life Marcille will have to live still, but it still happened and that's what matters.

It's not about escaping death; it's about cherising the moments before it.

[imminent-danger-came]

Lady Bone Demon: "Do not lament your fate child, you can rest knowing you served your purpose—destiny has found you."

(2x10 This is the End!)

-

Lady Bone Demon: "A reminder: it seems you can not be trusted to willingly follow the path of destiny. But know this: If you betray me again—one misstep, one failure in any way—I will erase the very memory of you."

(3x04 The Winning Side)

-

Tang: "You're wrong. I know I'm not a strong as they are. I may still be searching for my purpose—but what I do know, is that doing it alone is not the path I'm destined to take. Deep in my heart, I know my place is alongside my friends."

(3x08 Benched)

-

Lady Bone Demon: "I sent you a task—you were to retrieve the Monkie King and his protégé, yet you refused the path of destiny and so there will be pain."

(3x08 Benched)

-

Tang: "STOP! It was me! I mean, yeah, Macaque forced me to do it and I am definitely starting to have second thoughts on the whole thing now but- I don't know how and I don't know why, I just felt like I had to. Like it was...destiny!" Lady Bone Demon Voice Over: "Destiny can not be undone Sun Wukong."

(3x10 The Samadhi Fire)

-

Lady Bone Demon: "No matter what you do, you cannot change the path of destiny." MK: "I don't know if this all happened because it was destined to, but I have to believe that I found the staff so I could use it for good." [...] "If you really believed that destiny can't be changed, you wouldn't be using every ounce of power you have to keep him contained!"

(3x14 Destiny Fulfilled)

-

Lady Bone Demon: “Know this, monkey, you and I are not so different. We both fight for what we think is right—that pursuit only leads to one thing." MK: "Hmmhm. To destiny, right?" Lady Bone Demon: "No. To pain."  

(3x14 Destiny Fulfilled)

-

MK: "I can't believe that worked!" Tang: "Eh, if that was destined to go wrong, then it would have!"

(4x03 The Great Tang Man)

-

Tang: "If your bonds of friendships our strong, then you will always find your way back to one another!"

(4x04 Pig Napped!)

-

Macaque: "Wukong was on a path of self-destruction, we all were. But when he met the monk, it set him on a different path." MK: "Ah! The path of the good guy! Making those good life choices?"

(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

-

Purpose, Pain, and the Path of Destiny

[mintharan]

one thing i love so so much about wyll is that he's an atheist, not in the sense that he doesn't believe in them, they are materially real in the DnD setting, but that he doesn't think they're worthy of worship "the only thing the gods have ever given me is a cold shoulder" it's so evocative, so poignant, it says so much about him as a character. and really, to me, encapsulates the essence of his character: there is no divine intervention, there are no miracles, there are only people, and for them he's willing to sacrifice more than any god ever would

[the--firevenus]

That one world quest with cassadee where we try to help her realize that her idolization of merlin maybe not for who he is as a person, but rather what merlin represent.. Which is magic itself....

Anyways, take that concept and put it to when young mirael when she was still merlin student. In a sense, her adoration for merlin appear the same to cassadee idolization for merlin, and once merlin had said to young mirael; "are you sure you're adoring me for who I am or are you adoring merlin?" and for the longest time mirael was so sure what she likes about her mentor IS for who that person really is, not the title he carries, not what he represent as a whole. Merlin was mirael dearest and she so sure of that, so sure she looked for her mentor for 20 years...

Then she meet her dearest again, except... He's different. no longer the same person she remembers (and he doesn't remembers her)

So once again came in the question... Is it merlin she adore, or her dearest "mentor"?

[sketching-shark]

Given the pretty extreme amounts of torture that all of the pilgrims go through in their pre-journey days, Journey to the West does seem among other things to be a pretty great example on how pain doesn't make you a better person, it doesn't teach you a lesson, but only makes you suffer. And that if you actually do want to become a better person, then you have to actively choose to do good every day.

[lestappenwdc]

The unnecessary hate towards Tommy after this episode when we barely had any interaction between the two is bothering me in the same way that people hating Lucy just bc she kissed Buck once was bothering me. Lucy was (still is) an amazing character and she did not deserve any of the hate she got.

[worldwright]

am I the only one who melted into a cozy mess of comfort and nostalgia whenever Himmel spoke. like how HOW does this man vocalize spring breezes and sunlight on the forest floor. how does he wrap me up in a homemade quilt every time he opens his mouth.

[doctorsiren]

I can’t imagine the number of weird asks you get as a artist. As someone whos learning to draw i both admire and feel sorry for the sheer amount of drawing stuff you do/probably are asked to do. Your art is great, but i hope ur not burning out with all the good stuff you’ve been posting lately from asks n stuff

I have over 1000 asks in my inbox, and there are some weird ones for sure

When it comes to asks for me to draw things, it’s actually pretty nice because hey uh yeah free ideas! But also sometimes there is that pressure, but i’ve learned that hey I don’t need to answer every ask I get and I also don’t need to draw something for every ask y’know?

When I need something to draw to keep me busy for whatever reason, I can just look in my askbox and usually find something, so I’m always grateful for any asks that I get!

[martyrbat]

action comics #1

(ID in alt!)

[pttucker]

– In a world where the scenarios have come to an end, what should he do to continue living on? That's right. That's what he wanted to ask Kim Dokja. Because that guy knew everything. Kim Dokja, always thinking about the end. The man who planned for everything, and didn't hesitate to sacrifice his own life to see the conclusion of a certain story. A fool like that should know, he thought. If it was Kim Dokja, then he should know more about Yoo Joonghyuk than Yoo Joonghyuk knew about himself. That's what the latter thought. The regressor who stopped regressing – just what would become of him? Lee Jihye said that she suffered from nightmares every night. But for him, his life had been a constant nightmare for the longest time. The only reason why he managed to endure until now was because he still had a goal, an aim, which he hadn't achieved yet. However, that goal was now no more, and the scenario had ended, as well. The regressor Yoo Joonghyuk was free. But as he stood before the hard-earned freedom, he couldn't figure out what exactly he had finally earned.

Joonghyuk needing to find Dokja so he can tell him what to do. 😭😭😭

Oh man, we've seen him slowly soften throughout the entire novel, losing his hard edges and his lightning-fast "just kill everything that bothers me" and while that's good for his humanity, it's also resulted in so many moments where he just seems so lost and now he's literally lost, drifting through space, and he just wants his companion back because Dokja always has all the answers, especially the answers in regards to him.

Oh man, and the fact that his creator was right there but he doesn't want to ask her, oh no. She may have created him, but she's not the one who understands him. She's not the one who loves him. She's not the one who read through every single chapter of his story and thought there was nothing greater to be found in life.

Oh man, and the similarities with Dokja's own journey as Oldest Dream. While Dokja drifted along the train and slowly lost bits and pieces of himself and his memories, Joonghyuk is drifting through space losing bits and pieces of himself and his memories. 😭

Actually, I think Sooyoung had moments like this too while writing TWSA while in her younger self's body, iirc. Meaning all three of them have sort of given up bits and pieces of themselves as part of this process - Sooyoung gave part of herself to the work as she wrote it, Dokja gave part of himself to the work as he read it, and of course Joonghyuk is the living embodiment of TWSA and we all know what he's given to it. And now the process starts over with Joonghyuk giving up part of himself as he attempts to deliver a new story to the reader.

[youngpettyqueen]

ive had a week to grapple with this but nope brain still whirring over the idea of "you might need to actually get a cane"

[echoesofdusk]

I think the absolutely most baffling thing to me that I've noticed in the AI generated image discourse is that people seem to think that artists don't make any compromises or sacrifices ever and live perfect, comfortable lives where things just happen to align perfectly for them to have the time to create art that perfectly aligns with their vision

"I don't have the time to draw" do you really know if artists simply have the time to draw or on the contrary, have to sacrifice something to gain that time to draw? can you be so sure that they don't have to deal with hardships to gain the time to draw? or, they have the time to draw because they can't do something else in their lives due to their circumstances, and drawing is the only thing that will fill this time?

"I can't create stuff that meets my vision" how can you be so sure that the stuff artists create meets their vision? do you really think this art was their vision from the absolute beginning? or did they actually have to make compromises to reach this specific look, which maybe wasn't what they aimed for to begin with? can you even be sure if the medium they spend the most time on is the medium they intended to pick up from the beginning, or is it a medium they've had to pick up to compromise for not picking up another art form they wanted to stick to in the first place due to myriads of reasons?

you folks seem to make a lot of assumptions about people you don't personally know

[sketching-shark]

Little preview of a longer thing.

[nowandevermore]

Life has been lifing itself up recently, and wow, new fandom brainrot is so real. And so once again I'm at a point of where I said with the last chapter of AWH that it wouldn't take me two months to get the next chapter out. Welllll, you see... we're past that.

But I've appreciated everyone who has read and continues to read my series -- both Into the Future, Out of the Past, and the Ranger series. I promise I have not forgotten about them (yes, including God in the Midst -- I will return to you again, I promise)

So, as a show of thanks and as a promise for my return soon, have a sneaky of chapter five of You Are Always Welcome Here.

[nostalgia-tblr]

I finished watching that Avengers film (Avengers Assemble, as it may or may not still be titled in this region)!

First up, I must warn anyone new to the MCU via the same route as myself that THERE IS NOT A SINGLE ALLIGATOR IN THIS MOVIE. Furthermore, Loki is played by A MAN for the entire ten hours that this film runs. Though actually this isn't as disappointing as it sounds, he's probably the most entertaining character in it and if nothing else the endless fucking fight scenes usually pause for a moment or two while one of the heroes confronts him verbally. (And then the fight starts again, but it was a nice respite anyway.)

I don't know how I feel about this film because there's certainly the basis of an entertaining action-film-with-jokes in here but that film is, alas, about an hour shorter than the actual movie. I generally have a low tolerance for fight scenes and this film could be not unfairly described as one interminable fight/action scene (with occasional Loki Interludes). I hadn't even seen that much of this film via tumblr gifs already, which makes me think it's not that beloved? Many scenes were just too long, like when the Avengers were all bitching at each other (I get it already, they're fighting!) and the bit where Thor and Iron Man and then Captain Steve level a forest together went on long past the point where I was thinking "if Loki HASN'T just fucked off while they were fighting then I'm gonna assume getting captured is his actual plan" (it was!). Because srsly he must have sat there patiently waiting for them to finish, perhaps dreaming of a better life in which he was an alligator.

Anyway, they were on a flying aircraft-carrier (NOT the Valiant from Dr Who just exactly like it), and then it crashed except no it didn't, and then we were in New York and they were going to nuke the city except no they didn't. To be honest I'm not sure what the plot actually was beyond "everyone wants the MacGuffin Tesseract for some reason." I don't know why we were in Germany other than so that one German guy could spot Obvious Fascist Rantings in a movie about *checks notes* the United States assembling a force of almost unkillable fighters who act on their own authority and can do as they like because we know they're good people who will always act in the interests of America the world. (In fairness I think this alarming set-up is the plot of a later - or possibly earlier? - Captain America film that I know I've seen but remember nothing from.)

Speaking of, did they cut a bunch of stuff out about Steve America having a crisis about America and the fucked up shit it's got up to? He seemed to be having a sad about that but then he didn't any more, though I admit I could have missed him having an important epiphany of some sort during the endless, endless, endless violence. SO MUCH VIOLENCE. And I am genuinely not sure who caused more damage in the final fight hour sequence between the Bad Aliens and the Avengers. I suppose that's why they keep mentioning that battle in every following Marvel work?

AND OH YEAH PHIL DIED. Phil, who was besties with all the Avengers, even the ones he met five minutes before he died. Everyone was VERY broken up about Phil dying, and he (and some carefully-bloodied trading cards) was the spark that ignited the Avengers by dying. See, Loki's mistake was killing Phil! Killing all those other people was fine though. They didn't even have names, let alone trading cards (bloody or otherwise)!

Have I mentioned that this was quite a long film? I am trying to repeat myself a lot in this 'review' so as to evoke a feeling in the reader akin to the experience of watching people hit each other and things blow up over and over and over again. Because I am an artiste, an auteur, a very tired audience. But Steve was quite good, whether or not he had an arc, and Thor's always entertaining. Tony Stark I strongly dislike for a number of reasons. The Hulk is at least green (and Bruce's angst was weirdly relatable given that his problem is turning green on occasion). Arrows Hawkeye and the Black Widow are (I think) the Canonical M/F Pairing, having bonded together in the unspecified backstory and then further brought together by being the Avengers with the least exciting powers. (Projectile weaponry? Groundbreaking!) And somehow her outfit has a tit-window despite not having a tit-window. But don't worry, she also got called a cunt so this is THE MOST feminist film you can possibly imagine! No wonder it took everyone so long to see through Joss Whedon's bullshit!

Then it ended. At last. I did actually have a break in the New York hour of the fight scene because all the camera movements and close-up violence were making me dizzy. That wasn't fun. But I'd watch and enjoy an hour-long edit of this film, probably. The sad thing is that the interesting parts, where the camera more or less stays still for an entire shot, are likely the bits that were most cut down by the studio to allow the fight scenes room to breathe.

Also, in finishing, I would like to draw attention to this dude at the Posh People Gathering in Germany, whose collar and tie combo is APPALLING and DREADFUL and I think Loki should have murdered him for that alone.