#about the fact that their father is literally from another planet)

[cantsayidont]

Another dilemma with centering stories around the idea of Superman-as-immigrant is that while Superman is certainly an immigrant, and there is a substantial body of older Superman stories (mostly from 1958–1986) that present his homeworld and its culture as generally noble (and frequently Jewish-coded), it has become very common since the 1986 reboot for Superman media to treat Kryptonian culture as either decadent and corrupt (as in most of the post-Crisis comics) or actively invasive and evil (as in MAN OF STEEL or MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN).

In these stories, Superman has avoided this decadence or evil mostly by virtue of having been raised by white Americans in Kansas, and his nobility lies in his express rejection of his evil/corrupt heritage in favor of (white) American culture. These are intrinsically anti-immigrant narratives (and sometimes antisemitic as well), regardless of how much feel-good gloss the story may attempt to apply to it.

The first season of the current SUPERMAN AND LOIS TV show, for instance, plays out an alarmingly literal "Great Replacement" plot in which Superman's half-brother Tal-Rho attempts to carry out a genocidal scheme devised by Superman's eugenicist mother to resurrect Kryptonians in the bodies of living humans, while MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN presents Kryptonians as brutal invaders who have attempted to militarily conquer the Earth more than once. Neither of these series departs from the general details of Superman's origin, but they assert unequivocally that Superman being an immigrant from Krypton is of moral value only because it gives him super-powers that enable him to defend the American Way from others of his kind, and to uphold white culture in ways other Kryptonians do not or would not.

[kkeidawrites]

Unkown Enigma

Day 21 of Blacktober,

I'm sorry y'all I'm still not feeling well so if it's short then that's what y'all are going to get.

Part Two of Toy Enigma

Brushing away more of her hair and using her powers to bring the silver clip up to her head and clipping the sectioned piece.

Clark and Lana watched the woman dutifully brush her hair, both still stunned by the fact she was able to figure out Clark’s identity. Y/n places the brush down on her vanity when all of her hair was securely separated and looks up at them.

“It’s interesting how no one else in this city couldn’t figure it out. I’m assuming that’s all thanks to your super speed?” She picks up a nail filer and starts to even out her left hand’s nails.

“Okay, so you know about me. Now my question is: how did you find out about me?” Clark asks his hand going to his shirt just in case he needed to suit up.

“Calm yourself, I’m not looking for a fight. Just to let you know about something, I’m not sure how you’re going to take it though.” She says holding up her hand to see the finished look and placed the filer back on the vanity.

“I’m sure you know who Brainiac is correct?” Clark’s eyes widen and then frowns in anger.

“What do you know about Brainiac?” He demands and Y/n blows the dust from her nails.

“He’s coming back with some reinforcements in the next couple of weeks and you’d best figure out how you’re going to stop him.” Y/n says nonchalantly.

“Next few weeks?” Lana gasps.

“Why are you now just telling us this?” Clark yells and Y/n raises a brow at him.

“Because I just found out a few minutes ago.” Y/n says.

“What do you mean you just found out?” He asks.

“Being the daughter of the literal father of time has its perks every now and then and since I “foresaw” you coming there was no need to find you.” She shrugged nonchalantly.

Clark glares at her, annoyed by her nonchalant attitude.

“Why should I trust you? For all I know you could be working with Brainiac and telling me what ever.” Sighing, Y/n stands up from her cushy seat and walks up to the two.

She crosses her arms and gives Clark a look.

“The hell do I look like going around telling everyone, everything? Believe me or not I actually like this planet.” She twirls around to walk back to her chair.

“And quite frankly, this planet makes me a lot of money and if that’s stopped I won’t be happy. Money makes me happy and this modeling job is a dream of mine.” Grabbing her chapstick, she applies a nice gloss over her lips and rubs her lips together so both sets are evenly coated turning to Clark and Lana again.

“When Lana gave me this job, I was actually really happy with how much money I was making and the outfits that I got to wear. The glamour, the fame, hahhh~” she sighs dreamily falling back dramatically in her chair.

“It’s paradise.” She says and Lana gives Clark a look.

“Clark,” she grabs his arm gently to get his attention. He looks down at Lana’s soft gaze, a look of fear on her face.

“You may not have a choice in the matter. If Y/n knows what you need to defeat Brainiac then you have to trust her.” Lana suggests.

“What if she is lying, Lana?” Clark asks.

“Clark-“

“Look, I’ll make it simple-oh one second,” raising her hand her power illuminated through her hand and removed the pins in her hair. As each pin was removed, curls fell around her shoulders, she runs her fingers through her hair to fluff it out and turns to Clark again.

“Now then, you have two options here either: I can help you out with finding out what you need to beat Brainiac or you find another way to beat him yourself. Your choice blue boy.” She says crossing her arms again.

It was silent as Clark mulled over his options in his head, could he really trust this woman? He had only met her when they fought Toyman but knew nothing more about her other than that.

“Well,” Y/n shrugs her shoulders with her hands raised in a shrug, she gets up once more and makes her way to the door.

“Until you make your decision, you can find me at St. Martin’s Island. I live in the biggest house on the entire isle, you can’t miss it.” She looks at Lana with an expectant glance.

“Lana, it’s time for the show. We’d best get backstage and into one of your pieces, yes?” She asks and Lana jumps.

“Oh no! I have to make the introduction, gotta go Clark!” Lana is out the door and heads running down the hall, her heels clicking away as she left.

Y/n gives Clark a blank look and leaves out as well.

“Tick tock, Superman. I hope you make the right decision.” She says and the man of steel is left in the dressing room.

Watching her leave, Clark frowns in annoyance and pulls out his phone from his suit pocket. Dialing a number, he held it up to his ear listening to the dialing and waits. The line connects and Clark straightens his back.

“I need a favor. I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He says in the receiver and hangs up before the person on the other line could respond.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

“She appeared out of nowhere, and apparently has been on this Earth since she’s met Lana. I don’t trust her.”

Clark dones his hero attire and leans against the wall as he spoke his transgressions to the figure sitting next to him.

“Not exactly sure how you can. Woman who is not from this planet, has superpowers, and has been playing ‘human’ sounds like someone else I know.” The deep baritone responds and Clark frowns in annoyance.

“That ‘someone’ was only an infant who crash landed on Earth, no idea who he was until he was a teenager and didn’t become a superhero until he came to Metropolis.” Clark places a hand on the bat like chair of his best friend and fellow crime fighter, Batman as he glares down at him, offended by his attempt of comparing him and that woman.

“You don’t know what she’s capable of. What if she’s like Brainiac? He’s tried to make me hate humans in the past, what if she’s doing the same thing?” Clark asks.

Batman types away at his bat computer, researching the woman Clark had described and found nothing on her.

“She doesn’t exactly exist, did she say anything else about where she’s from? Who she knows?” He asks.

“She did say, she was the daughter of Father Time.” Clark says and Batman types away on the computer.

“Not ‘the’ daughter but, ‘a’ daughter of Father Time. Look,” Clark watches the screen with a peaked interest.

“In Greek mythology, he is called Chronos and he had twelve daughters, each one individually distinctly named by the hours of the day.” Batman explains.

“Both times I would meet her or when she would unknowingly appear, it was usually around 9 at night.” Clark explains.

“Perhaps, you should let her help you,” Batman says and Clark’s mouth gaped open in surprise.

“You’re not serious?” Clark says exasperated.

“If she is one of Chrono’s daughters then you should take this opportunity and see what she has to offer.” Batman says.

“And if she says she has a way to beat Brainiac, shouldn’t you take this chance?” Batman raised a brow at him and Clark takes this time to actually think about it.

“I think you should take that flight over to St Martin’s.” Batman suggests.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Enjoy, still feeling under the weather so have fun reading this long part 2 of Toy Enigma and like, reblog, and comment!

Let me know if you guys want a part 3 for this story!

Read part 1 below:

Read Part 3 below:

[starfreak]

Random Elden Ring Rant (Contains Spoilers, VERY LONG)

So, the Numen. We can choose it as a character preset, which tells us they come from another world, or another land. I say "or another land" because historically, America is referred to as the "New World," but it's not a separate planet. However, translations from the Japanese version of the game suggest that the world they come from is one of spirits, the dead, etc., so it could definitely be a Literal other world.

Marika is (rumored to be) a Numen, as are the Black Knife Assassins that participated in the Night of Black Knives.

If Marika is Numen, then it stands to reason so is Radagon, since they are the same person in the same body. This means their children together, Malenia and Miquella (and now presumably Messmer since he has red hair like Radagon, but Miyazaki said that he's the child of Marika, so unless there's another red-haired hottie running around the Lands Between, Radagon is the father), are also Numen. This also means that other children of Marika/Radagon are half-Numen.

It seems Numen are not a single ethnicity, but a whole race of people, with various different contradicting skin tones and hair colors. The template in the character creator has medium-dark skin and brown hair. Marika has pale skin and golden hair (possibly changed to be gold from the Greater Will's influence) and Radagon has the same skin with fiery red hair. We know from the Giant's Red Braid item description (below) that Radagon was either cursed by the Fire Giants or simply born with red hair. I mean...no item descriptions suggest he was born with it...but if I was born with hair I hated, I would blame it on a curse too. Though, to be fair, it IS the same color as the Fire Giants' hair.

Also the Black Knife Assassins have no physical form, so we can't discern their hair or skin colors.

So skin tone seems like a non-factor, but Hair is much harder to parse, due to half the Numen in the game having fiery hair and pronouns. The game says nothing about Marika's hair changing to gold, so it may have always been that color, leading me to believe that indeed, Numen are just...magic humans from a land far away...she's just blonde.

WELP.

That's all cool, but what is the culture of the Numen like? Well we can see that they have a very strong affinity for women and femininity. Not only is Marika, the most powerful Numen we know, a woman...all of the Black Knives are women. Additionally, if we choose to believe that Malenia and Miquella are Numen, this fact is further evidenced by Malenia's being a strong warrior woman (she is literally a Valkyrie) and Miquella's own complex gender identity. Miquella was (supposedly) born male, but presented as rather feminine/androgynous all his life. While Malenia is a masculine woman and reflects Radagon, Miquella is a feminine boy reflecting Marika. Not to mention that Miquella is ALMOST DEFINITELY Saint Trina, who is exclusively referred to as feminine.

In addition to the stong feminine aspects of Numen society apparent in the overabundance of strong fem-presenting characters, the description of Marika's Hammer suggests that women in Numen society (like Marika) have a role as destroyers and warriors, while men (Radagon) have a role of construction and repair.

"Queen Marika shattered the Elden Ring and Radagon attempted to repair it."

Again, this is just speculation, and the mythological actions of Radagon/Marika are likely motivated by a mutlitude of things (namely, the Greater Will constantly looming over them, the presence of the Elden Beast constantly lurking just under the surface), but I'm making do with what I have.

Also, back to genetics of the Numen again for a second, of all Radagon and Marika's children outside of the ones they had together (Messmer and the Twin Empyreans), most of them seem to inherit Radagon/Marika's hair.

Radagon and Rennala's kids, Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni, (presumably) have red hair. We never actually see Ranni's hair pre-doll form, so I'm assuming it's red lkke her brothers'.

Marika and Godfrey's kids, Godwyn, Mohg, and Morgott, all have either pale hair or no hair (Mohg has no hair visible on account of all the omen horns).

So it seems like the genes of Numen are incredibly dominant, even dominating the gene pool multiple generations after the first. Godwyn's kids, Godrick and Godefroy, have the same hair color as he does. Malenia's "daughters," although not genetically related to her, all seem to have gained her red hair through exposure to her Scarlet Aeonia. This may also be true of the Cleanrot Knights, but they could also have plucked the red hairs from Fire Giants or Leonine Misbegotten and used them as decor for their armor.

Even merely interacting with a Numen as powerful as Marika, or her direct children, can change one's appearance irreversably. Sure, this could all likely be from her status as a God, but who knows how powerful the average Numen could become if granted the strength? We become Elden Lord after all.

[lux-ishii]

Episode 6 dropped and love is literally in the air... so let's dive in...

We start the episode with an interesting story of a Romeo and Juliette trope. Specifically, a Captain and a Calamari Prince fell in love and run away together, causing danger of war between their species by doing so.

You may think it has nothing to do with either Din or Bo, but if you read my previous post you already know everything is intentional.

They could put here anything, absolutely anything. A pirate, bounty hunter, escaped prisoner... But they put two lovers who with their actions could bring harm to others. It's not truly a happy story, as the woman said before her love confession:

You see, after rewatching previous seasons I noticed that The Mandoverse likes to foreshadow what will happen in one way or another. Mythosaur discovery was foreshadowed by The Armorer in The Book of Boba Fett, for example. So this story here could be a potential warning, or hint at what may happen to Bo and Din. A Princess with a fleet, and a man who isn't considered a true Mandalorian because of his origin (Axe's words). After this episode, I'm pretty sure that Din and Bo are already in love. However, they didn't take any on-screen action to solidify the things we see between the lines. I do believe their relationship will progress further, and...

They may reach the point where things get complicated just because of who they are. You see the lovers from this episode can foreshadow Bo's or Din's dilemma about what they should do for the greater good. They may fall apart if the cause of their interest won't align, or be on the way.

HOWEVER, it may also be used as a future contrast that despite these odds and differences, they would not give up on what they feel for each other. Which I think would go together with true Mandalorian nature. This season is all about what it means to be a true Mandalorian, which is not just a fight for power. It's about caring for one another, especially a family. Mandalorians are stronger together, after all.

More under the cut!

Can we take a moment to talk about how Din IS JUST THERE?

We were making theories if he will go with Bo or not when the show... literally treats them as one already. Whenever she goes, he goes, and vice versa. Without empty promises, they just do it.

And they "moved" to Bo's ship!

To dig into it further, this episode they were constantly walking side by side, to the point of going thru the doors together too if the space allowed it. You can check out this post >here< with more scenes

Glances.

As I mentioned in my previous posts, this form is a subtle tool for storytelling, yet it can hide a whole ton of meaning or can be truly innocent. This episode is full of glances, specifically put in interesting places and I will touch on those later.

Like this one is innocent, just saying "Where the hell we are?" without words.

I mention in the title of this post that "love is in the air" and here's another indication of it, a bizarre one to be sure as ex imperialist and a democrat fell in love despite their differences.

But... Grogu may be the biggest giveaway here:

We don't see Bo's or Din's reaction here at all, only the enthusiastic cooing of Grogu. I asked myself why? Because he matters too, as Din's son. Grogu could be excited about the couple and how happy they are together. He knows both Din and Bo struggle a lot, and they have dark, rather gloomy lives. What if his father was blessed with a love that would make him happy?

In this episode, we also have the first instance of someone recognizing Bo as a Mandalorian Royalty, despite the fact, there's technically nothing to rule for her. No planet, no people.

An indicator that for the outsiders she is still a rightful ruler, despite her own people not believing in her anymore.

Glances. She is not going to make this decision alone, looking for assurance in Din.

An then, at the mention of her ruling Mandalore again she responds with:

Bo doesn't want to rule Mandalore anymore. A theme that goes on since the beginning of the season. But I think just this episode we got a glimpse of the true reason why those plans truly changed.

We got a great sequence with Good Cop - Bad Cop trope. Bo and Din gave us some Detective AU right here, make it black and white and we get a whole Noir setup ready to launch...

But back to the topic. This was yet another example of how they complement each other. Bo's more soft and rational approach would lead to nowhere or would take way longer if not Din's aggressive and hostile take on the matter, and vice versa.

They aren't only a great team, they need each other.

Glances.

Bo for the first time saw the darker side of Din. We knew he had one, but she's pretty taken aback by his hatred of droids. Nonetheless, it doesn't make her fearful of him.

Quite the opposite in fact

as she becomes his voice of reason to hold his horses. She's not scared he would get back at her with this attitude at all.

They had a brief conversation about his hostility, and I'm glad they allowed Bo-Katan to remove her helmet because what Katee is doing with expressing her emotions is phenomenal.

This innocent sentence awakens a lot if you know where to look. And if not I will just show you.

Glances. After the droid, a machine that can outlast probably generations if maintained properly puts importance on human life, and how short it truly is Bo and Din look at each other, accompanied by a romantic melody.

Devil is in the details, as Bo took a deep breath before breaking contact with Din.

What does it mean? As per usual it can mean nothing, or it can mean a thing, and you know me already, I will talk about the thing. You never know when someone's words might hit you, and I think that droid hit Bo and Din pretty strongly. In this lifestyle, they both share, life is even more dangerous than the citizens of that planet. It's a constant battle for survival. Wars, monsters, your own kind... Everything can kill you if you are Mandalorian.

So they might think that there's no time to waste. An indicator that the actions may be taken soon. A way of saying "Life is short so we can as well live together".

The investigation is a success, DinBo detectives can be proud of themselves for solving the issue, and as they came back to the Duchess with the results, we are once again struck with something. The motives of a man responsible for malfunction have their core in his hatred for the ex-imperial husband of the Duchess. So Duchess Lizzo blesses us with this line:

You see, both Din and Bo have past. And those who know TCW know that Bo's past is terrible. She made huge mistakes when she was younger, and she pays for them to this day.

I don't have a gif here, but at this moment you can see how Bo is moved by the exchange of these words, and you can see it all over her face, as her gaze is running away somewhere else.

Lizzo then recognizes the efforts, Bo and Din made, which put a smile on Bo's face. A rare sign, but it only gets better.

You see, I think Bo-Katan is genuinely happy here because she did something good, and her efforts are recognized.

It's safe to say that back at Kalevala, she was severely depressed. Thinking of herself as a failure that caused the doom of her planet and everyone she loved. Everyone left her, no one cared for her, and she was all alone. Then Din needed her help, and from then she was on a streak of doing good. I'm pretty sure that if not for the helmet we would see her smiling similar way after rescuing Rengar. Here, she not only helped people but also secured an alliance with another planet, simply by doing good, with no corruption or violence needed.

Look how proud she is when Grogu becomes a knight! @ladyzirkonia Already noticed in her post >here< that Bo is happier than ever. And It's absolutely true! We haven't seen her as happy ever before. Not when she was getting a new addition to her fleet back in Season 2, or not even when the Armorer announced she is the one to unite them all.

This leads us adress to the bantha in the room...

Where something important happens.

You see, there were many theories that what Bo's doing with Din is just a long play to challenge him when he least expects it, but this disproved it. And later it gets even more interesting.

You see... Axe is accusing Bo of intentionally refusing to challenge Din. Which would mean her people demanded it from her at some point.

Her refusal could be what lead them to leave, claiming she's weak, not only as a leader but also as a warrior, probably thinking she's afraid of challenging him.

However, Bo's motive may be rooted somewhere else.

Bo-Katan had no problem challenging Axe for her fleet, so why would she struggle so much to challenge Din? It was as necessary as getting the fleet back, so what was stopping her?

But she really didn't have to kill him to claim the blade. We saw it as Din and Paz fought for the Darksaber, and Vizsla is still alive.

(gifs by @itberice) Do you remember what I said about love in the air? Now, look back at the Captain and the Prince from the beginning, and Duchess Lizzo and her ex-imperial husband. Do you notice the similarity?

Bo-Katan stands up in front of so-called Mandalorians, that are ready to outcast someone like Din, just because his blood is not Mandalorian enough. Just like Lizzo stood up against Commissioner in defense of her ex-imperial partner.

Again @ladyzirkonia made a great post >here< saying what I'm gonna mention.

This is a great sign of what kind of leader Bo is going to be. She walks both ways, she took her time to understand Din's perspective, and because of everything that happened, he is the one who showed her The Way. The right one.

He let her understand what it means to be Mandalorian, and it's not the blood, but the heart and faith of a warrior.

Din Djarin, with all his adventures, made Bo-Katan the person she is now. And she is really fond of him, to the point of standing in his defense, even if before she was among the people who laughed at him.

I know everyone has mixed feelings about the Darksaber, and I fully myself don't sit right with it either, BUT it happened, and I'm here to make surgery on the symbolism here.

I know a lot of people think if Din gave the Darksaber like that, make it look pointless...

But I beg to differ.

You see, the Darksaber for Din and Bo actually lost its value. For him, it was a burden, and for Bo-Katan a symbol of everything she lost. But for everyone else? It still was a symbol of power.

I may sound here like I'm trying to defend the outcome, but I rather like to think I'm just taking a different perspective on it.

Hear me out, the point of Din getting the Darksaber maybe never was to show him as a potential leader, but rather put him on his path with someone who will make his life... better.

The Darksaber is something that put Din and Bo-Katan on the same way. A catalyst for everything we saw this season. Nothing of it wouldn't happened if Din didn't have the Darksaber. Just think about it, if in season 2 Bo got the Darksaber from Gideon, she would have her fleet, and wouldn't rot in her sadness on Kalevala, so there would be no one to save Din on his way to redeem himself. Giving this one sample to just show how big of a butterfly effect we are dealing here with.

So as much as I don't like the way the Darksaber was claimed, I truly don't think it makes everything pointless. For me, quite the opposite really. It's the reason why everything we see is happening.

[getvalentined]

🤍 🖤 💔

[ Unpopular Opinion Ask Game ]

🤍· Which character is not as morally bad as everyone else seems to think?

Already answered previously, but I can go off on another one: Sephiroth.

I mean what he did is reprehensible, obviously, but the intent, the motivation, even the catalyst for Reunion—Sephiroth's story is a tragedy in every respect.

One big thing a lot of people seem to miss is that, from Sephiroth's perspective, he didn't burn down Cloud's hometown. He'd only known Cloud for a couple days, that didn't matter. Instead, Sephiroth destroyed the place he was created. He burned down the place he was born, the place he drove away his closest friend because he'd chosen to believe Shinra's pretty lies over Genesis' harsh truth, the place everything started. He destroyed ground zero of the horror of his own existence.

Did the townsfolk deserve it? Absolutely not. But Banora was subsidized by Shinra, everyone there was on company payroll to some capacity because it's where Project G was carried out—who's to say he didn't assume the same of Nibelheim because of Project S? Who's to say Sephiroth didn't sincerely believe that everyone in Nibelheim wasn't just a usurper of his throne as heir to the planet—even though he wasn't, because he still unwittingly held to Shinra's lies until after his death—but also paid agents of the company that made him to be something more than human and then treated him like something less for his entire life?

With all that in mind, what should he have done? What else could he have done?

What would you have done in his place?

🖤 · Which character is not as morally good as everyone else seems to think?

Also answered previously, but I'll go off on another one here: Gast.

Professor Gast is horrible person in every discernible way, fandom only thinks otherwise because Sephiroth spoke of him fondly before the Nibelheim Incident, and because he's Aerith's father and apparently that's supposed to impart some of her goodness onto him or something.

The actual facts are that Gast had to have known what Hojo did to Vincent because it happened in Gast's own lab and never said or did anything about it, he's the one that didn't allow Lucrecia to have any say over Sephiroth after he was born, he's the one that fostered Sephiroth's obsession with a mother that didn't exist (starting during a period of time when his real mother was still working for the fucking company), abandoned him to Hojo's abuse when he turned out to be something other than what he wanted, and ran off to go make a real Ancient with someone half his fucking age. The fact that Ifalna forgets to call him "dear" instead of "professor" in the recordings found in Icicle has some pretty chilling implications about the truth of their relationship, but he was killed when Aerith was only two days old so we'll never know. Regardless of whether or not that was entirely consensual, there is literally nothing in canon to indicate he's anything but a genuinely reprehensible person.

💔 · If you had to remove one major character from the series, who would you choose?

Also answered previously, and I don't really have another answer for this one other than "nobody" because everyone is integral to make the series I love exist as it is.

[antianakin]

Hello. I've talking with you in DM. I'll like to read your opinion about Qui-Gon's appearance in Mortis Vs at the end of the Kenobi series. Seems people tend to portrait the Mortis scene as a proof that Qui-Gon is the perfect Jedi who discards Obi-Wan without any hesitation and praising Anakin. While they forget when Qui-Gon reappear in the Kenobi series, he was always there for Obi-Wan, even waited for him. But fully ignored because this isn't the vision of the "Perfect Jedi" they know in CW.

It's like both Qui-Gon are different people.

So here's the thing for me with Mortis: it's fucking weird and everything that happens there is implied to be like a shared dream or Force vision of some sort and what happens in there is only QUESTIONABLY real. Time literally doesn't move in the "real world" when they come back (they're speaking to Rex before they crash on Mortis and then speak to him again at the end and he says only about a minute has passed even though they spent DAYS on Mortis). While the Father/Son/Daughter have been brought back a few times since then and have become something a little more well-known and widespread at this point, the original TCW episode sort-of implies that they may not have been entirely real themselves, but that they were just... representations of something the Force wanted these three people to understand for some reason.

So it is MASSIVELY questionable as to whether the Qui-Gon who shows up on Mortis is, in fact, REALLY Qui-Gon himself or if he's just some another image that the Force used to speak to Obi-Wan and Anakin, same as the Father/Son/Daughter. In the same exact scene as the Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon conversation, Ahsoka ALSO has a vision, but she has it of her future adult self. So if we assume Qui-Gon was really there, we must then also assume that adult Ahsoka was also really there, and that brings up a LOT of weird implications about her. Because Qui-Gon is a Force Ghost and we know that Qui-Gon is already dead at this point in the timeline. If we assume adult Ahsoka is using the same trick to show up, it implies that Ahsoka died in early adulthood and that she trained to become a Force Ghost and succeeded and that somehow her Force Ghost is actually traveling BACKWARDS in time in order to appear here. Personally, I think that's pushing things a little and it's a LOT easier to assume that adult Ahsoka is a random vision that present day Ahsoka is having and she isn't ACTUALLY speaking to her adult self time traveling backwards as a ghost. And if we assume this is true, you can make the exact same claim about Qui-Gon.

The final piece of evidence I will use for my headcanon here is that Qui-Gon actually shows up VISIBLY in this scene even though later on, when he speaks to Yoda, he can't appear to Yoda at all and all he can do is speak to him as a disembodied voice. You might argue that Mortis is SPECIAL and that's why Qui-Gon could do this when he can't do it later, but Dagobah is ALSO supposed to be a weird Force planet of sorts, so it seems odd that he can't do it there. He also never shows up visibly when Yoda is visiting the Force Priestesses (aside from in Yoda's vision of a happy Jedi Temple where Qui-Gon is still alive and Dooku never became a Sith). Qui-Gon, at the time of Mortis, IS NOT CAPABLE of showing up visibly. He never got trained in it at all and can't do it later even in other places similarly weird in the Force.

The Kenobi show chose to let Qui-Gon show up visibly anyway obviously, and I'm willing to let that go because the scene means a lot to me and so I can headcanon that Qui-Gon did some post mortem training in how to DO that and simply hadn't mastered it by the time of the Yoda Force Ghost arc in TCW season 6. I will fully admit that Qui-Gon probably SHOULDN'T have visibly shown up in the Kenobi show according to what was established in TCW, though. It makes no real logical sense, but the Force Ghosts have pretty much NEVER made sense and often just get used in whatever way the plot requires of them and however the current creator thinks will be cool/emotional.

So basically, my thoughts on Qui-Gon in the Mortis arc are that this isn't Qui-Gon at all and it's just the Force speaking to Obi-Wan through Qui-Gon's image, giving him a warning or just forcing Obi-Wan to face his fears, etc the way the Force just DOES sometimes. If it doesn't feel accurate to the way Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's relationship is represented in the films to you, then maybe it's because it's not MEANT to be accurate for a reason.

[porpunta]

My reasoning for why Spider appeals to me the most:

Spider, from the point of view of a character as an element of a plot, is the one who drives the plot, learns (in fact, reveals) new information to the viewer. And this seems natural for a teenager who is eager to ask what those devices are that kill tulkuns or how those big whales are smarter than some humans. He is both a set-up and a denouement, a perfect example of an ironic father-son contrast (no explanation is necessary), and a controversial character. I liked how they didn't ruin his internal conflict and left him to raise questions from the audience (though, who does and who doesn't is a different story).

His human nature:

He is a feral creature, at least as he was in the first concepts. I like the way he looks neither Na'vi (short and muscular body, strange eyebrows, dirty blonde hair and an extra pair of fingers) nor human (half-naked, painted, dreadlocked with an apparently savage body language). He is Spider, and that's it. I actually love this unkemptness, because in fact it is the most realistic depiction of a kid abandoned to the arms of nature (yes, scientists brought him up, but let's be realistic and think about how kids grow up among friends, without parental figures (spoiler alert — they do not, they are left to themselves)).

Note on Cameron's primitive "human vs nature" or "humans vs Na'vi" conflict:

Cameron failed to make a normal message about "protecting nature and our planet". As an example, I want to give Princess Mononoke - where people (humans) aren't opposed to an alien race that is controlled directly by a large hard drive called Eywa. The message there is more realistic than in Avatar. But why do I mention this? Because, even if the first message of James failed, in the second film, the internal conflict with one's nature is presented much better, more aesthetically pleasing. People are no longer divided into black and white as in the first part (although they removed the scenes with Selfridge, where it is actually clear that he at least reflected on his actions), but imperfect people appear, that is, real people who are so different from the idealised Na'vi. Garvin drinks out of misery, works for money for his research (although, in fact, so did Grace, who literally took money for her wishful experiments from quarries set up on cut down forests), but appreciates and gets inspired by the marine world, makes contact with the Na'vi. Spider... Well, you get the idea, I'm not going to rewrite twice about that scene, which most people didn't understand through the prism of their particular worldview (which they have the right have, of course).

Overall:

Spider is really fascinating to observe, he plays the role as a kind of key that unlocks both doors and our eyes. That's why, in general, I decided to put him as the main character of my fan fiction. But that's another story.

Sine ira et studio 🦢

[sincerely-astra]

Ricky Potts x enby reader headcanons?

☁️Ricky Potts x Enby Reader☁️

Look, he’s not trying to be rude, but he can practically smell the outcast coming off you-

Uranium is one of the least accepting places on the planet, so your being even slightly different from their cookie-cutter ideals was bound to make you an outcast.

But luckily, so was he.

As was probably obvious, you guys meet when you are inevitably forced into the choir. The guidance counselor was convinced you just needed some extracurricular activities to keep your mind off sin. (Aka literally just being enby-)

And as a new member of a choir meant to go into competition in a short amount of time, Father Marcus and Ocean didn't really know what to do with you...

You might be able to learn all the music and choreography in time for the competition, but they also really didn't want to risk the chance that you couldn't and hurt their chance at winning.

And thus, that is how you get stuck on the sidelines with Ricky playing the recorder while he plays the tambourine. Thrilling as you can imagine.

You both weren't friends right away, you said hi to each other to be polite and you helped him every so often if he needed it, but nothing too much to warrant a close friendship. Yet, you both were content with that, especially when in a choir with some more than eccentric people, you both found comfort in each other's presence.

That all being said, Ricky was quick to notice that something was off about you... He wasn't even sure what started him down this path, it might have been the way you wore your uniform, the way your hair was done, or any other assortment of things, but he knew you were different than anyone else he'd met at St. Cassian. He would be lying if he said that didn't interest him as well.

He wasn't going to push you of course and he wasn't even sure if you knew sign or would bother listening to his AAC device in the first place, but there would always be these times during choir practice when he would glance at you and observe your behavior, curious as to what lies underneath the front you have carefully put up.

Uranium wasn't accepting, you know this, Ricky knows this, it was a well-known fact to everyone living there even if they didn't bother trying to change it. Being nonbinary was obviously in the group of attributes people in Uranium didn't see as "normal" or "as things should be," if people knew that you identified as nonbinary, it would be pretty much a death sentence to a lifetime of bullying, mocking, and every other cruel act these people can think of.

It was unheard of, a thing no one talked about but was deemed by pretty much everything as despicable and unwelcomed.

So, one can see why you would not be so open to sharing your identity with just about everyone.

Moving past the intolerable place that is Uranium, Ricky, a couple of days after meeting you, was quick to realize you both share math and history together. You both sat pretty far from one another, so that's probably why he didn't notice, but once he did he passed you a note before your math class started to ask if you wanted to sit next to each other. Yes, it was a strategy to see if he could find out what was up with you, but he also just thought you seemed nice.

Seeing as you had no friends in those classes, you said yes, much to Ricky's delight.

You would sit together for your shared courses and would gradually start talking, passing each other notes (since you didn't quite know sign yet and Ricky can't use his communication device during class) complaining about the material or the teachers, random doodles Ricky drew, and sometimes, miraculously, actual questions about the work being given.

You both actually work really well as a duo, your energies just match perfectly, and even if Ricky has yet to know your gender identity, he is always super accommodating to whatever is making you uncomfortable.

Ricky is literally the yapper of the century, I'm not even joking. You think Ocean or Noel talk a lot? Then you are not ready for the whirlwind that is Richard Potts.

Seriously, others dismiss him a lot since he's disabled and is mute, but once getting to know him, he will be saying the most out-of-pocket things at the most random of times... The amount of weird Star Trek references this boy can fit into his everyday vocab is insane.

Ricky will allow you, and actively encourages, you to put stickers on his crutches. His favorite ones are the kinds that show off your interests since it gives him more insight into you.

His parents are so sweet to you and will be taking a good chunk of your time when you come over, much to Ricky's dismay. You get to actually learn some of their sign language too! Ricky tries to insist that you don't need to do that because he's aware it isn't traditional ASL or LSQ and it won't have any practical use outside of his immediate family, but you aren't having it.

There will be moments where you feel comfortable enough with Ricky to share bits of your identity, not the full story yet, but like your preferences with titles (Ex. Mr, Ms, Mx, etc.) or your preferences in clothing that might not correlate with your agab, just little tidbits that help steer him in the right direction.

He is your number one supporter even if he doesn't know what he's supporting!

He might figure it out sooner or later though..., not that he'd out you or anything, if he does find out you're nonbinary, he would 100% wait for you to come out before saying anything.

When it comes to coming out, whenever you decide to do it, Ricky is very supportive. He is also very helpful with your nerves before actually coming out to him, he reassures you everything will be fine and he could never think any less of you from what you are about to tell him.

He doesn't hide how happy he is you told him such sensitive information, it means you trust him and he doesn't ever want to break that! You are his best friend and he wants to be your safe space like you are for him.

As stated earlier, he would never out you to anyone and he is very good at keeping your identity as under wraps as you want. If you want to be out and proud, he supports you completely and will be with you throughout the whole process, if you want to just keep it on the down low, then he's fine with that too.

The only thing you would have to worry about if you're keeping your identity a secret is that Ricky will get defensive if anyone is being a jerk unknowingly from time to time, but of course, people tend to ignore him so there's not much to worry about there-

Ricky definitely isn't wealthy, but if there's ever anything you need to feel more comfortable with your identity, then be ready for that to be in your hands by a maximum of 3 days.

He likes to show you all his nonbinary Zolar OCs, most of which are inspired by you. (What do you mean his love interest looks strangely like you? Whaaattttt-)

You have also inspired him to look more into LGBTQIA+ himself since he wants to be inclusive and he won't deny that some of the identities he's seeing feel like something he personally would use.

Richard Potts falls in love fast... He's had many crushes, most of which he falls out of love with quickly for numerous reasons.

So he thought it would be the same situation with you, that he would have a small crush on you for a while and then it would go away and you could return to being friends! All's well that ends well.

It will all be over soon and he won't be thinking about how his hands lingering on yours for a bit too long.

He won't think of how nice your voice sounds, or the way you style your hair, or your laugh, or-

...Well..., this has lasted longer than he thought it would.

There was a very good while where Ricky was actually in denial about his feelings, he didn't want to mess up your friendship just for his fickle feelings. This one was just taking more time because he likes you so much, yeah, that's what it is.

...

He likes you so, so much.

Getting over the initial hump of denial, Ricky did try and subtly see if the feeling was mutual. His way of seeing was to tactfully flirt every now and again, giving a variety of different compliments and suggesting more hangouts, whatever he could think of.

What he hadn't accounted for was that he already pretty much acted this way to you- Albeit, in a nonromantic connotation. But this means you literally picked up on zero of his advances and he is a little too uncomfortable to go any further than that...

It literally felt like agony to keep "flirting" with you (if you can even call it that anymore) only for you to just smile and thank him for being so nice...

Ricky is gonna start begging at this point.

He loves you so much, please understand that him holding your hand for longer than 5 seconds is an act of his devotion and love and not just something friends do, PLEASE-

It's all fine though, since you are the one confessing after all.

Wait, you're confessing?-

Ricky's jaw was practically hanging open as he listened to you confess your feelings, flowers in hand, blush on your cheeks, the whole nine yards.

He couldn't even let you get done with your confession before he blurted out breathlessly, "...I love you." Words he has never meant more in his entire life... He really, truly loves you for everything that you are.

After he got home and into his room after you both became lovers, he was literally so freaking giddy and had to stop himself from trying to spam text you.

He swears he's not usually so clingy, but even after a few months of dating him, his face still lights up whenever you say you love him.

You surely know a good bit of ASL and his family's sign language by now, but he still enjoys getting to teach you more complicated terms and watching you try to memorize new sentences. It's the bare minimum, but you both are also in Uranium, so he is beyond grateful to have someone his age to talk to.

Ricky really likes to play with your hair, he doesn't even know why, he just finds it cathartic to run his hands through it while you both watch a movie or something.

Ricky is so sassy with your bullies, I swear. He's learned it all from Noel.

He also likes to just draw the nonbinary flag on pretty much everything, from his own drawings to homework, pretty much everywhere you look in his room, there will be a ton of tiny nonbinary flags he drew.

It reminds him of you and he can never get enough of you.

Don't think your room is safe either, the nonbinary flags will be everywhere if Ricky has anything to say about it.

It's all because he loves you though.

A/N: God, I need to catch up on my requests, I’m so sorry. :(

[neeeeeoposts]

i know i keep ranting about fusionfall but DUDE ITS SUCH A COOL CONCEPT AND WHY THE FUCK WAS THE GAME CANCELLED I STILL WANNA PLAY IT😭😭😭

but if u didnt know, fusionfall is a game based around an alien invasion involving cartoon network characters of the 2000s or somewhere around that time frame (if i am correct tho, the academy storyline has characters from some 2010s shows?)

by the way, major spoilers for the game ahead

but what is interesting about that is the fact on who is participating in the game. because fusionfall is a story based around the concept of an alien planet invading earth, it causes a life threatening situation for the characters we are introduced to and basically placing them into a war

AND DO YOU KNOW WHO IS IN THAT WAR??? LITERAL CHILDREN. mostly. what i want to mean by that is when you play the game or at least watch playthroughs of it, there are not adults that you meet at first, the only few adults i can count is Prof. Utonium and Father but there's probably more. Instead when you first join, youre met with younger people (depending on whether youre playing on the future or academy version, it really doesnt matter because either way youre meeting someone younger than the age of 20 when you first boot up the game)

this is interesting to me because, once again, think about who's participating in the war against Fusion. its actual kids, like the KND is actually the main supplier or weapons and transport throughout the entire game, and there are literally so many more examples i could give but i wont

but thinking about it from their persepctive, its fucking terrifying. its a literal war theyre in right now, and half of the population of Townsville (or wherever the game takes place) is either dead or somewhere else because nobody is there but them. for all they know, kids could be thinking that their parents or friends died in the invasion, or vice versa.

also, these characters had to take on a huge role at such a younge age. another example, but in the game (for the future version) once you complete the first quarter of the game and are sent back to the past you have to choose a guide to help you advance in your story. for those who dont know, guides are characters that lead four different story lines rhat can be a potential way to help you defeat Fuse at rhe end. The four guides consist of Dexter, Ben 10, Mojo Jojo and Double D.

Out of the four, double d stands out the most since for one, ben 10 and mojo jojo are like superpowered or something cause they feel actually qualified to be leaders in a war. Dexter is like the main reason that FusionFall takes place so he also makes sense to be a guide. Double D however is most likely still 12 years old (or older), still a genius n inventor, but he's just a normal kid here. you could argue that Dexter is just a kid as well, but he has such advanced technology that basically cancels that out.

what im trying to get at here, double d is literally just an average child with nothing but extra braincells he stole from his friends and more resources than usual that made him a guide. at 12. and is participating in a war. just. idk its probably that its horrifying to be a war general at such a young age??

OH AND I DIDNT EVEN BRING THIS UP YET BUT FUSIONFALL SURE AS HELL AINT AFRAID TO LET CHARACTERS DIE

in one of the versions of fusionfall, maybe the academy version?? Buttercup is presumed dead after one of the ppg fights against mojo jojo and she is shot into the sea and disappeared for like a bunch of years. Blossom and bubbles obviously had no idea shes still alive, and spent almost everyday trying to search for her until they had to give up and accept her sisters presumed death and THEN get burdened with an alien invasion (buttercup does come back tho, sorry for spoilers)

and in the future version where your character is accidentially sent far into the future where youre able to see the devastating amount of destruction the invasion can bring, you meet a lot less characters than you do when you travel back to the past. the past part of the game probably has at least over 50 characters or less im not sure, but when youre in the future theres at least 10 characters left

now im not totally sure if every character died or not, but considering the change in environment from the future and past, its not that far off from a possibility. though, it could jist be a personal headcanon for me.

but if this were true, then the game just killed off like the majority of their cast, including the main ones like Dexter and left some behind, obviously so you know what to do in the game but like imagine it from one of the characters perspectives??

eduardo is the only imaginary friend we meet in the future, so he's all alone with none of his friends there

eddy's the only kid left from the cul-de-sac like dude what

numbuh 2 and 5 are probably the only KND members we meet

Ben is still there

basically, everyone left had to watch their family and friends die and thats a little idk dark maybe for a cartoon network game?? i mean just a little-

anywho i love fusionfall its a lovely concept and i really want to talk to people about it but NONE OF MY FROENDS KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT CARTOON NETWORK AND IM GETTING SAD OF TALKING TO MYSLEF

goodbye

[marvelstars]

The other duel of fates

You know this part of ROTS movie and novel always got my attention.

Like here we have Anakin giving himself ansiety over killing or not killing Count Dooku thinking this wasn´t very Jedi like while on the other hand we have Obi-Wan not only proud of what Anakin did but also using it to ruin Grievous day in his own misson to kill or capture Grievous, while the Jedi Council and the Senate knew as well and didnt thought much of it.

I believe this is a nice call back to Luke and Vader´s situation on ROTJ

On the one hand Count Dooku was the leader of a Separatist group that had attacked neutral planets for years and bringing war to them, it was kind of justified to kill him on sight if he could not be brought to justice and Anakin killed him after the literal leader of the republic, an old friend and trusted father figure asked him to kill him

On the other hand Count Dooku knew who the real Sith master was and if he was brought in alive he would have been able to give the Jedi Order some information in exchange of getting back at Darth Sidious, maybe he would even have been able to tell them about Order 66 if Sidious didn´t find another way of killing him , So in context it wasnt exactly wrong per se for Anakin to kill Dooku but for Anakin personally, this was another step in falling definitely towards the darkside.

In Luke´s case it´s similar

Darth Vader is the second in comand of the Empire, one of the most feared people in the galaxy, rebels fleed at the sigh of him or tried to stop him knowing it would mean their lifes, Luke´s Jedi Masters, Obi-Wan and Yoda bassically told him it wasn´t wrong if Luke had to kill his father because there was no other way of dealing with a Sith like him as he was no longer Anakin but Luke personally knew that if he killed Vader in his test on the cave, he would "become him" meaning he would fall and fall badly.

In a way what saved Luke from doing the same thing with his father Anakin did with Count Dooku, was the fact Vader was the father he had been looking for bassically from the beginning of his story and the Emperor himself, no longer a trusted authority but the worst enemy ever for Luke, the one who corrupted his father, supported Luke killing Vader and Vader more than Dooku knew this was a possibility when he dueled Luke.

So Luke didn´t kill Vader when he could, he rejected the darkside and the Emperor attacked him and when he needed help Vader answered his pleas out of love and compassion for his Son.

This probably would not have worked for Count Dooku to turn him from the Darkside given Anakin meant little to the Count but Luke asking his father for his help definitely meant the galaxy to Vader.

Just Star Wars Ryhmes.

[ghostinthegallery]

Re-reading Twice Dead King, the character I was most struck by on a second viewing was Mentep. Now there’s a tragic figure. Simultaneously a mentor, an ally, an antagonist, someone so terribly understandable who I want to smack upside the head for being a lying liar who lies.

Ultimately, Mentep is a penitent. He has committed terrible acts (that we only get scant details of) and he wants to redeem himself. Thanks to his tampering with his own memories, he doesn't fully know what he is repenting for, which puts him in a bind. However, he knows that he played a role in creating the flayer curse/longing sickness, so he goes to a planet where a high concentration of them have gathered and works on his cure. He's respected, he's able to do his work with only occasional interruptions from the local angsty youth. Things are good-ish (until the armada shows up.)

Mentep and Oltyx have a weird relationship. Despite being his normal asshole-teenager self, Oltyx does respect Mentep more than most. Trusts Mentep enough to let the guy perform experimental brain surgery on him. Twice. And Mentep is able to be much more candid with Oltyx in return. He's one of the few consistently calling Oltyx out for his bullshit. On the surface, it is a standard mentor relationship, but what got me on a second reading is that there is hardly a single conversation Mentep has with Oltyx where he isn’t lying to and/or manipulating him.

It starts early with Yenekh. Mentep knows Yenekh has been suffering from the curse, he hasn’t told Oltyx, and when he finally has to tell him, he conveniently does so right before distracting everyone with the “oh btw, we’re all gonna die to a giant human armada” news. This is done with the best of intentions. Mentep wants to protect Yenekh (and Oltyx, in his way), so he delivers the news this way to get the bad news out of the way and then both of them on the same side. But it is the start of a pattern.

Which we get again when Mentep fails to mention a that Antikef is a flayer den ruled by a “We have Illuminor Szeras at home” Vizier, and boy does that end badly for Oltyx (see the last 60% of Ruin). Naturally, Mentep has a good explanation:

But it is another lie, one that costs Oltyx dearly (put a pin in this, I am coming back to it.)

There's some little fibs and ommissions along the way as they go to Carnotite, but it all builds up to The Big Lie. The one that sends Oltyx spiraling and gets Mentep killed. Because you know what really helps with paranoia? Finding out your mentor and your best friend have been hiding a secret blood pit in your basement! Again, it makes sense why Mentep is lying about this! He has every reason to believe Oltyx would have rejected the flayed ones he and Yenekh were sheltering (he in fact does exactly this), and Mentep's entire goal is to cure the curse to atone for his role in its creation. However...

I think Oltyx is correct to call Mentep out here (Oltyx is wrong about most things, but not this). Somewhere a long the way he became a means to an end for Mentep. Mentep was focused on The Curse and not the person in front of him who was cursed. He used Oltyx's friendship with Yenekh, his need to save his kingdom, his trust, his fears, all in service of admirable goals, but he was using Oltyx. Is it any wonder this is where it ended?

The lies were Mentep's undoing from the start. Remember the lie about Antikef? The one that led to all the events of Ruin? Yes, Oltyx and Djoseras did talk and avoid a civil war, but Oltyx also went through hell. He saw his home turned into an abbattoir, his father reduced to barely more than an animal. Oltyx was literally vivisected and almost consumed by his own dysphoria. And then committed regicide after leaving his brother behind to die. Antikef is where Oltyx truly learned that compassion was weakness and saw how horrific the flayer curse could become. So how was he ever going to accept the flayed ones as Mentep wanted him to? Oltyx experienced the comically perfect combination of traumas to ensure that would never happen, thanks in part to Mentep's manipulations.

I cannot stress enough that Mentep's individual lies all made sense at the time. May have even been the best option, at the time. But the consequences piled up, and even as he is dying he still refuses to give Oltyx even a scrap of the truth. That is the core of his tragedy for me. Well, that and this:

He bases all of his manipulations on his understanding of people's psyche's, which are usually accurate, but it also traps them. It gives them no room to grow or surprise him or for outside factors to come in and intervene. Contrast this with Zultanekh, who is upfront to a fault. He gives Oltyx advice and resources, but what Oltyx does with those things is up to him. Even when he is screwing up royally, he's allowed to make those mistakes. Mentep causes ones of Oltyx's darkest hours (the secret blood pit), while Zultanekh lifts him out of another (the Blood Angel's attack). In the end, Zultanekh is the one who sees Oltyx's true growth and witnesses the birth of his kingdom. A birth that comes not from curing the curse but embracing it.

There was never a sickness to be fixed, which means Mentep never would have achieved his redemption because he was focused on the wrong things. Which does make his death and rebirth as Xott a bit of a reflection of Oltyx. He was too burdened in his first life, but in his second he (or at least a version of him) was able to witness the people he hurt reaching a place of peace.

[to-fall-or-not-to-fall]

marvel doesnt know what women are, episode 1

so rn specifically im talking about the absolute travesty they made of jane's character (far from the only thing wrong with the dark world or marvel in general)

thor 1- look! a career-driven, strong female character! big brain scientist! and not even a superhero with an absurdly hypersexualized outfit!!!

tdw- bad. very stupid because marvel cannot write a woman decently past like one movie without killing her or completely destroying her personaity as an individual. DOCTOR jane foster literally studies the bifrost, and if her buddy erik selvig could work with the tesseract then she can definitely figure out a way to detect the questionable energy coming off of the aether, another infinity stone.

or like. she could have used her eyes and seen it was something unfamiliar and not immediately pOKED IT WITH NO THOUGHT FOR THE CONSEQUENCES because she is a brilliant scientist who knows not to go around absorbing random magical parasites??

later on- asks odin who he thinks he is to his face. again, one would assume someone as smart as her might have reasonably retained the bare minimum of information from thor about what his father looks like or at least noticed the amount of shiny armor he was wearing and thought, "hmmm maybe he is perhaps someone important whom i will not immediately respect for no reason just so the writers can make me look stupid to progress the plot"

but like again the writers are incompetent so no chance of that happening

THEN there is the bit where thor's entire plan to save her from the aether hinges on loki's help. and her first reaction is literally to slap him despite the fact that hes been presented as literally the only mage both powerful enough and willing to help her

and she doesnt even consider that hey, this guy invaded my planet and at some point in the very near future i will be in close proximity to him on a flying vehicle, perhaps i should not make him angry??

wtf marvel

(luckily for her loki was not as evil as marvel thinks. ill probably go off on this another time but y'all should read If Thor Didn't Have Plot Shield by Kadorienne on ao3, it's flipping amazing)

in conclusion, fanfics are better bc i get to see the characters actually be characterized lololol

ok bye

[beesmygod]

fact check me on this absurd bloodborne father gascoigne deepest lore posting

i'm working on the next "you hunted" update and frankly i feel split between feeling like im doing the pepe silvia routine and partly feel like it makes enough sense to get a soft pass. i know these are so many words to read. but ultimately its about gascoigne and his stupid music box, if that means anything to you:

on our short trek from the tomb of oedon to his chapel, we pass through a weird...sewer...drainage room thing with a ladder leading to a modest library. a note on the table reads:

"The Byrgenwerth spider hides all manner of rituals, and keeps our lost master from us. A terrible shame. It makes my head shudder uncontrollably."

this note is REALLY weird. even cross-checking the re-translation guide doesn't do much but reinforce the literal meaning of the note: there's a spider at byrgenwerth (another rom, we don't know this yet) hiding rituals, even the ritual involving the lost (or, in a better translation, unseeable/invisible) lord. bummer. ahhhh my head is rattling. but...who wrote this? about who? and why?

it's time to be a Fromsoft Lore guy in the worst way: we're going to dissect this note down to its atomic structure in order to wring any and all possible meaning from it in a futile attempt to try to come up with a tortured explanation for nonsense. skip all this italicized text to return to planet earth.

who wrote this note? if we knew that, a lot of things would be cleared up. the potential suspect list comprised of known individuals who have passed through that area recently is pretty tiny. can't be fauxsefka, because she doesn't use this route to reach the clinic. alfred doesn't seem to have much interest in the church, knows little about byrgenwerth, and seems unaware of most things in general. an unnamed and unknown NPC of no consequence? well, maybe. probably, even.

but what about gascoigne? you find this note immediately after defeating him by using a key he drops. it clear he did not progress past the library, as the incense would have driven him off (and the chapel dweller's reaction suggests you are the first hunter they've seen/sniffed). there's a possible clue left in the library that points to a hunter having passed through recently: the blood gem workshop tool. its one of three "misplaced" workshop tools found in the waking world. a hunter took this with them when they left the dream and left it in a chest in oedon chapel. that narrows down the pool of candidates quite a bit. gascoigne obviously knows what blood gems are, he gifted one to his wife. and this is before we've even discussed gascoigne's connections to a "lost master".

who is this note about?  the words used for titles in the english translation are all over the place and "master" could mean anything from "school principal" to "great ones". this has made trying to pin the subject of this note down near impossible. the japanese is more specific: "lords" in this note is translated as "主" and is almost never in the script otherwise. the only relevant usage even remotely close is it's use is in a different note later as a flowery way to refer to whoever has assumed the role of vicar of the healing church (essentially: "lord of blood ministration"). it is also used for micolash ("lord of the nightmare"), the japanese name of the bloodletting beast ("lord of the beast blood"), and for master willem of byrgenwerth ONLY in the graveguard set item description1. in the case of micolash and the bloodletting beast, "lord" can be read as "host" as well. but NOT like a parasite host!!! specifically like, a household host. "host of the beast blood" is intended to be literal.

now time to play "guess who?": willem could be described as "lost" metaphorically, but he's also like, right there. out in the open. he's considerably less lost than our other two options, micolash or laurence/host of the beast blood. willem doesn't use the 主 kanji usually; he's "headmaster" willem or some other title that makes it clear he's from a school. forget willem. it's not him.

i'm pretty sure japanese players were supposed to intuit a connection between the "lord of the beast blood" and the "lord of blood ministration" and this nuance was lost in translation. and while there is a vacuous spider in lower pthumeru blocking access to a secret 4th labyrinth layer where a hunter can find a lost lord of the beast blood, it's clearly not in byrgenwerth. it's not the big doggie.

micolash, head of the rogue school of mensis, is literally lost in the nightmare acting as it's host/lord. access to the corpse of micolash is blocked until rom, the byrgenwerth spider, is defeated. so. having eliminated any alternatives, the note is almost certainly about micolash. but. why? who in oedon chapel gives a shit about micolash?

there are a truly confusing number of connections between gascoigne and the school of mensis (and thus, micolash). the most specific and startling connection is that the music box that gascoigne has a good/bad (?) reaction to plays "mergo's lullaby". this exact song plays during a fight with the wet nurse of oedon's presumed (but like, come on. it is) child, the titular mergo. if gascoigne's daughter is sent to iosekfa's clinic, you will obtain the level 1 formless oedon rune from her body which, as we discussed in the last part, depicts the blood moon descending during a (mensis) ritual; levels 3 and 4 of the rune are found in oedon chapel itself.

gascoigne's garb reads:

The dingy scarf is a Holy Shawl and symbol of the Healing Church, from which Gascoigne would eventually part ways. "Father" is a title used for clerics in a foreign land, and there is no such rank in the Healing Church.

reads a bit differently now...perhaps father gascoigne did not bring a foreign form of worship to yharnam. gascoigne left the healing church in order to start his own, based on the foreign practices of pthumeru.

only today the church is abandoned, and some say that the residents of oedon have all gone mad.

[stubblesandwich]

Slice Of Life

A Captain Swan & Captain Cobra fanfic, written for @pirateprincessofpizza for @cssecretsanta2020.

Rated: General

Words: 6,000+ (I knoowww, I'm sorry 🙈)

Author's Note: Merry Christmas, Pirate! I'm SO SORRY this is a few days late. 🙃 Forgive me. I hope the fact that it's so darn long helps soften the blow of its lateness. This is actually going to be part one of a series I'd like to do, completely inspired by your username/enduring admiration for pizza, as well as your desire for more "slice of life" scenes, surrounding different points in Emma and Killian's relationship as it grows through the seasons. Each story will feature pizza in some way or another, because pizza is great, despite what other pirates might think to the contrary. 👀

Anyway!! Merry (belated) Christmas, my dear! I loved getting to know you through our long messages, and I hope you find this fic to be at least semi heart warming. I had fun writing it, and I look forward to continuing it with a second chapter set in the 6-week era of peace in S4. 👀👀

This one is set during season 3B, with Emma trying to juggle having a good relationship with her son and make an attempt at normal in the times of the Wicked Witch--by having a shared dinner with Captain Hook, obviously. Set some evening post-Neal's death but before poor Killian has his lips cursed.

AO3 link here if that's easier ✌🏻

+++

Life is made up of moments, her father had once told her. Good ones. Bad ones. But they're all worth living. 

And this, right here? This is a good moment. 

The town, for once, is quiet. 

No new flying monkey bite victims. Nothing from the Wicked Witch. And while all nefarious villains are undoubtedly planning and plotting more nefarious deeds, tonight, Emma Swan does not care about any of that. (She doesn't even sort of care.) 

What she cares about is the black-clad, self-proclaimed scoundrel sitting across from her whose more nefarious days seem to be tucked away behind him for safe keeping. The black-clad scoundrel currently looking at her like a confused puppy, slight head tilt included. 

"And what, pray tell, is pizza?" he asks, as he reaches for his mug of beer. Granny's been trying out a few new brews on tap (that Emma is pretty sure some of the dwarves have been concocting illegally, but she doesn't have the mental capacity to check into that any further at present) and has roped Killian into taste testing one of them for her.  Killian, never one to see a lady in peril, needed no arm twisting and was happy to oblige. "I gather it's valuable in this realm, if you would stoop to homicide to attain a slice of it." 

Sometimes she truly can't tell if he's messing with her, when he talks like that. The internal lie detector she'd developed as a child to tell when another foster parent or sibling was bullshitting her, then honed as an adult to tell when even worse people were bullshitting her, sometimes gets a little fuzzy around this particular man. (Or she quite possibly gets distracted by his face and the way he tends to stand so close to her. Who’s to say, really.)  It's what she would blame, if pressed, for why she left him up on that beanstalk oh so long ago.

(Which is something she is very grateful he has never brought up again.) 

It's definitely not the fact that he stands so much farther into her personal bubble than literally anyone else on the planet, or the fact that he watches her with those insanely intense eyes of his, gaze fixed on her in that knowing way like he not only sees her, but he gets her, reads her like a book sitting out and open on a coffee table. It's incredibly unnerving. But what's even more unnerving is how she is finding that the longer she knows him, the less she really seems to mind. 

Sometimes, she feels like he stepped straight out of a Jane Austen novel, when he talks like that, and she can't tell if he's hamming it up on purpose. She's very well aware he's not from this time, or realm, or whatever. She never actually forgets that—how could she?—but she almost forgets, sometimes. Until moments like now, when he's staring at her like a quizzical puppy. A puppy who apparently doesn't know what pizza is. 

There's a little bit of beer foam on his upper lip, caught in his mustache, which she's always noticed is just a little darker, just a little more pronounced than the rest of the stubble dusting his jawline. She's wondered before if that's where the silly mustache comes from, on the cartoon version of Captain Hook from the Peter Pan cartoon. (Not that Emma has spent an inordinate amount of time admiring the artfulness of his facial hair, God no. And there's definitely no intrusive thoughts of licking said beer foam off his upper lip, no, definitely not. That's never happened to her before and it's definitely not happening now.)

All she'd said, grumbled beneath her breath as she stared at the menu she had memorized, was that she'd kill for a decent slice of pizza right about now. A perfectly normal bit of hyperbole. 

His bright eyes dance, trained on her as they so often are, but the hint of a smirk pushing at his lips is masked by his mug as he takes a sip of his beer. He licks his lip, and just like that, the foam is gone, and takes with it the distraction it was causing her. 

"Wait, hold on, back up,” she says, as if finally registering the words he’d actually said.  “You've seriously never had pizza before?" She's not sure why it surprises her, really. Nothing should surprise her by now. But pizza? Come on. Everybody’s had pizza. 

He just raises his eyebrows at her. "It's some form of food, I gather?"

She huffs a little laugh. "Yes, it's food." 

It's at that moment that Henry reappears from his trip to the bathroom and slides in next to her. Something in her heart clicks back into place as he tucks in next to her. "What's food? Did you order something yet? I'm starving." 

"You heard the lad," Hook says, and something in Emma's heart tugs like a bite on a fishing line at the way his eyes soften as he looks at her son. "What will it be, Swan? This pizza that has you so up in arms and calling for blood?" He says "pizza" like he's trying the word out, two distinct syllables that sound foreign to him. 

Henry just blinks up at him, and Emma explains, "He's never had pizza before." 

Her son's eyes bug out in unfiltered shock. "What?" 

"I know," Emma says, in a what-can-you-do sort of tone, as she reaches across and snags Hook's mug of beer from him. She can feel him watching her, and she pointedly does not look back at him as she takes a sip from it. The home brew is thick, and hoppy, and.... Emma smacks her lips a few times. "That's actually... not bad." 

Hook shrugs with one shoulder. "I've certainly had worse." 

"I've never seen you drink something that wasn't out of your flask," she comments wryly. 

With one fluid motion, he reaches across their table and steals his mug back from her, taking another sip. Kissing, her brain blurts out for thankfully only her to hear. Share a drink and it's like you're kissing was the old playground tease from her childhood. Eagerly and yet very unhelpfully, her brain then supplies her with an image of the first time she'd kissed this particular man, in a hot, sweaty, evil magic jungle, and something low in her stomach bursts open like a big, hot balloon. Get it together, Swan, she chides herself. 

Thankfully, Hook doesn't seem to notice that she's having an internal error of some kind, and simply says, "Contrary to popular opinion, Swan, I'm actually a fairly well traveled and well rounded individual with many refined tastes." 

"If you say so.” She finds herself leaning a little closer to him as his foot bumps hers beneath the table. 

"But you've never had pizza before?" Henry asks, still so very very confused about how on earth someone can just go about life never having eaten his favorite food before. Stumped, Killian just stares at the boy, frowning slightly. Emma comes in for the save. 

"Well, then, let's change that tonight, shall we?" she says, with a can-do attitude rivaling that of her mother. "That settles it. Let's order a pizza." Her flicks to Hook. "Unless you had other plans for dinner?" 

"I am at your beck and call tonight, my lady," he says, and though the innuendo in his tone is only mildly implied for the sake of her son sitting across from him, Emma still can't help but roll her eyes. 

"Can we get fries?" Henry asks hopefully, and Emma can't help but smile at him. 

"I was thinking onion rings. But sure, kid. Fries it is." 

"Get both," Hook suggests casually. "Dinner's on me." 

"No, it's fine," Emma insists, "I got it."

"It makes no difference to me, love." 

"Do you even have money?" She's never stopped to think about it before, how he's getting around, how he's been paying for a room here or what he's been using to buy food. It's such an obvious question, and yet she's never thought to ask him. 

"You have no idea what the exchange rate is for gold in this town," he says simply, as he takes another sip of his beer, and she raises her brows at him. 

"Okay, well, that's a question for later," she says. "Good to know." A better sheriff would look into that further, all the presumably stolen gold and other treasures he has in his possession, and the people in town so willing to turn a blind eye and take it as payment, but it's literally the least pressing problem in her life at this point. It's not even a problem; she has no way to prove he's stolen anything, and even if she did, she finds she just doesn't care. The fact that he has any number of gold pieces and random treasures on him at any given point in time with which to pay for goods and services is… oddly endearing. 

But, she probably should pay for her own dinner. Otherwise, he might get the wrong idea about what this dinner is. "I've got it," she says again, a finality in her voice with which he decides not to argue further. 

"If the lady insists." 

Henry, bored of their conversation, has been staring down  at the laminated menu in front of him. "What do you like on your pizza, Killian? Well, I guess you wouldn't know that. What do you think you'd like on it? Pepperoni, bacon, Canadian bacon–which is just ham–mushrooms, extra cheese--" he rattles on a list of all the available toppings, still staring at his menu, and completely misses the look that comes over Hook's face when Henry uses his given name. Emma, blessedly, had looked over at him at just the right moment, just when Henry had said "Killian", and beheld for herself the way Hook's whole face had softened. 

"Pardon?" Killian says, clearly confused. "I'm still not quite sure what it is we're ordering." 

"All right, Henry, help the poor guy out," Emma says. "Define pizza. Go.” 

Henry shakes his head, incredulous as he stares at Hook. "Wow. You're like, Amish or something." 

At that, Emma can't help the laugh that bursts out of her. Killian Jones could not possibly be further from an Amish person if he tried. For his part, Hook just frowns, mouths Amish? to himself.

"Okay," Henry goes on, "You have the crust, which is basically like bread." He holds out a hand horizontally, then stacks his other hand on top of it, alternating them with each layer he describes. "Then the sauce. Then a bunch of cheese, melted. Then whatever you want on top. Mom and I usually get the supreme, no green peppers, extra bacon, extra mushrooms. But we can get whatever you want. What do you like?" 

Killian just looks at him, flabbergasted. "Supreme is fine, I'm sure," he finally says. Emma would feel a little bad for him if this wasn't so damn funny. 

"Cool." Henry snaps his menu shut and sets it aside before turning back to his mother. "Can I get a milkshake?" 

"Definitely not," Emma says. "You had that donut at the station earlier, remember?" 

"Oh yeah," Henry mumbles, disappointed. 

It doesn't matter though, because when it comes to her son and sugar, no one in this town seems to listen to her. Ruby automatically brings out a hot chocolate with cinnamon on top and sets it in front of Henry without even asking permission. "Sorry," she says off Emma's look, sounding distinctly not sorry, "On the house. Granny insisted." 

"Thanks," Emma says wryly, sounding distinctly not thankful. 

"How's the beer?" Ruby asks Killian, who smiles up at her politely. 

"Very good. My hat's off to whichever dwarf concocted it." 

"That would be Bashful. Though he's too shy to take credit for it." 

"I imagine so," Killian says with a smirk. 

"Dwarf?" Henry asks, confused. 

Crap, Emma thinks, and tries to think on her feet, "Uh, the mining crew in town gave each other funny nicknames. Right, Ruby?" She shoots Killian a look, and he has the good sense to look abashed at his slip up. 

Ruby's eyes are wide, as if she also completely forgot they were supposed to be a completely normal town in front of Henry. "Right! They're funny that way. Anyway, I'll tell him you liked it. And I'll tell Granny to keep it on tap." She pulls out an order pad from the half apron at her waist. "What'll it be, folks?" 

"Well," Emma starts, "Killian's never tried pizza before..." 

"So we're going to change his life tonight," Henry finishes for her. 

Ruby, expectedly, shares in their shock. "Never had pizza?" She stares down at the pirate like he's suddenly grown an extra head. "What are you, lactose intolerant or something?"

"Excuse me?" Hook asks, as the mountain of his confusion just continues to grow ever taller. 

"He's just not from around here," Emma reminds Ruby pointedly, and a look of understanding washes over her. 

"Ah, right," Ruby says, "I forgot. Okay, yeah, let's change a life tonight! Pizza it is. What'll you have on it?" 

"Supreme is fine," Emma says, and Henry pipes up to add, "No green peppers, please. Extra mushrooms and bacon.” Ruby writes it down, along with the side orders, and promises to be back soon with a batch of fresh onion rings for the table. 

A comfortable silence befalls them. Killian seems relaxed, Emma notices, as he lounges against the wall, and she's surprised to find herself settling comfortably into the booth, as well. This is... nice. They haven't really had a chance to do this, her and Henry, and just hang out with someone else from her life. She's had to dance around so many things with her son, dodge so many questions, hide things and explain (read: lie) things away, with his memories gone. It's been exhausting, frankly. But, since he already knows Killian, spent an entire road trip from New York to Maine in a small car with him, this has felt fairly easy. And Henry seems to like Hook. A lot. 

But Emma should have known that this was going too well. 

"So, Killian," Henry says after a minute, having sampled his hot chocolate and found it satisfactory. "You're not from around here?" Emma's chest clenches in anxiety at whatever he's about to ask next. Please don't ask him how he lost his hand, Emma begs from behind the bars of her brain. She's not sure she can handle the amount of ducking and weaving THAT particular conversation would take. 

“That’s right,” Killian hedges, eying Henry closely, though he still looks completely at ease and prepared for whatever might possibly fall out of her son’s mouth next. 

“Are you from Great Britain? Like, England?” 

It’s almost imperceptible, the way Hook’s gaze darts to Emma before he takes another swig of his beer, and she steps in with an answer. 

“Uh, yeah,” Emma says, affecting a tone that makes her sound semi-sure but also looking to Killian for clarification, “London, right?” 

He takes the answer she hands him on a silver platter and nods easily. “That’s right. What gave me away?” 

Henry rolls his eyes, but any rudeness behind the gesture is dissipated with the smirk he attaches to it. “Uh, the accent, mostly.” 

“Ah,” Killian says with a wink. “Well, guilty as charged.” 

Emma’s not sure if they even have a version of London in the Enchanted Forest, or whatever part of that realm Killian is actually from. She vaguely remembers the Peter Pan film being set in London—probably?—but that’s about it. 

There’s a little wooden peg game hiding behind the napkin dispenser on their table, pressed up against the wall. One of those little pieces of wood with holes drilled into it, with little pegs you’re supposed to jump over each other until there is only one left. Emma knows for a fact that each of the booths has one, and that they were each hand carved by Marco. Henry watches as Hook toys with it, jumps a few pegs over each other, and Emma’s heart gives a little squeeze as Henry asks, “Do you know how to play that?”

Learning to play that simple, weirdly addictive little game was one of the staples of their Granny’s dates, in the first year she lived in Storybrooke. Every time they would sit and eat together, without fail, Henry would pull out the little piece of wood from behind the napkin dispenser and move the little pegs around. Emma caught herself doing it a few times, too, even when Henry wasn’t with her. Just stabbing the little golf tee picks into their tiny holes while she waited for her food. It was weirdly satisfying and oddly addicting. 

And now Henry has forgotten it. 

For all the memories they share of their “pretty good” life back in the big city, she knows there are a dozen more here, in this quiet, strange, terrifying little town. And while she wouldn’t trade that year she had with just her and Henry for anything in the world, she can’t help but grieve the loss of the memories she made with him here, in Storybrooke.

Hook’s voice pulls her out of her thoughts. “Aye. Want me to teach you?” 

Of course he knows how to play the silly little peg game. She watches as he explains, simply, the right strategy to win in the fewest moves. Hook slides the piece of wood over to Henry, who takes it and flips it around, eager to try for himself.

Perhaps emboldened by the fact that he doesn’t have to look at Hook when he asks, and can instead stare down at the little wooden pegs, Henry asks, as casually as possible, “So, how’d you lose your hand?” 

“Henry,” Emma starts. She can’t help the sound of a scold that wraps around her tone. 

“It’s fine,” Killian says easily, though this time he doesn’t look at Emma to give an answer for him. His left arm had been relaxing across his lap; he shifts, and brings his forearm up to rest on the table. For the most part, he had taken to wearing his prosthetic hand around Henry, in lieu of the hook. Emma and her son both can’t help but stare at it as Killian rests it on the table. 

If she’s honest, Emma misses the hook. If she’s honest, she never really actually thinks of Hook as an amputee. She’s seen him make a few creative alterations to movements more able-bodied people would traditionally use two hands for, sure. Using  his teeth to pull a cork from its bottle, or to sexily tie a scarf around her bleeding hand, for one. 

She knows he’s missing a hand. Logically, she knows this. She called him “Hook” 99.9% of the time, until she had to stop when Henry was around. It rolled off her tongue so easily, and several times, she’s had to stop herself from blurting it out in front of Henry. But it’s almost as if half the time it doesn’t even register in her brain that there are some things he can’t do as easily or as quickly as other people.

Now, as she stares down at the leather-wrapped prosthetic on the table in front of her, she finds herself missing the namesake to his more colorful moniker. To her utter horror, when she realizes she’s been very obviously staring, she glances up at Hook’s face, and she finds he’s been watching her for a while now. Emma feels heat pool in her cheeks instantly, and she leans back. But graciously, Killian only smiles softly at her, seeming, yet again, to read her thoughts easily. As if he knows she misses the hook. The bastard has the audacity to wink at her. 

Oblivious to the unspoken conversation happening right beside him between his mom and the strange man across from him, Henry pipes up, “If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.” He sounds nervous, like he realizes the gravity of his social blunder and suddenly wants to give Killian an out. “Really. I… I’m sorry I asked.” He shoots an apologetic look to Emma, who tries her best to look stern. 

There’s a moment of silence that stretches out between them where Emma genuinely doesn’t know what Hook is going to say next. So many directions this conversation could go, so many versions of the truth, the unbelievable truth, that he could go with. Emma is very aware that she’s holding her breath, but she can’t seem to let it go until Killian says something. It’s the one thing in this moment she feels like she has control over. 

“Truth be told, lad,” Killian finally says on the end of a sigh, “It happened so long ago, I hardly remember what it’s like having two hands.” 

Emma releases the air she’d been holding captive in her lungs, and in place of the tightness in her airway comes a little pang in her heart. She knows this story, but she’s never asked him about this story. They’ve never talked about that moment, just the two of them, when Milah was murdered right in front of him, and then he had his hand cut off. It’s horrible, truly. She takes the horror of it for granted, and she suddenly very much does not want Henry to hear this story, even in whatever veiled shape Hook wants to tell it. It’s Killian’s story, his hand that was lost, and it’s his right to tell Henry whatever he wants about it. Emma’s heart grieves for this man before her and the tremendous losses that have shaped him. But she does not want her son to hear this story. She’s not even sure she wants to hear this story. 

Life has softened Emma too much, she fears, because while she imagines herself as being quite tough and immune to the awfulness of the world, she knows these feelings are showing quite clearly on her face and in her eyes, which are shining just a little brighter as she watches Hook. He looks up abruptly, meeting her gaze, and her heart leaps like she’s just been jump scared. 

“So you were just a kid when it happened?” Henry asks, and Hook huffs out a little laugh through his nose. 

“Not exactly, no.” 

Henry frowns. “I don’t understand.” 

Emma doesn’t envy either of them in this moment, but she especially does not envy Hook, whom she watches with nothing but sympathy. 

And in the end, Hook goes for the blunt, almost-truth of the matter. “Lost it to a Crocodile.” When he looks up at Henry, it’s with a smirk playing across his features. One that Emma sees right through. 

Henry’s mouth falls open in shock, like that was literally the last thing he was expecting Killian to say. “No way! Seriously? A crocodile bit your hand off?” 

Even Hook can’t disguise the smile—a genuine one, this time—that comes over his face at Henry’s utter, boyish exuberance at this answer. Emma’s heart swells an extra size, watching them. Of course Henry would think that was awesome, the idea of someone’s hand getting bitten off by what is essentially a modern-day dinosaur. “Aye,” Hook says, shooting Emma a knowing glance. “As I said, I lost my hand to a Crocodile.” 

“What, like in Australia or something?” Henry asks. 

“Something like that.” 

The beauty of this moment is that Hook doesn’t even really have to lie to Henry. He seemingly doesn’t have to do anything more than slightly bend the truth; Henry’s too amped up to even listen to the full answers to his questions, and Killian can continue to dole out the most vague answers on the planet. 

“Did you live there?” Henry asks. “When you were a kid?” 

“Lad, I’ve lived in and seen more places than I care to count,” Hook says, with a gleam in his eyes, “And none of them, I assure you, are more interesting and alluring than this very town.” 

Emma doesn’t imagine his gaze flitting over to her when he says the word “alluring”. She knows she doesn’t. And yet, he’s so quick about it, keeping his focus entirely on her son, that she can’t be sure. 

“Really?” Henry asks, dubious. “This town? Storybrooke?” 

“Aye,” Killian says, “I promise you, my boy. There’s more to this place than meets the eye. You just have to be willing to see, for yourself.” 

It’s the kind of answer an old, wizened Santa Claus would tell a kid in a Christmas movie about a town that was secretly the North Pole or something. It’s probably the corniest thing she’s ever heard him say that wasn’t a pickup line. And yet, Emma is surprised to find warmth prick her eyes at his attempt to make Henry feel more at home here, more interested in this town that her city boy son has written off entirely as Boringville, USA. And she gets that—she really does. She didn’t exactly think Storybrooke was hip-hop and happenin’ when she first rolled into town, either. 

Then again, she also didn’t think it was full of fairytale characters. Literal royalty from another realm. Evil queens with magic. Humanoid crickets, for God’s sake. Henry’s family is here. Whether he knows it or not, everyone in this town knows him, and so many of those people love him, would die for him in a heartbeat. And while she can’t pretend she isn’t ready to take him back to New York City the second this is all over, it hurts her heart that he doesn’t even remember those people. 

All talk of special towns and missing hands cease, however, as Ruby returns and sets a massive, loaded pizza in front of them. 

Emma has the satisfaction of watching Hook’s eyes go wide. And whatever she expected him to say, it isn’t the ineloquent, “Whoa,” that falls from his mouth. Emma and Ruby both can’t help but laugh at him. 

“Looks pretty great, huh?” Henry says, already grabbing himself a plate and eying the slice he wants. 

“One life-changing pizza, as ordered!” Ruby says with a grin. “Prepare to be dazzled, Captain.” 

Henry looks over at Emma, mouthing Captain?

“Navy,” Emma whispers, thinking quick on her feet. Henry shrugs and starts piling his plate up with pizza. He carefully positions his chosen slices to make room for the fries that Ruby sets in front of him. 

“There we go, folks,” Ruby says, leaning back with her hand on her hip to inspect the table. “Anything else we need? Refill on that beer, Killian?” 

Emma gives a mental tip of her hat to Ruby for how easily the name Killian rolls off her tongue, like she’s said it a thousand times. Hook, for his part, looks momentarily taken aback that she even knows his given name. “Uh, yes,” he says, “Sure, I’ll take another.” 

It’s a true delight, Emma finds, to see one of the most eloquent, loquacious people she knows (next to Gold, probably, which is a noticed similarity she will not be sharing with Hook) so continuously dumbfounded. It brings her great joy, actually, to keep seeing him rendered speechless by such average things.  

“Sure thing.” Ruby nods and reaches over to snatch up his empty mug. “Coming right up.” 

Ruby leaves, and Emma shakes her head at the absurdity of it all. A werewolf, giving a refill to a pirate of a beer that was illegally home brewed by a dwarf. What even is her life anymore? These are the things she didn’t even know she was missing in New York. Not for the first time, there’s a pang in her heart as she wishes she could share in the joke with Henry. She looks over at her son, watches him squirt ketchup over his fries like he’s trying to torture information out of them. Something of these thoughts must show on her face, because after a moment, she feels a little bump on the toe of her boot. When she looks up, Killian is looking at her, his expression soft, and he offers her a small smile. 

It’ll be all right, Swan, his eyes seem to say, and she feels herself relax a fraction. She smiles back at him, thankful. 

Whatever moment that’s happening between them is interrupted by Henry. “Killian,” he says, though the name is turned to absolute mush by the food in his mouth, “Pizza!” 

“Good Lord,” Emma says, shaking her head at him, “Who raised you, kid? Don’t talk with your mouth so full.” 

Henry takes a few gulps from his Sprite, swallowing it all down. “Ah, sorry. I said, ‘Killian, pizza.’”

Hook, for his part, looks thoroughly amused. “Yes, lad, I’d gathered that.” He looks down at their gigantic round entree with what can only be described as suspicion. “Do I just dig in then? No forks with you savages?” 

Emma huffs a laugh. “Only weirdos eat pizza with a fork.” Though, as she watches Henry hang onto a particularly large piece with two hands, she adds, “Unless that’s easier for you. Then be as weird as you want.” 

Killian waves off any concern on her part with a flick of his hand. “When in Storybrooke, eat as the Storybrookians do and all that.”  He slips a slice of pizza off the stand, letting it fall onto a plate with an audible plop, which he frowns down at. 

“Storybrookians?” Emma laughs. “No way. There’s got to be something better than that out there.” 

Hook shrugs, quirking a brow at her. “I’ll have to check with the mayor.” 

“She’s nice,” Henry pipes up, mouth blessedly less full this time. “She took me out for ice cream.” 

Emma and Hook, for what feels like the thousandth time this evening, swap glances. Henry, too engrossed in his pizza, doesn’t seem to notice. Moments later, when Ruby returns with Killian’s beer, being the spectacular mind reader she apparently is, she also comes bearing another Sprite for Henry and a second iced tea for Emma. 

“You’re amazing,” Emma tells her. 

“I know,” Ruby responds with a wink. “I’ll come check on you guys in a bit. If you need anything, just give a whistle.” She turns on her heel and heads back toward the kitchen, leaving them alone with their life-changing pizza. 

“All right,” Emma says, and her tone sings time’s up, buddy. “Eat up or shut up.” 

Killian chuckles, shaking his head at her. “That the saying, is it?” 

“Yup,” Emma says, popping the “P” on the end. “Sure is. Pizza time. Time to really become a man of the times.” Hook eyes the loaded slice of pizza on his plate skeptically, and Emma thinks of young Simba right before he tried a grub for the first time. “Hakuna matata, pal.” 

Henry, immediately getting the reference, laughs loudly at her side, and Emma beams. Hook looks between the two of them, once again a confused, eyeliner-wearing puppy. The poor man shakes his head, as if he’s just completely done trying to understand everything they say, and as they continue to snicker at his expense, he reaches down, scoops up his slice of pizza with his hand, and takes a bite of it. The thing is so loaded up with toppings that a few black olives abandon ship and fall back down to the plate with a soft tink. 

They both watch him expectantly. Hook, being the good sport he is, lets them stare at them while he eats. He swallows, then washes the rest of it down with a swig of beer. 

Emma and Henry give him a solid three seconds before they say, simultaneously, “Well?” 

“I’ve certainly had worse, by way of sustenance.” Hook says, shrugging, and they both groan. 

“Are you kidding me?” Emma says. “You try pizza for the first time and that’s all you have to say about it? You’ve had better?” 

“I believe what I said was that I’ve had worse food, Swan,” Hook clarifies, pointing at her with the prosthetic hand, “Which is a compliment.” 

“In what realm is that a compliment?” 

“He’s right,” comes Henry’s sigh. “This pizza is mid at best.” 

Mid? Killian mouths to Emma. She shrugs, for once just as lost as he is. 

“The pizza back in New York is way better,” Henry says, and Emma can’t argue with that. 

“He’s right. New York City does pizza like you wouldn’t believe.” 

“Yeah,” Henry says, “Remember the cart guy by our apartment that would sell it by the slice?” 

“Yes!” Emma cries. “Pizza Phil!” 

“You bought pizza from a man in a cart?” Killian asks, looking truly befuddled, clearly envisioning some kind of horse and buggy roadside pizza situation in the congested streets of New York City. 

“Not that kind of cart,” Emma clarifies with a smile. “Like a little… stand, I guess. He’d make it there, in this brick oven on wheels thing he had, and then he’d just sell it by the slice.” 

“It was awesome,” Henry says emphatically. “Best pizza in town. Sometimes Mom would let me have it for breakfast on our way to school.” 

“Yeah, well,” Emma says wryly, “Those weren’t exactly my best mothering moments. Sometimes we overslept, and pizza for breakfast it was.” 

“I disagree,” Henry says around his straw, as he finishes off the last of his second Sprite. Another not great mothering moment, Emma thinks to herself. But tonight is a special night. Henry goes on, “I think those were actually your best mothering moments.” 

“And this cart man’s pizza was better?” Hook asks, slowly, making a very valiant effort to keep up with them. “Back in New York City?” 

“New York pizza has a thinner crust,” Emma explains. “So you get more of the cheese and toppings. It’s pretty great.” 

“The best,” Henry asserts. “I wish we could have had you try it before we came here.” There’s something wistful in his tone that hurts Emma’s heart. She knows full well the bagels, pizza, and honestly food in general in Storybrooke leave much to be desired, and that her son misses the big city. She wants to make it up to him, somehow. He’s been so patient with her, through all this, and so trusting, and her heart swells with affection for him. 

“Alas,” Hook says, with a wry look to Emma, “My experience with New York City cuisine leaves much to be desired.” Vaguely, she remembers something about barbaric brigs and being force fed something called bologna. She shakes her head at him, though she doesn’t even bother trying to hide her laughter. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Emma says with a roll of her eyes. “All right, so we’re not as well-traveled as you are. Sue us. We’re simple folk. We like our pizza.” 

“And I will not begrudge you for that, Swan.” 

“Are there any other pizza places in town?” Henry pipes up.

“I don’t… actually know,” Emma says, glancing at Hook, who shrugs. 

“We should definitely find out,” Henry says. “We gotta try everything this town has to offer while we’re here, and compare it to back home.” 

Emma’s heart squeezes. She can feel Killian’s eyes on her, but she knows if she looks at him, she’s going to lose the battle against the tears suddenly pricking her eyes. Her voice is a little husky when she answers  with, “Yeah, kid. Sure thing.” 

“You’ll come with us?” Henry asks, looking to Hook. “Be brave again, try some more pizza?” 

Hook chuckles lowly, but nods and says, “I think I can be brave, Henry."

“Good,” Henry says, and the grin that lights up her son’s face makes Emma’s breath catch in her throat. He has the best smile, and she hasn’t seen it enough lately. 

They finish their pizza, or as much of it as they can eat, with Henry making the biggest dent. Hook, brave as he is, finishes his slice, and then dares to go for a second, which Emma counts as a win. She doesn’t keep Henry up too late, but they stay late into the evening, much later than Emma had originally intended when she took her son to Granny’s for a hot chocolate and offered to buy Hook a beer. 

And for the first time in a long time, with wicked green witches, curses, her son’s missing memories, and flying monkeys abounding, a peace settles into Emma’s heart. And for the first time in a long time, at least for this moment, she truly feels like everything really is going to be okay. 

[satancopilotsmytardis]

For your AU question. Space travel fic where one is an alien. Set in the future.

Astronaut Dabi who managed to make it even though his father said it was a stupid dream that he would never achieve Not only does he make it as an astronaut, he ends up on a team that goes on brief missions from their space station to survey different planets for useful resources and to better document everything they can find.

Everything is going fine for about three years until one day Dabi ends up on a planet alone for a very brief scouting mission. He's just popping down to get air, water, and soil samples for this region because it was too dense with jungle foliage for their rovers to get through it. It literally was supposed to take 20 minutes and they followed all the proper procedures. He lands, chit-chatting to the others back at base while he's collecting the samples and being, as Magne says, 'a fucking nerd' about all of the interesting vegetation on the planet. Compress warns him a cloud front is rapidly coming in and he'll need to be back up at base before it hits, so he goes back to his pod. It's literally just bad luck, a freak accident that one of the alien megafauna straight up steps on his pod and strands him there in its own haste to find shelter against the oncoming storm. He's still got communication to the base for a could of days, and based on what he's collected so far, this planet does seem to be habitable to humans if he needs to be here for a little while, and the others should be able to come back down and get him as soon as it stops storming. Okay, this is also not that big of a deal, this is something that happens. He uses his scanners to find a cave system to wait out the storm and turns off his communication device to save power, knowing the others are just a button away if he needs them.

Uh, turns out that cave belonged to a native humanoid species that was previously unregistered. Dabi apologizes to the tall muscular... reptilian?? alien. He looks human in most of his anatomy save for the thick muscular prehensile tail that's twice as long as he is tall, the four fingers and toes on each limb, and the fact that when he opens his mouth it's much larger than it seems with two rows of insanely sharp teeth, extra skin flaps inside and a long forked tongue like a snake. His pale skin also has scales littered across it in patches, and he's nearly eight feet tall. Dabi turns on his universal translator and apologizes for intruding and Shigaraki is amused enough by this little creature that he puts p with him squatting as the tide comes in.

Dabi learns that the storm comes every month on this planet, having to do with the rotation, gravity, and other factors, and usually lasts until the tri-moon comes. He calculates that based on when they know the three moons should be in sight on the surface of this planet and determines that isn't going to be for another three to four weeks. Shigaraki is willing to let him stay and Dabi calls back up to the ship to tell them the situation. It would be very risky to send a pod down through the lightning, so they agree to just keep in touch every two days for timed check-ins to ensure he's alright. And then Dabi gets to spend a month getting to know Shigaraki.

They have a nice time together because Dabi is excited about anything he can learn about and Shigaraki likes having the company he really likes the way Dabi smells. They've been sleeping together (like for warmth and because Shigaraki can't make him a bed of his own while everything is soaked) and Dabi isn't thinking anything of that until during one of his check-ins he is informed by Compress this is a registered species-- it's considered extremely hostile and any planet it's found on is not fit for humans to inhabit because they have a habit of eating them and their skin is weapon-proof (or at least the weapons the scouts are likely to have). Dabi is of course terrified now that he knows and thinks he's being saved until his food runs out. And one night Shigaraki cages him under his bulk and Dabi is certain he's going to die and then nope, oops, turns out Shigaraki thinks that because Dabi smells so good, it must mean that he's a compatible mate and they smash (snake-like biology on that front too 🍆🍆👀)

(bonus) Dabi does get off the planet at the end of the storm, though Shigaraki is very sad to see him go, but Dabi just goes back up to renegotiate his contract, he will become an expert on Shigaraki's species if he's allowed to stay with him for 2-3 months at a time and then come back to base to report his findings afterward. His research ends up getting published and he earns enough to buy out the last of his contract so he can stay with Shig

[sarahowritesostucky]

im craving some steve/bucky/reader!

will you ever add to Worth The Wait? pleeese??🌷or maybe write a mfm fic that's set in the mcu? I'm dying for a good stucky/reader endgame fix it, and you write the best m/f sex scenes! 😳

Hi! I will add to Worth the Wait, one day. I have a lot of rotating projects and I'll admit that one isn't at the top of the list.

And I was brainstorming some kind of Endgame fix-it fic idea with an ofc/reader x Stucky pairing, and here's what I came up with:

I wanted to write a fic with more canon elements of the MCU (as I realized that I write very few canon-set fics and almost exclusively AUs). I wanted to write an ofc/reader with a super unique backstory, and hoo-boy, did I ever! I took a lot of inspiration from the galaxy as depicted in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. This fic will be posted as a one-shot fic, whenever I get around to writing it.

A Stucky x Reader fic, set in the MCU during and after the events of Endgame:

Reader is from another planet - yes, literally.

You're a refugee from a planet that didn't want you (The Sovereign--Aka "the gold people" from Guardians 2.)

Long story short, those people disdain sexual (aka uncontrolled) reproduction. Your Mother was banished for becoming naturally pregnant by an inferior genetic (a Xandarian)

You have mixed genes: slightly gold skin from your Sovereign genes, and blue eyes and brown hair from your Xandarian father. (And since the Sovereign control reproduction strictly, there are no other mixed race Sovereign people like you in existance)

You narrowly escape Thanos' destruction of Xandar, and wind up hitching a ride, post-blip, with Nebula and rocket on the Milano. They take you to Terra to meet their friends after completing one of their post-blip scouting missions.

There you meet Steve, a Terran, and the two of you become friends. He suggests that you consider staying, as you have no real homeworld. You accept.

Eventually, you develop romantic feelings for each other. You decide to be brave and you walk up to him one day, asking if he wants to mate.

"Uh ... do you mean date?" he stutters. Then when you repeat yourself, the two of you proceed to have a long conversation about male-female relationships in Terran culture.

There's a lot to learn about the differences between Terrans and your own kind. For instance: Terrans don't have genders! ("gender" means something completely different on Terra).

Steve has to learn all about what it means for him, as the boyfriend of an omega-gendered woman. (update: he's a fast learner😉)

Steve loves that you're omega. Your nesting and scenting and purring instincts always make him smile. He loves how submissive and touch-focused you are with him, that he can make you melt into a puddle just by gripping your neck.

And he loves your heats. He's fascinated by the way your body changes and the way you start behaving. You can tell it turns him on, to see you getting needy and aroused, and he is very good at helping you through your heat.

He doesn't have a knot, but aside from that part of anatomy, his genitals are a very pleasing size compared to the Xandarian males you've been with in the past. Plus: he has the serum, so he's able to keep pace with the demands of your heat!

When you were at the peak of your heat that first time, half-delirious and begging for a knot, Steve got creative and tried the only thing he could think of: his hand! (fun fact: it's bigger than a knot😉). You now joke that you're a "size queen" in every sense of the word

Your romance with Steve is going well, when Steve and the others figure out a way to potentially reverse the blip: time travel.

You're conflicted, because it's all very dangerous and you're scared of losing Steve and the family and home you've found on Terra. But you know they have to try.

It works. And after the final battle, after you've been scraped out of the wreckage and laid Tony Stark to rest, you finally get to meet the man you've heard so much about: Bucky Barnes.

You can see the change in Steve, with his best friend back. He's happier, lighter, his full self in a way he wasn't before.

Over the course of a few months, you become close friends with Bucky as well. You and Steve don't even have to have a discussion about where Bucky will be staying: It's with you.

The three of you decide to go to Wakanda for a time. You're excited because you hear that the African Terrans' culture is very different from the Terrans in New York.

In Wakanda, you grow even closer with Bucky, and you decide to bring up the idea of partnering with Bucky at dinner one night.

Bucky just about spits his mouthful of wine across the table.

Apparently, three-way relationships are not the norm in Terran culture. Bucky and Steve get very pink in the cheeks at first about it (something you've learned means they are aroused, embarrassed, or both).

Steve splutters and stumbles a lot, but once Bucky shrugs and suggests that the three of you spend a night in bed together, Steve gets very quiet and won't stop looking at Bucky for a long time. (You grin, because you think he looks at Bucky like he want to mate him😉)

Later, after the three of you spend your first (amazing) night together, Bucky privately explains to you that he and Steve have never been intimate before, and that back in "their time" two males weren't allowed to be together like that.

You're astounded by these things about Terran culture and history that you're constantly learning, but you have two very good teachers in your mates boyfriends Bucky and Steve.

Terrans can't bond, but they do hold ceremonies to commit to life partners. So, after a year of living in Wakanda together, you, Steve and Bucky decide to have a "wedding." You are mated married on the palace's grand terrace, under the Wakandan sunset.

That night, you consummate the marriage, and that's the first time that you take both Bucky and Steve inside of your body at the same time. (spoiler: it's amazing😉)

You've already told them about bonding. They don't have glands in their neck like you do, but they've agreed to honor your traditions as well, and they both bite you that night.

You thought it would be purely symbolic, since they're both Terran, but it turns out that Terrans do have pheromones to some degree, and so shockingly, you can feel a euphoric rush when it happens.

You experience that intense closeness and intimacy of a bond with them, and even though it's not the same for them, over time, both Bucky and Steve confide that they feel a change as well.

Maybe it's a bond, and maybe it isn't. Who knows? Who cares? It's love, of that much you're certain. And that's all you need to know.

Yeah, so. This'll get written somewhere down the line. Hope it wasn't too far out there for ya 😆