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shirtlesssammy · 3 years ago

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6x12: Like a Virgin

Then:

Soulless Sam is something else

Now:

A couple is enjoying a nice little chartered flight through an extreme thunderstorm. The woman starts to have a panic attack when she thinks she sees something large fly by the plane. She closes her eyes to relax when the man is snatched from the plane. This does nothing for her panic attack.

At Bobby’s, Cas comes out of the safe room, having just confirmed that Sam’s soul is in place. Dean asks if Sam will ever wake up.

Cas has zero patience with the situation. He doesn’t think putting Sam’s soul back was a good idea. Cas felt Sam’s soul --and believes if Dean wanted to kill his brother, he should have just done it outright. He says this all standing two inches away from Dean and then flaps away in the dramatic fashion of the time.

For Why the Fuck Not Science:

Bobby pours Dean a glass of whiskey and shows him a potential job. It seems that while the man in the plane was found 17 miles away from the crash site, the woman was never recovered.

Sam’s awake!

He doesn’t remember anything past Stull Cemetery. Dean tells Sam that he’s been back a year and half. And that it’s totally fine he doesn’t remember anything. He tells him nothing more.

Bobby’s working on a car later and Dean joins him with a couple of beers. Bobby has some reservations about Sam considering he tried to kill Bobby ten days prior. He doesn’t think they should tell him everything either. Dean insists they leave it be. They don’t want the wall to crumble.

Bobby and Dean are just about to head out on the place case when Sam pops up, ready to join. Bobby bails, leaving Dean and Sam to head out alone.

Sam does research on the way and they discover that two other young women disappeared in the past week.

Sam then asks Dean why he didn’t try to live a life “after.” Awkward. Dean admits to living with Lisa and Ben for a year, but, “it didn’t work out.” Cue cranking the music.

The next day they take a look around the plane -lady’s room. Her friend explains that she was terrified of the plane but was just getting serious with the dude and didn’t want to appear uninterested. Back at the motel, Sam notes that the other missing women were “good girls”, and Dean whips out Penny’s diary with a theory.

Sam can’t believe that Dean would steal the diary, and Dean is happy that Sam has a moral compass again. Dean reads from the diary: He thinks these women were all virgins.

Outside a Catholic school, a student walks home alone in the dark. She hears a crackle of leaves and then the wind picks up, and before you know it, she’s on the ground screaming into the camera.

Sam and Dean are later interviewing Melissa in the hospital. She tells them that something that looked like a giant bat attacked her. She’s got two giant gashes on her back and she’s missing her purity ring. Dean puts it together and wonders if she should have been wearing that ring at all. But let’s look on the bright side, she’s saved because she lied.

This all leads to the question: “What likes virgins and gold?”

Sam’s research leads him to World of Warcraft websites --and dragons. Dean doesn’t want to dismiss the idea and calls Bobby to get a second opinion. Bobby’s opinion is this: “They’re not like the Loch Ness Monster, Dean. Dragons aren’t real.” He’ll look into it though.

The brothers continue their research. Bobby calls with a lead: Dr. Visyak, Medieval Studies, SFU. Dean’s heading out, but not before dropping a thousand more nerdy pop culture dragon references --and then calls Sam a nerd before leaving. Gotta love that posturing boy.

Somewhere dank and steamy and cagey, all the missing people struggle to escape. As we watch, a new woman is added to the prison by a gruff, angry man. He melts the cage shut with his hand.

Dean pulls up outside Dr. Visyak’s home.

For Excellent Shot Science:

“Bobby Singer sent me” turn out to be the magic words. A beautiful woman opens the door and lets him in. She and Bobby share a History, capital H. Dean asks her about dragons (in the context of 12 sided dice DEAN YOU NERD ILU). Visyak tells him that there aren’t dragons anymore - not for 700 years. To kill a dragon, he needs a blade.

He needs a blade forged with dragon’s blood and they are SUPER RARE. Fortunately, she happens to have a dragon-forged sword in the basement. She walks him down to meet Brunswick. Her favorite sword is currently embedded in a stone.

Dean tries to pull the sword from the stone as glorious, crescendoing music fills the scene. He strains, and he makes faces and pratfalls and generally reminds us that Jensen Ackles should be in more comedy. Ultimately, he fails.

At the motel, Sam methodically works on his CSI wall collage, pinning victim photos to a map. He takes a break from découpage to talk to Bobby. While dragons lair in caves, there are no natural caves nearby. Instead, they locate old subway lines and sewers. Sam deviates from the case to ask Bobby why he’s being so weird. Bobby insists that nOTHinG is wRoNG.

Sam prays to Cas. “I’m back, so if you got a minute…” Cas flaps in and goes in for a hug. A HUG. a hug.

Sam DENIES the hug. Instead, Sam tells Cas that Bobby filled him in on everything that happened. Cas, bless that sweet clueless angel, takes that at face value and spills everything. He asks Sam how it feels to have his soul back. Sam takes this all VERY WELL, and continues to interrogate Cas for all the details.

Dean heads down to Dr. Visyak’s basement to blow up the rock with some strategically placed explosives. There’s a huge explosion and when they re-enter the basement vault, the rock is cracked perfectly! Dean goes to pull out the sword but…

DEAN. BEAN.

Sam and Dean head out to the sewer system to find the dragon, broken sword in tow. They’re about to give up when they find a pile of gold. Dean grabs a handful of it like a good PRACTICAL LAD and shoves it into his pocket. They follow the sound of shouting until they locate the imprisoned ladies. The dragon confronts them, Dean claims he got the sword from Comic Con, and fighting ensues. The sword clatters into a grate and Dean’s arm isn’t quiiiite long enough to reach it. Sam can, though! As Dean confronts dragon number two, Sam takes out the dragon threatening Dean. The first dragon escapes in a rush of wind.

Back at Bobby’s, Dean ecstatically picks through his rescued dragon’s hoard.

Sam sits down and offers a heartfelt apology for all the shit that went down while he was soulless. WHERPS. They debate whether soulless Sam was actually Sam or...what.

Sam wraps himself up in his guilt blanket and presses Dean for details so he can make amends. They’re interrupted by Bobby who’s dropping a new chunk of lore. The dragons didn’t just leave a pile of gold behind. They also left ancient books with instructions for how to open a doorway to Purgatory. Intercut with this are scenes of the original dragon. He meets up with another shady character and together they force one young woman to a cliff in a cave. They read an incantation and the cave glows. They toss their sacrificial victim into the cave. KABOOM CRASH something emerges from Purgatory. It’s…...pause for dramatic effect…..the mother of all monsters.

Natasha: It is INSANE to me that there exists not one but two episodes centering on missing “virgins” in this show. INSANE. Also, why does a mother require a “virginal” vessel? SMH derivative storytelling, friends. That said, I enjoy this episode anyway for its comedic moments.

The Quote in the Stone:

Being easy is pretty much all up side

Binding sword to stone used to be all the rage

You rocks think you’re so smart

Who doesn’t love sewers?

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive!

#spn recap #dean winchester #sam winchester #castiel #cas #bobby singer #spn 6x12 #like a virgin #supernatural season 6

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knochengeier · 3 years ago

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Drawfee Classpects???

I set a while ago to spitefully Classpect the Drawfee crew because they rightfully made fun of homestuck.

PREFACE:

I should state clearly that this is not meant as an attack on any members of Drawfee, and that I will be leaving out the majority of the negative aspects of the analysis. It should also be mentioned that this is more of an analysis of their online personas rather than who they actually are.

I did mention that I would leave out most negative things, but some things are core to a persons persona something they consciously and willingly put out into the world; again, this is not what I actually think these individuals are like, and is not a reflection of how I feel about them as a person. Things like "Julia doesn't know media" and "Jacob is the bad boy of Drawfee" that are explicitly stated as part of the persona is free game.

So, without further ado

——————————————————————————————————

Caldwell, Prospitian Muse of Breath:

A Muse is the embodiment of and the inspiration to others through their aspect. The Muse class is one in a pair of incredibly powerful and rare classes known as the “master classes.”

Breath is the aspect of individuality, drive, optimism, and most importantly freedom.

As the Muse of Breath Caldwell inspires others to be themselves and be free, motivating creativity and driving others to pursue their dreams. Caldwells unbound optimism and resolve is a force to be reckoned with, in fact he so embodies freedom and enthusiastic ambition that he left Drawfee to pursue his own creative endeavors on the west coast.

Caldwell commands not only the forces of Skaia, but Skaia itself; his inspiring aura would be strong enough to end the war between Prospit and Derse in an instant, and even those that opposed him would find it hard to stay committed to their cause for long.

Caldwell would have the power to: a. control the wind, weather, and possibly even lightning by freeing the electrons from their atoms (though that might be an active ability) b. bypass any restraints, physical or otherwise, by any means necessary which c. Also means that he can most likely teleport at will and d. Probably turn incorporeal.

——————————————————————————————————

Nathan, Prospitian Sylph of Hope:

A Sylph is a person who passively invites the healing and generation with their aspect.

Hope is the aspect of possibility, inspiration, and positivity.

As the Sylph of Hope Nathan is the light that helps others with his positivity and inspiration, not only does he help people but he inspires them to create their own hope. A Sylph of Hope would be able to see the potential for positivity in everything, and seek to be as amiable as possible, in turn helping others do the same.

Drawfee is as much a show about success as it is failure, it’s something that people can watch and say “These people make mistakes just like me” and they inspire hope for those down on their art.

One of the longest held of these humanizing aspects of the show is the apology at the end of every episode, which only became a thing after Nathan disliked a drawing so much that he was compelled to apologize, and it stuck. As much as that drawing might have sucked it inspired others who weren’t happy with their art to keep at it, and we are reminded of that after every episode.

Nathan is one of the first members of the crew to assure somebody that even if the piece didn’t come out the way they wanted, that it still looks good and is impressive nonetheless.

Nathan is the glue that holds this session together; with the presence of a prince, a bard, and a lord this session should have been doomed since the start, but Nathan’s pure awe inspiring hope promoted the best in everybody.

Nathan’s powers would include: a. A buff akin to bardic inspiration that could affect people to fight harder b. Healing abilities c. Probably an energy beam d. Manifestations of other’s hopes and dreams in the form of glowy specters like a JoJo stand.

——————————————————————————————————

Julia, Dersite Lord of Void:

A Lord is the embodiment and commander of their aspect, not through inspiration but rather assimilation and domination.

Void is the aspect of confusion, secrets, and doubt.

As the Lord of Void Julia is the sovereign of secrets; unpredictable, unknowable, and the proprietor of unknown knowledge Julia uses her runes and studied knowledge to summon hideous abominations creatures from the void.

Void players have an inextricable link to the furthest ring; the furthest ring is the incomprehensible and unnavigable space that exists outside of the universe. The furthest ring acts as an impassable border between universes inhabited by massive eldritch gods called the “Horrorterrors.”

Julia would not only have the ability to traverse the furthest ring and visit other universes, but she would also have the ability to bend the horrorterrors to her will. She would be able to switch in and out of grimdark mode at will, and most likely would not be adversely effected.

Julias powers would most likely include: a. The creation and manipulation of black holes and the general desperation of physical matter b. The ability to turn invisible and probably teleport c. The ability to erase peoples memories and mute their senses, and d. The ability to speak, read, and write the language of the horrorterrors.

——————————————————————————————————

Jacob, Prospitian Prince of Rage:

A Prince is a destroyer of and with their aspect.

Rage is the aspect of fate, defiance, and rejection.

As the Prince of Rage Jacob is the destroyer of and through failure, negativity, and rejection. Jacob forged his own path, he destroyed his fate as a writer and destroyed the limits and expectations for what an artist could be, and he got a job at college humor despite the odds.

Jacob is also, or was, a punk; a subculture that is predicated on the destruction of barriers through rebellion.

Even though he can use Rage for good he often doesn’t; he is well known for stirring discourse, his particular brand of Rage elicits anger and hatred thanks to his flaming hot takes.

He is also known for his infinite petty anger at dumb things ex. “see animals shouldn’t live under ground,” “lizards shouldn’t have to lick their eyes,” “muppet is short for man-puppet,” “mayo is food lube,” and “if god’s ever been mad at anything I’ve said, he hasn’t done shit about it.”

Jacob’s abilities would be: a. Becoming physically stronger the angrier he gets, or somebody gets at him b. The ability to create and control lightning c. The ability to pacify or remove the anger from somebody d. The ability to make people fear him or e. turn against their own allies.

——————————————————————————————————

Karina, Dersite Knight of Heart:

A Knight is a person who precisely uses and exploits their aspect as a weapon or a tool.

Heart is the aspect of emotion, passion, and identity.

As a Knight of Heart Karina uses feelings as a weapon. Not only does Karina use her powers to literally use the emotions of her characters (see Schmidt and Nando) as a tool to effect others, but she also has deep passions like Neopets, Digimon, and Yugioh that she uses as a weapon to torment the Drawfee crew.

Karina is passionate about her identity, never missing a chance to mention any of her favorite things like Beelzemon, Seto Kaiba, catboys, or her Texan roots (Bucky’s).

Karina would have honed impulses, knowing when and where to act and how to do (or draw) something challenging. She also has the ability to hype up her friends, strengthening their resolve.

Karina’s abilities would be: a. She can create a powerful glowing weapon by materializing her soul b. She could find out the weaknesses, emotions, and insecurities of enemies c. She could split into multiple versions of herself to create a veritable army of clones, and d. Enter a soul form where she is basically impervious to most attacks.

——————————————————————————————————

David, Dersite Maid of Time:

A Maid is a person who heals and regenerates their aspect or with their aspect.

Time is the aspect of machines, music, and endings.

As a Maid of Time David heals time; more often then not time is not an abstract thing, and the responsibility of time players is to keep the timelines in order and fix paradoxes.

David, as the chief editor for Drawfee is responsible for taking whatever dumb shit the crew gives them and edit it to make the video palatable.

David is also interested in theater (see “Artists Draw Posters for Musicals (They've Never Seen)” one of the only episodes in which they appear) which is related to time through music.

An interesting thing to note about Time is that it is often equated with heat, fire, and lava, something David has experience with, revealed in the episode “Drawing What We're Thankful For In 2019” in which Nathan depicts David with an overheating external drive (something that is also mechanical).

David could: a. Essentially freeze time, making moments last for hours b. Heal paradoxes in the time line c. Fix events so they go favorably, or d. Speed up time to heal a wound

——————————————————————————————————

Tristan, Prospitian Mage of Light:

A Mage is a person who understands their aspect by experiencing it.

Light is the aspect of fortune, luck, relevance, and knowledge.

As a Mage of Light Tristan has an innate and personal understanding of lore; Tristan, through his interactions with pop culture, knows a lot about said things.

Mages often experience their aspect in a negative way, seen in the frequent possession of Tristan by the Lore Librarian, and his burden of knowledge about absurd and obscure facts about nerd media.

Tristan is one of the only people on the crew who understands how the game works and what the final boss’s deal is, but you know he’s going to be cryptic and vague about it because it’s funny. Tristan would have the uncanny ability to know what something is without having seen it before.

Tristans abilities are: a. Foresight, he can tell exactly when and where something will happen and manipulate them in his favor b. He can give people luck or take it away c. He can manipulate light and probably use it as a projectile, and d. Know exactly what has to be done at any moment.

——————————————————————————————————

Willie, Dersite Bard of Blood:

A Bard is a person who invites the destruction of or with their aspect

Blood is the aspect of bonds, stability, and unity.

As the Bard of Blood Willie actuates the severing of bonds and the dissolving of stability.

Willie is a change maker, he breaks down the stable and familiar structure of the established group dynamics in Drawfee often in an antagonistic way; Willie is well known for his hatred for Jacob, and his very presence elicits the rage in both of them.

Videos in which Willie appears are marked by hostility, but through him new and interesting things get made.

Being a bard isn’t all bad, Bards of blood are not one sided; A bard of blood has the ability to destroy using the bonds they have, uniting a group of people under a cause to destroy something, like rallying the crew against Jacob.

Willie, like a lot of the crew, has a lot of buffing abilities; utilizing his bonds he can make others more powerful and fight harder than they could otherwise.

Willie’s abilities are: a. Control of literal blood b. Group sync, he acts as a conduit through which the coordination and damage output increases, and c. Dismantle, he can break the bonds of atoms and make physical matter crumble away.

#Drawfee #Classpecting #I think I made it clear in the preface that this isn't meant to be mean spirited #and I tried to make it as inoffensive as possible #but if a member of the crew or one of their mods asks me to take it down i will #in the true drawfee way #I'm sorry

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atomic-taco-muffin · 3 years ago

Note

Can you make a part 11 to the “MHA x Fem!Reader: Kingdom Hearts”

Kingdom Hearts Part 12

Warnings: Angst

Rating: SFW

Before I start this, here is your hero costume:

Now onto the series!

You and the others stepped onto a barren, windswept land.

“It’s time. The Keyblade Graveyard is up ahead,” Mickey said. You all nodded, directing your eyes toward your destination.

“Someone’s coming,” Sora said softly.

Beyond a cloud of dust, Master Xehanort approached you all across the wasteland, his pace calm and unhurried.

“You were right, dunce face. He is gross,” Bakugou whispered.

“Right?!”

“I can feel him staring into my soul. That’s so no manly,” Kirishima whispered.

Xehanort stopped before you all and began to speak.

“Legend has it that darkness once covered the world. We know so little about the Keyblade War--only that it was just the beginning. If ruin brings about creation, what, then, would another Keyblade War bring? When the darkness falls, will we be found worthy of the precious light the legend speaks of?” he said. Ansem appeared beside Xehanort.

“Who’s that?” Mina asked Denki.

“Ansem Seeker of Darkness. Xehanort’s Heartless,” Denki replied.

“Or will all of creation be instead returned to shadows? Today, we will re-create the legend and see,” Ansem said.

Next, Xemnas stepped forward, taking his place on the other side of Xehanort.

“That’s Xemnas. Xehanort’s Nobody,” Denki whispered.

“But first...Your light shines far too brightly. It must be extinguished in order for the truth to be seen,” Xemnas said. Vanitas appeared in front of the previous three.

“That’s Vanitas. The dark part of Ventus’s heart,” Denki whispered.

“Only when your hopes have been broken by battle upon battle can the key be claimed to Kingdom Hearts,” Vanitas said.

“And break you is what we shall do,” Y!Xehanort said, who had appeared next to Vanitas. “It has been etched.”

“That’s Xehanort younger self. You can totally see where things went wrong,” Denki whispered.

“That’s his younger self?” Mina asked.

“Yep.”

Darkness flowed from the five villains and surrounded the whole area, blocking out the sky itself. The cloud opened, and countless Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed began raining down upon you all.

“Look at how many there are!” you said.

“Okay, everyone, get ready!” Izuku said as the number of Heartless grew and grew.

“Remember! The Nobodies can only be defeated by a Keyblade!” Sora said.

“Got it!” you and Class 1-A said.

The number of creatures surrounding you all was fast growing into a near-endless horde. After managing to clear out the Heartless in your immediate vicinity, you and the others paused to catch your breath.

“Is everybody okay?” you asked as you surveyed the team. When you saw that they were, you relaxed somewhat with relief.

“C’mon, let’s go,” Sora called out. But just as you all were about to get moving, yet another figure appeared in the distance. Ventus was the first one to notice.

“Terra!” he shouted, running off before you all could get a word in.

Aqua started after him, calling his name with a hint of apprehension. Ventus was unaware that Terra’s body was under Xehanort’s control.

“Terra! We found you!” Ventus exclaimed as he took his friend’s hand (protect this baby, okay? he deserves the world!).

“Terra, please say you’re in there,” Aqua pleaded in a rather more cautious voice.

“That’s not him, is it?” Sero asked Denki, who shook his head in response.

Instead of replying, Terra observed Aqua quietly. His blue eyes seemed to stare right through her, and she placed a hand on Ventus’s shoulder to draw him away.

“What gives, Aqua?” Ven asked.

“I know that you’re not him,” she said as she placed herself before Ventus protectively. “Now, let our friend go!”

That was when Terra’s hair turned white, and his blue eyes turned to gold.

“He is their thirteenth,” Mickey said softly.

“Great. More Xehanort’s,” Bakugou said.

“Hey! Now you’re catching on!” Denki said.

“Shut up, dunce face!”

“Today is the day you all lose,” Terranort quietly told you all.

“What?!” Aqua cried. A dark fog began to congeal behind Terranort.

“Before you even face the thirteen, every last one of you will be torn heart from body. But fear not. The χ-Blade will still be forged,” Terranort said.

He called his Keyblade to his hand. Beyond the dark fog, atop of the cliffs looming above the wasteland, countless Keyblades stood thrust into the terrain like grave markers.

“We’re not gonna lose to you,” you said.

With a smirk at your challenge, Terranort launched himself at Ventus, closing the distance in a single moment, and dealt the boy with a devastating blow with his Keyblade. Ventus was sent flying and crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust.

“Ven!” Aqua gasped.

“That’s it!” Bakugou and Sora shouted as they charged at their foe. But Terranort caught Sora’s strike on his Keyblade and sent him sprawling on the dirt as well while he kicked Bakugou out of the way.

“Kacchan!” Izuku shouted.

“I’m fine, Deku,” Bakugou said.

Terranort next set his sights for Kairi, lunging for her. Axel threw himself in front of her, but he, too, ended upcast to one side.

“Axel!” Kairi cried.

Terranort held his Keyblade over Kairi’s head, poised to strike. Scrambling to his feet, Sora rushed over and threw his arms around her protectively, you doing the same thing to Sora.

“(Y/N)!” Class 1-A shouted.

“No! Sora!” Mickey shouted as Donald and Goofy rushed past him to either side.

Goofy’s shield found its way in front of Terranort’s Keyblade just before it could connect with you and Sora. The clash sent both of them staggering back, while Donald poured his magic into a spell so powerful it created glowing emblems on the ground beneath him.

“Zettaflare!” he shouted.

A tremendous beam of light shot from Donald’s staff straight into Terranort, cascading over him and blasting him away. Utterly exhausted, Donald collapsed, and Goofy and Mickey hurried over to him. You rushed over to help Donald while Aqua checked on Ventus, Riku and Kairi went to aid Axel, and Deku rushed over to Bakugou.

“I said I’m fine, damn nerd!” Bakugou shouted.

“This can’t be real,” Sora whispered. After healing Donald, you rushed over to Axel and did the same thing you did to Donald. You were all completely out of your depth. Sora could hardly believe what he’d just seen; Terranort had taken down four of them with almost no effort at all. And another dark whirlpool was growing beyond his fallen friends, releasing another wave of Heartless. Riku ran over to Sora and took him by the shoulder.

“Pull it together, Sora! We haven’t lost them. They still have their hearts. But we have to protect them,” he said.

“Right!” Sora agreed with a nod. The stream of countless Heartless in front of you all swirled upward into a vortex.

“We stand together,” Aqua said as she came to join Sora and Riku, Keyblade in hand.

“Go beyond!” Izuku said.

“PLUS ULTRA!” you and Class 1-A said. Aqua looked back at the king.

“Mickey, Kairi, Goofy, watch the others,” she said.

“No, we should all get to safety while we still can,” the king pleaded from where he knelt beside Donald.

“It’s too late for that,” Todoroki replied as he watched the storm build in the sky.

Masses of Heartless wove through the ravines, congealing into a colossal river that rushed straight at you all. The legion of Heartless--the Demon Tide--was so enormous you all could hardly understand what you were all-seeing. This was nothing like anything you all had seen in the Realm of Darkness and back at U.A. You all looked on in stunned amazement as the Demon Tide reared into the sky like a whirlwind.

“Denki, what the hell is that?” Mineta asked.

“It’s called the Demon Tide,” Denki replied.

“It can’t be...No...” The memories from Aqua’s time in the darkness were rising in her mind. The nightmarish Heartless that came back, again and again, no matter how many times she struck them down...had been just like this.

Perhaps sensing this sudden weakness in her mind, the storm of Heartless swept over her.

“Aqua!” Riku shouted. He watched as the Demon Tide swallowed up Class 1-A. Mickey, Goofy, Donald, and the rest in one fell swoop. You and Kairi knelt, protecting Axel, but were quickly carried away, too.

Yours and Kairi’s hands reached Sora’s--but your fingers passed through empty air. As the strength left Sora’s body, his Keyblade slipped from his grasp and vanished. Sora dropped to his knees and screamed, falling forward onto his hands in the dust.

“Sora!” Riku hurried over to his friend.

“They’re gone. Kairi, Donald...Goofy, the king...I just lost (Y/N) for the second time...Gone forever.” Sora raised his head slowly, eyes brimming with tears. “What do we do? Without them...I...All my strength came from them. They gave me all of it. Alone, I’m worthless. We’ve lost...it’s over.”

Riku considered comforting Sora with a hand on the shoulder, but he chose to get to his feet instead.

“Sora, you don’t believe that. I know you don’t,” he assured him, then walked toward the Demon Tide to face it himself.

As Sora watched, the Heartless attacked, and Riku took the full brunt of it head-on. The flood of Heartless split in two against Riku��s Keyblade, streaming out around them to either side. But not even that was enough--eventually, the darkness swallowed him, too. Sora gasped--and then the world went black.

And so, as foretold, the darkness prevailed, and light expired...

#bnha #bnha imagines #bnha x reader #mha imagines #mha x reader #mha imagine #mha #bnha imagine #kingdom hearts #kingdomhearts #kingdom hearts imagine #kingdom hearts imagines #kingdom hearts x reader #kingdomhearts x reader #kingdomhearts imagines

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bladekindeyewear · 4 years ago

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HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2020-10-31

THE SPOOKTOBER SPOOKD8 IS HERE! Time to blog it and hope to the lord of bones that it heavily features the 12-foot Home Depot Skeleton! Continuing from last time.

Will John remember that he should be off protecting the other kids from running off? Or will he search for Vrissy finally, now that he’s spent a literal DAY staring at his house burning down?

> (==>)

This is the last Blood tie with your childhood and the past you were clinging to like a man-child, finally cut. Your psyche is no longer allowed to be....

....Housetrapped.

Now get your Breathy ass over to your more adult responsibilities. Or do something as irresponsible as usual, but more forward focused and thus singularly impressive.

> (==>)

I LITERALLY GASPED

I knew I was a fatally addicted Homestuck fanboy despite the trauma but I didn’t know I was THAT much of a just-over-thirty-year-old fanboy, I literally GASPED out loud. To finally have the joy and confidence for the future that comes with JOHN and KARKAT together IN PERSON and interacting with a common goal.

What a dramatic, perfect shot. This IS Karkat right? That’s what the visuals and my heart and soul said

> (==>)

THEY’RE CLOSE FRIENDS

CLOSE ENOUGH FOR THAT

KARKAT HAS COME SO FAR

Karkat and John conversations are some of the strongest in Homestuck, I ship them as FRIENDS so hard

It brings to mind something I mentioned in the Breath, Blood, and the Flow of Reality explanation/theorypost, which was holy shit SEVEN YEARS AGO wow

I didn’t always understand the appeal of John as a character, ranking him in the middle of my liked characters list. But after a while, I suddenly noticed how enjoyable he was for the things his conversations did to others, making his pesterlogs some of the most enjoyable to read. I wrote the following two years ago, in a character rankings thread, back when we knew jack shit about the import of classes and roles:

“I didn’t really see why I should think John was such an amazing character until I realized his consistent effect on the other party. He’s goofy and doesn’t really understand anything, but he understands just enough about his friends and others to make cutting, hilarious, almost unintentional insights that can change people for the better, even if he’s off the mark. It’s not what he says himself, but what he brings about in others that makes him so great to read. I mean, if you wall him off from everyone else… he kind of fails.

That’s why I take issue with the complaint of protagonist syndrome, here. John is very little by himself, but enhances all the characters around him immensely. Imagine if John were doomed to stay the least powerful and/or game-advancing of the kids and trolls combined; notice how little that would do to the story, or his beneficial role in it.”

John cut himself off from EVERYONE for YEARS in the Candy timeline. He tried to be close to people and just ended up distancing himself from it. He tried to keep himself tied down by his old home and memories of the version of Dad he lost, and all sorts of childish stuff. But that tie is cut, and the bonds he’s forged need to be grasped to bring him out to exercise his maturity, because Breath is futile without real BLOOD.

> (==>)

Awesome shot.

KARKAT: ROUGH DAY, HUH.

youtube

(that was supposed to skip to 2:26 when you click but I couldnt embed it that way -- I haven’t metal geared i just seen clips and super best friends & know some memes)

So many scars. I used to even ship Jane and Karkat a little so they could just be aghast together at everyone’s shenanigans and level criticism at them together, but to think Jane’s fought and hurt Karkat THIS much...

(And yeah, his blood color is shown through his eyes now at this age, that’s correct.)

> (==>)

Oh my fucking god, going from that to Sprite mode that abruptly. XD

This is great.

JOHN: karkat? JOHN: what are you doing here? KARKAT: IT'S NICE TO SEE YOU TOO.

Hah, SO close that Karkat’s immediately critical of NOT being greeted warmly. :)

JOHN: this isn't a battlefield, it's just... KARKAT: THE OBLITERATED, SMOLDERING HUSK OF YOUR FORMER HOME. JOHN: well, yeah. KARKAT: WHICH WAS DESTROYED AS COLLATERAL IN AN ONGOING MILITARY CONFLICT. JOHN: oh all right, fine. JOHN: it just feels weird to call it that. JOHN: i guess i'm used to thinking of home as somewhere far away from all that war stuff.

Yeah John, the burning down from a bomb that was meant for you and ALL of your friends’ children is supposed to shatter you out of that illusion.

I’d continue criticizing, but Karkat’s about to do it for me:

KARKAT: JESUS *CHRIST* JOHN. KARKAT: I CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO LIST ALL THE WAYS IN WHICH THAT CONSTITUTES A SHORT-SIGHTED AND PUKE-WORTHILY IGNORANT THING TO SAY TO ME, PERSONALLY. KARKAT: AND FRANKLY I DON'T HAVE TIME TO BOTHER, THANKS TO THE COUNTLESS FIRES I HAVE BEEN PUTTING OUT ALL DAY, THE ONE PRESENTLY CONSUMING YOUR HIVE NOTWITHSTANDING. KARKAT: YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD HAVE MADE THINGS GO A BIT MORE SMOOTHLY? JUST A FRACTION? KARKAT: IF YOU HADN'T JUST DECIDED TO WANDER OFF THE INSTANT SHIT STARTED HAPPENING. JOHN: jeez, i'm sorry karkat. JOHN: i had no idea how much time had passed. JOHN: i must have gotten a bit distracted by my house being blown up.

A BIT DISTRACTED. You empty-headed irresponsible guardian.

KARKAT: NOT WANTING TO POINT OUT THE OBVIOUS, BUT I FEEL LIKE THIS WAS A PROBLEM THAT YOU OF ALL PEOPLE WERE UNIQUELY AND MAGICALLY EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH. JOHN: huh? KARKAT: YOU KNOW. KARKAT: WITH YOUR SHOOSH THING. JOHN: my shoosh thing. KARKAT: YOUR SHOOSH THING. KARKAT: THE GUSTY NONSENSE? THE GIFT OF GAS?? KARKAT: YOUR SBURB ALLOCATED BLOW JOB??? JOHN: uh. KARKAT: THE SUPERNATURAL COMMUNION YOU HAVE WITH ALL THINGS WINDY, YOU ASS!! JOHN: oh right, that. JOHN: that would have let me put the fire out, maybe. JOHN: i don't think there's anything in my skillset that would have unexploded my house though. KARKAT: THAT'S FAIR.

Mhmm. Many of the characters in Candy AND Meat are currently in a situation where due to either years of unpractice in a worshipful society that discourages it by fueling their insecurities or inability to due to confinement in a years-long space trip has caused them to AVOID using their powers for the main beginning stretch of our new story. People have complained about them outright “forgetting” to use their powers, and they’re right, to an extent, but it’s story-justified. They’re almost all physically or psychologically prevented from doing so! But those walls are coming down, starting now. They’re going to come back into their own. And we’re bound to see a LOT MORE of these literal Gods using their abilities to shape the fabric of reality as the story progresses.

JOHN: i suppose i'll add one more notch to the daily tally of crazy stuff that happened which i just have to accept as my life now.

It was all already happening, you just refused TO accept it until now.

JOHN: so... JOHN: what else happened while i was caught up watching the symbolic representation of my former life get consumed in a giant fire ball? KARKAT: OH BOY. WHERE TO START. KARKAT: SO FIRST OFF, IN HINDSIGHT, TODAY WAS PRETTY OBVIOUSLY JUST ONE HUGE BAITED TRAP. KARKAT: I SAY "IN HINDSIGHT", BUT FORTUNATELY IT WAS ALSO EXTREMELY APPARENT EVEN IN FORESIGHT TO THOSE OF US WHO SPENT A FEW SECONDS THINKING ABOUT IT. JOHN: ...right. KARKAT: OH COME ON EGBERT, SERIOUSLY? KARKAT: KIDNAPPING A PERSON OF IMPORTANCE, ONLY TO LET US KNOW PRECISELY WHERE AND ON WHAT OCCASION THEY WOULD BE MOST ACCESSIBLE FOR A RESCUE ATTEMPT? KARKAT: HAVING THAT OCCASION BE NONE OTHER THAN THE CORPSE PARTY OF A HIGHLY NOTEWORTHY POLITICAL FIGURE, WHOSE CASKET MIGHT AS WELL HAVE HAD A GIANT "KICK ME" SIGN DAUBED ON IT? KARKAT: THERE WAS BASICALLY NO WAY IT WASN'T A FRONT FOR SOMETHING HUGE. AND IT WAS! KARKAT: WE HAPPEN TO BE SITTING IN FRONT OF ONE FACET OF THAT HUGENESS AT THIS VERY MOMENT.

Wait. Oh, God.

Someone brought up the possibility that Gamzee might still be revivable by Jane, and I speculated that she’s deliberately CHOOSING not to because she actually doesn’t like him that much or has some semblance of fucking sense left in her.

But what if she PLANNED to have a public funeral for him, and then revive him SOON AFTER to turn him into a Christ-like resurrecting figure? D:

JOHN: well, when you put it like that... JOHN: i guess we all got pranked pretty hard, huh. KARKAT: THIS IS NO TIME FOR YOUR SHITTY NERD PRANKS JOHN. KARKAT: FRANKLY I'M INSULTED THAT YOU THINK SUCH A WORD IS EVEN REMOTELY APPOSITE TO THE PRESENT SITUATION. KARKAT: OTHER THAN TO DESCRIBE THE WAY I AM PERSONALLY BEING "PRANKED" BY REALITY IN HAVING TO EXPLAIN ALL THIS TO YOU.

Pretty much. Get serious, John, actual people are dying by the--

--oh right, he was like this through the apocalypse and death of everyone on Earth.

I guess this is in character. Paradox Space made sure to choose someone empty-headed and disconnected from reality enough to withstand this shit easily. He really is a Breath player.

KARKAT: IT TURNS OUT THAT WE DIDN'T NEED TO PUT SO MUCH EFFORT INTO THE RESCUING YIFFY PART OF THE OPERATION. KARKAT: SHE BASICALLY RESCUED HERSELF WHEN ALL WAS SAID AND DONE. KARKAT: AND TOOK CARE OF KICKING GAMZEE'S CORPSEBOX OVER WHILE SHE WAS AT IT, IN A STUNNING DISPLAY OF EFFICIENCY WHICH THE REST OF US CAN ONLY ASPIRE TO.

Excellent, yeah.

JOHN: it sounds like she'd be a pretty welcome addition to your ranks then. KARKAT: SHE'S A CHILD, YOU MORON.

Yeah, you’re fucking grown up now, John. Stop thinking of the kids as the ones who have to rise up when the adults aren’t all doomed or dead.

KARKAT: THE VRISKAS, PLURAL. JOHN: shit. KARKAT: THEY'VE BOTH BEEN CAPTURED. JOHN: shiiiiiiiit. KARKAT: YEAH. KARKAT: GREAT WORK KEEPING AN EYE ON THEM, BY THE WAY! KARKAT: YOU LITERALLY HAD ONLY ONE JOB, AND YOU MESSED IT UP IN THE EQUALLY SINGULAR WAY IT WAS POSSIBLE TO DO. JOHN: urgh, i know, i know. ):

At least he messed that part up while he was TRYING to watch them, and not when he wandered off and watched his house burn for a whole day instead of protecting the remaining kids.

KARKAT: JANE'S PLAN FOR THIS CONFLICT HAS THUS FAR CONSISTED ALMOST ENTIRELY OF KIDNAPPING VARIOUS HIGH PROFILE CHILDREN. KARKAT: IT'S BIZARRE. KARKAT: AS THOUGH WE ARE FIGHTING A WAR OF ATTRITION, WHERE THE MAIN RESOURCE BEING UTILIZED IS THE OFFSPRING OF THE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE ON THE PLANET. KARKAT: IF IT WASN'T ONE OF THE CORE TENETS OF HER FASCISTIC PHILOSOPHY, I'D BE TEMPTED TO SAY THAT CURBING REPRODUCTION MIGHT HAVE BEEN A GOOD IDEA, IF ONLY TO PREVENT THIS KIND OF FUCKSHIT NONSENSE FROM HAPPENING.

Leave it to Karkat to point out the blatant absurdity of Homestuck’s nonsense in any given situation.

JOHN: wait. JOHN: wait a minute. JOHN: you said that both vriskas have been captured, right? KARKAT: EXCUSE ME WHILE I WEEP FOR JOY AT THE REVELATION THAT YOU HAVE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION FOR ONCE. JOHN: okay, well putting that emotional outburst aside for a moment. JOHN: how is that even possible? JOHN: doesn't vriska, the original vriska, still have her magic alien mind control powers? JOHN: it seems like it should be basically impossible for anyone to kidnap her. KARKAT: YOU'VE STUMBLED ASS BACKWARDS ACROSS THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT OF THIS UNFORTUNATE DEVELOPMENT.

...Is Karkat going to put two and two together and realize that Vriska must have been intentionally captured of her own free will for some sort of ploy?

KARKAT: YOU ARE CORRECT, IN THAT WITH HER CASTE-TYPICAL, *COMPLETELY SCIENTIFIC AND NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT MAGICAL* PSYCHOMANIPULATIVE ABILITIES, STAYING OUT OF CROCKER'S REACH SHOULD HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY TRIVIAL FOR SERKET PRIME. KARKAT: EVEN ACCOUNTING FOR THE FACT THAT SAID ABILITIES ARE NOT NEARLY AS POTENT ON HUMANS AS THEY ARE ON FELLOW TROLLS, THEY STILL OUGHT TO HAVE TIPPED ANY ALTERCATION SQUARELY IN HER FAVOR. KARKAT: BUT SOMEHOW, IT DIDN'T! KARKAT: INSTEAD, THINGS APPEAR TO HAVE GONE GLOBES UP IN CLASSIC VRISKITE FASHION, AND NOW ONE OF THE MOST UNEXPECTED AND UNWANTED BUT NEVERTHELESS USEFUL WEAPONS IN OUR ARSENAL IS DOING TIME IN CROCKERJAIL. KARKAT: THAT'S ABOUT ALL WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO GLEAN FROM TAPPING INTO THE BATTERBITCH AIRWAVES, WHICH IS A FANCY TERM FOR EAVESDROPPING ON THOSE OF HER AGENTS WHO TALK A LITTLE TOO LOUDLY IN SEMI-PUBLIC SPACES. JOHN: jeez. JOHN: i really screwed that up, didn't i.

Guh. I guess Karkat is underestimating Vriska a bit or just assuming the worst out of a habit of assuming the worst of everything. (Or, if he has his suspicions, he’s not telling John.)

KARKAT: HAVING SAID ALL OF THAT, AND WITH THE RECOGNITION THAT I AM CHOOSING TO NURSE YOUR BRUISED FEELINGS DURING A PLANET WIDE CONFLICT FOR THE FATE OF MY SPECIES, KARKAT: IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO TO EXPEDITE YOUR GETTING THE FUCK OVER IT? JOHN: i... hm.

Yeah, use your shoosh-paps from Karkat wisely, John. You needed them.

JOHN: i don't really know? JOHN: this all feels wrong, karkat. JOHN: no offense, but when you're around, it's usually a lot... KARKAT: A LOT WHAT? JOHN: a lot funnier. KARKAT: FUNNIER. JOHN: how to put this. JOHN: normally listening to you go on and on about how much we've fucked everything up is just very funny! JOHN: but now it's just not the same. JOHN: maybe it's part of what's going on with this entire reality? i don't know. JOHN: once upon a time i would have put down your ability to pull a silly rant out of your butt as a fundamental law of physics or something. JOHN: remember back when we first knew each other? JOHN: it felt like all you ever said to me was how much you thought i was screwing up and being a useless asshole. JOHN: and once i realized that you were also just a dumb kid who didn't know what was going on, i started to kind of enjoy it. JOHN: but now it's like... the only one who's still a dumb kid is me, and everyone else has something big and important going on that i just don't understand.

Mhmm, Karkat has every reason to be mad. And everything really, REALLY close to you that you care about is in danger from the very things he’s mad about. Karkat is RIGHT for once with every angry seemingly-exaggerated-but-not word, and that’s throwing you.

JOHN: i thought that i finally got what was going on with this whole war and everything. i wanted to be useful! JOHN: i guess i got a little too wrapped up in the feeling of something finally happening again. JOHN: and then watching it all blow up in my face, kind of literally now that i think about it...

...you think maybe something that happens to be A WAR is actually a big farking deal that you should be serious about??

JOHN: it's hard not to feel even more dejected about the situation than i was before. JOHN: and now even the patented karkat vant rant has lost all its sparkle.

IT’S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FUN.

JOHN: maybe if you had like, painstakingly itemized a list of all the things wrong with my plan in a comically overdone fashion or something. KARKAT: I CONSIDERED IT, BUT HONESTLY THERE WAS SO MUCH WRONG THAT I CONCLUDED THAT THE BEST THING FOR EVERYONE WOULD BE TO NEVER SPEAK OF IT AGAIN. JOHN: oh. okay.

Heheh.

KARKAT: IF WE'RE BEING HONEST, YOU DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A PLAN, JOHN. KARKAT: CALLING IT A PLAN WOULD IMPLY THAT IT WAS A STRUCTURED SEQUENCE OF STEPS DESIGNED TO ACHIEVE A GOAL. KARKAT: WHAT YOU CAME UP WITH WAS A CONVOLUTED MESS WHICH STILL SOMEHOW INVOLVED DOING FUCKALL. KARKAT: AND I USE CONVOLUTED HERE IN THE SAME WAY THAT I WOULD TO DESCRIBE THE FRENZIED DRAWSTICK SCRIBBLES OF A SQUALLING HUMAN INFANT.

All Breath and no Blood? All concept and influence and ephemeral accomplishments and no physical impact or results?

Karkat has been fighting this whole time with physical results in mind. He NEEDS to tie that ephemeral shit down, and once added to his plan, once Breath sweeps the tide of actual sentiment of people, inspires them, you have an actual victory in reach instead of just more attrition.

KARKAT: I APPRECIATE THAT YOU SEEM TO HAVE DUG YOUR PAN OUT OF YOUR OWN CHUTE THE FEW MICROMETERS NECESSARY TO NOTICE THE PRECISE DEGREE TO WHICH THE WORLD IS BEING JUDICIOUSLY BATFUCKED RIGHT NOW.

Really need to dig yourself out more than that, John, yeah.

KARKAT: AS HARD AS IT IS TO BELIEVE, THAT'S A FEAT WHICH NO SMALL NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE COMPLETELY INCAPABLE OF DOING!

(Which is why your plan of attack needs more Breath!)

KARKAT: BUT NOTICING THE PROBLEM AND MAKING MEANINGFUL PROGRESS TOWARDS SOLVING IT ARE TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS. KARKAT: THE NEXT TIME YOU GET THE IMPULSE TO "LEND A HAND", YOU'D BE BETTER OFF CANNING IT FOR FIVE MINUTES AND LISTENING TO THOSE OF US WHO'VE BEEN TRYING TO SOLVE IT A LOT LONGER THAN YOU HAVE. KARKAT: THIS ISN'T AN EXERCISE BEING CONDUCTED IN ORDER FOR YOU TO PROVE YOUR PERSONAL DEGREE OF MORAL RECTITUDE. KARKAT: AND IF IT WAS, YOU WOULD HAVE ALREADY FAILED MISERABLY! SO DO YOURSELF AND EVERYONE ELSE A FAVOR AND STOP TREATING IT LIKE ONE. JOHN: well... all right. if you say so karkat.

Phew. Let’s hope he takes Karkat’s gift of a worldbound, arms-in-the-dirt sense of responsibility (Blood) and runs with it.

KARKAT: I DO SAY SO, EMPHATICALLY AND AT GREAT VOLUME. KARKAT: AND NOW THAT MY OBLIGATION TO CATECHIZE YOU ON THE SUBJECT OF YOUR OWN LIFE IS FULFILLED, I HAVE A WAR TO GET BACK TO. JOHN: wait, hold on. KARKAT: OH MY GOD WHAT NOW.

--is it gonna be a hug?

> (==>)

JOHN. Put it together.

JOHN: you can't be leaving already. JOHN: there's... so much we still need to talk about!

No, not that!!

...well, yes, I’m all for more of you two talking but. This ain’t just about you two.

KARKAT: WHAT MORE COULD THERE POSSIBLY BE FOR US TO DISCUSS?? KARKAT: PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME YOU JUST HAD ANOTHER EMOTION THAT WE NEED TO DROP EVERYTHING IN ORDER TO DISSECT. JOHN: no, that's not what i'm talking about at all. JOHN: karkat, we still haven't spoken about *you*! KARKAT: ABOUT ME? JOHN: yes. KARKAT: ABOUT *ME*? JOHN: about you. KARKAT: WHAT THE FUCK ABOUT ME. JOHN: well... JOHN: you know, how you feel! KARKAT: HOW I FEEL. JOHN: or just... JOHN: argh, i don't know!

This was more of an intervention than a feelings jam, John. I’m not sure John’s in the condition right now to Breathily inspire Karkat somehow and help his war with an idea and drive he didn’t have before -- like he SHOULD eventually -- but I suppose we’re about to see.

JOHN: it's just been so long since we've seen each other. JOHN: all sorts of things have happened in that time, and it doesn't feel right to just not even mention any of it! KARKAT: LIKE WHAT?? JOHN: oh, i don't know karkat, literally anything! JOHN: i mean, look at you. JOHN: you are decked out in a tight body suit and have an eyepatch and everything. there is simply no way there isn't something to discuss there.

You talked with him plenty while NOT in person, though.

> (==>)

Such MOOD. What a good image.

JOHN: or like, forget the eyepatch, we don't have to talk about the eyepatch. JOHN: i feel as though my point still stands? JOHN: there is basically a bottomless well full of stuff to go through. JOHN: i mean we kind of glossed over it when you brought her up earlier, but what about yiffy? JOHN: this might not come across so easily due to human troll cultural boundaries, but her existing is kind of a big deal?? JOHN: i feel like somehow i missed the part where we all sit around and talk about how strange it is that two of our friends went off and had a secret child without any of us knowing! JOHN: is it too much to ask that we have that part now, karkat?

That’s fair. And they DO need to talk about it! But this is sort of like in the Game -- there’s important shit to do, and not a whole lot of time to do it. You’re going to do a lot of talking, but you won’t be able to do all you want with certain people separated from you by the circumstances of how this war is dividing your responsibilities.

JOHN: i mean, maybe it just doesn't mean that much to you. KARKAT: JOHN. JOHN: which is a little strange, given that it ties in to the whole conflict that you had with jade and dave. JOHN: oh god we have to talk about dave. KARKAT: JOHN. KARKAT: FUCKING HELL! KARKAT: I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT DAVE. JOHN: no, this is what i mean, karkat. JOHN: we need to talk about dave! KARKAT: HAHA! LIKE SHIT WE DO!! KARKAT: I HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE HOW THIS IS EVEN A RELEVANT TOPIC OF CONVERSATION. JOHN: oh come on. JOHN: there's no way you aren't feeling kind of messed up about him, right?

THIS is fair. Karkat does need to talk about this with somebody. Whether John is the right somebody... I guess he is where Dave is concerned. And he has to talk to Jade eventually, too.

JOHN: i know i am. JOHN: whenever i think about how things ended between you two... JOHN: especially now that he's... JOHN: ugh, i'm sorry. i'm SO sorry karkat. sorry doesn't even begin to cover it. JOHN: this whole thing feels so impossibly sad. JOHN: all i'm trying to say is... JOHN: it's not healthy to bottle these feelings up and not acknowledge them. JOHN: even if you aren't feeling anything right now, and i don't for a moment believe that's true, *i* need to talk about dave! JOHN: so can we please just talk about dave for a moment. KARKAT: NNNNGNGNGGGGGGGUUUUUUGUUGHHHHHHHH FINE.

It’s difficult to live in a Daveless world.

KARKAT: IF IT WILL GET YOU TO SHUT UP ABOUT THIS TOPIC FOR EVEN A BRIEF MOMENT, THEN FINE. KARKAT: REGARDLESS OF HOW POINTLESS AN EXERCISE I CONSIDER IT TO BE, I WILL DISCUSS WITH YOU MY "FEELINGS" ABOUT DAVE. JOHN: okay. JOHN: thank you. KARKAT: ARE YOU PREPARED TO BE INUNDATED WITH NONE OTHER THAN AN UNINTERRUPTED SPATE OF HARD, UNEMBELLISHED DATA VIS A VIS MY SWEEPS-SUPPRESSED, BISCUITFELT EMOTIONS ON THE DAVE SITUATION?? KARKAT: WELL HERE GOES.

--it’s not gonna be short, or cut away, is it? --actually it could just switch to a very sad sunset-like vista of the two sitting there, and one poignant line from him followed by a long, hanging pause.

> (==>)

KARKAT: *DEEP BREATH*

A giant expletive isn’t it.

The best sendoff you could give him.

> (==>)

Holy shit. It really IS a rant!

KARKAT: YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW I REALLY FEEL ABOUT DAVE? KARKAT: HOW I FEEL IS THAT I WISH THAT EVERYONE WOULD STOP FUCKING BOTHERING ME ABOUT HIM!!! KARKAT: ALRIGHT, SO HE AND JADE GOT HUMAN MARRIED!! BIG DEAL!!! KARKAT: DO PEOPLE FORGET THAT I WAS THERE?? I FEEL LIKE EVERYONE IS FORGETTING THAT I WAS LITERALLY INVITED TO THE OCCASION. KARKAT: I'VE EVEN COME TO EXPECT THIS KIND OF AMNESIAC BEHAVIOR FROM EVERYONE ELSE, SINCE I ADMIT THAT I DIDN'T EXACTLY STICK AROUND OR ACTUALLY SHOW MY FACE FOR MOST OF THE ORDEAL, BUT YOU EGBERT SHOULD HAVE NO FUCKING EXCUSE! JOHN: wait, karkat, that's not what i KARKAT: SO YEAH! THAT WHOLE THING HAPPENED, AND I CAME TO TERMS WITH WHATEVER THERE WAS TO COME TO TERMS WITH, WHICH WAS FUCKING *NOTHING*, AND THEN I GOT ON WITH THE ACTUAL IMPORTANT BUSINESS OF TRYING TO PREVENT THE WORLD FROM CRUMBLING! KARKAT: WHICH, NOW THAT WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT, IS *STILL FUCKING HAPPENING*! KARKAT: I AM UTTERLY APPALLED THAT THIS IS AN INFO MORSEL I KEEP HAVING TO SPOONFEED DOWN YOUR WINDCHUTE EVERY FIVE SECONDS, JOHN, I REALLY AM. KARKAT: I MEAN HOLY SHIT, NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR THIS! KARKAT: AND ONE THING I CAN SAY WITH ABSOLUTE IRONCLAD CERTAINTY IS THAT IF DAVE WERE HERE, HE WOULD SAY THE SAME THING!!

Okay he dealt with it by keeping his hands in the dirt working on hard-fighting responsibilities, yeah, as a Blood player might. But the way he’s ranting about it seems a little-

KARKAT: SPEAKING OF WHICH, WHERE *IS* DAVE?? JOHN: um. KARKAT: I FEEL LIKE IF ANYONE COULD HAVE PREVENTED TODAY FROM DEVOLVING INTO A HEADLESS CLUSTERFUCK, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN... OKAY, MAYBE NOT HIM, BUT AT LEAST HE MIGHT HAVE HELPED DRAG YOU OUT OF YOUR DEPRESSIVE FUGUE A LITTLE SOONER! JOHN: (oh shit.)

Oh SHIT

> (==>)

Oh no... oh no, they’re BOTH about to let it out together.

They’re gonna have to cry it out. Finally, onscreen. THIS is why they weren’t showing us, why they were saving it. It felt so awkward at the time but it’s because it has to culminate in these two, some of the closest to Dave since CHILDHOOD, get to show us the effect on everyone in a microcosm.

KARKAT: NOT ONLY THAT, BUT MAYBE WITH BOTH OF US HERE WE COULD HAVE DISPENSED WITH THIS ENTIRE SORRY TOPIC ONCE AND FOR ALL, IF ONLY FOR YOUR BENEFIT! KARKAT: OH HI DAVE, JOHN SEEMS TO BE UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT THE UNSPOKEN HISTORY BETWEEN US IS OF SUFFICIENT IMPORT THAT WE NEED TO HASH IT OUT THIS VERY SECOND IN FRONT OF THE BLASTED REMAINS OF HIS HOME! KARKAT: yo karkat that does seem to be a strange thing for my best friend john to be concerned about given that he has spent the past five years wallowing in the depths of deepest divorce fever KARKAT: and especially since jade and i have meanwhile been working as part of your resistance with no complaints, but sure, we can brofist each other and arrange our limbs in an unambiguously platonic way KARKAT: a way which is also flawlessly calculated to communicate to everyone present that here are two guys who are totally and unequivocally over each other JOHN: (oh god. you don't...)

Talk about John’s comment about Karkat’s rants not being hilarious in a situation. THIS situation really tugs it out of them. :(

KARKAT: THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA DAVE, AND WITH THAT MAYBE THAT WAY WE CAN WASH OUR TOUCH STUMPS OF THIS WHOLE ORDEAL AND NEVER HAVE TO SPEAK OF IT AGAIN! KARKAT: WOULD YOU LIKE THAT, JOHN? KARKAT: WOULD THAT SATISFY YOUR CRAVING FOR CATHARSIS ON THE SUBJECT OF DAVE?? KARKAT: WELL WHY DON'T WE TRY IT THEN. KARKAT: IN FACT, WHY DON'T YOU CALL DAVE AND GET HIM OVER HERE RIGHT NOW! JOHN: (oh my god...)

> (==>)

These visuals are ON POINT. This entire sequence since Karkat showed up is masterfully done.

KARKAT: MAYBE WE SHOULD GET JADE TO COME AS WELL! JOHN: ): KARKAT: FUCK, WHY NOT INVITE FUCKING EVERYONE!!! KARKAT: WHY NOT PRESS "PAUSE" ON THE RACE WAR FOR A MOMENT AND HAVE ONE HUGE FEELINGS JAM LAWNMEAL WHERE WE ALL PUBLICLY EXPATIATE OUR VARIOUS CONVOLUTED EMOTIONS. KARKAT: FORGET PEACE TALKS, GET FUCKING *CROCKER* TO COME! KARKAT: MAYBE THE SIGHT OF A DAVEKAT RECONCILIATION IS THE SECRET KEY TO UNLOCKING THE PART OF HER BRAIN THAT STOPS HER FROM BEING A GENOCIDAL RACIST BITCH!!! KARKAT: HOW COULD WE HAVE POSSIBLY BEEN SO BLIND!!!!!! KARKAT: IF GAMZEE WASN'T DEAD, YOU COULD HAVE INVITED HIM AS WELL! KARKAT: HAHAHA, THAT'S OKAY, WE STILL HAVE A VERITABLE MENAGERIE OF PEOPLE WE KNOW WHO AREN'T DEAD. JOHN: ))))): KARKAT: ALL OF WHOM I AM SURE WILL BE SIMPLY DELIGHTED TO ATTEND WHAT WILL UNDOUBTEDLY BE THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT IN EARTH C'S BULLSHIT HISTORY. KARKAT: IF THIS IS WHAT IT TAKES, EGBERT, THEN I AM PREPARED TO DO IT! KARKAT: DON'T THINK THAT I WON'T!! KARKAT: IF JUST FOR AN *INSTANT* IT WILL GET EVERYONE OFF MY CASE ABOUT THIS, I WILL STAND UP WITH DAVE IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE ***FUCKING WORLD*** AND SOLEMNLY VOW THAT I DO NOT GIVE A SHIT!!!! JOHN: KARKAT!!!!

That last bit with John. I can HEAR the rawness in his voice as he shouts that last bit... he’s about to burst into tears. And Karkat is going to have to with him. And they’ll cry it out together, as they should.

> (==>)

JOHN: ugh, fuck, this is just too much! JOHN: i thought you KNEW! KARKAT: KNEW WHAT??? JOHN: dave's GONE, karkat! JOHN: he's... JOHN: he's dead.

Let’s see it happen.

> (==>)

Just body language, the blow of the words...

JOHN: i didn't mean for you to find out like this at all, i thought... JOHN: i mean, i only heard about it yesterday, but i was convinced someone would have told you already! JOHN: apparently one minute he was there, and the next... JOHN: none of us even know how it happened, and it doesn't make any sense that he's dead, but he is. JOHN: he is dead and he's not coming back. KARKAT: JOHN: talk to me karkat, please. JOHN: please talk to me karkat. KARKAT: KARKAT: HE...

Jade and Rose were on a different part of this battlefield, they didn’t have the ability, time, and/or heart to break the news--

> (==>)

KARKAT: HE DIDN'T EVEN SAY GOODBYE?

aaaaAAAA

What a fucking expression, wow.

And what a regret RoboDave has to have for abandoning everyone without so much as a farewell letter. To think that ditching them like that was IN his Ultimate Soul is going to eat away at him. He may be linked to all of his self of selves, but he’s still an individual with individual regrets.

This was a damned good update. See y’all next time.

(It may be the new meds I’m on, but between this and the thorough love I see put into the unofficial archive, I’m suddenly reminded that despite all the drama, I fucking LOVE Homestuck. Even its current incarnation.)

#Homestuck #hs2 #Homestuck Liveblog #upd8 #Homestuck^2 #spoiler #spoilers #John Egbert #Karkat #Dave Strider #Jane Crocker

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forged-through-trials · 4 years ago

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I had a package to deliver back in Skingrad, so I paid it one last visit before continuing further East. On the way back, guess who we ran into? M’aiq The Liar: “M’aiq wishes he had a stick made out of fishies to give to you. Sadly, he does not.” Trials: Realization dawned. “Like, I see what you’re saying. The ‘fishy-sticks’ are symbolic of the violence inherent in the system. It grinds down the worker just like the meat of delicious fish is ground down into an inedible stick.” M’aiq The Liar: “...” Trials: “And like a school of fishes rising from the deeps, we need to unite and rise up against the ruling class! Before they crush us into indigestible bricks of processed foodstuffs.” M’aiq The Liar: He was visibly confused. “...lady, I’m just a meme-guy!” Trials: “No, no, you’re right, it’s time for the revolution to begin! We’ll cast down the false-leaders of the empire, as I certainly didn’t vote for them! Dismantle White Gold Tower brick by brick! And when they asked who inspired this uprising, I’ll be sure to tell them it was ‘M’aiq The Liar’.” M’aiq The Liar: “Please don--” Trials: “And when they cut your head off and put your it on a pike, I will be there to salute you, sir, for your sacrif--” I look up to realize I’m speaking to a vaguely M’aiq-shaped dust cloud, as the real M’aiq had already raced down the road. Trials: “...huh. Poor guy. Couldn’t handle the burden of leading the revolution.” [ M’aiq Count: 6 ]

After a while of hiking, we spotted the dig-site in the distance. A few tents, surrounded by trees, on a small island just inside of the river that feeds Niben Bay. Ruin and I drew in closer, and inspected the site. Up close the place was a marvel to behold; the huge trilobite fossil in particular was quite eye-catching. Surely it’s... thousands of years old? Uh, how old is our world? Like, I don’t have the most extensive history background, but the First era was only about three-thousand years long, and the Second Era was only about nine-hundred, and now we’re in the Third Era, and we’re only up to the year 433... I don’t know for sure how long the Dawn and Merithic Eras were, but if the pattern holds true, they were only a few thousand years long at most. Is that even enough time for something to turn into a fossil? Besides the huge “fossil”, the other sight of note was this... cocoon in a tent, dripping some very pungent slime. The smell was enough to make one gag, and I really wondered how the Archie-Guild assistants could stand to be around it. Whatever this stuff is, the guildies seemed to be collecting it. I wonder whatever for? Well, now that we’re here, step one was to speak to the Assistants and see what they had to say.

Assistant Azim: “Don’t you just love field work? The fresh open air... the camping under the starry sky...?” Trials: “The burning smell of whatever that slime is corroding your nose.” Assistant Azim: “Now if you ask me, there’re two reasons why Tumyr is out in the sticks--” Trials: “Is one of them; ‘He’s ducking Teav’s flirtatious advances’?” Assistant Azim: “...okay, three reasons. “But also, because he is a congenital practical joker. One who happens to like pranking his boss, Rythor. Tumyr’s got something against stuffy desk-work, so he used a soul gem on Rythor’s library, which somehow got them to talk in their authors’ voices. He claimed that he’d intended to use it as a tool so that they could provide a sort of commentary to the texts, but what they actually did was to moan constantly about anything that had bothered them in life. Bad backs, pet hates, personal insults, anything.” Trials: “Huh. I wonder what would happen if someone used a soul gem on my Tumble-Scroll?” Assistant Azim: “I think it would start complaining about the glacial pace you’ve been posting at, lately.” Trials: I pouted. “Hey, I get busy sometimes!” Assistant Azim: “And the other reason is that Tumyr is a Khajiit, and he just loves big, green open space.” Trials: I frowned at him. “Hey, that sounds like Profiling. Would you just go and assume that because I’m Argonian I like walking in the rain?” Ruin: “...Trials, you do like walking the rain.” Trials: “...okay, but he shouldn’t go assuming it! “But, hey, you seem to know all the gossip, so what’s the story with your founder, Solan? You all seem to speak about him with such reverence, but I haven’t heard much in the way of details.” Assistant Azim: “You want me to tell you about Solan? Okay, but I don’t know any more than the rest of us about our great founder and pioneer. “Solan originally came from Hammerfell, where his family had been embroiled in the war of Betonys--” Trials: “Zzzzzz...!” Muttering in my sleep. “M-metal gear... grumble-grunt...” Ruin: “Uh, try to go easy on the politics. It puts her to sleep.” Assistant Azim: “...” He sighed slapped me to wake me up. Trials: My face still stinging. “L-Liquid!” Assistant Azim: He rolled his eyes before continuing. “Solan regards people as the keepers of sacred knowledge, and felt that everyone held some special part of Tamriels history in their souls. Trials: “I think my soul holds all of Cyrodiil’s memes!” Assistant Azim: “As such, he was a fanatical humanist, whose sense of charity and reverence of the people earned him the nickname of ‘Solan the Baptist’.” Trials: “...what the heck is a ‘baptist’?” Assistant Azim: “They dunk your head under water while saying prayers and blessings to the divines.” Trials: “I see! Well, next time I’ll be sure to threaten to ‘baptize’ Sova when she gets sassy.” Assistant Azim: “I don’t think she would appreciate that.” Trials: “I’ll just throw in some ancient Alyeid gods and she could call it ‘research’.”

The other assistant on duty here was “Assistant Quovi.” I spoke to her next, as she dusted grit and minerals off of the trilobite fossil. She didn’t have much to say, save to gossip about her superiors at the Archeology Guild. Did you know that Aster Cei is married to a Khajiit? Not one of the Southern city-dwellers, either, but a well-connected and hot-tempered lass from one of the nomadic tribes. Sova, meanwhile, was Born with a Silver Spoon in her mouth, as her snooty attitude might have suggested. Hailing from Skywatch in the Summnerset isles, she enraptured the court there from an early age. She saw the digs over here in Cyrodiil as beneath her, and took time to adjust to it. And she’s not too keen on Nords, Orcs, or... hired goons. Trials: “Hired Goons?” Assistant Quovi: “Don’t pay her too much mind. I hear that Rythor actually prefers the personal touch you only get with Hired Goons.” “Anyway, Sova’s not so bad. Once you get used to bowing to her every morning.”

Finally it was time to enter the big tent, and speak to the Khajiit himself. Gotta say, for someone who loves the great outdoors, his tent sure has a lot of hard-to-transport amenities. I understand that books on paleontology might be important for his work, but the mental image of him carefully arranging his bookshelf every time they make a new camp amused me. Tumyr: “Hello? And who might you be?” Trials: “Hey, I’m ‘Forged-Through-Trials,’ and he’s ‘Ruined-Tail.’ We’re new hires.” Ruin: “A pleasure.” Tumyr: “Really? So nice to meet you. I’m ‘Tumry,’ resident paleontologist.” Trials: “Anyway, we swung by because Teav needs a vial of your famous Dissolving Agent.” Tumyr: “Ah, poor timing, I’m afraid. I’ve run dry of the stuff, for the moment. Used it all to dig out that Ampryx out there.” Trials: “Oh, you mean, the trilobite?” Tumyr: “Yes. It’s a new species I just discovered, so I get to name it. I’ve dubbed it ‘Ampyx Adapsys’.” Trials: “Fascinating stuff, really, but--” Tumyr: “Slithering along the coastline, filter feeding on sand, their chitin exoskeleton and long spines helped protect them from ambush predators.” Trials: I rolled my eyes. “Listen, Tumyr The Science-Guy, we’re here about the Dissolving Agent. If you’re all out, where or when can we get more?” Tumyr: “Oh, making more? That’s easily done, so long as you’ve got the sliiiiiiiime.” Trials: I made a face at him. “Eww, I don’t like how you said ‘slime’. You make it sound vaguely carnal.” Ruin: He visibly paled. “...well, there’s a mental imagine I’m going to be trying to flush for the rest of the day.” Trials: “You and me both, bruh.” Tumyr: He pouted. “I’m just talking about the stuff that leaks from the cocoon I have outside. It’s the active ingredient in my Dissolving Agent. You just mix it with five Green Stain Cup Caps and you have one vial of the agent.” Trials: “...what a coincidence! I happen have five Green Stain Cup Caps right here.” I passed him the Cup Caps. “It’s almost like... there is someone outside of the Aubris who has experienced all of this before and is guiding my actions, or something.”

Tumyr: He blinked in confusion. “...what... is she looking at?” Ruin: He simply shrugged. Tumry: “...” He shook his head, and passed the finished Dissolving Agent to Ruin. “I think I’d better trust this to you.”

Fast forward past a short hike back toward the Archie-Guild castle, and Ruin and I were back and speaking to Teav. Ruin passed him the Dissolving Agent, which delighted Teav, who assured us that after some careful preparation, he could begin to carefully remove the contamination and corrosion obscuring the Metallic Shard’s Inner Matrix to further study the artifact. Teav: “I’ve also got some good news for you. Rythor, our Headmaster, has returned from his expedition. I’ve already put in a good word for you.” Trials: “Aww, thanks! I appreciate your doing that for me.” Teav: “You deserve it. Weird as you are sometimes, you do get the job done. Rythor has told me he’d like to meet you in person. You can find him in the Library.”

A hop, skip and jump later, and we’d found the Library. As you might imagine for the library owned by a bunch of nerds, the place was huge, and filled wall to wall with books... and a giant dragon skull. Gotta say, it’s an effective conversation-starter. Which, given the story Assistant Azim told me about Tumyr’s prank, getting a conversation started isn’t the problem. It’s getting the books to shut up! Book Written by Pelagius III: “And I’ll go into people’s houses at night and wreck up the place!” Dragon Skull: “Well, he’s lost my vote.” Rythor: Obviously irate. “Shut up, both of you! I’m going to kill Tumyr the next time I see him.” He finally noticed Ruin and I, and offered a wave, his demeanor changing immediately. “Greetings. You must be the new recruit I’ve heard so much about.” Trials: “IDidn’tDoEet! Except for the cool stuff. That I did the hell out of!” Rhythor: “...” He straightened his robes anxiously. “Well, I’ve mostly heard only the cool stuff. “I’m ‘Kal Rythor,’ Archeology Guild Headmaster. Teav tells me you’ve done a fine job clearing out that Spire. Given the decent job you did there, and our clear, dire need for some muscle, I’m making you the guild’s official ‘Enforcer.’ You’re now a permanent member, responsible for clearing any hurdles we may run into.” Trials: “Huh. ‘Enforcer’? Makes me sound like a bouncers, or like one of those Made Mer from the Camonna Tong. You’re not gonna send me to go make offers people can’t refuse, are ya?” Rythor: “...” He smiled knowingly. “Funny you should mention that...” Ruin: He frowned thoughtfully. “Oh, here we go.” Rythor: “On the expedition I just returned from, we’d found another Spire, similar to the one you just cleared. There’s more than just one!” Trials: “Well, need me to go in and clear that one out, too?” Rythor: “Not unless you’re into lawn-care. The problem there isn’t monsters, it’s that it’s overgrown with nearly impenetrable vines. There is, however, a nearby mine that burrows deep into the same mountain. “This is where you come in. I need you to speak with the Mine Foreman down there, help him see the virtue of our cause, and convince him to dig a tunnel into the Antechamber.” Trials: “...I feel like cutting through vines would be a lot easier than tunneling through solid rock.” Rythor: “You’d think that, but Cyrodiilic vines are so tough it takes a literal act of god to move them. “Now, go convince those minders to dig that tunnel for us.” Trials: “And what if they refuse?” Rythor: “Then convince your fist to make friends with their noses until they agree.” Trials: Flabbergasted. “...wow! Is that really necessary? I mean, they’re not Sova.” Rythor: “If it comes to it. Meanwhile, I’m going to lead an excavation effort at the Spire you’ve just cleared. “Godspeed, my Enforcer.”

#the elder scrolls #oblivion #modded #let's play #roleplay #ask blog

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rosebloodcat · 4 years ago

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BNHA/AHIT Idea

I’ve had a crossover (multi? Look, it could have a third put in, but that’s just because of how much of a nerd I am for a specific fandom) kicking around in my head for a while now and I need it OUT. I just can’t try to write it myself right now. But it’s refusing to just sit back and let me work on other stuff.

Therefore, I’m releasing this idea into the universe just so it will finally leave me alone. (Because I have PROJECTS RIGHT NOW. Projects that will hopefully give me INCOME!!!) I have thought of numerous little details for it, but I just don’t have time to devote to it right now. If you want to write it, go for it!! Please! I will happily read it if you do!

The base idea is A Hat in Time getting mixed with My Hero Academia, specifically focusing around a Reincarnated Snatcher in the BNHA universe. Who becomes a Villain/Vigilante without really meaning to.

(It’ll make sense when I explain, I promise.)

We know Snatcher is a ghost (and the fandom collectively agrees that he’s also the Prince), so it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine that eventually Snatcher would decide/choose to move on.

Maybe he’s tired of ruling the forest. Maybe something’s happened to the forest to make him staying seem unneeded. Maybe Vanessa’s finally passed away (she’s powerful, but I don’t think she’s immortal? Not terribly important) and he doesn’t need to protect the forest from her anymore.

Whatever the reason, he’s found his peace and moves on.

Cut to another planet/world/universe in the future where he’s been reborn into the world of Quirks, but doesn’t have one himself. But he does have powers of his own.

Magic!

It could be an HP-style community, it could be video game-style magical world hidden in a non-magical one, or something else entirely. But, either way, Snatcher has magic and has actually bee taught about how it works and how to use it.

(And maybe he’s been having issues? For it seeming Dark when he really gets into using it?)

He’s gotten stuck in a bad/not great situation, being forced into a loveless relationship and getting forced into a role/box he doesn’t want to be in. He wants out, but he’s either dismissed or too polite/nervous/trying to not get in a worse situation (harking back to his origins as the Prince) that he can’t get out.

Eventually, the pressure reaches a point where something in him snaps, and he lashes out with the Dark powers he’s been trying to keep hidden.

After which he passes out, and ends up remembering his past self as The Prince and as the Snatcher. He sees that he’s getting shoved into a parallel of his life with Vanessa and goes “Oh peck no.” and gets his butt out of there.

So he plunges into the non-magic world, which is full of powers and Heroes and makes it surprisingly easy to bend in. At first anyways.

He quickly finds he’s got a few problems, since he lacks a lot of the documentation/records mundane people need to have. So he uses his magic and his knowledge of (his current world’s) law to forge the documents he needs. He manages to contact other magic-people to finalize his works and builds a believable fake identity that close enough to his actual one to pass under the radar.

He even gets the right papers to get him into Law School. (So he can actually finish it this time.)

But, some how, knowledge of what he did gets out.

He gets contacted by one of the people he knew (whom he’d trusted enough to tell that he was getting out of there) saying that someone wanted him to do the same for them.

He (reluctantly) agrees to do it, and tells them to give the pseudonym “Snatcher” to the person looking for him. And creates a disguise to keep his real identity from being recognized. His disguise includes a mask of the permanently smiling face he’d had as a ghost.

It slowly escalates from there, until the “Soul Snatcher” becomes a whispered name in the Underground. Someone that you can go to escape whatever you’re stuck/trapped with now.

(He has limits/standards. Only helping the people he wants, which are usually people stuck in similar situations to his own. AKA people trying to Abusive, controlling environments or trying to bring people who’ve screwed them over to justice. It makes him a vigilante, of sorts. But he can also be pretty terrifying/cruel too. Especially to people who try to lie to him, or are the criminals he’s been asked to help reveal.)

(His title also became “Soul Snatcher” because of the rumored “cost” to his work. He doesn’t actually take souls, but he gets metaphorical/poetic about what his costumers have to pay so that he can be sure that they won’t try to rat him out. He actually come from an Equivalent Exchange view, but based more on what he’s doing means to the person in question.)

(Like getting a new Identity means “killing off” the old one. So it gets worded as “A life for a Life.”)

He crafts two separate persona’s to keep from being caught by Heroes or the Police.

Prince- His harmless seeming, good-natured self . The nice guy who was studying law, and always ready to lend a hand to his neighbors. He’d absolutely do pro-bono cases for people in dire straights and really sticky situations. He’s the kind of person everyone likes/trusts. Very Pro-Quirkless due to being “nearly quirkless” himself. His “Quirk” lets him breathe life back into wilted/dying plants. (I got the idea for that from a fanfic where Snatcher, when he was alive, had the power to make plants/flower grow when he touched them.) (Feel free to use your own ideas for his powers if you don’t like this idea.)

The Soul Snatcher (or just Snatcher)- Basically his flippant, forceful self from the start of AHIT. He’s a bit of a showman, but also very crafty and very obviously out for himself. He can be sly too. Making contracts tends to feel a lot like making a deal with the devil. (He kind of has a Ursula-vibe to his act.) But he’s also very harsh, and can be downright cruel to people who break their contracts or try to betray him. He uses most of the same powers he had as a ghost, and sometimes the magic/energy he uses can coat his body and change him to look like his ghostly self. (His powers stayed with him because of how he used them back then, and the souls he’d absorbed/eaten. It kinda became a permanent part of his own soul, and carried over because of that.) (There’s also a side effect of him being very light-sensitive when he uses them. If he actually changes to become ghost-like, the light can even hurt him. This is mostly because of how shadow-like he is.)

Thanks to the persona’s, he’s able to keep his two identities separate and is relatively assured that no one would be able to connect the two together. Meaning he can live however he likes without trouble.

Even then, he tries to steer clear of the Heroes and Villains, seeing both as more trouble than they’re worth.

(But that doesn’t mean he ignores the various laws surrounding them. As a Lawyer, there’s no guarantee he won’t get hired for a case involving them.)

He could get involved with Izuku as Prince, either as a neighbor or as a case. (Maybe Inko gets tired of all the crap her little boy’s been put through and hires him to sue the school for discrimination? It’s a thought.) And he takes the quirkless kid under his wing to help him out.

(Maybe Izuku could remind him of Hat or Bow? Not majorly, but just enough that he wants to look out for him.)

Or he could have some close calls with Heroes looking to capture the Soul Snatcher and eventually gets caught. And somehow ends up as an insider/informant for a hero/hero agency.

Or it could be both!

Maybe with Nedzu figuring out that he was escaping a bad situation, that he was helping other do the same, and that he possibly wasn’t even a legal citizen for the area. Maybe even mentioning that it would deal serious damage to his identity/reputation if it got out that he’s Snatcher. And the harm it could do to people he knew/was helping/had helped.

So he reluctantly goes along with it.

And that’s pretty much the end of my thoughts on this idea.

There’s a chance of other reborn AHIT characters showing up (like Vanessa, Hat and Bow, Conductor or Groves, etc) but I have no thoughts for that. But now the idea is down and out of my head. So if anyone wants to try making this story, you are welcome to it!!

And if you want anymore thoughts I’ve had, don’t be afraid to ask.

#rosies story ideas #rosies writing #ahit #a hat in time #The snatcher #ahit prince #boko no hero academia #bnha #my hero academia #mha #take the idea if you want it #i honestly want to read it #but i just don't have time to write it

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bonesingerofyme-loc · 6 years ago

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Endgame is a movie about payoffs

An incomplete list of all the great ‘payoffs’ in this movie.

Hulk’s character arc/story is resolved offscreen and Hulk as a character is killed off. Shh no tears, only Banner now.

Loki’s death was meaningless

Thor’s character arc/story wasn’t even regressed, it was reset

Tony and Nebula’s relationship went nowhere

Vision’s body was shoved in a closet for five years I guess

Doctor Strange’s 14 million futures and 1 solution relied on a fucking rat

The main six avengers never got to be on screen fighting together

Natasha was killed off and her death is barely mentioned

Red Skull’s presence was revealed to simply be the writers going wOuLdN’t iT Be CoOl rather than having any deeper meaning or reason for it. Boy would it have made sense for the Avengers to maybe talk to the Stonekeeper since they know next to fuck all about the infinity stones. Or maybe resolve the whole ‘Steve and Red Skull’ thing, because it’s not like that was formative conflict for Steve Rogers.

Loki’s death was seriously fucking meaningless

Rocket sort of just existed. What did he do? Nothing. Who did he interact with? Barely anyone.

Gamora’s character arc/story is reset to a blank slate because she is a new person.

Drax’s whole reason for living was revenge and to strike back at Thanos. Never see Drax in Endgame except as part of the exhaustively long checklist of ‘HEY LOOK X PERSON IS HERE’

Clint going on a murderspree doesn’t matter at all except to give a reason why he isn’t in the first part of the movie. It has no bearing on the events and no one ever speaks to Clint about it. He doesn’t even act any differently from the mostly serious and broody Clint of the previous films. There isn’t even any tension about him coming back, Nat just says ‘Hi Clint come back’ and he’s like ‘k’.

Peter Quill, who I don’t even like, has only a single scene in the movie where his entire growth as a character and relationship with Gamora is reduced to stupid physical humor and a joke.

Carol Danvers was pointless. She exists to save Tony and Nebula, which Thor could’ve done with bifrost and to blow up Sanctuary, which could’ve been done far more interestingly. And yet the movie tried to weave her in pretty well by making her part of Natasha’s galactic avengers and then...did nothing with that idea. Was it too hard to consider maybe she shows up with whats left of NovaCorps or some Kree battleships?

Thanos proves that he was jobbing hard in Infinity War. What’s that, Thanos without any infinity stones could easily beat Tony in Mk85, Thor with both his weapons and Steve Rogers? I guess the entire fight on Titan was him just pissing around. It steals all the weight and strength that Infinity War gave the Avengers by showing that Thanos could’ve squashed any of them at any time and was never actually in danger.

‘Stark. You’re not the only one cursed with knowledge.’ What does that mean? Why does Thanos seem to respect him? Fucking who knows, since we see that in the past Thanos only vaguely knew about the Avengers and thought they were dumb nerds. I guess he read about Tony underneath a Snapple lid.

Back to Natasha’s death - she dies and the movie decides it needs to focus on fucking Bruce of all people, when she and Steve had become very close friends over the past seven years, and from the implications Steve was the only one that actually kept in contact with her post-Snap when the Avengers all retired or fucked off. Fucking Bruce.

Hey while we’re here, let’s keep up with Steve and his relationships. How about the fact he and Bucky never reunite on screen? How about the fact that all we have gotten between Steve and Bucky since Steve got his best friend back was what, three lines total between Infinity War and Endgame?

Or how about Steve and Sam! You know, Sam the therapist that helped break Steve out of his shell. Sam the loyal friend who stood by Steve through thick and thin. Sam, who kind of was Steve’s first ‘real’ friend in the modern day. Sam, who only shows up at the end so old Steve who abandoned his friends can chuck him a shield. No reunion. No real meaningful moment. Just hey I’m old take my shield.

Or Steve and Wanda! Did you guys forget that the secret Avengers adopted her? How they were kind of like a family for that time after Civil War, with Steve the Dad and Natasha the Mom and Wanda their adopted weird magical girl? You know, how they took Wanda under their wing and started teaching her and treating her like a real person? Guess they did forget!

What about Valkyrie too, by the way. Valkyrie who spent a thousand years as a cynical drunk and then Thor helped her out of her self-loathing funk in Ragnarok. And then she I guess just said ‘sucks to be you’ and didn’t even try to help him? Or how about that Thor just kind of chucks her the throne like a party favor. Not even like he recognized she earned it or anything, Thor just said ‘hey, fuck my responsibilities I want to go be a failure in space, so take my job lmao’. Nice. I hate Ragnarok with a passion, but for fuck’s sake.

Nidavellir. Establishes that Eitri is the last of the dwarven forgemasters left, and still has all his knowledge and skill. And that he forged the Gauntlet. And the plans for the Gauntlet are still there. Clearly, that means Tony should just whip together a nanite gauntlet in his basement overnight.

Carol Danvers and Nick Fury. You know, how Captain Marvel set them up as good friends, and then she allegedly shows up wanting to know where he is. Oops. That didn’t make the cut. Or her seeing Fury again after so many years. Double oops. Shit, this is even from the stinger of the last movie these yucks wrote, and they couldn’t even do it. Again - like Gagnarok and others, Cpt. Marvel is not even a movie I liked but COME ON NOW.

The intelligence/wisdom of the infinity stones. The space stone ‘judged’ Red Skull and cast him out. The soul stone has a ‘certain wisdom’. Ultron was made from the intelligence that lurked in the mind stone. Vision was linked to all the other stones and could sense almost a distress from each other stone as Thanos claimed them. NVM, stones destroyed lmao.

Infinity War went out of it’s way to make visually striking and different battle sequences and pulled out all the stops to really showcase powers. We got to see smart and interesting uses of all the stones during the battle on titan. Thanos actually had a wizard duel with Strange, showing that he is so much more than just a brute brawler. He blended caster and bruiser seemlessly. The color palatte was bright and arid, full of reds and oranges and blues and greens, well lit and extremely well choreographed. Tony showcases the amazing functionality of his Mk50 experimental armor. The battle at Avengers compound is dark, a color palette of grey, dark grey, light grey, and brown-grey. The choreography of the fight consisted of ‘surround Thanos and hit him with sticks’. We saw none of the MK85 suit. You know. The LAST suit Tony Stark would ever make. We saw none of Stormbreaker or Mjolnir’s power in Thor’s hands, only the most basic ‘fwoosh lightning’ from when Steve holds it. Where was Thor and his flying, his glowing eyes, Mjolnir-as-a-character that was present in all his fights in the past? Where was Steve’s mixed martial arts and his really acrobatic and distinct fighting style? Where was Tony constantly pulling new weapons and tricks out of his suit? The final fight of the Infinity Saga with the big three, and it’s as inspiring as a mid-aughties superhero duel. Just kind of slamming together and grunting. (I guess all the good fight choreographers were stolen by Alita)

‘I can do this all day’. The iconic line of Steve Rogers in the MCU, a touchstone for his character that is emblematic of his entire life and his drive, that says in six syllables the sum total meaning of what it is to be Captain America. Is played As A Joke.

Pepper Potts, whose character and relationship with Tony Stark to date can be summed up succinctly as ‘Tony no’ while he shouts ‘TONY YES’ now totally agrees with Tony and is all gung-ho about him deciding to risk his life, his daughter’s life, their lives, and the fucking universe to go a-time-travelling. What.

Steven Strange, whose movie was about him struggling to become a sorcerer and let go of his past and his preconceptions as well as the Ancient One seeing potential in him despite his roughness is shown to all be a charade. She actually knew all along he was going to be an OG badass and is so enamored with him that she’s willing to hand away the infinity stone she and her order have protected for millennia at the simple mention of his name.

Acausal time travel. Instead of enriching the previous movies by seamlessly blending into them for the time heist, Endgame goes out of it’s way to say ‘HAHA YEAH NO, THIS IS A BRANCHING TIMELINE’ so when you watch Dark World, Avengers, etc, there’s no intrigue of like ‘oh man, such and such is going on just around the corner’ because they so thoroughly bungled time travel and everything we saw in Endgame breaks the timelines. I can’t believe JK Rowling did a better job creating consistent and coherent time travel that carried narrative weight and tension in a children’s book.

Undoing the snap. All the speculation and theory about how, why, when, what, and it turns out all you have to do is just snap to bring everyone back and then act like the intervening five years of social decay and collapse never happened.

Theodore Ross is very specifically shown in Infinity War to be the Secretary of State. Hm. A character who’s always been an antagonist, always against the avengers...in a high ranking government position...right before 50% of the population is dusted...right, yeah, nothing. Not the President after the snap.

The snap itself. Smash cut to 5 years later, show some quick flybys and pay a bit of lip service to ‘oh yeah things are bad’ but that’s it. Don’t investigate it. Don’t show us how bad things are. Don’t explore it. In fact, everything seems pretty ok. People are still playing Fortnite five years later and cheerfully dabbing and taking selfies, so it’s all good right? Not like half of all life vanished instantly over night and the world is supposed to be falling apart. Nah.

Tony Stark’s death. Did he die to bring back the universe? Did he die to save his friends? Did he die to save his daughter or his family? Nope, he killed himself to kill the already beaten Thanos and his final words were all about himself. bUt ThE cAlLbAcK

Thanos. Killed off. Replaced by a cartoon villain version of himself. The Thanos that is the main antagonist that the Avengers beat? Not the Thanos who we got to know and who starred as the center of Infinity War.

Nebula. Best character in the film. Has no conclusion. No catharsis or reaction to Thanos’ death.

Groot. Split second shot of him and Rocket. No reunion.

Groot, again, and the rest of the Guardians. No chance to see Rocket’s reaction to the realization his entire family is gone or the effect it has on him. What was that scene in Infinity War? “Me? I got a lot to lose. I got a lot.” No relevance.

Stormbreaker. Major plotpoint of Infinity War. OP axe forged by Thor nearly sacrificing his life to a star. Yeets through a blast from a full-stone gauntlet. Is just a beatstick in Endgame, does nothing.

Infinity stones, again. Infinity War made them front and center, showing their many uses and delving deeper into the lore of them. Endgame makes them paperweights that can only snap.

I could go on and on and on. This is just off the top of my head, right now. Payoffs? I guess if you count the writers violently elbowing you in the ribs and shouting HEY ITS THAT SCENE FROM THAT OTHER MOVIE like you’re a drooling idiot as a ‘payoff’ it’s ripe with them, but actual meaningful payoff for a decade of characters and storytelling? Hah. No.

Edit: I will continue to update this as I think of/recall more examples

#marvel #mcu #avengers: endgame #endgame #HOW IRONIC FEIGE #endgame was shit #captain america #tony stark #bruce banner #natasha romanoff #thor #clint barton #avengers

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tearlessrain · 5 years ago

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I’m about to watch Arthur and Merlin, which is free on youtube and came up in my suggestions randomly. I have no idea what it is but I am hungry for the arthurian Content so Imma watch it and see how it goes

update: it was way better than I expected and accidentally SUPER gay. that merlin tv show everyone loved was amateur hour compared to how gay this was.

“there is magic in the air, and in the water, but it has been forgotten by many in these lands” wow why does that sound familiar I wonder

the funny thing is I watched fellowship of the ring literally yesterday so this will be hilarious

but there is hope [extremely unsubtle cut to a baby who is definitely important]

now I think... and I could be wrong... but guys I suspect this baby might be the chosen one.

oh god there was no father he was conceived by midichlorians

THE SKYWALKERS HAVE INFILTRATED THE CELTS

okay place your bets is it arthur or merlin

it’s Merlin. or Merddyn rather, in a surprise twist this movie was written by Fucking Nerds

so far mild cheese aside this is surprisingly watchable

“your crops fail and so you ask the king for help, but do not help yourselves! where are your alters?? starvation is punishment for your lack of faith!” THE RNC HAS INFILTRATED THE CELTS

okay so near as I can figure out the mark is from the old gods but there’s a druid who I guess speaks for the king or something who wants them to worship different old gods and now he’s demanding the villagers make a human sacrifice and it’s gonna be Smol Merddyn.

aw no they killed Celtic Shmi. Merddyn got away though and is now wandering the Forbidden Forest

I’m mad this is actually a solid movie so far. absolutely nothing unexpected has happened but I didn’t click on a movie called “Arthur and Merlin” to be surprised

oh wait that kid who freed him was Arthur

fifteen years later arthur is... a military leader who looks strangely like one of those romans played by obviously white actors in older movies

I honestly can’t pinpoint when this movie was made on aesthetics alone

ooo some Roving Misogynists™ are here to cause trouble and assault random women for being christian. by order of the druid no doubt.

“you mock us!” “I do.” okay I’m starting to like this arthur.

oh my god is that. he just fucking. tripped over excalibur while wading in like a two foot deep pond to get this woman’s cross back for her. best interpretation ever.

wait Olwen??? as in Ysbaddaden’s daughter Olwen?? once again I assumed they’d go with Guinevere or make someone up but I forgot, this movie was made by Fucking Nerds.

okay I know insisting everything is gay is a constant thing on this site but I want to point out that Arthur has showed nothing but very platonic friendship to Olwen but this is the face he makes when he sees Merddyn in a vision

and I mean to be fair to him this is what Merddyn looks like now

goddamn

oh no they’ve immediately made it very clear that he’s Romantically Involved With Olwen In Secret Look They’re Kissing Nobody Is Gay

so now I really want to know who wrote this movie because what I’m seeing here is people who intentionally chose to use the name merddyn, and know that olwen exists, but then decided to pair her romantically with... king arthur. and culhwch just doesn’t exist I guess. not that this is the most off the wall welsh mythology ship I’ve encountered but still it’s a weird one for this kind of media even if it’s an indie film

who are you people. how did this movie get made. I mean I like whatever it is but for real how and why did you do this.

I love how there’s just this trio of random dudes who don’t even have names who are arthur/olwen’s friends. and yet somehow they’re likable and I’m rooting for them. whoever they are.

so the only real problem with this movie that’s denting my enjoyment is that nobody has names and they all have the same haircut so I lose track of who’s doing what. see these are arthur’s friends:

and these are bad guys:

and Olwen is the only person in either screenshot who has a name

if any of them ever changes into a new outfit I’m screwed.

I’m gonna be real with y’all I love me a cursed forest

in an ironic twist, excalibur is now firmly stuck in a tree trunk and arthur cannot get it out

why is this movie GOOD what the heck. I mean the druid and king situation is blatantly ripped from wormtongue and theoden but I still like. care about the king. they’ve done it well.

“I’ve already told you, I am no longer a man.” “are you so sure???” see I know nothing will happen since this is a movie not a fanfic but that line is the quintessential hate-makeout segue

THIS IS VERY HETEROSEXUAL they’ve had most of the argument while approximately that distance from each other

oh god what the fuck arthur’s friends got sacrificed by the druid just to make a point to olwen. this is the opposite of a Sacrificial Girlfriend.

they do not need to be this close to each other to argue but they keep on doing it

they’ve been on screen together for less than five minutes y’all

arthur: maybe you’re right, you are no longer a man

merlin: [conjures an entire patch of flowers for him to make... some kind of point I guess?]

okay now they’re arguing again but there’s all this “I thought I knew you” talk (which, again, it’s been five minutes) and the actors have clearly decided that their dynamic is based entirely on constant, roiling sexual tension

why does every single thing they say scan like dialogue from a slow burn enemies to friends to lovers fanfic

“the girl in the village, did you love her once?” “I know little of love” “Surely a man who can control the growth of a flower must be able to make love blossom” JUST FUCK ALREADY

this is how they’re having this conversation by the way

there was only one shrub hollow

“to control nature is one thing, but only the most powerful sorcerer could control the mind of a man- OR WOMAN,” he said, heterosexually.

y’all I’m gonna be honest I thought I was just projecting at first but this is the gayest thing I’ve seen since the baseball song in high school musical 2. this is just absolute beleg and turin levels of probably unintended but utterly blatant homosexuality. I’m so glad I decided to watch this movie and youtube was right to recommend it to me.

this movie really speaks to me because on a spiritual level I too am a mystical but irritable and socially stunted forest hermit with sexy hair just waiting for a brash but pure-hearted warrior who looks like a roman statue to draw me out of my cave with homoerotic banter.

oh it’s not excalibur it’s... nuadu. which I guess in this movie is not the king of the tuatha de danann but a sword forged by them? see my first impulse would be to assume that the way they’re mangling everything, the writers knew nothing about Celtic folklore, except that they’ve chosen such weirdly specific things to mangle. they know their shit, they’ve just deliberately chosen to go absolutely buckwild with it.

THEY’RE DOING IT AGAIN THEY ARE INCAPABLE OF ARGUING WHILE STANDING MORE THAN TWO FEET APART

for real though character-wise this might be one of my favorite interpretations of merlin/merddyn I’ve ever seen. I feel like everyone involved was genuinely super passionate about the subject matter they were working with. like all jokes aside he’s really honestly well acted and well written.

STOP IT NOW YOU HORNY SIMPLETONS

uh oh they’ve been captured by... bandits?

oh it’s olwen’s uncle

“TO GOOD WOMEN... WHY DO YOU NOT DRINK, MERDDYN”

it is a mystery, olwen’s uncle.

a mystery.

this motivational monologue could have been so cheesy but like. I’m here for it. I would follow arthur into battle.

aw come on. olwen’s uncle betrayed them. I kinda saw it coming but dammit.

again, the druid should be absolutely stupid but he’s kind of a cool villain.

yay olwen’s uncle unbetrayed them. probably so would I if I’d seen what merddyn just did to the druid’s guys.

so the druid is trying to sacrifice ten thousand souls to raise a god from the underworld and merddyn is on the fucking warpath. and olwen’s uncle is ON BOARD HELL YEAH.

THE HOBBITS THE HOBBITS THE HOBBITS THE HOBBITS TO ISENGUARD TO ISENGUARD

arthur and merddyn have escalated to clutching each other’s clothes during their heated two-feet-apart discussions

olwen is a badass in her own right like she has her own whole thing going trying to save the king from basically his own literal dementia and the druid who’s taking advantage of it, which is somehow way more compelling than just magical mind control.

“I thought the cave taught you fairness” “well... you taught me fighting” JUST KISS.

okay let’s see how they pull off this dark god on the shoestring budget they definitely have, at this point I honestly believe in them.

by avoiding showing the god entirely apparently but they made it work even with that.

aw the king has named him his heir. which again we all knew would happen but it’s still so well done.

and we end on merddyn placing the crown on arthur’s head while lovingly quoting his own words back at him, while olwen looks on with the kind of approval that implies they’ve ended up with some kind of road to el dorado situation. solid.

so I was expecting this to be absolute garbage with bad actors and checked out writers just trying to make another mediocre coattail-riding medieval fantasy movie and what I got was some weirdly good actors and writers who are clearly obsessed with celtic folklore and desperately wanted to just run amok with it for an hour and 45 minutes. and they did. they poured every ounce of their hearts and souls and tiny, tiny budget into it. and it was beautiful. 10/10

#tearless liveblogs #I just watched an entire merlin/arthur/olwen crackship slow burn enemies to friends to lovers fic in the form of an indie film #and I loved it

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livvywrites · 6 years ago

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*slides in here* i don't know much about ur ocs, so mry I pls know some happy things about them

imma do the main six from the martyr queen, oki?

alinora mynerva

i’ve posted about this before but it remains one of my fave alinora facts. when she was a kid, she used to read this beastiary. i think i named it, but i don’t remember what i called it. *hangs head in shame* anyway, it was full of facts on eldora’s monsters/beasts. (hydra, dragons, sea serpents, giant spiders, giant scorpions, giant man-eating worms called tunnelers, yknow, typical fantasy stuff). sometimes they gave her nightmares, but it was Worth It, especially because she could use them to scare her friends during sleepovers

her favorite flowers are sunflowers! they never fail to make her smile, which is good, because she could smile more, honestly. (poor bb needs more love in her life)

she has a major sweet tooth. she drinks coffee, but. she hates it so much. unless, of course, you add a fuckton of sugar to it. but, yknow, sugar’s expensive, so.

her favorite fruit is peaches, but she’s developing a fondness for oranges.

elaena

i was a big greek mythos nerd growing up (PJO is still my jam, tho i haven’t kept up with some of the more recent series) and i was always really into how like... involved the gods were in mortal life? plus how humanized they were? so that was a big inspiration for the eldoran pantheon... they’re all very human (and i have Reasons for that too!).

elaena has always gotten on really well with chaos. she calls him uncle chaos and together, the two like to play pranks on the other gods. particularly order, who gets pissy every time, but they think it’s worth it. even if death (elaena’s dad) always makes her go patrol with fear as punishment. (not punishment bc it’s fear; punishment because patrol is usually boring, and elaena hates being bored)

she also has like, weekly tea parties with hope!! and the two of them gossip about whatever is going on in the celestial realms. (usually about hope’s vanguard, because... they’re messes. but.) sometimes love (leader of hope’s vanguard) joins them. or wisdom, or faith, or yknow. any of the vanguard.

she and her dad like to play games together. usually card games. they rope the other gods/spirits into it too, and occasionally have a really good time!

elaena loves the little reaper babies! she doesn’t always get along well with them when they get older (”too robotic,” she says, even tho robots don’t exist on eldora [yet] and no one knows what she means.) but she likes hangin’ out with the babies and teaching them life skills for a reaper. (unlife skills??)

elaena’s not real big on guiding souls to the afterlife. like, yeah, it’s important and sometimes its fun to get into fights so she can protect the souls she’s guarding, but she likes escorting new souls the best! little baby souls. they’re so bright and pure and it makes her happy~ (she also likes escorting reincarnated souls!)

one of her favorite past times is hanging out invisibly in the mortal world and watching like, court drama unfold. it’s like a soap opera. (no one knows what those are either)

lyr

Disaster Child #3 (talitha and alinora compete for top spot)

good with his hands! he almost always has a small block of wood on him for carving, and he makes lots of little sculptures. he sells or gives away most of them, but ava still has a few he made just for her. he also enjoys smithing, but hasn’t gotten the opportunity to forge anything in a while. (and definitely isn’t a master at the craft, but he would like to study it one day, when things settle down!)

both ava and talitha were prone to nightmares as kids and he used to sit with them and sing. sometimes the song was basically nonsense to a comforting tune, other times it was something he had heard while traveling (which meant that it could be a bawdy bar song, a fighter’s hymn, a work song, or even an actual lullaby)

talitha roped him into learning how to dance with her. they were both Really Bad at it at first, but got better with practice. (they’re still not great, especially when they dance together--too busy snickering at other people to watch where their feet are going)

ava

because she grew up with a nomadic lifestyle, she couldn’t actually... keep plants. however, she’s clever and not one to give up easily, and she figured out how to grow them magically. so she has flowers essentially growing in her hair. sometimes she makes those like.... shoe things? they’re not really shoes, but they wrap around your toe and ankle. idk what they’re called, but she does that. she also makes bracelets and such out of them.

she can kind of communicate with animals??? she’s best with birds but wolves and deer are pretty attracted to her too. (tho tbh i also have this image of her riding a bear??? idk if it’ll ever happen, but.) it’s very limited communication, but she can do it. it helps sometimes. mostly it’s just kind of a skill she uses to befriend the local fauna.

....basically what i’m sayin’ is she’s a disney princess.

talitha jade

she’s a little bit crazy and likes to hang out on the top deck when it’s storming. sometimes she even brings her violin with her (enchanted so it won’t ruin) and plays music.

she was the Best older sister ever. her home life wasn’t great, but she adored her baby sister, and when lyn was upset, it didn’t matter what she had to do, she would move heaven and earth to make her feel better. (mostly, tho, she skipped the world-altering displays of adoration and snuck down to the kitchen to sneak her sister something sweet).

she was a mischievous child who’s first big spell was an invisibility spell (learned several years younger than people usually learn it). you can imagine the kind of havoc she used to wreak. there was a rumor in town that they finally developed a seeing through invisibility spell specifically because of talitha. (this is baseless, as the spell existed before, it just needed to be found)

aishlynn mynerva

aish, like her sister, despises bitter things. unlike her sister, though, aishlynn has no qualms about getting her hands on sugar and using it to the fullest. (and god forbid she get her hands on a box of chocolate. she forgets how to ration that stuff, and will eat an entire box of it in one go, stomachache be damned.)

can sometimes be caught humming slightly off key. if left alone for long enough she might even start dancing.

her favorite flowers are lilies. specifically purple ones.

growing up, she had a bodyguard, like any young princess would. her favorite thing to do was to make her bodyguard play pretend with her. usually knight vs dragon/other monster, because aishlynn wanted to be a hero something fierce, but sometimes she played queen to his knight, and ordered him around. it was very cute, and her mother used to like watching them play. (and occasionally join in)

#she writes love #tmq #the martyr queen #lyr #ava #alinora mynerva #aishlynn mynerva #talitha jade #thanks for asking!!#asks and answers #xcxbxlx

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cosmicevila · 6 years ago

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JJBA Secret Santa 2018 Fic: Mirror for You

Merry Christmas, @rember-redink! I was your Secret Santa for the JJBA Secret Santa exchange! I tried to incorporate two of your OTPs, so I hope I was able to do them both justice!

Fic title: Mirror for You

Pairings: Josuke/Koichi, YasuGap

Rating: G

Two couples are reflected in one another.

People always asked Koichi why he bothered with “a guy like Josuke.” They never explained that phrase, but Josuke knew exactly what it implied—a thug like Josuke, an asshole like Josuke, a guy as frightening and intimidating as Josuke, who could and would beat you to a pulp for the smallest of offenses. Even though they were adults now, and Josuke had become a well-respected police officer in Morioh, for fuck’s sake, known for his perception and quick thinking in tense situations, people still questioned Koichi and Josuke’s relationship. Hell, they’d been dating since the end of high school and people still asked Koichi when he was going to settle down with a nice young woman. These questions really didn’t make them angry anymore like they used to, but Koichi wasn’t particularly good at hiding his feelings, and when they met on Clover Bridge after Koichi was finished grading his high school literature students’ homework, as they did every day so Josuke could walk him home and they could chat for a moment, Jouske could read the frown lines on Koichi’s skin and know what kind of day he’d had from their depth, and how many people had tried his patience.

And it’s not like Koichi was any sort of shy about sharing Josuke’s most positive traits with the people that quizzed him—“He’s a good person with a good heart, he’s always in my corner, I feel safe with him, he’s a nice guy who just doesn’t suffer fools”—each compliment made Josuke’s heart go supernova, and he thanked whatever gods happened to be listening that this sweet guy who thought so highly of him had chosen to stay at his side for as long as he had. That first year of high school was full of horrors that he never could have imagined, but it was also the year that Josuke met his ride-or-die bro Okuyasu, with whom he was still as tight as ever all these years later (although they argued sometimes when Okuyasu went past the speed limit testing whatever new motorcycle he’d just finished repairing while Josuke was on patrol, because Josuke really didn’t want to give his ride-or-die bro a speeding ticket even though it was The Law), and Koichi, the man he hoped to marry someday, and all of his other friends, living and dead and alien, and Josuke held them all close in his golden heart.

As Josuke watched the water flowing underneath Clover Bridge, the winter air cold enough to make his breath visible but not cold enough to freeze the Ichigo River, waiting for Koichi on a sliiiiiiightly-over-regulation-length break, he thought, with a smirk, about the people who asked him about Koichi, asking him why a tough guy like him wanted to date a wimpy nerd like Koichi. So few knew that Koichi was a fucking badass! People didn’t bother Okuyasu about dating Mikitaka as much as they did Josuke dating Koichi, and Mikitaka was the one who was mistaken for a woman half the time. Maybe it was because Okuyasu and Mikitaka were proud enough oddballs that derogatory comments flew right by them (or because any implication that femininity equaled weakness led to either a punch from Okuyasu or the standard speech from Mikitaka about all of the strong women he knew personally, which did include Josuke’s mom and did just about make Josuke die from embarrassment because of it). Anyway, these small-minded people pissed Josuke right the fuck off. If they managed to get past, “How can a tough guy like you be gay?” and still be standing, which depended on if they’d dared to use a slur and how close Josuke was to his yearly review from the chief of police, the next question was always slandering Koichi’s strength. Usually, the question asker certainly wasn’t standing after that, and even if they were, Josuke just couldn’t tell them about all of the times that Koichi physically kicked someone’s ass with Echoes, because he couldn’t just explain Stands to randoms. But even without Echoes, Koichi’s heart was strong and proud, and Josuke loved his steadfastness, and the strength of his sense of duty and justice. Koichi was the only one of them that Jotaro regularly contacted on behalf of the Speedwagon Foundation, after all. And Koichi’s inner well of determination must be bottomless, because his endless patience during their study sessions got Josuke and Okuyasu through high school and into police academy and engineering college, respectively. Koichi’s blushed as hard as he had when Josuke kissed him for the first time when Tomoko told him that he was an educational miracle worker.

As he watched the water and thought about his kewl boyfriend, people passed Josuke on Clover Bridge, some passing so closely that Josuke thought he could see their reflections in the chilly water. But then a flash of pink caught Josuke’s eye, hair the color of cherry blossoms, and Josuke first thought that Reimi had come back to call on him for some dire Heavenly crisis, but then he noticed the pigtails—

—And a familiar voice asked, “Josuke-kun, what’s wrong? What did you see?”

Josuke’s frantic looks landed on Koichi, bundled in a green down puffer jacket that made him look as small as he had when Josuke first met him. Koichi hadn’t gotten quite the growth spurt that he had hoped for, but he was only about a head shorter than Josuke now, and Okuyasu had roped him into lifting weights with him “to get ripped and look their flyest when they were riding motorcycles,” never mind the fact that Koichi had about as much interest in riding motorcycles as Josuke had in getting a pet turtle. Josuke grinned and relaxed. “Nothing, Koichi,” he said. “The light was playing some weird tricks, making your hair look pink in your reflection in the water. I thought Reimi was back. And you don’t have to call me –kun.”

Koichi laughed sheepishly. “I know, Josuke-k—Josuke. It’s just a hard habit to break.” He leaned on the wall of the bridged and peered down. His regular blonde brushcut stared back at him. “I’m glad that it was just the light. I don’t think I could pull off pink hair.” He glanced at Josuke. “You could, though. You could pull off any color, I’m sure.”

Josuke batted his eyelashes, painted heavily with mascara, at Koichi. “That sounds like a challenge. What colors would you put me in?”

Koichi hummed as he thought before saying, “Grey-green, like a turtle.”

Josuke scowled. “That was a Rohan answer, you dick. I’m leaving.” Koichi laughed, though, and took Josuke’s hand, and whatever anger had flared up within him dissipated like fog in the sunlight.

“I think you look best in deep purple,” Koichi murmured. “It suits you, body and soul.” And what could Josuke do to that except pick Koichi up and kiss him, sweet and long and mirthfully, right there in public?

On Clover Bridge in another Morioh, Josuke slumped against the bridge railing, watching the leaves on the river float underneath the bridge and silently lamenting how short his shirt was as the cold winter air found a way into his jacket to freeze the skin of his stomach. Yasuho was late for their—date? Were they dating? He loved her, he knew that. The person who found him when he was new and nothing, and the only person who saw him as one hundred percent his own self. Sometimes, that fact alone made him curl up underneath the mattress late at night and sob, from isolation and grief that he hardly understood, and gratitude that at least one person cared about Josuke Higashikata, the gap-toothed, bicolor-eyed, dapple-skinned boy in the sailor suit who liked large fries and just wanted a safe life to call his own, who was dropped into the middle of something he was doing his best to understand. Being with Yasuho was easy, because she expected nothing from him except his friendship. That was not a problem. He was more than willing to share his time with a kindhearted girl with a surprisingly deep well of determination within her heart. She took his hand in hers, and the gentle action formed a lump in his throat every time she did. He had no family, and hers was broken—if a kind woman’s life didn’t hang in the balance of their actions, if Josuke hadn’t been born with a mystery to solve, then maybe they could forge a new life together, somehow, somewhere.

Yasuho called Josuke “innocent,” and Joshuu called him “ignorant,” with a sneer in his voice that was amplified by the one on his face. Yasuho told him that the words were similar, but not the same—she always meant “innocent” as a compliment, because although Josuke had a lot to learn about the world, she admired his good judgment and his quick thinking, learning fast and making the right decisions. Joshuu, she thought, was trying to say that Josuke was willfully naïve, maybe even maliciously so—but Joshuu’s judgment was clouded with selfish, entitled thoughts, and she would much rather spend time with a boy who saw the world clearly, saw it as something fresh and new with no colored lenses. Well, to Josuke, a lot of the time the world looked pretty rosy.

“Josuke~!” He perked up at the sound of his name, called by a beloved voice. He started to turn away from the river, but he was distracted for a moment by a clear reflection of what looked like a man lifting a smaller man into the air, embracing him warmly—an enemy Stand?! But Stands cause definite pressure in the atmosphere, and Josuke felt nothing out of the ordinary. He turned back to see Yasuho jogging towards him with two big shopping bags, one from a department store and one from the local hamburger joint. He knew what was in that bag.

“What were you looking at?” she asked when she got close enough to peer over the bridge. “Any ducks in the river right now?”

“No, I saw a weird reflection, like two people hugging. Do you see it?” But when Josuke peeked back over the bridge, the water reflected nothing but the cloudy sky above.

“Huh,” said Yasuho. “Oh, by the way, what are you wearing under that jacket? I mean, I’m glad to see you in a jacket, but—” She reached out and tugged the zipper on the coat down, and Josuke yelped, slamming his hands to his midsection to cover it. Yasuho gasped. “That’s what I thought! Josuke, Merry Christmas. Put this on.” She reached into the department store bag and pulled out a royal blue sweater. Josuke shrugged into it quickly, and then Yasuho followed it with a matching set of emerald green gloves, earmuffs, and a scarf. Soon, Josuke was bundled up against the cold, and that familiar lump had formed in his throat. Yasuho screamed as Josuke scooped her up and twirled her around like the couple he thought he saw, and she kissed him through the scarf where his mouth was hiding, and Josuke let the tears spill, because Yasuho wouldn’t tease him for crying, either, no matter what.

#jjba-secret-santa-2018 #rember-redink #yasugap #josuke/koichi #jojo's bizarre adventure

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eponymous-rose · 7 years ago

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Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E12 (Apr 3, 2018)

Happy 60th episode, Talks Machina! Take that, only-12-episodes-of-Critical-Role! (NB: Brian made the same joke like five minutes into the episode. I don’t know what this says about me.)

Tonight’s guests are Pillow Matt Mercer, Matt Mercer, and Marisha Ray!

Announcements: the first five episodes of Key Question are available on Alpha, Dani Carr’s Critical Recap will be on Thursdays before the show, C2E12′s podcast will be available this Thursday (”How neat!”), Wednesday Club will be on tomorrow, Critical Role will be attending C2E2 in Chicago on April 7-8.

Matt names all the episodes (he now comes up with a name right after the episode, which may or may not match his working title for the session) and Dani writes the descriptions (for early episodes, it was Taliesin).

@critrolestats for this episode:

Sam held his pose for 12 minutes and 12 seconds. Travis’ thumbs-up moment in C1E61 was 7 minutes and 51 seconds.

Episode 12 had the first point of damage dealt by Frumpkin.

This was the first time this campaign we’ve had a friendly KO.

There were 21 bird calls made in this episode.

This campaign has now passed 1,000 d20 rolls. 1,052 total!

This campaign has also now passed 50 natural 20s. 55 total!

Joe Manganiello pops up on FaceTime, calling from the very fancy Gary Gygax Memorial DM Chair. As one does. There’s a brief discussion about amazing minis and casting him as Wolverine. Brian: “Dude, can you believe... that guy’s a nerd.”

Had Beau been involved in the infirmary debacle, Marisha suspects she’d be a lot less nice than Fjord.

If the team hadn’t picked up Ulog, he would’ve tried to infiltrate the High Richter’s house by himself partway through, and possibly could’ve ended up in an altercation with the party. There was also the chance of developing a rift with the Knights of Requital if things had gone badly in a different way.

Beau can step up to a leadership role when the group’s goals are in jeopardy, but it’s still generally rooted in selfish reasons.

Was the Rug of Smothering revenge for the magic carpet-related antics in the first campaign? Matt: “In hindsight, subconsciously, maybe?”

There was another chamber with some extra information they could’ve acquired, there were some challenges they avoided, but Matt doesn’t want to get into specifics in case the party decides to go back at some point.

Gif of the week: a valiant struggle against a flying foe.

Matt briefly considered having the Metagaming Pigeon make an appearance to drop a hint about mage hand, but decided it was more fun to bring it up after the fact.

If Fjord and Caleb had been actively in combat when she arrived, the High Richter would’ve turned around and brought in the guards instead of coming in alone. Many of the group could’ve wound up being arrested.

Matt is enjoying being able to space out the intense moments and give people a chance to explore their characters, especially after the constant intensity of high-level D&D at the end of the last campaign.

Everyone is delighted at the second username of the night that ends with a “69″.

Marisha suspects that Beau and Fjord might have similar morality beats, although Fjord’s better at holding his cards close to his chest.

Ulog’s item was a Necklace of Fireballs with only one use left. His final fatal attack was a last-ditch secondary plan in case things went south.

Marisha points out that Beau doesn’t know yet that Ulog’s dead.

Fanart of the week: a glimpse at the events at the end of the episode.

Matt placed the scroll purposely as an invitation for character drama: “I put it there knowing it was going to cause a ruckus... but I didn’t think it was going to cause that much of a ruckus.” Marisha: “Fuckin’ reality show director here.”

Marisha’s reaction to the ending was: “Wow, that escalated quickly!” Beau’s still in shock over all this, and right now her only thought is, “Run.”

Matt is a little defensive over people pointing out how many towers he’s brought down between the two campaigns (there’s a great back-and-forth where he points out that one of them was the party’s fault, but Marisha insists that they were inspired by a previous tower falling, and I’m really dodging spoilers here so let’s get out of this parenthetical). Marisha gets into how a tower is generally a symbol of power and established order.

Marisha points out that the whole party is trying to keep in mind that they’re just level 3 and they’re not established heroes, so they can’t run towards the problem the way VM could. Brian points out that VM was also already at will-die-for-each-other levels of loyalty at their big crisis point, whereas MN are still begrudging allies for the most part.

Matt, on the players now knowing to look for plot clues in smut: “I am so excited for them to be hoarding all the smut and have none of it inform anything for the rest of the campaign.” Later: “Please... please don’t keep doing that.” He loves the idea of some ultra-powerful future-seer in-universe hiding all this stuff in smut.

Matt is continually surprised at the weird parallels between the campaigns that keep creeping in here and there, like the intra-party conflict right before the big upheaval.

Marisha tries to RP her combat and find in-universe reasons to do new things. She’s looking forward to having the Cobalt Soul abilities really start to kick in. Matt points out that the Cobalt Soul abilities are situationally useful.

Asked about Lord Sutan being from the same family that lost the Plate of the Dawnmartyr in a game of cards last campaign, Matt says: “...maybe.”

Matt put in a few red flags for Ulog to see if the party would pick up on just how desperate he was (like giving away his life’s savings to the party).

There was an alternate plan out there for the party to learn about the Crick (that they can still avail themselves of), but the smut plot was made up on the spot as a tease of information.

Who does Beau trust the most in the Mighty Nein? Marisha: “Probably Jester, believe it or not. Jester’s the most open book thus far.” Brian asks to what extent she trusts what Jester says. “Beau thinks that Jester believes what she believes, and that’s enough for Beau. She sees her as being 100% forthright.”

Matt is enjoying being able to bring in these lower-level enemies he didn’t get a chance to use in the last campaign.

Dark Times at Talks Machina High on Alpha:

Pillow Matt is the true power behind the throne and gets his own splitscreen.

Matt had a plan in mind if the party had opted to turn in the Knights of Requital. They would’ve received a reward, gotten in good with the Crownsguard and the High Richter, and probably would’ve been invited to the Gala. It was possible that they could’ve taken plot hooks that took them further from the tower, and they may have only heard about the events of that night the next day.

Marisha feels like, compared to the other team, she and Jester did “pretty fuckin’ okay” at casing their building, and they even managed to retain their dignity.

Of everybody, Matt most fears the notion of Jester getting her hands on a Deck of Many Things.

Matt’s priority as a DM is always to keep his players excited and engaged. He finds D&D to be a great exercise in renewing friendships and relationships. Marisha has really come to appreciate the problem-solving aspects of the game.

Matt’s moving mouth has been superimposed on Pillow Matt. “What have you done.”

Information about VM is not common knowledge in the Empire, especially since Wildemount either wasn’t directly involved in or didn’t really believe a lot of the threats they faced. It would be a history roll for the current characters to learn more about them.

Matt does an alarmingly good Keyleth impression when Brian points out that Marisha’s perfect attendance means Matt’s never had to play her character.

Marisha recommends getting Dwarven Forge by running a D&D game at your work as a corporate team-building exercise. Some talk of tax fraud gets bandied around. It’s fine.

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long text post

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threadsketchier · 7 years ago

Note

sorry, but i don't really stay up to date with media or anything. I'm a star wars fan and i'm pretty excited for the new movie! in that meme you reblogged with the same reaction for fans/non-fans... i don't quite get it. Did the company do something bad? do other people just think it's not gonna be good? sorry for all the questions but i just wanted to stay informed xoxo

It’s a reference to the fact that a significant number of fans are dreading TLJ based upon their disappointment in the wake of TFA - and honestly, it’s not just limited to the major, outstanding offense of the OT characters’ arcs and achievements being backpedaled and undone. There have been other strange and upsetting things concerning Disney’s marketing and stewardship of the franchise, rumored plot choices, etc. that have marginalized characters like Finn and Rose in favor of Emo Band-Aid, or excluded Lando despite the longest running film time in the saga’s history and a plot that could have easily accommodated him, etc. etc.

I’m no cranky old gatekeeper looking to ruin everyone else’s genuine good time, and many of my dash peeps have explained this in much better fashion; I also prefer not to air my personal opinions too often to minimize Drama™ but given that we’re literally on the threshold of the film’s release, I’m a human being with feelings and I’m going to voice some of them if I feel like it.

I sincerely started out enjoying TFA and I do love the new characters. Just given where the new trilogy has gone, though, I would have preferred a different storyline or total separation between the old and new gang. As my fellow dash peeps have said countless times, there was absolutely no necessity - other than to follow today’s current depressing “everything must be awful to be interesting” trend - to craft a tale completely obliterating the happy ending of the original trilogy and the sensible character arcs of Han, Leia, and Luke:

Han Solo: selfish nerd with a deeply buried heart of gold who’d obviously seen and been through a lot of shit who needed the right people and encouragement to listen to his conscience again and stop being afraid to commit himself to both a good cause and a wider set of friends. Goes from “Better her than me!” to “[The temperature’s dropping too rapidly.] Yeah, and my friend’s out in it - I’ll see you in hell!” to “I’m sorry” to “When he comes back, I won’t get in the way.” His arc is about finding companionship, belonging, and emotional openness. He’s found a home and a family with these beautiful ragtag misfits.

Leia Organa: a fervently duty-bound young woman forged by trauma and pressed upon by staggering responsibilities into an icy diamond; she is hard and unyielding and unstoppable, and very emotionally repressed. She has lost so much and can’t afford to lose more. Yet a fluffy farmboy and a scruffy nerf herder worm their way into her heart. Goes from “We have no time for our sorrows,” and “[Well, Your Highness, I guess this is it.] That’s right.” to “I love you” to “…Hold me.” Her arc is also about emotional openness and embracing the hope and then reality that she can find love and gain a new family in spite of the destruction of her homeworld and the seemingly impossible war she helped lead.

Luke Skywalker: idealistic (yet pragmatic, in some ways) softboy who infectiously inspires everybody he comes in contact with to find the good within themselves, and has both a normal, down-to-earth bedrock upbringing and the strong personal moral compass to keep doing what he feels is right. Goes from “I guess I’m going nowhere” to “Take care of yourself, Han; I guess that’s what you’re best at” to “[I feel like I can take on the whole Empire myself!] I know what you mean.” to “I’m looking for a great warrior” to “You want the impossible” to “They’re my friends, I’ve gotta help them” to “You’ll find I’m full of surprises” to “Ben…why didn’t you tell me” to “I warn you not to underestimate my powers” to “I can’t kill my own father” to “I’ve accepted that you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father…Come with me” to “Soon I’ll be dead, and you with me” to “I feel the good in you, the conflict” to “NEVER!!!” to “You’ve failed, Your Highness - I am a Jedi, like my father before me.” He needed his dreams shattered to get a proper grasp on how to prevail in his circumstances - and the important part here is that he was already shattered in this trilogy, and put himself back together - but despite this, he kept on believing. He chose to see the humanity in his father and defy the Emperor, the ultimate representation of the Dark Side, by a moral rather than physical victory. He transcended the intentions of his teachers and became a Jedi in the truest sense by disputing his mentors and refusing to relinquish his devotion to his friends and an undeserving father. Although he lost said father, he had the satisfaction of saving and freeing his soul and finding reconciliation with him, along with gaining a twin sister and a whole lot of new friends in comparison to his former, lonelier moisture farming life, and was equipped to carry on the knowledge of the Jedi with his own experiences to renew their doctrines.

In the new trilogy:

Han is implied to be a restless ne’er-do-well who could never escape the impulse to take off and not be around for his family, rather than being grateful and satisfied to finally have a stable life and a loving wife and friends who deeply cared for him. He’s also painted as much more of an outright idiot and useless as a smuggler rather than a clever guy who just often finds himself in shitty situations

Leia is not allowed to hold on to anything in her life. She must not only bear witness to even more planets being ruthlessly and callously destroyed, her own child grows up to commit patricide and it’s heavily implied that his genocidal tantrums are her and Han’s fault for being neglectful parents, as though being a woman with a demanding career automatically makes it impossible for her to raise a child properly, and never mind the fact that less-than-perfect-parenting from two people who still clearly loved their son is the flimsiest excuse for anyone to commit any level of murder

Luke is also not allowed to pass on his knowledge and bear any fruit for his hard-won labors. His efforts to restore the Jedi go up in a flaming ruin, pointlessly bringing about a second shattering into his life for the express purpose of turning him into a grieving and bitter shadow of his former hopeful self who now abandons his found family rather than cleaving to them for support and encouragement as he always did before

The new films transform the OT into an ultimately hollow story in where there is no happy ending and nothing is learned and taken to heart. The characters are doomed to suffer forever and not grow logically from their experiences. This happens while we’re meant to get accustomed to the new team and watch them struggle to clean up the mess that apparently the older characters couldn’t fix after all. It fosters a sense of nihilism - no one will ever get it right, and each new generation will just keep wading through another war and another war while making the same mistakes their elders did.

It sounds a liiiiiiiiiitle too much like reality for a story that’s supposed to be a space fairy tale. If I want to be depressed, I’ll read the news. If I want to be happy, I’ll go watch a star war. Except oops, now I really can’t.

I’m well aware that plenty of folks don’t see it this way at all, and yes, duh, my response is biased. Like I said, if you love the new movies, more power to you; it’s still a (mostly) free world. But you asked, so I answered.

#my blabs #the airing of grievances #festivus for the rest of us #tell that to disneyklub #TLJ

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steverogersnotebook · 7 years ago

Text

Neighbors - Someone to Look Up to

NEIGHBORS

TJ Hammond and Steve Rogers (between TWS/CW) are neighbors who, after trying to find comfort on sleepless nights through baking and music, have forged a lasting friendship.

(my inbox is open for ideas, prompts and headcanons)

NEIGHBORS fluff | gen [platonic friendships] / Steve & TJ Hammond [SERIES of oneshots]

Many thanks to @avenger-nerd-mom for the idea behind this snippet (as well as her continued cheer-leading)

TJ let himself into Steve’s apartment, looked around the orange, brown, and black autumn decorations and saw why he’d heard the muffled “come in” when he’d rang. Steve was in an orange t-shirt and a black apron with a full-sized skeleton, and he was piping icing onto cookies.

“Um,” TJ hesitated, cleared his throat, and started again, “I hate to tell you this, because you look like you’re having a great time with those spooky cookies.”

“What?” Steve flicked his eyes toward TJ, not moving a muscle as his hand hovered over the latest perfect pumpkin cookie in the lineup. The piping bag stilled and a line of royal icing dangled from the tip.

“Well,” TJ’s voice rose an octave. “Parents don’t trust homemade treats. There have been too many urban legends about poison and people believe them. Then there are the dozen or so cases of pins or needles found in treats, which have clinics offering free x-rays of candy bags.”

“Why does everything have to be so –” Steve looked a bit deflated, and TJ felt terrible for opening his mouth.

“Shitty? I don’t know.”

“Why even do any of it then?” Steve set the piping bag to the side and broke the cookie in half that the stray icing fell onto. “Test cookie?”

“Yes, please. You know? Kids still get excited, they don’t typically know anything about the shitty stuff. Parents like to let ‘em dress up and they do the routine without making a big deal. I’m sure you can hand out cookies to the kids we know, whose parents know you. The rest we can take to the retirement home down the block. Unless you just wanna eat them all.”

“I’m sure I have a volunteer for that mission.” Steve smiled. “Y’ know, Ma used to call dressing up guising, she’d make soul cakes and she called trick-or-treating souling. It wasn’t ‘til I met Bucky that I knew that and trick-or-treating were one and the same.”

“Since you spend most of your life dressing up, have you decided not to?”

“Nope. I have a costume.”

“Oh really?” TJ asked around the bite of cookie. “I’m shocked. Or am I looking at it?”

“An actual costume. How about you?”

“I used to go to parties, not house-to-house. They were too busy for that. We did have a party once, at the farm. Apple bobbing, ghost stories around a bonfire, hay rides and scarecrows – please tell me you’re not going as a scarecrow?”

“Scared?” Steve laughed, before pulling back. “Sorry. If you’re scared – I mean…”

“As terrified as others are of clowns,” TJ laughed. “My brother was an idiot. He got his friends to prank me with a scarecrow. When I freaked out, he laughed and decided I should be a crow for Halloween or, as he put it, ‘a fraidy cat’.”

“Rest easy, it’s not a scarecrow. Or a clown. By the way, I was asking about your costume. Not that I’m not interested in your Halloween stories, because I am.”

“Oh, I might have to pick a different one,” TJ hesitated. Steve’s expectant look prodded him to continue. “I was actually going to be Tinkerbell.”

“Why would you have to pick a different costume? I hope you don’t think I’d judge something as important as self-expression?”

“I’m sure others will pick up the slack.”

“Do you have the costume? Maybe more important, do you have the legs for it?”

TJ laughed, relieved that he had one friend who was on his side, and amused at the important question. “Hell, yeah, I’ve got the legs for it.”

“Then do it.” Steve picked up another cookie, this time with no icing, and broke it in half. He chuckled as he offered the cookie. “We’re gonna look like a couple.”

“You’re gonna be a super-buff Peter Pan?” TJ asked, taking the cookie half.

“Pirate. Not Hook, but…” Steve stopped as TJ busted up laughing.

“But there’s no difference once people see Tinkerbell.”

“Exactly. Are you expecting anyone you’d rather not have think you’re seeing someone?”

“Cute dads,” TJ said with a smirk. “Single cute dads, of course.”

“Of course.”

“My homewrecker days are through. You really believed the Tinkerbell thing, didn’t you?”

Steve returned to the cookie side of the island and pushed a bowl and tray in front of TJ. “Ice these and talk to me. You do know I tend to take you at your word, right? You wanna be a jealous little pixie, you got the legs for it, like you said.”

“If I’m targeting single, cute dads, I need to be a little less over the top. I do think about it every year, but I just don’t have the guts.”

“You should do it. You’ll either love it and be glad you did, or hate it and know you don’t want to do it again. The one thing you won’t have to do is worry about whether you can pull it off or not.”

TJ was quiet, thinking about advice that he might not get from anyone else, even Nana would caution him to be careful because of his mother and the press. He concentrated on the outlines for the ghost cookies, and pondered where he’d get a decent costume on short notice.

~•~Ѽ~•~

Steve rushed to the door, plastic pumpkin full of candies in one hand, he hesitated as his free hand touched the knob. Taking a deep breath, he opened it, expecting to see costumed kids. He smiled wide when he saw TJ had followed through with his costume idea. “TJ, come in.”

“Hey, you look like a real swashbuckler,” TJ said as he entered the apartment, taking in Steve’s costume and the plastic pumpkin.

“And you weren’t kidding about your legs,” Steve laughed. “Remember, I traveled with showgirls. I know a great pair of gams when I see ‘em.”

“Whoa, gams huh?” TJ chuckled along with Steve. “I keep forgetting you’re older than Nana. You shoulda gone for the noir gumshoe if you’re gonna talk like that.”

“I lived through that era.” Steve shook his head, “Besides, I always wanted to be a pirate, the closest I got was a pair of Buck’s shorts that went below my knees, one of Ma’s scarves tied around my waist, and a hankie on my head. I wanted some boots or a hat, but those were too extravagant. I did cut an eye patch out of paper and scribbled it black with a piece of charred wood. I hated it, it looked ridiculous.”

“Sounds adorable,” TJ disagreed. “Is this your dream costume then? Your hat is very – commanding.”

“It’s over the top. I’m considering changing into my uniform, either of them.”

“As much as I love a guy in uniform, keep the pirate get-up. It’s Halloween, not work. That’s just cheating you.”

Just then, the doorbell chimed and a chorus of “Trick or Treat!” trailed after it.

“I guess I don’t have a choice.” Steve shrugged. “Why is this so nerve wracking?”

“Want me to get the first one? You can see how it’s done.”

“No. I should be able to manage this. They’re kids.”

TJ smiled and stepped away from the door, resisting the urge to mess with the skirt of his costume, or his wig. The door opened to three little ones, six and under if TJ guessed it right. Their parents stood across the hall, watching the trio. His smile grew as he noticed the littlest one, hiding behind a slightly bigger Harry Potter. The child’s blue costume was a little too big.

TJ wondered if Steve had spotted the tiny version of himself yet, and he stifled a giggle as he thought about the idea that he’d just talked Steve out of donning his super suit. He got his answer the second Steve saluted the child and lowered himself to one knee to offer the kid their choice of candies.

“Captain, are you keeping these wizards safe? Or are they keeping you safe?”

The tyke pulled a plastic shield up to hide their face, covering all but part of one brown eye.

“I think either way, it’s a very good plan. How about some treats?” Steve asked, careful to give the kid space.

Once each bag was a handful of candy heavier, they said “Thank you” in a staggered chorus. Steve and TJ both waved and wished them a Happy Halloween before closing the door.

“You did great,” TJ offered as he walked to the front window. “Looks like there will be more in a bit, they’re a building away.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Steve admitted. “You hungry? I’d thought about ordering a pizza, but decided to put one in instead. It should be ready in a bit.”

“Next time I’m ordering out so you can sit and relax.”

“It’s relaxing.” When TJ gave him the look, Steve leaned against the arm of the sofa. “You’re right, make it a local place and not a chain, and you have a deal.”

“As if I didn’t know that by now. That Mini-Cap was pretty cute.”

“They were all cute,” Steve countered. “You know, I should have talked you out of that costume after all.”

“I can’t tell if you’re serious or not,” TJ turned away from the window. “Why?”

“After I talked you into it, I had a dream about the show I did back in the war, when I took off after Bucky. A soldier yelled from the jeering crowd ‘nice boots, Tinkerbell’.”

“Flashbacks? You should have called me.”

“It didn’t bother me – well – doesn’t bother me. I was just teasing. Your costume is impressive. I’m glad you didn’t give in to self-consciousness.”

“There were a couple of minutes there,” TJ sighed. He put his hand into the pumpkin bucket, shuffling the candies inside. “You got the good stuff. Full size? Trick or treat!”

Steve laughed, “there are several packages, I know there will be plenty of extras, help yourself.”

“I’m fine, I’m holding out for pizza and some of those cookies. Did you end up doing soul cakes too?”

“Nah,” Steve was interrupted by the ringing doorbell. “Just the ghosts and Jack-o’-lanterns.”

TJ snickered as the door opened to a little more than a half-dozen kids, ranging in age from elementary to middle school. The older kids had turned word puns into their costumes. TJ thought it might be interesting to make a game of it and keep score.

He was rethinking his plan as Steve guessed every single one. TJ barely managed to figure out the slender girl in the cottony cloud costume with pictures tucked into the fluff: The Cloud, and there was the one he himself couldn’t figure out at all. A boy wearing a ponytail wig, a Starbucks cup, and the letters ‘R’ and ‘E’ on his chest: Ariana Grande.

The small ones were dressed as a fire fighter, two witches, and Max from Where the Wild Things Are. TJ was impressed that the only correction Steve received was that the witches were ‘princess witches’.

As that group left, two visitors replaced them. a two-foot Hulk with an Iron-Dad had Steve’s face alight. Hulk showed his muscles and roared. He held up his plastic Hulk fists, which were bigger than his little head. Steve crouched in front of him, “Can you show me your best Hulk Smash?”

The little green guy punched Steve’s palm, Steve groaned and rolled backward. With a smooth somersault, he landed upright on his feet.

“That was one super smash!” Steve announced with a grin, while TJ applauded both performances. Iron-Dad had a very cute smile as he pulled off his mask, and TJ chewed his lip before smiling back.

Hulk roared again before taking the offered candy and saying, ‘thank you’.

“Would you like a homemade cookie?” TJ found his guts and started toward the island, perfectly aware of how good his ass and legs looked walking away. “When he’s not moonlighting as a pirate, my neighbor here, is a great baker.”

“Sure, sounds great.”

TJ wrote his number on the napkin before placing one of his best ghost cookies in the center. “What about Hulk?”

“Hulk has enough candy to keep him green for the rest of the year.”

“I’m not going to take all the credit for that cookie, TJ decorated the ghosts.” Steve winked at TJ as he put a few more candies in Hulk’s bucket.

“It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

Steve’s grin was beyond devilish when he closed the door behind the pair. “He deserves to know how talented you are.”

“I’m improving, after almost a year.”

“Well, just wait until he hears you play. You did give him your number?”

“I did.” TJ was beet red and trying not to smile. “You’re a decent wingman. Thanks. He’s a very cute dad. couldn’t tell if he was single, but…”

“He was clearly interested. Just make sure he is single, you told me you weren’t into homewrecking.”

“Okay, remind me never to tell you anything.”

“No way, you tell me everything.” Steve laughed as he answered the door to another Captain America, this one in a tutu with blonde curls poking out of her helmet. She’d brought Thor and Falcon along. “My goodness, it’s a night for Avengers! Did you guys see Iron-Man and Hulk?”

“No. Have they been here?” Little Miss Cap asked.

“You just barely missed them.” Steve nodded, again getting on level with the children. “Look at you all. You look just like the bigger versions.”

“Hulk wrestled the pirate for his,” TJ announced. “Which one of you thinks you can beat this scallywag?”

“Tinkerbell? Did mean ole Captain Hook kidnap you again?” Falcon asked eagerly, “I would fight him for that.”

“You’ve mistaken my friend for nasty old Hook? No, Captain Blond Beard is my friend.”

“Oh, good. He’s a pretty big pirate.” Falcon admitted.

“I love your Tinkerbell costume. You look really neat.” The quiet Thor finally said. “I wanted to be Black Widow, but my mom said I had to be one of the boy Avengers.”

“I happen to know someone who knows the Black Widow,” Steve said, sitting back on his heels. “I’m pretty sure she’d be flattered. I think she might disagree with your mom, but she’d tell you to do what keeps you safe. I also know that if we had her ask Thor, he’d agree.”

“I think the Captain has some good advice.” TJ agreed, watching as the kids took candy and said, ‘thank you’. He looked down the hall as the kids left, seeing a couple of parents at the end of the hallway. They seemed stunned when the kids caught up to them, engrossed in whatever they’d been talking about. “Well, at least the mother didn’t hear us giving the ‘you be you’ talk.”

“Well, you know I wouldn’t get into a discussion of that sort in front of the kids, but in adult company, I’d have a few things to say.”

“More kids, more Avengers.”

“What? Aren’t they tired of us yet?”

“Not gonna happen.” TJ grinned, holding the door as one family approached followed closely by a second. A pop star, several pun costumes, a couple of princesses, a princess cat, two pirates, Jedi and Sith, and more superheroes filled the night and emptied several buckets of candy, ate cookies, and enjoyed both TJ’s Tinkerbell and Steve’s pirate.

Once the knocks and doorbell rings had tapered off, Steve pulled the ‘treats’ sign from his door and locked up after what he’d determined would be their final visitor. He looked at TJ where he was sitting on the sofa. The pizza had been removed from the oven sometime during the festivities, and TJ was piling pieces onto plates.

“You really think people are going to tire of you and your team?” TJ asked, looking up at him through glitter tipped false eyelashes.

“You really think Iron-Dad isn’t going to call you?” Steve countered, falling onto the sofa next to TJ. He took the plate TJ handed him. “There sure were a lot of little Avengers. I lost count.”

“Twenty-nine. Including eight mini-yous. I hope Iron-Dad is single and doesn’t throw the napkin away before seeing my lame attempt at a pick-up.”

“You were so shy, you shoulda been Bashful. You know one of the dwarfs?” Steve teased as he took a bite of the cold – but still good – pizza.

“Hahaha! You’re very funny. I just didn’t want to upset the little green guy.”

“Wise.” Steve chuckled.

“You were so nervous when this started. How do you feel now that it’s ended?”

“Like I could eat a whole pizza and a few cookies.”

“You were having so much fun with the kids, you didn’t give yourself time to eat. Did you even sneak a candy bar?”

“No. I figured after all of the sample cookies earlier…”

“Don’t you even think of finishing that statement. I’m the one who’s had to increase gym time.”

“You don’t have to come up every time I tell you I’m baking.” Steve shrugged. He put a large piece of his pizza slice into his mouth and shrugged again.

“I don’t come for the baking.” TJ tossed his head back against the sofa cushion. “You do know that right? I don’t come because of your hero status or your famous name. Fame sucks.”

“It has its moments,” Steve agreed. “But seeing those kids, happy and excited. They think some guy in tights is worthy of a Halloween costume?”

“They do. They plan their costumes with excitement too. You know, kids get these things in their heads and they don’t think twice. I want to be Captain America, but I’m a girl? Ok, make it a skirt. It’s not about tights, and you don’t wear tights anymore. That’s a combat uniform and you know it.”

“Thank you, TJ. I really didn’t expect to see anybody dressed as me, and as weird as it is, it’s really –” Steve set his plate aside and laced his fingers together across his middle, gazing up at the ceiling before turning to look at TJ. “– it’s just flattering, you know?”

“Only when you’re someone to look up to. When you’re the president’s kid, it’s far from flattering. Especially when you’re the family disappointment.”

“Yeah –” Steve sighed, “– well, I look up to you. As for being the family disappointment? No. You were let down. You know your father’s history, you know your mother’s ambition. Consider, coming from those examples, and the neglect you experienced, you and your brother made it.” He looked at TJ, knowing an argument was imminent. “Better late than never, you know?”

“Thank you, Steve.”

“It’s the least I could do. You still wanna deliver cookies with me tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Yes, I do.”

“How about a scary movie? No clowns or scarecrows, unless you’re feeling brave?”

“Not feeling brave. Not the least bit. Hit me with whatever else you’ve got.”

~•~Ѽ~•~

#neighbors #steve rogers #tj hammond #halloween #someone to look up to #trick or treating #⍟#my fic #halloween costumes #i know it's november 3 #tj might get a call #cute iron dad

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