#and she was part of a plot that basically destroyed his life. all his friends and family?

[kanerallels]

Still going insane about those OCs, BTW

[ninthprime]

now that hxh is officially coming back here's my attempt to count how many plots are going on at once right now

a plot: the kakin royal family, joined by beyond netero, has chartered an expedition to the forbidden dark continent on a huge whale ship with thousands of civilians. the hunter association signed on to join with the plan of actually sending the ship to a fake “new continent”, dropping off the family and civilians there, and then continuing to the real continent. the problem is the king of kakin is also using this expedition to force his fourteen (legitimate) children into a death match, with the survivor as heir

b plot: kurapika has discovered that kakin’s fourth prince tserriednich is in possession of the remaining scarlet eyes and, in order to get close to him, has signed on as a bodyguard to the fourteenth prince, baby woble, and her mom queen oito. as it turns out all the princes have autonomous nen beasts so this is a more complicated job than it looks. by which i mean at one point he gave up a substantial part of his life to possess a cockroach

c plot: to get more specific, kurapika has been trying to keep the peace by inviting the servants and bodyguards of the other princes to come to nen classes taught by him (read: he and fellow bodyguard bill are just forcibly opening their nen abilities), but a mysterious nen construct called “silent majority” killed most of woble’s other servants and now keeps killing people in the classes. there are apparently multiple people who can use nen in the classes already and who are mostly not telling him.

d plot: the three big mafia families of kakin (the hei-ly, xi-yu and cha-r) have been invited onto the ship mostly because their leaders are all illegitimately related to the king and been told to not cause any trouble…but the king’s illegitimate daughter morena, the new leader of the hei-ly and certified #gamergirl, actively wants to the destroy the world and is breaking the peace by spreading nen to her followers using her ability and letting them gain “levels” by killing people on the ship.

e plot: the phantom troupe has shown up knowing that hisoka will have followed them here and are trying to track him down and kill him. they’ve split into groups and the only group we’ve followed- phinks, feitan and nobunaga- have teamed up with the xi-yu and cha-r to deal with both hisoka and morena. during this we get an extended flashback about how the phantom troupe used to be tween anime dubbers and originally became criminals to track down those who killed their friend.

f plot: unbeknownst to the phantom troupe, the xi-yu’s underboss hinrigh has already met with hisoka (or at least someone who looks a lot like him) and given him a passage to the top level, where the royal family is, because the mafia knows a fight against hisoka will be more trouble than it’s worth while also trying to stop morena. in other words: hisoka is going to where kurapika is

g plot: tserriednich, the previously mentioned guy with the eyes, is also a misogynist serial killer and has gotten interested in nen, so his bodyguard theta has decided to teach him nen herself in order to slow him down and potentially stop him. unfortunately he’s a nen genius and has already developed an ability that lets him see into the future and overwrite reality by reacting accordingly, which he used to get out of theta shooting him. his nen beast has now marked theta for lying to him twice and will make her “no longer human” if she lies a third time.

h plot: melody, hired to be here by kurapika, attempted to sneak the teenage twin tenth and eleven princes off the ship only for the tenth prince (and the other hunter she was working with) to be killed, revealing the princes cannot leave the ship. thankfully the tenth prince kacho’s nen beast is basically her ghost. melody is now likely going to have to deal with an investigation into her actions and has also noticed that eleventh prince fugetsu is rapidly having her nen depleted. kaiser, a member of the justice bureau, claims to have fallen in love with melody after she performed her music for the ship and intends to help her, but melody doesn’t trust him and thinks he’s using manipulation nen on himself. oh and a large amount of the princes have invited her to perform for them, including tserriednich.

i plot: first prince benjamin, a nen user, has control of the military and has used his customary status as firstborn to send one of his guards to each of his younger siblings, which in at least one case led to a successful kill (the eighth prince). he’s in lockdown currently however because second prince camilla, also a nen user with an extremely powerful ability that seems to prevent her from being killed, attempted to kill him herself, and the justice bureau on the ship is trying to figure out who started what.

j plot: camilla has a group of ultra-loyal guards from the lower caste who have developed nen curses to kill her siblings in exchange for their own deaths. their captain, sarahell, has been developing a curse on woble and intends to attend kurapika’s class to deploy it.

k plot: ninth prince halkenburg, a baby marxist who progressive civilians and the younger princes both see as a potential savior, tried to kill his father and then himself after the first death in the succession battle and got stopped by nen beasts both times. he has responded to this by going apeshit and developing an ability that appears to allow him to put the souls of his guards into other people. his testing of this involved having one of his men shoot himself while in the body of one of benjamin’s men, so benjamin has him arrested now too.

l plot: third prince zhang-li’s nen beast is dispensing mysterious coins and zhang-li is dispensing said coins amongst his guards as well as to melody, whose performance he liked. zhang-li also appears to be hiding that he’s actually the son of the king’s illegitimate half-brother onior, the head of the xi-yu, who he’s asked to look into the last succession battle.

m plot: hanzo and bisky, also hired to be here by kurapika, were working as bodyguards for the twelfth and thirteenth princes until the twelfth prince was the first death of the war. the kindergarten-aged thirteenth prince’s stress in response to his sister dying now appears to have led his nen beast to trap their group in some sort of reality bubble. bisky had to reveal her battle form to head servant vergei to explain nen and what was happening, which has mostly just led to vergei getting a mad crush on her.

n plot: izunavi and basho are also here on kurapika’s behest guarding the sixth and seventh princes, who both have not done much yet; sixth prince tyson has a mysterious religious creed that izunavi has convinced her to pass onto her father and seventh prince luzurus mostly likes to smoke weed everyday but seems surprisingly perceptive and, more importantly, apparently funds the cha-r.

o plot: despite being a deranged maniac, tserriednich has a group of childhood friends working fairly standard military guard positions on the lower floors; they’re trying to find out more about nen after picking up that the hei-ly, which tserriednich was allied with before morena took over, are using it.

p plot: fifth prince tubeppa, aware she has few allies and little knowledge of nen, has been trying to meet with kurapika for a while. the literal last thing teased before this hiatus was her bodyguard longhi revealing to kurapika that she knows nen and kurapika agreeing to meet with tubeppa.

q plot: the rest of the phantom troupe has split off: machi and franklin are both on their own (but nobunaga wants to go get franklin), chrollo is making a plan with shizuku and bonolenov that appears to involve a disguise ability bono has, and illumi joined the troupe on hisoka’s request so they could have a yaoi death battle and is with kalluto. speaking of which:

r plot: mizai ran into illumi and kalluto and has them staying in a room in the quarters the zodiacs are using. he’s currently trying to figure out whether he should be telling kurapika the troupe is on the ship or not, knowing it could risk the well-being of both woble and kurapika himself. (he also secretly gave melody clearance to try to save the twins.)

s plot: beyond netero is still in lock up and being watched by members of the zodiacs. he hasn’t done anything yet, but it has been implied he’ll try to escape at the fake “dark continent.”

t plot: ging and pariston have a group allied with beyond who are going to the dark continent themselves; ging joined because he knows pariston must be up to something. it remains ambiguous whether they have their own boat or are on the whale somewhere.

u plot: leorio and cheadle are working at an understaffed clinic near the zodiac headquarters, meaning that once again Leorio Is Just Offscreen

v plot: a random member of the cha-r is trying to get the autographs of the phantom troupe members. this has been used to dispense plot info about how far we are from being out of contact with land. pray for his success

TOTAL PLOTS COUNT: 22

[alastorsfuckassbob]

You're Never Fully Dressed-

Alastorxfem!reader

oh boy everyone's favorite! Please I have never written before, I just figured I'd give it a shot it was 1:35 and I was not feeling sleepy so an hour later here it is, its not edited so SORRY ABOUT THAT- all of my friends are normal and would definitely not proof read this hot garbo!

Basic Plot!! Yikes another song fic i know i KNOWW, the reader knew our good pal Al in her life but oopsies he "left" her (he died duh) and now shes taking a sad hot girl bubble bath to reminisce!!

Lyrics are bolded, past events Italics for the most part.

ALSO Please DNI if you're a minor k thanks bye!! You are responsible for your own internet consumption, so here are the warnings! If you don't want to view that ✨dont✨

Warnings include:

-Swearing

-Violence

-Alcohol Use but not abuse! (its hell duh)

-Abusive Relationships

-Slight Innuendo but not a strong one!

-Angst

The fire danced, flitting left and right. It was different than any other fire set in hell, it wasn't meant to hurt anyone or destroy anything. It was just a small flame, melancholically melting the dripping wax down the white lilac scented pillar. Floral scents were hard to come by unless you made them yourself, it was hell after all, its not like theres a flower garden planted on every corner. The candles single wick didn't produce more than a drop of light. It just flickered every now and then, entertaining its own little lonesome sway. Your demeanor softened as you looked at it from the petal filled bath you currently resided in.

Oddly you felt at peace, understood, almost comforted. You had learned to dance the same way it seemed. You caught yourself when you fell, twisting and turning to please an audience. It was a cruel existence. At least the flame looked content in some way, at least it would never know what it was like to contort under the will of another. Yet it was still a light in darkness, shining for no other reason than to survive...All it could ever do was take, even if it didn't want to, fire needs to burn. To burn it must destroy. You sighed sinking deeper into the bubbly water. You didn't want to think about your past. Not anymore. You didn't have to anymore anyway. Life had not been kind to you and that constant displeasure followed you through your death and into the pits of hell. Funny how suffering could follow biting desperately at your heels and the man who was so "desperately" in love with you in life just couldn't find it within himself to stay...God you sounded bitter. To be fair you were. After all he had ruined your life and he didn't even know it...It wasn't that bad was it? You probably would still be in hell regardless, even without his "involvement" or lack of- you had always been a sinner. It wasn't worth it to be upset, not anymore he's most likely dead, you definitely are, whose to say if he'd even wind up down here. You paused a moment, laughing at the silly conclusion overthinking had led you to.. no that fucker is definitely in hell. Sweet as he was up front, he had a dark side that went much deeper than his soft exterior could cover. You closed your eyes..

1923- Central New Orleans

Suddenly it was 1923. The flower lined streets of late spring in New Orleans. His smile never wavering as he dragged you from store to store. As your dear companion, and biggest supporter, he had asked you to assist him at the radio station. Now that you had finished school you would need a job anyway. You'd always had a beautiful voice and a knack for writing. It just made sense. His hand squeezed yours lightly pulling you from your thoughts. In his hands, he held a burgundy day dress and a matching bow.

"Darling, would you try this on for me? I believe it is high time you were rewarded for all of your hard work. I believe you would simply sparkle in this color"

You smile softly at his gentle tone, taking the delicate dress in your hands. You find yourself caught in his eyes. It feels like you two are the only people on the planet

You feel the familiar sensation of tears on your face, you open your eyes again, you hadn't realized you'd started crying.

you let out the shrill scream you didn't know you were holding in. the fluke of champagne you had so tediously been savoring since you began your bath cracked slightly. You downed the rest of the glass, and grabbed the bottle sitting lazily on the floor. You didn't want to think about him or your life anymore...but it consumed you. You had so many more important things to fret about in your..current..environment. Songs to sing, bitches to kill, people to fuck. A grand glorious array of newer shinier problems, and yet you were stuck sulking about the past. You take a deep breath shaking slightly despite the warm vanilla scented water surrounding you. You remove your hand from the water motioning to the shadow hiding behind a vase (of no more than slightly wilted roses). It slinks forward at your beckoning, climbing to the white marble countertop of your vanity, it clicks the worn down knob of your rickety old radio. light jazzy music trickles out and fills the air with lovesick nostalgia you weren't entirely prepared to let in. No matter what he had done...you would always fall back to him. Even if he was nothing more than ill-fated failed fourteen year "endeavor". fourteen years is quite a long time, even if the majority of it was spent more or less platonically. You really did love him. Love doesn't always follow those that leave, you are testimony and truth to that. You let your mind wander guided by the static filled notes of the radio.

Hey, hobo man

Hey, Dapper Dan

You've both got your style

But brother

You're never fully dressed

Without a smile!

Even through the shudder of the static, it really did sound like him. Despite being the "host" of the station. He had his fair share of performances. For such a Hell bound soul he had the voice of an angel.

You close your eyes once again and allow the melody to take you back to an easier time.

1926- New Orleans, Your apartment

You sing along with whatever tune the radio gives you. You're at peace, simply existing for no other reason than to be with your friend.

"Dance with me my little canary, your voice lights a fire within me"

He pulls you in by the waist. His hands splayed across your hips holding them with a gentleness you'd never expected him to hold for you. He leans his head down against the yours and places a chaste kiss on your forehead

"Alastor" you giggle, the sensation tickling you slightly. "You are quite ridiculous"

"Ridiculous?" he feigns hurt. "My darling I am so far from ridiculous the word does not find sense within my ears" he spins you around and into his chest, you roll your eyes ignoring his antics

"Dearest are you aware you are speaking with the future of radio?"

"The future of radio? Please Love, don't jest. The 20s surely have more in store than you" You laugh into his chest and he shockingly laughs with you.

Neither of you know it but you are both so drunk on the sound. To you, his laugh sounds like the swift church bells that used to ring throughout your home town whenever someone got married. It feels familiar and yet like a distant memory. It makes you want to hear it over and over again until your ears stop working, and even then you'd settle in just fine feeling the vibrations of his chest. He sounds like home. To him, your laugh sounds like the rushing creek and smooth algae covered stones resting deep beneath the trees draped in Spanish moss of his mothers cabin in the woods. Just hearing your laugh he can feel the spotted sunlight speckling his freckled face underneath the big willow tree. You sound like home. Everything about you- it felt like home to him. His hands were crafted to hold soft curves of your body. His ears were made to hear your voice and your voice alone. You were purpose, his home. You don't know it, but it is that realization that sparked the idea of marriage into his heart.

That fire was put out not long after.

You at least had those nine years as his friend, three years as his "copain" if you will- and two years as his fiancée...and so many years alone. You only spent 14 years in the company of this man. You had lived before knowing him a good 17 years, and a good long bit after.

Why were you so stuck?

You hum along subconsciously, the objects in your bathroom begin to glow a familiar pink, levitating slightly in the air as you continue to hum. Your ability isn't weak by any means, but for some reason you were. You were nothing in comparison to hells overlords, especially the newest trio of Vs. Your power is so deeply connected to your voice, how can you hold power when it doesn't belong to you anymore? You drift back to the memory of your arrival. Scared, alone, dressed a great deal less than modestly, and equipped with nothing more than a pair of horns, some wings you couldn't quite use yet, and a thin devil like tail. It was only your third hour in hell. You didn't understand the rules. You were playing a twisted game in which you didn't realize you were just another piece of.

Shock can make a person anxious and fear will make them stupid. He was tall and smelled distinctly of cigars, soured whiskey, and something pungently sweet you couldn't name. It burned your nose as you inhaled it. You would become well aquatinted with the smell of lust in the years to come, you just didn't know it yet. It seemed innocent at first, just a simple contract, no different than a job. All you had to do was sing and dance at a club, in exchange for safety. But it was different and it wasn't innocent. He was cruel and yet no different than so many of the men you had dealt with in life. He agreed to your terms of anonymity and thats about it. You had your private life and his life. Valentino never played fair. You didn't know that yet, and now you're hells favorite sinner, a least no one knew it was you. If he had asked you another day later you would have realized you could have probably fended for yourself, with some difficulty anyway. At least you wouldn't have to be in this mess. You wouldn't be fucking six people before noon. You wouldn't be constantly covered in bruises and scars...Maybe you could have found him, Alastor that is. Maybe you could have at least been friends again. Its silly to hope for anything more since your romantic relationship ended...✨the way it did✨

Your clothes may be Beau Brummelly

They stand out a mile

But brother

You're never fully dressed

Without a smile!

1931- New Orleans, The river

The two of you sit beside each other in a small wooden row boat. Your hair is tied back with your signature crimson ribbon. He fiddles with the pocket of his jacket. The Louisiana soundscape of crickets, frogs and running water accompanies your conversation. Fireflies light up the air, almost bringing the stars down to your fingertips. With a buzz and a gentle green glow, the small creature lands on your hand. Your smile leaks wonderment and Alastor can hardly contain the love he feels for you.

As a Radio Host, he is quite agile in the way of words, yet something about you has him constantly at a loss. He takes a deep breath, unsure of what to say his voice wavers as he begins to speak.

"y/n, I want to thank you for the effect you've had in my lif-"

"My love look at the stars!" You didn't mean to cut him off, Your arms stretched upwards your face turning to meet his. The stars were so much brighter then they were in the city, it was only natural for you to be excited

"Yes doll, I see them, they're the same as they were last night and many many nights before hand"

You let out an impatient huff

"that doesn't make them any less beautiful." a mischievous glint hides in your eyes "now wouldn't it be so dreadfully terrible if I got bored looking at you just because I've already seen you before?" You fake a yawn and look at him eyes seething with boredom

"It would be so dreadful considering I was about to propose to you"

There is no other word to describe what you felt other than shocked. You had been an item for quite some time, but you never figured he would stick around (and "seal the deal" if you will).

Tears begin to run down your face rambling small words of agreement and love. You had never expected him to..love you that way. He was who he was, a dreadfully popular radio host, and you weren't really anything more than an assistant. People really only listened for him..yet in this moment, he was speaking only for you.

"I love you so dearly my y/n. If life without you exists I do not want to exist through it"

Who cares what they're wearing

On Main Street

Or Saville Row

1934: New Orleans, Alastor's house

The house was empty. He was gone. Fully and truly gone. It had been a year since you'd seen or heard from him and six months since the birth of your son. It didn't feel like your house, it didn't feel like your life anymore. It was all still his. His things still bled into your side of the closet, his last purchase, a book, dust encrusted and unread. The blankets and pillows set on the couch exactly as you both had left them after falling asleep to the rain the night before he left wordlessly. You found yourself sporting one of his shirts more often than your own...until eventually they didn't smell like him anymore. The whole house used to reek of his signature vanilla smell. Theres nothing left here but dust and the crooked board of the desk he insisted he could build himself "just fine".

It's what you wear from ear to ear

And not from head to toe

That matters

1936- New Orleans; ✨that shitty bar you performed at✨

"Get the fuck up you bitch"

You felt his hand tangle in your hair and pull you to your knees. All you could do was groan in pain.

"I'm so sorry it won't happen again I promise"

You mutter almost to yourself. He rolls his eyes shoving you into the counter smashing a glass in the process. Your vision blurs for a second seeing the glass shards decorating your h/c locks in a halo. You feel the blood trickle down your forehead.

"Do you think anyone else would hire you? A whore with nothing to her name and a useless ugly bastard child from god knows who?" You feel angered at his words. Insulting you is one thing, but your child?

But then it sinks in, he's right. The 30s are a sick decade, nothing progressive about them. No one else would hire you. You are lucky to work here..despite it all. You tell yourself anything is better than living on the streets. The mantra doesn't dull the pain but it makes it easier to put up with. You don't have a choice. You have a child to take care of.

"Get rid of him"

you stay silent unsure if you heard him correctly.

"Get rid of the boy. I don't care if you leave him in a box on the street or kill him yourself"

He reaches for a small silver knife under the bar's counter. He places it against your throat.

" y/n..You won't like it if I do it dearest, besides you are saving him the shame of having a mother like you. At least if he's adopted elsewhere he has a chance at a half decent life" he took a deep swig from his un-shattered glass of whiskey, looking at you with such deep distain.

You had never hated anyone the way you hated that man..But he was right. You would never be able to give your baby the best life. It would never get better because you couldn't make it better. So you found a young couple not to far from New Orleans, they took him in, and he got to be happy. he ended up living a successful life. He still is. If nothing else theres that. You know your own misery doesn't automatically allow others to be happier, but at times its what keeps you going.

Your mind is flooded with more and more thoughts. Thousands of little memories pilling themselves on top of you. Who would've thought, even deceased, even owned by Valentino, even trapped in an ever so violent place, the real plight of hell would be your thoughts. You light a cigarette and get out of the tub. You throw on a dark red robe and sit on the vanity's counter to brush your damp hair. The song continues into a jazzy interlude before it reprises again

Your clothes may be Beau Brummelly

They stand out a mile

But, brother

You're never fully dressed

You're never dressed

Without a smile

You stretch out your wings in the mirror, looking at your demonic self. No matter how many times you catch yourself in the mirror, even after ten years of this hellish existence. It still strikes you as odd. You look more or less the same. The same hair color and skin tone, although slightly more grey. The tail was just fucking weird no matter how long you had it. The song erupts into the finale distracting you from your thoughts. You begin to sing along with it, smiling softly. It really does sound like him. The same pink glow takes over the room as well as your body, Your eyes begin to glow that same soft pink, your hair floating above your shoulders.

Who cares what they're wearing

On Main Street

Or Saville Row

It's what you wear from ear to ear

And not from head to toe

You're never fully dressed without a smile

The last line comes out much quieter than the rest. A sense of sadness overtakes you once again as you realize how pathetic this whole night turned out. You'd spent the whole night "Simping", as Velvette would say, over a relationship that ended decades ago. Yikes. The static from the radio clicks up a few notches, You cover your ears at the sudden noise. You quickly reach for the dial in order to turn off the device..And then you hear it. You hear him.

"Dearest.." Its almost unintelligible through the static

You think you've finally fucking lost it. Ten years in Hell and you've officially gone "delulu"...another Velvette saying but it feels fitting.

“y/n.”

He called softly, the static in his voice heavy and nearly unreadable.

You almost didn't believe it.

"Y/n" He repeats the static fizzling out leaving his voice raw and almost natural. Fuck this was real. You didn’t respond. You didn’t know how to. You weren't sure if he could even hear you..how he would respond? Would it be worse if he did? It had been an entire decade since you fell, All of this time- he never bothered to contact you. Why now? Why so much later?... Had he forgotten about you? Did he just..die? You cant discern which is worse...that he had left you and your son and lived a long guilt free life...or that he made no attempt to even speak to you in the decade you had inhabited the same existence.

Ok that was all like exposition and shit..considering part two but I AM VERY TIRED RN

[exactlycleverpirate]

Timeline from Xavier's Perspective Part 1

EDIT: This has been updated to include the endings of all myths as well as some other information.

(Includes spoilers for basically everything, including all myths.)

This is an update of my earlier post. Part 2 here.

If you are interested in more speculation than facts, check out my Half-baked Theories and Wild Theories About Rafayel. For an in-depth exploration of Rafayel’s story, see What Happened to Lemuria and Rafayel and Rafayel's Timeline Redux Part 1. For current game story see Love and Deepspace: the Story So Far Part 1.

Timeline from Xavier's perspective (Part 1/Philos):

Xavier is born on Philos. He is the Crown Prince of the royal family. Life is connected to the core of Philos, making him and most people on Philos immortal while the planet remains. Philos has a fake core that is holding together the separate tectonic plates of former Earth. Travel between these plates is difficult (no oceans?).

214 PT (Philos Time) Xavier went to school with MC in year 214, which is 214 years after the destruction of earth. MC has a fatal heart condition. Some of the professors lived on Earth before its destruction. Xavier is under constant guard and has little freedom. (Anecdote 3)

217 PT MC and Xavier become friends and fall in love. She gives him the star charm tassel that she made.

Xavier finds out MC is dying. They go on a date to see a meteor shower by a salt flat. After this, Xavier disappears for a month.

MC escapes the hospital to go to the salt flat. Xavier finds her there and has the protocore that is supposed to be able to save her, but it is too late. She dies in his arms. Xavier promises to seek her out in her future lives.

Zayne's Myth. Zayne guards the Creatio protocore in a frozen tower as a Foreseer of Astra. The royal family sends him emissaries seeking a prophecy every 100 years, but they never return. MC is a gardener with a fatal heart condition and is seeking the Creatio protocore to save her life. (Is this the same protocore that Xavier found in her first life on Philos?) Zaybe says if she can make the jasmine on the balcony of the Tower bloom, she can go free.

MC and Zayne have been stuck in a loop, where MC seeks out the Creatio to heal her dying heart, Zayne falls in love with her, she dies, his memories are erased (but preserved as fragments in an illusory jasmine garden), and she is reincarnated to do it all again. This is happening because of some sort of resonance link between MC and the Creatio, which makes it so the Creatio can power itself by draining her life.

After the jasmine on the tower blooms, Zaybe remembers what has happened to them in the past. Zayne breaks the cycle by fusing the Creatio to MC's heart, healing her. He is then locked in an eternal slumber in the Tower of Thorns behind an eternal blizzard as punishment by Astra. MC is free, and her heart appears to be healed, but she can no longer get to Zayne.

30,000 PT Assuming the seas dried up when Earth was destroyed and became Philos, Rafayel's Myth takes place around this time. MC was born from the depths of the earth. She has a special heart that makes the people of Philos immortal and is guarded in a palace, treated as a princess, and not allowed to leave.

Child MC is gifted a young Rafayel as a Lemurian slave. She sets him free. (Rafayel later tells her he allowed himself to be caught on purpose.)

MC meets Rafayel as adults while she is attempting to escape the palace. He helps her. They continually meet up and she learns he was the boy she released as a child. Rafayel, Amund, and other Lemurians are killing human nobles. Rafayel tells MC this is not out of revenge, but rather somehow part of an effort to restore Lemuria/the oceans. MC asks how she and Rafayel can be bound as he never gave her one of his scales. He says their bond was formed when the oceans still existed. MC has vague memories of living in a hut on the Island of Songs surrounded by ocean. 

Rafayel and Amund are plotting to recover “the God of the Sea’s (Rafayel’s) heart from MC by cutting it out with a dagger on the Island of Songs. However, the heart must be given willingly. Rafayel is uncertain whether the legends are true about killing MC to restore the oceans and Lemuria. Per the legend, the goal seems to be attaining Absolute Power. According to the legend, “Lemurians who seeketh Absolute Power: Combat the treacherous tides. Dive into The Deep for pearls. Find a true love. When blessed with a true love’s kiss, claim her heart by your own hand. A heart, pure, flawless-and filled with love. It is the best offering humans can give to Lemurians. -Lemurian Ruins, Slate No. 0065, Lemuria: Tome of the Sea God”. (Amund has served multiple Gods of the Sea over the centuries. Are these all reincarnations of Rafayel or are there multiple Gods of the Sea?)

6 months after Rafayel and MC celebrate her birthday, he and Amund take her to the Island of Songs, which she recognizes. She remembers her past life with Rafayel and realizes that Rafayel will fall into eternal slumber and the seas will never be restored if she does not return his heart. She offers to cut it out, but Rafayel refuses, saying he and the Lemurians will have to find their own way to change to story. He attempts to erase her memories and sever their bond to save her. Rafayel calls her his beloved bride.

MC is returned to the palace with no memories of Rafayel, but she watches the blue fish he gave her when they were young and slowly begins to remember. Hearing that the Lemurians are on the verge of being captured, and remembering that Rafayel intends to leave, she runs out of the city to find him, her memories and their bond once more intact.

Unsure how to resolve things, they set out on a camel across the desert to find Whalefall City. Amund is with them. Rafayel suggests that somehow by going to Whalefall City, he’ll be able to show her the sea. (Based on the Tender Moment, Whalefall Lament, it seems likely that Whalefall City is the name of the Lemurian city under the sea that Rafayel grew up in as a child on Earth.) The blue fish in the palace turns into a scale, presumably the one he gifted her to form their bond.

Xavier meets MC again at a Philos Academy as knights in training, sometime near the end of Philos’ life as a planet. Jeremiah goes to the Academy too. Xavier is the Crown Prince, but avoids returning to the royal family, remaining at the Academy instead.

During his Gladius Ceremony in the Starfall Forest, Xavier discovers that the forest contains the hollow heart of Philos and consumes people to power the long-dead core. This creates Wanderers. Xavier realizes protocores used to contain hearts. MC notices his attitude/demeanor changes noticeably after this trial. He rejects his role of Crown Prince after this.

The king dies, and Xavier disappears for about 200 years. 

MC and Xavier meet up again while investigating Starfall Forest. Jeremiah is part of MC’s squad. Xavier reveals what he learned about the forest to MC. He tells her that the royal family used to send human sacrifices into the forest. Then they discovered a truly immortal person who could die and come to life over and over, continually powering the planet. MC does not realize he is talking about her. She realizes the woman who gave him the star tassel is the same woman who reincarnates.

Xavier begins planning a backtracking expedition through spacetime in order to find a way to save MC and Philos. Jeremiah decides to join the team. MC decides to stay and become Queen to protect the people of Philos until Xavier can return. Xavier says that when he returns, he will be her knight. She gives him her little star badge, saying she knows that it can't replace the star tassel. He tells her only one person has ever given him a little star, but she doesn't understand what he means.

Xavier leaves MC’s service, and she fakes his death, claiming he died with honors. He is viewed as a traitor by the people of Philos. MC does not believe he will ever return.

Timejump.

See Part 2 here for Earth Timeline

A thought: Is the reason that MC is considered the only true immortal because she has or is connected to Rafayel/The God of the Sea’s heart? Lemurians appear to be naturally immortal, though not undying.

[lesbianabril]

My S6 BTVS rewrite

I know this season has a lot of haters but I actually love season 6, I don't mind the depressing parts (meaning: most of the season) because I think it all makes sense for where the characters are at, and I think that after fighting a literal God having a season where the villain is Life really works storytelling-wise.

Having said that, though, I think that a lot of things could have been handled better and since all I have are correct opinions I'm gonna tell you what those are.

1. Willow's magic addiction

Basically I think they went too far when the magic became drugs in the most basic sense, when they start acting like she's "taking a hit" every time she uses it.

I think all of the important plot points could have been kept while making willow's addiction to magic about her need to be in control of everything (and everyone). Up to Tabula Rasa I wouldn't change anything, her use of magic is wrong because she starts using it to bend the world at her will, empowered by having successfully brought Buffy back to life.

After Tara leaves her she starts using even more magic while being reckless with it, she injures Dawn and she commits to stop using it because she realizes it wasn't healthy for her or for the people she loves.

I would eliminate Rack and his stupid crack house hide out, and everything that has to do with the physical withdrawal of going "cold turkey".

I think this also makes Willow responsible for her actions, while making magic = literal heroin absolves her of the blame, in the end. The fallout of having to deal with her dependence of it would also be way more compelling.

2. Spike's attempted r4pe

I would keep their toxic relationship and everything that led up to that god-awful bathroom scene, my only change is that I would make it so Spike is trying to turn her instead.

Hear me out. It would make a lot of narrative sense because all through the season he's trying to convince her she's a dark being just like him, he wants them to be equals because he doesn't think himself worthy of her so he's trying to lower her to his level. So, after Buffy rejects him again he's not thinking clearly and, in his desperation, tries the only thing he swore himself he wouldn't do since he loves Buffy because of her goodness.

After it happens, Buffy feels betrayed, Spike leaves and decides to try to get to her level, to truly change himself instead of trying to change her.

This is a minor thing too but in this rewrite after Spike leaves we don't know where he went and we don't see him again until the start of s7 when he already has his soul. I know this couldn't be done because of James Marsters' contract but in my dream s6 we don't know what happened to him so when we see him again everything about his sudden disappearence and current mental state is a mystery and we find out along with Buffy.

3. Xander dies instead of Tara

Ok maybe this one is based on my dislike of Xander and my love of Tara but I think this would work really well:

Willow and Tara haven't gotten together yet, Willow is working on her more controlling tendencies and they're just friends right now. When Warren shows up Buffy is in the garden with Dawn and Xander went up to Willow's room to talk to her, so both Buffy and Xander get shot, Dawn takes Buffy to the hospital and dark Willow is born after she's not able to revive Xander.

After that things are mostly the same, only this time we get a grieving Buffy trying to deal with the sudden loss of both of her best friends. She's devastated and a part of her says that yes, Warren deserves to die.

After everything happens and Willow is close to destroying the world, Tara is the one who shows up, she appeals to Willow's humanity and, through her love and compassion, saves the world.

[hazardsk8r]

king/agentswapped purple backstory post

(purple and gold use they/he/she pronouns)

so i might’ve lied when i said in a community post that purple isn't gonna get swapped with anyone because i now decided that in this au, purple gets swapped to have two roles.. king and agent. let me explain.

basically purple and his mom (pink is divorced from navy thank god) decided to go into the fair and go into the minecraft irl thing and purple is like super excited to try it out. pink wanted to watch purple play the game at first, but purple, wanting to experience it with his mom, told her she could join, so she obliged, wanting to make her son have a good time and to be happy.

everything was going smoothly until errors start popping up and the people running the thing go like “oh shit” and pink and purple notice too and also go like “oh shit”.

they managed to run out of the game and try to make it to the door. by some kind of miracle, the door opens and pink was able to push purple out of the door before sucking her straight into the game.

so you can tell how that affected purple.

purple obviously began to hate the game, and started plotting on how to get his mom back. replace king shenanigans with purple.

one day he meets gold, who has related to purple’s situation as she also has a dead mom, so they want to help him in any way that they can.

so purple came up with a plot to destroy minecraft and take out all the resources from it in order to bring his mom back into the world. and gold was like “okay! whatever you want!” as he just wanted purple to be happy… (and also the fact that she also sees him as the cool older sibling that she wanted to have. so yeah)

so yeah. avm s3 shenanigans ensue, silver and their friends get trapped in a parkour course that gold led them to, they all make it out and now have to do side quests. (/silly)

throughout the way, gold manages to grab the minecraft icon and hands it over to purple, so then purple goes like “okay thank you i don’t need you anymore now” which obviously upset gold, so she runs off to another universe.

yada yada yada everyone ends up coming back and ganging up on purple and trying to stop them from destroying minecraft. purple unleashes a laser beam at gold who tries to run to purple. they both have a very sad sequence and purple realizes the weight of their actions, so he goes to hug gold.

and now everything is normal, right?

silver and their gang forgives gold but sees purple too, silver tries to come up to purple and tell him that they understand purple and stuff. but before they could finish their sentence, purple, being overwhelmed with guilt, grief and anger, runs away. refusing silver’s hand at forgiveness.

for a long time, purple has been hiding away in the treehouse grieving his mom all over again and having a shit ton of guilt over the whole s3 ordeal. gold tries to keep contact with purple and tell them that they’re both still friends, but over time purple begins to stop talking to gold because he’s too busy wallowing in his own misery. (i cannot blame him ngl.) only coming to the outernet to get flowers for the personal grave he made for his mom.

one day, while walking back to his mom’s grave, he comes across a “help wanted” poster for a “storyboard artist/planner that’s skilled at fighting”. purple genuinely takes a moment to ponder it, as he has done almost nothing with his life, and he has shown that he is capable of thinking very intricately when it comes to planning, and he can fight… so he puts it at the back of his head and dials the number when he gets back to the tree house.

he manages to sweep right through the auditions and gets a call saying that he got the role, which excited him a lot, but he knew in the back of his head that he was gonna get it anyways.

and honestly, his life has been going great! he’s now part of a very welcoming team of new friends who he looks over at missions to make sure everything is going smoothly as the storyboards intended, only stepping in when he needs to!

until he one day locks eyes with silver for the first time in almost 2 years.

he likes to believe that he didn’t hesitate to throw punches at all when he first saw them.

(massive credits to berryicet for the last sentence btw :3 (YOU WERE SO RIGHT FUCK))

[onceuponastory]

artistic - bucky barnes x reader

Plot: After embarrassing herself in front of the very attractive artist, Y/N swears her night has gone from bad to worse. In fact, she couldn't be more wrong. Pairing: Artist!Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader Warnings: Some swearing and a mention of alcohol. If I miss any triggers, please let me know! Notes: This is a part two to An Intriguing Stranger, which was based on a gif sent to me by @holacia3. Some people wanted Bucky's POV, so here it is! Read part one here!

As Y/N tries to think of something to say in response to the stranger's introduction, it's like time slows down. And the more time ticks by, the more Y/N wants the ground to open up and swallow her whole. And when she finally does speak, it's even worse. “Oh, my god. I’m so sorry.” Is what she was supposed to say. What she wanted to say. Instead, however, a mixture of words, of ‘sorry’ and ‘I had no idea who you were’ and ‘please don’t sue me’ comes out. More of a word vomit than a well thought out apology.

When James opens his mouth again, she expects him to curse her out, or even to actually sue her. Instead of a threat, though, she hears the complete opposite. Laughter. She raises a brow, curious about why he finds the situation funny, and what kind of artist would laugh at their work being criticised.

Honestly, Bucky wasn’t expecting to hear such a critique of his art tonight. And he definitely doesn’t mean to find it so funny. Or at least, he knows he probably shouldn’t. But after experiencing the perfectionism and fakeness of the art world, her brutal honesty is incredibly refreshing.

And it helps that she’s very cute too. In fact, he's never seen anyone like her ever before.

“Please, don’t feel the need to apologise. It’s totally fine.” He smiles. “That was my first real laugh of the night.” Y/N blinks in surprise, waiting for the other shoe to drop, the ‘but’ in his sentence to appear. And yet, it never comes, only adding to her confusion.

“What? But I just practically destroyed your life’s work!” To her surprise, he shrugs.

“Well, you were right, actually. My usual work is nothing like this. But unfortunately, it doesn’t pay the bills that well, and ‘isn’t the sort of work the galleries are looking for right now.’” He mocks, and Y/N stifles a laugh of her own. “One night it all reached a head, so I got very drunk on some wine and basically threw some paint at a canvas, like you guessed.” He nods. “And it definitely was a big fuck you to the art world and their standards.” He sighs, running another hand through his hair. “I didn’t even mean to submit it, but somehow I did, so I woke up the next morning to a bunch of emails and calls from a ton of galleries asking for the honour to display it.” He explains, before turning back to the painting. “I know it’s brought me a lot of success, but honestly? I hate this fucking thing.” 

“So… no harm done?” Y/N asks awkwardly, and he smiles.

How does his smile make my stomach flutter so much?

“None at all. In fact, I admire your honesty.” He walks towards another painting, beckoning for her to follow with a move of his head. For a moment, Y/N holds back. Even though there’s no animosity between them both, surely there’s no way he actually wants to spend time with her? 

Yet, he beckons her to follow him again once more, and Y/N’s feet start moving towards him before she can even think about it. 

After all, surely this night can't go any worse.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

For most of the night, Y/N’s new artistic friend gives her a tour of the exhibition, occasionally commenting on the artwork and its creators. He also very quickly told her to call him Bucky instead of James, something which he insists only his close friends do. Despite how relieved she feels to be getting closer and closer to her new, extremely attractive artistic friend (especially since he isn't going to sue her), Y/N would be lying if she said this whole thing didn’t feel absolutely crazy, and that she still isn’t waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under her, her chance at spending time with the attractive artist over before it even began.

But as Bucky leads her upstairs, into the fancy reception that only a few moments ago she was so sure she would not be attending, Y/N realises that she’s not going to complain about spending time with her handsome and charming companion. And with Bucky by her side, she feels more comfortable, less out of place. It feels like this is where she’s meant to be. By his side.

The room is busy, heaving with journalists and other artists. Yet, Bucky moves his hand to the small of her back, sending a shockwave throughout her entire body. He effortlessly guides her through the room, leading her straight to the bar.

After grabbing her a drink, Bucky leans against the bar, taking her all in. Y/N feels heat rising in her cheeks, and she grins. He really is an incredibly handsome man.

“You said you don’t paint like that usually, so what is your usual work, then?” She asks, trying and failing to limit her staring. Bucky chuckles. 

“The usual boring stuff, landscapes, portraits….”

“That doesn’t sound boring. I do like that kind of art, actually.” Bucky looks over at her, smirking.

“You know, I’d like to paint you one day. I think you’d make a wonderful piece.” He muses. Y/N almost drops her glass in shock, her cheeks burning even deeper. Bucky grabs a napkin, scribbling something on it. “I need to go mingle, but here’s my number. If we ever get separated, or if you would like to be a model for me....” He trails off, grinning cheekily. “Just call me.” He places his hand on her shoulder, giving her one last smile and a wink before disappearing into the crowd.

As he fades out of sight, Y/N pulls out her phone, adding Bucky to her contacts.

She might just take him up on his offer.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

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[ijustliketoreadstuff]

People want Marinette to tell Adrien the truth? Yeah, of course, I'm sure she can just do that.

Hey Adrien, your dad was secretly Monarch the entire time, he had this secret plot to terrorize and akumatize a bunch of innocent people so he could get his hands on the miraculous to bring back your mom. Oh by the way your a sentimonster and those rings you have were used by your dad to control you like a puppet, don’t loose them. Also, your mom didn’t actually disappear, she was dying from the peacock miraculous after using it to bring you to life, but that's not something you need to blame yourself for. Any who, your dad hid her body in a secret basement underneath your mansion where she was in a pod for a whole year, Nathalie knew the whole time and went along with all of your dads plans for a while, but had a change of heart and gave me a phone that had a bunch of recordings of your mom telling Nathalie and your dad that she didn't want to be brought back and to not go on a total rampage to get the miraculous. Oh by the way, Nathalie also used the broken peacock miraculous, she’s Mayura, but then she started dying not long after that. The reason I know all this is because Felix told me the story of how the two of you were born sentimonsters and that his dad, Colt, also used the peacock miraculous, turns out, pretty much everyone in your family knew about the peacock miraculous. Oh, and I know Ladybug told you your dad sacrificed himself like a hero, but I was lying, yeah I was Ladybug the entire time . I fought with your dad in the mansion in what was basically a cage match at this point and found out where he was keeping your mom, buuut he got the cat and ladybug Miraculous from me and begged me not to tell you who he was as part of his final words before he died with your mom, but then again , he was going to die anyway from Cat Noir's cataclysm, you should have seen it, the guys body was literally crumbling and throwing up coal and ash, he was in the worst kind of pain imaginable, but that has nothing to do with you so your good. So yeah, he made his wish and had the entire universe destroyed and rebuilt so he could give you the life your mom wanted, but no one but me knew that, until I told you that is. I wasn't going to tell you this cause I thought it would be to much for you and cause I didn't want to totally ruin your entire now peaceful and happy life where your finally allowed to be free, have all your close friends and family, and think your dad was not a complete monster. Anyway that's pretty much it, have a rad summer! 

Love,

-Marinette

[dispadaferisce]

Thoughts on The Dead Three / Chosen

(Referring to Durge as 'he' because they were a transmasc in my playthrough)

Finally finished BG3 as a murder hobo Dark Urge developing a (admittedly questionable) conscience and rejecting Bhaal. I made all my companions take the "right" path in their stories, mainly because we couldn't ALL go to prison and I had dibs on the criminal record.

And of course I killed Ketheric in Act II because that's kind of required, but I played the role in Act III. Durge was pissed to find out Orin double crossed him, and first and foremost on his mind was offing her and taking back what was his. I teamed up with Gortash because, at the time, his deal suited me.

And it's so funny to me the way that played out, because all through Act III Durge is learning more about himself, everybody's trying to kill him, but ultimately Gortash is the one dude who keeps his word. Even I wasn't going to do that.

Like...yeah he sucks, but I AM THE VILLAIN. Bane suckered that human-trafficked orphan into being his Chosen and doing some pretty gnarly stuff in his name--with the aim of ultimate rule and tyranny--but I STARTED IT. DURGE IS SO MUCH WORSE THAN GORTASH.

It's arguable that the entire BG3 plot was initiated by Bhaal to bring about the end of life. Myrkul and Bane were blinded by greed and potential power and all three probably each intended to backstab the other two, but Bhaal was primed and ready to actually follow through. His Chosen was a Bhaalspawn, shaped from his own flesh and literally unable to deny the call to murder. Durge might have put Ketheric and Gortash at (tentative) ease with his ability to control himself, but Durge only controlled himself because Bhaal allowed it. At some point, he was absolutely going to rip out their throats with his teeth and feel nothing while doing it. And if he did feel something for Gortash, all the more powerful a sacrifice to his father when he killed him.

And the only reason the world didn't end was because Orin legitimately gave him brain damage. Orin, who fell for the "I can control myself" bait just as badly as Ketheric and Gortash, who thought her bloodkin was going soft. Durge played the part so well, even the next in line for Bhaal's chosen--who knew the plan!--fell for it.

How can I tell Durge's self-control was fake? Well, if you accept Bhaal but destroy the Netherbrain, at the end of the game you basically have two choices: kill yourself, or fall under the unshakeable control of your godly father. Durge is a Bhaalspawn, with all the inescapable murderous urges that entails. He is not his own person, he's in control only as long as it suits Bhaal to let him be. Once that control is taken away, Durge hunts down the other heroes he called friends and assumedly murders them in a fade-to-black.

Orin should have killed him, but his act offended her so much she knifed a hole in his head and shoved a mind flayer tadpole into it. She probably knew how they were inserted, but she shoved it in there with the intent of having it eat his brain, like it was that too-soft personality she wanted to kill instead of his body.

There are various notes, comments, and books/journals throughout the game that tell us Durge suffered severe damage to his brain because of how the tadpole was inserted, and Kressa Bonedaughter describes to us a physically broken Bhaalspawn overtaken by his nature and lacking his other faculties. Just completely feral. And these are Ketheric's people, Myrkul's rather than Bhaal's, so they're not going to recognize him. Instead, Kressa spends a few weeks literally pulling out his insides to play with until her man gets jealous and sends Durge out on the next Nautiloid.

I do believe Durge was tadpoled on the Nautiloid, just like the opening sequence plays out. I think the original one ate his brain and got removed, but the second was inserted the correct way. And while it couldn't regrow the brain tissue that was destroyed by the first, the second tadpole probably formed enough psychic and cranial connections during its natural settling to kick Durge's higher brain functions back on again.

And so he starts out, chunks of his brain literally gone and his memory with them. But the urges are still there, because he's a Bhaalspawn and they go beyond his personality and thoughts.

So Durge, who has no idea who he really is (or who he really was behind the mask he put up for the sake of The Plan), now has to rely on what other people tell him about himself. The companions whose approval and disapproval guide the player's actions are in turn guiding his and literally creating Durge's new personality and moral compass.

Astarion is telling him that power is safety and should be taken whenever possible. Gale is telling him power also corrupts, and there are dangerous consequences to doing that. Karlach is telling him never to make a deal with the devil because you'll lose everything. Wyll is telling him sometimes, you need to make those deals so save everyone else--but be very careful if you do. Shadowheart is telling him secrets and darkness are a priceless armor. Lae'zel is telling him that while some of his actions may be considered 'bad,' if they were truly righteous he would not need to hide them.

Different players will do different things with those influences depending on whether they (and in turn, their Durge) likes the companion or not, just like in real life. Some give in to the urges, some fight them, some stumble along somewhere in the middle.

Some Durges will leave Act II with a firmly rooted sense of self, and who you used to be no longer matters. You're going to kill the bad guys on sight and save the day (or take over the world). That's a completely valid course to take.

But for those who still aren't sure, once you get to Act III, Gortash and Orin tell you who you REALLY are. Or at least, who they believe you are, based on the act you played for them before.

Sure, you're a Bhaalspawn, but your murder is controlled. You can be trusted to plot with, you're reasonable and open to the tenets of Myrkul and Bane. Gortash, in particular, liked you quite a bit, enough to be happy to see you when you show up at his coronation. Enough to throw in his lot with you within ten seconds of seeing your face. He may not trust Bhaal, but he trusts you.

He trusted you enough to follow you into Hell to rob a devil. He trusted you enough to let you walk into his coronation, even knowing his steel watchers couldn't do jack shit against the man who KILLED THE PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION OF THE GOD MYRKUL.

Gortash is evil, but he's mortal evil. He has visions of a golden age throughout Faerun, one he's going to usher in by force because people can't be trusted to not ruin it. Gortash wants to rule, just like all the other despots in history. He wants to be a tyrant, to have absolute power through fear and violence.

(An absolute power, by the way, that there is no reason to believe he does not honestly want to share with Durge. If you don't kill Gortash and go with him to confront the brain, he's pretty much faithful to his word right up until his end. He goes with you, alone, and trusts you to hold up your part of the bargain.)

But you. Holy shit. You, the Dark Urge, are so much worse. It really hits when you finally visit the Temple of Bhaal to fight Orin.

Ketheric is a king in his castle, serving dark gods in the shadow-cursed lands for his own personal ends (resurrecting his daughter). Gortash is a black market arms dealer turned king, chasing power over others after a powerless youth.

Durge sleeps in an underground ossuary, just off the city sewer system, literally filled with aesthetic pools of blood. There are piles of rotting corpse parts just laying around in the temple and Undercity. Above ground, sure, he was an excellent assassin, but below ground he was a torturer. For his whole life, he was down here chopping people up and tossing their body parts around.

Like...can you imagine the smell? The overpowering stench of rot and death, the wet splotches of blood on pretty much everything, the constant sound of screams? It doesn't really matter if everyone thought Durge could control himself, this was the life he lived and the temple he was the lord of, he did a lot of torturing and killing in the pursuit of pretty much nothing except committing murder. He was a creature who thrived on the agony, torment, and ultimate death of people who may or may not have been perfectly innocent of any crime.

He was about the torment. He was about the pain, the suffering. The devil Raphael, son of Mephistopheles, says outright he admires Durge's work. As insight to that, if you break into the House of Hope, I think you can find Raphael's commentary on the fall of Karsis, where he talks about the absolute carnage and pain and blood and death that came with the cities falling from the skies, and how much he loved it. That's the guy Durge's normal Tuesday schedule impressed.

And Durge's part in the Absolute scam? Let it ride. Stand back, be agreeable, let the other two map out the path to glory. Because it didn't matter. Durge wasn't looking to rule, he wasn't looking for power. He was waiting in the wings until everything was in place, then he was going to kill the other two and take the stones. He was going to command the whole of the Sword Coast, eventually all of Faerun, to transform into mind flayers.

His goal wasn't just to kill everyone, it was to destroy their souls. Every last one, to deprive the other gods of their worshippers. The literal ultimate end of everything, his whole purpose was to be the last man standing and to then kill himself in Bhaal's name. This entire plot was started and orchestrated to end it all.

Depending on your decisions, this can still happen, I think. I know I got the option to dominate the brain and become The Absolute, which I didn't take so I don't know how it played out. But if you don't go that route, and you do stop the brain, well.

You're still the villain who started it all. You just follow a different death god in the end.

But you live to follow him, if you choose the 'good' ending. If you chose to defy Bhaal and to destroy the Netherbrain, you get a new lease on life. You not only get to ride triumphantly into the sunset with your romanced companion, you also get invited back in six months to meet with everyone and re-establish your ties, and most of the dialogue options (and Withers' words) indicate you get to keep your found family, too.

No other villain gets this. Ketheric fought you to the end, but even though you proved powerful enough to defeat an avatar of Myrkul, he's likely punished by his god after death for his failure. The same with Gortash; if you use Speak with Dead on his body, Gortash is gone and it's Bane who speaks to you through the corpse because Gortash is already busy being punished for failing.

Jergal/Withers knows who you are as soon as he sees you, but he won't tell you. If he did, if you knew you were Bhaal's chosen right away, you would go running straight to Moonrise Towers to demand your place back, and the world would end. Withers may not directly push you where he wants you, but he does manipulate you by keeping you surrounded by these outside influences for longer so you CAN develop an independent piece of yourself.

Jergal creates you anew, by helping you along a journey that will ultimately give you that independent bit of self that will allow you to choose. Not only choose, but continue to exist if your choice is to defy Bhaal. The other two Chosen don't get that option, they're steeped in their own horrors with no escape and no framework to make any other decisions than the ones they do.

Not you, though. You lucked out. Because your sister gave you brain damage.

[farg0dss]

Have you written anything about the AHS crossover? It's such a cool concept I'm dying to know more but it's been like. 2 years

I described it a little here (at the link), maybe you've already seen it. I'm not a writer, so there is no fanfic for the AU, rather I'm just a roleplayer and played out a similar idea with some people. Whether I'll draw it or not, I don't know yet, because I have no inspiration yet, but I can describe the plot in general, if that's required.

Lots of letters..

The plot was taken from AHS - Asylum and was more tied to the roles of Gilbert Beilschmidt and Ludwig Krautz, but other characters were also present there. - Gilbert - is a psychiatrist. He studied and worked in post-war Germany, after which he moved to America, either for the opportunities it could give, or for his goal - Ludwig. He had an older brother, Karl, who, due to his psychiatric problems, raped him, killed his "I" and tied Gilbert to himself very strongly. Until one day he could not stand it and killed Karl, skillfully hiding his tracks. All responsibility fell on the father of the family, who was repeatedly noticed for something immoral. Throughout his subsequent life, finding people similar to his brother, he did with them the same thing that he himself was subjected to, killing and leaving something ideal from each victim, which was a reminder of Karl, collecting his collection. At the time of the story, he was about 40 years old. - Ludwig - is a journalist from a good family. He also moved to America, but for the sake of opportunities, wanting to build a good career as a journalist, preferably in criminology. A closet gay. Because of his orientation, he often changed jobs and states when there was even the slightest hint that they found out about him. At the time of the story, he was about 30 years old, and he had a boyfriend - Roderich, with whom they lived a quiet life. But Ludwig was not satisfied with the coldness of his boyfriend and was not satisfied with his attempts to be content with little. Ludwig had ambitions that destroyed him. - Roderich - A college solfeggio teacher. Cold, arrogant, and often skeptical of everything. Believed that the life he and Ludwig were leading was immoral and wanted to break up with him before his boyfriend went to write a report about the mental hospital, but never got around to saying so. Was killed by Gilbert in his own home and taken to him as a sacrifice or bait. - Alfred - is a young farmer from the outskirts of the city. He lived a quiet life with his beloved (name is not specified). He ran a farm, worked part-time as an electrician in the city, since he was quite knowledgeable about technology in general. But one day he witnessed an attack by aliens, becoming part of their experiment. And having lost his beloved, he himself went to the police to tell about what happened, but no one believed him, considering him a psycho. After which he was put in a hospital both as a mentally ill person and as a murderer. - Erzsebet - is the head nun of the hospital. A woman of about 40+ years old, tired of life. Previously, she sincerely believed in God, after he saved her and gave her hope, due to the difficulties of her life. But as time went on, seeing how sometimes completely innocent people were brought to the hospital, how the lives of people she initially did not care about were broken - she became disillusioned with God. Disillusioned with people, seeing their hypocrisy. She is very skeptical about psychiatry, considering it senseless quackery, which is why she often had clashes with Gilbert. These are basically the main roles. The plot is somewhat similar to the original, except for some details, and if there is interest, I could describe them sometime later.

[anthurak]

Shout-out to the ships and character dynamics that AREN’T big, dramatic One-True-Pairings that have to be a ‘Big Deal’ and this huge defining aspects of the characters, yet are interesting in their own way. The fake-relationships that really are fake, the casual flings and one-night-stands that don’t become something more, the friendships that aren’t pre-romance or even some intensely close, emotionally intimate, platonic-life-partners or found-family thing.

Just as an example I’ve been thinking about lately; take your standard casanova/manwhore character who’s always having flings/sleeping around with lots of women and/or men who then has this incredible one-night-stand with someone that they just can’t stop thinking about afterwards. After so many casual hook-ups they have finally caught feelings for someone else. Basically your standard ‘Ladykiller in Love’ plot.

But, when this character starts spending time with this person they’re falling hard for and try to make their feelings known, it becomes clear that she/he/they simply doesn’t feel the same way. Sure, they like this character, perhaps think they’re fun to have around and even might enjoy having more occasional hook-ups with them. But they simply aren’t interested in some serious, committed, monogamous relationship with them, and it’s clear they never will be. More than that, this character also quickly learns that there are a fair few other people this person is MUCH closer with and perhaps even sleeps around with too in a full-on polyamorous sense.

Basically, this isn’t just ‘Ladykiller falls in love’. This is ‘Ladykiller falls in love with a Harem Protagonist and also realizes they aren’t even going to be that high-ranked in the harem’.

And I just think that’s rather interesting as a character dynamic. A relationship that isn’t just casual, but is outright predicated on BEING casual and is simply not capable of being more than that. One party might like it to be more than that, but the other pointedly DOESN’T. And it’s clear that any serious attempt by the former to make the relationship more than that would simply END the relationship.

Is this simply too much of an ask for the former party and they have to end things? Do they actually TRY to force it and destroy the relationship in the process? Or do they find that they’re actually alright with this arrangement?

For another, more specific example from a fandom, in this case The Owl House, of the ‘not EVERYONE has to be part of the adopted/found-family’ point; I’ve found more and more that I am simply not a fan of the whole ‘Hunter-is-a-Noceda/Luz-and-Hunter-are-adopted-siblings’ idea that much of the fandom gravitated towards.

Luz and Hunter are certainly close friends to be sure, I just feel that treating them as full-blown adopted siblings is a bit much. I feel like Luz’s friendship with Hunter is really more comparable to her friendships with Willow and Gus. Like they’re all super close ‘ride-or-die’ best friends, but we don’t exactly treat Willow and Gus as being Luz’s adopted siblings either. 

And I think one big advantage of treating Luz and Hunter as a simple ‘close friendship’ is that it serves to better highlight the closer and more consequential relationships they have with OTHERS. In Hunter’s case, his own friendships with Willow and Gus.

I’ve already discussed this in other posts, but I feel that the fandom fixating so hard to Hunter’s friendship with Luz has kind of detracted from the fact that his friendship with Willow and Gus is both closer and more consequential to his character. Namely in that Hunter became friends with Willow and Gus BEFORE really becoming friends with Luz, and that is was his friendship with them which really served to break Hunter’s indoctrination to Belos. Note that despite the multiple encounters Hunter has with Luz over the course of Season 2, it’s pointedly not until Any Sport in a Storm where he befriends Willow and Gus, plus the rest of the Emerald Entrails, that Hunter really starts to seriously doubt Belos.

Likewise, it’s equally notable that after Hunter has his big breakdown following Hollow Mind, it’s NOT Luz but again Willow and especially Gus who end up helping him through his trauma in Labyrinth Runners. Speaking personally, this episode solidified Gus as an ‘adopted younger sibling’ to Hunter more than Luz ever would be.

Not to mention I feel like that’s a pretty cool twist that the show did here. Instead of the main heroine facilitating the resident edgy, traumatized bad boy’s redemption arc and become super-close besties in the process, it’s actually the heroine’s two best friends who get that role.

Plus, I’d argue not treating Luz and Hunter as siblings also better highlight’s Hunter’s relationship with his ACTUAL adopted father-figure, Darius.

And on the flipside, I’d argue this also likewise serves to better highlight Luz’s bond with her actual adopted siblings, King and Vee.

This is where I think the real value comes in recognizing and valuing more casual relationships/friendships between characters: It helps to vary and diversify the various dynamics between a group and show more unique connections rather than just lumping people into a ‘found family’ and calling it a day.

I mean, consider this: Luz’s and Hunter’s bonding during Thanks To Them over their respective doubts and trauma is specifically BECAUSE they aren’t as close with each other as they are with Amity and Willow/Gus respectively. Ie; both felt like they couldn’t talk about their problems to the people they were really close to, so they talked about them to someone they weren’t as close to. That’s a character dynamic that isn’t just between two characters who aren’t as close as they are with others, but one PREDICATED on these two not being as close as they are with others.

All in all, I think it’s really worth recognizing when certain character relationships and dynamics AREN’T these super close, intimate, ‘big-deal’ bonds, but are simply more low-key and casual than others. And that this doesn’t devalue what this relationship may represent but rather makes it interesting in its own way.

[keitorin3]

Possessed AU

So hear me out.

What if the purge was not Uthers doing? Now that sounds insane and doesn't make sense but listen...

I don't know history or the show accurately, but I think it was said that before Uther came, the lands were ruled by wild magic and Gaius once implies that it was ruled/terrorised by evil sorcerers. Uther, a roman descendent, comes along and takes over to bring peace back to the lands, killing those evil sorcerers with help from his own allied magic users (dragon lords?).

He is crowned king of Camelot and then marries Ygraine de Bois, from Wiki I've read, they knew of each other previously in their early years. So maybe they actual did love each other beforehand and not after marriage.

Uther did not have a problem with magic, but as he was not gifted with it unlike his wife who specialises in runes and could sense others magic and can do some basic spells. He relied on others for assistance and counsel for the matters of magic.

Then we get to the heir part. I think Uther and Ygraine are pressured to birth a child but find Ygriane can't conceive. Because of this knowledge, she tries to convince Uther to take on a concubine but he refuses. Stubborn, she plots and ask of the aid of Vivian, where they worked together and get Vivian pregnant with Uthers child.

Uther is feeling betrayed by this and maybe isolates for a year or two. Ygraine is like Merlin as they have the best intentions for their loves but sometimes they hurt them instead. Morgana is born and Uther ridden with guilt confesses to his dear friend Glorious. But his friend already knew, and doesn't blame Uther for the actions of their wives.

Vivian and Glorious marriage was arranged when they were young, they don't love each other, but are friends of sorts. In my head Vivian is a poly and Glorious is Aroace.

Uther will eventually forgive Ygraine, and they'll reconcile. But Ygraine like Merlin would still look into an heir as Uther does acknowledge Morgana, but doesn't wish to put the girl under the scrutiny of the court and rumors. She remains as Glorious child, until she is old enough for the truth.

And it goes as was said, Uther goes to Nimueh for advice from his court sorceress thanks to some pushing from Ygraine and they do the whole life for a life deal.

Ygriane gives birth and dies. Uther is heartbroken.

Now here's where it's different. In his grief, Uther is utterly broken over losing his wife and love of his life, that he became vulnerable to a malicious ghost who possesses him.

But this ghost/spirit is not just any ghost, this ghost is the sorcerer who Uther un-throned, Julian. And to make this more fun, Julian is Uther's brother.

Julian takes over Uther's body and with it he takes out revenge on every magic user. Seeing them all as traitors for standing behind his magic-less brother to over throne him. First he got rid of Uther greatest supporters, he banished Nimueh, and tricked the Dragonlords, killed all dragons, then finally he brought forth the great purge.

If the Old Religion would not stand with him, then he would destroy magic as revenge for its betrayal.

Julian relish the control and carnage his actions brought, because now the world shall see Uther as the tyrant king, forever portrayed as the man who kills magical kind.

The only setback was the little nephew. Arthur.

The spirit wanted to kill the boy, wanted Uther to be fully drowned in dispair he would never come out again. But no, any physical attempts on the boys life the King would spring up more ferociously and fight Julian for control.

So he goes about it in another way, by sending the boy out on impossible quest and raids, hopeful for an incident where he'll die. Meanwhile having fun making the boy miserable and so earnest to gain his "father's" affections.

But because of Gaius and other men of the court who knew Uther, he couldn't be too out of character.

This eventually changes when Merlin arrives.

Now, in my head Merlin would be different from other Magic creatures as not even Kilgharrah could tell the King was Possessed, but I think Merlin could. He wouldn't be able to at first, still growing into his powers and senses, but later down the line he would notice things about the King that no one else questions or see something odd with the Kings reflection.

But it's only when his eyes are gold that he sees the oddities. So not often does he see.

I think it'll all come to light when Morgana's magic strengthens in "The Nightmare Begins". Julian would know the signs of magic long ago and would realise the fire was the girl herself.

He'd play his part of concerned caregiver but relish the fear and anxiety in the girls eyes. He couldn't do anything to the girl, much like with Arthur, Uther would fight if any of his children were to be harmed directly. It's why he never pointed out the constant nightmares being signs of a seer. If it was found and pointed out, his very laws would condeem her and Uther would actually be able to seize control just to save her.

But then Morgana went missing and Uther truly did go ballistic. This time Uther truly thought Julian did something to get rid of Morgana and wrestled for control once again but more ferociously.

And while others see the King taking his wards kidnapping hard, Merlin could actually sense and hear Uther fighting. (Think of the druids mindspeak.)

He is confused and then suddenly horrified.

He figures it out after he interrogates Gaius on who Julian is, hearing Uthers voice spitting such vemon and rage at the name.

And then as you guessed it they figure out some exorcism to yeet that bish out of the King just before they send knights after Morgana. I'm thinking when Uther gains control once again, Gaius is kinda emotional and guilty for not realising his King and friend had been possessed for over twenty years.

They got Uther healed enough, and Merlin explained Morgana's whereabouts and reason why after much encouragement from Gaius. Uther then does the unexpected (to Merlin that is) and bowed to him, thanking him for being with Morgana in her time of need and for saving his son life and himself from Julian.

Arthur was also around to witness the exorcism unseen by the magic pair and saw it all.

Uther after years of seeing but not truly experiencing, hugs his son and tears up, confessing he was truly proud of him and he loved him more then life. Arthur here gets confused, Dumbfounded, then teary eyed. After so many years he finally has his father's unconditional love.

I can then picture things looking up for Camelot, instead of sending knight to "save" Morgana. Uther entrusts Merlin and Arthur with 2 letters, one for Morgana and the other for the druids, informing them that from now and onwards there shall be no more raids on the Druid people ever again from Camelot Knights. He left them to explain the recent events to her as he worked to make his kingdom into a place his daughter could come home too.

I can see her coming back after sometime with the destined duo and they have a heart to heart all around.

Morgana is told the truth about her heritage.

Arthur is told the truth about his mother and his birth.

Morgana is legitimize and crowned Princess of Camelot.

He explains Julians past and his actions in possessing him as a ghost.

He tells them what he truly thinks of Magic.

And things get better little by little. Uther can't unban the Magic law, Julian already steeped Uthers reputation too much in magical blood that doing so would cause more panic then peace.

They would by their time, letting Arthur grow and learn until he is ready to take over the throne and able to undo all of Julians deeds. With Merlin by his side of course.

Uther may have been trapped but he wasn't blind to his sons Stares and sincere smiles. He had the same look as himself when courting Ygraine it almost made him sigh in nostalgia. But was dashed from his mind when he realised it took young-Uther twenty years of pigtails pulling for him to court Ygraine.

He dispairs for his son and Merlin's future of dancing around the obvious.

Uther: Ygraine if you're still out there, give me strength to endure. Our son has your heart and eyes, but sadly my sense to being oblivious to love.

If he heard a familiar warm laughter, he kept that to himself.

And I'll end it here.

There are other things, little side notes I'd like to add but this post has gotten long enough I've got to stop somewhere, lol 😆.

I just wanted a Good Uther idea and added all these details my mind cooked up for reasons. Julian is just a random OC, I was trying to think of some roman name to be Uthers brother and this was it.

Hope you liked this, it was fun.

Until next time fellow dreamers~! ✨

[devilsrecreation]

All these oc’s but not enough threats, so let’s turn the sound up! You know what? I think it’s time for a villain roundup! (VILLAIN ROUNDUP)

Chonge (fang)-puff adder

I wouldn’t say Chonge is evil per se, more like misunderstood. He’s faced quite a bit of trauma in his past and his entire life thinking he was destined to be the bad guy. In reality, he’s afraid. He’s seen how his fellow snakes have been treated and has even watched his friends die with his own eyes. This got him to view everyone around him as an enemy in fear of getting eaten or mistreated in any way. He often tries to eat at least one of the skinks

He eventually starts thinking differently after getting rescued by Kifo, leading him to reform. No one (especially not the skinks) trust him at first, but they warm up to him

Chimp-Mkatili (cruel)

The leader of his tribe of violent chimps whom act like a gang. He’s an old acquaintance of Sumu and is majorly unpredictable. He can be chill one minute and trying to beat you senseless the next. Nobody really knows why he and his chimps are like this, but it seems as though he does bad things just because he can. He currently has a vendetta against the Outlands, as his former home got destroyed during Scar’s rule during Season 2. They now live probably in another forest out of the Pridelands and are plotting their revenge to destroy the Outlands and everyone in it, no matter what things are like now

As for how he knows Sumu, Sumu was a known hitman/assassin who would frequently get involved with evil animals to kill someone for food as payment. Yeah, the job with Simba was NOT his first rodeo, he’s been doing it for a while. Anyway, Mkatili was no exception to this and has hired Sumu to help them get rid of a rival chimp tribe. They eventually meet each other again, but a now (semi) reformed Sumu refuses Mkatili’s offer to join him which ultimately pisses the chimp off

Secretary bird-Kandamiza (crush; oppress)

A snobbish, holier-than-thou bird who thinks all snakes are evil incarnate and does whatever she can to harm them. She does this by trapping a poor serpent in her talons and stomping on their head until they’re either knocked out or dead. In her mind, she feels as if she’s protecting all of Africa from the evil that is the serpent race. Like Hatari, she claims she respects the circle of life, but fails to understand how snakes are part of it. She’s basically a representation of Hollywood’s tendency to make snakes the villain

She’s also a threat to the lizard population and tends to get a little greedy when hunting

Honey badger-Mpinzani (challenger; opponent)

Bunga, but evil. That’s how everyone in the Outlands describe him. A narcissistic, egotistical poacher who will gladly take anyone in anything. He used to be somewhat idolized as a hero/daredevil way back when, but all that fame got to his head and he started thinking he could do no wrong. Then he began causing problems just so he can swoop in and resolve it and starting unnecessary fights with other animals. He was eventually caught and banished, now poaching anywhere he wants …including the Outlands. Oh, and he’s friends with mongooses because of course he is

He doesn’t want peace. He wants problems.

Black shadow-like monsters- represent poachers/people involved with the Exotic Pet Trade

This one is….pretty self explanatory I think. Although I will say they are easily the most dangerous villains

Msumari (nail) and Mkaidi (bully)

Two more of Kenge’s toxic siblings who act as henchmen to Jino.

Msumari’s usually seen more with Jino than Mkaidi is and prefers to torture Kenge psychologically than physically, unlike her siblings. Her psychological torment can often break Kenge or whoever her victim is, thus putting the “nail on the coffin”.

Mkaidi is the dense, but short-fused one of the group that likes to aid Jino in beating up his victims. He’s also sort of the yes-man (lizard), supporting Jino’s quips with a “you tell em, Jino!” or something like that

I don’t know if they’d be alongside Jino in his debut episode, but they’d definitely be in the flashbacks

[guardianoflightanddarkness]

An unpopular opinion about Gravity Falls: Return to the Bunker fanmade episode

(SPOILERS)

Okay, first of all, I want to make perfectly clear that I fully respect the crew and the job put in this episode, seriously, it's a blast to have such passioned fans that keep the fandom alive after 11 years and more to come, and honestly, I would want to see more projects like these and The Woods and Tales of Weirdmaggedon returning.

I was honestly very hyped up with this episode since I found out it was in production, so of course having it full yesterday was an awsome surprise. The art, the storyboard, the staging, the editing and the cast was an easy 10 out of 10, and I have absolutely zero complains in the audiovisual part.

However, sadly, to me, the entire thing comes crashing down with the plot and the narrative, by basically changing and missunderstanding the main characters, specially Ford: yes, it's no secret that Ford has trust issues, I think that was pretty clear after he FELT (not saying they did, but that's his perception) betrayed by his twin brother (sabotaging his project and keeping quiet about it, accidentally trapping him in the multiverse for over half of his life during a fight he started it, stealing his house, his identity, mock his entire carreer for money and then starting the portal that almost destroyed the world), his best friend from college (who created the memory gun and used it against him after starting a cult), his pet (the Shapeshifter tried to kill him and Fiddleford) and his muse (who manipulated him, lied to him, possessed and tortured him for decades, not to mention unable to sleep in peace until he got a plate in his head, and being hunted down accross the entire universe for 30 years), alongside all the stress of re-adapting to his dimension, contain the rift and keep Bill at bay.

So yes, Ford has reasons to be the way he is, but the problem is, the Ford we see in this episode is NOT the same one we saw in the TV show or in Journal 3: Ford can be bitter, and like I said, has trust issues, but he is not an ass for the sake of it like they portrayed him here, specially towards Mabel: yes, true, they didn't spend that much time together, but the little times we saw Ford interacting with her or even just talking, or even his entries in the journal, he shows how much he adores her, he only has praise for her ("I like this kid, she is weird!", "She has a magnetic personality!", "You are a good person, Mabel!"), and openly trusted her with a crossbow and sent her to a mission to protect the Shack. This one is openly hostile to Mabel, refusing to wear her sweater because it's hot (WTF, you are LITTERALLY wearing one!), downright telling her he doesn't trust her when he did before, and even saying he likes Dipper because he listens and obeys blindly. Ford LOVES these kids and always showed it, and yet the man in this episode doesn't seem to give a crap about anyone's feelings by being a jerk without a logical reason.

Which brings me to the next point: his reunion with Fiddleford makes NO sense considering that we saw Ford BLAMING himself over and over for what happened to Fiddleford, we litterally see him thinking he hates him and actually displaying remorse, and Fiddleford showing compassion and forgiveness. Instead here, we see Ford treating Fiddleford like dirt just like he did before the portal incident 30 years ago. And Mcgucket doesn't act like Mcgucket himself either, not to mention how the writing ignores how unstable he can be, ("Dude, Mcgucket would never do that!", sure, let's ignore this is the same guy that creates huge terrifying destructive robots that reck the town on a wim like his son not paying attention to him, his wife divorcing and not getting invited to a friend's party).

The entire episode's narrative and characters bash Ford for his trust issues and traumatic experiences instead of tackling down his trauma propperly: I mean, the show EXPECTS Ford to ignore ALL his traumas for over 3 decades and trust not just Mabel, which would have been understandable, but Soos and Wendy, who he doesn't even know, with the rift, you know, the thing that can destroy them all, and then gets punished for not doing so, and paint him as an ilogical paranoid that puts down everyone around him. None of them show any empathy towards him, and they are quick to antagonize him over it and directly blame him for EVERYTHING that happened in Gravity Falls, and the narrative reassures that they are in the right, pointedly ignoring not just all Ford's trauma but everyone's own actions into all the mess that happened over the summer. For crying out loud, the narrative shows more compassion, understanding and sympathy towards the fricking Shapeshifter and blames Ford for the experiment's fate, the monster ACTUALLY having the gal to say that Ford can't change, that he promises to change but then backtracks and keeps going (ironic that this is accused to Ford, of all characters in this episode) and then getting a fricking REDEMPTION and romance partner that he didn't deserve while ignoring he tried to kill Ford and Fiddleford back in the day, traumatizing the latest one, and tried the same with Dipper, Mabel, Soos and Wendy. But hey, nevermind, he just needed some love, he deserves to be happy, NOT YOU, FORD!....I swear, I can't with this.

And that fricking final...WHERE do I even start with that? Ford was affected and TRAUMATIZED because of the ray gun, he was a victim of it, he was the one who tried to stop Fiddleford from using it on himself MULTIPLE times, and who struggled to do it with Stan and broke down after being forced to do so, to his own brother, and only felt a bit relieved after they got his memories back. And you're fricking telling me he would use it on his 12 year old NIECE and friends AFTER they patched things up and he came clear, breaking THEIR trust?! No, sorry, no, that's just so out of character from Ford I don't even know where to start. I know this was done by force in an attempt to make it fit with the canon story, but it just doesn't match not just because of being completely out of character from Ford, but because it still causes bigger issues: he didn't use it on Mcgucket, therefore Mcgucket KNOWS about the rift and about Ford, therefore it breaks the canon of their reunion in Take Back the Falls since in Ford's words, "Fiddleford, I didn't see you since we parted ways, you must hate me". And then the famous lines of "How am I gonna protect the rift?" Honestly, this entire scene, if not the entire episode, just felt like the writers were just trying so hard to take any accountability from Mabel in handling the rift and just blame it on Ford and screaming "SEE?! YOU SEE HOW MUCH OF A JERK FORD IS?! MABEL DID NO WRONG, IT'S FORD'S FAULT FOR ERASING HER MEMORIES, HE IS THE JERK AND THE MAIN ANTAGONIST OF THE SERIES, WHAT A JERK!". And sorry, this still doesn't fix it, because while Mabel didn't know what the rift was, she still KNEW it belonged to Ford (Blendin told her) and that it belonged to his expedition for, in her own words, "Save the world or whatever", and Blendin telling her to steal it ("your grunkle won't even know it's gone missing!") and she agrees. So yeah, while she didn't fully know what she was taking, the fact that she knew it was something that belonged to her grunkle and that he took to his expedition was enough for her to know to NOT to take away, specially without his consent. This episode just tries so hard to paint Ford like the biggest asshole just to place Mabel and the others in a better light and ignore anything they do, so much that it breaks canon.

And Dipper's and Stan's subplot...I dunno, it felt completely unused, and once again, placing the ball on Dipper, Stan accusing him of ignoring him for a month (which makes zero sense because, Ford came out of the portal barely 2 weeks before Weirdmaggedon, there's no way a month went by, and on the top of that not making any sense considering this happened POST Dungeons, Dungeons and more Dungeons where these two had patched up, so this argument makes zero sense). This one specially dissappointed me because, the same way I wanted to see Ford and Mabel bonding, I wanted more scenes like that with Stan and Dipper, specially when we seemed to finally address the fact that yes, Stan and Dipper didn't spend that much time with him. The problem is that the narrative of the episode blames Dipper entirely and ignores whatever Stan has done wrong in regardless of their relationship that easily made Dipper distant with him: not the teasing, not the hard work to "tought him up", not his unfair treatment towards him in comparison to Mabel, not the fact that he LIED to him for the entire summer and broke his trust, nothing. In fact, just when Dipper loses his patience and actually starts to understandably tell him off putting ALL of these examples, Dipper's callout falls on deaf ears, litterally, because Stan doesn't pay attention to Dipper and is panicked due to the monster behind him. Then after that, ALL of that is forgotten, they don't patch things up, and Dipper is the one who has to apologize to Stan, after Stan, once again, not just kept him from hanging out with Ford, after he had promised he would let him go in Dungeons, Dungeons and more Dungeons, but also lied to him and got them into a bigger mess. But no, Dipper is the one who apologizes and is supposed to trust Stan...because of reasons, even if they didn't talk anything out or solved anything really.

The jokes honestly also felt flat and I only honestly enjoyed the Shrek 2 reference.

So yes, while I think that from terms of art, voice cast and edition this episode is amazing, the narrative, the characterization of the main cast and the development is attrocious. Honestly, it feels more like a bad fanfic hating on Ford (and to some extent, Dipper) and portraying him as the biggest jackass on earth and the reason of everything going wrong. This is not how the characters behave. I seriously have to wonder if the writers even watched the show, let alone read Journal 3 and Lost Legends.

[cosmicjoke]

Hello. I wanted to ask for your opinion on Armin x Annie. Do you think it makes sense? To me, with some thinking, everything in aot sorta makes sense except this ship. Like I don't hate the characters but I don't think they make sense together, especially when Armin started developing his crush on Annie when he didn't know her reasoning for all that she did and that she was not a genuinely bad person. At that time, to him, she was someone who had murdered a big part of the corps he was in, destroyed a city, helped destroy a wall and someone who had tried to take his friend. I can sort of understand Annie liking Armin but then again, not really because she never really showed a lot of care for anyone except her father in the first season and she never really knew him as a person. Your explanations make sense to me so I was hoping you'd share your understanding of this ship.

I'll be honest, I don't put a whole lot of thought into any ships in AoT, other than probably Eren and Mikasa, because a large part of the plot revolves around their feelings for one another.

With Armin, I think maybe a part of his feelings for Annie stemmed from guilt.

Armin was the person who first realized that Annie was probably the Female Titan, and so, ultimately, Armin probably feels responsible for Annie ending up frozen in that crystal for those four years. I think we see a bit of that guilt in Armin during the attempted capture of Annie in Trost, when he first tries to persuade her to come with them underneath the city and through the tunnels, and then implores her to give herself up when she refuses to come and reveals she knows what they're doing.

We also have to remember that Armin and Annie were cadet's together for three years, and the entire 104th class was pretty tight-nit, as we also see Jean, Connie and Sasha's pain and regret at having to take Reiner down, despite realizing at that point that Reiner was directly responsible for the destruction of Wall Maria and later the second attack, both of which killed countless people.

AoT deals largely in the illogical nature of human emotion, I think. We can know, objectively, that someone we care for has done something horrific, or even unforgivable, but that in itself doesn't cause the love we had for that person to just magically disappear. Emotion doesn't work that way, and years of connection between people doesn't just evaporate when you learn the person you had a bond with isn't exactly who you thought they were.

So with Armin, my guess would be that he started to develop feelings for her when they were in the cadets together, and vice versa. We see Annie spare Armin's life during the Female Titan arc, when he acts as a decoy for Eren and she lifts up his hood and sees it's Armin instead. She could have killed him then and there, but she didn't, and I have to guess it's because she had feelings for him, since we see Annie kill plenty of other scouts that day without hesitation, and even with some seeming enjoyment.

Maybe Armin remembered that moment of Annie sparing his life, and it drove his own sense of guilt at identifying her as the Female Titan and helping come up with the plan for her capture all the more.

Then, over that four year period, when he would visit Annie's crystalized form, I think Armin was really going through a bad period. Eren was pulling away more and more, growing more and more distant, and Mikasa with him, basically, since Mikasa's primary concern was always Eren at that point. I think Armin probably found a kind of solace in speaking to Annie, even as she couldn't speak back, because he couldn't really talk to his actual friends anymore. And then, they'd all found out so much about the world and Marley and who Reiner and Bertolt and Annie had actually been during that four year period, too, and identifying them as the enemy was no longer such a cut and dry situation. They were all forced to acknowledge the Warrior's as people, and Armin himself had specifically had to do things which some people might label him as a monster for doing, like killing other people. So I think Armin, with his natural empathy and ability to see things from other people's perspectives, was able to see things from Annie's perspective, at that point, having to do something terrible in order to survive and keep going. Armin also tends toward self-blame a lot, and suffers from obvious self-loathing, so again, I think that played into his sense of guilt, this feeling that he'd done wrong by Annie, even though he really hadn't. I think he beat himself up a lot over having eaten Bertolt, too, even though, again, there wasn't any choice involved for Armin there, and it was the only way for his own life to be saved. But he probably felt bad because he knew, after inheriting Bertolt's memories, that he'd had feelings for Annie, too, and maybe he felt some kind of obligation toward her for that reason, and that eventually turned to him feeling a bond with her.

Anyway, that's my best guess as to why we see a romantic connection blossom between the two of them.

[wack-ashimself]

Ok, cuz it did shock me, I'll tell you the best HOLY FUCK scene in the new 'Doctor Who'...

(Spoilers, duh. Mostly shocking cuz they don't openly KILL people in this show. Usually hinted, alluded to, or done off screen. You see it, full force.)

Rich kids are sent to a planet where they work 2 hours doing the EASIEST work, then get the rest of the day to themselves. The AI running the whole show births(?) aliens <again, they don't explain SHIT this season> that eat these people cuz 'it is tired of listening to all their stupid vapid chatter' (they really do say something like that).

A spoiled rich brat who kept ignoring her friend's disappearing finally realizes what's going on. The doctor tells her to escape to the underground river. You THINK she's having an evolution of character cuz she tries to warn her friends. She tries going there, but she's SO dependent on technology, she literally can't walk a straight line. Then their equivalent of a online celeb finds her, guides her, and protects her. Saves her life at LEAST twice, if not 3x. They're bonding. They even hug <her FIRST hug, EVER?>. They get to the door to the escape, but it needs a bunch of codes typed in to open (cuz why the fuck not?) This is actually when you find out about the AI. Her projection screen ball tries to kill her. The celeb, again, protects her. As the door opens, the AI goes to kill her...

Then she does, hand down, one of the top 5 worst backstabbings in doctor who history.

They realize the AI is killing in alphabetical order. She's next. HOWEVER, because she is a HUGE fan of the online celeb, she knows all his secrets. INCLUDING that he changed his name when he moved to the planet, and his REAL name, alphabetically, is before hers. She screams at the AI the truth, and you just see the look of betrayal on the celeb's face. The AI thinks for a beat, then proceeds to instantly kill him (which you would think it would've done before, cuz it's gonna kill them all, eventually. This season of Doctor who has the WORST fucking plot holes).

So she was inept, almost died cuz of her vanity, then, gets her savior killed to save her ass.

WOW.

JUST WOW.

That knife in the back went DEEP.

<craziest part? You get the feeling when she finally meets up with the doctor that no one is buying her story of what happened to the celeb. But they don't know EXACTLY what happened, so they can't do anything. AND, she goes with her all rich brats down the river to, very strongly hinted, their demise due to hubris. She's getting hers. Rarely do you WANT someone to die in this show that is not an outright bad guy but.....I hope her and all her friends got eaten. I mean, earlier they found out their original home planet was DESTROYED by these aliens. Why the fuck do they think THEY can outmaneuver them? Also, one of the few doctor who episodes where...he lost. He basically saved no one in the end. No wonder he had such a powerful scene at the end, BEGGING them to come with him in order to be saved...it was the best scene with this doctor so far...he went ALL out. Ncuti is such a solid actor. They just NEED BETTER FUCKING WRITERS! And companions. They haven't had a decent companion since Peter...this entire season is leading up the companion's real mom/her birth/why it randomly snows, and I PROMISE it's not gonna be fucking worth it.>