#and then just reverse that order for Most Brutal to Least Brutal

[wildissylupus]

I've put this off for too long but here are my thoughts on the how the MW!Junker characters ended up in Junkertown;

Winston - The Tinker

Winston's probably the easiest, he just crashed in Australia after escaping the Lunar colony. Though I do think that though he considers Junkertown his home, he does travel a lot more and did actually reach out to Hammond when he saw Wrecking Ball on the news. I like to think that they are still close friends in Mirrorwatch, just living different lives. I also think Winston would still be very similar to canon, or at least he's like that with the other Junkers. With everyone else he's a bit bitter and short with.

D.VA - The Champion

D.Va is also pretty easy for me, as Junker D.Va already has voice lines with that skin and Hana in general is just an easy character to reverse. My HC is that Hana ended up in Australia after a really bad fight with the Gwishi. Unlike in canon where hiring the best gamers for the MEKA piolets, despite their age, worked immediately. It didn't in the Mirrorwatch timeline. Hana loosing D.Mon and Dae-hyun is a particularly brutal fight against the Gwishi. After that fight she ran and ended up in Junkertown. Which was good for her as Junkertown was probably the most off the grid place you can be. Most of the public think that Hana died in the same fight that took her friends. After that Hana became the champion of Junkertown. Personality wise, there is already hints in the Junker skin voicelines that this Hana focuses a lot more on mechanics. There is also hints that she's a more Han Solo like character. I also like to think that she holds bitterness towards both MEKA and her old fans, seeing them see all the heart ache and trauma she went through and choosing to capitalize off it, not only making her a soldier but also using her as a way to make money.

Genji - The Junker Ninja

Now I'm not sure if this Genji skin has voice lines with it but I'm going to go off of what information we do get, and by that I mean I'm going to look way to much into the Name Card Genji gets. So I've already talked about how I think Genji was initially a part of Talon but escaped thanks to the help of MW!Cassidy. Basically with Vengeance she went to saving Genji expecting to get a living weapon out of the situation. After Genji escapes he basically has to go completely off the grid or Talon will find him a recapture him. So he eventually ends up in Junkertown. He then meets Symmetra who replaces his prosthetics both to make Genji feel more comfortable and to make sure Talon can't track him. With the Name Card, to me he looks like he takes the role of Junker towns protector, keeping what little peace and order there is. Basically he's a Batman like character in Mirrorwatch. He would also be a lot more chaotic, basically imagine Blackwatch Genji but a little less angry and mixed with what Genji most likely was like pre-cybernetics.

Symmetra - The Innovator

Now Sym was one I was excited to get to because I genuinely think she would be a mix of Lifeweaver and Lucio, her having been taken in by Vishkar but leaving as soon as she realized that Vishkar only wanted control. Rebelling in anyway she could. There is also the fact that with the voicelines Junker Sym gets it implies that she has been in Australia for awhile, meaning she likely left as soon as she was able to. I also think that Symmetra is the leader of Junkertown in this universe, specifically with how hard light technology would innovate the technology in Junkertown. For what this means for Junkertown itself, I still think it's incredibly chaotic, but I also think that it would be healthier, more plant life being around the area, maybe even some animals too. Again the politics and general vibe would be the same. There's just more of an effort to resort the environment within Junkertown. The only thing society wise that I think would change is the view on Omnics, them being welcomed in when Sym took power.

[leonawriter]

Maybe a hot take or whatever but I see a fair few people saying how they hate Ohya and... I guess we read into her differently?

Like, the very first time we see her she's still trying to do legit reporting. In Royal, she's there in the station on Akira's very first day trying to find his way through the trains to Shujin, and then later when they're investigating Madarame. It's only really once you hit Kaneshiro that she's the drunkard in Crossroads that we know.

I went into my (watched)playthrough knowing that she was, technically, a romance option. Just like several other adult women in the game. And just like them, I think that the whole thing of "you can romance them if you want" has corrupted peoples' view of who they actually ARE.

If you remove the skeevy choices the devs put on these women, you get Kawakami as someone who just wants to support her students but is being financially extorted, Takemi who wants to help people as a doctor but rumours about her reputation precede her everywhere much like Akira's does, and Ohya, who wants to be a decent reporter but is being held back by the loss of her partner, and her strict boss.

Ohya also gets flak for things that happen during the confidant; she outright asks the protagonist, a 16-17 year old boy, to pose as her boyfriend, when she's in her mid-20's (according to the wiki). If this was played straight, and we took the romance route into consideration, that sure would squick me out! But... if we ignore that the romance route exists?

First we need to look at CONTEXT. She's not asking Akira to pose as her boyfriend for shits and giggles. She's doing this because she wants to be able to investigate the mental shutdown of her partner, Kayo, who she was very close to. Her boss won't let her, and has relegated her to "writing entertainment articles about the latest fads" - basically, fluff pieces that'll sell, but won't require the truth, or any talent.

Her asking Akira to play along means that she's able to tell her boss "I have an excuse for the reason I'm seen talking to this person. No, I am not using him as an informant, or trying to investigate something I've been ordered to leave well alone." She's well aware the relationship would be illicit. Part of the point of her story at this point - and the fact that there's a heart she needs changed, just like most of the other confidants - is that her boss would rather her be doing something illegal like this, than honest investigative work. She's also very cynical for these same reasons at the start of the confidant.

There's also something to be said about how she's the Devil Arcana of the game. Devil Arcana characters, according to the wiki:

These characters have given in to temptation at an earlier point in their life, and as a result this has twisted their actions and way of thinking. Preferably a brutal mix involving the little good they still have in themselves. The Social Link establishes their building their way back up to their path of benevolence. It is not necessarily an easy recovery, as these individuals need to reflect on not only what they believed in, but why they went on the wrong track in the first place.

So, yeah. She's not supposed to read as a good, upstanding and moral person when you first meet her, and P5R tends to open the links with characters in rather reversed reads of their Arcana regardless!

What I see in Ohya is a journalist who winds up finding something to believe in again, who decides to start doing investigative journalism again regardless of whether her bosses agree with it, and who'd probably be a cool older sister type... even if she would encourage Akira to get the actual booze or any number of things he shouldn't really be doing.

I... also see her as, if not lesbian then at least bisexual, and still very hung up over Kayo. SO. Yeah, no, I can't see her actually having an interest in a kid so soon after all that. In my eyes she's just "kid, no."

[justatalkingface]

The worst part about the dark Deku arc in my opinion is the completely mixed messages. By attacking Izuku and criticizing what he did, they said the lives of all the people he saved weren't worth it. That he was stupid for leaving and should have stayed in his ivory tower with them. It wasn't like this guy was just fighting AFO and left school because these fodder children weren't enough. He saved MANY lives and took down numerous, murderous people who would have been left completely unchecked because Japan apparently does not have a military and the police aren't interested in protecting the citizens. Heroes are all that stands between total anarchy it seems, and most of them retired despite a crisis being the best possible time to earn fame and accolades. The civilians are left to fend for themselves with black market support gear they're so incompetent at using that they take themselves out with it and also wreck their own neighborhoods. Yo Shindo would be dead if Izuku stayed at UA. That's a point the narrative ignores. Muscular could have killed hundreds of people, thousands if he felt like it, and who could have stopped him? The man can withstand 100% OFA punches. That giant animal lady? She'd have been brutalized in a hate crime for no good reason. The fodder kids spit on all these actions. This man is out there actually helping people and saving lives, and their answer is to drag him back to their little safe zone where they keep all the civilians. Sure, let's put all our eggs in one basket and create a single point of failure! Why can't they all just join him in hero work? All 20 of them could be kicking ass and taking names. At least then we'd see the hero kids actually helping people for once. Yes, Izuku's lack of self care and mentality was self destructive, but the end result is that people were better off because he did it. He was being stupid for neglecting his own self care, not for leaving. If Izuku behaved the way they wanted him to, Nagant, Dictator, Muscular, and many others would still be in AFO's pocket and ready for deployment. Also, Aoyama was still the traitor and he 100% would have led Izuku into a trap if ordered to. Staying at UA would have created a worse outcome but the story doesn't acknowledge this at all. And it also didn't address Izuku's concerns, like you said. Bakugo dies, and Jiro loses an ear. We know these injuries will of course be reversed because the heroes have access to Eri who is like a senzu bean basically. But they didn't get massive power ups or anything. They just attacked a guy who didn't want to fight them and wouldn't beat them all into the dirt with Black Whip, like he totally and easily could have.

The funniest thing to me is AFO's complete inability to kill anyone. His confirmed kills are previous OFA holders, and this clown show is out here unable to kill literal children. The "Symbol Of Evil", everyone. What's funnier is that he treated Endeavor like an ant back at Kamino. The guy was completely beneath him. But then Endeavor gets buffed to be one of the strongest people in the world inexplicably and is capable of inflicting fatal wounds on AFO. All the training and upgrades in MHA happen off screen. It's the strangest thing how we've got a school setting, but it's the kids themselves doing all the training and inventing of new attacks and breakthroughs. They've got loads of pro hero mentors and a super genius principal who could theoretically give them the most efficient training plans possible and maximize their use of their quirks, but Mina trains with Bakugo and Shoto to perfect her acid. Well, I guess she's right. They're the ones at the forefront of fighting a war for their country, while many other heroes with more training and experience decided to just stay home. Which again, is the oddest thing. Are they hoping Shigaraki won't decay them when he wins? That AFO won't do a hero purge? We don't see them all fleeing Japan on planes or boats or anything. A lot of these people would have a decent amount of money and could leave with all their assets. Just straight up abandon ship. But we hear about them quitting because they don't like being criticized but not what they plan to do after. The cracks show a lot in MHA. It relies on so many contrivances to function. It's not a story that runs on cause and effect. As you said, everything has to go perfectly for things to work right. You mentioned Machia in another post, and it perfectly illustrates things. Imagine if the guy didn't suddenly decide to attack his master and instead he just crushed all these heroes. They have no one capable of defeating him and Momo's stuck at UA acting as a battery (lol) so they don't have a convenient drug to take him out this time. But of course they had the idea to use Gigantomachia against his allies, and of course when he was broken out of Shinso's brainwashing, he actually secretly hated AFO and wanted to fight him. Because the alternative is this being a suicidal, stupid plan and getting everyone killed when AFO frees his friend! The heroes always get to benefit from these unearned victories. They didn't flip Machia. They didn't earn his trust, or speak to him about his trauma and learn his past. They didn't have a heart to heart with him about his motivations and convince him he's more than a tool to be used by a megalomaniac. They didn't show him photos of all the people he crushed and ask him to make amends for what he did and help end the war he was used to start. No, he just gets a new personality with no build up to help stall a guy who can't manage mass fatalities we know he should be capable of, considering he destroyed Kamino VERY quickly. It's just like how Dabi has been shown to be able to turn people into charcoal in seconds with his flames, and also melt metal, but when he burns Hawks, he manages to barely damage his quirk a bit. And then the guy gets support gear so it's functionally like it never happened. The villains are always jokes in this series. Every victory they have is pyrrhic and there's a contrivance that lets the heroes still manage to get one over. This is the first narrative I've seen that's so openly biased for the main characters and doesn't try to hide it.

So the thing is with the Dark Deku arc? In many ways, it's the culmination of everything Hori's set up and left to rot. It's all these threads about heroic society Hori left blowing in the wind.

In other words? It's complicated. It's so so complicated, it's an arc that is all about complicated things, difficult subjects, and problems that don't have easy answers, and Hori treated it like it was a simple topic... but he couldn't even keep that up. It's such a mess, it's not even funny.

Because the thing is? You're right, Izuku did do good things while he wasn't in school. He saved people, many people, and that's something the story didn't acknowledge... at all. Meanwhile, his classmates, for all that they are trained to be heroes, trained to go and fight and protect, are sitting safe at home.

The thing is, though, that they are still children, all of them. Children shouldn't have to risk their lives for other people. They should live their lives, enjoy their youths. This is the moral question.

At the time though, on a logical level, each hero trained is, potentially, hundreds or thousands of people saved in the future; by allowing them to stay safe and grow up, far more people will be saved, theoretically, than if they were to be deployed in the field right now to save people. At the same time, though, Japan is in crisis, heroics as a whole is threatening to collapse under its own weight, and if they sit on their asses rather than help, there may not be a tomorrow for them. This is the logical question.

So morally, logically, which choice is right? Which is wrong? Is there even a right answer? What is the price someone should pay for others? What should a child give up for society? What are you willing to sacrifice to live how you want? What burden are you willing to bear for another's sake?

These are the kinds of questions this arc askes, and it's something you can't just avoid for as serious a topic as this. Personally, I'd say the answer is somewhere between these two points, but every story has its own moral and message it is ultimately saying is right or wrong, and that is eventually proved correct by the story itself. Sometimes it's that the day can be saved, if you just try hard enough, and that friendship is everything. Sometimes it's that the world is bitter and cold, and that only the strong and lucky survive.

Here's the problem MHA is suffering from, what this arc and Izuku ultimately exemplify: what is Hori saying is right? What is the moral or message that is correct here?

Yeah... Hori has no fucking idea. And, I've said this before, the fact he doesn't even seem to know what he wants beyond, 'ACTION! MORE ACTION! EXPLOSIONS! I CAST FIST!' is something that severely damages the overall story telling. It really feels like he doesn't know where things are even going, sometimes.

Ah, AFO. I really, honestly, feel sorry for him. He's just so... pathetic now. He suffers from being made too strong for the setting, and so Hori keeps having to nerf him just to explain why everyone is still alive. Like, really, honest truth? If I was AFO? I would have just, like, poisoned All Might years ago; none of this fair fight nonsense. The second All Might became a viable threat he should have started cheating like the criminal genius he apparently is, and taken advantage of all of the many, many advantages he has, between his Quirks, his resources, and his ruthlessness.

The spin off manga says AFO tried to steal Erasure back when Aizawa was still in training, which... yeah, that makes sense. Then he fails, and then... never tries again. Ever.

Am I the only one who sees the problem here?

I've seen people say that Aizawa, a man employed as a teacher in perhaps one of the most visible schools in existence, is too off the radar for him to find. When, apparently, AFO has his finger in the government, and criminal element, he is unable to... check his tax record to find out where he lives, or to have someone follow him home, or ambush him after he leaves the school he has to go to, or anything like that. Or, hell, just kill him, if Erasure is somehow too hard for him to get.

Oh well, I guess that's too much work for one of the most OP Quirks in the setting, one that can easily counter his All Might problem, or cripple him personally. Better to just ignore it entirely instead; what could go wrong with that?

Remember when AFO bitch slapped just about every top hero, minus All Might, causally? How in the fuck is Endeavour a threat to him now?

Yeah. The thing is, AFO is too strong, plain and simple. Even in a setting where All Might, who changes the weather while holding back exists, much less everyone without OFA. If he was allowed to have a fraction of the brains and fire power that we're told again and again that he has, the story never would have happened, because OFA would have been taken or destroyed generations before All Might even became a thing, before Izuku was even born. But the story is still happening, and people keep successfully beating him, and they need to keep beating, and will continue to until he is finally defeated. Does that make sense? No, but the show must go on.

On all the people not putting their part in... to be fair, we see a more personal version of Shigaraki than almost anyone else, in story. There's a real question of how many people even know what his goals are, much less who would believe it, since it's kind of nuts to say the least. Under that logic, I could see them not thinking it's worth the danger to themselves, though the fact they're willing to just sit there and do nothing when their ultimate fate is up to grabs, when they could actually make a difference, unlike so many other people, is... stupid. But people are often stupid, so to some extent, that is understandable, but you'd think the people who trained themselves to fight every day would be more willing to put their lives on the line... though, that goes back to the 'corrupt heroes' thing Hori keeps dropping.

Really, Machia's entire thing there is so mind numbingly dumb that, even though I made a post about how bad it is, I'm still surprised no one stopped to ask, 'And then what?' when Shinso proposed it. Brainwash is very powerful Quirk, don't get me wrong, but it is not a Quirk that is made for direct slug match like that... but Shinso is too cool to not include, so there we go, I guess! Hori does everything possible to justify him making a big, dramatic contribution to the fight when the smarter, yet absurdly obvious choice is Shinso just telling Machia to walk off to the other end of Japan, cover his ears, and wait there forever so that one of the most dangerous people in the story just doesn't participate in the final fight. But, you know, Post War is about the how COOL it is! For the cliffhangers! And Machia taking a nap, no matter how smart a choice, isn't a DRAMATIC CLIFFHANGER!

And that's the thing, really: so much of the worst choices in MHA (that aren't from long running overarcing problems that come from far earlier in the story, anyways) are about that, cheap drama. Every poor choice that everyone has criticized ultimately boils down to making every chapter DRAMATIC and EXCITING, by making every possible scene look cool, even if it needs to be promptly taken back in the very first panel of the next chapter that follows it, even if it conflicts with things he's said before, even if it makes everyone involved an idiot. Hori has taken the worship of cliffhangers above everything else in MHA, over story, or logic, or characters, or messages,; any and all of it will be sacrificed to the altar of 'does this make the fans want to read the next chapter?'.... which, ironically, makes the fans not want to read the next chapter anymore, because people didn't get into this story because of big hits and dramatic scenes.

And each cliffhanger has built off each other, until we've gotten here, to the point where the story doesn't even make sense anymore, where the most common comment I see reading each chapter is, 'I don't understand what is happening, I guess I'll have to wait for the anime to make it make sense', or, even more damning, 'I don't care anymore'.

The heroes win, and the villains lose, not because of of the choices they've made, or how strong they are, but because reality itself bends over to make it so. And nobody wants to read that.

[screaming-for-eternally]

Screw it. Decided to come up with my own personal general Cayde-6 Reverse Forsaken HCs -The divergence is simple: Cayde goes after the inmates while The Guardian stays with the control center, and ends up pulling a Cayde and bringing it down-Cayde's a bad influence after all. -Things go as you'd expect-the YW does well, then they don't. They make the fateful mistake of taking Ghost out. And they get shot with their own gun. -I kind of imagine they are far less accepting of their final moments than Cayde was. Cayde had been a Guardian for several centuries. The Wolf? Only four years. Might not have put on a brave face like Cayde did, and instead were scared of their impending death. -And so, The Young Wolf, the godslayer, and possibly the greatest and most powerful Guardian in history-dies on the floor of that prison, barley 4 years after they were rezzed. -And Cayde? Let's just say this whole thing breaks him. -Now, how 'well' Cayde takes it depends on your Guardian's relationship with your Guardian-be it mentor-student, friends, or even lovers. I'm gonna say for the sake of this their friends, but note that the closer Cayde was with the YW, the worse he spirals. -It was what happened to Andal all over again.

-Now, Cayde blames himself big time. Not least of all because he brought the barons into custody in the first place. He had been merciful. And it had gotten his friend killed. Well not this time. -At the funeral, Cayde tells Zavala to shove his 'no revenge' talk up his ass. He was coming back with Uldren's head on a silver platter, with or without the rest of the Vanguard's support. He wanted to do nothing after their hero was murdered? Fine. but Cayde wasn't gonna sit this one out. Not this time. -Speaking of, part of me thinks Cayde might have a heated argument with Zavala before he leaves. And it gets ugly. Like, real ugly. Cayde's grieving and pissed at Zavala for being such a coward in his eyes. And he's gonna pull every cruel insult and jab in the book at him. He comes to regret it later of course. And he does eventually apologize and try to make it up to Zavala. But for now, their friendship is in the gutter. -Anyways Cayde heads to the Shore -He has far less patience for Spider's little 'quid pro quo' deal. He makes it clear either Spider can give him the information he wants, or Cayde can squeeze it out of him. -Cayde during Forsaken is almost an entirely different person. Sure he might crack a quiet, half-hearted joke here or there, but those are just fleeting moments. For the most part though? He acts like a ruthlessly efficient yet brutal killing machine. When Cayde catches the Barons one by one, he shows not a shred of mercy. Petra and Sundance see this...and it freaking unerves them to see Cayde shift so drastically. -Eventually Cayde catches up with Uldren. -And let's just say Uldren doesn't get an easy death and leave it at that. -Cayde returns to the Tower. -Given the whole storming the reef without orders thing, and given how brutally he dispatched Uldren and the Barons, there's a good chance he ends up getting removed from the Vanguard-In a cruel twist of fate, Cayde finally gets to be free of the Tower...at the cost of the Wolf. -Following all of that, Cayde heads back to the Shore, hunting the remaining Scorn as part of some unhealthy coping mechanism. -It's there where he runs into Crow

-Cayde's pretty bitter about the whole thing. He knows it's not Uldren and he logically shouldn't be mad at him for that but...it just isn't fair. -That being said, while he may or may not be Vanguard anymore, Crow's still a fellow Hunter. -So when learns of Crow's 'employment' to Spider...it takes every fiber of his being not to just go up and shoot the kingpin. -He does however make it clear that if Spider doesn't take the bomb off Glint and let Crow go he wouldn't hesitate to slaughter him and his gang off the face of the Reef. Given that Cayde would've likely developed a fearsome reputation due to his actions with the Scorn Barons, Spider would damn well know he wasn't bluffing. You don't fuck with Cayde's Hunters on his watch. -Eventually, Cayde warms up to Crow. And slowly but surely, he starts to come out of the shell he'd been hiding in since Forsaken. -I kinda think Cayde would take up the YW's mantle of Godslayer alongside Crow. Two Hunters kicking ass and taking names. That's all I have for this. If you like any of ideas and want to use them for your own AU, feel free.

[originemesis]

@hxly-fxther xxx

Step, step. The being takes a seat next to Adam and shows the 8-Ball with the exact answer he had stated. The man rarely lies, this however was not one. He created the thing, he knows. However, maybe it was time he is more direct with his speech. "You chose to kill yourself in the most brutal way possible in every one of your fights. You harbor resentment for others and yourself. I feel you use this in order to push those to either end your existence or you simply just do not care. Or perhaps you do not feel yourself worthy to have companionship after how you had lost your closest companion." He interlocks his fingers and sets them atop his own leg crossed knee as he waits for an answer he is half expecting to be met with deflected humor. "If I am wrong, then be the first among all of creation to correct me."

There's not really a nose to wrinkle on a mask, but he manages to convey the sentiment anyway with a curling of teeth and a narrowing of eyes at the clearly rigged 8-ball answer. Why does he bother to see any sense in an act of puppetry anymore? Oh wait, he doesn't. A shift to angle his knees away from the other is all he needs to convey that much.

"..." Quietly he picks at what would be his ear through the helmet, gaze bored and swiveled elsewhere at the summary of his make and model. Though there comes a point where his talons twitch and fall from their task- left under the blank expanse of his gaze as he turns his wrist over and over under subtle scrutiny like he can identify where the deepest cut on the blank canvas lay. "Fuck'em. They'll never understand what I lost. What I'd give to reverse it."

His answer comes as a deep breath inwards, followed by a slow exhale that seems to disrupt his molecules to the point where he doesn't seem whole anymore- a Picasso painting of his former self as outlines fade in favor of translating him to bits of wisps that only slightly resemble the ghost of a fully formed rendition of its source. "I made my choice. And You- You just had to undermine it with all of ... this. Hope you get off on it at least, otherwise the fuck's the point?"

[tobiasdrake]

Time to digest some of the things I've learned and make my way to Mesa Island.

I. Think? I might not be the most important person on this ship right now.

It's pretty hard to believe, I know. But it might be true. I'm not saying I'm going to drop to my knees and worship the guy or anything but. Yeah. Okay. I get it. I get what's so important about this man.

I still want my fucking Captain's Quarters back. He has thousands of other timelines with other ships with other Captain's Quarters that he can use. We only have the one! And I want it! Grumble grumble.

Anyways. Mesa Island. Come on, TIA; Let's go put your hand on the scale.

Reversing the flow of time in order to temporally resurrect the island giant. Yeah, Aephorul won't notice that. We mortals do shit like this all the time.

Wait, "Master"? Did you create the stone giants? Are you the person I have to punch in the nose for the catastrophe of safety violations that is Yeet Ball transit?

Does my every grievance with our world ultimately roll up to you? Because I am willing to throw down after all of this is over. I have it on good authority that my magic's better than yours.

Bold words from a guy who's been dead for 150 years.

Yeah, I got that impression from all those sunken ruins of things that clearly weren't underwater at some point in time.

How did the sea levels rise? Global warming?

Oh, okay. I'll just make a note of that here: "Ask Teaks about rising sea levels later." Got it.

Huh. Mesa Island isn't connected to the seafloor. Khukharr holds it up like Atlas holds the sky.

Y'know, I was thinking about that. We've got your manager here and all, so he could give you his approval if we wanted to violate your job duties, right?

How about, instead of removing the barrier, you flip this whole-ass island upside-down and then slam it into the seafloor as hard as you possibly can. After that, you can go back to hoisting it on your shoulders while we pick through whatever's left of the castle to find the Dweller.

I mean, if we're going to cheat, why do it halfway?

Resh'an has the best method of escaping an awkward conversation I've ever seen. I now regret not trying to swindle him and keep the vial for myself.

...wait, it would still go back to him even after I broke it. *sigh* Maybe I can trick him into gambling it away or....

Wait, even if I won it off him in gambling, it would still go back to him when I tried to use it. That fucking prick. He's planning on cheating me out of my winnings! >.<

Oh, shit, I was thinking about important leadership things. What's going on now?

That's terrifying. Are you going to yeet our ship? How does yeeting our ship help!?

THERE WE GO. Thank you. Fuck, that was like pulling teeth. Stone giant teeth. I don't know why he had to be so obstinate about this when we were "friends".

At least it's done now. I'm ready to go get brutally murdered by the Dweller of Strife if you guys are.

Except you, Resh'an. You've reserved the right to peace out and run for your life as soon as we approach the thing. Honestly, you can probably go home now. This is a suicide mission after all.

Oh, this is pretty. Mesa Island's high enough to have weather. We knew that from Glacial Peak but it's still neat to see. Big change from most of our tropical sea-level locales.

How did you even get inside the barrier?

Are there people in here, besides the council of sycophants? Because if so, then that complicates my plan to upend and smash the whole island.

Not that we're doing the plan. We wouldn't be here if we were. But still.

Ohhhh, yeah. That definitely looks like a big, evil castle. Then again, it appears to be situated in the middle of the Mushroom Kingdom so we should prepare for the possibility that our Dweller is in another castle.

Okay, team. Against all odds, we've made it to Mesa Island. We have no reinforcements, no plan, and we're about to go wing it against a Dweller that killed dozens of our peers - And we have been explicitly told that the future holds no possibility of success.

HOWEVER

Those were useless futures foretold by a terrible seer who couldn't find his past with both hands. We have something he never anticipated! We have Resh'an!

Who will not be participating in this battle.

...

So I don't want to hear any hopeless talk out of any of you! They say that if you try to thwart a prophecy, your actions to escape from it will ultimately bring it about. You know what that means? That means that if you want to thwart prophecy, you gotta rush in and meet it head on! Let's go meet our destiny and spit in its face before it bowls us over!

[mischief-lies-and-stories]

From Loki: The Liar #4 (and Scarlet Witch #8) to The Immortal Thor #1

For about a month now, we’ve had what amounts to essentially two Lokis running around the comics (cutting this off mid-sentence because spoilers below the cut)

(three, if you count SW 8 Loki, who looks like Loki: The Liar Loki but has only been stated to come before The Immortal Thor in continuity, yet is still sitting on the throne of Jotunheim when Wanda walks in, whereas in IT Loki says he abdicated). This isn’t particularly unheard of; we had six named Lokis and a Sylvie in the void at the same time on Loki, after all. This isn’t even that unheard of for the comics: in Journey into Mystery, you have Ikol as a magpie trailing after Kid Loki like he’s Sparx from Spyro or Link’s Navi. And then in AoA’s own version of the void, you’ve got echoes of the first iteration and Kid Loki, along with pre-ego death AoA Loki (who’s also technically Ikol), as well as the magpie who may or may not also be a Loki (it’s unclear), with Old Loki off wreaking havoc in the real world at the same time. Technically speaking, we also had a Dark Loki recently in his own What If comic. So multiple Lokis simultaneously who may or may not sync up or even interact with each other in canon is not unheard of. We’re also getting IT 2 next week, which may provide more insight on how these comics and Loki specifically line up with each other (or don’t). But here’s my prediction of how this works.

I think the canon order for these stories goes Loki: The Liar 1-4, Scarlet Witch 8, Immortal Thor 1 (and so on). What we have to basically reconcile is when Scarlet Witch takes place, which is prior to Immortal Thor per the author’s own statement, but could take place at any point before or after LTL (but not during, because SW 8 specifically takes place in Loki’s throne room on Jotunheim, and Loki is off-world for most of the miniseries). And then at what point Loki gives up the throne, as he says he no longer has it in IT 1. 

At the end of LTL 4, we see Loki sitting on the floor of his throne room with his throne up in flames. He doesn't set it ablaze himself, but he also doesn't put it out, either. This feels like he’s at least starting to become disillusioned with his position (though issue one opens with him across the universe in Florida plotting DeSantis and his transphobic cohort’s demise, so he may have already been getting tired of the job). In SW 8, he’s still in charge, though, and also still sitting on this (intact) throne, but like, even though I’m pretty sure this chair is made of ice, it’s not burning very quickly. And also Loki’s magic. So as soon as he gets tired of feeling sorry for himself and sitting on the floor, he probably turns off the fire and reverses the melting.

So Loki’s burnt out and bored and wallowing in self-pity and still dealing with regaining his post-ego death memories (and is clearly not dealing with them well, if the book of truth’s revelations of his self-doubt are anything to go on). And it’s into this mucky swamp of the god of stories’ identity crisis (number-who’s-keeping-count, at this point) that Wanda steps, offering, ultimately, Loki’s ticket out. But he’s king and hates to show weakness, and he already told Arkin no, and (at least as I understand it) Arkin is not asking for all of Jotunheim, so maybe he can trick him into taking it all, but not while the Scarlet Witch is here as his advocate. So he keeps up appearances and says no again, but rather readily offers a duel and does not try to cheat (it’s implied that the truth hex wouldn’t let him, but come on, it’s Loki). I don’t think he intends to get so wrapped up in it that she turns him down in a brutally honest manner almost before he consciously realizes he’s into her, but that just adds to the delicious angst that’s been quietly building since DB. So he admits defeat and gives Arkin what he asks for. And then Wanda goes home thinking Mission Accomplished, but then I think Loki ropes Arkin into now inheriting all of Jotunheim and bounces.

And then Immortal Thor opens with Utgard-Loki making trouble and Loki very casually dropping that he’s abdicated. And Thor says something to the effect of “I’m glad you’re back.” Back from where? The cosmos, where we last saw this happier (seemingly), Ewing Loki? Probably a more immediate trip for the characters themselves (it’s not like Ewing is unaware of the recent comics with his current characters. He often tries to reconcile his version of the character with the version readers have most immediate interaction with, so he’s for sure done his research): the quest to reassemble Naglfar.

The quest that ends with Loki out loud resigning himself to being cursed, unloved, the liar.

His mental state around mending the Bifrost before vanishing, their unspoken apology to Thor, the implications by the elder gods that Loki is plotting something that may ultimately lead to her brother’s destruction at the hands of Utgard-Thor or perhaps something older and stronger and more deadly, it’s all making a little more sense with the conclusion of Loki: The Liar. Bullseye was right: The book won, but was it worth it? Prophecies have a way of bringing themselves about even when you try to avoid them.

[phoenixradiant]

Cabbage and Lettuce for the ask game

"Ask and ye shall receive!"

CABBAGE - Do they deserve their fate? & LETTUCE - Do they deserve their past?

I'm gonna handle these in reverse order because it makes chronological sense to do so, and I'm just gonna use the protagonists since no one was specified.

Cellic:

Lettuce: Not a chance. Man had the perfect life growing up until he was about 10. Then in a single day he became a cripple and lost his father and baby sister. Around the time he'd finally accepted that he'd have to live without them, his mother died to the plague. Then his surrogate parents (who are Maiph's actual parents) die in a magical accident trying to cure the plague. Then his friend and older-brother figure gets gutted in front of him, so that when he finally gets healed all he feels is guilt for being so helpless so long. He becomes a soldier to protect others, but the stuff that happens to him there is almost as bad. The fact that this guy hasn't cracked by the time the plot starts is miraculous.

Cabbage: Yep. He deserves every bit of it. The story may be rough, but afterwards, he gets married, has like 6 kids, spends the next hundred years farming, and then when his wife dies (they were both magical enough to slow aging a lot) he wanders off into the mountains, becoming a legend.

Narra:

Lettuce: Also no. Cellic probably lost more than she did, but he had more to lose. The first twelve years of her life sucked, like, perpetually on the edge of starvation sucked. No big events to speak of, just constant suck. She gets found by one of her grandfather's knights and made a princess, and all she wants to do is help unfortunates like her, and it keeps not working. It's not her fault, but she almost loses hope.

Cabbage: (Very Spoilery) No. Plot happens and she dies not once, but twice. There are three characters in the book who cheat death, and all three of them are dead-for-realsies by the end, but Narra definitely deserved it the least. She had the optimism and moral purity of a literal child, and even after dying once tried to reconcile mercy and love with the reality of the battle she has to fight. The second time she didn't die quickly, either, but at least that time she was surrounded by friends.

Kar:

Lettuce: Maybe. Magrom always was brutal, tricksy, and possessed by a wicked sense of humor, but like with the other two, he was just a kid. Then half his family is assassinated in a night, and from then on, he decided he was going to earn his suffering. He started lying, stealing, and killing almost overnight (he wasn't even a teenager before he made his first body). The only vestiges of a personal code he has left are "Never betray your family" and "Never be ashamed of who you have become." Chronologically speaking, Magrom Karven didn't deserve what he got, but the sum total of his actions vs. his fortunes until the beginning of the story? He 100% deserves it.

Cabbage: Another maybe. Kar goes through a pretty drastic change kicked off by a quest for revenge, where he has to confront the fact that deep down, he'd be willing to die to avenge his brother and protect his niece. He has to face the purely selfish version of himself that he's constructed and admit that he's been lying to himself, ashamed of himself. Once he's accepted that, he can finish the plot, but he could've done that as his vindictive, power-hungry self too. He ends up as High King of Alador, but most of the redemption and reconciliation he does occurs after the plot ends, and isn't actually shown in the book. As a person, he's definitely changed enough to warrant some good fortune, but he hasn't proven it to the world yet.

Zix, this was long! Well, thanks for the ask, hope you enjoyed reading!

[perfectpaperbluebirds]

I was wondering what the Tenbusches favourite comfort things are? Do they have favourites foods/movies they need when they’re sick?

It was so strange to receive this when I did, because literally that exact day I was starting to ponder this very question myself in preparation for the upcoming Tenbusch fic. Anon, I think you must be a mindreader lol.

That being said, I really hadn't given this too much thought when you sent this, which is why I took so long to answer. But here is my first go-round with this question after much consideration. I included what they wear, what they eat, what they watch/listen to and other general caregiving things they like when they're sick. Obviously this list will expand as I get to know these characters more over time. In reverse age order this time, since I always make Thad go first lol. (He would say he doesn't mind, though. He's the oldest and used to being the guinea pig).

Answers got long as always, so under the cut they go:

Padma: When she's sick, more often than not it's her nose that gives her the most trouble, and she usually can't go anywhere without tissues in her pocket or in her hand. Her upper lip and septum get chapped and raw quickly, so she experiments with different salves all the time to try to alleviate this. She will immediately gravitate toward her most fluffy robe and slippers as soon as he starts to feel poorly. She also never skimps on things like tissues and medicine when she's sick, only buying the best/nicest/name brand things, wanting to be as comfortable as possible. Her biggest sick day necessity, though, is the kinds of tea she drank growing up in India. American teas would never do for her. As far as movies and things, she isn't really a sick-day TV person, since her eyes are usually achy and puffy from the congestion. She prefers podcasts and audiobooks if anything, but usually she'll just listen to music if she's bored, and again, it will usually be music from her homeland. She is the least needy and most self-sufficient when she's sick, and won't ask much from any caregiver, but she loves having company when she's not feeling well, just someone to sit and talk with her and reassure her that she's not as disgusting as she feels.

Thalia: Prone to migraines as a rule, Thalia can be guaranteed to have a throbbing head whenever she comes down with anything, and this headache usually turns into a migraine sooner or later, so all her sick day rituals center around easing head pain. She keeps lights off and rooms cool and generally stays away from loud noises and strong smells. She's not usually a tactile person, but she desperately craves to be held when she's under the weather, wants to be squeezed and wrapped up tight. If there's no one around to hold her, she'll burrito herself in a weighted blanket instead, needing the pressure sensation. A 90's kid through and through, she loves Disney movies, and these are what she gravitates to when she's sick in bed if her headache allows her to watch TV. She especially loves the ones featuring animals like the Jun/gle Boo/k and 10/1 Dal/mations. However, she swears by audiobooks as the best sick day binge. Even though she knows real orange juice is healthier, she craves the drink Sunny D as her sick day comfort, and tends to subconsciously follow the BRAT (banana, rice, applesauce, toast) diet whenever she's sick, even if it isn't stomach-related sickness, since her parents swore by this diet for all childhood illnesses, and because her migraines often make her nauseous. As far as sick-day attire, she is the proud owner of multiple Snuggies and will wear one of them with fleece-lined leggings for the duration of any illness.

Audra: She is the True Crime junkie of the lot, and this is especially obvious when she's sick. When asked about it once, she said that when her life sucks she likes to watch scary, brutal things to remind her that life could suck a whole lot more. Cri/minal Min/ds is her go-to since she owns the whole series on DVD, but if she's bored of those she'll happily try any of the numerous true crime/serial killer specials that are streaming, or if here eyes hurt too much for TV, she'll listen to true crime podcasts. When she feels like death warmed over, you can almost guarantee she'll be watching or listening to stuff about death. For attire, she will wear her husband's clothes almost exclusively when she's under the weather, and her brother-in-laws' too, when she can get her hands on them. (She's especially fond of Thad's. He is roughly the same height as her, but more muscular, so his clothes are always soft and loose on her.) When she's sick, she goes into sloth mode and doesn't want to move or even stand unless she absolutely has to, so she'll be found lying down the entire time she's feeling poorly. She will cuddle up gladly against anyone who sits near her, though. As far as food and drink, anything warm is what she wants, since nothing bothers her more when she's sick than her throat being sore. Hot tea, hot coffee, hot soup, hot pasta (in temperature as well as spice usually) are her go-tos, but she'll throw in ice cream and popsicles to mix it up if hot things aren't helping her throat for whatever reason.

Theo: As we all know, he is very familiar with being sick, so he has his sick day routine down to a science. Firstly, he always has his trusty water bottle by his side and is always drinking from that or a thermos of tea, because he knows from experience that he'll feel much worse if he gets dehydrated. Secondly, he will immediately don his robe, fleece-lined flannel, and not take it off until he's feeling better. In the midst of his illnesses, if he's not in bed he can usually be found either curled up next to a heat source, or else sitting by a window in the sunlight like a cat. When he's sick, more than anything he wants to be warm, and he firmly believes in the restorative effects of sunlight. Theo's favorite food in the world is pancakes, so when he's especially under the weather, his family will usually make these to cheer him up and help him feel better. He's also a connoisseur of grilled cheese and tomato soup as we've seen, and he has strong opinions about this meal, so his sanctioned brands and ingredients are always stocked in the pantry. As far as media, the romantic and tender-hearted Theo has a huge soft spot for musicals. The rest of his family thinks they're sappy and silly, so they only agree to watch them with him when he's feeling crummy, and he takes full advantage of this. Strangely enough, Christmas-themed musicals are his favorite, so Holiday Inn, Scrooge, and White Christmas are always on rotation, but he also loves to watch Singin' in the Rain, knowing Gene Kelly was ghastly ill when singing the titular song, and in a pinch really any musical will do, as he's seen most of them. Even if he's too sick to actively watch TV, he likes to turn on musicals anyway, because you don't have to watch to understand what's going on usually. But if he's just listening to music, then 90's easy listening is his comfort media.

Thad: That doesn't get sick often, but when he does it hits him fast and hard, and he tends to spike dramatically high fevers when he's sick with anything. His symptoms tend to be very explosive in general, from ear-shattering coughing and sneezing to... anything else. (For this reason and others, Thad is the LAST person that anyone would want to catch a stomach bug.) His preferred seating is beanbag chairs (because they're easiest on his back, which gives him trouble after years of playing contact sports) and there are several scattered around the house, so as soon as he starts feeling poorly he will curl up in one of these and not move until he's better, sleeping and eating there as much as he possibly can. Thad is by far the crabbiest of the family when he's sick, and until he's recovered he actively pushes everyone away except for his partner, from whom he seeks a little extra attention. JB learns over time that Thad does best if he's given a steady supply of gentle attentiveness when he's sick, just being checked on and fussed over in regular, measured doses. Thad has a collection of "I'm not feeling well" cardigans that he likes to wear, and interestingly he'll usually be found in knitted caps as well if he has to leave his nest, especially when his hair starts thinning as he ages. Thad loves peanut butter sandwiches of any kind (with honey, with bananas, with jelly) when he's not feeling well, along with, strangely enough, pickles and frozen pickle juice pops. If he wants hot food, he'll gravitate toward childhood favorites like Spaghetti-O's and cheap, prepackaged Ramen Noodles. He doesn't quit his coffee habit when sick, insisting it's one of the only things that helps him feel better (since he hates tea) but he does keel it back a good deal. He'll even drink decaf if a bad fever has his heart rate up, just as long as he can have the taste and warmth. A self-professed audiophile, Thad listens to a lot of music, and this is especially true when he's sick. Whether it's through his fancy, expensive headphones or fancy, expensive stereo, or fancy, expensive turntable, he always has something playing. He says being feverish actually heightens the experience of listening to music (though it can give him very strange dreams), so he'll often use sick days as a chance to explore artists he hasn't heard yet. He avoids TV as a rule whether he's sick or not, and if he's in a room where one is playing, he insists that someone else picks something he'll find boring so he can fall asleep.

JB: With his huge lung capacity, JB gets the most awful cough with any sort of respiratory ailment, worse even than Theo, loud and harsh and huge and frequent, so easing the coughing is always his biggest goal of any sickness, especially as he gets more prone to bronchitis as he ages. The coughing also tends to make his ribs and chest and abdomen miserably sore, which never fails to radiate out to his extremities, so he's an achy mess whenever he's sick. For this reason, Vick's is always in good supply in their home, as well as IcyHot, Bengay, and all the others, not to mention plenty of heating pads and heated blankets. More than anything, when he's sick he gets utterly exhausted and just wants to sleep. He'll sleep 2/3 or 3/4 of the day if he's able, like a bear in hibernation. Since he's so exhausted, he has minimal appetite whenever he's sick, so food is generally the last thing on his mind. However, he has a special fondness for hot cereals, like Cream of Wheat and oatmeal, with plenty of sugar and cream, and loves fruit juice, so he'll have these as a splurge when he's sick, since he considers them too unhealthy to have under normal circumstances. Because he's so tall and broad (6'5", 250 lbs), for most of his adult life, finding clothes that would be "loose" on him isn't easy without special ordering everything. For that reason, his comfort clothes/sick day attire is mostly comprised of close-fitting thermal wear (think Under Armour, etc) and the occasional pair of fleece or flannel pajama pants. He and Thalia are much alike in that they aren't overly tactile as a rule, but when sick, they love their partner's arms around them and being held close. Eventually, JB also comes to crave a deep massage to help his aches when he's feeling poorly, and Thad takes pride in mastering the technique of massage over time.

Anon, thank you for sending this ask and forcing me to consider this question and write out the answer. It was a lovely exercise and every time I get one of these I feel like I know the characters so much better after! All the best to you, and feel free to send more questions if you have them. The next Tenbusch fic is almost finished and should be out in a few more weeks :) Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

[magnetarbeam]

One of the big themes I'm attempting to establish in Voices of the Force is in regards to the way power corrupts people, and how some of those people manage to retain their moral compasses in spite of that, and how most don't.

This'll hopefully permeate a lot of the political plots too - Wynn rooting out corporate corruption in the GA, the Hutts finally losing the last of their power, Tenel Ka managing to be largely benevolent to the average citizen of Hapes despite having to handle the Consortium's brutal court politics, the Empire of the Hand having made its command structures more centralized in and since the Vong War even though they didn't need to as the GA did at its formation, because the people in power in the EotH wanted more power - but the links with Mortis and Abeloth are involved too.

Starting with the GA slagging Abeloth's planet so no one else can claim the power offered by the weird artifacts there. Then, much later, as Ahsoka eventually starts to unlock the power stored in the Daughter's life force, my intention is to emphasize how since she's still part mortal, she's not immune to Darkness, and she's going to have a hell of a time keeping it at bay when the temptation of that much power is there. In regards to the Force god stuff, what I want to make clear is just that no one should have that kind of power. I imagine, in fact, that even once she can use that power, Ahsoka's terrified of doing so because of that and the potential consequences if she messes up.

In that vein, Ahsoka's going to give up her power at the end, and Abeloth's corruption actually being reversed and her reverting to the person she was before then would have some nice thematic symmetry to it.

It is said that power should be given to those that want it least, and I think that that's potentially part of the way to go with Ahsoka's arc in late Voices of the Force. She never wanted this power, and I still maintain, at least for this story's purposes, the transfer was the Daughter's idea and intent and not just an example of Anakin's inability to let go. That's not an actual character arc, of course, but it's an idea to be formed into an actual character arc.

I can picture a scene where Abeloth tries to lure Ahsoka to her side by referring to how the Old Jedi Order abandoned Ahsoka just as the Ones abandoned Abeloth, and it doesn't work because Ahsoka's spent the entire story up to that point (which is most of it, because Abeloth's not going to actually return until near the end, for obvious reasons of narrative structure and dramatic tension and all that) making a new family out of the Jedi in her new era.

The main problem with the "Abeloth's corruption being cured" idea is what happens after. Do I want to develop an actual character for this woman? Is there any meaningful thing to do with her after that? I think probably Abeloth's corruption is cleansed and then the Mother dies anyway, since the Mother isn't really a character and I don't think there's much of a point trying to make her a character at this point.

Also, like. Ahsoka having identity issues from the essence, and just having to actively affirm she's not the Daughter and that Abeloth was never her Mother. I think I'll reveal that the Daughter and Son never killed Abeloth, even though they could have, because they remembered what she was as their Mother and they couldn't bear to see her gone forever, even as twisted as she was. On the other hand, the Daughter knew that Abeloth was going to break free again, and she gave Ahsoka her life force knowing that Ahsoka would be able to do what she never could.

So the Daughter expected Ahsoka to kill Abeloth for good, but Ahsoka looks at those memories of the Mother and decides that the power bestowed upon the Mother by the artifacts on Abeloth's planet is the source of her evil, and if she can be cured, it'll be better for everyone.

Another thing I intend to address is the evident dichotomy between the philosophy that Luke decides on in the last NJO book and is still Jedi canon for the purposes of this AU - where the Force is not fundamentally divided into Light and Dark, and in nature a balance sustains itself, but sapient beings introduced Light and Dark to the Force, and the actions of sapient beings are what tips the balance - and Mortis, and how if the Ones truly guided the Force's flow, and were beings of Light, Dark, and balance, it implies a fundamental binary of the light and dark sides. As the Jedi have seen more and more lately, there are plenty of people who view and use the Force in ways that don't fit into that strict binary. The methods of the Aing-Tii, probably the best example, would be impossible if the Force was only Light or Dark.

Eventually, that's hopefully resolved by the discovery that since the Celestials had reached a partial merging of their physical forms and minds into the Force (as is the backstory in this AU) to the point where they thought they controlled it until the Rakata developed Force-powered weapons, that led to the Ones appearing as manifestations of the emotions and thoughts that are associated with Light and Dark, as they appeared in the society of the Celestials.

Essentially, this confirms the previous ideas in Jedi canon about the Light and Dark. Clearly the Ones had significant influence on the flow of the Force, but they weren't all there is to it.

Elsewhere in the realm of "no one should have that kind of power," I think another area of Ahsoka's arc involves her realizing/remembering that it was the Daughter that stripped the Yuuzhan Vong out of the Force. This matters since by the end of NJO, what we're supposed to believe is that the evil of the Yuuzhan Vong is in their government and their religion. They're not fundamentally evil any more than humans would be, raised in the same system.

For this to really land, Ahsoka would have to have come to know at least one Yuuzhan Vong (Scut, question mark?) enough to see that the evil for which they were stripped of the Force - their warlike and conquering ways - is not on a fundamental level, and in this way the fact that they were punished on such a fundamental level is reframed as an atrocity, and this is most likely before the final reveal of what the Ones really were, so as to have Ahsoka on a slow path to eventually realizing that even the Daughter was part of the byproduct of a civilization that was so arrogant that they thought they had control over the Force, and, like.

Something something Ahsoka's moral compass coming into conflict with the intentions the Daughter had for her, especially if the Daughter expected Ahsoka to replace her. Maybe if the Daughter did expect Ahsoka to replace her, Abeloth also tries to use that to convince Ahsoka to join her.

Something something rejecting the planned destiny not as a Denial Of The Call, but because that destiny is not a good thing, and no one should have the kind of power that allows them to influence the Force's flow.

Kriff, this probably makes absolutely no sense at all, and I've clearly gotten very sidetracked, but I've been typing for over an hour and I need to go do other shit now.

I've thought at times that how Abeloth's final defeat should happen is somehow curing the corruption that was caused from her drinking from the Fountain of Power and bathing in the Pool of Knowledge, and she's reduced to the person she was before then.

[sage-nebula]

ooo how about keitor and ezarti?

Keitor �� Ship It

What made you ship it?

Hmm, well, as I recall I started shipping it after season four—specifically, after Zarkon declared Lotor an enemy of the state and Lotor saved Keith’s life. Considering all the parallels in their characters and histories, the fact that Lotor saved Keith’s life, and the speculation that Lotor would join the Blade of Marmora given that he was also half-galra and thus spend a lot of time around Keith, shipping them was easy. After I began to further explore their characters and their potential, I was head over heels before I knew it. And you know? As much as I hate that show now, I’ve still never stopped shipping them, and probably never will.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Probably the perfect ways in which they complement each other. They have a lot in common due to the way they parallel each other, but they each also have what the other lacks, making them perfect complements for each other. AJ LoCascio once said that Keith would “bring out the person in Lotor, and ground him,” and I think that’s true—but I also think that Lotor could do the same for Keith, in that Lotor has a lot of the diplomacy skills that Keith lacks, thus filling in for Keith’s weaknesses in that area. (Note: This especially true once Lotor is emperor and Keith, his husband, is emperor consort; Keith never really gets good at diplomacy, but thankfully, Lotor has that covered.)

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I mean, unfortunately the fact that I don’t see Lotor as a rapist / someone who would sexually assault Keith, nor do I see their relationship as twisted, abusive, or unhealthy in any way. Granted, I don’t know if that’s still going on, but I know it was going on a lot back in the day, and I was never here for it. I also never saw it as a “crack” ship, nor did I ship it as a way to make another ship happen, which was also really unfortunately common. 

- - -

Ezarti — Ship It

What made you ship it?

I can’t remember the exact details now, but I do remember there being a moment in season four when Ezor made an insensitive comment (something regarding eyesight or the like), but then quickly turned and apologized to Narti, realizing that her insensitivity could have hurt Narti’s feelings. But far more importantly, at the end of season four, the person who was most upset about Lotor killing Narti was Ezor. She was the one who was scowling in her ship as they made their escape, she was the first one to call for mutiny against Lotor for what he did, and so on and so forth. She seemed the closest to Narti, or at least the one who cared the most, and so that was the spark for me to look deeper into what could have been in their relationship.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Hm, probably how they’re a good example of “opposites attract”. Narti is mute (which doesn’t mean she doesn’t talk, of course—she talks through telepathy and sign language, but when it comes to the spoken word she’s mute), whereas Ezor runs her mouth a mile a minute. Narti has a very calm energy, whereas Ezor has a chaotic energy. Narti looks like she’d be scary and threatening and dangerous, and she can be dangerous if necessary, but she’s actually the kindest person in Team Revolutionary and would be a pacifist if circumstances allowed her to be. Ezor, on the other hand, is the one most often underestimated on Team Revolutionary given how bubbly and silly she seems to be, but is absolutely one of the most cutthroat and ruthless when it comes down to it (second only to Zethrid, and almost tied with her). Narti tends to be a fatalist and used to just accept that her life was going to be nothing but one bad thing after another, with no way to change it, whereas Ezor is all about change and fighting with every last tooth and claw to not only stay alive, but to get better things at no matter the cost, and when they come together they meet in the middle. 

Of course, they have similarities, too. They both love cats, for example (even though Kova is a grumpy old man who is not fond of Ezor’s chaotic energy), and they both like indulging in junk food. Narti is shy about dancing, but she enjoys it when Ezor grabs her hands and pulls her into an upbeat dance around the room to whatever bop is playing over the speakers. They both love kids, and post-war (and once everything settles down post-war, which takes a while) they have a few, who are raised with as much love as they can muster, if not more. They also do advocacy work post-war, with Ezor especially working hard against ableist attitudes that pervaded throughout the Empire—attitudes which formed policies that very nearly had Narti executed just for being who she was before Team Revolutionary found her and intervened.

But most of all, they’re incredibly supportive of each other. Even when others think Ezor is ditzy, Narti doesn’t agree, and in fact is the only member of Team Revolutionary who has never made Ezor feel stupid, even unintentionally. Ezor thinks Narti is the most amazing person she’s ever met, thinks that her abilities are magical instead of scary, and genuinely finds Narti to be beautiful. And at the end of the day, I like the fact that, well, Narti can’t see, because she’s blind. And there are times when Ezor can’t be seen, because of her cloaking ability. But Narti can always see Ezor, can and will always find her, because on top of her extrasensory perception, Ezor’s essence is the easiest for Narti to “see” and feel drawn to. And Ezor, too, knows that Narti never overlooks anything, and trusts in her insight 100%.

I just think they work really well together.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I think the fact that I ship it at all, lmao. I’ve never seen another person (besides you) ship it. Granted, that trash show killed her off after two bloody half-seasons, so I mean, I can’t really blame people, but still . . . it’s lonely on this life raft.

[ranboo5]

The world around Leaderboards breathes.

Breathing with it does not hurt.

-

The Beginner’s Guide, 2015 // Sanctuary + Fellowship Hall, Terrytown // Brian Magnier

-

My @mcytblraufest gift for @moonblanche !!!!!

So sorry for posting so close to the deadline; I was hit with some unexpected delays ^^” Anyway, I saw that you were one of my five fellow MCSR askers and also that you were partial to Tubbo, so...

Well, then I got a little carried away.

I hope you like it!! I had a TON of fun concepting, drawing for, and assembling this, and I ended up making a lot of art I’m quite proud of. I am saur happy with how my varying runner designs turned out in these I truly am

Continuations for the cut off transcripts of writing and some more (extremely rambling) commentary under the cut!

...with a much steeper time than what’s pictured.

...doesn’t come from fear. It can’t come from fear.

- 

So the premise of this AU if it isn’t obvious is that Tubbo is isekai’d into the distributed society of the basically-monk-order of speedrunners loosely organized around Leaderboards, the closest thing there is to an authority, and over the course of his Wacky Adventures, Tubbo learns that meaningful striving for improvement and being part of something larger than yourself doesn’t have to hurt. After meeting Pres. Poundcake, who carries the title (a title Tubbo obviously associates a lot of baggage with) like it’s nothing – because, of course, in the world around Leaderboards it basically is – and learning that neither that title nor the man’s visions can help him orient himself, Tubbo goes to investigate this supposed central hub, only to find that it’s supposedly slow and outdated. Tubbo drifts around trying to decipher how these Verifiers deal with this backlog until he ends up hanging out with Feinberg, undisputed king of AA, who appears at first glance to be doing something Tubbo is familiar with the concept of – securing his supremacy with ever-escalating shows of domination. But one way or the other it turns out the drive isn’t fear. Tubbo has an answer about the meaning of Leaderboards’ apparent hierarchy, buzzing in his hands like a crumbling trident full of lightning.

He doesn’t know what to make of it.

Couriway helps, though. Back from a short-lived excursion into a survival world and one thousand runs that would never make the top of Leaderboards’ towers like his runs once did. Achievement is a strange thing. To make and to improve is a strange thing. To be part of something stranger yet. The brutality of it that Tubbo has known is not the default. There is something more to it, and it is in that that one can at once not be alone and not be consumed.

And, well, the world around Leaderboards breathes, and breathing with it does not hurt.

Drawing these was an Experience Ever. I might upload the timelapse later or something because Jesus Christ I spent 30 years on some of these...

I actually drew them in reverse order from how they appear! I had a lot of trouble getting a clear image for the first one with Pres. Poundcake, and the last one was conversely extremely vivid for me, so I just went ham. It was a pretty simple concept, and I wanted to capture a Feeling, so I decided to go crazy go stupid on painting it, which took easily longer than both the other two put together but ended up alright! Rendering all those trees was worth it lmao

It also helped me figure out what I wanted to do with the others – I tried to compose these so that Tubbo and the runner he’s drawn with would have, like, a diagonal progression down the page. I don’t know how well it comes across but I did it which I’m counting as a win

The second one I easily spent the least time on the environment of but I got to have one of my favorite designs be the star of the show. It was also very much the most fun to light and I’m quite happy with how it ended up! This one had to be dynamically lined in contrast to the Couriway one’s painting, which was mostly a lovely time except for the lightning... worth it however. This is the best my Fein design has ever looked I must say; I hope everyone understands now when I say FEINBERG MANTIS SHRIMP MECHA AGENDA WILL NEVER DIE

The one with Poundcake I had to do in, basically, crunch time (due to aforesaid delays), so I couldn’t spend 30 years lining and coloring it, and from the start it was always planned to be the least ambitious image anyway, but nevertheless I wanted to make it look nice/special and interesting to look at. I’ve come to quite like Pres. Poundcake as a streamer in the past little while and I wanted to have the drawing with his fictionalized avatar be fun, yk? So to compromise this out I decided to experiment a little and go with this picture-book vibe. I had some fun with the brushes, and since Pres. Poundcake is Tubbo’s introduction to the world, I paid the most attention to actually drawing an interesting environment for this one, too, or trying to lmao

I have talked for much too long but you must understand I tryharded this ridiculously hard so I have a lot to say dhsfdhjfjsdfh

[dreamingsnowflake2013]

Thyme has been so heartbreakingly starved for love and touch that even though he feels sick, the moment Gorya literally wrestle him down onto her lap and nurses him, he looks like it’s both the most blissful and surreal moment in his life. It might even be the closest he has come to ever being cuddled or caressed by anyone, except for Dango, with his mother cold as ice and his sister more prone to kicking him, pinching him and ruffling his hair than actually being gentle (probably the reason why he keeps the cat - to have at least some sort of substitute for human touch). And they definitely didn’t nurse him when he used to be sick, it must have been the servants. It makes you realise how utterly impersonal his entire life has been. 

He doesn’t protest even when Gorya manhandles him, instead, Thyme literally basks in it, savouring every single moment and fleeting touch. The lightning gives the scene a dreamlike quality, like Thyme is lost in a feverish fantasy. I never can get enough of the way he looks at Gorya - with that combination of utter disbelief, wonder and adoration which keeps getting more intense each time he gets to be around her.

Thyme craves to learn all about Gorya, to figure out the puzzle that she is to him and get closer to her, because he has really been living in an entirely different world than her, which he is perceptive enough to realise, be it the financial situation but, most importantly, her family - it both baffles him and hurts him to hear how they spend time with her, communicate with her and worry about her. 

And when Gorya finally asks about his own, Thyme finally turns around away from her and curls up in a fetal position, hugging himself protectively and closing his eyes as if he wanted to put a shield between himself and the memories - he’s basically bracing himself in order to talk about something deeply painful and unpleasant. He might have looked like a wet puppy in the rain, but now he looks like an abandoned puppy (who is on verge of being adopted).

Symbolically, Gorya and Thyme bond over family and familial affection - the only area of life where their roles are reversed, where he is the pauper, lacking so much of it, and she the queen, having an abundance of everything.  

Out of all things his mother (and to certain extent, even his sister) has done to him, what has hurt Thyme the most is the indifference and abandonment. Even if he set the whole school on fire and burned it down, she would most likely only raise her perfectly shaped brow at most. He imprints himself on Gorya for the very reason she is anything but indifferent to him. Even now, when she asks Thyme about him and his family, he doesn’t shy away from the topic or her because it’s the most genuine attention and interest in him anyone has shown Thyme, except for his friends. The most tragic part of it is that for Gorya it’s a second nature, something she would ask anyone, and nothing special but for Thyme it’s incredible precious because someone finally openly cares about him and it’s the most caring he’s had in a lifetime.

The happiness it brings to Thyme just to listen about Gorya and her life. He can literally buy anything in the world but learning about Gorya and, by extension, being a part of her life that way makes him smile, chasing away that frown brought upon by the talk about his family. Even the lights symbolically turn from cold blue shade they were when he talked about his family to warm pink.

This has to be loveliest and awesomest compliment and endearment ever! Thyme doesn’t call Gorya beautiful, even though he totally thinks she is, but basically admits to her that to him she is INVINCIBLE, scoffing at the mere suggestion anyone could ever defeat her or measure up to her. To him, she is the most fearsome and badass person he’s ever met and he whispers it with unadulterated reverence and brutal honesty. It’s the biggest compliment he can offer to anyone. Like he put her on a pedestal, worshipping the land Gorya walks upon. He offers her respect and admiration for the fight she put up against him and it touches Gorya deeply before she hides it with a joke. Is there any wonder she eventually falls for Thyme so hard that she chooses him over Ren despite all the obstacles and pain his mother and people put between them to keep them apart?

[zodiacrant]

❤️Astro Notes❤️

(All about Cardinal signs)

(These may or may not apply to you, please keep an open mind and take it as entertainment rather than life changing facts. Please credit me if you’re going to use my work, or ask me beforehand.)

❤️Cardinal Moons are known for having something I call CBS (Crazy Bitch Syndrome)

❤️I am always over the moon when I notice a Cardinal degree on a placement or house. That’s the degree of success and prevalence. (1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28)

❤️Aries Venus are always struggling with sex and romance. Being in its opposite planet Aries here can be seen, for lack of a better term, as a “slut”. (This goes for everyone not just women my dear)

❤️Libra does bring alot to a chart. Level headedness, mindfulness, good judgment and most importantly balance. You just have to tap into it and wait for it to come out. (It does share a planet with Taurus after all)

❤️No placement captures the true essence of a an Aries like an Aries Mars. I got three words for you HOLY FUCKING SHIT.

❤️As a Capricorn Moon I read alot about how it must be so sad, “depressing”, lonely and grim to have that placement. Well actually no, I just have a flat sense of feelings that doesn’t spike too high or too low. I just like to know where it comes from before I burn someone’s house. Plus, that is the planet opposite to Capricorn so yes it could be very much difficult and I am just used to it.

❤️Aries and Libra in 6th or 8th might have a habit of damaging their hair through coloring, ironing or from using too much products.

❤️I love Cancer Suns but I am always wary of Air dominant ones. They always play reverse psychology or try to convince you that something was your idea. Air and Water does have that kind of effect on person.

❤️Once upon a time I made post ranking Mercury signs from funniest to least funniest and so happens that Capricorn Mercury got the last place. I herby admit that I was wrong casue Jade Thirlwall is incredibly funny.

❤️I believe I said this in another post, Capricorn risings have bad relationships with their fathers because of the effects of Saturn and Cancer risings have bad relationships with their mothers because of the effects of the Moon.

❤️Cardinal signs are leaders and each represents a different type of guide and leadership. Aries is dictation, authoritative, and aristocratic while Libra is democratic, linear, fair. Cancer believes in nurturing to grow while Capricorn believes in discipline. But they all desire order.

❤️As an Aries Mercury, arguing is my way to get over it. If you can’t handle bickering, arguments, debates, addressing issues then welp.

❤️But I can say that I understand how we easily can become an aggressor with words.

❤️Cardinal signs rule judgment, thus wherever you have a Cardinal sign you’re judgmental in that part.

❤️Libra Moons are similar to the princess and the frog. Gotta kiss a whole lot of frogs before finding the one.

❤️I noticed that Cancer in 10th do things out of love and passion, different from other Cardinal signs in the 10th house that do it for power, wealth, recognition and fame.

❤️I also noticed that Cardinal signs in 10th are extremely private. Celebrities with this placement always monitor their online presence and some don’t even have any.

❤️Aries and Capricorn in 12th are obsessed with being in control

❤️Alot of Capricorn Suns I know and know of like tattoos and unconventional things. Capricorn just like Aries always push the boundry but they give it thought instead of jumping straight into it.

❤️I like Aries Moons from afar. Their obsession with taking charge of every setting and direction of conversation doesn’t suit me.

❤️To describe Libra Venus in one word I would say needy.

❤️Cancer Mercury is the oddest Mercury I came across. They mask their emotions with logic and end up not making sense at all. They change their minds quickly and sometimes not at all. They’re as moody as a Cancer but only in their thoughts.

❤️Libra in lilith are the master manipulators y’all have been sleeping on. I have noticed the innocent act and the sheep fallen amongst wolves behavior from them ALOT.

❤️As a Scorpio Mars only a Capricorn Mars can scare me. They’re brutal.

❤️Cancer in 5th are inspired by their mothers or mother figure.

❤️Venus in Libra degrees have a fuckboi/fuckgirl energy (7, 19)

[munchflix]

FRIDAY THE 13TH TIER LIST

Munch: There's like....12 of these movies. This is gonna be long. And none of them make sense but that's okay because the plot is basically the same for every single movie. Jason shows up and wrecks some bitches and then he "dies" and gets resurrected by some magical means in the next movie, not unlike his counterpart Freddy Krueger. 

Biscuits: I probably know these movies significantly better than Munch, sort of a role reversal of the last one. I'll preface this by saying I like most of the Friday the 13th movies, but are they good cinema? No. But most of them are enjoyably corny. Not all of them.

M: I think they gave up trying to be serious at some point. Maybe we can figure out where. PART THE ONE. A group of camp counselors trying to reopen a summer camp called Crystal Lake, which has a grim past, are stalked by a mysterious killer. But SPOILER ALERT it's not really Jason, it's his ma, Pam.

B: It is kinda boring. The first two are not like insanely bad because this early in the series they were still trying to take the movies seriously. It's probably a mid tier movie. I'd put it in B tier because we're gonna need room for the trash. M: We gotta rank it against ALL the other Friday movies, so I'd put it pretty high. It did have a couple novel things for it's time, the whole killer POV kills were really novel at the time. It did invent a lot of the tropes we now see. I'd go B as well.

B: It did have Kevin Bacon. 

M: PART THE 2. Five years after the events of the first film, a summer camp next to the infamous Camp Crystal Lake is preparing to open, but the legend of Jason is weighing heavy on the proceedings. Jason comes back with a bag on his head but at least he's doing the murdering now. I don't remember what happened in this except how he died. But not really because he's implied to still be alive. This was the one with Crazy Ralph tho!

B: The harbinger! They had that whole mommy roleplay in the end where the main chick pretended to be Jason's mom in order to kill him. The second movie is kinda boring too. C tier? It's not the worst thing ever. It does introduce Jason as the killer.

M: Okay, C tier. PART THE THREE. Jason Voorhees stalks a group of friends who's just arrived to spend the weekend at a cabin near Crystal Lake. All these imdb blurbs are the same. Jason kills people. I have zero recollection of this movie. After reading the synopsis I still barely remember it.

B: It's got the weird guy who wanted to be Franklin from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre but wasn't and the who kept playing pranks on people. He was really annoying and they gave him too much screentime. There's also a weird side plot with a biker gang that never comes to fruition. He does get the hockey mask.

M: I've seen every single one of these and this one is leaving the least impression on me so I'll say D tier. PART THE FOUR. After being announced dead and taken to a morgue, Jason Voorhees spontaneously revives, escapes from the hospital, and stalks a group of friends renting a house in the countryside near Crystal Lake. Jason dies for real but not really.

B: This is the one with Tommy who does cool things, and all the weird campers. Also Crispin Glover's incredible dance number.

M: Why is there a skinny dipping scene in like every one of these? Even the remake has one. 

B: They don't need a good movie if they got female presenting nipples.

M: Tommy dresses up as Jason in the end though and then like hacks him in the head.

B: I don't know why so much of the movie follows that one horny guy.

M: They were stretching for plot, okay? Rank?

B: C tier? It's better than three.

M: PART THE FIVE. Still haunted by his past, Tommy Jarvis, who, as a child, killed Jason Voorhees, is sent to a secluded halfway house in the countryside, where the killing of a young man triggers a brutal series of murders in the area. Tommy gets another movie.

B: It's not actually Jason though it's a guy pretending to be Jason who's killing people because it was his son that got killed in the beginning. I actually like this movie, I know a lot of people don't because ooh it's not actually Jason but its high tier.

M: It was one of the better ones, despite it's lack of technical Jason, the plot is fairly cohesive and it actually has a plot unlike most of these. Is it as good as the first one? Better?

B: Better, A or S tier. It also has that really good Psuedo Echo song in it. M: S tier then. PART THE SIX. Tommy Jarvis exhumes Jason Voorhees to cremate his corpse, but inadvertently brings him back to life instead. The newly revived killer seeks revenge, and Tommy may be the only one who can stop him. So this one is amazing, he somehow like leaves a shovel in Jason and lightning strikes it and Jason comes back and Tommy is like 25 now. And the sheriff doesn't believe anything he says even though like 10 people are dead. And then he drags Jason to the bottom of the lake with a boulder and a chain and he's dead but not really.

B: I didn't find this movie very interesting, apparently, because I didn't feel the need to record it in my memory. I've seen all of these movies. I know I have. I remember most of them just not this one.

M: It's still not great though. I'd d tier that shit. I was already tired of the Tommy fuckin' storyline at this point.

B: I guess it's not quite as vividly, explicitly terrible as some of the other ones. C tier.

M: Okay. PART THE SEVEN. Jason Voorhees is accidentally freed from his watery prison by a telekinetic teenager. Now, only she can stop him. I love this plot so much.

B: This one is weird because they just introduce a girl with psychic powers and then forget she ever existed. Tommy is gone and they just stopped caring.

M: This plot is so out there though, it's one of my favorites of the series. She's being manipulated by her therapist and he's making her think she's hallucinating and she brings Jason back to life with her FUCKING MIND. It's batshit insane. There was the whole thing with her father too where she telekinetically kills him.

B: How are we gonna rank this movie?

M: On enjoyment? I liked this one.

B: We're obviously not ranking them on cinematic merit, are we?!

M: A tier. It's batshit insane, it's fun. It's not S tier but....

B: Okay. I liked Part 5 more.

M: PART THE EIGHT! Fuck yeah. Jason Voorhees is accidentally awakened from his watery grave, and he ends up stalking a ship full of graduating high school students headed to Manhattan, NY.

B: Jason takes manhattan but he spends most of his time on a boat. He's covered in LUBE the entire movie. It has that guy who looks like Dacre Montgomery for some reason. There's this girl and her uncle who looks like Bill Nye tries to inject her with drugs. Jason literally punches a guy's head off, he breaks a porthole with his head, he walks through a glass door, it's great.

M: The sewers are filled with toxic waste that fucking MELTS Jason and he roars like a dinosaur, it's fucking FANTASTIC.

B: This is my favorite of the series, personally. It's peak Friday the 13th. The filmmakers were like - we don't really need to try anymore do we? S tier.

M: Absolutely S tier. PART THE FUCKING NINE. Serial killer Jason Voorhees' supernatural origins are revealed. Yeah okay.

B: Jason is body jumping and there's a guy eating hearts and Jason turns into a weird little slug thing and crawls into a woman's vagingo. It does have the greatest 2 second scene in film history though, where a guy's head is "smashed" into a car door and it's so obviously just a bunch of blankets wrapped around each other and there's no blood or anything. It's hilarious.

M: The slug thing is a real thing that happens. This movie is batshit in all the wrong ways. It's gross and weird and fucking...what. I don't know. It makes Jason X look coherent. D tier. F tier. Z tier.

B: Toilet tier.

M: PART THE TEN. Jason Voorhees is cryogenically frozen at the beginning of the 21st century, and is discovered in the 25th century and taken to space. He gets thawed, and begins stalking and killing the crew of the spaceship that's transporting him. This one is also insane. Jason is frozen in space and they bring him back and they kill him again but not really.

B: They scan his brain and it's the size of a pea so they insult him and he falls on their magical healing table and gets upgraded. It doesn't take itself very seriously at all.

M: The fx are really amazing. The android girl gets beheaded and they just have the actress on her knees with someone's arm wrapped around her neck and the camera at arm level.

B: Some of the jokes do land, there is the hologram scene. There is one part where they make a joke about Jason's dick.

M: David Cronenberg makes a cameo in this movie though so bonus points there.

B: He should have directed it, that would've been amazing. Like all of these were done by different directors.

M: So were the Nightmare movies, except the first and last ones were both Craven. I kinda love Jason X though. It's way better than Jason goes to Hell.

B: It's significantly better than Jason goes to hell. I'd put it in A tier.

M: I'd vote B tier but I'm willing to compromise. PART THE FREDDY VS JASON. We already kinda did this but how does it compare to the other Friday the 13th movies?

B: Probably B tier in this one too.

M: It has better production value than most of these. Jason at least looked cool. PART THE REMAKE. Ugh. I hated this so much. It's so boring. It's so bland. All the attempts at humor fall flat, the acting is dull, it's just a mildly spiffed up rehash of everything we've seen. It's better than Jason goes to hell but barely. I'd still D tier this shit.

B: It's not that good. Jason is barely in it. That's kind of a trend in a lot of these. Not enough Jason. Low C high D tier. It's not good.

M: I think C tier is too much credit for this rehashed nonsense. I'm going D. Fuck that shit.

[herinsectreflection]

I want to talk about this scene, from Bargaining when Willow kills the fawn. You might guess from my icon that I am a big fan of this scene. It's pretty short but it sets the stage for Willow's arc throughout S6 excellently.

It opens with her in this gorgeous riverside greenery, dressed in pure white, the very picture of fairytale innocence, bathed in bright sunlight. It's such an unusual shot for the show, which almost exclusively either has shots inside or at night (for obvious reasons of being a vampire show), and that immediately makes it quite memorable. Especially as the rest of the episode is almost entirely set at night, filled with demon bikers, dismemberment, fire, broken down towers and digging out of graves. It's like this little meditative moment of peace in between all that.

Or, it would be if it didn't include a teensy little animal sacrifice.

WILLOW: Adonai, Helomi, Pine. Adonai, Helomi, Pine. The gods do command thee from thy majesty. O Mappa Laman, Adonai, Helomi.

Willow says her words and summons forth a young fawn from the trees. The fawn is another symbol of innocence, like Willow's white dress. As she reaches out and and touches the animal gently, we're reminded of the soft innocent Willow of S1, who shied away from any conflict and seemed incapable of ever hurting a fly. She's like a disney princess, sitting in the woods singing to woodland animals. Only Snow White never stabbed Bambi in the heart.

The entire plot of the previous season revolved around the blood sacrifice of a child. This is what Glory was trying to achieve, and it's what Buffy has to stop. Buffy gives her life in order to stop it. And now, Willow recreates the same event, performing the blood sacrifice what is specifically an animal child. She steps into the role that the previous season's Big Bad performed, and so tells us that this season, she is stepping into the role of Big Bad. The fawn fills the role of Dawn - the situations rhyme as well as the names do.

Fun fact - the words that Willow uses are taken from The Book of Ceremonial Magic, a 1910 book that compiled various grimoires. In this passage, describing an invocation to request something from God, Adonai/Helomi/Pine are the names of angels - specifically the angels of the East, who appear in human form dressed in lily white according to this passage - another link to Willow's costume here. The invocation seems to involve requesting these angels to appear to the caster in an intelligible form.

ADONAI, HELOMI, PINE, Whom you obey, do invoke, conjure and entreat thee, N., that thou wilt appear forthwith. By the virtue and power of the same God I do command thee from thine order or place of abode to come unto me and skew thyself plainly here before me in thine own proper shape and glory, speaking in a voice intelligible to mine understanding.

In this case, Willow is symbolically killing an actual angel of heaven, which is probably pretty high up on the villainy scale. Just drives home the fundamental Wrongness of this scene. It's also good to remember that the idea of killing one to save other(s) is a theme returned to again and again throughout the show, and the first major example of that theme in action is a certain Angel.

(Credit to this user on BuffyBoards for finding the source of these words.)

So the fawn is Dawn, and the fawn is an angel. But most importantly of all - the fawn is Buffy. Willow, in her attempts to bring Buffy back to life, first has to kill "Buffy".

WILLOW: Come forward, Blessed one. Know your calling.

The fawn is described as having a "calling" that it must "know", just as Buffy has a calling of her own, which over the course of many seasons she learns to know and accept (and eventually revolutionise and reject). It is also described as "Blessed", which in some definitions is taken to mean "one who is with God in heaven". Buffy at this point is literally in heaven (or at least some kind of heaven dimension, the theology is gratefully vague). The structure of the phrase "Blessed one" also reminds of the more relevant phrase - "Chosen One", which again would be Buffy. The spell ingredient, which we know is the fawn's blood, is called "vino de madre" - wine of the mother, implying a feminine source of power, just like The Slayer.

WILLOW: Accept our humble gratitude for your offering. In death ... you give life. May you find wings to the kingdom. In death, you give life. You might say that death... is your gift... yeah, so this really drives it home for me. Using death to give life is literally what Buffy has just done. It was core to her arc last season. And finally the "wings to the kingdom" line again plays into that heaven imagery. S6 loves this kind of imagery for Buffy, even giving her angel wings in one of the most delightfully on-the-nose shots in the show.

Buffy gave her life to give Dawn one, and with it gave a warning about the struggles of life - "The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.". This is sad but lovely advice that Buffy herself must now spend S6 gradually learning to understand herself. She learns how to deal with the crushing despair of day-to-day existence. Willow, as the Big Bad of this season, doesn't understand this advice at all. For years now, Willow has used magic as a short-cut to avoid actually dealing with her emotions (see Lover's Walk, Something Blue, Tough Love). This goes into overdrive in S6, and it starts with her desperation to bring Buffy back to avoid really dealing with the reality of her death.

In fact it goes beyond magic - Willow is also the one who uses her tech knowledge to bring the Buffybot back online. She uses all her skills to desperately fill in the hole that Buffy has left behind. This is what Willow does, magic or no. And it's sympathetic - my heart breaks every time she talks about fearing where Buffy might have ended up - but it's not totally rational or healthy either. The main problem is that Willow, in doing this, is ignoring Buffy's final words, and misunderstanding the central theme.

As said earlier, by performing this blood sacrifice of a child, Willow is betraying the memory of Buffy, who died to stop one. (Symbolically of course. Morally there are light years between killing an animal and killing a teenager). Buffy gave her life to stop a blood sacrifice, and so Willow reverses the process - causing a blood sacrifice to give Buffy her life. And she betrays Buffy's final words with her refusal to accept the pain of life and live with it. And finally, she betrays Buffy spiritually.

Remember that Willow is Buffy's metaphorical Spirit, as shown in Primeval. It is a special kind of betrayal that Buffy's Spirit breaks her spiritually in this season. She literally rips her soul out of eternal bliss and contentment, causing an existential break within her. She beseeches the fawn/Buffy to find "wings to the kingdom", but in doing so robs Buffy of her wings.

Buffy suffers brutal depression this season, and describes it many times as feeling dead inside. This kind of emotional deadness is caused directly by her ressurection (though severely exacerbated by her unresolved trauma, grief over Joyce, and generally just living under capitalism). Willow has tried to give death to bring life, but because the action is a betrayal of Buffy on many levels, the act is tainted, and perverted, like a wish on a monkey's paw. She literally kills metaphorical Buffy, and so metaphorically kills literal Buffy. Buffy has life, but said life is causing a kind of death within her.

And what does Willow get for all this? Her pain isn't fixed by all this. She just gets blood on her hands (and later on her face). It sets off a chain of events that will end with far more blood on Willow's hands. She dips a toe into a darkness, but because she doesn't understand fully the emotions that have taken her there, she can't exert any control over it. She doesn't learn a lesson here that she shouldn't try to shape the world to deal with her emotions. Instead, she learns that she has power over life and death.

Willow is clearly deeply shaken by this, but it's not nearly enough to make her change her path. She ignores the very obvious foreshadowing here - her hands literally coated in blood - and carries on anyway. She takes the wrong lessons from this moment, which she clearly demonstrates in her argument with Giles in Flooded, where she ignores his anger over how she's warped the rules of nature, and instead focuses on how awesome she is ("The magicks I used are very powerful. I'm very powerful. And maybe it's not such a good idea for you to piss me off.")

This is a small scene, but it sets up so much for Willow. It shows how far she has come from the meek girl of S1. And it shows a glimpse of the future, how she has far to go but is now on a path to become the villain she is at the end of S6. She starts it by killing metaphorical Buffy in order to save her, and will end it by trying to kill actual Buffy in order to emotionally "save" her. At every point she can justify the blood on her hands as serving some greater purpose - but the blood is still there.