#anyway. something something creating community.

[avelera]

(Arcane Meta) Anomaly Future Jayce Might Have Surrendered to Viktor

It's really fun to speculate on what might have gone differently in the Anomaly Future vs. the Canon Events of the final battle between Jayce and Viktor, such that Wizard Viktor needed to give Jayce some warning when he got sent back to prevent those events.

Obviously, Anomaly Universe Jayce, or AU!Jayce as we'll call him for shorthand, failed. But when did he fail is a really intriguing question!

And I saw a really intriguing theory on Twitter that the flash of memory Jayce has where he thinks back to just before he shot Viktor and instead of Viktor being afraid of him, he's smiling, wasn't because Jayce was sentimentally imagining a Viktor who was happy to see him, but it might have actually been a received vision from AU Jayce about the moment he lost, and it was the moment he came to the commune and Viktor smiled at him (that goddamn simp).

The thing is, I think we can tell from Jayce's resolve and the fact he's fighting so hard with himself through Act 2 and 3 whenever Viktor is around, that it would be really, really easy for him to give in to Viktor. If anything, Jayce would be 1,000x happier if he could just give in and be with his partner for the last 3 months before the damn world ends, that Jayce is a much happier Jayce, but he can't, not just because the world ends, but because it will leave Viktor in a fate worse than death as the only thing alive in a dead world.

But this also implies that in most other universes, Jayce willingly gave in so what does that look like?

Well, I think it looks a bit like this:

Notice that the circular "swirl" around AU!Jayce is behind him, as if the point of entry is in front of him.

Also notice we don't have the top of his head anymore, so we don't know what the marks on his forehead looked like.

Canon!Jayce's forehead marks are from the top of his head, facing down, because Viktor ambushes him from behind to put his hand there.

In theory though, AU!Jayce could have them facing up just like Viktor's other followers, because he accepted those marks while face-to-face and then, the force of his conversion creates that the swirl behind him, the branches of corruption sprouting from his back look as if something is blasting him from the front, pushing the effects backwards.

Which means, that AU!Jayce didn't flee from Viktor and then pause to pick up his hammer as Canon!Jayce did.

AU!Jayce is kneeling in front of Viktor, in what could be an act of surrender, or even an act of worship genuflecting to Viktor as a superior, or as they fulfill the final stage of their shared plan, only for it to tragically end in AU!Jayce's utter destruction as an individual and essentially his death.

Anyway, I've been very intrigued by that swirl pattern around AU!Jayce and this is my speculation about what it is, besides fucking cool looking and a gorgeous artistic flare. Lemme know what you think!

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 8 part 8

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1][2][3][4][5] ep6 [1][2][3] ep7 [1][2][3][4][5][6] ep8 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8])

so anyway rio could have stepped in at any moment and ejected billy into oblivion / prevented agatha from getting a full recharge. but did she? no, no she didn't. this is absolutely a fucked up game they're playing instead of talking about their feelings. rio tried to talk and agatha rejected her (almost) every time, so theatrics and blood it is! god it sucks so much that this stupid flirt/hurt/posture/dance is the only way agatha allows them to communicate.

agatha's smirk! she's like, now you're gonna get it! now I'm gonna fuck you up!!! rio has been throwing her around like a rag doll, but now that she has her powers back agatha can finally put allllll her shields up and do a little show of her own.

when it comes to agatha everything is about being in control of the narrative, being the one who hurts rather than being hurt, never showing any weakness or vulnerability. she was awfully vulnerable without her powers and that has allowed rio to creep in closer, something that agatha had managed to escape for so long. it's no coincidence that she chooses this appearance, the same one she chose when going face to face with wanda. this is what she was trying to look like with her purple coat too: the formidable, merciless witch. it's an armor she clings to, a mask to feel powerful that won't ever show the mess she's hiding underneath. this is what agatha chooses to look like when she's scared.

rio: fuck off you little meddling twink the adults are talking

agatha: mwhahahah I'm such a big scary villain just lemme check if billy's okay real quick.

actually let me gush for a second about agatha's greenhouse being full of herbs and potions! her witchy basement disappeared because she had built it with a magical illusion, but in here she's been totally experimenting with physical craft (neeeerd).

billy's like, are those two fuckers honestly actually flirting right now

CHILDREN I swear to god

LEAVE MY INFURIATINGLY STUPID EVIL MOM ALONE!!!

poor rio. just her luck that when she finally gets to corner agatha a baby maximoff comes into the picture. I love my perfect mama's boy.

the bittersweet look she gives billy. she's truly having a lot of firsts, now she finally admits that all her dancing/fighting with rio is futile, it's just for show and it won't ever truly solve anything. what is she even doing, involving billy? billy who's still so earnest, so eager to help.

I SEE YOU JAC SCHAEFFER! I SEE YOUR EVIL WAYS! I SEE YOU CREATING THESE SILLY LITTLE SHOWS SO YOU CAN EXPLORE THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF LOSS AND GRIEF AND OUR OWN MORTALITY!!!!

but she's being 100% genuine here???

okay, no, this is still agatha we're talking about.

she's being aT LEAST 80% GENUINE! she's having a moment of clarity, she's contemplating the true awfulness that would be sacrificing billy on the altar of her own fucked up issues. the mask has slipped and the real agatha is peeking through, swords in her heart and all.

her parting words to billy: you are not bad. the same words she wanted to imprint on him when they had their first mask off conversation. don't let people cast you as a villain, like they did with me.

Neither are you, says Billy.

You're the only one who thinks so.

The thing is, being so hated, doing all the fucked up things she does, really hurts agatha. It's no justification whatsoever, doesn't make her any less of a villain. she goes out of her way to be misunderstood, to never show any weakness, to selfishly rationalize all the horror she inflicts, because the alternative is opening up to more potential hurt, and she's been hurt too fucking much in the past. and the more she pushes people away, the lonelier she is. it's a vicious circle.

three people loved her despite it all: rio, and she ran away from her when things got too overwhelming. nicky, and that's a whole other mess that I'll get into next episode.

and now billy loves her, and she craves that love just as much as she wants to run away from it. she'll hurt billy to protect herself, she'll hurt him first because she's afraid that he eventually will leave or die or get mad and will hurt her. because right now? she's feeling so much love for billy, and that's terrifying to her. the more she loves, the more she opens up to heartbreak.

both gorgeous shots

billy: I'm not that nice.

also billy:

then she got an idea. an awful idea. agatha got a wonderful, awful idea.

oh this is perfect, isn't it, agatha? you somehow convinced the boy to turn himself in! if he goes through with it, rio has promised to leave you alone! you'll be free to crawl back to your dark dark corner and accumulate bodies and power like the old miserable smaug you are!

you can see agatha's survival instinct kick into high gear. this is how she has survived so long. this is what she does.

BILLY'S FACE. I got to laugh a bit, sorry kid.

rio shaking her head both in triumph and exasperation. of course you betrayed the kid, agatha you piece of shit. rio didn't expect any less from you.

and she can't even look at him, the coward.

but I thought we were having a moment??

he went ahead and made a grand gesture without being ready to actually sacrifice himself whatsoever, and now he's going "mom??? come back and pick me up, I'm scared??" it's like agatha is kicking a puppy.

the slow, dramatic turn. the evil grinchy grin. this is the most egregious example yet of agatha putting her mask on, and we have all the context to understand exactly what she's doing and to see what's going on both on the surface and inside her wretched little soul. she's not cruel and uncaring, that's play acting - she's actually small and scared and a coward. she's once again running away screaming, rationalizing it as a smart choice and breaking her own heart in the process.

so I know billy's telepathic line was added in post because disney execs feared audiences wouldn't buy agatha turning around on her own. what absolute buffoonery, such massive disregard for your viewers' intelligence.

...on the other hand. billy full on misreading the situation and trying to fix things that are beyond him, only to accidentally hit the target? somehow fixing a delicate fragile problem by hitting it with a hammer? totally on brand for him.

is this how nicky died? it kind of is. she did choose her own fear over nicky's well being, despite loving him so so much.

whether you choose jac's version or disney's version, here's what happens next: agatha stops in her tracks. her stupid grin fades away, and she clutches her chest. she finally did it, she told a lie too big. her poor heart, already bleeding from all the swords stuck in it, simply cannot take one more stab. sure she's all about self-preservation, but at this point she's damned either way: she either goes out saving billy or she's killed by her own regrets and sorrow.

she turns around. she runs. not to billy. to rio.

going back to what my mother jac schaeffer (whom I love more than jesus or pizza) said: this is not agatha enacting a grand plan, she's not taking a ~calculated risk like she'll tell billy later, the fucking liar that she is. sure, she had a vague hope of turning into a ghost, but she didn't know for sure. this is agatha's emotions taking over her brain - like they tend to - and forcing her to use what are probably her final moments on earth to TAKE WHAT SHE'S BEEN CRAVING ALL ALONG

agatha grabs rio's face and SMASHES their mouths together. FULL ON proceeds to EAT HER FACE she wants her so much. rio is shocked for a moment and then closes her eyes and gives in completely. and you can see the poison taking over because this idiot - this gorgeous, tragic dork - has decided to kill herself by absorbing rio's powers - but this is not going to be a mere 'peck of Death', no sir, that's not what it's called! agatha is gonna SNOG Death, she's gonna TONGUE that immortal being, she's GETTING ALLLLL HER MONEY'S WORTH. dear lord the HUNGER and YEARNING and DESPERATION on her face.

and I love that she's taller here. they're basically the same height so who's taller depends on the shoes they're wearing, but I love love love that agatha gets to engulf her for once. agatha taking control, rio giving herself up completely

what? you thought that now that magic has been absorbed THE KISS would be over???? well THINK AGAIN. because now we're going to switch angles, we're going to linger, we're going to make it look like almost gratuitous fan service, oh yes we are!!!

I truly don't know what to say. I would like to thank jac of course, and kathryn hahn and aubrey plaza for MAKING THE FUCK OUT and exchanging so much spit on camera like the true professionals they are. thank you writers room, thank you to all the crew who had to listen to the ungodly noises these two were undoubtedly making. thank you gandja monteiro for directing this. I'm going to even thank the lighting department for making it thunder so we can (more or less) see what's going on. this was truly a group effort. well done you all!

and they keep kissing until the very last available moment, and rio doesn't know how to let her go

but this is so on brand for agatha. you know if rio was in her place she'd try to be as gentle as possible to ease agatha's grief. agatha literally went for the most dramatic, most over-the-top, most emotionally devastating way to go. this was supposed to be rio's big moment! and what does agatha do? she makes it all about herself. again. should be the other way around, but once again rio gives, agatha takes. you just gotta laugh at this point.

Death looks on stone faced as her love turns back to nature and balance is restored. she wraps herself in her cloack and tries very, very hard not to cry.

agatha really went and made rio kill her, didn't she? rio, who isn't ALLOWED TO. these two are soooo wrong and so toxic for each other and yet they love each other so freaking much, I truly cannot get enough of them.

go to episode 8 part 9

[bogleech]

It's me again back with another question. The TV tropes page for mortasheen says that metas in Mortasheen treat retrohumans like "vermin that are to be dealt with". Are retros really looked at they that?

No, I don't remember where that would have come from, my earliest ideas when the series was going to be a lot darker and more morbid just had metahumans really indifferent to the "original" humans except as a scientific curiosity, sometimes using them to create monsters. The canon set in stone by now is that retrohumans created the first monsters and are responsible for the existence of Mortasheen city in some way, but they can't survive in the city's toxic modern form. The city has grown to cover at least a fifth of the planet's supercontinent, and it's where most metahumans and monsters are concentrated, so the majority of them have never met a retro and never will. Metahumans of all types tend to live their lives around their personal hyperfixations and have difficulty caring about anything else, so they might only take an interest in retrohumanity when it's necessary to their research in some way. Monsters have kind of their own lives and worldview distinct from their creators/trainers, that I could best describe as childlike, in that they have sort of naive logic and wild imaginations. They vaguely know that retrohumans are like their humanoid creators/trainers, but older, rarer, and responsible for the whole world as they know it, so they may think of us as their long lost parental figures or even literal gods, but they might simultaneously wonder what we taste like, possibly assume that our flesh can grant them immortality, or expect us to be able to grant wishes or something. Some of them might conversely think we're terrifying apex killers or something akin to evil omens. Given that the setting takes place at least a thousand years into the world being monster-dominated, most surviving retrohuman populations are fully used to that and embrace it in different ways. They're the most killable and short lived of all sapient beings but a lot of them do in fact have a culture of hunting monsters as a resource and/or may befriend and train monster battle partners themselves. There isn't any fear or resentment in either direction, just something accepted on all sides as the circle of life. There are pockets of humanity that are totally cut off from the rest of the world and still have a terrible understanding of it, but that's also true for little communities of metahumans and/or monsters all around their planet anyway, including in the city because it's so huge you can fit a civilization in just one building, then lose track because that building mutated or migrated too many times.

[hiiragi7]

How Many Was I, Anyway?

Some reflections on the system I used to be.

To this day, I don't know how many selves I was. I don't know how many parts, how many "not-me"s, existed in my system. I never will.

We never got an exact count.

And... that's for the best.

My system was very, very polyfragmented and complex. A lot of therapists, including dissociative specialists, dropped me because of it. A member of the ISSTD even retired after working with me for a few weeks. My system was always in conflict with itself and my parts were always fighting, a lot of us resented each other.

It was really overwhelming.

Trying to get any kind of sense of how many parts of me there were was an impossible task. And one that proved to be, well... counterproductive at best.

Fixating on the numbers made my system more and more distressed. It felt like we would never recover, there were too many parts, too many fragments and little pieces to pick up.

So we stopped counting.

We worked with every part as they came, worked really hard at improving our communication and self-calming skills, wrote down tons of notes about how to notice what we're feeling and what triggers symptoms and switches, read a lot of clinical books on dissociative disorders to better understand what we were dealing with and learn new skills, shared info with a lot of others with CDDs, and did a lot of mood tracking and journaling and setting reminders to help spot patterns and work around the amnesia better.

And, slowly... the dissociative barriers came down, and one by one, every part of us fused, until their fusions and all the effort and love that went into each one created me, the fused whole.

I may not know how many I was in the past, but I can comfortably say how many I am now; I am a system of two, myself and Fennel.

I've noticed in our community we tend to focus a lot on the numbers. A lot of plural servers on discord even ask anyone who joins to disclose alter/headmate counts. A lot of folks post their numbers publicly in their bios. Everybody, systems and singlets alike, all seem to want to know - How big is your system? How many of you are there?

It always made me feel very vulnerable to think about - everyone else always seemed so sure of their numbers, or at least had an estimate if not an exact count. I had a lot of internalized shame for a long time over how many parts I had and felt really overwhelmed every time I found more or split more. It also felt like something that should be more private, something I didn't really want to share with strangers.

And, well, that's perfectly alright. I may not be in that same headspace now (pun intended), but I think there should be more acceptance towards not sharing or knowing the exact number of members in a system.

However many you are, I hope you can have a good day today.

[cushfuddled]

what are your thoughts on the "Arcane Viktor was meant to be ace" that has been said in an interview? Like yes - word of god feel free to ignore - but they said they tried to write him that way. Do you think they succeeded?

Hiya! Thanks for the ask! :D

I was honestly shocked to hear Linke "always" meant to depict Viktor as asexual. It strikes me as a deeply disingenuous comment, not least of all because I want to believe someone who "always thought of Viktor as asexual" and was driven by a desire to make ace people happy would...I dunno...display a slightly better grasp of what "asexuality" even means.

LINKE: I know there are some people who ask this. There is a love. I don't think it's romantic…I remember many, many years ago also thinking about this when we started developing these characters. To me, I can say something here now that would be good for you and bad for me because it will be a wildfire. To me, Viktor was always asexual, and that was always something we talked about from the very beginning. So, a romantic relationship between Jayce and Viktor was just never part of it. There is a love, absolutely, but we also found it a bit... Love and relationships are so complex and take so many different forms. Viktor loves in a different way, and that's okay, no? ...It's something that when we talk to our LGBTQ group within Riot, I remember asking the group many, many years ago, like, "What is something that you never see depicted very well?" And someone said asexuality. They say it's often depicted as, like, emotionless when it's not true at all. It's just that your feelings don't mix with physical. So, to me, that was always part of Viktor. [x]

I didn't feel seen at all by this kind of retroactive ace rep, but I did feel truly, deeply moved by the fandom's response.

Because I know this song and dance. A showrunner or someone with similar "creative authority" describes a character as ace or aro, and the fancops take out their soap boxes and declare,

"All right, everybody! You heard the man! No more sexy fanfic and fan art! This ace/aro character is officially off limits!"

And then aro and ace people like me, who ENJOY smutty fanfic and fan art and want to see our favorite Barbie dolls kiss, are viciously harassed for our hubris. For at least a year I watched my favorite TMA fan artist get dogpiled to hell for daring to draw NSFW art ofJonathan Sims. And yes, this artist was also ace! To fancops, the opinions of aces and aros who like to consume or create smut don't count. We're all "degen" traitors who deserve to be bullied out of fan spaces for the sake of The Good Ones.

So anyway! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Christian Linke came out of the hole in my wall and told me Viktor and Jayce aren't gay.

“Was there ever a ship?” LINKE: “It’s strange that people say that’s the only close relationship that two men could have is to be a couple, you know? There’s really close friendships and like, brotherhoods if you will…like, really being there for each other. Um. [That] is something that was…really important for us to explore. So…it seems like there’s no other version, you know? For some fans, they say like, ‘Hey, there must be romance,’ and we’re like…these relationships can be really layered and really complex, you know? I think there is some kind of…there is a love between them. I just don’t think it’s romantic, you know?” [x]

(If I have to hear one more creator clap back at a hopeful "could they be gay?" with a bizarrely defensive spiel about the transcendent magic of platonic bonds and how men aren't allowed to foster close platonic relationships I'm gonna hemorrhage something, but that rant already lives over here so whatever)

First of all...

:3c

...For someone so committed to propping up the ace and aro community with canon rep, this November 28 2024 version of Christian Linke sure doesn't mention asexuality or aromanticism at all. The genergous ellipses from the excerpt above aren't a creative embellishment on my part. Those pauses are very much apparent on the Twitch stream. Linke appears to really dig for the right words here, yet the terms "asexual" or "aromantic" evade capture. But sure, asexuality was "always" a part of Viktor for Linke.

Maybe Linke didn't want to draw fire from fans with a "Dumbledore is gay" moment, so he left any definitive terminology off the table. In any case, I watched the Jayvik community respond to Linke's Twitch stream like so:

This was, to put it mildly, fucking hysterical. I've never seen a community so decisively "...anyway" a showrunner over queer rep before.

This is horribly unfair for me to assume, given I know next to nothing about Linke and his capacity for petty vengeance. His timing could be totally coincidental, his efforts completely genuine. But the fact that Linke dropped this ace Viktor bomb less than two weeks after his Twitch stream smells like a tantrum to me. In my least charitable vision, I see a man who declared Jayvik platonic by order of Authorial Intent, watched his fandom go, "That's nice grandpa. So about that Hextech sex toy fic—", and was so offended by shippers' casual disregard as to "strike back" with something they couldn't possibly ignore. Thus the "Viktor was ace the whole time" card, when

The word you're looking for is "aromantic," Linke. That's the one to do with romantic attraction.

I know it can be difficult to canonize asexuality and aromanticism. If someone tried to kiss Viktor and Viktor pulled back like, "I don't feel things that way"...would that reaction be enough to make Viktor canonically aro? Perhaps Viktor would need to clarify: "I don't feel things that way." "Which way?" "The...romantic way.” “I don't understand." "You are my partner, Jayce. I love you. I want to be with you. But I will never want to kiss you." I’m tempted to champion that second option, but I can see the argument for less stringent criteria. Ambiguity is...organic, I guess. Too much clarification can read as disingenuous and preachy, like one of those after school specials. Still: I've spent too many years dancing for table scraps to ascribe sanctity to headcanons.

At the end of the day I just don't buy Viktor as ace/aro per Linke and Lee's creative vision. Sky felt like such a classic case of "straight key jangling" to me—i.e. a one-dimensional female character who exists to reinforce a male character's straightness. (My favorite example of this phenomenon = the time Cas Supernatural became mortal ((and thus capable of sexual attraction)), met a woman, slept with her, then killed her within the span of a single episode. Why showrunners seem to believe a female love interest invalidates queer readings, I cannot begin to guess). Even as Viktor pulled his hands away from Sky's—even as Sky told him, “No you won't"—I couldn't help but feel like Linke and Lee had a bullhorn to my ear the whole show: "Oh no, these poor lost ships in the night! How tragic, that Sky was so ready to love Viktor with all his faults and cracks, and Viktor could've found love and purpose outside his work had he only stopped long enough to notice! How tragic, that Viktor only came to understand the nature of Sky's feelings for him after his work had stolen her away! How tragic, that the thing Viktor so desperately craved was right there the whole time, from the moment he launched that toy boat to the night he activated the Hexcore!" It felt like Sky was meant to represent potential, a la the limitless expanse of the heavens. In such a complex cast, Sky stands out like a sore (cardboard) thumb. When Viktor lost Sky to his ambition, she was forever frozen as a "what could have been," reduced to a symbol of roads untraveled. With all those Vibes in the air, I'm like...uh...Linke? Tell me again about how you wanted me to read Viktor as aro this whole time???

I'm sure some ace and aro folks were bolstered by this situation, and lord knows I don't want to yuck on anybody's yums. But for me personally, Linke's comments were like a punch to the throat. It felt like Linke wanted to use me as a police baton to beat back the hordes of evil shippers. What meant the world to me was, once again, the fandom's response. NO ONE TOOK THE BAIT. At least here on Tumblr, all I saw were ace, aro, and allo fans A. clarifying ace and aro terminology, and B. creating smut out of spite.

I cannot stress how fucking INSANE this was to witness as someone who's dealt with a lot of shame re: my aegosexuality. I've never felt so seen and supported as an ace person by a fandom community. Every Jayvik fic with a "this one's for you, Linke"-esque note adds another five years onto my life. I seriously love you all. Please keep being your glorious selves.

[princeyralsei]

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR SONIC 3

I'm not gonna lie, as much as I loved this movie, Shadow's characterization, and his relationship with Maria, I have my gripes with it.

Shadow's alien asteroid origins definitely create an opportunity for him to find out where he came from in a spin-off, but the fact that he wasn't created by Gerald (with Black Doom) to find a cure for Maria and was instead found and tested on really erases his character's main purpose (and how he lost it) and the fact that he wasn't mistreated, but instead relied on for a better future. In particular, not mentioning Maria's illness erases her disability representation. It is an incredibly impactful plot point and aspect of their relationship.

Additionally, while I understand why they couldn't really have her being shot since it's a family movie, the whole point was that she sacrificed herself so he could escape and live his life, and to depict that GUN wasn't above shooting a child. They use laser guns in the movie anyway, not bullets!

Furthermore, neglecting Maria's love for Earth and humanity also erases this inspiration for Shadow. I think they still could have had room to include her mentioning this or explain how she had to be confined inside the base due to her illness, even if the base isn't the ark in space. It would further drive Shadow's conflict as he works with Gerald to destroy said planet, and Gerald manipulating his memories would impact him much more in this sense.

I don't know. As happy as I am, I'm also quite disappointed and I'm really sad about it lol. These changes really ruined the gravity of emotion in this story, even though it still made me emotional regardless. Maybe they can recontextualize Shadow's backstory in his possible spin-off, where Gerald discovered/communicated with Black Doom and arranged for him to send Shadow to Earth so he can use him to find a cure for Maria. Also, since he mentions game Maria's condition in the movie (not her explicitly having it, though), maybe he hid this from Shadow and he could learn about it in the future. I really hope they do something like that.

EDIT: ty to ppl for reminding me that yes they were intending on shooting her if Walters didn't interfere, but I think he was aiming for shadow mainly, and it still would have been more impactful if the shot intentionally hit her yk

[cosmicpack]

Au were after there time on the space whale Keith and Krolia continue to get visions.

Keith was always sensitive to quintessence.

He can feel the blue lions call from miles away even though it isn’t his lion.

Red will come for him from a distance.

He has the strongest bond with his lion up until the lion switch.

But the whale takes that and jumps kicks it. Yes Krolia still gets them to but no where near the frequency or detail that Keith does.

He brushes up against someone and gets a flash of their past or their future.

They are trying to form a plan of action when suddenly Keith will stop moving and talking and get this far away look in his eyes. Only to snap back with a gasp moments later and drastically change whatever plan they had. Snapping back from a vision from the future of one of his friends dying

It first happens once the battle with Lotor is done. It’s a surprise to everyone as it’s the first one Keith’s had outside of the whale.

One moment the group is relaxing and liking their wounds. Trying to figure out what to do next.

Suddenly Keith freezes. He was mid-sentence talking to Pidge when suddenly all movement stops. His eyes are glassy and far away, he’s obviously looking but not seeing what’s in-front of him.

Pidge freaks out. Shiro (one of her big brothers) was just discovered to be a clone, Lotor a maniac, and they lost the castle ship (their home) and now Keith (anther brother to her) has completely frozen and stopped responding.

She calls out to the other, panicking “somethings wrong with Keith!” The other scramble over to them. Krolia quick to her son’s side while the others circle around.

Lance, seeing as Shiro is down, Allura is reeling from all that’s happened today, and Keith is the one is trouble, takes charge of the situation.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. We were talking and then suddenly he just froze up”

He’s still breathing and doesn’t seemed to be in distress. He’s just frozen. He’s not responding the them in anyway.

Until suddenly he gasps. His eyes going wide and he’s whipping around trying to get his bearings. He’s breathing hard and Lance and Krolia moves to stabilize and support him.

“Keith! What was that? Are you okay?” Lance was trying to catch his friend’s eyes and Keith snapped his head to him and locks eyes.

“They’re going to earth! The Galra! They’re going to attack earth! They’re going to kill Adam!” His breaths are panic as he tries to communicate the horror of his vision.

Lance feels like the floor has open up below him. “What?”

After panic and confusion. Krolia explains the visions in the space whale. How they had been blasted with visions of both the past and the future.

Since they spent two years on the space whale, it must have warped Keith connection to quintessence. Add that to his natural sensitivity to quintessence and his connection to Voltron, which enhances his abilities. This equals to a Keith how now gets visions from the universe.

The group is quick to decide to head to Earth. Coran tells them it would take a year and a half to get there and the whole group is distressed. They don’t have that kind of time.

Lance remembers how they got up here. That the blue lion created a wormhole all on its own. No teladuv or working castle ship.

Allura has always wondered how that was possible since only an Altean should be able to open one and that in a lion it would take an incredible amount of power. Power she might have now but after saving Shiro she needs time to get that energy back.

Time Lance can’t imagine waiting. His family is in danger. That was the whole point of fighting this war. To keep his family safe. He looks at Keith, who is more shaken that Lance has ever seen (he’s hiding it well from the others but Lance has always been able to read Keith) and he knows that the vision was so much worse then Keith is telling them.

They have to get to earth now!

But he doesn’t know what to do. Everyone starts packing up. Wanting to get moving as soon as possible with the trip as long as it will be. Keith takes a moment to walk over to Lance.

“Lance. I was thinking about what you said. About the wormhole that brought us here in the first place.” Keith pauses trying to find the right words. “It was just us. No alteans, not castle, just you piloting Blue.” He pauses again Turing to look up at the red lion.

“You know Red’s always been over protective of her paladin. I think- I don’t know maybe if you reach out to her. She might be able to open a wormhole home.”

Lance looks at Keith in surprise. “Why don’t you ask Black then? Or Pidge and Green? Or Hunk and Yellow. I mean your all a lot better-” the then I am dying in his tongue as he looks down.

“What are you talking about. You’re an amazing Paladin, and you’re the only one who’s gotten a lion to one a wormhole before. Not even Allura can do that.” He moves forward to place his hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Just give it a chance. The worst that can happen is it doesn’t work. Besides if anyone can pull this off it’s you.”

“Thanks Keith.” Lance smile at Keith and goes to thank him when Keith’s eyes go all glassy again. “Keith?”

Moments later Keith snaps back to himself with a gasp. His body lurching forward as if someone just struck him. The hand on Lances shoulder tightening its grip as his form starts to tremble.

“Keith! What is it? What did you see?” Keith straightens up to lock eyes with Lance again.

“It’s Sendak. He’s the one attacking Earth.”

“Don’t you mean he’s the one who will be attacking Earth?” Lance asked as he placed his hands on Keith’s sides to steady his shaking friend.

“Lance” Keith looked so scared and vulnerable “on the whale I had visions of the future and the past. I have no clue which I’m seeing now.”

Lance felt ice flood his veins. “So everything you’re see could have already happened?”

Keith couldn’t meet his eyes anymore “yes”

Lance take a moment to feel the horror of this all. Earth could already be at Sendak’s mercy before pulling himself together. For his family, who needed him to come save them, and for Keith who must have seen something truly horrific in his vision.

“Then there’s no time to waste. Let’s go home.” He makes a split second decision to pull Keith in for a hug. “We’re going to save them.” There was no other option. Not for Lance. Not when he had sacrificed so much to keep his home safe.

They separate slowly, lingering in a moment not meant to stretch.

Then there is yelling. Something is wrong with Shiro’s pod. Lance can see the fear and anxiety flood Keith system. He gently cups Keith’s face drawling his focus back. “I’ll get the others ready to leave. Go take care of Shiro.”

It’s exactly what Keith needs. The stress of the last few hours. Lotor, Shiro, clones, the battle with Lotor, his visions, and now Shiro’s in trouble again. Lance stepping in to take weight from us makes it feel like he can breath a little.

Keith rushes off to Shiro begging him to fight, to stay alive.

Meanwhile Lance helps Hunk and Pidge ready to go. He checks in on Allura and Coran to make sure they are ready. He makes sure Romelle has a place to go, she’s riding with him. She had wanted to stay with Keith and Krolia but Black was pretty full with Keith, Krolia, the wolf, and Shiro’s pod. Lance offers her a ride. He understands that she’s the odd one out right now and boy does he know how that feels.

Once they know Shiro is going to be okay. They’re ready to take off. Lance takes a moment to breath. He focuses on his bond with Red. ‘Please. I need to get home. Please help me protect my family.’

Let us protect our pride, Son of A-

Lance misses what Red was about to say when he heared Romelle gasp. In front of them is a wormhole. Lance smiles in relief ‘Thank you’ he sends to his lion.

“Lance! You’re-” Romelle is gasping and pointing at his face. He had expected her to be pointing at the wormhole but she’s looking straight at him. “Altean!”

Lances brain short circuits for a second. “I’m what!!!!”

When Lance was talking to red and asking for a way home his cheeks started to glow with the altean marks. His family had Altean blood as some escaped to Earth to hide a few centuries ago.

They head back to Earth and get there just in time to join in on the first firefight with the Galra. There are still casualties but Adam is not among them. The damage to Earth is far less than it is in canon.

Adam and Shiro reunite and recover together.

It is still a long fight as Sendak is determined to take the planet and keeps coming no matter how many times they push him back until finally Shiro and Keith end him once and for all

Keith is still having visions. Some are of the pasts of the people around him. Some are glimpses of the future.

He and Lance finally figure themselves out a get together. While Lance is introducing Keith to his family Keith gets hit with a vision. Lance explains what’s happening as he holds Keith’s hand and waits for him to come back to himself. It doesn’t take more than a minute. Lance braces himself for some horrible news, but Keith jumps up and runs straight to the kitchen. Everyone wonders why until he opens the kitchen door just in time for a pan in the stove to ignite. Someone had left the stove on and now there is a fire. Keith puts it out with no panic or surprise. Once the fire is handled, Lance walks up to him. “So your vision…” -Lance “house fire”-Keith.

Needless to say the family finds him weird but endearing.

Everything is going well until one night Keith wakes up screaming. Hagar is still alive. And she’s going after the Alteans. And Allura is going to die.

[allpiesforourown]

Hey, so sorry to be using your inbox like a fuckin confessional, but getting that dream thing off my chest literally cleared my skin and I've just got this itch that needs to be addressed so I'm taking it out on you again. Reflecting on this thought the second after I had it made me think, "Oh, I get what Shen Yuan was on about now," and so here I am, typing this shit out ig. fucking embarrassing, anyway.

So, like. I watch those gacha react videos on youtube. Like a concerning amount of those gacha react videos, man. I fuckin love them so much, even if I wouldn't admit to it under pain of death to anyone I know or love. I have a seperate youtube channel I made under a fake email that I made specifically to watch them. It's bad. I remember back when it was just me and the FF.net filter system before they added the 'Without' section at the bottom and trying to find crossover content in the LoZ tag between games. 10th circle of hell; my 13th reason. Gacha react videos in concept are heavensent for my inner child, and on the rare occasion I find one of those 'fandom react' series that are active or complete and well done, it grants me joy on par with nigh nothing else.

This being said, I understand that the main demographic for this content tends to be a handful of years younger than me. I've seen community posts on some channels mentioning their time in college, but these are few and far between in my experience. I appreciate these teen's artistry in putting these all together, because god knows I'm not, but like,,, --and I know I sound like an ass right now but bare with me-- it feels like with the conclusion of Arcane came a flood of reaction videos with no real substance. I've watched upward of what feels like thirty seperate videos --at least,-- on the show and its the same ten to twenty edits I've seen on repeat and I'm watching them by pressing the skip key and catching half the dialouge only to come out the other side tired and a little miffed. Then I feel bad, because they created something and all I did was mindlessly consume and feel entitled to complain. Ugh.

Now, Because I've been cycling through these almost cookie cutter videos for ages --I used Arcane vids as an example before because its recent and relevant, but I do have this take for a whole slew of the fandoms I watch react videos on, and I picked this addiction up in 2021 so it's been a minute-- I've begun predicting the dialouge before it's come up and projecting what I hope the author will say. If I see a video with, for example, Giyuu from kny seeing Sabito in a video, I hope to see shock, yes, but also to see him comment or think about how he hasn't seen his face in so long, you know? Just... things that aren't just "OMG!!" or making the characters eyes widen. I've found now that I seek out these videos for the slim chance that they'll provide me with the satisfaction I get from these moments of true understanding with the presented characters.

Yes, I know that there really isn't any "true" way to understand a character, and that while we are all entitled to our own interpretations of media, the insistence that mine alone is more "right" or "correct" is bullshit, but I'm not saying that my preference has to be law, only that I get a rush of happiness whenever something I like happens to pop up in a video that I was already checking out of because it failed to really,,,,wow me. This is my bias speaking, of course, but its also the reality of my situation borne from overconsumption of this genre.

But anyway, onto the main point of how this relates to svsss. I was watching a video just a minute ago --an Arcane video, big shocker I know-- where there was a line from the creator's Vander character about how he wasn't ready to see Vi so grown up, because to him she's still his little girl. I thought, "Yes!!! This!! He's a father! He's showing realistic reactions to seeing your child suddenly grown up, and while he's proud of the woman she became, he still loves her as she is in the moment!!" ....I then watched the rest of the reaction, and was left cold and disappointed in the end. I'd clicked for Viktor, got three videos of him in a twenty minute reaction when the rest was the same four edits of jinx on repeat. Love you Jinx, but holy fuck. I thought then, "God, what a waste of potential." The creator of the video had insightful dialouge, clearly a decent grasp on character interaction, and the drive to create the video in the first place, but settled for pumping out another copy of the same video they've released three times previous on the same channel.

Then I thought, "Oh, like PIDW."

I need to get a life, Tumblr user allpiesforourown. If your blog wasn't so damn entertaining, I might even go out and touch grass one day. Take responsibility, damn.

(ty for reading my rant, if you did. have a good day regardless.)

I think you watching gacha react videos for characterization might be the one and only thing more baffling than Shen Yuan reading porn for plot. Hope you find gacha videos of Vander teaching his daughter how to ride a bike

[anti-rq-gumi]

The Ciel? The girlfriend abuser? Vagueposting about me??? I’m so honored! Let’s dissect this response.

Here’s my entire post. You didn’t screenshot the entire thing and talked about things outside your screenshot, which just serves to confuse the audience.

saying this to someone’s boundary is INSANE. “your boundary isn’t valid because I want to use your terms without associating with you!”

That kind of boundary isn’t reasonable because it extends outside of the coiner’s jurisdiction. Since again, transID and its alternatives have different fucking definitions, this makes trans-x, disso-x and desir-x… different fucking terms. So if you coin trans-x and someone else coins disso-x or desir-x, they are not crossing your boundaries around term stealing.

if you antis seriously want to use a transid label that bad that you have to have to steal the term from the original owner, maybe you should think about some things.

Radqueers do not own a monopoly on the experience of feeling atypical dysphoria?

What do you think happens when a radqueer who feels atypical dysphoria leaves the community? They don’t just stop feeling that. There are also people who feel atypical dysphoria who have never entered the radqueer community in the first place and don’t want to. They might go on to use transIDs separately from the radqueer community, but they also might not be comfortable using terms that encompass harmful transitioning. Or maybe they simply don’t experience their atypical dysphoria in a way analogous to transgender.

There are so many reasons why a non radqueer would use an alternative term. They’ve “thought about things” more than radqueers wanting everyone to use transIDs, honestly.

now i understand if it’s something non-specific like transage/arissoage, like that’s reasonable to be like “you can’t restrict this” because it’s something so vague, but if it’s something specific, it’s not reasonable to get mad over.

Anyone can feel atypical dysphoria about specific things and describe it with transID alternatives. You’re still encouraging the unreasonable restriction of these terms being coined even if you’re doing it for a smaller amount, with more vague terms being “allowed to exist” but more specific terms not.

the thing is, with you antis, you would be mad if a transid coiner reclaimed one of your arisso terms (it’s happened before) but for some reason it’s fine if you get mad at them but they can’t get mad at you?

Generalization much? I’m not a dissomei or desirdae coiner, but if a transID coiner were to make their own version of my terms I wouldn’t care. Because again. It would be a different term.

I don’t know what situation you’re referring to, but since you used the word arisso I suspect you’re referring to one in particular.

@/acetrappolaswife, the coiner of arissomei before it was recoined as dissomei, created arissoimmoral as an umbrella term for any harmful arissomei identities. The public coining of anything more specific than that was explicitly forbidden, as it could be seen as glorifying the harm the term would describe. One radqueer coined these terms anyway and received backlash from both @/acetrappolaswife and other antis as a result.

You can clearly see how this situation differs. The radqueer did not coin equivalent transIDs to arissomei identities; they coined arissomei identities the coiner of arissomei had forbidden.

even if you were going to recreate their terms, just block them so they can’t see instead of INVALIDATING THEIR BOUNDARIES. it’s seriously not that deep.

I mean yeah sure, that can be done. I don’t think any dissomei or desirdae coiner would be opposed to blocking a radqueer who requests it. You’ve gotta understand though, radqueer blogs get terminated too often for blocking every transID coiner to be feasible. (This is your 27th blog.) It would have to be done on a case by case basis.

it is CRAZY to say “your boundary isn’t valid and let me explain why.” you wouldn’t say that to ANY other boundary, you’re only saying it to this one because it’s about you. grow the fuck up.

I said the boundary wasn’t reasonable, not invalid. A radqueer saying “do not coin a specific dissomei or desirdae term” is not reasonable in the slightest. This isn’t about me as I don’t coin dissomei or desirdae terms, I’m literally just explaining that people are allowed to do that.

[ start screenshot ]

[ end screenshot ]

saying this to someone's boundary is INSANE. "your boundary isn't valid because i want to use your term without associating with you!"

if you antis seriously want to use a transid label that bad that you have to steal the term from the original owner, maybe you should think about some things. now i understand if it's something non-specific like transage/arissoage, like that's reasonable to be like "you can't restrict this" because it's something so vague, but if it's something specific, it's not reasonable to get mad over. the thing is, with you antis, you would be mad if a transid coiner reclaimed one of your arisso terms (it's happened before) but for some reason it's fine if you get mad at them but they can't get mad at you? even if you were going to recreate their terms, just block them so they can't see instead of INVALIDATING THEIR BOUNDARIES. it's seriously not that deep. it is CRAZY to say "your boundary isn't valid and let me explain why." you wouldnt say that to ANY other boundary, youre only saying it to this one because its about you. grow the fuck up

[sisterdivinium]

There's a lot of stuff I'd love to do but then there's only so much time and only so much external interest regarding such events too.

Some sort of short fic exchange for non-juggernaut WN ships or some funky comment fic place or a capslock community for all your unhinged commentary needs or a WN bingo... I don't know, something.

[linkedin-offficial]

me when i get the opportunity to think about speculative biology and non-existent game mechanics in media i like

⠀

[posi-pan]

for anyone who has ever seen someone claim pansexual was coined on social media by teenagers in the early 2000s, the 2010s, and even in the past few years, and believed it or wondered if it’s true, or known it’s not true and been annoyed by the misinformation, this article is for you!

after listing out all of the claims i’ve seen, i succinctly debunk them by laying out a brief overview of pansexual’s history dating back to the 1960s, both as a term generally indicating universal appeal/inclusion and a term indicating sexual freedom/attraction to all genders. i include a look at pansexual’s use specifically within queer spaces, with a focus on bisexual spaces, as well.

i also touch briefly on omnisexual and polysexual existing in similar contexts to pansexual dating back to the 1960s. and finally, i discuss a little bit about how when, where, and by whom a label is created doesn’t determine the validity or usefulness of it, because these claims come with the implication that new labels, labels created by kids, and labels originating on social media aren’t legit forms of queer expression and identification.

happy pan week! 🥰💗💛💙

[knockknockitsnickels]

Day 16, final day before the Pristine Cut, my attempt at Ms. Chain Princess (possibly Prison3r but I've seen ppl speculate she's sp3ctre) from the trailer. See you all post pristine-cut 🫡

[folerdetdufoler]

i finally deleted twitter! it sucks that i’ve lost that little corner of the fandom, but it didn’t make sense to maintain once it was in musk’s hands, so this was long overdue. i will always credit the skam fandom that i found over there back in 2017 for shaping me as a writer, as well as for inspiring me to travel. i know it was considered a toxic place for the fandom even back then, but it was a platform i grew up with and could communicate on, which meant i connected with some very lovely people. i was devastated when my original account was suspended back in like, 2021? because i had lost a lot of early writing and some friends who had moved on to other fandoms at that point. but i tried to take screenshots of what i had left. a lot of my links to twitter won’t work now, either, but that’s what you get when you depend on someone else as an archival tool.

anyway, a couple of years ago i was thinking about even’s notebook and that became these tweets below the cut. my shorter ideas might end up here now, or on bluesky.

[nellasbookplanet]

Okay finished my arcane season 1 rewatch (and I absolutely didn’t cry again) (I'm lying I'm still wiping the tears off) and god it really is a master class of storytelling, isn’t it.

The last episode being called 'the monster you made'. Silco condemning Vander for giving up fighting because it endangered those he loves, only to then himself being unable to obtain his goal because it would mean giving up the only person he loves and he finally understands. Zaun being inches from getting their independence and freedom only for a hurt child to blow it all up in the name of the father figure she killed to protect a sister who left her. Because that's the thing, isn’t it. Jinx and Silco are monsters and legitimate villains but only becaue Piltover created them. They made their own choices sure, but they were choices that would never have even been on the table if they didn't exist in the constant despair and desperation and loss that is living in oppression under a police state that fancies itself a utopia. Piltover and the council built their own monsters and were then shocked and horrified when they acted the part and bit back.

[nolongerexistingsadcatface]

Ok yes America hating the cold is funny (eh) BUT. have you considered that I like the imagery of an America sitting alone in the forest in the bleak mid-winter landscape of an east coast woods, all alone in both body and mind, agonizing over her seeming doom to be stuck in the throes of loneliness for all eternity?