#bc then it shows off the world more and have ash connect with some more people

[vaugarde]

im gonna go out on a limb here and say that like. i get the frustration with how the world championship plot was handled overall, but at the same time i can’t quiiite blame the writers for struggling with these early bits especially considering ash is plopped right in the beginner class when he’s supposed to be a regional champion, so its hard to write episodes that are meant to build tension and have ash struggle to the top when he should probably be in the hyper class right away and have the audience naturally believe that it wont be anything but a cakewalk at this point

[reveseke]

Unreasonable for the time

–Criminal minds; BAU x unsub! male! reader – Requested(link) by @jaythes1mp, also tagging @lovelybeardedsuit – not the proudest moments for me with writing, i'm painfully aware it's not excalty what you requested but loosely around it if i can say so? went in for romantic feelings and came back by admiration and appreciation pipe(?). also apologies it's taken me quite the while to write. - warnings; uhh smallish nitpick at grotesque description maybe? human taxitermy + (aspiring/well known) artist/taxitermist reader. evidence withholding is mainly used as a tactic of sabotaging. The reader has burns on his hands for some reason. nothing really, lemme know if i missed something. – oh, also since i don't write for Rossi or the women of the BAU team romantically you have to suffer with mainly Reid, Morgan, and Hotch being unreasonable. there's no real ending here either, i wrote it in one sitting brain on speed dial bc i got fed up with drafts. i'll see myself out now. – WC; 1,255 k

the case was supposed to be an average one, but that hope turned to ash as the team had a look at the case file. There had been a surge in numbers when it came to cold cases dropping like flies every now and then over the past few months. two to three new victims, unable to be connected due to them being in different states over the lines. the team wasn't sure what to make out of the situation as they tried to gather everything they needed.

Sweet talking one up, a well dressed man greeted the woman with an open smile as he led her to the shop. tallying up how many he had already collected and how the cat she had brought would be a fine one to mount.

the victims were often found frozen in one place, not literally just mounted and taxitermed. their limbs were broken in several places, often they had a crown made of bones adorned upon their heads-later on those bones weren't theirs but a combination of every victim–as the victims were often laid naked or with a small coverage upon their bodies. Reid had pointed out that they all shared the crown, and often were gutted inside out with their organs removed and replaced by ones made out of clay or glass.

Penelope on the other hand had analyzed the often seen carved or burned into the skin of the victim a signature of an artist. she had spoken about how familiar it looked to her, but she just couldn't find anything with it. maybe the tech could have seen it coming if she had looked to her left in the office she was so often occupied in and decorated with silly things she found joy and comfort in.

that one particular small glass item, even if it seemed so meaningless always carried R/n passion in it as he continued on working with what he had been given. He had to show them, the corruption of the world nobody seemed to understand that wiped the earth off its goodness.

looking at the crime photos and notes that had been sent over and already thought about by the various police who worked on them. the team couldn't help but to wonder whether it was all or if there was more they never found. Hotch spoke along JJ and Prentiss with the victim's families mosty, as Garcia went down the histories and records of the wretched beings along.

Derek had gone to the mortuary, the tech had called them up with a finding from inside the victim's throat and stomach. it was ultimately the only organ that had been left untouched, the stomach of the victim that had been filled to the bring with papers. written and forced down his throat the crimes he had committed with the same symbol that finally started to click as the others saw it.

And Reid had been sent off to the most recent crime scene. to see what would have made the placement of the police significant to the crime. they had seen a pattern in how the unsub placed his work. often it was around the places that matched up with the most vicious parts of their histories. sometimes the vicious part was all about things they did that the public never knew about.

Watching the press conference in his shop, writing down the phone number that had been laid out for anyone to call if they needed to report something suspicious. oh, how he loathed them for overseeing it and doing so little, trying to bury him down so the world never never saw his work. that work R/n bled for, burns adorning his own hands as he scoffed wiping sweat from his brow.

he still couldn't understand why they wished to silence him. ripping the flesh that he had to mount by his own hands and with the assistance of scissors as he opened the chest of the victim in his hands. with glue and wire he rewired the rib cage's bones and broke down the cartilage that held it together on the front of it.

it felt like they were missing something obvious, looking through the files and the reports Reid had asked Garcia to look into the pasts of the victims.

he was a whore, merely someone who slept his way to his position but even R/n had to admit he was a handsome one. he wasn't a model for no reason, but his upbringing while not entirely his own fault didn't slip past him. he didn't care, she had to bleed for her crimes. and hey, they don't speak of true beauty without the pain of it.

it felt surreal to hear the man's voice in the playback video of the stream that he did. Hotch looked forward as he discussed it with Rossi and Garcia. asking the tech to send the video to his tablet so he could show it to the others, as it showcased how the young man was quite literally speaking of his newest victim as an upcoming collab. As Garcia had worried her mind around the signature she did end up recognising as one of the uprising artists' signatures.

it came as a shock to her to learn that he was quite literal with what he meant with his art, he wasn't just showcasing an opinion anymore, it was a question of morals. and neither were the others ready to admit to it, none of them had properly met the man but the way he had made a name for himself really screamed that of innocence, they always felt like something was missing. endangering the case, multiple people had been withholding information due to finding it difficult to actually think such a sweet person would be behind this.

Morgan never told them about all the papers that had text in them that the techs found in the stomach of the multiple victims. how if composed right did end up with a message that sounded that of utter nonsense. in truth it did showcase lots of how his own mind worked and how he had been struggling with it. he intended to turn his pain into art, literally by showcasing what happens to those who lie within this life.

Reid had withheld the history connection between the victims and him, how they had all either known each other or ran into each other at some point in life. he had told Garcia that he would tell the others about it. he never did.

one may call him an utter madman at this point, he was getting sloppier with what he was doing in the first case with the victims. many who viewed his art either were creeped out about the surrealism of it, or either seemed to understand that the man was merely showcasing his emotion fueled art. one finds something as that undescribeable, and others as the most touching thing ever.

yet to all even through his faults none of them found him to be possibly guilty of what had happened. It was unreasonable Prentiss had argued with Hotch about it, before for their unresponsiveness and denying the artist of being the unsub.

none of them really felt ashamed of it, but it did make a surprise for each of the three men that they held the same opinion of the young man.

[a-cat-in-toffee]

Having Thoughts about Kota & Wight (bc of todays freak week prompt) and I’m soooo curious, so Wight very much likes making it known by telling people Virion and Kota are His, right? So I’m wondering if all of them have any physical showing to people they meet in their world that makes it known that they are each others? (Example: jewelry, tattoo, etc. that connect to each other in some way whether in color or more obvious with names or symbols) :3?

OKAY SO! I THINK ABOUT THIS A LOT! this answer is kind of? Virion lovvess wearing things that are red because they contrast his normal colors and also wight and kota are both red ! (this is actually smthn I think i put in his design ? the little ring at the end of his braid is red.) kota has a littol bit of a complicated relationship with that sort of stuff so he generally doesn't, and the fact that Wight is the only person kota ever listens to is enough for Wight.

speaking of Wight this freak loves showing off any bites or marks or scars from Kota SO much. it's part of the reason he refuses to let ashe ever heal him.

[gorbagegorl]

thinking about my experience with the souls(bornering die twice) series

tried dark souls for the first time in like 2014 maybe? didn't have a controller i could connect to my pc so i played with mouse and keyboard. no dsfix. struggled for hours to make it to taurus demon and im not sure if i beat him. definitely got stuck on the bell gargoyles if i did. no summons bc i didn't know about them. it was such a tense and terrifying experience. killing every enemy every time, incredibly stressful to gain an inch of progress bc i knew i could lose it all at any time.

i tried bloodborne next and the opening bit of yharnam also had me stressed over every inch of progress. but i got past it and got pretty far into the game. it was fun to go fast and parry things. no summons again bc i didn't have ps plus. i think i stopped on the approach to mergo's wet nurse bc giant spiders started to show up, dropping onto u from above, and that was too scary for me.

tried ds1 again years later with dsfix and a proper controller. i got way further, making it to ornstein and smough but i couldn't beat them. no summons again, not because i didn't know how to use them but because i had fooled myself into believing that the "true" way to play dark souls was without them. the main feelings i remember from this run were frustration and anger. banging my head against a brick wall until it broke. getting frustrated when the wall wouldn't break after the most recent hit. getting angry when it hurt to hit my head against the wall. feeling nothing when i finally broke through.

i didn't try ds2 or 3 bc i hadn't finished ds1, and sekiro looked way too hard, so my next game was elden ring. no summons bc i still thought that was the best way to experience the game (did use spirit ashes and a ton of spells though.) again, i bashed my head against the brick wall until it broke, getting frustrated and angry when i died and not really feeling satisfied when i won. but i did win. it was the first souls game i beat. i even did Ranni's questline and got her ending, despite it being optional and hard. i had finally proved that i could beat a souls game the "intended way." and again, it mostly just made me feel frustrated and angry. after all that effort i learned that it would have probably been much more fun if i had just used summons. i enjoyed the exploration though and my appreciation for the combat grew while learning how to fight some of the world bosses (specifically the magma wyrms.) despite my anger and frustration i enjoyed elden ring enough to put over 100 hours into it, eventually trying out randomizers and the seamless co-op mod as well. i think the most important thing i took from my time with elden ring was getting so used to fromsoft controlls it became like second nature. being able to run while keeping an eye on the boss, without lock-on, can be unbelievably helpful in certain situations, and i would not have been able to tackle the next game without that familiarity.

next was sekiro. sekiro pissed me off more than any game i had ever played before, and it is the game that finally made the souls series fully click for me. it was frustrating to adapt to sekiro's style of play after 100+ hours of elden ring, frustrating to have no choice but to approach bosses with the sparse (compared to other games mentioned) options provided by the game, frustrating to still feel like the only option was to bang my head against a brick wall until it broke. i actually made two attempts at playing sekiro, the first of which ended at lady butterfly- i didn't understand how sekiro's combat rhythm differed from fromsoft's other games, so i felt like it was impossible to make progress in the fight, got mad (especially on juzou) and quit. my second time trying sekiro i fought gyoubu before attempting lady butterfly, which worked out way better and gave me a feel for the rhythms of the game. this time when i fought lady butterfly, i understood what the game wanted from me and i felt i had a chance at seeing an ending. i would still get frustrated and angry but once in a while i would actually feel satisfied after a fight; i could see what the game wanted me to do and i delivered. no longer would i launch assaults of the cranium upon the brick wall with no end in sight, i could now read the game and see a path through.

then i fought Owl (father.) Owl (father) was the most Piss Me Off fight i had ever fought. i could learn when to be agressive, what to punish, how to parry parriable moves, but it did not lead to victory. i would maximize the uptime of my agression and owl would end up maneuvering us into a corner where i could not see or effectively avoid certain attacks. i would attempt to punish a move i had punished dozens of times before only to discover that the contours of the dirt floor of the arena had positioned us in such a way that my attack would just barely miss, allowing owl to hit or even kill me with an attack that was normally safe to punish. i would parry and dodge perfectly, reach his second phase, bring him down to a sliver of health, only for his fire-owl summon to get caught on a pillar in a way that delayed its movement to punish my regular dodge timing that usually worked for that move. this fight pissed me off so fucking much. i got embarrassingly mad. it took me three days to beat him. i did not feel satisfied. but this was the last time i didn't feel some kind of satisfaction from beating a boss in these games, and after this fight i felt that the souls games finally fully clicked for me. it's hard to articulate but it's like i had a better sense of what was and was not my fault when i died in these games, as well as being more capable of working around things that were unfair. after three days of seeing exactly how to beat this boss and having my plans foiled by quirks of level geometry, i slowly realized that that kind of situation had basically never happened before or since. and when i do encounter some capital b Bullshit i can quickly figure out how to avoid or mitigate it as much as possible. three days of walking a straight path up a hill and falling flat on my face after tripping on a rock i hadn't noticed before taught me that if i see a path to the end i absolutely can make it, i just need to accept that sometimes i will still fail. it was an infuriating lesson to learn in the moment, but it has greatly improved my enjoyment of these games. i defeated isshin with a smile on my face, each new move and phase that killed me a joyous expression of how fucking cool games can be.

i still get frustrated and a little mad at these games but nowhere near what i felt before. but finally, every part of these games was fun. i tackle new bosses from the elden ring dlc with the same enthusiasm with which i finished sekiro.

idk if i had a point i was working towards. i guess it's that u can absolutely get into the souls games by playing it the Pure way, spending dozens upon dozens of hours with mounting anger and frustration and no help, but you could also just have fun and use summons while you can bc ultimately what's important is spending time getting used to the quirks of these games (also bc summons aren't available in sekiro and you should play sekiro :3)

[mt07131]

hiii 👀 for bestie maeve: retro, persona, bandmates, lyrics, seven <333

Hiii bestie 💕💕💕 Under the cut bc it got long

Infamous ask game

Retro: What was the first CD they ever bought with their own money? Do they still have it? Do they still like it?

So I touched on this in one of my snippets for her (shameless self plug 😌) but the first CD she was ever able to buy with her own money was Riot! by Paramore. She still has the original copy she bought at the solid age of 10, and yes she still likes it, loves it actually. It was her first rock album and to see one with a female lead singer is what planted the seed of her being able to do that.

Persona: How does their day-to-day personality compare to their on-stage persona?

The biggest difference between Maeve Divine and Maeve is that she's way more exaggerated on stage. She really leans into the performance aspect of everything when on stage, but all of those elements of her personality are still present when she's not screaming on stage. She's maybe a little toned down and there's a more vulnerable side that really only comes out around people she's close to (i.e. the band), but she really doesn't put on that much of an act on stage.

Bandmates: How do they feel about the members of the band? Would they still be interested in stardom if they weren’t with that group?

She loves the rest of the band, they’re her best friends. Meeting them was really the first time someone else (other than Seven) understood her. With August in particular, since they’re new, she was a little hesitant because of the fact that they weren’t there since the conception of RS, but their skills were impressive enough that she was willing to take that chance. Because of that, she wants to make sure that they feel welcome, that they’re not an outsider simply because they weren’t in that core founding group. And I think she would still be interested in stardom without this group, but having this group makes it infinitely better. She wants to be seen and be heard, and doing that with her closest friends is something she is extremely grateful for.

Lyrics: What are some songs you associate with your character? Any specific lyrics that really scream your character?

So I do have her character playlist (which I am gonna push again because I’m annoying about it) but here’s a few highlights:

Halestorm- Strange Girl Cast me out, abandon me / Write me off for dead / Ridiculed, made to feel like I'm your deepest dread / You say, "She's such a strange girl" / Such a strange girl / The world needs strange girls / Just like me

Tessa Violet- YES MOM 20-20 vision with ambition's how I'm made / I can't keep from winning when it's in my DNA / Push me down and I bounce right back / Trampoline and it's in my past / Rising like a phoenix making fire from the ash

Black Veil Brides- Heart Of Fire This heart of fire is burning proud / I am every dream you lost and never found / This heart of fire is stronger now / Build your walls but you can't keep me out / I'll burn 'em down

(Ask me one day about the playlist analysis docs I have for both the her + her/seven playlists)

Seven: Do you have headcanons about their friendship and/or romantic relationship (past or future)? What do you imagine some of their best memories are? What do you think some of Seven’s favorite things about your MC were/are?

I do headcanon that their friendship started because Maeve chimed in during a class with a very strict teacher and saved Seven’s ass from a question he didn’t know the answer to. He wanted to thank her afterwards, they started talking, and the rest was history.

At some point in high school, both of them had a crush on the other, but neither of them said anything because of not wanting to ruin their friendship if the other didn’t feel the same way. That goes to show just how connected they were that they had the same reasoning. It was also incredibly obvious to the rest of the band that they liked each other that way, they were not subtle

Honestly, some of their best memories are the most mundane. For example, Maeve is a very physical person with her affection, so even when they were just friends (and crushing) she was all over Seven when they hung out. Head in his lap, on his shoulder, sprawled all over him, she’s clingy. That’s how they wrote songs together, literally on top of each other.

I like to think that one of Seven’s favorite things about Maeve is just her dedication to this dream. She threw everything she had into it, he watched her toil for hours over things like hand-studding her lucky leather jacket (one that she still wears to this day, like to the BOTB auditions). She had a dream, and while the plan came eventually, she never stopped dreaming, which he admired.

[slasherwife]

Ash+Slashers with their kids on the first day of school. what would be there morning routine, and would they walk them to school?🥰

Awwww yes!🥺💓💞

Slashers w their child’s first day of school

Thomas

He would be the utmost proud dad in the world. He would be the one to beam at every moment getting ready for the day to walk the little-Hewitt to school. Of course you were practically soothing him the entire time😂

But he would be up before anyone else, soothing his child out of bed before helping them get their shoes on, giving them loads of affection and affirmation in the process💓

He would make sure to tell his child to tell mommy or daddy about any bullies that try to pick on them. He believes it’s bound to happen, but he’s fully prepared to confront the situation.

Tommy would need a lot of assurance from you as well to make sure he’s being an adequate father and... of course... to be soothed because his baby is going off to school 😭💞

Dresses really nice because he doesn’t want to embarrass his child😭Kisses the little-Hewitt on the head letting them run off to play, while he retreats to your arms holding back tears. He just loves them so much 😤💗

Jason Vorhees

Jason wouldn’t send his child off to school because he’s afraid they will be severely bullied and end up like him😞but you made it clear that it’s better for them to learn about the real world and to be socialized at least💞

Above all... he’s determined to keep them from being targeted by bullies. He would walk to Mars and back before he let that happen.

Jason would definitely try to help them get ready for school as gently as possible, and he succeeds in coaxing them out of bed and into day clothes. Jason’s strength terrifies him and he refuses to take the risk of harming your child💞

He helps you make the little guy’s lunch for the day, and he walks with you some ways, but parts when you get close. He promises the little one he will be with them soon again, but Jason watches carefully from afar. You completely understand💖

At the end of the day, Jason voices to you that he is proud of the little one that you both created, and you lovingly agree with him😊

Michael Myers

I’m not sure Michael would want to be involved in his child’s life, but in a way of “honoring” them, Michael shows up and stays with them for that morning💗

He looks to you for direction and will probably be doing for your child what you suggest he should do. Whether that be tie their shoes, give them a pat on the head, etc🥰 Which is making a genuine effort for him and you, something very rare for Michael💞

He definitely doesn’t walk them to school, that’s pushing him too far. He parts ways just like Jason, and watches the child from afar.

God forbid anyone mess with them. You would be the only one able to persuade him not to murder the parents of whoever let their child bully his child.

Right before he parts ways with you and your child, he looks deep in their eyes with a soft expression, which is the most love you’ve seen ever in Michael. It makes you tear up 💞💗

Bo Sinclair

He’s definitely more like Thomas. Though, initially Bo puts it off as no big deal. A few days before he’s making fun of how worked up you are over it, sitting back smoking a cigarette saying, “what you so worked up over? Preschool’s not fucking college, you know that right?”

But maybe the night before, or the morning of, he’s out and about ordering you and said child around, making sure everything’s in order😂💖

He’s attached to your guys’ child the entire morning, as they are to him, basically giving them every piece of advice pertaining to school ever😤💞

He cooks breakfast, tells you to not worry as he gets their backpack and leads you both out the door to school😊

MAY or MAY NOT begin to tear up as they walk off to class by their own after hugging him. God forbid you say anything though, he will snap at you in a cracked voice like “nO—“ 💖💞

Vincent

He is very possessive of the family he created with you and tries to convince you that school is a bad idea and the child doesn’t need it. But you said they needs to be socialized and he gave in bc ur his beloved spouse and he trusts you💕

So Vincent knows a thing or two about getting ready for school in the morning bc he was indeed a child once— so he is a very maternal parent and will likely take over for you in getting said child ready💓

He would be the one to have his child in his lap, twirling their hair or just holding them warmly while you make breakfast or are waiting to leave💗he’s very emotionally connected to his child🥺

He doesn’t cry or anything but he feels very deeply for them and would definitely spill blood for them if need be.

He would hold you close as you both wave your kid off, and they skip happily into campus to meet new friends💗he still hates the idea of them going to school but deep down he knows it’s for the best☺️

[empiressmpheadcanon]

Joey is working to bring back the ceremonies and festivals of the lost kingdom after it returned from lord only knows where!

Some notable ones~

On the summer solstice, that is when they worship the element of fire. It is seen as a time of rebirth, and of moving on. People will burn meat and spices, things that bring bad memories, and wishes/hopes that are written on wood, paper, etc. The only work often done on this day is collecting wood or building bonfires/hearths. Usually there are huge amounts of people that gather to cook, eat food, and celebrate before they start the fires/while they burn. It's traditional to eat extremely spiced food during this, as well as to eat lots of red meat. A common meal to see is whole cows cooked and people slice off the portions they want. A game for children is usually to wrestle for raptor feathers in the ashes left and whoevers gets completely covered first loses. It's seen as bad luck to not let the fires go out naturally on this day. People often stay awake the whole 24 hours as a way to show worship to 'the everlasting fires' and be able to celebrate as much as possible.

On the spring equinox, that is when they worship the element of earth. They plant crops on this day, and it is seen as the day you are most likely to meet your soul mate. This is also a very common day to mourn your dead, as they are a way you 'repaid' the earth, with their body. You lay flowers, precious metals, bones, and other homemade items at the grave. It's traditional to only drink water on this day, and its extremely frowned apon to be drunk/high (bc it's seen as a way to 'escape' the world). Usually smaller, more family centric parties are thrown in the fields and gardens, and it's bad luck to stay inside during the day. Trade and markets are usually bustling, as people are trading seeds, homemade preservatives, and jewelery. Also traveling, in hopes to meet their soulmate, and worship different areas of the earth and its diversity.

On the fall equinox, air is worshipped. This is commonly a day of harvest. The clearings are ways to get large openings of sky, and many people gather to dance and drink. During the day, many people will drink, or smoke freshly harvested plants as its a way to disconnect with the physical earth and connect with the atmosphere (a 'head in the clouds' type of thing.) This is also when things like color runs happen, and the jungle is usually covered in rainbow pigments by the end. Its common to get tattoos of colorful pigments too, as it's seen as something the wind cant carry away. Common games are races, whether on raptor back, on foot, or climbing up trees, whatever. It's bad luck to start fires on this day, because the smoke covers the clear sky and crisp air. People wear clothes and jewelry adorned with feathers as well, as birds are sacred to the air element and its seen as extremely bad to kill one on this day.

The winter solstice is when the Lost Empire worships the element of water. Water is seen as 'holier' on this day, and this is another day only water is drunk. Many people will gather huge jugs of it on this day to save, use for potions, food, to water crops, etc etc. It's seen as extremely good if it rains, and the rain is seen as purifying and a blessing. Kids are often encouraged to play in it, to collect immunity to sickness. The kingdom will often gather at rivers and lakes to celebrate in them, to swim, dance, etc. This is also a day that the Lost Empire and Ocean Kingdom have a truce, because many people go to the water and beaches to collect coral, fish, and shells, and Lizzie is respectful of that as the citizens made it a point to not pollute water on the day. It's traditional to not sleep during the night (or during the day, as long as it's raining), so you can see the moon, because of the tides. This is also a day where a lot of cultural dance is done, as it is seen as flowing like water.

A lot of other days are for the elements too, obviously, but these are the main ones!

THESE ARE SO COOL

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Anakin, Obi-Wan and Luke things that somehow just hit me now:

All three of the prequel trio die at the end of ROTS. Padme literally dies, Anakin dies to become Vader (one more casualty), and Obi-Wan dies and becomes Ben

Which means Ben's statement to Luke that "I haven't gone by the name of Obi-Wan since, oh, before you were born," is actually true--though Padme and Yoda called him Obi-Wan, he was a different man (and also technically it was a second before Luke was born soooo)

Anakin and Obi-Wan both are willing to let countless millions be killed because they can't bear the death of someone they love

And both of their responses are echoes of a previous trauma. Anakin's was failing to save--first Shmi, and then Padme--and he reacts with violent rage. He makes an active attempt to try to save them, and causes devastation by it.

Obi-Wan's, on the other hand, is an echo of a failure to stop. A failure to stop Anakin from succumbing to the dark side, to stop Anakin from lashing out in anger, a failure to stop Anakin from falling into Palpatine's hands. But Obi-Wan leaves to fight Grievous and, as the dark follows the removal of the light, Palpatine is there. Obi-Wan leaves what used to be Anakin on Mustafar, and like ash follows fire as it burns away what was, Sidious is there.

And all of these failures are because they love.

Obi-Wan returning to Tatooine with Anakin's son, watching him have the childhood Anakin should have had, and himself living much like young Anakin had--afraid and alone, trapped on the same desert planet, waiting to be found. He even has a new name. He's literally starting the story over.

AND THEN HE TRAINS LUKE.

And you can see him thinking "this time I will do it right. This time it will be different. This time, he will bring balance to the Force..."

Luke treats him almost like a grandfather, which is truer than he realizes

Ok but since I'm apparently on a New Hope kick now, somehow I never understood that Obi-Wan was mimicking a Krayt dragon call to scare off the Tuskens??? I thought they all just ran bc he was the "scary wizard man" but this makes so much more sense (also the Mandalorian references this! And the Kenobi book (which I think is technically Legends now) does as well)

OBI-WAN SAVES ANAKIN'S SON FROM THE TUSKENS...HE SAVES ANAKIN'S SON...FROM THE TUSKENS...protecting what Anakin could not...

"Hello there! Come here, my little friend. Don't be afraid! Oh, don't worry, he'll be alright." Obi-Wan talks to R2 like he's a living thing, with thoughts and feelings. He talks to him like Anakin did

Also the Force/Jedi/Luke's theme that plays as Obi-Wan says those things? Drawing parallels between him and Luke as Jedi and forces of good and also showing that they are connected somehow...which of course!! is through!!! Anakin!! So it plays when he speaks to ANAKIN'S DROID

"I don't seem to remember ever owning a droid" BECAUSE HE DIDN'T BECAUSE R2 WAS ANAKIN'S,,,, AND ANAKIN CALLED R2 HIS FRIEND AND SAID DROIDS WEREN'T PROPERTY AND NOW OBI-WAN SAYS THE SAME THING AHHHHHH,,, and the little smirk he shoots him afterwards!!! My heart

When Luke is explaining that R2 is what brought him out to the wastes Obi-Wan looks at him with so much suspicion like

Like does this face not scream "what in the world are you doing--why did you bring him here?? Don't mess this up, and don't you dare say anything...!"

And also didn't he literally bring R2 and C3P0 to Tatooine???????? Now R2's here like "listen here you old fart we both know you remember me, stop being coy, this is IMPORTANT" and C3P0 is as dramatic as ever and just look at how Obi-Wan looks at them both...he remembers so much

Also also how sweet is it that after all this time R2 and C3P0 are still together?? They're trailing threads of Anakin and Padme...so of course they're together when they're with Luke! Because he is both Anakin and Padme, so he's where they were both meant to be!!

Anyways yeah I could keep going and I know I've said some of these thoughts before but I kept thinking about it and it was literally like the Kronk "it's all coming together" meme so I had to share lol!

[inkydiamonds]

HIHIHI THANK YOU

Okay okay I'm going crazy, this post is incredibly helpful!

For context, I'm a member of the Ivorycello discord server who's been going crazy in the lore channel recently. Firstly, this post is helpful bc NEW WP TAKES ‼️‼️ (always good).

But more importantly: *oh my god hemlock is also the name of a tree*

Essentially, there's been a very notable motif of trees in Ivory lore, especially specifically named trees. This mostly shows up in Whitepine- I mean, it's the title after all, but also in other Ivory videos which... I promise we have good reasons to believe some of the other videos might be connected to WP (it would be so much easier if WP was separate 😭), but that's a whole different ramble.

Here are the other tree motifs (chronological in order of appearance and also copied from the WP lore doc):

(For context: "KG" is the video "Killing God", which is the most connected Ivory video to WP which is public, "1" is an unlisted video by Ivory also connected to WP, and "0.zip" is a minecraft world found through weird cipher stuff)

- Spruce (Ebony tries to trap Ivory in a spruce forest in KG, 1 directly references this event, and 0.zip’s skyblock tree is a spruce tree)

- White pine (KG blinks this word in the last few seconds in a glitch, and ofc it’s the name of the series. Trees which surround the Hemlocke mansion are potentially white pine trees, and the camera is ominously drawn to them multiple times.)

- Aspen (at the end of cavenoise.jar, someone with light green text asks someone with pink text to identify a tree. Pink text identifies it as an aspen. Pink text is likely Ivory, but Ebony’s text is shown to be darker green soon after, so it is unclear who the light green text is) (this scent also apparently comes up in deleted Showtime SMP VODs, but they are sadly... deleted)

- Mountain ash (the name of an important song in WP. A reprise is played in the trailer. Mountain ash, or its reprise, seems to be the song Ivory plays the first time she plays piano in WP, because even though she gets cut off, the beginning chord is the same. This is also the song which plays during the credits.)

- Cypress (a song from WP.)

- Paper birch (a song from WP.)

Notably, the vast majority of these trees are also evergreens, though not all of them.

ALSO. How did we never come up with the idea that Pyro might have been poisoned by hemlock (the bush) 😭. We even have a section on his weirdness in the doc where we speculate he might have been poisoned (although I still personally believe that he had nightmares).

The lore channel should also do a dive to see if the wider "plant" motif seems to be prevalent- you mentioned "ivy" and "hemlock" and now I'm wondering if the wheat fields which keep appearing are also relevant.....

Anyways, tl;dr, thank you for your plant insight, this is very helpful!! Oh and if by chance you wanted to check out the doc, here's a link:

sighs. sorry if any of this has been done before but im literally going to school for botany and im a literature analysis nerd so. here we go

I personally find it really fascinating Ivory is mistaken as "Ivy" and she has to redirect people away from that. Aside from being an interesting way to introduce a character, there's symbolism potential here. Take it with a grain of salt because obviously, it's a Jonathan Sims situation, it's the creator's name. However. Ivy is a plant, a living organism, and that automatically means a lot more considering this is The Plant Themed Horror Minecraft. Ivory, meanwhile, is . . . dead. It's dead biotic material from an animal. It's prized for its rarity, making it a symbol of wealth if you possess it. Interesting for a servant

Ivy on the other hand is common and well known, fairly easy to obtain. This basically just says that Ivory is far more than meets the eye to the other serving staff

(it's also the name for all those super fancy colleges. You know the ones. Minutes later Clownpierce is informed that Ivory might be "stunted"—she is not an ivy.)

Also I just think it's funny that the head butler assumes she has a plant name because he's so used to the Hemlockes lol

Speaking of hemlock I'm sure this has already been noticed but symptoms of hemlock poisoning include vomiting and restlessness. Pyro didn't seem unsettled by it at all, however. All he does is ask for coffee. A common "settle your stomach and wake up" remedy, but also really great at erasing scents. Wonder if they're being poisoned by someone else or doing it on purpose

White pines being a symbol of peace tho is insane because god it is not peaceful here

hemlock is the name of an evergreen tree as well, named after the poisonous plant. Notable other evergreens mentioned include ivy and white pines.

the symbolism of evergreens is kinda in the name but yeah, longevity and resilience are kinda the keystones here. a little ironic but hey

[4stars-uswnt]

Wonder What it’s Like to Be Loved by You [Emily Sonnett x Reader]

requested by anon: Sonnett writes a song about the reader ( we know she is that talented ) and some teammates hear sonny mumbling it so they make a plan to make sonnett confess her love for r and maybe using the song

A/N: Thank you for this request! I drew inspiration from @icouldneverreallysing​’s Wonder, so please go check out their work!! Also lol this takes place in a world where Emily is still on the Thorns bc let’s be honest, that’s where she belongs.

**also i highly HIGHLY recommend listening to the cover that i linked below because it’s so good and i think it really adds to the story :))

Listen to “Wonder” by Shawn Mendes here

Listen to an acoustic cover here (this is what I envision what Emily’s version sounded like)

Emily Sonnett was currently sitting at the dinner table, lost in her thoughts, as she watched you watched you giggle to a joke Kelley had made. The blonde defender had a tiny crush on you ever since you’d been traded to the Thorns a couple of months ago. Immediately, you and Emily had clicked, having the same sense of humor and same interests. Your kindness and sincerity had Emily absolutely smitten, but she was too nervous to say anything.

Now, almost three months later, as she admires you from across the room, Emily is still harboring her crush. Instead of voicing her feelings, she’d decided to write them in a song. Seeing your infectious smile sparks something within the blonde, who instantly pulls out her phone to type out some lyrics, so she doesn’t forget them.

“Whatcha up to?” Lindsey sets her plate down, dropping into the chair next to her best friend.

“Nothing.” Emily quickly shuts off her phone, scrambling to put the device back in her pocket. “Just checking the feed.”

“Okay.” Lindsey draws out, giving her a weird look, before taking a bite of her food. Brushing Emily’s weird behavior off, the midfielder begins to make conversation, as they eat their dinner.

On the other side of the room, where you sat at a table with Kelley, Christen, Alex, Allie, and Tobin, you were sparing quick glances over where Emily sat. Noticing your attention was elsewhere, Kelley pauses her sentence, snapping her fingers in front of your face.

“(Y/N), you with me?”

You’re pulled out of your thoughts, turning to the older woman, as you nod your head. “Yup.”

“Really?” She asks sarcastically, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at you. “So what did I just say?”

You try to track your brain, but you really weren’t paying attention. “Ummm a new smoothie recipe?”

“Good one, but no.” Kelley chuckles. “What’s on your mind, (Y/N/N)?”

“Nothing. I’m just a little tired.” And you weren’t necessarily lying, as the team had had training and fitness testing earlier that day. But Kelley, who knew you pretty well from your time in Utah, could see right through you.

“Mhmm, right.” She draws out. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain blonde defender.”

Your eyes widen and a faint blush arises on your cheeks. “What? No.” You see Christen, who you’d also become really close with, smirking, a knowing a look on her face.

“Whatever you say, (Y/N/N).” Kelly sings, going back to talking about whatever she’d been rambling on previously.

You find your eyes wandering across the room, landing back on Emily, only to find her already staring at you. The two of you lock eyes, and you give her a soft smile, which she quickly returns.

What are these feelings you’re having?

—————

The next day at training, as you’re racing down the sideline to send in a cross, Emily bodies you, poking the ball away as well as knocking you to the ground.

“Emmm,” you whine from your spot on the ground, “that’s a foul.”

“I didn’t hear any whistle.” Emily smirks, as she grabs your hands, pulling you up.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. I’ll get you next time.” You roll your eyes, playfully pushing her away.

“I look forward to it.” The defender winks, as she dramatically falls to one side from your push. You chuckle under your breath, shaking your head.

Emily can’t help but admire you, as you jog away, smiling fondly at your interaction that just took place. Making her way back into position, she starts muttering out some words, finally having found the perfect chorus to complete her song.

—————

On the bus, on the way back to the hotel, Emily was nodding her head and humming a tune, as she typed the remaining lyrics into her notes.

“What is this I hear about you having a crush on (Y/N)?” Lindsey quietly asks, as she slides into her seat.

You had also become extremely close with Lindsey when you’d arrived in Portland, and even closer when you’d gotten called up to the national team. The two of you having a different relationship than you and Emily, one that was more sisterly.

“What are you talking about?” The freckled woman exclaims, putting her phone down.

“Christen was telling me that she thought there was something going on between the two of you. Kelley also told me she’s caught you staring on multiple occasions.” At that, Emily feels her face warm. “So do you like her?”

“No!” She denies.

Lindsey gives her best friend a pointed glare. “Really? Because I’ve spent enough time with the both of you, separately and together, to know there’s definitely something going on.”

“Ok, so maybe I have a little crush on her.” Emily admits, mumbling under her breath.

The midfielder squeals and claps her hands together. “Oh my gosh! You have to tell her!”

“What? Linds, no, I can’t.” Sonnett adamantly insists, shaking her head.

“Why not?”

“Because what if she doesn’t feel the same way? And then it would just be awkward and our friendship would be completely ruined.”

“But what if she does feel the same way?” Lindsey gently challenges, resting her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Isn’t love worth the risk?”

For the rest of the bus ride, Emily thinks about what Lindsey said, her mind running in all sorts of directions.

Should she tell you about her feelings? Would you even feel the same way?

—————

Later that evening, after dinner, majority of the USWNT crowded into Kelley and Lindsey’s hotel room for team bonding. Conversation was flowing amongst the women with music softly playing in the background, as they waited for the rest of the group to show up, including you, Mal, Rose, and Abby.

As she’s listening to the end story Ali was telling, Emily starts humming the tune of the song she had written, as it was stuck in her head after working on it all afternoon after training.

“What song is that?” Kelley tilts her head.

“Uhh, just one I’d heard on the radio earlier.” The younger defender shrugs nonchalantly.

“Really? I’ve never heard it before.”

“Yeah, Em, I heard you humming that same tune earlier on the bus.” Lindsey pipes up. By now the rest of the women have turned their attention to Sonnett, interested in the conversation and this mystery song.

“Umm,” Emily scratches the back of her neck nervously, “it’s a song that I wrote.”

“What?!” The entire room bursts, absolutely shocked, and Emily shrinks under the blaring attention.

“Wait,” Lindsey narrows her eyes at her best friend, connecting the dots in her head, “was that what you were doing on your phone this morning?”

Before Emily can respond, Kelley jumps in. “Oh my gosh! That was when you and (Y/N) were exchanging heart eyes!”

“We weren’t exchanging heart eyes.” The younger woman murmurs under her breath, but no one hears her, too busy trying to catch up on the news that two of their youngsters have feelings for each other.

As Kelley quickly catches the team up, Christen finally connects all the pieces. “You wrote a song about slash for (Y/N)?”

This caused all conversation to halt, the women’s attention once again falling on the blonde defender.

“Maybe.” She squeaks, visibly cringing.

“Quick, show us before she gets here!” Megan motions, practically bouncing in her seat.

“What? No!”

“C’monnnnnn, Sonny.” Ashlyn whines, many of your teammates nodding their heads eagerly. “Pleeeeaaaassseeeee.”

“Fine, I’ll show you,” Emily relents, pulling up the note on her phone, “but I’m not singing. You guys can just read it yourselves.”

Kelley immediately snatches the phone, scanning the words, the other women reading it over her shoulder.

“Em, you have to show this to (Y/N).” Alex insists, as she finishes reading the lyrics.

“Ooo! Or even sing it to her!” Kelley suggests enthusiastically, returning the phone.

“No! I can’t do that.” Emily adamantly shakes her head.

Before they could convince her otherwise, the women heard a voice speak up.

“Hey guys. Sorry we’re late.” You plop down on the foot of the crowded bed. “What are we looking at?” You curiously tilt your head, noticing your teammates’s all crowded around something.

“Nothing!” Emily quickly answers, cutting off whatever Kelley or Megan had up their sleeves.

“Um, okayyy.” You eye suspiciously at her weird behavior. “So, what do you guys have planned for team bonding?” You turn your attention to some of the veterans, bouncing excitedly.

“Hmm, maybe some games and movies.” Alex shrugs.

As the evening goes on, and the team participates in several bonding activities and watches a couple episodes of FRIENDS, many of the women are preoccupied, thinking of a way to get the blonde defender to sing her song to you and confess her feelings.

“Alright,” you yawn, as the credits start rolling, “I’m gonna head back to my room.”

“Wow, (Y/N), last to arrive and first to leave. Lameeee.” Megan boos.

“I know, I know, sorry, but I told my mother I’d call her some time tonight.” You smile sheepishly at your teammates, as you make your way to the door. “G’night, guys.”

“Night, (Y/N)!” The women call out after you.

Once you had left the room, Julie shuts off the TV, as the team crowds around Sonnett once again.

“We’ve devised a plan for you to sing your song and finally tell (Y/N) how you feel.” Ash smirks mischievously.

“Guys, I already told you: it’s not gonna happen.” Emily sighs, rolling her eyes.

“C’mon, Em. Remember what I said on the bus?” Lindsey gives her friend a pointed look. “Besides, the song you wrote is actually really good; she deserves to hear it.”

“Plus, a little birdie told me (Y/N/N) might have a teeny tiny crush on you, maybe.” Kelley adds, gesturing with her fingers just how ‘teeny tiny’ your crush was.

“Emily, seriously, what’s the worst thing that could happen?” Ali gently rests her hand on the younger defender’s shoulder.

“She could reject me, laugh in my face, and tell me she doesn’t wanna be friends anymore.” The blonde exasperates, throwing her hands in the air.

“Sonny, you know (Y/N) is too nice to do anything like that.” Christen assures, playfully rolling her eyes. “Besides, even if she didn’t like you romantically, which I’m pretty sure she does, (Y/N) would never not wanna be friends with you.” The rest of the women nod along, voicing their agreement.

“You just gotta take the leap, Em.” Tobin says like it’s the simplest thing in the world, and maybe it was.

After a moment of contemplation, Emily takes a deep breath. “Okay, fine. So what’s the plan?”

The entire room burst out into cheers and claps, grinning knowingly at each other, as they spill their schemes to the younger woman.

Would this work?

—————

The next morning, after breakfast and before the team meeting, while some of the team was corralling you downstairs, Emily was pacing a hole at the front of one of the hotel conference rooms.

“Son, calm down.” Ashlyn sets her hands on the defender’s shoulders. “You’re making me dizzy.”

“Sorry, I’m just a little nervous.” Emily mumbles, shaking her head, as if she could shake off the nerves.

“A little?” Megan snorts, looking up from her phone. The goalie looks over her shoulder and gives the pink-haired woman a stern glare; not helping she mouths.

“Look,” Ash turns back to the younger woman, “you’re gonna sing this awesome song you wrote, you’re gonna kill it, and you’re gonna get the girl.”

Emily nods her head, letting out a nervous chuckle, as she goes back to pacing back and forth, earning many eye rolls from her teammates.

Meanwhile, Kelley, Christen, and Tobin were knocking on your door.

“Oh, hey, guys.” You greet, a confused look written on your face. “What’s up? I thought the meeting wasn’t until 11?”

“It’s not,” Tobin shrugs, “but we wanted to show you something.”

“What is it?” You pull on a hoodie, before stepping out into the hall, closing the door behind you.

“Well, if we told you, that would ruin the surprise, now wouldn’t it?” Christen points out, a teasing smirk playing across her face.

“There’s a surprise for me?” Your eyes widen, excitement seeping through your voice.

The older women chuckle at your enthusiasm, nodding their heads.

“Yup,” Kelley pops, “c’mon, let’s go.” She turns on her heels and leads you downstairs.

—————

As the four of you arrive at the doors of the conference room, Kelley steps in front of you, blocking your entrance.

“Ok, now close your eyes.”

“Kelley, what the heck? What is going on?” You roll your eyes. After fifteen minutes of aimlessly following them around the hotel, you were somewhat frustrated at this point.

“Just do it, (Y/N).” Christen gently coaxes from behind you.

You huff out a sigh and close your eyes. You hear one of the doors open, before you feel Kelley carefully guiding you to walk into the room.

Hearing the door shut behind you, you call out to them. “Guys?” With no response, you open your eyes and see Emily standing at the front of the room, a guitar in her hand.

“Em?” You furrow your brows, utterly confused as to what is going on.

“Uh, hey.” She shifts her weight, waving awkwardly.

“What’s going on?” You ask, as you approach her. “Kelley, Tobin, and Christen said there was some sort of surprise?”

“Well, yeah, um— they, well the whole team actually, helped me plan this.” Emily stutters, nervously scratching her neck. “I have something for you.” She motions for you to take a seat, so you pull up one of the chairs and sit down, awaiting for her next move.

“So, I—uh — wrote this song, and um, it’s for you, and yeah, I’ll just play it.” Emily mumbles, before strumming the guitar.

You intently watch your best friend play the opening chords, and you can’t help your heart from fluttering in your chest, as you hear her melodious voice.

I wonder if I’m being real

Do I speak my truth or do I filter how I feel?

I wonder, wouldn’t it be nice

To live inside a world that isn’t black and white?

As Emily sings along to the guitar, you watch the woman before you in awe, carefully listening to each word, ensuring you catch each and every one of them and their meaning. You find yourself relating to the lyrics, knowing what it was like having to conceal your feelings for your friend.

I wonder what it’s like to be my friends

Hope that they don’t think I forget about them

I wonder, I wonder

Emily finally looks up, locking eyes with you, before starting the chorus, in which she’d spill out her heart.

Right before I close my eyes

The only thing that’s on my mind

Been dreamin’ that you feel it too

I wonder what it’s like to be loved by you, yeah

I wonder what it’s like

I wonder what it’s like to be loved by

Emily feels a soft smile break out across her face, as she sees your still sitting there, a grin on your own face. You could feel yourself becoming emotional listening to the song, tears building up.

I wonder why I’m so afraid

Of saying something wrong and never said I was a saint

And I wonder if someday you’ll be by my side

And tell me that the world will end up alright I wonder, I wonder

By now, the blonde had stepped closer to you, officially serenading you at this point. She slowly stops strumming the guitar, allowing her voice alone to echo throughout the room and convey her raw emotions.

Right before I close my eyes

The only thing that’s on my mind

Been dreamin’ that you feel it too

I wonder what it’s like to be loved by you.

The last word sounds in the empty room, as Emily finishes the song. A heavy silence takes over, the two of you staring at each other, tears and love filling your eyes.

You slowly stand from your chair and step closer to the other woman, one of your hands reaching for hers and the other cupping her cheek. You search Emily’s face for any sign for you to stop, and when you don’t see any, you lean in closer, bringing your lips together.

It was a chaste kiss, but it was sweet and full of passion, communicating the hidden love the two of you had had.

You pull away and bite your lip. “I’ve been wondering the same thing, Em, what it’s like to be loved by you.”

“Really?” She lets out a water laugh.

You nod, caressing her cheek. “I like you.”

“I like you too. Like a lot. If you couldn’t tell.” Emily jokes, still staring at you with complete adoration.

“Who knew you could be so romantic?” You grin with a playful smirk.

“I try.” She shrugs, causing a giggle to erupt from your mouth. Emily smiles at you and tucks a loose hair behind your ear, as she shakes her head. “I really like you, (Y/N).”

You bring her in for another kiss, your arms resting on her shoulders, as hers wrap around your waist. Before it could get too heated, you hear a thudding noise coming from outside the door behind you.

The two of you pull away and look suspiciously at where the noise was coming from. As you approach the door, you can hear muffled whispering from the other side.

“Can you hear anything?”

“No, now shhh, I’m trying to listen.”

You roll your eyes, recognizing your teammates’ voices. As you open the door, the entire USWNT piles in, Kelley, Tobin, and Christen, who were leaning against the door, falling onto the floor.

“Oh, hey guys, what are you up to?” Kelley stumbles to her feet, dusting herself off.

You quirk your eyebrows at the older woman. “Really, Kel?”

“What?” She looks at you with faux innocence. Once she realizes you’ve definitely caught on, Kelley deflates. “Alright, fine, you caught us. But we just wanted to know what was gonna happen.”

“Yeah, we had to make sure Sonny stuck to the plan.” Megan explains, nodding seriously.

“So did it work?” Ash calls out from the back of the group.

You lightly chuckle at your teammates and reach out to grab Emily’s hand. “I’d say so.” You nod, running your thumb across the blonde’s knuckles.

The rest of the woman beam, clapping and hollering with excitement, and you can hear Kelley yelling, “Woohoo, our plan worked!”

You fondly shake your head and the woman’s childish antics. Feeling Emily squeeze your hand, you turn to look at the woman you’ve started falling in love with.

“I’m still wondering what it’s like to be loved by you.” She teases, rubbing her nose against yours.

“Well, I’ll guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” You throw back at her with a sly smirk. “Tomorrow at 7?”

Emily gives your cheek a chaste kiss. “I look forward to it.”

[i-am-not-a-who-i-am-a-what]

there was a moment from yesterday’s episode that set off so many alarm bells in my head and i haven’t seen anyone talking about it yet so i’m going to get my thoughts out there. i’m putting the majority of this post under a readmore bc it got very long thanks to all the transcript quotes i pulled but i really want to know what everyone else thinks about the Implications™

BASIRA

Okay. So… what do we know about Hill Top Road?

ARCHIVIST

Not much.

BASIRA

Another blind spot?

ARCHIVIST

No, it’s – I could look at it, but it… it was… it was like a… a hole. You know that feeling you get when you look down from a, a great height, like you’re being pulled into the abyss?

BASIRA

Kind of?

ARCHIVIST

[Getting lost in thought] Well it was… was like that. Normally I can see it, see the… webs, and feel the power of The Spider emanating from it, but… as I would look… it’s like my mind…. follows the paths of The Web,

[STATIC RISES]

the strands going down and… out… [Catching self] It’s quite disorientating.

[STATIC FADES]

my first thought after hearing this exchange was “huh, that sounds eerily similar to the description of the table the not-them was trapped in.” here it is from mag 3 - across the street:

I’d become enraptured by the table on which he’d placed my tea. It was an ornate wooden thing, with a snaking pattern of lines weaving their way around towards the centre. The pattern was hypnotic and shifted as I watched it, like an optical illusion. I found my eyes following the lines towards the middle of the table, where there was nothing but a small square hole.

my first instinct was that this was some foreshadowing for jon meeting some kind of horrible fate, because well... remember what happened the last time someone got mesmerized by the table?

SASHA

Oh, hey. I’ve found… I’ve found that table you were talking about. Don’t really see what all the fuss is about. Just a… basic… optical illusion. Nothing special… just… just a… wait…

[Hushed and panicked] Jon! Jon, I think there’s someone here. Hello? I see you. Show yourself!

but then i started thinking more about why the table specifically would be referenced, and i remembered the earliest we see it used as artifact of the web, and where: with raymond fielding in hill top road in mag 59 - recluse:

On Sunday evenings, however, we’d all gather for the evening meal, and before we sat down to eat, he would remove the bright white tablecloth that covered it, and we’d gather around the dark wood. I remember it was carved in all sorts of strange swirling designs and patterns. It felt like if you picked a line, any line, you could follow it through to the center, to some deep truth, if only your eye could keep track of the strands that had caught it.

it was while i was checking the transcripts to find the above quote that i also remembered the hole in center of the table that the web pattern leads towards wasn’t always empty - it used to contain a box, and that box contained an apple.

again from again from mag 59:

The center of the table looked, at first, like it was simply part of the wooden top, but if you looked closely, as I did so often, you could see an outline marking the very middle as a small, square box, carved with patterns just like the ones that laced their way over the rest of the table. I don’t remember how long we sat around the table those evenings, nor do I have any memory of what we might have eaten.

...

I reached over and pulled the wooden square from the center of the table. On its own, it appeared to be a small wooden box, and the lid opened smoothly, as my hands moved in a practiced motion. Inside was an apple, green and fresh and still wet with morning dew.

I knew I was going to eat it. I could feel tears desperately trying to push themselves out of my eyes, but I instead decided not to cry. I placed the box down on the table, reached over, and picked up the apple.

the box from the center of the table makes its first appearance in the very first hill top road statement, mag 8 - burned out, where we learn that apparently the apple was full of spiders. 

considering the web’s predilection for filling it’s victim’s bodies with spiders (carlos vittery, annabell cane, the spider husks trevor encountered, the victim of the chelicerae website, the old woman in annabell’s statement, francis, etc.) i think this goes a ways to explain what happened to raymond’s other victims, and what would have happened to mag 59′s statement giver if he’d bitten into the apple:

They lay still now, wrapped in their sticky cocoons. Their bodies seemed warped and bloated in a way I didn’t recognize. But that’s only because at that point in my life, I had never before seen a spider egg sac.

more importantly though, we also learn that the box was buried under the burnt up tree in hill top road’s garden, the one whose uprooting was implied to be linked to agnes’s death: 

STATEMENT

At that moment I made my decision. It was easy, like destroying this tree was the only thing to do, the only path to follow ... When the tree lay on its side, uprooted and powerless, I gazed into the hole where it had sat and noticed something lying there in the dirt.

Climbing down, I retrieved what turned out to be a small wooden box, about six inches square, with an intricate pattern carved along the outside. Engraved lines covered it, warping and weaving together, making it hard to look away.

...

ARCHIVIST

Except… We cannot prove any connection, but Martin unearthed a report on an Agnes Montague, who was found dead in her Sheffield flat on the evening of November 23rd 2006, the same day Mr. Lensik claims to have uprooted the tree.

and keep in mind that the only reason the statement giver in mag 59 didn’t eat the apple, didn’t succumb to the web... was agnes’s kiss:

As the man in the suit told me to follow him in a clipped BBC accent, Agnes walked over, and gestured for me to lean down and listen to her. I did so, but instead of a conspiratorial whisper, she just gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, then ran off down the hall.

...

All at once, my cheek erupted in pain. It was like someone had pressed a hot branding iron into my face, and I could swear that I heard the flesh sizzle as I let out a scream and fell to my knees. I raised my hands to my face and realized in that moment two very important things. The first is that my face seemed to be untouched; I could feel no injury or burn. The second was that raising my hand had been a truly voluntary act. I had willed it myself, and whatever power had been gripping me, tugging me into its web, I was free of it.

at this point you’re probably wondering why i think all this is relevant in terms of what might happen with hill top road, and i have two potential ideas: 

my first idea has to do with the theory that agnes is lingering on as a ghost. this theory isn’t mine, i first encountered it shortly after mag 167 - curiosity aired through this post’s attempt to fix what bits of the timeline were thrown out of wack by the new info. if anyone has any other posts or general thoughts about this theory feel free to share them, i’d love to read them!

this theory is relevant to my speculation that agnes might finally make an appearance because she might have been the ghost seen by one of the statement givers in mag 100 - i guess you had to be there:

MARTIN

Right. Right.

[THROAT CLEARING]

Statement of Lynne Hammond, er, recorded 2nd of May 2017, regarding…

Uh, what, what’s this one about?

LYNNE

I saw a ghost.

MARTIN

O-kay.. Regarding a… a ghost. Statement begins.

who appeared as one of the cultists in mag 190 - scavengers: 

MARTIN

[Puzzled] Celia?

CELIA

Probably. The, um… place I was trapped in, they took my name. I never got it back. But I like Celia, so… yeah! Celia it is.

MARTIN

Uh… H-Hello… Celia.

and was recognized and directly confirmed to be the same person by martin in mag 191 - what we lose:

MARTIN

…

Hey, I meant to ask. Do you recognise that woman, Celia?

ARCHIVIST

Um… no, I, I don’t think so. Why?

MARTIN

I’d swear she gave a statement once.

having her only pop up in mag 190 would have just been a fun easter egg, but having martin directly call out her presence the next episode sounds to me like jonny telling the audience to pay attention, to remember that her statement had to do with the ghost of a young woman on fire who might have been agnes. 

my second idea involves web lighter.

over various statements throughout the previous four seasons we’ve been shown that the web and the desolation have been at war, and hill top road has been their battlefield. the best examples of this come from mag 139 - chosen and mag 149 - infectious doubts respectively. 

on the one hand we have agnes being planted in hill top road by the cult of the lightless flame in an effort to both control her powers and derail the web’s plans, which seems to begin the conflict:

The compromise we came to was Hill Top Road. We knew it was a stronghold of the Web, full of other children Agnes’ age. We would supervise from a distance, but were confident she would be in no danger. The Mother of Puppets has always suffered at our hand; all the manipulation and subtle venom in the world means nothing against a pure and unrestrained force of destruction and ruin.

and on the other we have the web binding gertrude to agnes, thus thwarting the desolation’s ritual, which also involved hill top road:

ARTHUR

Alright. Agnes. How’d you do it? Never did understand it, not really.

GERTRUDE

Ah. That’s a fair enough question. It was the Web. I didn’t know it at the time, of course, and I would call it an accident, but it never is, with them. It’s only after the fact that you can see all the subtle manipulations

... 

So, I began researching what I thought was a counter-ritual of sorts. Like I said, I was young, naive. I somehow found just the right books, made just the right connections, and even got what I thought was a piece of blind good luck when I found a tin box in the ashes of Hill Top Road, containing some perfectly preserved cuttings of her hair.

wouldn’t it seem symbolic, fitting with the dream logic we’ve been working with all season (and that the fears have always tended to work with), if what ended the metaphysical war was an artifact touched by both the web and the desolation? 

say perhaps... a device that creates fire while being marked by a symbol of the spider? one that just so happened to be delivered to the institute at the same time as a certain table?

TIM

Er, what is it?

ARCHIVIST

A lighter. An old Zippo.

TIM

You smoke?

ARCHIVIST

No. And I don’t allow ignition sources in my archive!

TIM

Okay. Is there anything unusual about it?

ARCHIVIST

Not really. Just a sort of spider web design on the front. Doesn’t mean anything to me. You?

TIM

Ah no. No.

ARCHIVIST

Well… show it to the others, see what they think. You said there was something else as well?

TIM

Oh, ah yes, yeah, it was sent straight to the Artefact Storage, a table of some sort. Ah, looks old. Quite pretty, though. Fascinating design on it.

all signs point to the best hope of escaping whatever plans the web has for jon lying with the desolation, or at least with fire, and who should be waiting in hill top road than someone who’s been known to burn statements in the past... and someone who, as of mag 162 - a cozy cabin, was the last person to mention the lighter: 

MARTIN

So, should we destroy it? Before we go?

[THE CABIN CREAKS VERY LOUDLY.]

ARCHIVIST

I honestly don’t know if we can.

[HE SIGHS.]

MARTIN

Mm.

ARCHIVIST

Besides, there’s – far worse out there. Better to try and avoid it, I think.

MARTIN

We’re not even gonna try? Look, we’ve got your lighter; maybe if we just –

i haven’t even begun to touch on the multiple instances of spiral marked individuals interacting with hill top road, or the potential role of the rift leading from the world without the institute to the reality with the institute from mag 114 - cracked foundations, or the foreshadowing we’ve gotten throughout this season that the archive might be destroyed by fire and how it’s looking more and more like that means jon might die, or the significance of the tapes and what power might be behind them...

but it’s nearing five in the morning where i am and i’ve been working on this frankly gargantuan post since about midnight, so i’m going to let more meta-inclined minds take it from here. tell me what you think! where do you agree with me, where do you think i’ve gone astray? hell, tell me if you think i’m just spinning my wheels, this is the first real theory post i’ve ever made so i might be completely off base, at least i tried lol.

tl;dr: 

the call back to the imagery surrounding the web table and its long history with hill top road and the desolation is leading me to believe that whatever plans the web has in hill top road for jon, fire is going to have a significant role in whether or not the web gets what it wants; either agnes herself might finally make an appearance or the web lighter might finally come into play.

[idk-my-aesthetic]

Phoenix Prince /// Dragon Princess AU

Aka a healthy (ish) fire siblings au (thats still super angsty im so sorry) where Zuko and Azula love/take care of eachother and earn the love of their people

———————————

Ursa dies in child birth, though thankfully Azula survives. Zuko’s only three at the time but he’s devastated by the loss of his mother, and vows to protect his baby sister at all costs

He’s super super involved with Azula growing up, and does everything in his power to protect her from Ozai. Bc when she’s little Ozai’s very bitter bc she “killed” Ursa, plus he already hated zuko for being too weak, plus there’s no Ursa to challenge him. so he can basically do whatever tf he wants to them and be an abusive fucking dick

But then, Azula starts fire bending and is clearly a prodigy. Ozai suddenly takes an interest in her. She’s terrified of her dad so she does w/e tf he wants to keep him happy.

Except she refuses to hurt zuko. he’s her big brother and she loves him. She (secretly) stays really close with him, though is skilled enough at manipulation that Ozai thinks she’s basically cut herself off from zuko/hate him. Which zuko is fine with, he wants Azula to be safe from Ozai and if that means she needs to pretend to hate him when their dad is in the room? He doesn’t care, he knows his baby sister and knows she loves him

Anyway yeah Ozai starts to like her better and treats her.... “better”. (Note the quotations.) but she still feels guilty that Zuko’s getting the brunt of ozai’s wrath, so she does her best to keep Ozai’s attention on how good she is instead of how much of a failure zuko is.

Quick side note: if Azula seems ooc that’s on purpose. We know her toxcicity is a result of Ozai’s influence. But here he has way less control over her. Bc Ozai mainly controls her by using fear. And while she is afraid of him, she’s not nearly as afraid in this AU. a) bc Azula has her over protective big brother being over protective and b) Ursa’s dead so there’s no mother who is supposed to protect her failing to protect her and making Azula feel unsafe

So in this she’s much closer personality wise to like a “season 1 zuko” version of herself. She’s in general cool but tends to loose control of herself. Though she also has a lot more self confidence than zuko did, and maybe a bit too much pride. She’d never hit someone who was already down and cares for ppl, but pretends that she cares for no one

So yeah. The two are just kinda surviving living in the castle and love eacother a lot

Until they hear about the whole kill ur first born thing....... (which happens about 2 yrs after cannon bc Iroh came home when he heard his sister in law died and the whole siege of ba sing se was postponed)

Instead of like. Waiting for her brother to get murdered tiny 9 yr old Azula packs up their shit and gets ready to go on the run

Unfortunately she’s (almost) too late. While she’s getting ready to leave Zuko is trying to cover for her (Ozai would be murderus if he knew Azula was gonna betrey him by leaving) and somehow manages to insult Ozai while trying to protect Azula from being found out

Ozai gets big mad, and in a fit of rage tries to kill zuko by burning half his face off.

Azula runs in at the sound of her brother’s screams, at the exact same time two gaurd rush into the royal chambers. The guards are frozen in shock, but Azula is pissed

Azula attacks her dad. At first she has the upper hand/element of surprise but... she’s 9.

she starts loosing. Her forearm gets really badly burned in a suspiciously hand-shaped pattern.

During the fight Zuko’s struggling to lift himself from the ground and help. He manages to save Azula from a killing blow by throwing some fire at Ozai, but collapses immediately after. Azula barely has a second to breathe before Ozai starts attacking again.

For a moment it legitimately looks like Ozai is going to murder his two young children in cold blood

Until one of the guards snaps.

She uses the whole fucked up situation to knock Ozai out, though she doesn’t kill him. The other gaurd is just standing there, and she has no clue who he’s gonna help so she just knocks him out

Then the gaurd grabs zuko and Azula, and fucking BOOKS IT from the castle. She does a blue spirit type thing to escape (threatening to kill either Azula or zuko) and eventually gets them somewhere safe where she can get their wounds treated

The next day the fire lord puts out this whole sob story about how an assassin pretended to be a gaurd, killed his father, then kiddnapped his children. And how he’s sending out a whole manhunt for his lost children yada yada yada

The other gaurd that was there mysteriously disappears a few days later, but not before he can spread some “rumors” about the prince and princess’s disappearance. Ozai ascends to the throne and publicly offers an enormous reward for the return of his children,,,,,, while secretly sending assassins after them. (Like.... Azula attacked him and he already tried to kill zuko he don’t give a fuck)

Iroh is obviously devestated when he finds out. and while he thinks the whole thing is a bit suspicious he starts on a journey desperately looking for his lost niece and nephew

While all this BS is happening this poor gaurd suddenly has 2 damaged af kids to take care of and a bunch of assassins to run from

So once zuko and Azula are healed enough to travel and they know zuko won’t die, they go on the run. They can’t stay in one place bc of all the assassins after them and end up going all over the world

They don’t spend a lot of time in the fire nation (for obvious reasons) but they do spend bits and pieces there. Connecting with their people, meeting freinds of the gaurd who saved them that can help (like Lt Jee who ran Zuko’s ship in cannon) and spreading the truth of what happened.

Stories about the damaged prince and princess who were so hurt by their father begin to spread. But even more stories about how the prince and princess care for their people spread ten times faster. Stories they take time to rebuild small fire nation villages damaged by floods, or how corrupt military commanders suspicious disappear after they come to town start to spread.

Ppl start calling them the dragon princess and pheonix prince. Because the princess protects her people like a dragon protects it’s hoard, by killing everyone who dares to endanger it. And the prince has risin from the ashes (you can see the burn clear as day on his face), to heal the land and his people

(Though really..... the prince and princess are both dragons and pheonixes. Because even if she seems invincible and more ruthless than her brother, the princess has been hurt deeply. Though her wound is more easily covered. And she aches for the pain of her nation, the nation she feels she wasn’t strong enough to protect. She just hides her emotions better than her brother....)

(As for the prince, yes he shows more kindness than his sister seems too. But he is just as ruthless as her if someone threatens their hoard. He’s just a bit calmer.... less trigger happy than his twin. It was his idea to take out the corrupt commandor stealing a small town’s livelihoods, after all)

They call the gaurd who saved them “the Kitsune”. They say she is a flame wielding spirit, sent by Agni himself to protect the true leaders of the fire nation

Iroh overhears bits and pieces about them. He starts to get an idea of what’s happening, but for the most part he really struggles to track them. Ppl can recognize him, and they won’t sell out their prince and princess to someone who might take them away

So yeah. The three of them are on the run together for a long time. They can never spend long in one place (assassins never stop coming after them) and dart all over the earth kingdom and fire nation, seeing first hand the effects of the war. And gaining a positive reputation both for caring about their people in a way no one since before Sozin has, as well as shaming dishonorable fire nation soldiers who mistreat those in the earth kingdom

(They almost never hurt foot soldiers who are just following orders, but any one (especially upper command) who take clear pleasure in other’s suffering are often challenged to Agni kai’s in exchange for said soldiers leaving.

Though usually just being publicly knocked on their asses by a couple of scarred kids who turn out to literally be the lost prince and princess holy shit, is enough to put them in their place)

So yeah. They travel together earning a good reputation from as soon as they’re healed until zuko and azula are 14 and 11 respectively

At that point they get separated from the gaurd.... (she doesn’t die, either captured or separated for some other reason)

So now.... all they have is eachother

The two spend the next two years on their own. They still try to do the same types of stuff they did before but now they’re in a lot more danger w/o an adult to help them. They’re basically just.... 2 increasingly ferel children struggling to survive. They live mostly off of like foraged stuff and whatever money they can make/steal from rich assholes

They continue to dodge Iroh as well bc they have no clue if he’s gonna return them to their father or kill them or w/e. Which is wayyyy harder than it would seem, the only reason he hasn’t caught them yet is that they have an alliance with June the bounty hunter who keeps sending Iroh on wild goose chases bc she has a soft spot for the weird ferel kids. (And a huge crush on the gaurd who was basically their mom/older sister for a while. But we don’t need to talk about that)

so zuko and Azula are just these absolutely feral kids being hunted by 12 dozen bounty hunters from their father, plus the “dragon princess and pheonix prince” have officially been declared “traitors to the nation that are impersonating the late children of Firelord Ozai” so there’s a good amount of the actual military after them, and they’re trying to keep away from their uncle and all his fucking white lotus freinds

They’re a little bit stressed ok??? And like super protective of eachother by this point

And then who joins the fucking search??? The goddam avatar

Bc he heard these stories about these good firebenders who protect everyone no matter what side of the war they’re on. And ofc Aang wants one or both of them to teach him

So Aang like the lovable idiot he is, is just trying so hard to adopt these crazy feral firebenders.

And ik I keep saying feral but like. I need to emphasize this bc these two spent 2 years on the run + 2 more years on the run while basically living in fucking forests cus they’re out of money, connections, and the gaurd was the only one out of the three of them with social skills. They’re a little stressed okay???

And idk I just love the idea of Aang trying to befriend these crazy feral firebenders acting like they’re just like. Wild animals or smthn. Like cornering them in a clearing and trying to offer them jerky as if they were wolves and the two giving him the blankest fucking expression

Anyway this post is about 200x longer than I meant it to be and I am so so sorry. (Especially since I can’t put in a read more on mobile)

Anyway bc it’s so long i’m just gonna do the last bit in bullet form and try to finish as quickly as humanly possible

- obvi they join the avatar and stuff

- the gaurd (who ima call kit/kitsune cus I don’t have a name for her) eventually meets/joins with Iroh. June later joins them as well as they try to find the idiot fire children

- Sokka has a big gay crush on the feral firebening guy

- Katara has a very tiny crush she refuses to admit too on Azula

- there’s also a lot of drama between her and Azula at first bc Azula is brash and Katara kinda gets annoyed at a mix of that/the lingering bias she has against fire nation ppl but they get past it

- also Azula has ~issues~ where she blames herself for their mom’s death/ is sure their mom hates them but asp their mom comes to her in spirit form and says she loves her (no fucking clue when that would happen but I love that idea)

- instead of having zuko/Azula chasing them they have a really fun variety of different random bounty hunters. Obvi including sparky sparky boom man

- the siege of the north.... happens. Though Zhao doesn’t kill the moon spirit so yue lives, and Azula and zuko manage to make a huge speech and get many of the soldiers to defect to their side instead so it ends with minimal bloodshed

- when Toph joins the group she and Azula are chaos incarnate

-mai and ty lee hear rumors and stuff and join team avatar eventually

- when they find out about the day of black sun they just. Skip trying to talk to the earth king. Cus they can just stage a cou lol they have the people on their side?? Forces from both water tribes, random earth kingdom ppl they’ve managed to befriend,,,,

- though they have to find uncle first bc he could challenge zuko for the throne. Obvi they think they’ll need to get rid of him bc they don’t really know him and think he wants to hurt them but all of a sudden??? 

- so they kinda have a few side quests as they’re preparing and gathering everyone but then it’s the day of black sun!!! And it works and shit and I actually have some other ideas too but FUCK this is SO LONG i am so sorry and will shut up now

[astranne]

Miraculous and The Light (HC)

Ok, so. This HC is based on this idea. It’s a miraculous x dc crossover and one of the best ideas, I’ve read recently. I really liked it and this is why I’m forcing myself to write my ideas down. 

Before we start the HC, I need to clear some things. Marinette becomes the guardian in age of 13, the kwami are teaching her as good as they can. Luka has the snake miraculous, Chloé the bee (but new costume), Kagami the dragon (again new costume) and Adrien is Chat Noir. Alix has the bunny and Kim the ape miraculous. (The two are chaos and they smelled Lila’s bullshit before she came back the second time). They deal with Hawkmoth as good as they can and they do good. Until Lila does her shit again. She manipulates Alya, which leads also Nino to be one of her followers and since Adrien is his best friend, he starts to listen to Lila. He becomes obsessed with Ladybug and her identity. The team doesn’t really notice, since it’s subtle and slowly becoming worse. So, now let’s start with the HC.

The Team protects Paris, Marinette is the leader

The situation becomes worse, the akumas take longer to defeat

They try to contact the JL, but nobody listens

And Chat Noir comes lesser to the fights, claiming his privat life is stressfull

At first, everybody understands, but it doesn’t stop and Chat becomes like a bad behaved child/brat 

Lila causes another Hero Day, the Team almost looses. Chat Noir didn’t show up and the Team is angry. Chloé is ready to skin a cat

After the Hero Day, they accidentally reveal their idtities. Their group becomes closer, everybody can see, they work even better now. 

Chat is envy

And Tikki is angry. No, scratch that. She’s mad. This boy could’ve been such a good cat, and now this?! 

Since Plagg is her opposite, and she’s the one of Plagg, they keep each other in balance. And they aren’t in balance at all. She takes over Marinette (while she is Ladybug) and starts to rip Chat/Adrien in shreds

Whole Paris witness this and is terrified. Who knew Ladybug had such power? 

Chat tries to save his face/life/’hero’ persona, but since Marinette is the guardian, she stripps him of his Miraculous, while Tikki wipes out his memories. Adrien’s former friends are sad, but also glad, they have one problem less

But now. Since Tikki used her more of her powers, some people notice, such as Klarion. He’s the server of chaos, but keeps in balance with creation. And the two aren’t balanced at all.

He talks to the Light, and surprise, surprise. Ra’s al Ghul and Vendal Savage felt it too

They begin to search and are surprised, that so many miraculous are active. The Light digs deeper and Vendal is very close getting up and burn Paris down. And take Hawkmoth with it

The inner circle of the Light (Vendal Savage, Klarion, Ra’s al Ghul, Lex Luthor, Deathstroke (there are still more members, but I will explain shortly))

Now, their primar goal is not to take over the world, or make everyone ‘see the light’. That’s what the ‘lesser’ members think (the ones, who are not in the inner circle) They want to keep the balance in the world, keep ‘peace’. But they know, it can’t be always peace, with creation there comes always destruction (Tikki and Plagg are totally their inspiration and mentors or whatever you could call that) And for this, they don’t always do ‘good’ things, like heroes do

Bc of this, every hero, every other villian thinks, that the light is bad. It’s a very good cover and so they can hide their true plans. So, the inner circle sends Black Manta after the Young Justice (the season 2 happens here) and go to Paris. 

They find the miraculous users while fighting an amok and an akuma and are impressed. Clearly, most of them have no training and they hold themself formidable. 

The inner circle talks with the team, which is wary. But then the kwamis recognize them and the teenagers (probably 15?) are so glad, that they finally have help. Not the one they expected, but still help

Vendal was one the first guardian, a simple man and then blessed by Tikki and Plagg. He trained other guardians and miraculous users until he almost died

Ra’s al Ghul was once a dragon, but also used the cat miraculous. This is the reason, why he can use the lazarus pit and isn’t mad

Klarion knows about the kwamis, the first gods, often makes rituals and such stuff. But he never saw a miraculous before

Deathstroke knows about the miraculous, but never knew, what power they truly hold

Lex Luthor knew about them too

The team is offered a traditional training with the League and since they are all true holders, they will master it faster than anyone before. Vendal wants to train Marinette as the guardian, after she finished hers with Ra’s. Deathstroke will be their mentor and Klarion will teach them in magic. 

Lex takes them under his wing, teaching them about buisness, money, politics and manipulating

They train and fight Hawkmoth for two years. Sometimes, Vendal takes over as Chat Noir, sometimes Ra’s, to keep Marinette and Tikki balanced. But they need to find her true holder, which isn’t that easy, while they are still in training and fighting

The team is around 17/18, when they finally defeat Hawkmoth and Mayura. The major of Paris and the president of France tell the world finally the truth about the situation (world is shocked (especially when they hear, that the Justice League didn’t help))

Now, the heroes want to help, after Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Dr. Fate, as well Zatanna, kicked their asses for being dumb bitches. When Batman doesn’t stop (he’s an ass sometimes, but I don’t hate him) they threaten to leave the JL. He doesn’t belive it and suddendly he has 4 members less. 

The four go to Paris, even when there is a heroes ban. They offer their alliance, but keep their distance, which everyone is glad. 

Since Hawkmoth and his sidechick have been defeated, the Miraculous Team retires. Or so everybody thinks. 

They all leave Paris, letting their friends and family think they have a job/go on vacation (Kagami and Luka fake their death, Marinette too) 

Lila is smug, bc she thinks, she won, since Alix and Kim just leave and Chloé is a weeping mess

The six go to the League, where they learn new/more things and become the elite squad of Ra’s. 

(Ra’s is totally a proud parent, who shows, how much his kids are better than anyones. Well, as good as he can with his stoic face)

The six still use their miraculous, but have new costumes (darker colors, mostly black) 

And so life goes on, until the JL and the YJ attack the light. They take many hits, loose many bases and the first time, the heroes meet the squad

The six are just called ‘the squad’. They switch miraculous, so the heroes don’t make connections. 

(Marinette is White (rabbit), while Chloé is Red (dragon), Kagami is Brown (monkey), Alix is Blue (snake), Kim is Scarlett (ladybug), Luka is Black (cat)) Over their costumes, they wear a typical League uniform. 

They totally rip the heroes apart

Anyway. The JL and YJ are wary about the sqaud, they all know, they are deadly. Some think, even deadlier than Deathstroke. 

After the attack, the squad meets Lady Shiva and Talia al Ghul

And her new pet project

You already know it. Jason Todd

His mind is fucked up, he doesn’t remember much until this woman in red smiles at him and just hugs him? Girl, this is the league?! 

Jason is totally Marinette’s black cat. 

He’s suddenly being trained (can you imagine a confused Jason Todd, trained by Vendal, Klarion and the rest of the team? Bc I do) and partnered with Plagg, who absolutly loves his new holder. There is so much chaos in him, he even survived the pit!

The squad goes on mission, mostly to mess with the JL, who notice, there is a new member. And oh shit- he destroys everything. And there Superman curmbles to ash... (no worries, he’s brought back)

Jason isn’t trying to kill Bruce, well, he still fights against Batman, but he doesn’t want him dead (the heroes think, the squad tries to kill them)

Some years pass (I have no idea, what happens in season 3 (Young Justice) since I didn’t have the time to watch it) the miraculous slowly become balanced again and the team is doing great

Until Talia snitches Bruce (bc she’s a little bitch) that Jason is alive. Not only that, he’s a part of the squad. Ra’s personally tries to kill his daughter- bc no Talia! You can’t just go and tell secrets! (silently crusing in many languages about the balance and how his own daughter betrayes him) He’s so angry, that he disowns his daughter and claims 7 year old Damian as his heir.

Bruce tries to hunt Jason down, but no success

Marinette takes Damian under her wing and gives him the miraculous of the tiger (Damian is so proud, that he’s a true holder). She and Jason become somewhat his parents, just like the rest of the team

Alix and Kim are totally together, as well Cloé and Kagami, while Luka has a on/off relationship with Lady Shiva, who is the true holder to the fox miraculous

Talia attacks the league, when Damian is 10 and takes him to his father

Damian hides the miraculous and Roarr, but Alfred knows. He always knows. (Totally cliche, but he’s the true holder to the peacock)

Damian acts like a brat like in canon, but can be such a softy

But only with his true family

Jason moves to Gotham, becomes the Red Hood, while Marinette becomes Scarlett (his partner) 

The rest of the squad starts to recruit new holders and start to train them, often visited by Jason and Marinette

One tragic night, Batman fights against Red Hood, almost kills him, when Scarlett breaks his arm. Robin (Damian) comes to help, freezes, when he sees his family. He stops fighting, takes a deep breath and turns to his father.

Batman is confused, but then Robin says, that this is Jason, the second Robin and that he will not fight family

Batman lashes out, being an idiot, talking some nonsense about Jason being a criminal and suddenly Robin disapears. The big bat thinks, his kid went home 

Well, he does, but not the Manor. He follows Jason and Marinette and sleeps a night there. 

Then his father starts to search him (Damian) and finds him with Jason

Totally a fight there

Until Alfred comes and makes them to sit down and talk

Jason explains everything, telling Bruce, that the squad doesn’t exist anymore, bc of Talia.

He causally says, that Marinette is his girlfriend, that they somewhat adopted Damian, after Talia was banned.

Bruce tries to wrap his head around this, but slowly accept this new part of his family

It takes some time, but Jason (Red Hood) and Marinette (Scarlett) become a part of the Batfam

They lead the new Miraculous Team in secret, keep in contact with the inner circle of the light

This goes well, until Tim finds out. 

Bruce lashes out again, bc what the fuck- his own child and his wife (they married) are spying for the light?! He tought they destroyes that damned organisation

Damian runs with them

They go to Nanda Parbat, where they meet the new recruits. 

Now, every kwami has a true holder

Balance is perfect as it can be 

Two years later, Bruce still tries to find Damian, in the hope, he isn’t with his older brother and his wife

He still is

Then Ra’s has enough of this drama, talks with the inner circle of the light and the kwamis

Kidnaps the batfam

Explains everything

Like everything

Slowly the batfam understands

Bruce is so proud that two of his sons are true holders, one of them literally can control chaos

The batfam starts to help the inner circle of the light, the other members think, this heroes finally saw the light

I can totally see the lesser memebers dumbfounded faces, when the whole Batfam shows up

Vendal starts to explain

“Batman was trained under Ra’s al Ghul himself, Batwoman followed.”

“Nightwing was trained by Deathstroke.”

“Red Hood was trained by Lady Shiva, Deathstroke and Ra’s al Ghul and is a former member of the squad.”

“Scarlett was trained by myself, Ra’s al Ghul, Lady Shiva, Deathstroke and Batman. She was the leader of the squad.”

“Red Robin was trained, like all the other Robins, by Batman. Lady Shiva took him under his wing for some time.”

“Signal was trained by Batman, Red Hood and Scarlett.”

“Batgirl was trained under Batman, Nightwing and Scarlett.”

“Black Bat grew up in the League and is the daughter of Lady Shiva.”

“Robin is my grandson and the son of Batman. He was trained under Scarlett and Red Hood, when they still were in the squad.”

(Did I forget someone?)

Gaping villians

But when Vendal says, that Batman will be part of the inner circle, as well Red Hood and Scarlett. they loose their absolute shit. 

They fought the whole time with their allies??

Vendal then also says, that this will be the last meeting and they will all forget, that the Batfam is a part of the light

“Well... we can’t take risks, can’t we? We don’t want to repeat an incident with the Young Justice again... because of this, only the members of the inner circle will remember our prupose and the light itself.” 

Batman then says to the JL, that he will leave the League, since this is going nowhere

The Batfamily is now officially a hero group and more loved than the JL, bc they don’t destroy much in their fights and if they do, Bruce Wayne pays. They keep in the shadows, which means, no civilians hurt AND many villians retire, when they hear, that Batman will fully remain in Gotham. They don’t try anything, bc he always seems to know

Okay... this is much more, than I acutally wanted to write and in the end, it didn’t came out as I first thought. But I hope you still like it, bc I like this version better

And it’s in the middle of the night, so if there are any mistakes... I don’t care :)

Masterlist

[im-the-punk-who]

Miranda and Thomas for the character ask meme! (Am I predictable? Maybe. Do I care? I do not.)

Okay I skipped to this one because WHOOOOOOOO BOY DO I HAVE FEELINGS ABOUT THESE TWO LMAO. Also please continue to be predictable you know me you know my FEELINGS. Uh. As a warning this is. Long. Like it was 3k at last count. Please...please bear with me.

How I feel about this character

Miranda:

Honestly my growing feeling is that I wanted such a different arc for her. She gets used for Flint’s progression(not even necessarily by Flint, but by the writing of their characters) she gets shit on by the world, she gets her world taken away, and then when she finally tries to start taking the things she wants from it back, she is killed. 

I both love, and growingly ... hate is not the word. I hate her character arc. I love my girl, who is smart, and funny, and sure of herself, who knows what she wants, knows how to get it, and in a world dominated by men isn’t afraid to cross them when it needs to happen. Who saw her world fall apart and saw the man responsible and didn’t shy away from a course of action she knew would lead to his death. Who was called a witch and shunned and had rocks thrown at her and somehow managed to build anything from that, with Flint only there sometimes and even when he was there, still angry and lost over a past that she is trying to move on from. 

God I just. my thoughts on Miranda are ever evolving and ever changing. I love her, and honestly I can’t even blame her for betraying James because their interests were SO at odds with each other that it was inevitable. 

Thomas:

Okay there are literally not enough words to explain how much I love Thomas Hamilton. I may actually love him more than James McGraw. Proportionally to how much information we are given on him I certainly do. I’ve written more meta on him(and my longest fic to date) than any other character. 

Thomas Hamilton is so important. WHY is Thomas Hamilton important? 

Because he recognizes that everyone is entitled to belonging, to not being shunned for who they are. Because he believes in love, and the goodness of things, because while this is true he is not naive about who he is or what London is - nor does he shy away from hard truths. Because he is angry about injustice, because he refuses to capitulate to societal norms even when the right path is easier. I love him a lot because of the fact that the first thing he does when he sees James after ten years is to check in with him emotionally. 

I love him so so so much because he’s cheeky and intellectual but uses that intellect for the best better he knows how to. Because when he’s shown he’s wrong he changes course because he knows that pride is a useless emotion that stymies us in connecting with other people in the ways we are meant to connect. Because he knows that shame and trying to hide who you are, those are the things that keep us apart. He knows that knowing someone and making yourself known is the truest form of connection.  

I love him because of the growth we see him go through - Thomas Hamilton has more character growth in 15 minutes than some characters have the entire show. And it is because all of these things are true: because he actively seeks to better himself, and does not shy away from his own flaws and moral failings. He is a radical because he truly believes that a better world is possible, and that love and forgiveness and understanding WHY someone is the way they are, are the paths to that better world. and I just. really love him for it. Okay?

Thomas Hamilton Stan First, Human Being Second.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Miranda:

Thomas, James, Peter Ashe’s wife

So I’m gonna kind of budge into my Thomas answer with Miranda, but I have a LOT of thoughts on her lmao.

So with James and Thomas, I do believe that she was romantically and sexually involved with both of them, at least to some degree. I don’t really have a strong opinion on how much, because that honestly changes with the story that’s being told, where in there relationship they are, etc, but I do believe they were a true triad in every sense of the word. Like Jack and Anne, I think sex particularly between Thomas and Miranda was inconsequential to their love of each other, and their romantic compatibility. Particularly because I view both of them as having other sexual partners, it’s just not important to me to define that part of their relationship. 

With James, it’s different but with some of the same machinations. Personally, I don’t think Miranda and James work as a solitary couple. They need Thomas as the fulcrum to function, and I think while this is exacerbated by Thomas’ death, it would have been true regardless. James and Miranda are very different people in a way that leads to a lot of conflict if they’re put directly to each other. 

Miranda is an individualist, she thrives on having things of her own - her garden, her relationships with the Puritans, her social life in London, her extramarital affairs - Miranda to me is the definition of an independent woman, but not in the way that makes her incapable of love or romance. Just that she puts herself before her romantic attachments. James is the very opposite - the people who are important to him are all important, and I think Miranda is a bit stifled by that, especially when trying to fill the hole left by Thomas. James needs people - he needs partners and people to be dependent on and intimate with and attached to. It’s what makes him work so well with Thomas, but with Miranda it’s a source of tension. And so,  while I do still ship them in Nassau, I tend to view them as very dysfunctional, lost, still loving towards each other but having a difficult time showing that in ways the other can understand. (James sees everything he is trying to build as a sign of his love, Miranda sees asking for the pardon as a symbol of hers.)

Okay and here’s my galaxy brain, off the walls take that I’m subjecting anyone to who will listen:

My crack ship that I will sail into that good night is Miranda and Peter’s wife, because I like to headcanon that Miranda is trans and Abigail is actually her daughter but they never told Peter bc like LMAO why would they and also Abigail looks enough like her mom and sort of like Peter that it never came up -esp since her mom was never unfaithful and just always hanging out with her galpal Miranda. 

(This also neatly solves the ‘Is Miranda barren’ question about why she and Thomas never have any kids bc the barren woman trope is one i HATE WITH A PASSION lmao.) 

Anyway so Miranda and Peter’s wife are A Thing but like, Miranda knows what London is and she’s breaking enough rules being trans, presenting as female, and being in love with a woman, so she marries Thomas when Peter and his wife(who I’ve taken after Meg in calling Kitty) marry, but Thomas is totally cool with it and he’s like ‘this is actually super convenient so have at it.’ 

(I LOVE this scene because it hints at Miranda having had this struggle before - of having to learn the difference between a little danger and mortal danger and having to potentially give up things in order to survive in a way that seems more serious that just a woman avoiding a marital scandal.)

So anyway this is also like, why she’s so desperate to return to London society because it’s so much easier to pass when there are Rules yaknow? 

But then they find Abigail, and Kitty is presumably dead, and she finds out Peter betrayed them as well and well she just MCFREAKIN LOSES IT.

Anyway this is my sandbox you’re all welcome to play in it. Enjoy.

Thomas: 

Miranda, James!

So yeah I’ve already talked about how I see Miranda and Thomas so let’s move on to the fucking main event, Thomas and James. 

THOMAS AND JAMES.

Do you have an hour to talk about my two perfect boys, Thomas Hamilton and James McGraw?

Anyway so like obviously I ship Thomas and James together and to me the best thing about their relationship is that they do compliment each other’s needs so well??? Like, Thomas, who has probably never had someone really stand up and defend him, he has people talking behind his back, even Peter and Miranda indulge him more than they should.

And then there’s James who’s like ‘BRO, MY GOOD LORD, this is MADNESS’ and FIGHTS him and MAKES him explain his case and MAKES him change his mind and see the reality in things, and doubts him and openly is like ‘My Lord I have grave doubts about whether or not something like this isn’t jsut straight up stupid.’

And Thomas is just so CHUFFED because 

1) HELLO have you seen Lieutenant James McGraw and 

2) Lieutenant James McGraw isn’t afraid to tell him he’s being an absolute right piss pot. 

And THEN his whole world view starts changing because of this man, and THEN he finds out that James??? Defended Miranda???? and he’s like ‘oh no <3’ and he starts actually really trusting and valuing James’ opinion and THEN JAMES STANDS UP FOR HIM AGAINST HIS FATHER and Thomas is like ‘well sign me up for the next war’ and they learn and grow and TRUST one another so much.

Ans on the other end there’s James, who wants so badly to BELONG to something, who has probably always been both too smart and not well bred enough, and then he meets Thomas, who doesn’t give a shit about his birth, who recognizes his talent, who LISTENS when James speaks. And not only that but he’s the most honest person James has probably ever met? And he CARES. Really, actually CARES about how his actions and the actions of his family and England as a whole affect those who are under their control. And he argues, and fights, but James learns, and he’s accepted into the Hamilton’s home as if he’s always been there. And he’s fooling around with Miranda and just gay up FALLING for Thomas and every time he thinks he’s fucked up Thomas is??? Pleased???? And then Thomas suggests possibly the DUMBEST thing James has EVER heard come out of his mouth. 

Pardons?? For ALL of the Pirates???

Thomas.

Thommy.

T-Dot-Ham.

But Thomas is like THEY’RE MEN. THEY DESERVE A SECOND CHANCE. THEY’VE BEEN FAILED BY US AND IT’S OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO SEE THAT WRONG RIGHTED. WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE IF THEY’RE TRAITORS TO THE CROWN - THE CROWN CAN FORGIVE THEM. 

And I think this is the moment that something really snaps into place for James, because he’s lived his life knowing his preferences aren’t accepted, that he is technically betraying his crown and country simply for being, and here is Thomas - and I do imagine James knows Thomas fucks men because as i’ve said before there’s no real reason for Thomas to be hiding it? 

SO ANYWAY he’s having a small breakdown during dinner while Thomas is arguing with his father and Alfred Hamilton is being a RIGHT CLASS GRADE A MOTHER FUCKING FORK DISASTER. And James just. He snaps. He gingermcfucking snaps because THOMAS. THOMAS believes in forgiveness and he BELONGS in this house with these people 

Because in this house, with these people, is where he belongs, and there’s no way he’s gonna let Alfred Hamilton talk to HIS FAMILY like that lmao. 

someone should be willing to defend it.

So anyway then they smooch and then they fall even MORE in love because Thomas IS where James belongs and someone is standing up forThomas in a way HE’S never had before. And then. God then everything falls apart but in the end they do survive, they both survive, and at the end of all things, they find each other again and just...listen i’ve written so much about the finale lmao. but this truly sums it up

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Miranda:

Honestly I always wanted to see Max and Miranda interact, or Miranda and Hal. Like can you imagine, more than anything else, Hal and Miranda teaming up to absolutely destroy James Mc-fucking-Graw? 

Iconique. 

And Max and Miranda I just feel like would at first have SUCH hostility towards each other, but I feel like they could bond over living in the shadows, and what you sacrifice to do that.

Thomas:

ANNE MC-FUCKING-BONNY

I just really get the feeling that Thomas and Anne would be absolute besties and would get along like a fucking house on fire. And maybe actually set the house on fire. Thomas is SO open and Anne is so closed off and you would never think it would work but it does for some reason and they just. Are besties. End of.

I also think he and Madi would have a really interesting and fun relationship with Thomas once they got to know each other. They are extremely similar characters in their core ideologies and feelings about the people they view as their kin. I think they would definitely butt heads over a lot of things but I think they would also both understand that to make an omlette you have to break a few very hard skulls. 

They both try to understand where others are coming from, and that core curiosity is I think what would be so fun to explore with them.��

My unpopular opinion about this character

Miranda:

Miranda is Silver’s true parallel in the series and there’s not really anything anyone can do to change my mind I have proof. They’re literally the exact same character except her anger gets her killed because she’s a woman.

(ME? BITTER? Like milkweed.)

But even beyond that, like...listen there is a whole list of parallels in things they do, how they think, how they act when endangered or when put to a choice, who they chose, how they choose...

My unpopular opinion I suppose is that Miranda never understood James’ true motivations, because she always desired to return, whereas returning to civilization was never going to be possible for James. (And, that James never understood her, as a corollary.)

Thomas:

I’M REALLY SORRY I’M GONNA TALK ABOUT THE EXACT THING YOU DID BUT FROM THE OTHER END LMAO. I’m a trash human.

Edit: I went back over this with a fine tooth comb, and reworded/changed a bit of my opinion in this post. I still think that there’s clear indicators for Thomas changing from the first time we meet him to where I think he would be in the finale, but also that like, he was born, grew up, was supported by and lived in a colonialist system and that those things are almost impossible to throw off when they’re so ingrained in your own privilege.

So my unpopular opinion is that viewing Thomas as a supporter of colonialism throughout his arc ignores the character development we’re shown. 

I absolutely agree that in the beginning he is aligning with colonial views even as he seeks to change them, but after the hanging date with James we see a huge shift in his view about what's wrong with Nassau. He basically looks at the whole situation with the pirate being hung and says 

 By the time he’s come up with the pardons I think it’s clear he’s seen that the way England does things is wrong. 

James says that Thomas believes England needs to systemically rethink itself in 2x03 and that the pardons were a way to seek to change England entirely in his talk with Rogers. 

We’re shown his character move away from the colonialist views he started with, even in London. He recognizes they’re a problem and is trying to figure out a way to fix them.

Now, do I think that he still had room to grow? For sure. Just like James, he has only just begun the journey. 

But I think framing his entire character in London as a static upholder of colonialism ignores a lot of the real character growth were given in the 15 minutes he's on screen. We have five scenes with him and in every one his character has changed and grown - and I think that's one of the things that I love most about him is that when he's shown he's wrong he actively tries to correct himself rather than doubling down like Guthrie or Peter or Silver, or a dozen other characters. Or even James sometimes. 

The beautiful thing about Thomas's character to me is how fluid and open to change he is and I think viewing him as merely a colonial agent or stuck in colonial thinking tends to ignore that part of his character completely. 

ALSO I think there is this false dichotomy of thinking that a revolutionary character can only be someone intent on tearing down the system. That ISN’T true and just because you’re working from inside the system doesn’t mean you support it. Thinking like that is exactly how you get shit like today, where people say we shouldn’t participate in government because it’s broken and the only way to move forward is to tear things down completely. 

/end rant <3

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

MIRANDA LIVES. MIRANDA CONFIRMED TRANS. 

THOMAS MORE SCREENTIME WHEN!! THOMAS HAVING DIALOGUE OR MOMENTS THAT ARE SHOWN TO BE THROUGH HIS ACTUAL LENS AND NOT SOMEONE’S MEMORIES OR STORY. 

GIVE THOMAS AGENCY BLACK SAILS CHALLENGE.

I mean tbh, I would love to rewrite the whole damn thing but my biggest things are that Miranda doesn’t die, and is given a chance to choose her own ending - maybe she decides to stay in Charlestown! Or goes to Boston at the end, when Jack goes to visit Guthrie!

And that Thomas got some scene - ANY scene - that was shown through his own eyes. We only see him in Miranda and James’ flashbacks, or Silver’s story. We never actually hear him speak through his own words and that is like, the biggest tragedy of Black Sails, that so many characters(Thomas, Madi, Flint, even Anne to a degree) are denied the agency of their own story through the narrative itself.

Also shame farm what shame farm in this house James Oglethorpe is represented with historical accuracy and Thomas has been working alongside him to keep Georgia a slavery free colony,, they’ve been reducing the prison populations in London, and he’s basically got an army of radicals ready to go when his sexy pirate husband returns from war.

Listen there’s no shame in asking me to write more than the 4500 words I’ve already written today about Black Sails Characters.

[queen-scribbles]

Sol system, earth, moon, sun, stars, meteor and stardust for your shepherds :) 🌍☀️🌚⭐🌠

Sol System - What is your Shepard’s class, background, military history?

Emily is a Spacer/War Hero Vanguard

Lisa is a Colonist/Ruthless Infiltrator

Quinn is a Colonist/Sole Survivor Adept

Charlie is an Earthborn/Ruthless Soldier

Earth - Where was your Shepard born?

Emily was born on a ship. She came five weeks early, Hannah had technically just started her medical leave bc ~8 months pregnant, but the cruiser hadn’t made it back to Earth yet(she was planning to go home to Sydney (as in Australia) and then whoops). So she had Emily on the cruiser and they transferred to the hospital as soon as they got back.

Lisa and Quinn were both born on Mindoir

Charlie was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Moon - Did your Shepard have any dreams as a child? (dream job, plans for future etc)

Emily always wanted to help people. She wanted to be a doctor, but then the biotics showed up and she was kinda destined for the military or something after that. She has always liked the idea of husband and kids, it just takes a really long time(and a galactic-scale war that almost kills her) to get.

Lisa didn’t really have any. She was pretty undecided up until high school. Always figured it would be something to do with tech; she’s had a talent for and interest in that kind of thing since she was really young.

Quinn wanted to be a pilot, and then his biotics manifested--and very strong from the get-go--and he changed course.

Charlie grew up on the streets and eventually in a gang, his goals were pretty much always just survive til tomorrow “maybe if I’m lucky I’ll make it to 20″ sort of mindset.

Sun - Was there a person in your Shepard’s life that changed their view on life/the world?

For Emily, it was the woman who owned the gym where she picked up boxing when she was about 13. She was really struggling with the whole “lack of friends/connections” thing that comes with being a Navy brat, and her dad died shortly after she picked it up as a hobby, so she had a lot she was bottling up, and Ms Rose gave her some very good advice on both life and her form.

Lisa it’s Gabe. He’s the soldier who found her on Mindoir. (Their relationship plays a pretty big part in the MEBB fic I wrote for her, and I really wanna meta about him at some point, but we’ll still tldr for now) He checked up on her after, gave her a place to stay when the foster system wasn’t working, and was like a brother and best friend and proof the entire galaxy didn’t suck.

 Quinn and Charlie both it’s Anderson. Quinn’s dad worked a lot, so wasn’t really a presence in his life even before the batarian raid, and Charlie’s parents both died when he was about eight, so they even more than my girls latched on to him as a father figure of sorts. Charlie especially needed someone who cared about him enough to kick his ass in line so he didn’t waste his potential.(god he hates that phrase. But it’s TRUE.)

Stars - Who is your Shepard’s LI?

Emily’s is Kaidan, went for it in ME1, stayed faithful through ME2, picked things back up in ME3

Lisa’s is also Kaidan, but they didn’t sleep together in ME1, just put a pin in it for later and then *waves hand at ME2* shit happened. Lisa feels like she owes it to the Alliance to be a good soldier for saving her on Mindoir, doesn’t like to break regs if she doesn’t have to. But that’s less important in ME3 when staring at the literal end of existence, so she and Kaidan finally get to pursue things. 

Quinn’s is Ashley, they bonded over poetry and watching each other’s back

Charlie’s is Jack, and neither was expecting to actually fall in love, but they just turn into each other’s home(something neither’s really ever had before) and it catches them completely off-guard how much they love each other. (the tattoo scene in the Citadel DLC? OH MY GOD. They’re each other’s home and they belong to each other and it’s wonderful and terrifying all at the same time)

Meteor - Does your Shepard have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics?

Emily twirls her hair when she’s reading or working on reports, or doing anything that involves sitting still.

Lisa loves to sit on the back of chairs with her feet on the seat.

Quinn cracks his knuckles all the damn time and it makes his biotics flare up just a little whenever he does. 

Charlie refuses to sit anywhere he can’t have his back to a wall and eye on at least one door/window/means of escape. He’s also an amazingly good ballroom dancer even if he sucks at all other kinds(him and Jack doing the tango is a mental image I enjoy greatly)

Stardust - What kind of clothes do they usually wear off-duty? (sporty, elegant or specific clothes like sweatpants, jeans etc )

Emily’s very casual and comfy; jeans or leggings and a long tank top, flats or slip on shoes, which comes in handy when she’s recovering after the Reaper War; bc she’s in a wheelchair for a while and it’s easier not having to deal with laces). She adds a hoodie or sweater if she gets chilly, but she’s rarely cold enough to need anything heavier than that.

Lisa is cargo pants, flip flops, and t-shirts until it gets cooler out, then she’s switching to work boots and throwing on a flannel shirt over the t-shirt, adding a jacket over that if it’s straight up COLD.

Quinn likes to wear khakis and a nice t-shirt, maybe with an open button-down over top(very preppy looking; Ash gives him SO MUCH SHIT over it) and then Doc Martens or some other shoe with a nice thick rubber sole.

Charlie will wear anything, but his preference is for jeans and a hoodie with combat boots.

[datleggy]

a list of every anime i love/recommend, accumulated over the last 10+ years

1. NATSUME YUUJINCHOU 

SUMMARY/REVIEW: 

The main character is a teenage boy named Natsume, whose parents died when he was too young to remember them properly. He’s passed around random relatives homes, but because he can see yokai (spirits), he’s ostracized by classmates and his foster families (ALL HIS CHILDHOOD FLASHBACKS ARE SO FUCKING SAD) and eventually very distant relatives (an older couple who never had kids of their own and have so much goddamn love to give D:!!!) take Natsume in, and the story basically starts from there. 

It’s a very heart-warming story following Natsume’s new life in this new town, accepting his ability to see yokai, forging new relationships in the form of friends and family, and even with the yokai themselves. 

This is honestly probably my favorite anime/manga period, because it’s so sad but so cathartic and you watch as the main character grows and learns to trust those around him, and finally gets the unconditional love he’s always deserved, not to MENTION THE FACT THAT THEY DO A WHOLE EP WHERE NATSUME IS TURNED BACK INTO A LITTLE KID AND IT IS SOOOO GOOD OMG

Plus for those of you who enjoy whump, this show has a decent amount of it. Mainly emotional whump, but also some episodes where Natsume is injured or sick--as well as I believe one where his companion (the chubby cat on his shoulder who’s actually a pretty badass yokai) gets shot with an arrow and is down for the count. 

10/10 would and have watched again. 

2. KODOCHA NO OMOCHA 

SUMMARY/REVIEW:  The main character is a sixth grader named Sana. She’s a gifted actress on a t.v. show everyone likes and she’s silly and fun, very intuitive and surprisingly empathetic for a child. 

Her main problem is in school, where Akito, who she deems the leader of her class’ wolf pack of rowdy rude boys, lets them terrorize not just the teacher, but all the girls in class, as well. 

I don’t really want to give a lot away, so I’ll just state the obvious. This anime/manga is shoujo, which means that it does focus on a romantic relationship throughout the series. Mainly the one between Sana and Akito. Sana is absolutely oblivious about her own feelings, while Akito is a stubborn little shit. 

I remember watching this at like, age 12 maybe? And I really enjoyed it because (although I do enjoy your typical silly doesn’t take itself too seriously slice of life shoujo) this particular anime, while super funny and light hearted at times, was also really dramatic and even kinda dark, which was surprising considering the characters ages and the general kid-friendly vibe (especially the opening for the anime). 

3. DETECTIVE CONAN

SUMMARY/REVIEW:  Our main character is initially Shinichi Kudo, teenage detective, who’s on a date with childhood sweetheart Ran (whose father also happens to a detective but like....not a good one lmao), when his nosy ass self decides to go and check out some shady business and gets “poisoned”. 

The poison he’s given is intended to kill him, but what it actually does is turn him back into a child. And now, as Conan Edogawa, (who’s 7 but like....we just supposed to believe all these cops and detectives on the force are cool with a seven year old wee lil babe on these really gruesome ass crime scenes??? lmaoooo) we follow him on his adventures as he solves crimes and tries to solve the biggest mystery of all, his own! 

I absolutely LOVE this anime/manga, even though I’ll be honest, there is SO MUCH FILLER, but I like the characters enough that I really don’t mind. The show is at least 900+ episodes in at this point, and there are a total of 26 movies so far, last time I checked. 

Also, the show is a whump fangirls’ dream come true. The main character is thrown out of windows, balconies, shot at, and in one occasion actually shot, he’s had broken bones, sprains, almost been blown up or drowned/burned, been sick, and oh, his occasional transformations from child to teenager are incredibly painful. 

This show is probably at fault for my love of whump, since it was one of my first animes at like, age 9. smh. 

4. THE DEVIL IS A PART-TIMER!

REVIEW:

I’m not even going to summarize this one. The title does it for me. This is truly one of the funniest animes I’ve ever seen. Motherfuckin Satan works at a McDonalds part time and it is the BEST. 

Technically I would count this show as a kind of harem, but only because there are like three main girl characters after the overlord Satan himself. I usually dislike harem type animes but the way this is done is sooooo good I couldn’t resist. 

I would watch a million filler episodes of Satan trying to solve problems at his minimum wage job tbh. I love every single character, I love the plot, I love everything about this anime! In terms of comedy (with the occasional plot driven serious moments) this is IT bro. 

5. BLACK BUTLER

SUMMARY/REVIEW: 

The main character is Ciel Phantomhive (roughly 14 years old). His parents are killed, his house is burned to ashes, and he’s kidnapped (around age 9 or 10 I believe) and abused. During this abuse Ciel calls upon a demon to free him and help him get revenge on those who harmed the Phantomhive household, which is where Sebastian, one “hell of a good butler” comes in. 

We then follow Ciel and Sebastian on their path of vengeance, and along the way we meet Ciel’s human servants, three very clumsy and seemingly bad at their given tasks characters (i love them all), and some of his extended relatives and connections. 

My favorite thing about Black Butler is the art, both in the anime and manga. Everything is so detailed and pretty! 

The characters are interesting, the plot is dark but they manage to make most of the series overall pretty light-hearted and funny in general. Though of course there are chapters/parts of the series that get really grim (which duh, the whole thing focuses on revenge so...) 

I have to say, the arc I enjoyed the most has to be the movie, Black Butler: Book Of the Atlantic. It is beautifully drawn and sooooooo entertaining. 

6. INUYASHA 

SUMMARY/REVIEW: 

Our main characters are Inuyasha, a half-demon, who’s been in a sort of spiritually binding coma for the last few decades, and fourteen year old Kagome, who falls into an old well in her family’s shrine and finds herself being transported into another time period. 

Together, she and Inuyasha travel across the lands in the feudal era to find the scattered shards of the shikon jewel, a powerful jewel which grants anyone who possesses it ultimate power. 

I was too young to stay up and watch Inuyasha on adult swim, so my mom would tape the show on a VCR for me to watch the next day after school--yes, I’m old old. lmaoooo I ADORE this show. 

It’s so good! It’s got everything! A tortured lil half-demon with a sad past who’s stubborn and rude but got a good heart! A fierce and equally as stubborn main protagonist, who’s whole ass family knows exactly where she goes off to??? and are supportive af????? like???? her mama packs her and her squad of demon/exorcist/demon hunter pals bentos?!?! lmao i love it. 

The characters are awesome and funny and likable as all heck, and of course they all have their sad backstory, but like, unlike some animes (lookin at YOU Naruto) they don’t go mega overboard on it, at least not without some plot behind the episode. 

7. YU YU HAKUSHO 

SUMMARY/REVIEW: 

Before I even start in on the summary, ya’ll should watch this soley bc of the cute ass 90′s style animation alone. LOOK AT ALL THAT SHINY HAIR!

ANYWAY. Main character is teenage hooligan and overall cutie pie Yusuke! He gets struck by a car and fucking DIES in the first episode after shoving a little boy out of the way, only to end up in the spirit world where the head honcho up there (who looks like a wee baby) tells him “Oh shit, didn’t expect you to like, actually do anything self-sacrificing EVER so like, you’re not on our list of people who were supposed to die today...” 

And uh, I don’t wanna give anything away, so I’m just gonna say that if you haven’t seen this anime yet, you definitely should! It’s hilarious and dramatic, the fight scenes are very well done, all the side characters, who eventually become main characters are a blessing (specifically Hiei, who’ve I’ve had a crush on since I was 12) and the ending is a satisfying one, which you can’t really say for a lot of media. 

8. CHRONO CRUSADE 

SUMMARY/REVIEW: 

I still get weepy when I think of this anime, so all I’ll say is it’s about a badass demon slaying nurse and her demon companion and some very tragic shit. 

It’s a great anime overall, especially if you like crying yourself to sleep at night :) 

9. GHOST HUNT

SUMMARY/REVIEW: 

The main character is high school student Mai, who is hired by Naru, the head of a Shibuya psychic research, and together, with a group of questionable exorcists/psychics, they encounter paranormal phenomenons and some outright scary shit. 

I’m not really a fan of the horror genre tbh but I do like mystery, and the series deals with that quite a bit. They deal with each case for several episodes so nothing feels too rushed. 

The series is really fun in a creepy, wtf is that way. I recommend the manga, only because it’s more detailed in terms of plot than the anime. 

10. ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM 

SUMMARY/REVIEW: 

I didn’t really make this list in any particular order but if I had to say, Assassination Classroom and Natsume Yuujinchou probably tie for BEST ANIME PERIOD! 

This anime is about a weird ass “alien” creature, no one knows where it came from or why tf it’s here on earth, all they know is that in one year it’s threatened to blow the world up. 

His only request to the government is that they let him become a teacher for Class E, the worst class of Kunugigaoka Junior High School, and he will stay put, so that they can attempt an assassination on him during this one year period. 

AND LISTEN! I am a shallow hoe, so I literally never would have read this manga or watched the series had I not been roaming Barnes and Noble one day with my S.O. and picked it up to read as a JOKE! 

I was hooked after the first chapter and I am soooooooo glad I picked this manga up, bc it is absolutely not the type I would normally go for, cover art wise. I finally, after many many years, learned not to judge a book by its cover bc LORD this anime is so goddamn good, you don’t understand! Like, I’ve watched it so many times and still laugh at the same parts, cry at the same parts, am proud af at the same parts! like, this anime is an instant classic and should definitely be more popular than it is. 

assassination classroom and natsume yuujinchou????? MASTERPIECES!