#but I guess I wish the side characters got a bit more exploration
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will basara stans come for me if I say basara walked so yona could run?
#basara#yona of the dawn#akatsuki no yona#no hate#Iām in the middle of my first time reading basara and Iām really enjoying it#but I feel like the character relationships could be stronger or better fleshed out#maybe itās a me problem or a pacing problem but the whole found family collecting misfits as you go trope isnāt making me as emotional#as it would in other stories#or for example agehaās and shidoās history#itās so interesting and complicated but we really only get a brief glimpse of agehaās thoughts and then shido dies#that could have been so juicy!#donāt get me wrong the paneling with agehaās emotions is strong but#it just didnāt hit like I know it could#but Iāve still got a lot of story to go#Iām only a third of the way through#but I guess I wish the side characters got a bit more exploration#I do have kind of high expectations of asagiās arc with how things are being set up#so we will see#maybe I will have another asshole fave to add to the pile#sarah reads basara
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Thoughts about BY 5 and 6
So I finished the episode at an unhealthy morning hour, and now after getting my full sleep, I can fully share my thoughts!
And of course, spoilers for the newest episode!
First things first, I want to talk about Burning Spice himself. A while back, I made a post about my hopes for him and how I didnāt want him to be a temperamental meathead, but instead a smart and calculating person who took from his extensive knowledge of history to psychologically destroy as much as physically. Did we get that?
Kinda, kinda not. Spice isnāt another Purple Yam like Iād hoped, he has more character than being just angry, but the hotheadedness does remain most of the way through. He reminds me of a strongman anime villain, the kind whose braun speaks more than brain, but still capable of strategy. Most of that strategy comes from Nutmeg Tiger though, as Spice is mostly interested in fighting Cheese from beginning to end. Thereās no moment where he messes with her mind directly and picks apart her vulnerabilities beyond surface level āyou hold things dear to you that I will destroyā. Which, implication is that he was more focused on just fighting, which in the context of how/why he is the way he is, kinda makes sense.
And about that, Iāll address it briefly: So we learn that Spiceās corruption, at least the straw that broke the camelās back, was that he got bored watching history unfold. I think itās very cool! While I was interested in a little more nuance behind his boredom, sometimes villains donāt need a complex reason for why they do what they do. It does make Spice less sympathetic than Mystic Flour though, so it seems like not all Beasts may be equal in cause and backstory. However, stuff about him may be explored later, since heās going to be back.
So I would say that Spice isnāt as one note as Iād hoped, but he is a simple villain. A simple and very very fun and scary villain, but there couldāve been a lot more to his character in this story that made it lacking for me. I know BY chapters are usually short, but there couldāve possibly been more time showing the parallels between him and Cheese beyond a dialogue or so. It wouldāve been really cool if Spice addressed those directly, using it against Cheese. Making her rethink/relive the trauma of losing everyone and mentally destroying herā¦ like what if there was an exchange in the prison cell when she was at her lowest? What if Smoked Cheese had either been incapacitated and unable to speak, or in a separate cell so Cheese could be entirely at the Beastās mercy? (We DID get a bit of that when Cheese realized how apathetic he was and what he saw in her soul jam, but that was more of a disgusted shock than a mental breakdown.) Smoked could help her out of her turmoil later (an exchange between him and Spice couldāve also been awesome), but Spice leaving mental damage on Cheese wouldāve further spread the idea that he also values breaking things internally.
But, I guess Spice is just destroy destroy destroy to the point where he doesnāt really care about anything else, which isā¦ fine. Admittedly not my cup of tea because itās so basic, but it doesnāt mean I donāt enjoy his motivation. I hope we get a little more nuance next time we see him.
Anyway love these sprites!! I wished we got more related to the first two, it shows a mellower and/or ironically colder side of him that I think wouldāve really helped amplify his fear factor. Spice is all fun and destruction but the oh shit comes from him showing more of the calculated side he used to have.
But speaking of Golden Cheese, Iāll talk about her next.
Overall I really liked her story here! I love seeing her in action and on her own, and her interactions with Smoked Cheese were fun to see! Smoked Cheese was extra fun, I loved how he had sass while still caring for people beyond his kingdomās entourage (his voice and mannerisms remind me of tfp knockout itās crazy). I was also happy to learn how the soul cheese worked, since that was a question I had from last episode. It appears Smoked isnāt in his body, but his soul is projecting a physical form given mass that relies on Golden Cheeseās power. Very interesting, and I wonder if heās just going to stay out now, or if heāll return? And what of the others tooā¦
Now, something I will say about Cheese is that while her character arc made sense for her in a bubble, I feel a similar thing like I did with Spice that it couldāve been much better. Personally, while Cheese staying true to her greediness and immense care for her treasures is a good thing to power her up, I donāt think it made her as bigger a person than Spice than she couldāve. What wouldāve been cooler and more thematic for her character wouldāve actually been accepting that destruction and the loss of things she cares about is a natural part of life.
What I mean by this is that while Spice embodies destruction, Cheese essentially embodies creation, which are two polar opposites that have their place in the universe. Antagonizing one or the other should come with a deeper approach to the message, and frankly, antagonizing destruction in its entirety is a very black and white angle. Destruction can be inherently bad and tragic, yes, but it can also pave the way for new life and new things to be created. Plantlife grows back after a forest fire. You can build something better upon the ruins of what was before. For Cheese, her kingdom couldāve been lost/destroyed, but she couldāve accepted it and strove for a newer and better kingdom. Which, in some parts she did, but my philosophy also applies to people lost too.
Death and destruction was a prominent theme in Cheeseās backstory, and much of her Golden City arc was confronting that. I suppose this is a separate talk for another time, but to put it simply, she didnāt have an arc about accepting those who were lost, moreso about striving to bring those who were lost back. The story ended with her promising to bring her friends back, instead of accepting that she lost them and focusing her strength on protecting those she still has with her. That last part couldāve actually been what the Spice story led to, with her first wanting to find a way to bring everyone back, but deciding by the end of it that she can protect the memory of her kingdom along with the living friends she still has. Smoked Cheese couldāve even helped her with that, showing that he cares for her over himself, leading to a heartfelt goodbye between the two. This is just a wishful image, but it wouldāve been a really good way for CRK to tackle a deep theme and touch a lot of peopleās feelings. But what we got was a lot simpler, with both Spice and Cheeseās characters and themes, which I guess makes sense. Some stories (or the game itself) donāt really want to be anything super deep in narrative, and thatās fine as long as theyāre still fun, which this was.
Lastly I will say, I fear the awakening thing will get a little predictable and repetitive from here on out. Beast is a threat for the first chapter, continues to be a threat up until Ancient does a power of love and friendship introspection and transforms into a stronger version of themself. I hope one of them will be a little subversive in thisāI donāt know how, I just hope these great stories arenāt bogged down by predictability!
But anyway, those are my thoughts about BY 5 and 6. Overall a great story, Iām so happy to get Spice and Cheese action because theyāre two of my favorites, Smoked Cheese was fun, and Iām looking forward to the new Shmilk stuff we will be getting around the anniversary. After that I really hope Eternal Sugar is next, I have a bunch of thoughts/hopes for them too!!
Anyway thanks for reading!
#crk#cjj sayeth#beast yeast#crk spoilers#beast yeast spoilers#burning spice cookie#golden cheese cookie
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Ragnor as the TWP Gangās Warlock
Artist: @cassandrajean
A vague expression passed over Malcolmās face. āI canāt remember precisely. Magnus, stop bothering Emma and Julian,ā he said, and there was a tinge of something like annoyance in his voice. Professional jealousy, Emma guessed. āThis is my domain. Youāve got your own hopeless humans in New York.ā - Lady Midnight
Anyway, back to breakfast and the knock on the door. It was Ragnor, looking a sprightly shade of green, like an English meadow. He sailed right past Julian and began inspecting the drapes. Well, he was probably inspecting something magical, like the curse, but to me it looked like he was inspecting the curtains and the wallpaper. Maybe heās thinking of decorating his own place. Or maybe he was just giving Julian some time alone with Ty, because Ty was still standing on the stairs, with a duffel bag over his arm, looking adorably awkward. - Secrets of Blackthorn Hall
Bruce, I swear at one point Ragnor told a joke in Coptic and Ty laughed. Theyāre hardcore over there at the Scholomance. Maybe too hardcore for me. - Secrets of Blackthorn Hall
So, judging from The Dark Artifices and The Mortal Instruments, it seems like every book's gang of characters has a specific warlock that they trust more than any other. I know Magnus is very prominent in both of TMI and TDA but TDA had an extra focus on Malcolm (unfortunately). I know the focus on Malcolm was due to the resurrection of Annabel but I feel like TWP might have a new warlock that they trust: Ragnor Fell. Ragnor doesn't show much affection to anyone but he seems to at least have a bit of a soft spot for Ty. Ragnor let him portal to Blackthorn Manor with him, was sensitive to giving him time with Julian, and has even joked with him in Coptic. I feel like this will lead to Ty leaning on a Ragnor a bit, and subsequently the whole TWP gang, throughout the series. Besides his familiarity with Ragnor there is also the fact that Magnus is married to the Consul and they'll almost definitely be breaking Clave rules on their quests.
However, there is another Warlock that might be extra inclined to help them...
Artist: @lariablog
"Catarina gave me a hot water bottle too," Ty said. He reached into the box and unwrapped the bundle of blanket enough to put the hot water bottle in as well. Then he began to drip water onto the lynx's mouth until the was wet all around its face. - Ghosts of the Shadow Market He was lying in bed in the infirmary, looking very pale. Catarina Loss was by his side, and a boy that Livvy recognized from Ty's classes. Anush. - Ghosts of the Shadow Market
I have been putting together a curriculum with the help of Prof. Loss, aimed in the direction of of investigation and detection. - Ty in Secrets of Blackthorn Hall
"I took Ephraim to America and raised him there. He never knew what he was or who he was. He was a happy boy, a good boy. He was my boy." - Catarina in Ghosts of the Shadow Market
Catarina Loss. Catarina seems to be very supportive of Ty at the Scholomance but she also has plenty of connections to Kit, even though both of them may not realize it yet. With Kit being the Lost Heir, Catarina raised and protected his great-something grandfather and would probably feel a connection with Kit. Like Ty, she also seems to trust Anush. I can picture Anush aiding Ty in TLKOF by finding information for him at the Scholomance while he's on his roadtrip with Ty which Catarina could help with. Catarina seems to be an especially nurturing person, I feel like she might disapprove of some of the things that the gang may do but I feel like at the end of the day she would help them.
I honestly hope it works out that Catarina is their main Warlock. To me, she's one of the coolest characters in the whole series and I wish her story could be explored more in TWP. I guess we'll have to wait to find out!
I would love to hear your thoughts/theories on this :)
Artist: @cassandrajean
Beatiful Ragnor and Catarina art to finish a post that's a bit long! Thanks for reading to here, I hope you have a great day :)
#ragnor fell#catarina loss#ty blackthorn#tiberius blackthorn#kit herondale#anush joshi#ephraim herondale#twp#the wicked powers#the shadowhunter chronicles#shadowhunters#cassandra clare#tlkof#the last king of faerie#the scholomance#sobh#secrets of blackthorn hall#ghosts of the shadow market
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NATLA Episode 2 Debrief (by yours truly)
Hi again! Here's episode 1 if anyone is interested. This is going to be another outrageously long post, just a tw
I absolutely loved the ominous start and then it's just:
They really captured the Zuko/Iroh dynamic the cartoon had in this scene. I hope they keep this sort of thing throughout the show. Also, side note, but for whatever reason Zuko seems a LOT more violent in this version. This child needs some serious therapy.
I guess this is their version of the map joke, huh? Low-key disappointed but not as mad as I thought I would be.
I'm not sure how I feel about the writers prolonging some of the conflicts that were resolved back in the SWT into this episode. I guess it makes sense that they would have to extend the drama, but I'm a little disappointed these thoughts didn't make it into the first episode. I'm glad they're included, but I think at this point team avatar had started to feel like family already in the cartoon, so it's kind of annoying and misses the mark a bit.
Yes I'm so glad they put GranGran's blessing back in! I was really mad when they took it out, but this honestly feels more meaningful than it did in the cartoon. It's a precious cultural artifact rather than just a couple of blankets. This is similar to what I was mad about with extending SWT conflicts, but I don't have nearly as much of a problem with it, as it seems like they're carrying a little piece of home with them rather than just extra drama.
The burial scene was very sweet and sad. It gave us a bit more insight into Air Nomad culture, and a sense of closure the cartoon didn't really give us. A+ for Gordon's acting as well (he is perfect for this part, even if he does still need some more acting experience)
Zuko has officially mastered the "my uncle dragged me here and I'm an agnsty teenager" face. A+ to Dallas for this entire scene. I am absolutely LOVING the Iroh and Zuko dynamic. Never change (jk I wish you a wonderful redemption arc)
Suki looks just as beautiful as she did in the trailer. Unfortunately can't say the same for the Kyoshi statue (I wish it had been made out of wood), but there is something to be said for the little shrines to the avatars instead of a few big ones. I actually kind of like that they changed that element, and I hope they explore it more in future episodes, because I assume some of the spiritualism surrounding them would have to be changed. Side note: but I've seen nothing of the spirit world so far and I'm getting a little nervous. I guess I wouldn't mind if they decided it was some long-lost avatar trick or is introduced in the NWT, but if they get rid of it altogether I'm gonna be pissed.
I'm glad they decided to make Kyoshi Island a matriarchal society instead of having a male leader. It just makes sense based on the lore and I like to see more strong adult women than in the cartoon. Also Suki got a mom! Maybe she'll get some development too!
This Aang speech was very in-your-face storytelling, but I feel like the whole show is gonna be like that so I'm just accepting it at this point. I think it stayed true to his character while getting the point across, and it also kind of helped his character compared to the cartoon. He's very emotionally open and has a charming nativity about him, but he's clearly trying to help. Loved it.
He's so awkward I love it. This whole interaction was really cool, because it expanded on their relationship in a cool way. They're both struggling between doing what their parents expect of them to help their respective villages, but are being faced with a pull to the outside world, Suki with her "big heart" and Sokka with his need to protect Katara. Thishonestly gives more depth to their relationship and I don't mind the writers dragging out first episode conflicts if this is how they're choosing to explore them.
Aww look at these cute little siblings. I like that the writers are giving them more time to progress from strangers to besties. Their interactions seem more natural, and Aang's grief more realistic. It's also great to once again see Katara growing more confident and powerful in her abilities. I love the smell of some good character development in the making.
Look at her face! She's like,"I'm so good at flirting. Mother would be proud." Meanwhile Sokka's scared of her. Anyway I'm living for their scenes and they're making me giggle. (Despite Sokka's sexism being toned down it still exists to a lesser level and I love to see her beating his ass while he tries to flex)
I love the new subplot! I love that flashback! I love this conflict! It gives more credence to his fears as a prodigy. Whatever writer came up with this deserves a hug.
AHH the ship is sailing! I love Sokka learning to be more open minded! I love Suki learning to be more open-hearted! I love when characters in romantic relationships learn from each other! This is giving Suki and Sokka development in ways the cartoon did not without trying to play Sokka's sexism off as a joke and also giving us more screentime and when I say I love it I mean I am doing a happy dance right now!
Okay, so just a quick word on shipping besides Sukka because as Zutara trash I am legally required to do this:
It seems like they are keeping the zutara hope parallel intact, with Katara and Zuko both finding hope in the avatar but in different ways. However, I don't think this really changes anything. So far, there's beven nothing to suggest they're going with ZK instead of KA, and I'm a little worried that they're trying to parallel Sukka and KA wwith the way they're setting up both girls as kind of a "teacher" to the boys in a way and giving both ships a huge amount of screentime in the same episode. Also, and I hate to say this, they might be attempting to fix KA by toning down Katara's anger and her "dark side". She didn't get angry to break the iceberg and they're eliminating her entire waterbending scroll plotline. They're trying to make them a better match for each other by watering her down and therefore increasing her connection with Aang and decreasing the chance of a future connection with Zuko over their anger and shared trauma. It's sad news that I didn't want to deliver, and I've seen spoilers that there is another ZK moment later down the line, but at this point, I think KA is a lot more plausible than ZK. *cries*
In slightly less depressing news, they're inserting the avatar state plotline a lot earlier. This makes sense with the condensed timeline, and I think I like the way they're going with it so far. I hope they keep the concept of avatar guide intact, though, and I'm worried that they're going to play into more of a connection to all of his past lives instead of just Roku. I kind of hate Roku but I do think that's a major concept I don't want them to get rid of, and his inaction during a time of adversity mirror's Aang's own challenges with confrontation. Their dynamic is a good one, and I wouldn't be opposed to changed but I really hope they don't entirely throw it out.
Scratch whatever the fuck I said before. I'm back on my shipping bullshit I can't believe we got a BONUS FIGHT! Also kudos to whoever decided Zhao should burn the village instead of Zuko. I was always so pissed at him whenever I rewatched this episode and now I can sleep easy knowing it was that military dipshit instead of him
I love Kyoshi to an unhealthy extent but I kind of wish Katara had been the one to go off on him. It would have seriously fixed things.
COUPLES THAT FIGHT TOGETHER ARE THE BEST COUPLES CHANGE MY MIND
Also, side note, but I love the hair these in fight scenes:
Most action movies hairspray the shit out of them but these actors are allowed to look a little disheveled while they kick ass. Huge thank you to whoever decided that more natural hair is superior cuz they are 100% correct
THE BONUS FIGHT SCENE IS NO LONGER COOL I REPEAT THE BONUS FIGHT SCENE IS NO LONGER COOL
I think this was the perfect conclusion to Sukka (for now)! Sokka learned something so much more valuable and impactful than in the cartoon, in my opinion. His masculinity is handled very well in my opinion, and even if I would have liked to see him wear the warrior outfit, there's something really great about the way he continues to embrace protectiveness, a masculine trait, while having rid himself of toxic masculinity, such as not being able to learn from others. He's leaving a more open minded and humble person and I love the way they portrayed it.
Okay the speech was a little on the nose but I liked it. One of the best things about ATLA was the way they executed Aang's childishness ending up beneficial for the world. I think the new conflict is expanding on that nicely while staying true to its roots. *pats writers on the head*
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IS THIS REAL I LOVE IT SO MUCH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
IM TRYING SO HARD NOT TO THINK ABOUT THIS LINE AND HOW IT COULD BE ANOTHER PARALLEL TO K/A I HATE IT BUT I LOVE IT AT THE SAME TIME LETS JUST FOCUS ON SUKI SAYING SOKKA HELPED HER AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Also the fan was so cute. That last scene on Appa really wrapped everything up nicely. I like the way they tied in the conflicts between the siblings while engineering growth for Sokka.
Daniel Kim delivered in his two seconds of screentime. Zhao was such a bitch but idk what else I expected. Can't wait to see more of these two bastards in future!
Anyway, to recap:, things I did like:
Aang's new conflicts
Sokka's mini arc
SUKKA
Expanding on Katara's PTSD
Zhao burning the town instead of Zuko
Zuko and Iroh's dynamic
Things I didn't like:
Katara's characterization
Lack of Aang's actual avatar guide
K/A hints and lack of zutara implications
Postponing the Zhao and Zuko agni Kai
Overall, I have to say I think that they're playing into the core themes very well while expanding on the characters. If it weren't for the whole Katara debacle this would be a 9/10 episode, but with the Katara debacle imma give it a 7/10. Still, I can at least understand why the writers made their crappy decisions, even if I don't agree with them. Hopefully certain things are fixed in future episodes, but as it stands I think I'll live (barely)
#natla debrief#emmie babbles#zutara#sukka#aang#sokka#suki#zuko#katara#avatar the last airbender#natla episode 2
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Kingdom of Wishes- A "Wish" Rewrite AUs
AUs are Alternate Universes, new ways to look at how a story could've gone if a few things were slightly different, it's a fun writing exercise to take your story and change it up a bit to see how the characters would react to these changes.
So I did that with my wish rewrite, and I came up with some pretty fun scenarios.
(Warning: thatās a lie, some scenarios here are not fun at all)
So let's begin:
Asha the Star & Aster the Human
That's exactly what it sounds like, Asha and Aster switch places!
In this scenario, Aster is an orphan whose mother was a musician, that's right, musician, not an artist
His grandfather used to say his mother could sing so beautifully and write songs so engaging that people could see whole stories form in their heads, she inspired people to imagine whole new worlds
That was Aster's dream, to write beautiful melodies, sing a song that could inspire people, see beyond reality
So same things that happened with Asha happen to him, he defies the royals (Who also change in this AU, we have Amaya as a queen regnant, so she's above in power than Magnifico, she being the one who has blue blood while he got married in, and their personalities switch. To me that's the funniest thing, like can you imagine Amaya as the drama queen that get's the whole spotlight and has anger outbursts sometimes like the Red Queen and Maleficent? While Mag is in the background just being calm, mysterious and I guess having a fatherly persona? What a twisted vision)
Anyway so they take Aster's wish, change it up yada yada yada Aster goes to make a wish upon a star and we get Star Asha babeeeyyy
Now design wise, Aster as a human would have brown hair, while Asha, as all wishing stars, would have blonde hair, with this hair style
Loooooong blonde braids that flow in the air constantly like Princess Celestia hair from MLP, and speaking of princess, yeah, she dresses like one too.
Imagine being human Aster here, you wish upon a star and suddenly a beautiful magical princess with gorgeous flowing hair shows up to help you, I would've died
So anyway, Asha has a very energetic and optimistic personality, and much like Aster was in Kow, she's fascinated by earth
When they come up with a plan to inspire the people of Rosas, Asha's idea is to make people draw, express how they feel, make them reflect if they're really happy with this system
Aster of course thinks that's not a good idea at first but she convinces him, so the whole arc of them being found out at the plaza happens yada yada yada let's cut to the good stuff
Instead of giving Aster a magic pencil, Asha enchants his's grandfather's mandolin, so Aster can play beautiful songs that can magically bring anything he imagines to life
So then we get their "At All Cost"... But I actually think Star Asha would sing a different song, she'd sing something like this:
youtube
This song just gives me major Kow! Asha vibes, and I'd love if Asha was played by Denee Benton cause I'm a huge fan.
And then the story proceeds as usual and we get to the climax, where instead of singing This Wish Reprise he'd sing something more like this:
youtube
Once again, I'm here to say I love Jordan Fisher and I can't imagine anyone better than him to voice Aster.
So yeah he'd have a very dramatic song where instead of using his guitar (That the queen broke) he uses only his voice and the last bit of Asha's magic to defeat the royals, along with everyone's hopes on his side.
Sooo yeah Asha later turns into a human thanks to true love's kiss, her hair turns dark brown, the end!
I like exploring this one because it shows how Asha and Aster are different with her being an artist and him being a musician, human Aster would be very different than the Aster we know though, being absolutely focused on the task at hand of saving his people, so Asha would help him loosen up a bit and have hope things would be better.
Kids AU
Okay so this one is more of a joke, but like... Kingdom of Wishes... But it's Ponyo, only genderbent
Basically I asked myself "What if Asha wished upon Aster when she was a kid?" well, when she was a kid, so was Aster.
So we'd have a story of a little 6 year old becoming friends with her wishing star. While her grandpa Sabino, still alive and very old, tries to hide this star and protect his spunky granddaughter from the king and queen that are after Aster
Of course the royals would have a harder time finding out who could've wished upon a star since they don't know who Asha is as a kid
But on the other hand, Asha and Aster would be a lot more naive and reckless, Aster would tell Asha "Hey! The king and queen are really mean! They change the wishes, wanna defeat them together" and Asha would be like "YEAH!" and off they go put themselves in danger
Don't think Magnifico would go easy on Aster just because he's a toddler, oh no, he'd drain all this child's power as soon as he caught his hands on them, which is why Sabino would be having a panic attack trying to keep them safe.
But what's really cute about this scenario is just imagining kid Aster interacting with the world, using his magic to play with Asha, and of course Sabino being a protective grandpa.
Bad Ending AUs
You guys know me, of course I have a whole section for not one but TWO bad endings lmao I'm so evil.
What If Asha's Cursed Wish Was Granted?
Yup, remember Asha's cursed wish? That would turn her into a obedient princess that would follow Magnifico and Amaya without question? Remember that wish? Yeah what if THAT happened hahah
Anyway, I thinks it's best if I just show you how that'd play out (Warning, the angst is STRONG in this one):
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"That's right, now hold still my dear, this will feel just like waking up from a pleasant dream." The king said as he lifted up her "wish" to grant it.
Asha felt herself frozen in fear, she wanted to speak up, but the fear of what could happen to her if she did outweighed her her strength to fight back.
She could only watch as the bubble popped and became a swirl of green magic enveloping all around her. Asha felt herself change, and not only because her clothes began to magically morph into a beautiful dress... She felt herself change from the inside out, starting with her mind.
Her desire to run away was muffled by a new desire to stay still as the king asked her to. But Asha knew she had to fight back because- Why did she have to fight back? This is what she wanted, to fit in and make people happy, now she finally could, thanks to Magnifico- Asha heard a voice that sounded like her's fill up her mind, popping any idea of resistance like bubbles- Why resist at all? It's easier to give up- She couldn't give up, she couldn't lose herself- But she doesn't even know who she is, and everyone tells her she's like a princess anyway, don't they? Her saba used to say so, her friends, even Aster said she's beautiful like a princess-... Why isn't he here?
She felt her eyes welling up with tears, realizing how helpless and alone she was. Asha knew she couldn't hold on to her consciousness for much longer, as the king's magic promised to make all her pain go away, leaving only bliss, her own freewill was fading away. But even then, a little bit of her is still fighting, tightly clinging onto the last semblance of thought she has left... Before it suddenly slips, and everything is goneā¦Ā She is gone.
... She did feel like she woke up from a dream, the king was right, as he always is.
The magic that was surrounding her disappears, fully absorbed into Asha's very being. She's now fully transformed, wearing a princess gown, her hair braided and pulled up into a bun that resembled a rose.
... A single tear ran down her left eye, but the cheering crowd couldn't see it. All they saw was her smile, a blissful, carefree smile plastered on her face.
...
Aster ran back to the plaza as fast as he could. But once the star arrived there... Asha was gone, and so were the royals. The people were walking around commenting about what just happened... He heard people mumbling about how kind the king and queen were for adopting an orphan girl to be their princess...
All it took was one moment, one moment of distraction, one moment that Aster turned away from her... And he lost her... But they wouldn't give up, never, as long as he's on this earth, he will grant her wish, her true wish, no matter the cost.
The star didn't even think twice, revealing his true form in front of everyone, and flying off to the castle to look for Asha.
He looked through all the windows, all the many rooms of the castle, until he stumbles upon a room on the west wing tower, and in there, sleeping peacefully on a comfortable bed, he saw-
"ASHA!" The star screamed, using his magic to unlock the window, he got in and quickly shook her to wake her up "Come on! We gotta get you outta here!"
The princess rose up from the bed, gracefully stretching her arms as she did so, blinking her now unfocused eyes, that if you look closely you could see a small and faint green light sparkling in the center of her pupils.
She smiled at the star as if they were paying her a visit "Greetings Aster, so wonderful to see you-"
Aster grabbed her by the shoulders and just shook her back and forth "SNAP OUT OF IT! This isn't you! You're stronger than his magic, I know you are! You can fight it! Come on, Asha, look at me!" Aster gently places a hand under her chin to make her look at him in the eyes, he can't see her spark anymore... But he still reaches out to her "You wished upon me because you wanted to SAVE Rosas from them, remember? That's the whole reason I'm here, to help you." they give her a bittersweet smile, even though he's filled with sadness.
The girl giggled, in any other context it would be an adorable sound... But it just filled Aster with dread, seeing how his words weren't getting through to her at all. But nothing could've prepared Aster to what she said next "... Then where were you when I needed?"
... Those words pierced through him like a dagger, the star was speechless, now just staring at her, filled with sorow
"Indeed, where were you?"
Aster froze upon hearing the king's voice coming from the other side of the room. He turned around to see both Magnifico and Amaya sitting on comfortable chair next to a table with tea, if Aster could smell he would've probably felt the sent earlier.
"You took so long we were starting to wonder if you just flew back to the sky" Amaya said before sipping on her tea cup
Aster tried to escape through the window, but before he could reach it, he was trapped by the king's magic.
Magnifico and Amaya laughed as the star struggled with all his might to free himself from the king's magic, to which the king just jeered "I suppose a princess was of use to us after all, serving as bait to catch you, little prince"
And just like that, Aster is all alone at the villains mercy.
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I tricked yall with a false sense of security starting with two wholesome AUs only to then drop the most heart crushing stuff I've written in a WHILE.
Also thank you @gracebeth3604 for inspiring me to write that scene of Asha losing her conscience as the spell took hold of her, when you helped me write that nightmare sequence in chapter 8... So yall can blame Grace for this /j
Aster Turns Himself Into A Blackhole
What a title huh? Anyway, I've said plenty of times how Aster is very inspired by Rapunzel, so I wondered, what if that "Wither and decay" song from the Tangled series affected Aster the same way that it affected Rapunzel?
I didn't quite explore much Aster's frustration with the fact he couldn't hurt the king and queen the same way they hurt Asha, that's kind of a more internal frustration he doesn't show much, but it proves how human Aster is, to the point that he feels human emotions such as vengeance
But as we say here in Brazil: "Revenge is never complete, it kills the soul and poisons it."
So... Let's see if Aster choose a darker path, after he thought that he lost Asha for good in the climax.
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Aster was chained to the floor, all he could do was watch in horror the king drop Asha and all their friends off the tower.
... She was gone...
Just like that, Aster couldn't keep her safe, like he promised he would.
Without her, Aster felt his world growing dark, his own light was fading away. There was no hope for him, no hope for Rosas, no hope of granting her wish... So... Aster had nothing... So he had nothing left to lose.
... The star remembered once listening to a song, a song that stars sing when they're at the very end of their long, LOOOOONG lives. After all, everything must come to an end. The lyrics of this song were actually an incantation, a spell of death that allowed a star to snuff their own light away, turning themselves into... Something else... Something a lot more destructive.
The stars always warned him to NEVER sing that melody. And fly away as fast as he could if he ever heard some other star singing it... Aster never knew fully why, all they said was that the song would make him dangerous...
Well then... That was just what Aster wanted to be right now.
Suddenly, Aster felt the touch of the queen's hand, snapping them out of their thoughts. She lifted his scowling face, to give him a snark comment before they began to drain away his power "What's with the grimace, my dear? Is there something you wish to say?"
And so... The star began to sing.
"š¶... Wither and decay...š¶" Aster's voice was haunting, not at all as warm and lively as it always was when he sang... This was different.
Magnifico was previously looking down on his people, but the sound of those lyrics made the king turn around in cold sweat... He knew that spell.
"š¶...End this destiny...š¶" Aster continued to sing, his eyes were closed, and his face began to contort with discomfort. The star felt himself... Change.
The queen just raised an eyebrow and mocked "What's this? Trying to put us to sleep with a lullaby? hahaha *cough cough* haha" She didn't seem to pay much mind to her own coughing
The king minded it a lot though. He could see the roses on Amaya's hair begin to wither rapidly.
Magnifico's voice was trembling as he ran to his wife "A- Amaya-"
"š¶...Break these earthly chains...š¶" Aster opened his eyes... They were completely dark.
The queen's blood ran cold "wh-what ON EARTH-" she feels herself being pulled away from the star by her husband.
"ENOUGH! I ORDER YOU TO STOP!" The king commands, using his magic to cover Aster's mouth with glowing vines similar to the ones holding him down... But the star... Or rather, whatever Aster is becoming, is not weak to forbidden magic.
Aster breaks free from Magnifico's magic, leaving the two royals mortified.
"š¶ā¦And set the spirit freeā¦š¶" Aster didn't even react to the fact he was free, in fact, they didn't seem to notice the world around him at all, lost in their despair, all they could do was sing, floating above the ground. Tears kept running down his now inky black eyes.
Their hair changes from a yellow and lively flame to a dark and slowly shifting shadow. The star dust flowing out of their cape disappears, now his cape hides only dark nothingness under it. The light coming from the brooch bellow his neck now resembles a vortex... A blackhole.
"Magnus... I thought you said this thing was harmless" The queen is clinging to her king, she begins to feel... Strangely lightheaded, like sheās about to pass out.
"I- I didn't think the star would do this- *cough!*" The king feels a pain in his chest, his legs growing weaker. He stumbles forward "We- we must leave NOW"
But Aster had other plans for them, the former star finally moved. In the blink of an eye the king and him were face to face. With one swift motion Aster took the king's staff and threw it away from the edge of the tower.
The royals were shaking in fear, the entity was towering over them, dark inky tears still flooding his expressionless face.
As a last resort, Magnus desperately tries to reason with them "He-hehe now now Aster, let's talk about this, alright? You wouldn't actually want to-"
"š¶Take what has been hurtš¶" The haunting melody continues.
The king and queen kneeled down. They felt weaker by the second, the queen was whimpering and the king was gasping for air. It was becoming hard to breathe, hard to move, hard to think. They were both holding on to each other, even though they could barely hold on to their own lives.
"š¶Grant them no mercyš¶" Aster was looming over the two mortals, staring at them as they withered away. Aster felt himself grow stronger, for he was slowly but surely absorbing their very life essence... The corners of his mouth started to lift up slightly.
The two villains collapsed on the ground, shaking and wincing in pain.
"š¶Bend and break the reignsš¶" He was previously emotionless, but now, seeing them like this, Aster is consumed by a feeling he never thought he could feel before... It was ruthlessness. He was enjoying seeing the life drain away from them, the same way they wanted to drain his life away before... In a way, Aster understands them now.
The power to take was really different from the power to give... But if felt just as good, if not better.
"š¶And set the spirit free... The spirit free~...š¶" Aster finishes the lyrics, looking at the two lifeless bodies below him with twisted glee.
... Asha arrived at the top of the tower, as she never actually died, she managed to save herself and her friends with her magic pencil, and with it, she made her way back to Aster, hopeful that she could save him in an nick of time
"Aster! I'm here! Are you o-" She felt her heart stop, her whole body frozen in place when she saw the corpses of the two royals laying down... Beneath a floating figure that looks like Aster... But she knows that's not him "What... What have you done?" Asha takes a few steps back
He doesn't seem at all surprised to see her alive and well, simply tilting his head to the side as he floats towards her "What I had to. I mean, that's what you wished for, right? To defeat them." The creature spoke calmly, but with a twisted smile spread across their features.
"No-not like THIS!" She was trembling, seeing her own reflection on the dark pools that he now has for eyes "A-Aster please, this isn't funny, turn back to normal, NOW"
"Hmmmmm I don't think I can" They shrug, while drying the tears that were previously falling from his eyes "And even if I could, why should I? When like this, I can actually keep you safe"
"... Keep me safe from what?" She felt tears welling up on the corner of her eyes, Aster couldn't really be gone, right?
He embraced her, but it wasn't the same warm and secure embrace Asha fell in love with... He was holding her tightly, not letting her run away.
"From anyone who tries to keep us apart, of course." The blackhole whispered lovingly, but that gave Asha no comfort, it only cemented her fear, sending chills down her spine "And as long as your wish doesn't come true... As long as aaaaall those people down there aren't free... I'll be able to stay here... Loving you... Forever." They sound more and more deranged with every word.
Asha felt trapped, in the arms of the one she once loved.
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I bet ya'll weren't expecting evil Aster... Welp! Evil Aster is a thing now.
This is probably the darkest thing Iāve ever wrote for real, donāt let me do this again yall
@uva124 actually sneaked a little drawing of this Aster in one of her sketches here
So yeah! These were the alternate AUs! Two wholesome ones, and two very heavy with no comfort ones, perfectly balanced as all things should be.
Hope you guys forgive me after this hahaha see you guys next time! Bye!
Thank you for reading!
#Youtube#wish rewrite#wish reimagined#kingdom of wishes#wish 2023#wish#wish movie#wish star#wish au#disney wish#wish disney
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Man I am so vanilla when it comes to ships in Hazbin...
Staticmoth: The epitome of toxic old men yaoi. They're just the worst. They push each other's buttons. They both have obsessions on the side but both want to be each other's center of attention. Other people's suffering gets them horny. They got married three times and divorced five times. They know exactly how horrible the other one is but it only makes them more attracted to each other. They're so toxic it's a health hazard for everyone around them. I wish nothing more than for them to die horribly while holding hands.
Chaggie: I've been shipping them since the pilot and I'll be real they were everything I wanted and even more. I always knew that their relationship would be mostly background stuff since they're an established couple, and I was excited to have something where the main character is in a stable and affectionate relationship. I didn't expect them to get a whole little storyarc with the whole angel drama... I'm just. So happy. Seeing them, knowing how much they supported each other over the years when they had no one else on their side, openly working out their issues... They're just everything that's good in the world.
Huskerdust: I feel about it a bit more differently compared to the previous two. I'm happy to see them just do whatever, but Huskerdust stands out because its development is kind of... part of the plot of the show, rather than just being an extra layer to their characters. I'm not even interested in fanfiction for them because I'm too excited to see how it progresses in the actual show.
Radiorose: QPR goals. Alastor having someone he's so comfortable with honestly elevated his character for me. I don't have a lot to say but I enjoy seeing them together immensely.
Appledust: guilty pleasure comfort ship, refer to this post for more context.
Ships I like less under the cut, I try not to be too mean but still, be careful.
Radiostatic (Or, I guess, Onewaybroadcast, rather): I like it a lot but only when it caters to my superspecific tastes. First of all it needs to be one-sided. The second Alastor reciprocates I'm like *Lucifer voice* "Who is this? Who is this man?" Second of all the "hate" part of the "hateboner" is essential (unless we're talking before their falling out). Vox both wants Alastor and wants him dead. It's been swirling inside him for years and had poisoned whatever relationship they had beforehand. There's no turning back from this.
RoyalHalo: I don't know how to explain it, but when I personally ship something "platonically", it's different from just regular shipping and different from having a brotp. Nothing much to say on the ship itself, they're cute.
Cherrisnake: I wish I could like it more but "Meh" is right. I think it has potential, unfortunately 8 episodes a season didn't allow it to develop. I wish we could have had Cherri before ep6 to establish her relationships with Angel and Pentious and I wish they had at least one genuine conversation before the end of the season.
Alastor x Charlie & Alastor x Angel: actually it's not about the ships themselves, just some bad experiences in the early fandom. Ik not all the shippers are like that, especially now when those ships are less popular and a lot of people are vocal about not liking them, but unfortunately I don't think I'll ever be able to enjoy them.
Lute x Vaggie: Nothing to say I just don't like it.
Val x Angel: I put a black line because my knee jerk reflex was to think of people like. Ignoring the abuse, but thinking about it, I do enjoy the exploration of their relationship if it's in-character. It's just not something I personally would consider "shipping". (But then what makes it different from onewaybroadcast? Guess I'm just a hypocrite or something)
"Found family" is a term that's used very differently by different people in the fandom, which is a little confusing to me, so I changed this category to "maybe".
Alastor x Husk: Much like the previous one, except I trust people with it even less after all the victimblaming Husk got after ep5.
Velvette x Vox and/or Velvette x Valentino: I don't ship those personally just for the reason that Vel genuinely seems uninterested, but I support the people who do. Especially the polyvees shipping. There's also additional element to this for me personally is that if Val and Vox were an item, there's a fear that Vel would come off as a third wheel or be pushed to the side, and if they were all together this wouldn't happen. So I have no choice but to support, even if I myself can't get into it.
Guitarspear: Lute ripping off her arm to go help Adam... The last thing Adam does before death is smile at her... God. They were also very fun hypemen for each other during songs, and just the general dynamic was really funny. I would say I like this ship when I see it, but I won't go out of my way to look for it?
Carmilla x Zestial: They're friends... The fanart is nice to look at. It's fine.
Radioapple: I'm conflicted. I guess I am kinda interested in what their relationship would be like in the show, but in fanworks I mostly enjoy the "they aren't actually attracted to each other but everyone thinks they are" dynamic. It's funny.
Pentious x Emily: Ok, one (1) crackship. My friend ships them and I kinda see the vision? Could be cute.
#.ramblings#idk how to best tag it... i guess I'll tag the ships I put above the cut lol#hazbin hotel#staticmoth#chaggie#huskerdust#radiorose#appledust
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DEMO UPDATE SPOILERS
i reached the part where elias gives his grace to gabriel knowing heāll succumb to his madness and die, and it hit me so hard, unexpectedly so. i started crying, i actually am crying as iām typing this. the love that he has for gabriel.. more than his life.. it really is the true love of a parent.
i donāt want him to die i wish the night market could somehow locate another graceling before itās too late or get stabbed again and somehow convert their life force into grace or just give their life force to them even if itās just so elias and gabriel can life a little bit longer together iām sobbing
and then the part where he replies ādo you wish to have children?ā after you thank him for his sacrifice. heās saying so much with that simple question and his smile after the nm replies that they hadnāt thought about it. it broke me completely.
iām still holding out feeble hope that elias will somehow overcome his madness yet. i donāt know how, and unlikely as it is, i guess iād just like for them, elias and gabriel, to have a chance to nurture their relationship from itās rocky grounds, reese included. more selfishly, i have grown fond of him and simply wish to see him live longer.
however, donāt let my wishful thinking sway your story in any way, please, if i may be presumptuous enough to believe it would. this is in no way a request or suggestion for the future plot. i leave the story and the charactersā fates to your brilliant mind. i am just along for the ride, feeling things just as you intended, hehe. i canāt wait to see what state the night market ends up in at the end of the journey.
happy writing and lots of love. :) <3
There has been so much discourse on Elias and somewhat on Reese lately and it brings me such joy. Because I have opposite reactions on them at times. Some people hate Elias. Others sympathize. Others are conflicted as hell. A point has even been made that you can have great relationships and do good things while being a bad person or vice versa. And the reason this brings me such joy is because I feel like I made a character that doesn't have a cut or dry answer depending on who you are. I like that depending on what you know, you have different feelings about Elias.
That all being said, I really really really want to write Elias and Reese's story of how they got to the Night Market. I really want to go into the question of his maddness. Is it innately him that is doing it or is it a true sickness? Where do we draw the line? But more importantly, I want to in Book 2, at least have Elias know that Reese is actually alive. And I wanted to have some sort of resolution between the strained relationship that Gabriel has with both of his fathers.
As a side note to readers, however. I get that our world is a dumpster fire right now. Especially given some of the political things that are going on. I get that we are all kind of in this teetering point upon a very high cliff. But, please do remember that this story is fantasy. That we are exploring characters and what makes people do certain things. Do not attack each other for differing POV's. I know that is kind of a Tumblr thing to do, stating that if you like xyz then you are "insert bad thing'. Let's not. This is a story. An escape. Not a real life issue. And let us all remember that things hit different for different people. That is not a reflection on anyone's morality. A well read person consumes a lot of different kinds of stories.
#the night market#interactive fiction#reese#elias#book 2#gabriel caine#world development#character development
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A bunch of my random, non-story initial opinions of Veilguard, with the knowledge that I do and will love this game no matter what, because I need somewhere to put them all:
I kind of hate the color customization system?? I cannot figure out the brightness and saturation levels to make the colors I want. Am I just dumb?? What am I doing wrong here that all the blonde options look green
I do love the stylized look of the game, it's different from DAI but it has a unique flavor and the colors are very lush (for once in a DA game lol)
So far, rogue has been more fun for me than mage. Haven't tried warrior yet.
i wish we could have customized Inky's arm/prosthetic even a little
It's so cool that we get body tattoos and scars and we can customized which ones go where. Would have loved to be able to mix and match but I know we can't have everything (sigh).
It's pretty apparent as someone who has background with the games, but it would've been cool to have the tattoos labelled "Dalish," "Dwarven," "Lord of Fortune," "Crows," etc for story reasons (even though I'm sure it only matters to the small percent of us who are into the fanfic side of things lol)
Elven ears are huge again and we can't change that. lol it's whatever i guess
The thing about customizing heads based on 3 different heads is...hmm. It's difficult to get the hang of, but I'm glad that you can customize it so much? Still, it's been hard for me to figure out how to make that look good.
they let us check our character in different lighting and with different armor!! great idea
terrible idea: only 3 previous worldbuilding choices. I got spoiled to this so I was prepared. but what the heck was the point of the Keep? why did we waste our time with all of that if none of it was carrying over? Way to flush the previous 15 years of story down the drain. Who's the leader of Orlais and Ferelden? Who's Divine? Who got left in the Fade? Guess it doesn't matter at all! I'm okay that we don't know where our Hero of Ferelden is, it's been long enough in game that their part is done, but Hawke? boo.
At first I was so excited about the "random" name generator! But it's literally just like 15 pre-made names not sorted by race naming conventions that you cycle through. Could've been cooler. oh well I know most of their demographic just wants to kill things I guess
The elves look like dwarves to me for some reason? like they're stockier now, not lithe like DAI. Just takes some getting used to.
While I kind of miss the open world a tiny bit, just for the sake of feeling like we're truly exploring and less "point A to point B," it's also nice not to feel like i'm wasting hours of my time just walking through open nothingness and getting a million meaningless fetch quests
The voices are all so good
Rook's moves are cool, they're fun to play
Speaking of, why do we walk so slowly?! I'm sprinting 100 percent of the time.
Miss the search function for items, even the highlight/glimmer is faint enough with the lighting of the maps I missed a bunch of stuff the first ten minutes
I wish we had a teensy bit more unique dialogues/reactions based on our background/race, so far it's been quite a small amount
I'm undecided on the whole...armor system thing
the maps are gorgeous
I love how many settings we can customize, it's great. I don't care about combat and I can make that part so much less annoying and save myself a bunch of time spamming attacks to get back to the story, which is what I care about, lol
Solas is so hot like this. wow
#dragon age veilguard#datv#datv spoilers#not really but just in case#also if you disagree with me its totally fine but i also dont care lol#not here to argue!
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I'm on my like tri-monthly random Borderlands fixation tirade tonight, and one of the things I've really got kicking around in my head at the moment isn't a character- but rather, Helios station in its entirety.
A corporate satellite hub orbiting the moon of a major planet, the size of a city or larger- shaped like an H, the pinnacle of egotistical, over-the-top design. Too *good* to grace Elpis or Pandora's surface, keeping a cool professional distance from everything and everyone below it. Allowing the people on-board to monitor the lives of those below on both sides, and to oversee all of Hyperion's endeavors from a distance. Built to give Hyperion express access via moonshot to anything that falls within its Eye's field of vision. If the Eye can see it, Hyperion can send people to it- or annihilate it from a thousand miles away in space.
Hyperion does surveillance really well. It's not something they ever really emphasize throughout the series, to my awareness, but it's fascinating. The first major time we're introduced to the concept of an ECHOeye connected to a Hyperion database, it's through Rhys- a character who can use his eye to see all the bizarrely specific information Hyperion's database has held over the years. Hyperion knows the names, faces, and life details of a stunning amount of people, when you really think about it. (I know this is just because the ECHOeye thing is a fun info-gathering mechanic in Tales, but hey- if I think it's fun to assign it narrative meaning, I'm gonna do it.)
But that's a bit of a tangent. Asides from being an enormous eye in the sky and Hyperion's very own hand of God as far as terrestrial punishment is concerned, it's also fascinating on an internal level.
It's design allows for so many fascinating choices. It isn't a company building alone, it's a city with a PA system. There are rooms you walk into in the lines of the 'H' that are so tall vertically that the endless expanse above you as you walk almost registers to you as the sky. Lines of vegetation- fake or not is anyone's guess- and paved paths make regular hallways feel like courtyards. There are countless windows that face the night sky, and some of them have been given a holographic sheen that makes them resemble a blue sky. People don't commute from Helios to the celestial bodies below on either side- they live here, work here, buy here, and more. There are commercial centers, office districts, laboratories, and more. A person could spend their entire career- hell, their entire life up there, cloistered away from the unruly truth of life on the ground, inventing weapons to fuel the fire of constant conflict outside their company doors. It's fascinatingly huge and terrible, and I wish we'd gotten more time to explore its insides and find out more about what life on Helios really looked like for Hyperion employees.
What we do get that I love is the vaguely haunting (or maybe I'm just way too sentimental) experience of watching Helios rise and fall over the course of a few games. Chronologically, we look up at the sky in TPS and see the half-built skeleton of Helios' limbs, still spindly and unfinished, rattle as the station rains hell onto the moon below. We see it again, finished and pristine in 2- a constant presence on the horizon far above us, completely untouchable from where we stand. Even when we explore it in TPS, Helios feels mostly untouchable. We have to stop the people on it, we know- but we never get the sense that the station itself is fallible or will somehow beget its own destruction. It's as much a part of the Pandoran solar system as anything else.
And then Tales From The Borderlands hits after Jack's death, as we visit what remains of Hyperion in Jack's absence- still putting along in the corporate world despite their retreat from Pandora's surface proper. Nothing's changed much. Nothing does change much, until the Jack AI begets the place's destruction.
Only in that first sequence of TFTBL's Chapter 5 (such an amazing musical sequence, imo, still- I've always loved it) does our perception of Helios as a fixed point in space ever get challenged. Watching it peel up at the corners and spout rubble into Pandora's atmosphere- drawn by the planet's heavier gravity to fall endlessly away from the moon- was enough to make me feel mildly dizzy the first time I saw it. As a pathetically tiny number of safety shuttles make their way away from the collapsing body of a city-satellite down to uncertain fates, we're reminded once again that Helios is an entire city and then some- supporting how many people exactly, who are now being violently spat out into the void of space, or worse, carried down to earth in a flaming wreck? Suddenly this impossibly huge display of corporate self-sufficiency, this giant throne they built in the sky from which to survey the world beneath, seems like a fatally hubristic project. They're not above the violence, chaos, and uncertainty of the world below anymore.
And when all is said and done, its skeleton sits there like a monument to the downfall of an entire corporation- carried to the grave by one man's foiled plans and replaced by a dozen other hungry mouths vying to profit off of intercorporate wars and upheaval. You look up at the moon, or down at Pandora, and feel ever so slightly wrong- like there's a star on the horizon now missing.
In a game series that doesn't often take itself seriously for long enough to deliver meaningful world-altering change as a result of past actions (in a way that isn't hideously underplayed or broken up by irony or a lack of care), Helios is a really subtle major world alteration that means a lot to me. It's a whole corporation we've come to know and despise taken out of orbit for the last time. There's no magical Helios 2. We never see a character turn around and try and make light of the situation with some shitty action-movie quip, or a joke about how 'that could've gone better'. There's just a flaming pile of rubble on the ground where thousands of Hyperion employees died on impact, and the knowledge that the Borderlands corporate sphere has been permanently refaced.
I wish we'd seen more visible change in the world throughout the games like that. It would have been a lot of fun. It's the little things- like a familiar location permanently destroyed, or a character we love dying in a way that actually begets grief and meaningful introspection (rather than just a wuh-oh, they're gone now, what's the next plot point again?) that could have really made the story of these games have a bit more punch. Because it's my opinion that when Borderlands actually *tries* to hit hard, they don't miss quite as often.
#this is me yelling#borderlands#tales from the borderlands#borderlands 2#borderlands tps#rhys strongfork#mentioned#because funny echoeye#yes this is me waxing poetic about the fucking giant H in borderlands what do you want from me people#this is what i do :)
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infodump more about welt suffering and welt in general. please?
I've played quite a bit of HI3 and have been playing HSR, which made me finally interested in welt. the gravitas of his eng VA's voice his chef's kiss - I think he's one of the few characters who doesn't sound like "I'm reading this from a paper in a studio" in english - and I dig his design and powers. but what side material do I actually read to get welt lore? there's so much manga and I've only seen screenshots
ASK ABOUT WELT AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE!
Quick side topic about his English VA. I love how it fits Welt so well, in my opinion. I play Impact 3rd with CN dub, but for Star Rail he doesnāt have the same CN voice actor so it threw me off at first, but I gotten use to it after I tried to stop associating with another Impact 3rd VA.
I am putting this here already, this is gonna be very short explanation. Is this post short? No absolutely not, but Iām trying to cut details to try and make it short as I can and have it make sense.
Let us start off with some basic information about Welt Yang and now he inherited the name plus the Herrscher of Reason core.
Before there was Welt Yang, there was Welt Joyce, the first Herrscher of Reason. Sadly Impact 3rd does not explore much of Joyce, and most of the information on him, Otto, Anti-Entropy, and even about Tesla and Einstein is all a Visual Novel that never got a true English translation. However, it did get fan translations and oh goodness itās a lot there. We will speak only of the information we got about Welt Yang from this Visual Novel.
Around the time this VN takes place Welt Yang is 8 years old since itās 1955. He is the kiddo in the middle, and man oh man he went through a lot!!!
Weltās dad, Elias Nokianvirtanen, really did care for Welt. He would often travel with his dad who was working for Schicksal.
There is important information to note, and if I donāt explain it I feel like so much will be lost and the reason all of this is important. There are two major groups at the time (1955). Schicksal and Anti-Entropy (AE). At first AE was just the Northern American branch, and there was a lot of tension between the two. After a bit ofā¦ fighting, they did manage to make Anti-Entropy.
The reason they were with the AE, was because Elias was forced to sabotage AE because Otto was threatening Weltās life.
Than there is Welt Joyce. Welt Joyce is one of my personal favorite underrated characters, and the way Joyce really wanted to protect humanity tells you everything.
Now what does these gentlemen have in common-? Their deaths are connected to Otto. Otto killed Elias due to the reason he was there slipped, and Joyce risked his life to protect New York from being nuked by Otto.
At this time as Welt was trying to help Joyce, Joyce asked him what he thought of the name Welt. Welt mentions he likes it, and Joyce not only passed on the name Welt, but also the Herrchser core.
If you are curious, and wish to read the VN here is the link! https://zklm.github.io/honkai-vn-antientropy/ as a reminder, this is a fan translation, since we never got an official English translation!
Now, here is where we get to the fun bits. Fun fact: in the manga Second Eruption, Otto was legit like flabbergasted. Cause you know, THE FACT HE KILLED IS SUPPOSEDLY ALIVE. Only than to see it wasnāt Welt Joyce, but someone else and this manga just really shows you how strong Welt can be.
Now in Second Eruption, their goal at the start was just āhey we need to find this new herrchser.ā So guess what? They gotta work together a bit. There was a small comment that I feel gets over looked and that is, Otto never really taught Siegfried or Theresa how to use their divine keys, and Welt made a small jab at this. I donāt hear people really mention this, and I donāt know why it is such a small fact I love to bring up.
There is a really important fight scene that happens among these pages/chapters between Welt and Sirin. Here we get to see more of what Welt can do as the HOR, which is once he learns the structure of a human creation, he can make a cope with honkai energy. Now I donāt wanna go to much detail into this fight cause how Iām typing wonāt do it justice, but we get a tiny new conflict pop up! What is this conflict? A clown, more specifically, Otto. Thatās Otto Apocalypse himself.
When I saw Otto has basically made it his personal goal to take down Welt, it being Joyce or Yang, to take down AE, and just do his plans, I mean it. This man goes so far, and I can do a whole essay about Otto, because he is an extremely well written antagonist. However, that will be for later in case anyone wants that just tell me. But Otto could have done more to Welt here, however Siegfried was there! Since Siegfried is key to Ottoās plan he just leaves and they both luckily make it back to safety with VERY bad injuries.
I do not want to go into all the details in the manga, as this manga is my favorite and everyday I hope that HoYoverse will animate it, so https://manga.honkaiimpact3.com/book/1005 here is the link! PLEASE IF YOU CAN READ IT! Itās 65 chapters long, itās amazing, well written and oh my goodness I could do a whole video essay on it.
Now I am gonna throw some fun facts because this post is getting long and Iāll share some links too!
So here is a great video from HoYoverse about Joyce, Welt Yang, and Bronya and the legacy of the Herrchser of Reason! https://youtu.be/eSOYUfnUGZk
youtube
Now here Iām gonna send two playlist of A Post Honkai Odyssey. Why? Because Welt is in it, and also one of my all time favorite character is in it too, Void Archives. (This is me hinting that I wanna info dump about him too.)
Here is a playlist of gameplay of APHO on YT: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt0MO_4lG2SEyuMmOywSW02-soMN0PA45
Here is a playlist for APHO 2: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIL1w10vWxxolgZxP1Q7KlTPyq2B8JCt3
Also APHO has a certain scene that could be similar to some Star Rail players š
Here some random fun facts about Welt Yang that I recall on top of my head cause he gives the brain serotonin!
Welt Yang for the first bit having the core couldnāt sleep tho to the fact that the core houses over 300k people, and he never really complained of any struggles it gave to him, but we learn during the HoD arc when he speaks with Bronya he is concerned about her and ask her all the things she is experiencing.
Itās mention in Second Eruption that Welt would try and ask Einstein to play the piano, also he mentions around that same chapter I believe that if he didnāt inherit the HoR core he thinks/wonders if he would have become a teacher or linguistic like his father.
Facts relating to Arahato is that one his company had a whole copyright issue with Ottoās game company, the Arahato is heavily based of Joyce, and the line āWitness the stars shatter before you!ā Comes from Joyce, but Herrchser of Truth Bronya (HI3RD) and Welt (HSR) say this line! Also around the Thus Spoke Apocalypse arc, it is mentioned by Einstein that one morning Welt made breakfast for the crew but it wasnāt much since he made it but implies he knows how to cook!
This is more from Star Rail, but is Serval is in your express she actual mentions Welt cause he asked some questions, but here is the tumblr link for that!
I donāt want to make a too long post that no one possible reads, BUT PLEASE ASK ME ANYTHING! IT CAN BE SILLY OR SERIOUS ABOUT WELT OR ANY OF THE HONKAI IMPACT 3RD GROUP OR STAR RAIL GROUP AS WELL!!! I read the mangaās and I have read the VN and I have spent hours rereading and replaying and explaining to people that ask and I love to do so QVQ
#Welt Yang#Welt Joyce#otto apocalypse#honkai impact#honkai impact 3rd#hi3rd#hi3#a post honkai odyssey#APHO#honkai star rail#hsr#Iām tagging as such since I do mention a bit of Star rail but mAN I COULD RAMBLE#adorable anon#Nohr rambles#long post
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TUA S4 SPOILERS
I have so many thoughts after finishing it.
yet I feel so empty lmao.
I'm gonna put my disorganised rambles under a read more if anyone is interested and/or wants to scream with me about it
umbrella academy is one of, if not, my favourite show ever made for its storytelling and unique art direction yes, but mainly its characters and their dynamic, like everyone who loves this show.
i love the fluffy sibling relationships and how their trauma affects how they live and behave with one another. everything is built off of the characters!! it's never revolved around love interests unless it made sense and I really loved that. patch (mostly), dave, ray, lila and even Delores tied into the main cast's arcs and pushed the plot forward in a way that I thought was really satisfying and didn't take away too much from the family dynamics that the show focuses on.
so why did they choose these random romantic relationships this season to focus on? I thought the twist about Ben's death was actually great and unexpected personally, (and i loved seeing the kids go out on a mission; i always wanted more flashbacks to their childhood) but to boil it down to a virus that made him fall in love with someone he just met? that's so boring and so unlike anything they've done before imo!
also what happened to sloane lmao. I know basically nothing about behind the scenes stuff but what was the point of having her and Luther get together last season if they had no plans, I'm guessing they must have and the actress didn't come back?
and I feel like hargreeves' grand plan that caused everything in this show to happen feels so anticlimactic now. I mean I guess it literally meant nothing now. this feels like life is strange all over again but worse lol.
Klaus! thank god he exists in this series. what a breath of fresh air any time he was on screen. i never thought i'd be so relieved they threw him into another side quest lmao thank god he wasnt burdened by the main plot too much. I don't mean to say I'm completely happy with what they did with him, they started this arc of like, not letting his powers define him and finish his transformation that he's been continuously going through since s1, but because the show ends with everyone killing themselves it just kind of fizzles out? still love him and his careless whimsy, i thought the way he got his powers back and the scene following it was really good. as always wish they explored it moreeeeeee ughhhhh. Omg they never did anything more with the void or God either. I loved that stuff :(((((((((((
I cant even think about the five and lila stuff without getting mad so I'm just gonna say: fuck you for that. what the fuck were you thinking. why. why. why. in my head five is aroace and moves on with his life, maybe takes up golfing idk. who cares. anything else. HE LITERALLY SAID "I WANNA FUCKING KILL HIM" ABOUT DIEGO IN THE LAST EPISODE?!?!?!?!? and he hid the way home to her children from her for months???? I like the very end of the plotline where it explained founder five, very Loki, but that could have been accomplished without the 7 year romance...............
I think the 6 year time jump reallllyyyyy did not help this season at all. it just led to all the conflict with Allison being resolved instantly and her only story being the one klaus is living with. also wtf was going on with her powers why did they just give her telekinesis thats way more boring than her rumours! I like the tiny bits we got with klaus and allison but it was so short! with the time jump we missed so much development, most of them feel like completely different characters for no real reason. the only thing we know about luther is that he became a stripper, and viktor owns a bar in canada i guess??? these guys were most of the main plot in season 1 and they were so one dimentional this season. i feel like we barely got to get to know Claire or Diego and lilas kids which would be fine if the rest of the plot going on with the other characters was good and engaging, which i felt it wasn't. I don't even know the kids names apart from Grace, which is very cute ill give them that.
The show ended with the main cast doing a group suicide. ceasing to exist. none of them getting to heal.
I'm sorry I don't want to be a hater and I really do hope that some people loved this season but im just so sad lol. i liked the first couple eps and I really love these characters, judging by twitter I'm not alone in my disappointment though lmao. what was the potential s5 gonna look like?!?!?
I loved klaus and Allison a lot and we got little snippets of greatness, I want a spinoff of them now!!!!!!!
I'm excited to hear other people's opinions, maybe I'll see other perspectives and feel a little better haha.
klaus 4ever š¤āļøš¤
#tua#tua s4#tua s4 spoilers#tua season 4 spoilers#tua season 4#i've been updating this post any time i think of more stuff i wanna get off my chest lol#š
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Review Bomb! (The Treble With Rivals - Potazel Hazel)
Hi, it's me again! I'm back with another review bomb bc i missed episodes at their airing times and watched some a bit out of order lol
I'm a bit more prepped this time so these reviews come with pictures! (Oooh! Ahhh!)
Enjoy!
The Treble With Rivals:
Mmm, music episode! Goes crazy knowing I can play violin and all but that's besides the point. The point is: we got a new fairy! And new fairy lore? THERE'S A MUSIC WORLD???
Seriously, this place fucks. I love it. I always love it when FOP A New Wish adds new fairies and stuff so music fairy is such fun!
LOOK AT HER DESIGN ITS COOL AF
I liked the OST of this episode tbh, the composers put some good moves into an episode based purely on music.
I also really liked the intro card this time, small detail I know, but the contrast yellow v blue was so fun!
I feel like this episode is *partially* a commentary on school bands/orchestras and how they interact with one another, even if unintentional. I say this because I was in my school's string orchestra this semester and I noticed that there's a whole community of music and little inside jokes (eg. viola slander in the strings community) and stuff so this sorta felt like that. Every band/group has their own little status (especially with size) and this episode showcased a bit of that relationship between music groups that I've witnessed (not that I've ever seen a whole ass rivalry but you get the point I hope).
My one singular complaint is that I felt the "erased music" plot was underwhelming? Like I read the description and thought it'd be a lot bigger in scale (I guess more action? More suspense? Takes up the whole episode?) but it wasn't... which I mean this was alright and all but somehow I thought it'd be a lot more adventurous.
Rattleconda Racers:
Peak episode! It's one of those episodes that likes to play around with setting and such, this time we were essentially stuck in movie style aspect ratio until the end when we went back to 16:9 (mmmm television proportions my beloved)
I liked the dive into the relationship between Hazel and her brother Antony! We saw a bit of them meeting up in The Treble With Rivals but not much of their relationship. I feel like it's super cute! Hazel still seems to be unable to adjust to how different her brother is and how he's got all those new experiences and it makes her feel disconnected and wanting everything to be back to the way it used to be, as shown through the game, where Hazel tries to get Antony to follow the game's path while Antony would rather go around the path and explore beyond.
It's a metaphor for change and excepting change, and how everything around both siblings changed so much (Antony going to college, Hazel moving to a new town) and how they both adjust to their new life.
I liked their little moment of making up with each other after Hazel gets increasingly mad that they aren't playing the game the way they used to, it's a sweet scene and I liked it.
Side note: ADORED Cosmo and Wanda's outfits this episode.
HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE THESE??!! THEY LOOK FIRE AS HELL!!!! Wanda especially with that dress it legit slays on her to be honest. Cosmo with the cowboy attire and "Cosmo the Kid" nickname is so funny
I also liked the side thing of Wanda really playing into her character but Hazel not letting her. YOU GO GIRL! BE DRAMATIC!! THE PLOT CALLS AND BECKONS FOR IT!!!!
Overall this was one of those fun episodes with a good message and character developments of Hazel and Antony (who we get a proper intro to as well!)
I remember many a people wondering if Antony shows up, then what? Since Hazel in the first episode really revolved around missing her brother and not dealing with moving to a new town, people thought she wouldn't need the fairies afterwards. At least, I think I saw stuff like that but I might as well clear this out of the way. I think Hazel has a lot of internal issues to get through, and she still needs her fairies, and it's pretty evident in this episode.
Dig A Little Deeper:
A fun episode that was basically Hazel having a special interest in geology and the lengths Hazel will go to make a perfect presentation about rocks. It's so rad! There's not really much to say about it. I liked the rock monsters and the adventures, it was quite fun!
The bedazzled wands were a hit with me tbh. I would totally own a bedazzled wand.
AND WE GOT PERI!!!!!!!!!! HE'S BACK!
Potazel Hazel:
[Me when I forget the name of the episode so it surprised me that this is the episode name]
I thought this was a cool as fuck episode.WE GOT ANOTHER NEW CHARACTER WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Mother Nature got that epic design and you can't argue with it. It's cooler than the music fairy' design and I thought she was neat! I'm ADORING the expansion to fairy lore we've been getting, the writers really know what they're doing. God I love this show
Overall this episode was really great! A good one about eating a healthy, balanced meal and such. Great for kids I guess
There was a great fucking song in this one too! I love how Hazel's VA sings, the songs are pretty damn good in this show!
#posts#fop a new wish#my reviews#new tag uwuuuu#gonna turn Operation Birthday Takeover into it's own review/analysis#its THAT interesting
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This rant on Enterprise turns into Trip/T'Pol (implied /Archer) about halfway through ToT
I'm in general so mixed on Enterprise. On the one hand I think it does some stuff very well, on the other it falls so short of its potential and often self-censors to refuse to actually tackle moral issues or just goes with the still-fucked-up status quo (made even MORE irritating by the fact they write Archer SO kind and good usually - they'll write him say "we dont believe in one person owning another you're free to do as you wish" after helping a slave run away from their master, which makes sense, then fucking write him condoning slavery and returning a slave and saying they shouldn't have tried to help... which is so out of character And Anti Star Trek's goal of working for a better future its painful). I want to love it but there's just too many shortcomings in it that... I would expect of a 90s show being censored by networks and higher ups, but not of a 2000s show when other shows were pushing the limits farther. I want Star Trek to aspire for a better future, it hurts when its actively avoiding that. (However: im not saying i dislike the crew attitudes, them being immature and intolerant and impulsive and human-centric makes sense given its their first time interacting with the bigger world, and they grow, and its all very in character and makes sense. What doesn't make sense is whenever writing tries to do something brave, then backpedals and contradicts itself so weirdly you know someone was told "do NOT write that, write that the slave needs to to back to their master NOW" or "i know we just made a metaphor for AIDS but you shouldnt have and its too late to change the whole episode i guess, so make sure the gay metaphor people lose their jobs." Its just frustrating as fuck. I can TELL some writers were trying hard to tell meaningful and brave stories, and got told midway through or at the end "NO, undo the point your script is making NOW"
And then on the shallow side? I can see some surface level decisions they made (perhaps as a result of playing it safer rather than braver but whatever the reason). Like Archer/Trip/T'Pol having some key similarities to Kirk/McCoy/Spock in terms of their main traits being a balanced leader taking into account emotion and logic as he embodies passion, a more emotionally expressive and motivated leader, a more logically motivated leader. I can see Archer/TPol as a romantic relationship explored is so much (at least initially) what if we did spirk again, but theyre a guy and girl so we can just SAY theyre sexually attracted on screen. (What couldve been? Imagine a world where all 3 were women, and they pursued a spirk type lesbian couple explicitly, that couldve been something no show before did. Or if TPol was explored as explicitly trans more, and it never affected Archer or Trips attraction to her - her being a vulcan being the only thing they're even debating handling - how that couldve done something new and brave TOS didnt do and TNG didnt do, both having interspecies friendships, and straight romances). Then the show goes: okay what if we try emotional/logical romantic pairing? With Trip/TPol.
Which while not brave (many a logical/emotional pair on star trek shows platonic and romantic, many an interspecies straight relationship on star trek at this point), is a dynamic that TOS didnt make explicitly romantic. Like making a straight spirk equivalent, making a straight spones equivalent is... interesting, can be explicit (since the show clearly didnt want to do an explicit queer relationship), and Trip and TPol are really secondary main characters so thats interesting. Whereas DeAnna and Riker... TNG bounced between the crew enough they maybe had less focus, perhaps. And... one one level (as nonstop with Enterprise) I'm a bit frustrated they didnt try for braver writing choices.
But on another I'm like: okay. Fine. You want to try to see how a straight spones like romantic relationship plays out. Then DO it. The show decides fine, its going to constantly imply TPol might get romantically involved with Archer or Trip (even into season 3 implying she got romantic with Archer when she caretaked him for 12 years in the alternate future with rhe parasites, having her kiss Sim with Trips memories). While I'd like a woman lead whos not constantly involved in ships... if thats what the show wants to do, I can invest in it. I can believe she might like them both. (I think the poly Archer/Trip/TPol shippers are imagining a better alternative that would make more sense if the romances were Committed to). The show then... toys with both ideas. Slowly. Like it doesnt want to commit to one (but despite acknowledging polyamory with Phlox's wife and Trip, does not want to write actual polyamory on the crew relationships), so it makes TPol seem to like both men. It writes both mens feelings very fleetingly, so the audience doesnt get too much hope ONE of the men will try to start a relationship, and then places all three of them in this weird schrodingers cat situation.
(And oh, can you imagine a more bravely written Enterprise? Where TPol tells Phlox she likes Archer and Trip, Phlox suggests just having 2 husbands - "sorry, boyfriends, subcommander, you don't need to decide to bond long term right away"
and she silently mulls over that discussion, they continue the holding pattern of the men saying almost nothing about their crushes, until one neuropressure session TPol asks "have you and the captain ever been intimate?" And Trip is baffled, thinks TPol means just a massage like this... but might mean sex or kissing. So he asks what she means. She says "in a romantic sense..." Trip goes "No, why? Did you hear gossip from the crew... because that would be wild. Them talking about us, and him." TPol responding with "I have heard a partocularly crude comment once. About the three of us having dinner alone." Trip: "From who. I'll straighten them out, that kind of talk shouldn't be happening. It's beyond disrespectful- does the captain know a crewmember said-" TPol: "It was a long time ago. It hasn't happened since. I simply ask now about you and the captain, in case it had some basis in prior real activity." And so Trip says, "Well. No. It's an odd thing for people to say. I think they were just being disrespectful... I'm sorry you were dragged into it." TPol nods. Then decides, after minutes of silence, to ask: "Would you be opposed to intimate contact with the captain?" Trip: "Well no... of course I'd massage him if he- what kind of contact do you mean, TPol?" TPol simply shrugs and says she was just asking, its fine if he doesnt answer. Then finally she mutters, stil torn about how far she wants to inform him: "I have reason to believe the captain may... wish sometimes, that I was closer to him."
Trip jumps up, as if worried she's being harassed by Archer, but her steady gaze stops him and he doesn't spill out all the things he was going to say. TPol: "I am not sure if anything will come of it. I suppose, only if I pursued the matter." Trip blinks, sitting close to her since he jumped up, face to face, his expression shocked then falling before he can control it. He suddenly realizes, she might be telling him she wants Archer. He didn't realize- he didn't think so far ahead, he supposes he wants her to be happy, so he shouldnt feel crushed he has no chance with her, he didnt even realize he wanted the opportunity to see if she'd want him until now- now that it's clear there will never be that opportunity. "Well, what do you-" he starts. She cuts him off, her gaze still steady and direct, "I am uncertain if you would be amenable to us persuing...further intimacy."
Trip is unable to compute what he's hearing, so he just stares back, not ready to open his mouth until his brain catches up with him. She can't be saying what she said, it makes no sense-
She leans forward and presses her lips to his, when the silence stretches out and he does not appear to understand her question. She wants to know, if this is something he wants too. Or an assumption on her part which is beyond reality, which was fed into by Phlox and his very unvulcan-and unhuman-views on such matters. She should not have taken advice from someone who didn't grasp her or those she cares about's feelings. Norms. Desires to act or not act.
Trip only starts to kiss back when she's pulling away. He stops when she's apart, the two of them looking at each other, both seeing more unknowns than they did before.
"You like me?"
Trip sees TPol's subtle eye squint, might as well be an eye roll on her, and immediately whatever he was worried about melts away. Because she's clearly comfortable, she's just irritated he isn't already caught up to her own thoughts, and is relaxed enough to show it. God help him in figuring out how far she wants his mind to jump.
"Course. You did. We did-"
"We did." She repeats, the slightest tone of humor at waiting for him to catch up with the obvious.
"Well. I'm flattered." He's probably blushing. Her eyelashes flutter, but refuse to hide her gaze away, and he figures she's equally flustered right about now. "I like you too, obviously."
The tightness spreading in her expression indicates, no, that was abdolutely not obvious to her- and she thinks she took a damn big risk just now, and he should recognize that.
"I like you too," he says, putting more weight on the words, leaning forward to grab her hand and holding it. To try and impress how much he realizes this is a big deal.
He has no idea what his gesture means, to her, the way he's radiating just how much he cares, how hard that is to ignore-even when she's extremely practiced in ignoring any signs of it when they're in proximity, when they're often touching in these sessions. This touch is different. Even if she blocks out everything, except for her own tumultous insides, his touch is so gentle. Resolute as the expression directed at her.
"That is fortunate," she finally replies.
He thinks that's an understatement, still holding her hand. Unsure what to do next, what T'Pol would want.
After a while, to break the tension- to give himself a break from the open uncertainty in the air, or maybe give T'Pol a moment without unmitigated emotion to wade through. "Wait. Why did you bring up the captain, anyway?"
"As I said, I have reason to believe he desires... further intimacy as well."
A million things he could say: are you sure? Did the captain act disrespectfully? What can I do so that you feel better? Who's gossiping and do you want me to demote then (even though you could and probably already have if you wanted that)? Instead he asks: "Is that something you want?"
T'Pol considers, taking in Trip's expression- not hurt, but certainly vulnerable, open. Clinging to her hand still as if it will kill him if their connection were to break, and yet his mouth falls open to wonder if she'd like him to withdraw. The way his eyebrows shift, the way his expression betrays that it would agonize his heart to do so, but he would slip away in a heartbeat if it would please her. Hopefully, he would say something as he did- so she could piece together his own desires on the matter- but regardless, he would try his best to accomodate her needs first. Perhaps only, if she doesn't push him to confide in her.
"I'm not sure," she answers honestly. "But. I would prefer an arrangement where... you are happy."
Trip laughs. "Well that's not exactly fair," he smiles, in contradiction to his words. "That's what I was going to say."
#star trek enterprise#st enterprise#trip x t'pol#trip x t'pol x archer#rant#lb#i mean half my point is unrelated lol#and im only in season 3#i just... i can imagine the Version where TPol is written more PROACTIVE#instead of sexily objectified sometimes the way she is for plot :/#(and trans while we are at it!)#and i think in a better version the command trio are in a polycule#that archer half participates in while half insisting as Captain he should not focus on romance and concerned itd infere with giving comman#but still part of the polycule dinners and occassional intimate times sjsje
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Hey Esh :) I'm replaying changeling again (500+ hours, one of my favourite games of all time) and just finished reading through the lore book. I completely forgot the bits in there about Adrien as a love interest! I love him as a character and he's an extremely sympathetic antagonist, so I find myself really wishing for more Adrien content. Can you give us some headcanons on what he'd be like as love interest? Would his route have been fast-paced or slowburn? Do you think you still would have included the fairy-fruit aspect of Nora and Spencer's life force in the lore? Where would he rank among the other vampires for jealousness? How would they have gotten around the Vitae restrictions, and how would the rest of the club feel about them getting together?....Is he a top or a bottom? [eyes emoji]
I can give some thoughts but maybe not as detailed as you'd like as I didn't really plan out a full route for him, so some things I'm not sure about.
I think his route would have been sort of moderate in terms of the romance pace. I don't think it would have been fast or slow but somewhere in the middle. Like all Vampires, Adrien would be very, very devoted once he fell for Nora. And I think, in that regard, we'd have been able to explore a really sweet and gentle side of him we don't actually see in the game at all.
The Faerie fruit aspect probably would never have come into play because it was the result of an accidental situation that occurred in Marc's route. Adrien didn't know Spencer was human, he wasn't wearing his gloves around him, and that resulted in him stepping across a line he wouldn't have crossed if he'd had more information (which he would have had in his own route - because he would have learned that they had involvement with the Fae and that Spencer was not a Cryptic).
A lot of Adrien's behaviour is out of character for him because he's being influenced by Fae magic. And that probably would not have occurred in his own route.
I suppose it's possible it would have needed to be addressed in some way so it didn't become a problem for their relationship though. So I'm not sure how I'd have resolved that or how I'd have handled the Vitae restrictions. Part of the romance development and conflict would have, most likely, revolved around those things.
I'm sure they'd have found a solution or partial solution by the end of the route - either through Adrien or Nora learning to control that aspect of their abilities.
In terms of jealousy/possessiveness...probably on par with Marc, really. I don't imagine he'd be worse but I can't imagine him being less possessive than Marc either. I do imagine him being more...clingy I guess - but in more of a puppy dog than annoying sort of way.
In general I think the club members are probably non-judgemental about relationships among the Cryptic student body. I mean, they get that there really aren't a lot of available options. None of them know Adrien well since he keeps his distance so, more than anything, I think they'd have been surprised - and surprised to see him get more involved in things as he got closer to Nora.
Hope that answers some of your questions! šš
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What are your opinions on Hfjone ships?
oh fucking man
okay imma get crucified , but here we go. opinion on popular ones + my own rareship
Liam/Bryce
fucking SUCKS. it can only work if you're self aware about how absolutely awful and hurtful liam is,and i feel from what ive seen that the fandom just reduces them to 'omg doomed yaoi' and like, woobifies them. This ship only and only works as one sided,forced and extremely toxic (in my eyes). Bryce deserves better than Liam, and liam relentlessly hurts Bryce down to the very goddamn end (ā i say this as someone who is currently fuckin obsessed with liam and self recognizes in him š)
Liam/Amelia
I like this one. I feel like theyre pretty good for each other, although, it's sort of a doomed one,in the sense of how it would work only if they were to be in the plane forever. I do feel like Amelia sort of lost herself in the plane forever. If those two ever got out, he'd have to take some charge on their shared recovery and Liam is NOT gonna deal with that well. Still a cute ship,and I like it.
Amelia/Charlotte
...why? this feels like pairing the leftover main characters because everyone is focused on the Boys TM. they dont really have any chemistry,like,even theorically i feel like they wouldn't mesh well,unless you wanna make Amelia basically Charlotte's therapist. But yay, women! i can't be mad about this one,really. I don't mind it
Liam/Airy
Lairy is...complicated, emotionally. I can see it actually being a thing,but it's really in a fucked up way. definitely a 'i hope we both die' kind of pairing. I think about it and it gives me heartache that i cant explain. it hurts because they both are awful in different ways but also they are trying. I will say i do enjoy it but in a way that makes me hurt. lots of angst there. I think this one especially benefits from becoming a ship that happens after moldpack being A thing
Liam/Charlotte
Okay this one is not popular,in fact i feel like nobody but me is into it but theres so much potential here. especially the way they would be so horribly,terrifyingly bad to each other. I can imagine Charlotte getting out instead of Bryce,and how different it all would be. her prideful nature and liam's manipulative tendencies are so deliciously wrong. I feel they would bring the worst out of each other. I have a lot to say about them but like. Consider those first 5 months. Liam was as isolated as Charlotte was,he only sorta rejoined the others in the last two months stretch, and I think they might've interacted during that. And just, Charlotte WOULD be interested in solving the mystery,she would jump on that chance because she needs control and Liam would be elated at first and horrified later and AGH it would be so messy and interesting. please ask me more about moldpack. im the charlotte/liam person number 1 fan now.
and now rapid fire other ships,
Oscar/Bryce - can see it,and i feel like it makes sense within Bryce's trauma streak. I can imagine them bonding and it getting a bit too close
Bryce/Stella - I wish this had more exploration,object shipcest is so insanely rare. I like it
Taylor/Amelia - kinda cute,can see it if taylor stayed in the plane. Especially if it starts as a sort of one sided crush that goes too far
Liam/Owen - this is cute,can kinda see it but only in a no-show scenario (as in, ONE never happened and this is a coworker romance thing)
Charlotte/Parker - it upsets me,but i can see them as having hooked up once and Parker catching feelings while Charlotte is super uncomfortable about it and that explains that weird tension.
Bryce/Amelia - eh. sure? it's cute but i dont care for it a lot. also i dont care for sodacentpack a lot,but it's better than sodapack alone i Guess. get ā£ļø'd lmao
ALSO, the crackship/crossover with showvember
Airy/Popcorn - NO. piss off the joke is boring and lame and IDK i hate it.
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Alright so itās been a hot minute since iāve been here, life truly gets in the way and i feel that iām going through the motions but finally after the buzz has settled i wanted to reflect a bit on Station 19 season 6.
I think weāre standing at a different place than we were by the end of season 5 and i believe thatās great. We went from that insanity -not in a good way- of season to something much much better. Few changes were made and it showed from the very beginning of season 6. To put it simply it was raw, by far the rawest season in terms of storyline, obviously because of what Maya went through, the repercutions it had on Carina and so onā¦ Mental health was the overall arc for season 6 and honestly? I loved how it played outā¦ Fair to say a LOT of people saw themselves in Carina and Maya which sparked the conversation -the very much needed conversation-
It was a rollercoaster but iām glad we went through those moments because it lead to a healthier outcome instead of a quick fix it showed a more realistic side of a journey that canāt be taken lightly. On the other hand i wished they wouldāve handled the Beckett story a bit better, by the end of it the writers made a good job by Vic checking up on him and just sparkling that conversation. I enjoyed the brief love triangle between Andy/Eli/Travis, it would have been funnier that they explored that angle deeper but i guess it turned out alright.
The expectations were so high when a female chief was announced but it turns out that it was just another love interest for a man, love to see it (please notice the sarcasm). While i donāt mind that Ross had history with Sullivan i kinda hated how her character just became the woman simping for the guy. They tried to redeem her a bit but it wasnāt enough. I would have LOVED that she actually made some changes within SFD to support women and actually make things better. Remember the storyline about fighting sexism? Yeah, me too. Anyways it was terrible that she was shamed for having a consensual relationship with another adult but it makes me grit my teeth the double standards: the whole youāre heroic for basically organizing a mutiny but when someone breaks protocol for saving a life thatās wrong or having a relationship with someone who outranks you but weāre totally ignoring that too, i get it, itās for the sake of drama but certain things needs to make sense.
All that leads me to Andy being captain, we all saw it coming, thereās no way Maya was going to be captain again -at least not while being on 19- and while it should have been handled a bit better (the woman does have ambitions and putting a pause to pursue her dreams to heal does not mean she needs to abandon it) i think Andy deserved something a bit better, not just: alright youāre captain now. At least her first āshiftā as captain was packed with action but stillā¦
And that also brings me to Theo: at first he was like alright, laid back dude, gets the job done but the second he got promoted itās like it flipped a switch on him especially being such an ass to Vic for absolutely no reason like ??? But at least she left him, i really liked how she pointed out that being happy for her friend does not mean sheās not supporting him (i wonder if that friendship also extends to Maya, after yk, call her a nasty person and do absolutely nothing to stand for her. Yes i will always be bitter about how everyone turned their backs on Maya).
Jack canāt seem to catch a break and God knows whatās gonna happen to him but at least heās healthier and trying to stay out of other peopleās relationships which iām glad. I loved how Ben and Miranda where kinda there for Maya and Carina (i say kinda because itās not like Maya had the greatest support out there but Ben did listen so thatās something. Also shout out to Diane, sheās incredible and i love whenever she appears)
Finally -because this is way too long lol- we know where we are standing in terms of Maya and Carina growing their family, for a solid minute i thought well, they are being ambiguous because itās probably leading to that but no, it wasnāt. I wasnāt mad that they didnāt make Carina pregnant by the end of the season, if anything the scenes where they are discussing how many kids and stuff makes it so much more meaningful because Maya is obviously in such a better head space. Oh and just as a quick comment: Carina should have gone to therapy too, she needed to heal from that rocky period of time and it would have been cool to see her perspective, even if we saw sneak peaks with Vic, Miranda and Diane i believe sitting down and leading to a backstory would have been so much better.
If you got to this point i love you, i wanted to ramble a bit and finally found the moment to sit down and put this together (itās a bit all over the place, just like my brain but bare with me). Catch you on season 7š¤
#station 19#station 19 spoilers#station 19 season finale#station 19 season 6#maya bishop#carina deluca#vic hughes#andy herrera#jack gibson#theo ruiz#natasha ross#robert sullivan#ben warren#miranda bailey#sean beckett
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