#but for others I am very much capable of suspending my disbelief

[varpusvaras]

I don't know what it is or what part of my brain causes this, but I am very much incapable of suspending my disbelief if I don't have some sort of emotional connection to a character. Like. I am so ingredibly aware that some characters are just characters, and I can't make them be interesting to me no matter how much I try nor can I imagine them performing actions and emotions because I'm so aware that they don't actually have any. It's so jarring.

[whetstonefires]

I think you’d write a fic where Jiang Cheng has to care for Wen Yuan for some reason, knowing that he is Wei Wuxian’s adopted son. And tries to work through his feelings about Wei Wuxian, chosen sons, parents, and himself in relation to the intersections of all of the above, so that he doesn’t mess up too badly.

Hah, fantastic! I'm honestly very impressed by your command of this narrative based on secondhand information.

This is fascinating, because yeah on the face of it that ought to be something I would write, it lines right up with the kind of thing I keep on writing across fandoms, and I am admittedly very hung up on Jiang Cheng's brain. By all accounts you should have me dead to rights.

This however isn't actually something I'd be very likely to write, unless I read someone else doing it in a way that was really interesting but which I disagreed with passionately in some way. And I've just spent a while trying to isolate why.

I think it's:

1) I'm generally loath to move things around in the death-timeskip part of the story unless I'm going for a really dramatic final result, so if Jiang Cheng got Wen Yuan I'd need to work out why, and what this would cause, and it would have to be interesting. And I'd be worried about Lan Wangji and this would distract me.

2) For me, Jiang Cheng assumes his final form at the unseen moment he makes that irrevocable choice to commit to the siege of the Burial Mounds. In a lot of ways, the entire construction of Jiang Cheng's personality is all designed to bring him to that point, and make him live with it forever.

He is The Kind Of Guy who would Do That under the right conditions, that's the point of him.

That is to say, one of the major functions of Jiang Cheng as a fictional construct is that he's occupying the same niche in the my-beloved-sect-brother-became-a-dark-lord cliche that Star Wars cribbed for Obi-Wan Kenobi, but in a deconstruction of the cliche. Meaning, among other things, that his throne of lies is hiding much dirtier pain than Obi-Wan's.

So I instinctively don't want to situate a Jiang Cheng character study in a timeline where he avoided making that choice, at least not if the timeline is like that mainly to create a more functional Jiang Cheng, and that's not just a side effect. I find that unaesthetic. I could get over this aversion with motivation, but it's definitely there.

But if he's taken that damage, he cannot take responsibility for this child.

3) Okay, I'm sorry gecko, but I can't explain myself further without some reference to harm-to-children; almost entirely hypothetical but in some cases somewhat specific. You can just skip the rest of the post if you're not feeling up to entertaining that kind of scenario, or go forward warned.

I honestly do not believe Jiang Cheng, at that point in his life, would be capable of being sufficiently okay in the face of this situation to not harm the child in some way, and even trying would be self-harm on a frightening scale. I think unless you introduce some fairly enormous changes into the circumstances of Wei Wuxian's death, Jiang Cheng could not do this.

Elaborating under a cut for length, not because the references to canon-typical violence are that bad.

I can't entirely buy a Jiang Cheng characterization compatible with this scenario, and when I have seen characterizations intended to have a similar effect, they have mildly annoyed me. His inability to not lash out under strain is a defining feature; the way it interacts with his exquisite consciousness of who 'acceptable targets' are and how that list is defined is key to his characterization.

I've read a few fics doing a less intense version of this idea, and (especially if you use softened cql Jiang Cheng) it can work, but I have to aggressively suspend my disbelief to invest, in a way I can't do while writing.

The Jiang Cheng that killed this child's family as part of a symbolic rejection of this child's foster-father being his foster-brother cannot pivot to interacting with the child in basically any way at all while acknowledging the context, and not break.

I don't think he could be the one to kill A-Yuan, either, mind you, because he's not a person with all that much capacity for evil.

And like his mother, he is extremely reliant on self-vindicating narratives to hold his shit together when he does behave badly, and I doubt he could sustain one about child murder--like, he went those 13 years assuming his actions killed that kid indirectly, but I'm sure he didn't think about that ever.

I can see Jiang Cheng in a mental health crisis backhanding Wen Yuan across a room, I can see him pretending he didn't see him in a situation where that means the kid will almost certainly die one way or another, because he canonically did a more abstract version of that; I don't think he could go through with his murder, and I give him only 50% on the ability to deliberately and consciously let someone else do the deed in his vicinity, even with the most stringent political pressures to do so and even if he didn't have to watch.

(Now that's an interesting scene to write. Picks up the Jiang Cheng that held Wei Wuxian back from protecting Mianmian; picks up the Jiang Cheng who clutched the hem of his mother's skirt and begged her not to maim Wei Wuxian.)

But he could not take him home, the way his own father took Wei Wuxian home. Especially not if he had any expectation of getting to do any of the caring for baby Jin Ling, which it's popular to depict him doing but I really question if the Jin would have allowed it.

If he did take him, on some mad impulse, like if he hid an entire toddler under his fancy cloak after tripping over him in Demon Subdue Groddy Cave and smuggled him out, he would need to pass him off to some random family and never see him, if he wanted to stay functional.

...except having laid hands on him, he might not be able to completely let the kid go; Jiang Cheng has never let anything go in his life. But you can't stick a child at the back of a drawer like you can a flute. So I guess he'd stick the kid somewhere, like a couple towns over, and discreetly check up on him occasionally, like a huge creeper?

He might be able to do that, and even be better off for it, as long as he didn't let himself think too hard about it.

(This is genuinely compelling now that I've started trying to problem-solve it sdkafjskl; lmao.)

Hmm. Are his powers of denial strong enough that he could steal the baby from the middle of the massacre, after watching Wei Wuxian gruesomely self-destruct, take the Last Wen home from his own killing ground while half mad with grief and rage, and then just not think about it every time he saw this one junior disciple that was actually Wen Yuan?

I don't think they are, but it's fascinating to try to imagine what the process of pulling that off would look like.

That one would be so delicate to write but it has some fun meat, in that in this scenario, Jiang Cheng would be raising his disreputable dead best friend's son as a Jiang disciple and giving him no special treatment. Not even acknowledging him in any way. No intimacy whatsoever.

Exactly like his dad should have done with Wei Wuxian, according to Jiang Cheng's most resentful brain worms.

I don't know how that would go, and that's interesting. It's basically impossible Jiang Cheng wouldn't occasionally remember, even if he didn't let himself consciously remember, and have a fit of temper in A-Yuan's general direction. He probably wouldn't single him out as the one to hit when he got mad at the group the way Yu Ziyuan did with Wei Wuxian...or actually maybe he'd do that once and then never again.

There's basically no way Jiang Cheng doesn't do something fairly awful at some point in the proceedings, though; leaning into all the worst habits his mother taught him is a vital coping mechanism for him in this stage of his life, which means emotional violence as a routine self-soothing tool, and the threat of physical violence sort of lurking in the wings.

He's not nearly as cruel as she was (aside from however much murdertorture of demonic cultivators was actually going on, but I mean like, he's not nice to Jin Ling exactly but he also doesn't target his insecurities the way she did to him) as far as I can tell, but I think that's partly because none of the people he's really mad at are present in his daily life. And his schema for differentiating acceptable and unacceptable targets is noticeably influenced by his father's principles, even as it diverges from them at certain points.

Anyway so Jiang Cheng wouldn't be as casual about hitting even a teenage Wen Yuan as his mother was about hitting Wei Wuxian, but unlike his mother Jiang Cheng has been through war and killed a lot of human beings, so my impression is that his whole relationship to violence is more intense than hers was. He can't resort to it casually, because his instinct to stop before he goes too far can't be relied on.

...the thing is, Lan Sizhui is talented. He's not a genius but he's gifted. Even with a certain amount of shifu neglect, I think he'd be near the top of his age group. And he's about three years older than Jin Ling.

If Jiang Cheng ever saw That Kid helping Jin Ling with his swordplay or anything like that, I think he'd have a stroke.

~

So yeah conclusion I've reached is, it would be ooc for Jiang Cheng to wholly refrain from child abuse in this scenario, which it would be ooc for him to put himself in to begin with, and thus I'd struggle to write it. You could make both happen, but at that point you're cramming the narrative into a small enough space within the greater possibility space to avoid Upsetting Events that it loses dynamism.

Having thought about it this hard, I might wind up doing it anyway though lol.

Maybe like ten years later, if Lan Wangji messed up and allowed Jiang Cheng to put together the clues to Sizhui's identity and he was placed in an emergency situation where the kid needed protection? With that kind of distance from the traumatic events, he could probably handle it short-term at least.

Hmm. He'd be doing his best to compartmentalize, but it would be imperfect, with no run-up, so you could get more direct thoughts on the subject in this case....

[usernamesuggestionsarefunny]

My avatar tla hot take ACTUALLY UNPOPULAR and not just minority opinion is that Azula is a terrible addition to the series. On her own? Oh, her character was great, complex, etc. She is a queen, a great diva, wonderful villain, interesting, deserved a great redemption too (She is 14! A baby!) etc. She just would have suited a magic girl show, a horror movie (in the typical scary, powerful little girl fashion), or a darker, more mature show with more characters like her, meaning child prodigies, better.

Combined with the rest of the atlab story? Kinda makes me laugh. She is such a ridiculous addition that makes it obvious this is a kids’ show. When I first watched the show, Zuko's father and the fact he had branded him was such a serious “oh shit” moment. Like, that is a father whose expectations are truly ridiculously high. It was scary. I mean who could meet them?

Zuko, whether a villain or an anti-hero, was a special, unique character the first few episodes because he was intimately acquainted with the scary main villain in a way no one was.

Then comes Azula. Come at me to debunk me (I may not even try to argue because this is such a weird opinion in the fandom, for real I haven't heard it) but she feels like a writer self-insert. Not a little kid’s writer self-insert, mind you, she feels like a well-written, dark, and complex self-insert or oc written by a talented fic writer in her 30s with years of experience that may become an original writer someday, but an oc nonetheless.

Azula feels like “oh, Zuko could never live up to his evil father’s ideals? Oh here comes my oc Azula, despite being 2 years younger she is soo much better at firebending and does everything better, even being evil, she is the main villain’s golden child and sidekick! And the sister of the main antagonist who interacts with him constantly!” (oh isn't that so cool?) “oh shit wait she needs flaws otherwise she is a villain Sue, let's see.… perfectionism! Perfect flaw! and at the very end after needing a 2 against 1 setting to be defeated she has a mental breakdown, perfect!”

“But gifted children and prodigies exist!!” you may say. Yesss I knowww. She is both too dark of a concept and too corny for atla. I see the flaws and contradictions in the ~vibes~ Azula gives me, thank you anyway. But regardless of rationally being aware of this, the reveal that this powerful character that comes to replace Zuko in causing the gaang trouble (Because let's face it, the beginning of Zuko's redemption arc and needing an even bigger bad to replace him and shock the viewers by how much more dangerous/powerful they are is the whole reason for Azula’s existence) is his 14-year-old LITTLE sister is so… dorky and laughable for me personally. And not only because of her gender in case you come to attack me from that angle. Zuko's prodigy little brother would perhaps have been an even worse and more ridiculous big bad replacement (Girls being shorter is understandable, but with a little brother we would visually see how much Zuko would be able to beat him if this weren't a kids’ show with magic, it would be even harder to suspend my disbelief to). Like, I am sure the reasons I hate the concept are the very same reasons some others love it, but you are telling me that the one capable of fulfilling the evil child burner father's expectations is… simply some rando younger child? It is not that Ozai was a freak who wanted the impossible, it is just that Zuko wasn't it. It is corny, it is dumb. It is so obviously meant for kids. Thanks, I hate it.

Azula also combines in a very weird and bizarre way with Zuko's tragic origin story (Also it is just another source of angst that is completely unnecessary, that distracts from what his father did to him and never living up to his expectations or being too compassionate for his own good, now there is a little sibling in the way being better than him at everything). Call me crazy, but Zuko as an only child, or at least a child without crazy op YOUNGER siblings would have had a MUCH more interesting relationship with his father. Perhaps an even ANGSTIER and more complex relationship where his approval is just within reach but also not quite there. Where it seems conceivable and yet out of reach. Where Ozai is the type of abuser who gives him praise when he does something right just to tear him down mercilessly when he doesn't.

What Zuko has in canon with Ozai and Azula is also interesting, painful, and angsty, but it is “never be able to be this other random younger child who happens to be a prodigy so what is even the point of trying when dad always reminds me of how meh I am compared to her” instead of “never be able to be like my father who is putting all his hopes and that of his empire on me, who at times seems to care so much”. That last one is much more compelling for me personally for a character that ends up being the opposite of his father and learns being like him is not a good thing, it also gives Zuko a good, believable reason to keep trying to please his father: there is actually a chance, there is no one there who has already won the race. Oh my, his search for the Avatar would have made so much more sense without Azula why does Azuka exist in this universe whyy 😭

Don't get me wrong, the sibling rivalry and abusers putting children against each other, having a golden child and a scapegoat, is realistic in many families, but from a storytelling perspective I find it VERY whatever, MEH. Like, the moment Ozai burns Zuko would have been a much greater instance of utter betrayal and shock if Ozai actually acted at times like he had some hope in his son instead of being constantly comparing him to his sister. Now everytime I am made aware of what Ozai did to Zuko I am like “duh” what were you expecting, Zuko, baby? It is still evil as fuck, but no longer shocking or a wtf moment, it is just the boring, edgy and predictable culmination of Ozai already having a “better” child he prefers to succeed him, a total overkill, and in fact, knowing Ozai, he should have done so earlier or straight up had Zuko killed, it makes no sense he is still alive when Azula is a much better successor from his perspective. It means nothing and Zuko should of fing course be traumatized and emotionally and physically distraught by the damage done to him by his own father, but he should not longer logically be that shocked or struck dumb. From a fictional, storytelling perspective, for me personally, the moment loses a tiny bit of its power, at least from the betrayal-someone-who-should-care-for-you—hurting-you—instead aspect.

If I had been there to write the ~big worse bad before Ozai~ meant to replace Zuko as he begins his journey of redemption, I would have chosen something much more serious (I get “abused child soldier” is serious, duh, I just mean serious in a way that makes me fear for the gaang being faced not with a peer but with someone bigger and much more experienced, and not just distract myself with how horrible it is that a “father” makes a 14-year-old girl into a soldier for an invading army). I would have chosen an equally or even more powerful, ADULT, right-hand man (or woman) of Ozai. If it really had to be a sibling of Zuko, it would have been a brother or sister 5 years OLDER, and that is AT THE VERY LEAST, perhaps the son or daughter of a minor wife or concubine (To fix the issue of why they are not the heir and why Zuko could be jealous of their much better skills while at the same time still having a good reason to keep trying to earn their father's approval, which is that there is still time to learn and improve as the younger party, this could have also made Ursa more sympathetic since the “evil” sibling is no longer a child of hers that she emotionally neglected). This could also give the character depth in the sense that they hate the fact they have no claim to the throne despite being older and “better”. They could still care for Zuko while having a love hate relationship with them, a sibling rivalry, Ozai turning them against each other, same as Azula, without taking away from Zuko's interesting relationship with Ozai (I just want his urge to overpower his better sibling to come from a place of his father actually expecting him to do it and be mad he doesn't instead of just Ozai putting all his hopes on the other sibling and Zuko for some plot related reasons still wanting his father's impossible approval despite never being able to earn it because Azula is there, better at a younger age, is that too much to ask? Like at this point Zuko should be smart enough to see that firebending skills are inborn and related to ~fantasy-version-of-genetics~, he should logically have seen it is not his fault and stopped trying to be Ozai or Azula MUCH earlier).

So in summary, believe it or not, I like Azula. I like the whole child prodigy golden child psychologically groomed and abused by evil father angle and I would love a redemption arc for her. I just don't like her AS an atla character. I feel like she does a disservice to Zuko by even existing due to how complex and interesting yet overpowered she is, actually. She ruins his motivations imo. Ironically enough, Zuko does not do a disservice to her, he makes her more interesting because he is a warning of what could happen to her if she is not perfect, he makes her vulnerable. But here is the deal, this would work better if she was the protagonist.

Edit: I just realized it is not just Azula who does a disservice to Zuko's story, it is the whole “Ozai straight up hated the little fucker since birth and tried to kill him before as a child therefore what he did to him was not a consequence of Zuko being compassionate as fuck, Ozai might as well have been looking for an excuse”. It just cheapens it immensely.

Zuko caring for those soldiers still counts just as much (of fucking course), but it would have been more poignant story-wise for his suffering to have also be a direct consequence of his first signs of goodness + his father being an abuser pshyco and not just the latter + Ozai always hated him because Zuko is the good guy and his father’s empire is evil so we need a way to make the children see Zuko is good and not like the rest from the beginning in a painfully simple way by making Ozai inherently hate him or smt because abusers “loving” their children in fucked up ways is too complicated

[stars-n-spice]

So, this is it, huh?

I figured the least I could do was write something down before shit goes down because I know after tomorrow I don't think I'll be emotionally available to do or say much about the show and what it and the fanbase means to me.

The last few days, my mind has been a whirlwind of emotions and I don't think I've ever really suspended my disbelief since it was announced that this would be the last season.

I felt like Po honestly, in Kung Fu Panda 2, when he's like "But I just got Kung Fu!" when they're talking about Lord Shen making that weapon that straight-up kills people who practice Kung Fu (I'm going somewhere with this just bear with me-) because I'm fairly new to the animated shows of Star Wars fandom and didn't start hyperfixating on Bad Batch until midway through Season 2 while those episodes were still releasing.

So when they announced that the 3rd season was the final season I was devastated. "What do you mean no more Bad Batch? I just got Bad Batch!" - I didn't want to believe it.

But here we are. Final season. Final episode.

I can't describe how the obsession started. It just did.

When the first season was coming out, I was still on Season 6 of TCW, so I got into it a little late. Then when it was over I immediately jumped into watching Rebels and became utterly obsessed with that show while Bad Batch just stayed, "Oh, neat show I watched."

Then the second season came out. I don't know how or when or why but suddenly something just went off in my brain and I became obsessed. I became attached. I fell in love with Wrecker in a way that I've never once felt or experienced towards any other fictional character, or person for that matter. I grew to understand Crosshair on a deeper level that made my heart ache for him and made me reflect on my own past and choices. Echo became a comfort character and an anchor in my life in where he's the first thing I think of when I'm down to put myself in a better mood. Suddenly I was ready to give Omega the universe and everything good in it. Tech became a lifelife (ironically) a hope that despite how I am and who I am, I'm capable of loving and being loved. And recently I've become so incredibly attached to Hunter because as the oldest child of five as well, I know that crushing weight of responsibility. Of failing your siblings. Of trying to be better.

This squad. This family. Cheesy as it is, I can't describe what they mean to me but Force, I'll try.

Recently I've been wondering why I'm so attached to this show and these characters. Jokingly, part of it is yes, the Bad Batch are lovely to look at and that does play a role in why I enjoy watching the show so much, but that's not completely it.

I think I speak for a lot of us fans when I say that I didn't fit in as a kid. I still don't even as an 'adult.' Look, I'm a biracial guy from two VERY different cultures that don't feel like home to me. On top of that, half of the time I don't know how to identify myself in gender and sexuality because I don't feel either most of the time. I'm introverted. I have anxiety. I probably have autism. I'm a burnt-out former gifted kid. I quite simply don't fit in.

"No, I'll stay. You guys don't fit in here either."

That? Yeah.

This show is for all those kids. Everyone who never fit in. Everyone who was told they were strange or weird, for the kids who ate glue in the back of the classroom, who were told they were too loud, who were put down because they didn't express emotion a certain way, for the kids who sat alone at lunch, who got left behind in their friend groups, for the kids who felt like they had no one so turned to harmful things, for the kids who were told they were special only to be discarded later in life, for the kids who don't know their place, don't know where they fit in and if they even do or ever will.

It's a show that tells those kids you're more than that. You're worth it. You're worth loving. You're worth protecting. You're worth the second chance. You're worth being loyal to. You're worth teaching. You're worth forgiving. You're worth it. You're worth it. You're worth it.

In the end there's hope for us. There's hope for all of us. And I think that's why I cling to tightly to this show. Why it means so much to me. Why I so desperately need these characters to make it out alive.

It's what Star Wars was from the start. About hope. About family. About loving and being loved and learning to love despite your circumstances. It's a show that took a bunch of neurodivergent absolute daddies and packed in so much angst but also feel-good moments with stunning animation, beautiful, moving music, and phenomenal voice acting. It's a show I can't help but love and love immensely because it feels like it was written for me.

For that kid who spent their recesses with their nose buried in an animal encyclopedia or talking to imaginary characters from their favorite books. For that kid who always felt so utterly useless and hopeless whenever they got less than an A- for a grade because they were supposed to be the gifted one. For the kid who struggled so much to be the older sibling they never asked to be. For the kid who just wants to find someone, anyone, who will love them as they are and fight for them. For the kid who valued loyalty above all else, always has, always will, and never gets it in return. For the kid who never fit in.

And well, whatever happens in the finale, I'm so grateful, so blessed, and so honored to have been a part of this journey with all of you.

[alexsfictionaddiction]

Review: The Things We Do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent

When a book promises to be as dark and mysterious as this cover suggests, I am definitely going to want to pick it up. I was expecting some dark academia mixed in with some kind of fairytale-esque wickedness (although I knew it wasn’t a fantasy) but I’m afraid I found it to be a bit of a slog.

Clare arrives in Edinburgh with a desire to reinvent herself. So, when she meets Tabitha, a rich art student and university Queen Bee, she feels that she may have found her place amongst Tabitha’s circle. But Tabitha has a business idea that she needs Clare’s help with. A business idea that might put Clare back in trouble, similar to the type of thing she’s already running from. But these friends are capable of anything and they won’t let anything get in the way of what they want.

University is often seen as a fresh start and clean slate for everyone, so relating to Clare is easy at first. We know she has a dark past and we expect that we’ll discover it at some point. As the story developed, I guessed part of Clare’s secret but I don’t think I could have imagined the true extent of it. This isn’t some run-of-the-mill teenage drama and I did find it hard to suspend my disbelief. I thoroughly disliked Clare by the end of the book, causing me to do a U-turn quicker than I’ve ever done before with a character.

Clare is a victim of sexual assault within the book, so please be aware of this, if you intend to read it. It’s a horrific scene but her ‘friends’ display almost complete indifference in its wake. We already know that they’re toxic as hell by this point but I couldn’t get over how it was almost brushed over. Perhaps the author was trying to make a point that this kind of thing is normal in the lives of privileged teens, so they didn’t see it as that big of a deal. It was a turning point for Clare’s involvement with the group but they continued to haunt her.

Tabitha is very much the Queen Bee stereotype. If you know Regina George, Heather Chandler and Blair Waldorf, you know Tabitha. She comes from money, relishes her adoring fans and is prepared to cut anyone who tries to take her crown. I think Clare’s motivation for befriending her came from the idea of ‘it’s better to be her friend than her enemy’ but in a normal society, I don’t think Tabitha would have been interested in Clare at all. I never really understood the connection between them but it eventually transpires that perhaps it wasn’t actually Tabitha’s decision.

Ava is another girl in the clique and it’s her who insists that Clare belongs with them. I wondered whether it’s Clare’s secret past that makes her interesting to these smart, ruthless characters but I had a feeling that Ava was up to no good. She has a very questionable vibe about her and she appears to know things that she shouldn’t. She’s a very interesting character but I question the plausibility of her actions and wasn’t entirely convinced by her authenticity.

Tabitha’s business idea made me laugh at first. She has a very pessimistic view of marriage and love in general, which clearly comes from her broken home life but her drive for revenge felt quite misplaced. I wasn’t sure why she was so hell-bent on proving to herself (and to the world presumably) that all marriages are loveless and all men cheat, purely because that was the case for her own parents. I couldn’t really understand why this was the approach she chose to take rather than simply learning from her parents’ mistakes. 

The Things We Do To Our Friends was an interesting read. It has echoes of The Secret History and a twist that I didn’t see coming -although I’m not sure I liked it. Other than Clare, the characters really didn’t feel all that original and the plot in some very strange directions. I would have loved to have been able to have a greater attachment to the characters, so that my interest could have been held a bit better. I think dark academia lovers will lap it up though, as it has all the features of that sub-genre but for me, not a lot of the grip.

[femalewerewolfff]

Something that annoys me about "female crossdress as disguise" shows is that since i know what real life gnc women can get away with, the way these resourceful producers cast more of the same conventional petite delicatefaced actresses to portray the characters who r supposed to fool everyone inluding the love interest is so tiresome. Same thing with casting twiglike actresses for strong female roles (see wonderwoman nd shehulk). It's like, fuck throw me a bone for once! Idiots

Honestly I haven’t seen much of them but I know there are ones where they don’t even try to make the crossdressing look decent and the actress has the most high pitched tone of voice, we just have to pretend the other characters are deaf and blind.

in those shows even if it’s already hard to disguise as the opposite sex, you are right the fact that the women are build like a stick is not helping. Park Eun Bin has my entire soul in the king’s affection and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t doing heart eyes anytime I saw her scenes 😻 but yeah it is silly how short she is in comparison to the men there and she’s swimming in the her robes even though her character is supposed to be very physicalIy active and capable of fighting. I am able to suspend my disbelief I think they went ok with the approach of making the characters point out her features and letting them think the prince is just very effeminate but honestly the potential of casting more androgynous-looking women to those shows is insane.

I just know it would be like pulling teeth specially if it is a romance because god forbid a love interest actually likes a very manly woman and god forbid they cast her in the first place. You know people prioritize the characters looking good so they will be making money instead of making sense.

[utilitycaster]

Can you talk more about why you like 2nd person POV?

How do you read it without arguing with the author about what happens? Like, "Even though you don't kniw him, you smile at him." Excuse me, author, I've never smiled at a stranger in my life. I know there's supposed to be suspension of disbelief, but when the author uses 2nd person, isn't the whole conceit that they're telling me what I did?

Well, because, and this might seem like a wild stretch, I'm capable of distinguishing fiction from reality and I understand that the author is not speaking to me, M Utilitycaster, M.Sc., first of her name; but to a role that I as the reader shall assume for the duration of this book. It's no different from the fact that I know, for example, that Middle Earth isn't real, but Lord of the Rings is presented as a history, and Quenya is presented as a real language from that world, and that's part of the conceit. Like yeah, there is supposed to be suspension of disbelief; so why should I stop suspending my disbelief just because it's not asking me to imagine the map and the history of the world are different than they are in reality, but rather that I am different?

Also you are on anon and I don't know how you came upon this post but if you follow this blog for its primary focus...how is this any different than making a D&D character and the DM saying "you come upon a broken bridge that looks over a deep canyon, shrouded in mist. It is gray and rainy"?

Major spoilers for two series I love dearly (Locked Tomb, The Broken Earth) and would hate to spoil for others below a cut since those have really good illustrative examples, but in summary: much as the choice to use first person should be about viewing a story from a particular perspective; second person should be about who is telling the story, and who their audience is. It can definitely be poorly executed, as can anything, but good use of the second person is supposed to make the reader perhaps feel a little on edge or disoriented. [also: if you've read one of these books but not the other feel free to ask me for the one you don't mind me spoiling].

If you don't want to get spoiled but do want an example, I mentioned Bright Lights, Big City, which I'm happy to spoil because it came out in like the mid-80s. Anyway the "you" of that story is a young, professional, and fairly privileged man going on a full 1980s bender (there is a lot of cocaine involved), and it's revealed that it's because his wife recently left him, and then it's revealed that his mother died a year ago and he hasn't really grappled with it and his relationship was mostly at his mother's behest. It's someone going through a lot of turmoil and taking a lot of drugs and the "you" of it makes it feel very alone and somewhat distant, almost as if he is watching himself do all of this without feeling it. It's a very deliberate choice and it would not be as notable a book without it.

So for the examples in question:

The Locked Tomb's second book, Harrow the Ninth, is in second person. This is ultimately revealed as the story having been told by Gideon, protagonist of the previous book, whose soul is alive within Harrow and partitioned away [long story, not the point]. It serves a secondary purpose of creating this somewhat dissociative feeling for Harrow (since the reader knows 'you' refers to Harrow), who is experiencing physical illness, unreality, and hallucinations throughout the story: "you" are Harrow, but Harrow doesn't really feel like "I" right now.

In the Broken Earth trilogy, there are sections in second person throughout; there are a few different timelines and character POVs that converge and one is consistently in second person. It is revealed at the very end that the story is being told to the newly awoken reincarnation [kind of, anyway...long story, not the point] of the character who is referred to as "you" in the novels, by someone who knew her in her previous life, who is trying to remind her of who she was. It's also a fairly intense series of novels and I do find that "you" puts the reader into the action in a visceral way that "I" or 3rd person would not.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 309: Gotta Go My Own Way

Previously on BnHA: Muscular was all “well if it isn’t the protagonist on his solo journey of self-discovery, for some reason I’m unironically glad I get to fight you!” Deku was all “hey Muscular before I finish kicking your ass would you please take a moment to answer these two survey questions? Question one, do you regret being a total piece of shit? And question two, if you could do anything at all in the world other than being a total piece of shit, would you?” Muscular was all, “pfft, no and no.” Deku was all, “thanks buddy, your feedback helps make me a better hero, here’s a coupon for fifteen percent off your next ass-whooping.” Then he whooped his ass.

Today on BnHA: Deku is all “what up All Might can you believe you’ve been here this entire time?” All Might is all “I sure can since that’s literally my catch phrase, anyway how are your magic movie 1 gauntlets holding up?” Deku is all “they’re holding up fine, how are Hawks, Endeavor, and Best Jeanist doing?” Hawks, Endeavor, and Best Jeanist are all “we, your fellow co-conspirators, are also doing fine, thanks for asking!” Flashback!Deku is all “anyway so I secretly have All Might’s quirk and the most dangerous people in the world are after me, so sorry mom but that’s why I’m dropping out of school.” Inko is all “I CAN’T ACCEPT THAT” while totally accepting it. All Might is all “I GUESS WE’LL JUST HAVE TO GO ALONG WITH IT SINCE I DON’T FEEL LIKE TRYING TO STOP HIM.” Hawks, Jeanist, and Endeavor, as previously mentioned, are all “yeah that sounds like a good plan”, and Gran is all “see ya kid, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” So basically everyone in the entire world has suddenly teamed up with Deku to defeat AFO, except for the one person whose entire foreshadowed endgame is “teaming up with Deku to defeat AFO.” O Kacchan where art thou.

dear tumblr image limit: okay look. you don’t like me, and I don’t like you. but just as an experiment, I’m gonna try writing this recap with as few images as possible and we’ll see how it goes

(ETA: spoilers for how it went: it didn’t, lol.)

oh my god WHY ARE WE OPENING WITH MORE KETSUBUTSU ACADEMY KIDS.ffs we’d better at least finally get some Ms. Joke content out of this

(ETA: seriously who do I have to bribe.)

so these two KB kids who no one cares about are watching Deku leap away from the scene after dispatching Muscular. but more importantly wtf is this chapter title omg. “I can’t stay being a child” so that’s how it is huh. we’re gonna have feels and we’re going to like them. well then

oh my god he’s hauling Muscular away dhfksklfkh okay this is gonna have to be our first image because I can’t fucking help myself. look at this

just. Deku is so tiny and he’s carting away this massive unconscious lump of a man like it’s nothing why is this so funny to me. it’s like when people buy furniture, and they don’t want to pay extra for delivery and so they’re like, “I can definitely fit this king-sized mattress in the back of my compact sedan if I fold the fucking seat down, idk.” and they refuse to be talked out of it, and the next thing you know you’re watching them drive home with their open trunk door haphazardly tied down with bungee cords, and somehow it fucking works. because it turns out the compact sedan has super strength

anyway for SOME REASON now Horikoshi is all “have fun with that Deku, meanwhile we now return you to your regularly scheduled SHINDOU CONTENT” whyyyyyy

look at this. we’re really using up a whole fucking entire page on everyone arguing over who gets the honor of carrying Shindou

love how the civilians are all, “shit lol is this actually our fault?? quick, how do we play this off all casual like we were the reasonable parties here all along”

turns out all it took to finally get them to listen was making them watch while a kid got his insides ground into a pulp because of their stupidity!! what a heartwarming conclusion to this little standoff

anyways THANK GOD we’re cutting back to Deku now!! well actually we’re cutting back to Muscular who is being dropped off at the police precinct, good bye and good riddance lol

so Deku’s leaving him there and bounding away and okjdlSKFJLKJDSL OH MY GOD

no fucking way. no fucking way this little jaunt is All Might-sanctioned and approved. are you serious?? then who else is in on this?? what the hell is going on

so All Might is just WAITING FOR HIM IN AN ALLEY FFF WHO ARE YOU, JIM GORDON. or would Alfred be a better analogy here?? but like, Alfred if he ditched the suit for a moto jacket and shades

this new ensemble of All Might’s may or may not severely impact my ability to take this forthcoming conversation seriously; please stand by

also, quite the spectacular landing there, Deku. seriously lol what was that

“HOW ARE YOUR LIMBS” “THANKS TO YOU THEY’RE COMPLETELY FINE” I’M SORRY WHAT

LOL WHAT. “THANKS TO THE POWER OF THESE MAGIC GLOVES” OH I SEE THAT EXPLAINS IT

are these the same gauntlets from the first movie, then? well that’s all well and good, except that now there’s going to be more Deku Discourse than fucking ever lol. so if it’s all the same to you guys, I’m gonna once again go ahead and declare this week’s post a discourse-free zone, at least when it comes to the specific discourse of Deku’s merits as a MC, and the impact that him kicking ass and having working arms has on said merits. this has been something of a low mental energy week for me, so I’d rather reserve the energy I do have for more fun topics, such as All Might’s bitchin’ leather jacket

anyway so All Might’s saying that the gauntlets will help reinforce Deku’s arms, but they can’t withstand OFA at 100%. so basically it’s a support item designed to maintain the status quo lol. we’re basically in the same situation we were before, arm-capability-wise

homg All Might’s getting a call. time to see who else is in on Operation: Deku Alone?? or not so alone for that matter

omg

HI HAWKS, WHERE ARE YOUR WINGS

(ETA: seriously are they really gone for good?? why would he even be back on active duty then?? does he have his own American ex-boyfriend who can hook him up with exclusive support items?? dammit Horikoshi we want answers.)

looks like Jeanist and Endeavor are teaming up as well, just like they said they would. I would gladly follow this trio around all day long tbh

is this the same giant villain from the very first chapter??

looks like it to me, and it would tie in with that callback from the end of chapter 306. we all thought that was Muscular, but maybe it was this guy, and Deku left these three to deal with him while he ran off to take Muscular down

oh my god now Deku is running off again just like that

kids these days

ffffff I have not had nearly enough sleep to follow along with whatever tf Hawks is talking about here sob

like, is he trying to say that All Might is keeping Deku’s whereabouts unknown to anyone except for him?? in order to keep him safe?? but Hawks is pointing out that that’s a bad strategy and probably won’t do shit against AFO and it’s better if he lets Deku work with the rest of them?

(ETA: so @hanashimas​’ translation makes a lot more sense -- it’s not All Might who’s being overprotective, but Deku. in other words he’s trying not to drag All Might into his battles. and in addition Hawks is saying that their strategy is to take the offensive and go after AFO themselves rather than wait for him to come to them. which I’m not too sure about myself, but that’s another topic for another day.)

btw I can’t help thinking how much better this entire conversation would be if All Might was still wearing his sunglasses. put them back on my dude. it’s not too late. embrace your inner badass

DKLJSLDKFJL FLASHBACK ALERT, FUCKING FINALLY

“turns out, we were just trying to scare you straight. fuck lot of good that did though lol”

also what is this. one true love: the hospital bed. is that a scanlator joke or is Horikoshi actually that funny omg

SKLJDFLJLK

ITSA ME!! omg I love this hospital so much. though it’s sure not helping me in my quest to try and keep this post below ten images. I’m already up to eleven haha r.i.p. to me if tumblr doesn’t get its shit together

whaaaaaat, so he’s saying that Deku’s injuries were external (i.e. Tomura beating the shit out of him) rather than internal this time?? whaaaaat. excuse me but that’s some bullshit lmao. believe me, I was there

okay now he’s going on to explain that Deku’s “internal structure” seems to have been protected from the inside and out, and the corresponding panel seems to be implying that using Blackwhip as a brace paid off. huh

and also that his body is just stronger now?? so I guess he’s better able to withstand the quirk after an additional year of training?? I’M NOT SURE IF I BUY ANY OF THIS LOL but I’m willing to suspend my disbelief

OH MY GOD RED ALERT, INKO IS ASKING ALL MIGHT TO EXPLAIN WTAF DEKU’S QUIRK IS, IS IT FINALLY THAT TIME OMGGGG

SO HE’S EXPLAINING IT TO HER OFF-SCREEN, AND INKO IS JUST LIKE

I GUESS THAT’S FAIR LOL. IT’S TRUE INKO I’M SO SORRY, YOUR SON IS A PROGATONIST R.I.P.

AHHKKJH DEKU ANGST IS IT FINALLY THAT TIME OMGGGGGG

what is this soft pop beat that’s suddenly being pumped in over the speakers. I’VE GOT TO MOVE ON~ AND BE WHO~ I~ AM~~~, I JUST DON’T BELONG HERE, I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAAAAAAAND. also, follow-up question, when is Kacchan finally going to come back so he can jump in with the “WHAT ABOUT US~~~” bridge, huh. come the fuck on, Horikoshi

lmao All Might jesus christ

but given that it’s a stupid-ass decision...

anyway, yes!! finally that sweet, sweet “I don’t want to put anyone else in danger” angst!!

mmm that’s good angst Brent. Kacchan with center panel honors as usual, you love to see it. anyways though who do I have to yell at to get Deku a goddamn HUG around here seriously

so Inko is of course reacting with panic, and sensibly saying that she doesn’t approve of Deku’s “RUN AWAY AND FIGHT THE BAD GUYS ALL ON MY OWN, DON’T WORRY MOM I’LL JUST GET STRONGER, EASY AS PIE, IT’S A FOOLPROOF STRATEGY” plan

son of a bitch this manipulative green asshole is really gonna sit here and smile fondly at his mom and try to convince her that he’s Not A Little Kid Anymore. the hell you’re not mister

y'all are really just gonna sit there and let him talk you into this?? surely it can’t be that easy??

OH MY GOD

THE FEELS oh my god oh my god. BUT ALSO YOU’RE SERIOUSLY JUST GOING TO COLLAPSE INTO HIS ARMS SOBBING AND LET HIM DO WHATEVER THE FUCK HE WANTS LKJLJLFK. WHERE ARE ALL THE STRICT PARENTS AT?? AIZAWA, GANG ORCA, MITSUKI, SOMEONE PLEASE COME AND TELL DEKU TO SIT HIS ASS THE FUCK DOWN. NOW LISTEN HERE YOUNG MAN!!

“EVEN IF I TRY TO STOP YOU YOU’LL STILL LEAVE” WELL SURE, IF BY “TRY TO STOP HIM” YOU MEAN POLITELY TRY TO TALK HIM OUT OF IT FOR THREE SECONDS. HE’S SIXTEEN WTF WHEN DID HE BECOME THE BOSS OF YOU ALL. SOMEONE NEEDS TO COME AND TELL HIM HE’S GROUNDED

anyway sob so that’s the story of how Deku talked his parents into letting him drop out of school, and even convinced All Might to be his own personal Guy In The Chair. holy shit. this kid really went and rolled a nat 20 and the rest of them had no choice but to fold without argument

meanwhile here’s a panel of Best Jeanist trying to braid his phone into his hair just cuz

I’m dying to know which part of his language he considers to be crude here. you literally didn’t even use a contraction my guy

so now flashback!Deku is talking to Gran in the dark, and Gran is all “can you believe I’m not fucking dead yet lol that’s too funny. anyway, you sure I can’t interest you in killing Tomura after all?? no?? okay then here’s my cape.” truly a heartwarming scene

I’m kind of torn here tbh. on the one hand, my adhd ass wasn’t all that interested in sitting down and having an extended scene between these two when there’s so much else that I want to get to. but on the other hand, even I can admit that cramming this entire reunion into a single page seems just a BIT rushed. idk. like maybe someone can let Horikoshi know it’s a marathon and not a race. Deku didn’t even get any dialogue here, some of us want to know his thoughts!! but anyway

AND JUST LIKE THAT?!

how did all four of them let him con them into this. I literally just watched it happen and I still can’t figure out how. “I GUESS THIS SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT IS OUR LEADER NOW” ffflfjf. when Aizawa finds out he’s gonna go apeshit. AND DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON BAKUGOU KATSUKI, WHO I HAVE BEEN ASSURED DOES IN FACT STILL EXIST. WHAT ABOUT USSSSS, WHAT ABOUT EVERYTHING WE’VE BEEN THROUGH. WHAT ABOUT TRUST???! YOU KNOW I NEVER WANTED TO HURT YOUUUUU

btw lol don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying this, and I’m honestly glad Deku’s not alone because that would suck for him! but that said, Hawks and Jeanist have lost any credibility they might have once had as far as being The Responsible Ones, and as for All Might and Endeavor, fucking hell lol. everyone just deposited all of their fucks in a bank somewhere for safekeeping and decided to never look back. godspeed you mad lads

[philologer-mosaic]

The Sandman, Netflix edition!

The Sandman, Netflix edition! I’ve seen episodes 1-3 and am pausing here to give some thoughts, because I’m not actually capable of binge-watching ten episodes in one day. Here be spoilers for eps 1-3 of the show and the entirety of the comics.

I audibly said ‘eee’ when the title came up, Episode 1: Sleep of the Just

It’s interesting to see how most of episode 1 with Dream’s imprisonment in the circle is told from Alex’s POV instead of Dream’s, and how that changes the narrative. It’s a good change – I don’t think you could adapt the original directly into another medium, the thing where we’re so closely in Morpheus’s perspective at the moment when he is furthest from understandable-humanity (‘waiting’. A hundred years! Well, 80 in comics!canon, they’ve bumped it up to 100, that makes sense. I just realised this is all happening in 2016 now! Make sense, as we all know everything in the world happened in 2016!)

Anyway it means we end up rooting for Alex to make Better Life Choices than his father and I enjoyed that, as a narrative! Man, that moment when Roderick Burgess was dead and they reached for each other through the glass, when Alex could have let him out… one of those moments when you know what’s going to happen, because it has to happen, but you still hope. Nicely done.

The moment with Jessamy was predictable, but still, a very nice shot (meaning cinematography, but I guess literally too :p)

Was Randall orig!canon, I don’t think so? Also a great addition, though – we see Burgess change throughout the episode too, from asking for his son back to asking for immortality for himself, excellent subtle storytelling. Makes him more three-dimensional, while keeping him still obviously a shitty person from the start given he has another son he’s mistreating.

No Eternal Waking, :( I was looking forward to the horror of it, because I am a ghoul. I’m guessing it would have been too unsympathetic as a starting character moment? But how Morpheus changes is the point, it’s why it makes so much of a difference when he goes back at the end of the series and wakes him! (I guess he can still do that, eternal sleep is still pretty bad, but still)

In general they seem to be making this all about Morpheus’ character development (from what I’ve seen so far, I’m especially going from the Matthew stuff in episode 3, the whole ‘I don’t want another raven’ thing) and I don’t think I like that. I think I remember Mark Oshiro said a lot of what we’re here for is the side characters and world while Dream stays static and that does feel true. Of course, Dream does change, massively in under-the-surface moments, but this feels like it’s foregrounding it too much?

Also Constantine and ep3 framed it like… how he feels about humanity is because of how Burgess treated him, and he needs to unlearn that. Whereas (looking ahead to the end of the season here) comic!Sandman would 100% have killed the dream vortex to save the dreaming before he got trapped (we know this for a fact, Desire’s plan hinged on it! Also, like, [wild gesture at entire concept/storyline] Nada, just… Nada). His character development isn’t (shouldn’t be) a change back to a previous state, it’s a change he’s making in directions he’s never gone in before which is why he ends up where he does at the end of it! … We’ll see how it goes, I guess, I haven’t seen how they do the dream-vortex bit yet.

Tom Sturridge: one of my mutuals has been complaining that this Dream is not an inhuman being not even troubling himself to mimic humanity all that much and instead is a pale dude with sticky-up hair, and… yeah, that’s true, but I’m finding myself very able to suspend my disbelief on that one. I’m gonna say this guy is the best possible Morpheus we could have given that this is live action and we don’t want him to be CGI. I don’t think a properly eldritch Morpheus is even something CGI in live-action can do anyway, he’d look the uncanny-valley of ‘bad CGI’ instead of the uncanny-valley of ‘not fully of this world’, you’d want animation for the whole thing and… animation for the real-world stuff of The Sandman would also be weird? That said, he did look kind of eldritch while naked in that glass cage, which I didn’t think was possible (didn’t even think live-action could really do that in a way that didn’t just look silly, that one shot from the trailers aside. I was surprised when the robe came all the way off at the start, I’d assumed without thinking about it that they wouldn’t adapt quite that closely to that).

Episode 2… The thing Morpheus needs from Cain and Abel for a bit of power is not their contracts in this version, it’s Gregory. Which is done to add some stakes and emotion to episode 2, I guess, fair enough (I think the original was running more directly on Wonder, ‘look at this world’), but still. It was trying to build pathos when we didn’t know any of these characters, and while Cain was having his moment with the gargoyle I was mostly thinking ‘why do I care about Cain?’ (AKA, the narrative seemed to expect me to care because Sappy Music, and I had no reason to, or to be interested. I’m interested in comics!Cain later in the series in those moments when he’s being nice to Abel and not really sure why he’s doing it. But for that we need to be used to him committing murder/s first.)

The murders later in the episode, though: very good stuff. “I don’t mind being murdered” really making the ‘first victim’ stuff even more overt, nicely done. I guess maybe this was different desiderata for how to introduce new people to concepts, doing it in a different order? I could see the stabbing-with-a-pitchfork thing being a real shock to someone who didn’t know where this was going from the start, after the introduction to them both as emotional.

(Sidenote, I am faceblind but Abel looks so much like comics!Abel it’s weirding me out on top of being impressive. His expression when Morpheus showed up – it was a tiny background detail but it seemed basically exact! And consequently it kept throwing me off that Cain’s hair is doing a swoopy thing that’s different to the comics swoopy thing and he took his glasses off, whereas otherwise I wouldn’t have cared :p)

So much Lucienne is a bit much in ep2. She’s not supposed to be special and trusted yet! She was one random librarian before she was the only one who stayed! (yes yes I know, adaptation needs, we need someone to tell us how alarming this stuff is that’s happening… though they’re using/ abusing Morpheus-voiceover anyway in that episode)

Fates: great, they adapted the position-switching thing out of the comic directly, very neat.

Johanna Constantine is fantastic and I want an entire series of her. Which is a weird thing to say when John Constantine has a series (so I hear) and I don’t even feel the slightest urge to check it out :p She’s your typical world-weary leave-everyone-before-they-get-too-close-to-me demon hunter type but it adds something to it that she’s a woman (also a bi woman, but I hear John Constantine is also canon bi so hey)… I admit at least half of that something is ‘a writing team who decide to make that trope a woman is a lot less likely to go for certain tired storylines that could go along with it’, plus novelty. Also I can be shallow if I want to be. But also her world and the characters around her (Ric the Vic!) are done so well with so little that it feels like – actually it feels like for that one episode we, and Morpheus, stepped into her TV show and Morpheus and Rachel were her case-of-the-week, and I’d love more of that show. I want to know what happened last time she got involved with the royal family!

John Dee’s pretty well done (ditto Ethel) but I don’t have much to say about him. Interested to see how much of 24 Hours gets adapted, I have picked up suggestions that the answer is ‘most of it’. Actually wait I do have one thing to say about him: “rewrite the world to one without the Sandman” is very interesting, a lot more statement-of-intent than we got from him in the original: I like this adaptation choice.

The adaptation is pretty clearly making the Corinthian into Season One Villain – he left before the Dreaming collapsed, he keeps turning up talking to Burgess and Ethel Dee and so forth, it’s clearly all setting up for a big Dramatic Conflict with him at the end, as opposed to him being just one more rogue nightmare but a very scary one. Fair enough, from a storytelling/adaptation perspective. Does make me a bit concerned for how/whether they’ll adapt non-storyline stories*. Also I don’t really care about the loss of narrative weight to John Dee but surely that and the sound of her wings should be finale really?? Just checked the episode listing, it is not. I’ll see how that goes, I guess.

(*though I guess, like, if they’ve got to adapt the Emperor Norton one to explain why Desire has beef with Dream they’ve got to adapt others so that that one doesn’t look like it’s massively more significant than it is? Though I guess they could also just ditch it. Why would you do that, though. Holding out hope for a bunch of weird unconnected dreamlands stories later down the line because Neil Gaiman is on this and knows what we want.)

Also I’m wondering how are they going to adapt A Doll’s House without a pre-existing DC Comics superhero!Sandman to be telling (part of) the narrative around? It makes total sense to ditch that even ignoring copyright, no one’s going to know who the hell he is, but what’s it going to be replaced with? We need a Lyta Hall in there somewhere for there to be a Daniel!

(looking forward to Fiddler’s Green, though. Hoom!)

[hologramcowboy]

What are some examples of Jensen’s odd expressions/mannerisms as Dean?

When it comes to acting, any expression or mannerism that is not the direct result of the visceral needs of a character is considered artificial. Let me see if I can words this in a better way, so if, for example, Jensen pushes an angry face without feeling Dean's anger then that expression is not organic, he's not connected to the character but is simply emoting. He is not acting from the impulses of the character but rather faking them. Basically, if you are faking anything then you are not, in fact, Acting. Because you are not living what the character is living, instead you are playing an idea of what that character is living. You are pushing and forcing instead of living organically. In my humble opinion, Dean was much more natural in Season One, for example. The previous anon provided some excellent examples of Jensen overacting, you can see this in the promos he did for Soldier Boy too and episode three during his brief screen-time. Those exaggerated, forced expressions break the spell of the scene and make it very hard to suspend disbelief. Any acting coach would tell Jensen to dial it down and focus on the natural impulses that arise based on his emotional prep work. But this, of course, implies having done solid emotional prep for the scene and that requires mastery of the craft. Jensen has natural talent but it can only take him so far with no prep. Currently, he seems to be a 'lazy'(running on his talent only) actor and anyone with a developed eye can tell he did not study the craft aside from his on set experiences. There's nothing wrong with that, except if he wants to reach a higher tier, he needs to act at the level of that tier so that means, as Amy Lyndon puts it:

“The Actor must approach acting like an Olympic Athlete. The more you practice the necessary skills, the more you will book. When a high level of discipline and concentration on the work is achieved, you will see incredible results.” Jensen keeps mentioning Chris Evans and trying to start comparisons, well as much as his face is more ideal for cinema than Chris' (in other words his presence may be more powerful), he lacks the discipline and high training Evans has always demonstrated. Chris wasn't just handed his career, he did the inner work required to reach a certain level of performance and continues to do so like most of his peers. People envy actors but they never consider the hard work that goes into their performances and the levels of training they undergo to maintain and evolve their skills. So Jensen has the perfect look, yes, and he has the talent but he lacks training and this shows. Don't get me wrong, he's also capable of creating incredible moments and has a very strong presence, I am just pointing out what needs to be improved for him to have access to bigger roles in a credible and sustainable way. By the way, I'm not in any way writing anything new, if you want to research this deeper, I recommend hitting some great acting books which explain the process in depth. Especially the difference between natural and forced acting (hello cringe expressions lol). Or, even better, hit an acting class or workshop if the topic interests you because there is so much more to discover!

[justiceraffles]

About the Gosho Boys and literary crime fiction

This is a lengthy text wall in which I ramble about detectives. It started out with me thinking about the Gosho boys and their relationship with classic mystery fiction and literary/fictional detectives and it ended up derailing into a Hakuba rabbit hole in which I overanalyse details pointlessly for hours because I guess that is simply how most of my free time is spent.

(Fair warning that this is probably ridden with mistakes because I am capable of only 1.3 thoughts at a time)

So, when it comes to Shinichi, Heiji and Kaito, they all have a literary character from classic detective fiction that they’re closely associated with. Namely, it’s Sherlock Holmes for Shinichi, Ellery Queen for Heiji, and Arsène Lupin for Kaito. The relationship they hold with each of these figures (and with crime fiction in general) is very different, but it’s quite telling of their personality, character, their relationship with literature, and their respective approach to their profession. I talk about each of them a little bit and then just spend half the time talking about Hakuba. 

Shinichi is born in a household where mystery fiction is extremely important. He is surrounded by this type of story and his parents nurture this interest actively. Detectives and mysteries permeate his life wholly. For Shinichi, Holmes is seen as the maximum exponent of a genre. Holmes is The Great Detective. The archetype, the one that defines what it means to be a detective and the one later writers will seek to emulate one way or another. Detective fiction is what it is today because of Holmes, so it makes complete sense for Shinichi to have him as his idol. Holmes is what he strives to be and it’s what people associate him with. 

Heiji is a lot more subtle than Shinichi is, but he is also very much a lit nerd. Ellery Queen is both a character and a pseudonym for the writers that created him. As a character, Ellery Queen is such a perfect choice for Heiji’s favourite detective. He’s a mystery writer who doubles as a sleuth and helps his father, a police inspector, in solving crimes. Wonder if that sounds familiar, huh. Aside from similarities in the character (I could go on about some passages that have such strong Heiji vibes I’d be here forever) the Queen novels challenge the reader very directly. They tell you to pay attention, that you are presented with the exact same clues as the detective and should therefore be able to solve the mystery as well. The mystery story is a competition and the author issues a challenge by presenting it to the reader. I love this because Heiji has a huge competitive streak, and this is highlighted from his introduction. To find that the stories he’s passionate about also encourage this side of him is just so fitting and appropriate. 

The case where Shinichi and Heiji meet always makes me think of the contrast between reading a Holmes novel and a Queen story. Personally, I feel like the enjoyment of a Holmes story often relies on letting yourself be awed by the deduction. You can follow along with the mystery but a big part of the charm is based on the detective himself and the way he explains the thought process that leads him to his conclusion. You’re meant to sit down and enjoy as Holmes explains himself, and admire his brilliance. There’s a focus on the truth and the way to reach it, which is very, very Shinichi. A Queen novel, on the other hand, invites you to play along as you read. You are on equal standing with the detective, and it’s up to you to reach the same conclusion he does. These are the principles of “fair-play” in mystery fiction. As it implies, it is very much a game! So Heiji challenging Shinichi to a battle of wits and deductions goes perfectly in line with what he’s reading. Holmes is the genius detective you look up to with admiration, Queen is a sleuth that invites you to solve the crime alongside him. These suit the vibes that Shinichi and Heiji give off themselves very well. 

Kaito is much, much different for obvious reasons. He’s not a detective, and he’s not nearly as much of a mystery geek as the others are. The entire KID persona is closely associated with Arséne Lupin because Toichi fashions it accordingly. Even if phantom thieves aren’t quite the same as Leblanc’s original idea for the Gentleman Burglar, they still have a clear origin in Lupin and there’s important similarities to be made between them. Storytelling-wise, KID heists work on the same principles as Lupin stories. You know the criminal is there, hidden amongst the cast presented to you, and you know he will carry out the crime. And, regardless of whether you have an inkling of an idea of how he’s going to pull it off or not, you still allow yourself to be amazed by his methods regardless when the trick is revealed! Even when the schemes are outlandish and border on the fantastical and unbelievable, the stories are best enjoyed when you suspend your disbelief and allow the plots and characters to be over the top. But well, the connection between Lupin and KID is fairly self-explanatory. So, rather than KID, I think it’s more interesting to think about the relationship between Lupin and Kaito himself.  

Kaito doesn’t seek to be seen as a modern day-Lupin in the same way Shinichi wants to be a modern day-Holmes. Unlike Shinichi who becomes a detective in great part because he has Holmes as his idol, Kaito doesn’t become a thief because of his admiration towards a literary character, but because of his love and admiration towards his father. Kaito dons the KID suit with pride because it’s something his father left behind, and he embraces each part of it because it can lead to answers and understanding. But, always cryptic, Lupin doesn’t provide a whole lot of answers and understanding, and neither does Toichi. Lupin admits that he struggles to recognise himself under all the disguises and roles he has played. The truth behind his father’s character seems to become more elusive the more Kaito becomes involved with thievery. The “gentleman thief” persona, despite being charming and theatrical, has consequences on a personal life. 

...And then there’s Hakuba. 

Hakuba is complicated. 

But, Raffles! You say, Saguru is another Sherlock geek!

Well, yes. Of course he is. The deerstalker outfit and him naming his hawk Watson make that clear. Hakuba is an absolute Holmes nerd. 

I’m here to read too deeply into it when it’s most definitely not that deep at all. But, there’s never enough information about Hakuba and I have a blast overthinking stuff. So that’s what we’re gonna do! 

Despite obviously being a big fan, Hakuba’s relationship with Holmes is different from that of Shinichi’s. 

First, we don’t get to see Hakuba nerding out about Holmes novels and stories in the same way Shinichi does. He doesn’t quote Holmes at length or go on about how much he loves the books. Instead, we know Hakuba’s a nerd because he’s apparently passionate enough about this character to include things associated with him into his own personal image and identity.

Second, there’s the way others perceive him. Shinichi and Kaito (as KID) get “Heisei Holmes” and “Reiwa Lupin”. Despite irking a couple officers every now and again, Heiji is held in high regard and considered a great detective by the police force. Hakuba has a considerable amount of fame, but he doesn’t receive the same amount of trust people place on Shinichi and Heiji. It’s easy to forget because Hakuba acts with a lot of confidence and familiarity around crime scenes, but several of his appearances highlight the way his presence is tolerated at heists because of his father’s influence and is generally seen as an outsider. The police take orders from Shinichi and look up to him for advice— it’s not quite the same with Hakuba. More often than not, Nakamori treats Hakuba like a visitor or observer than a consulting detective. All of this rambling to say that even though he presents himself that way, Hakuba isn’t (or, at least, isn’t seen as) the Holmes he admires.  

So, if not Holmes, is there anyone that suits Hakuba better?

I’d say yes and no. 

As far as I can recall, the series never makes any explicit comparisons or references to other detectives when Hakuba is concerned. That said, much like you’d associate the deerstalker and Watson to Holmes, Hakuba has some other quirks and behaviours reminiscent of other detectives. Now, I’m not here to say that Hakuba was made deliberately as a compilation of references to literary detectives. These similarities are admittedly mostly coincidences. That said, deliberate or not, I think an argument can still be made that the connections exist! And well, considering the lack of concrete information about Saguru, thinking about them is fun. So this is what I think: 

One of Hakuba’s most prominent quirks is his fixation with time and exactitude. His pocket watch is a memorable prop and being precise about minutes and seconds is an important part of his character. You can find very similar behaviour in Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, who also carries a pocket watch around and is extremely particular about punctuality and numbers. Another thing interesting about Poirot is that he’s most interested in the psychology behind a crime, in understanding the mindset of the killer. Poirot mysteries have each of the suspects explaining their own version of events, because the detective wants to understand everyone’s version of perceiving the truth. In other words, Poirot mysteries have a focus on the whydunnit. 

You can probably tell that now I’m going to gesture wildly at Hakuba’s “Why did you do it”

Speaking of Hakuba’s signature question, it’s probably also worth mentioning the Father Brown stories by G.K Chesterton. The sleuth is a catholic priest, and after his deduction and identifying the culprit, the stories usually end with the priest spending time with the criminal. Before an arrest is made, Father Brown has a private meeting with the killer (or thief). It’s implied that this is carried out as a personal confession of sins, and expresses a need to seek out an understanding of the motive as perceived by the criminal themselves. 

I say this because the catchphrase does come off as a little strange. It’s curious that Hakuba asks why when we usually expect the detective to be able to sort it out by himself. But, it’s really not that strange to find equivalents to it in stories that focus on the psychological part of the crime and empathy towards them. 

(Also worth mentioning that both Christie and Chesterton were presidents of the Detection Club, a group of writers during the golden age of detective fiction that based their stories around the concept of “fair-play” that I mentioned earlier when I was talking about Heiji.  

Back on track: Hakuba and Poirot share key similarities. 

HOWEVER! There are also differences between them. I’m referring to the fact that Poirot puts the most emphasis on this psychological level of a crime. Poirot says “I am not one to rely upon the expert procedure. It is the psychology I seek, not the fingerprint or the cigarette ash” On the other hand, I’d argue that out of all of the Gosho boys, Hakuba is the most fastidious about procedure. He has some level of knowledge of forensic investigation and places importance upon it.

Sherlock’s methods do draw inspiration from precursors of forensic science, so you could trace it back to that. You could also go to R. Austin Freeman’s Dr. John Thorndyke, who is inspired by Holmes, but places a heavier focus on the scientific method behind deductions. Thorndyke is probably the one to properly kickstart the forensic/medical sleuth subgenre that grows later with the improvement and development of DNA evidence and technology. We have Hakuba being observant enough to find one of KID’s hairs, and then use Hakuba labs to narrow his identity down. It doesn’t resemble Poirot’s methods, it also isn’t quite Sherlockian, but it does resemble other classic british sleuths!

OKAY, COOL. WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH THIS RAFFLES. 

I’M NOT REALLY SURE! I NEVER KNOW WHAT I’M DOING! I JUST WANTED TO TALK ABOUT HAKUBA AND DETECTIVE STORIES. 

Alright. This is more of a personal interpretation/headcanon than anything else, but unlike the other three Gosho boys, who have one  clear inspiration/basis/model, I like the idea of Hakuba reading a vast array of detective novels and picking up the little habits, methods, that he finds interesting or comforting. The deerstalker, the name for his hawk, his pocketwatch, his signature question, his methods, his knack for competition, all of them handpicked from the things that he enjoys most about detectives. 

It’s also worth mentioning that all of the authors for these stories I’m associating with Hakuba are British. The thought of him being passionate about English authors as a way to understand his English side of the family is a headcanon I quite enjoy. And, technically, the same could apply to his Japanese side as well. I can imagine young Saguru reading Rampo’s Kogoro Akechi stories and also wanting a rival like the Fiend of Twenty Faces and jumping at the chance of chasing KID because how much he resembles the character. Or appreciating Akako’s cryptic clues because Rampo’s fiction also has supernatural edge to it. 

I don’t know. I just like the idea of Saguru learning about the world, his family, and himself through literature? This is pure, unapologetic self-indulgence on my part, I have to admit. 

Though, if I HAD to assign one specific detective to Saguru, I think it would probably be Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin. Poe’s stories with the character as seen as the start of detective fiction, and Dupin serves as the prototype for detectives to come — even Holmes, even if he doesn’t get nearly as much recognition as Conan Doyle’s detective today. Despite the fact that Hakuba is the original teenage detective in the series, and he’s also often forgotten and neglected by both Gosho and a big portion of the fandom. Even so, he paved the way for Shinichi and Heiji, and is very important regardless. 

Anyway! I don’t know why I wrote this and I am now very embarrassed but thanks for reading all the way!

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs, “G-lock.”

Forgive me my hands are very stiff today, and it made typing really hard for some reason. So I hope you still like it :) 

“Commande, we have contact with supporting GA ships just appeared form warp, what do you need us to do?”

Commander Vir Spun in his spot eyes flying across the open field of battle. Burg ships were slowly descending from the right headed straight towards the Gromm homeworld, and with the Nexus down, they were sure to cause devastation. He could already see swarms of aircraft dropping form the bellies of their great spiked ships and down towards the surface of the planet.

“We have to get fighter’s down there immediately.” he determined, “The Gromm are out there like sitting ducks, and after their planet was hit by the disease not more than a year ago, they can’t take another hit like this to their population.” 

“Commander, we have GA on the comms saying they have shields for us, ready to install.”

The commander was quiet for a moment staring out towards the unfolding chaos, a chaos that should have been noisy, but was now taking place in absolute silence.

He spun again now to face the lieutenant, “Lieutenant! Can you fly this ship?” 

The woman stammered and then after a moment nodded, “yes commander, why.”

He ignored the question, “Than take the chair.”

“But, Commander.”

“I said take the chair, that was not a question it was an order. Make contact with the GA scientists and get those shields up as soon as humanly possible, sooner than humanly possible if we can manage it. Order all reserve pilots down planetside immediately, but reserve me a darkfire and tell the crew I will be down in ten.” The lieutenant stifled her protests, and took the chairt. The commander jabbed a finger at the recruits, “McCaster, you’re with me.”

The recruit looked around in confused disbelief, but was pushed from his seat in confusion.

The commander marched past the control modules, and a hand reached out catching him by the arm. He paused in place looking down at the blue Drev and her piercing golden eyes locking green to gold. There was silence for a quick moment before, “Don’t die.” She said simply 

A rare smile for that day, “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

She let him go unwilling to hold him up any longer, and with that, the two of them raced from the bridge and down towards the docking bay.

Recruit McCaster was huffing and puffing by the time they reached their destination not entirely sure how the Commander managed to do the same running in heelies.

As they ran in, a crew was waiting for them by the only F-90 darkfire still left on the ship, and with them they carried all the flight gear them might need.

Commander Vir kicked off his shoes without even bothering to untie them.

“You're copiloting with me.” The man began, Stropping off his shirt and throwing that after the shoes as well.”

McCaster followed suit scrambling to get into the flight uniform right there on the launch deck, with the help of at least five other people.

Commander Vir wriggled into the olive drab flight suit pulling the helmet on with the oxygen mask hanging open.

He could hardly believe what was happening, “But sir.”

“Shut up and listen, recruit. The Gromm don’t have the population for this right now. Someone needs to get down there and they need to slow down any and all bombing attempts on populated areas. I can’t get the ship in that close without landing her, which is the last thing I want to do. I know my lieutenant can pilot the ship now that we have shields, but there is only one person I trust to dogfight, and that’s me. So can you copilot with me, or do I have to go solo.” 

“No, sir.” McCaster stammered, pulling on his helmet.

“Good.” 

Commander Vir slipped on his shoes last, and together they ran up to the opening cockpit climbing up the ladder and sliding into the seats, Commander Vir in front and McCaster in back trusting that the crew had already looked over the outside of the craft to make sure it was functioning.

McCaster couldn’t believe he was here, with the Commander inside one of the UNSCs most expensive fighter jets. He may as well have won the lottery. The man was a flight school legend, and anyone who could do what he did with a ship like that….. Well he could only imagine what he could do with a jet.

He felt the engines turn on below him slowly accelerating. He knew they would be the jet engines over the fusion engine, since it would be too powerful to start on the ship.

“Harbinger, this is Alpha 1 clear for takeoff.”

“Copy that Alpha one rotating to airlock, hold steady.”

He felt the floor below them begin to move, and his breath came in ragged gasps inside his mask even as cool oxygen flowed over his face. Up ahead the Commander was readying the jet for takeoff, hands flying over the controls. He could hear it, even though he couldn’t really see it.

Red lights flashed outside the cockpit as the airlock doors closed.

And all at once, they were plunged into complete and utter silence all except for his own breathing, and the occasional voice of the commander as he contacted Harbinger flight control.

“Don’t piss yourself recruit. I am going to be flying this bucket of bolts in combat condition, so it's your job to monitor lock, enemy targets, and communicate with flight control from here on out. It's my job to fly and shoot. You got that?”

“Yes sir, loud and clear, sir.”

“Good, Now hold on to your helmet.”

The commander was not kidding, and he almost lost track of himself as the jet rocketed form the opening and into the vastness of space. He groaned in pain as the weight on his chest pressed down for the first few moments, coming out of it just as the commander engaged the fusion core.

He almost blacked out for a second time as the man pushed acceleration to the edges of human capabilities without blowing their eyes from their sockets.

The man barely seemed to notice the space debris that floated around them zipping easily in between charred pieces of metal floating through space. An one of those pieces could have been the death of them, but the commander didn’t seem to notice or care.

He quickly took the moment to remember his job, jumping on the flight tracker trying to find where the Burg drones congregated most heavily. Not to his surprise they found it over the most populated city in the planet.

Jets were already whizzing through each other causing explosions to erupt in the atmosphere like little sparks cast from a fire.

“Adjust course 20 degrees and five down, commander.”

“Copy.” The jets engines pulsed once, changing their course and sending them hurtling across the intervening space.

“Commander, Commander, suggest angled entry.” McCaster said nervously

“No McCaster, we’re going to try something a little bit different.”

He wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that as the planet grew up in their vision. Behind them the harbinger pulsed with a strange purple blue glow distinctly alien in nature, though now she wasn’t much more than a speck rising to meet a line of burg ship who had appeared form warp not moment before to face off against the incoming GA fleet.

The planet was a blue brown orb in their vision now.

The commander bypassed LEO and headed straight downwards.

McCaster felt his stomach drop as little tongues of flame began licking up  at the edges of their wings as friction in the atmosphere began roaring up around them.

“Commander.” he began nervously.

The commander didn’t hear him, and the fire grew up around them even further.

“Commander.”

The jet was shaking fit to erupt into a million tiny pieces. It seemed as if they were about to explode. Then and only then did the commander reverse the engines and slow their fall. Though the weight of gravity now tugged him against his harness suspending him straight perpendicular to the ground.

He watched the distant earth rising up to meet them.

Little red explosions were growing larger and larger in his vision.

And then the commander Cut the fusion engines.

The whirring thrum of the equipment keeping them in the sky cut to a stop, and he couldn’t help but scream as they began to freefall wildly towards the ground. Or at least that is what it looked like. If he had been thinking he would have realised if they were in a wild freefall they would be going down heavy end first, though their nose remained towards the ground as the Commander adjusted the wings minutely to keep them on track as they gained momentum speeding through the atmosphere.

The burg targeting systems were locked primarily to the output of energy, and since their engines were off there would be no energy output other than that of engine falloff which was nothing compared to the other jets roaring around beneath them.

They were coming in for a surprise.

***

A burg drone pilot, safe in his chair back on the burg command ship had locked on to one of the puny human flight vessels. It was shaped like an arrow, a pointy nose at the front and two wings towards the back. They were fast, but he had been pleased to learn that they were manned. If he could manage this he would surely be rewarded for killing one of those horrible humans. 

He locked onto his target despite the best efforts of the human inside. The squishy pumping heart of the jet’s metallic interior.

He clicked his pincers in pleasure.

And then his feed was cut.

He screeched in anger, not sure what had happened until warning lights popped up on his screen.

He had been shot down? From where there were no other jets in the area.

*** Lt holland, was out of flares. The burg ship was fast at his heels and the constant beeping inside his cockpit reminded him incessantly of the lock he was trying to get out of. The burg could fire at any moment and there would be nothing he could do. Behind him, his copilot was twisted to look out the back of the canopy.

“He’s closing fast.”

“I know.”

“He’s getting ready to fire.”

“I know!”

And then the burg ship erupted into an explosion of fiery debris and black metal.

“Holy shit.” His copilot watched in awe as the F-90 darkfire came roaring from the sky, firing its engines at the last second and pulling up from a dive that should have been suicidal. It cut right and down falling into formation just above their left wing.

“Unknown pilot, this is Alpha 1.”

Lt. Holland laughed in astonished relief, “Cutting it a bit close there commander.”

“Don’t worry, you can that me later.” The man responded, 

***

Recruit McCaster had definitely passed out. 

Commander Vir had taken them out of that dive at 9gs .

He had managed up until about the ninth g mark, and then his breathing and his flight technique had faltered. He experienced G lock collapsing against his harness head rolling forward until they came out of the dive seconds later.

“Stop sleeping dammit!” The commander yelled, “Pull yourself together.”

He did as told still lightly groggy and confused.

The commander pulled a hard right dodging past an incoming burg drone aiming to follow the Kamekazi rout. They took a hard turn, nearly causing him to pass out again as they rounded on the tail of the burg drone.

It didn’t take more than a moment for the commander to attain lock and make the shot.

The burg drone erupted into a ball of fire.

They doubled back after that hooking up with a group of pilots and flying in formation towards the epicenter of the attack.

They saw at least one of their own planes explode as it rammed straight into a burg ship. The commander swore violently pulling their jet to the side and down as debris erupted around them. Missiles and bullets flew. Explosions rocked them left and right.

It was all he could do to hold on as the commander piloted the darkfire like brigades of angels were lifting their wings.

Fire erupted below them in the city as the gromm citizens dived for cover. 

A larger, slower burg ship was dropping ordinance from above the city, surrounded by a swarm of fighter drones. Every time they tried to get close, they would be chased away, and every moment it grew closer and closer to the central populated area of the city.

The commander set his sites on those targets as McCaster kept in radio contact with the other pilots feeding the commander real time information as it was going.

“We’ve got a tail!”

“Understood.”

Behind them, A burg ship had dropped into follow, but the commander didn’t seem to be doing anything about it 

“Commander!”

Up ahead two of the burg drones had fallen into formation and were heading straight for them in order to protect their bomber.

“Commander.”

The beeping started up inside the cockpit as the burg attained lock. Ahead of them the drones were buzzing forward heading straight for them.

McCaster screamed in surprise and shock.

Behind them the burg ship fired. The two drones plowed directly towards them, and the commander pulled his move rotating them one hundred and eighty degrees parallel to the ground and firing the flairs. McCaster watched in shock and surprise as both of the burg ships cut below their wings, not inches away erupting into balls of fire as the flairs, usually not meant for attacks, exploded around them, only to be torn apart moments later by the burg’s own missiles.

The explosion was so violent, it rocked them forward sending them into an over-nose jackknifing spin through the air.

McCaster didn’t know which way was down or up.

The earth and the sky spun all around him training the space with each other moment by moment.

He thought they were going to crash, but at the last second, the commander pulled them out of their wild spin, rolled belly up, and fired another round Cutting directly under the burg bomber just in time to send their missile into the open engine block.

The explosion was tremendous practically vaporizing the entire ship and sending little  flakes of metal raining down in all directions.

It wasn’t ideal but at least it was better than the alternative.

McCaster didn’t even know why the commander had bothered to bring him along. The guy was way out of his league, and he could barely remain conscious enough to be useful.

They hadn’t been lying in the academy when they said the man could fly.

In fact, they had been downplaying it.

It just remained to be seen whether the commander’s flight ability would be enough.

Or would the burg still win. 

[k7l4d4]

Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Cross Fic Episode 3 Part 5

Hello all, here’s the second to last section of Episode 3 of Midnight Striga! Everybody Clap Your Hands!!

‘This school is pathetic.’ Boscha mused to herself. ‘It enables stupidity and jeopardizes the potential of those who could be strong.’

“So,” Skara cautiously began, “what are you planning on us doing after school, Boscha?” She was nervous. It was only natural, her closest friend had brutally man-handled her not even ten minutes ago. ‘Don’t think about it.’ She thought to herself.

Boscha blinked, thinking for a moment, before a bloody grin crossed her face. “Practice.”

Skara cringed. For the past three days, practice basically meant Boscha going out and beating any and every demon she came across to a bloody pulp. Skara… wasn’t comfortable with this new Boscha. Sure, she was always aggressive, and really in your face, but she wasn’t a sadist or anything. This blatant cruelty was way beyond anything Boscha had ever been okay with before. Skara desperately glanced around, hoping to find something, ANYTHING, to get Boscha’s mind out of its current headspace. Thankfully, she spotted just the target. 

“Oh my Titan, is that Willow?” Skara called out, shifting Boscha’s attention towards the named girl. Skara grimaced slightly; while she personally didn’t care one way or another about the girl, only really going along with Boscha’s antics in the past because Boscha’s her friend and Willow isn’t, she wouldn’t wish Boscha’s current attention on anyone, even someone she apparently hated.

As Boscha followed Skara’s gaze, her eyes fell on one Willow Park. As she stared at the girl who stood at the absolute bottom of the social ladder, Boscha didn’t fight the vicious grin that came over her. Willow was someone strong who acted weak. She would make a good test. As she walked up to Willow, Skara nervously following behind, Boscha contemplated how this would turn out. Willow clearly saw them, if the fact she darted closer to the wall was any indication, but Boscha was having none of it, slamming her palm in front of Willow’s path.

“Hey, Half-A-Witch. How are things?” Boscha faux-casually asked, visibly shivering. Skara recognized that shiver; it was the same one Boscha got just before she started breaking bones.

Willow marched down the hall, furiously brushing away the tears in her eyes. She hadn’t meant to hurt Amity, no matter how angry she got, but the thing she said… ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’ Willow internally recited, trying to close off the train of thought. Taking a calming breath, Willow soldiered on, even as she feared that she had ruined her chances of getting into the Plant Track, if she wasn’t expelled altogether!!

Willow just wanted some time alone, without having to worry about her temper snapping. As she caught sight of Boscha and Skara, two of her chief headaches, closing in on her, Willow’s heart sank. ‘Not now, of all times!’ She groaned to herself. She braced herself for the coming confrontation, making a token effort to avoid them. Boscha cutting her off was well-within expectations, she dryly noted.

“Hey, Half-A-Witch. How are things?” Boscha asked, shivering for some reason. Ordinarily,Willow would do her best to ignore the girl, maybe act a little more timid to get her to move on quickly. But now? Willow was angry, hurt, and very much willing to stand up to the school’s top jock.

“If you must know, I’m having a bad day, and I’m in now mood to put up with you.” Willow softly growled.

Skara and Boscha both pulled back, Skara in shock, and Boscha… in anticipation.

“So, looks like you finally grew a spine, eh?” Boscha grinned, heedless of the tugs to her uniform Skara was giving.

“And just what is that supposed to mean?” Willow demanded, eyes flashing.

“Just that you’ve been wasting your potential for years.” Boscha ruthlessly stated, arching an eyebrow. As Willow gained an affronted look, and Skara just looked confused, Boscha steamrolled on. “I mean, you’ve got all that power and skill for Plant Magic, but you wasted it on Abominations? Seriously, were you even trying?”

Willow grit her teeth. “It’s more complicated than that.”

Boscha rolled her eyes, smirking. “Sure it is. You know what I think?”

Willow snorted. “No, I don’t. And I honestly don’t want to, either.” She shoved between the two Witches, walking past as quick as she could. It wasn’t quick enough.

“I think you're a coward.” Willow stopped cold, almost rooted in place. Slowly turning, she took in the sight of Boscha’s mocking grin, Skara standing back in shock.

“What did you say?” Willow whispered, her temper starting to rise.

“It's so obvious!” Boscha gleefully cried. “You let yourself get stuck in a track guaranteed to be a dead end, never fight back, and just let everyone walk all over you! You’re a coward.”

“Stop.” Willow started.

“You’re lazy, never even trying to stand up for yourself, even though you could crush more than half the school if you wanted to, you never ask for help, letting yourself sit in mediocrity!”

“Quiet.”

“You could be queen of the school if you really wanted to, but instead you settle for being a nobody. I wonder what your parents would think, if they knew their little girl was this pathetic” Boscha finished, eager to see the reaction she would get, proof as to whether Willow was weak or strong.

“Shut UP!!” With a furious scream, tears rushing down her face, Willow summoned another colossal vine, sending Boscha careening into a wall, before storming off again, this time not bothering to wipe away her tears. Skara rushed over to the other Witchling.

“Boscha!” She cried. “What in the Titan’s name was THAT!?” That was far beyond anything Boscha had ever said to Willow before. Calling out her performance, her abilities, and implying her parents would be ashamed of her? That was ice cold.

Instead of a response, all she heard… was laughter. The soft, unhinged laughter of someone who really didn’t know what was happening anymore, and was just enjoying what they could of it all. “She really is strong! But she acts so Weak. I don’t understand her at all.” Boscha laughed.

“Boscha, come on.” Skara pleaded. “We really should get going. Ah!” Any further attempts on Skara’s part stalled as another girl accidentally knocked into her, as the girl and that one friend of Willow’s, Augustus, took off, with only a faint backwards call of ‘sorry!’ in response. “Oof. Rude.” Skara muttered. 

She sighed, “Alright, you ready to go Boscha…?” Skara’s voice trailed off as she saw the state Boscha was in; she was sitting stock-still, teeth grit tight, eyes wide with disbelief and shock. Before she could say anything, Amity suddenly blew past, not even looking at the two. While this confused Skara, she decided to prioritize her friend(?) on the ground.

As she moved to help pick Boscha up, she overheard some of the other girl’s whispers, not that she understood them. “She’s here! Why is she here!? Is she here for me? Has she heard of me, is she impressed with me? I have to know, I have to know! Why, why, why?”

As Boscha took off in the direction of the group, Skara had a sinking feeling that things were about to get crazy.

As Luz and Gus rounded the bend, finally having caught up to Willow, they froze, uncertain at the sight before them; Willow, shivering in a corner, tears streaming down her face. Luz took a step forward, clearing her throat. “Hey, Willow? You okay enough to talk?” She was certain that, whatever else, Willow was most certainly NOT okay, but she might have it in her to talk about it.

“Y-yeah. I think I can.” Willow hiccuped. “I-I just… I don’t know what to do.” She sniffed, futilely wiping at her eyes with her sleeve, struggling to stem the tide of tears. “Bump will never let me in the Plant Track, not after I attacked a Top Student like that!”

“What!” Gus exclaimed. “Willow, that’s nuts. You’re amazing!”

“And that Amity kid clearly provoked you.” Luz chimed in. “He’d have to be pretty dumb to deny you because of someone else’s actions and choices.”

“Indeed.” The three gasped as Bump seemingly melted out of the shadows (He actually just used one of the hidden corridors known only to the Principal). “And while I may not appreciate the insinuation that I would blame a student for losing control of their emotions after being brutally slandered by another,” he aimed a pointed look at Luz, who did her best to whistle innocently. “I am far from willing to forgive such cruelty on school grounds.” He gave Willow a reassuring grin. “Make no mistake, Miss Park, you are not in any trouble. If it means anything, Miss Blight’s parents will be receiving a call for their daughter’s conduct.” 

He chuckled at the look of amazed disbelief he received from the girl. “Yes, I am capable of looking past a student’s social and financial standing.” He stated, enjoying the sheepish flush of the three. “While I will have to assign you a small punishment for tearing up school property, if only to suspend any attempts by Mr. and Mrs. Blight to see you punished, I am happy to say that your display was more than enough proof of your skills.” With a cheerful twirl, the lavender coloring of Willow’s uniform faded, and was replaced with a rich, leafy green, much to her delight. “Welcome to the Plant Track.”

Willow gazed up with starry eyes. “Thank you, thank you, thank you sir!” She cheered, almost vibrating in place.

“Woo! Way to go Willow!” Gus cheered.

“Got to say, the color suits you better,” Luz smirked, only for her expression to shift to a more thoughtful look. “I know it’s not really any of my business but, is there some kind of history between you and Little Miss Perfect? Because, back there? That screamed personal business.”

“I must confess to being curious myself.” Bump admitted, with Gus adding in his own curiosity.

Willow bit her lip, nervously glancing at them, unsure. But then, as she glanced down, seeing her uniform, her will steeled itself. “To tell the truth, Amity and I used to be best friends.” Willow admitted with a sigh.

“Whoa, wasn’t expecting that.” Luz stated. “If the two of you were good buddies, what happened for you to both get to, well, this point?” She gestured around them, motioning to the small pools of tears at Willow’s feet.

Willow gave a bitter chuckle. “Your guess is as good as mine.” At the questioning looks she received, Willow elaborated. “When we were little, during Amity’s birthday, she told me she didn’t want to be friends anymore. That I wasn’t strong enough, skilled enough. That I wasn’t good enough.” Willow clutched the edge of her uniform. “After that, things just went downhill from there, and here we are.” Gus gasped in outrage, while Bump shook his head in disappointment, and Luz just stared off with a faraway look in her eyes, glaring at nothing.

Amity clenched her hands into fists, tucked around the corner. She bit her lip, having overheard every word. Having the dirty secret between herself and Willow aired at least semi-publicly was… frustrating, to say the least. As she steeled herself for the yelling, she moved to step out from her hiding place-

“HUMAN!!!”

Only to be knocked back by the furious form of Boscha rushing past, Skara frantically trying to keep up.

Luz groaned, annoyed at the sound of her species being shouted to the heavens, even as Willow, Gus, and Bump gave her quizzical looks. Turning, she saw another Witch girl wearing a Yellow-coded uniform, a girl with a red uniform awkwardly hovering nearby. “Can I help you?” She asked, arching an eyebrow.

Boscha paused, processing. She didn’t remember her? After what had happened!? Why was she here? She needed to know. She didn’t know whether to laugh, to cry, to scream. She needed to understand what was happening, she NEEDED to. “Why are you here!?” She demanded, ignoring Skara’s attempts to grab her attention.

Luz cocked her head, confused. “I came because I needed something to do, and I had something to find.” At the perplexed noises from the others, Luz remembered she never told them she was looking for something. Turning her head back, she added. “Yeah, part of the reason I asked Willow to bring me here was because I was trying to find a lead for… something I lost a few days ago.”

“Half-A-Witch?” Boscha muttered, heedless of the angry stares she got from the girl in question, as well as her.

“Yeah.” Luz replied, eyes narrowed. Suddenly, she gained a confused look, turning her head back and forth. “I’m sorry, have we met before? You seem kind of familiar.”

Boscha growled, caught between mind-numbing joy at the knowledge that she remembered her, and frustrated rage at how poorly that recollection was. “My name is Boscha.” She bit out. “You humiliated me in front of my friends and the town.”

“Ah.” Luz calmly replied. She wasn’t particularly worried, but it was good to know what she was working with. “So I’m guessing this is some kind of attempt to get revenge or something?” She hated those types of things, but it wouldn’t be the first time some idiot came after her because she “refused to show them proper respect,” or some crap like that.

“No.” Boscha calmly said, lifting her arms in a what-can-you-do gesture. “I already tried that, and I still lost.” She trailed off, remembering that night, as well as the jewel she found, and how it beckoned to her. “Our fight, if you could call it that, was a wake-up call to me. It seems so obvious in retrospect,” She gave a gaze of what Luz thought was admiration her way, “But you really put it into focus. What point is social standing, popularity, any of it, when one is weak?” She gave a bitter chuckle. “Nothing. Without strength, all that amounts to nothing but an illusion of real power. Those who cling to such things? Worthless. Like I was.” All present who knew Boscha rocked back at her statement. What she said was… very much contradictory to Boscha’s personality and beliefs. Boscha, calling herself weak? It made no sense.

Boscha walked forward, pushing her face incredibly close to Luz. “I kept thinking about, you know, what you said that night. About how you consider yourself neither strong or weak, merely continuing to find new ways to improve your skills and power.” A dreamy expression crossed Boscha’s face, much to Luz’s discomfort. “I couldn’t get it out of my mind, how much sense it made.” She pulled back, laughing. “What was I thinking all these years!? I let myself become complacent, I stopped pushing, assuming I had reached the peak, when in truth I was just another face in the crowd.” Her grin took on a manic hint. “I was really looking forward to when I ran into you again, so I could show you just what I was capable of, how far I’ve managed to grow!”

“Uh huh,” Luz said slowly, inching away from the unstable sounding Witch. “That sounds… really great and all, but I’ve kind of got other things to do. Maybe some other time?”

Boscha’s expression grew frightened. “What? No! You have to stay, you have to see what I can do!! You have to see how strong I’ve grown!!” The desperate, manic intensity in her voice grew with each word, the red color bleeding into her eyes growing more potent with each passing second.

“Look kid, Boscha, right?” At the girl’s frantic nod, Luz continued, “I only barely remember you. Whatever happened was only slightly above any other day for me. So, yeah, I think I’m gonna go.” As she tried to move, however, Boscha’s arm lashed out, gripping Luz’s arm painfully.

“No.” Boscha breathed out, utterly calm, aside from the mania in her eyes.

“Boscha, I must insist that you let Miss Noceda go,” Bump stated, pushing forward towards the two. “This behavior is unacceptable for a star athlete such as yourself!”

“Stuff it, Old Man!” Boscha shrieked, the hand gripping Luz’s arm growing hot. Everyone reeled from the extreme disrespect and hint of madness in Boscha’s voice. “She has to see what I can do, she has to!” She punctuated her statement by pointing her finger dramatically in Bump and the others’ direction, with Luz fixating on the object tucked in her fist; a very familiar looking jewel.

“Hey!” Luz spoke up, pointing at Boscha’s fist. “That’s what I’ve been looking for!”

“Huh? When did I put this in my uniform?” Boscha pondered, confused as to just when, exactly, she had brought the jewel with her. As much as she seemed to fixate on it at home or in private, she thought she had left it behind. 

Hearing Boscha’s words, and getting some seriously bad vibes from what was said, Luz spoke up again. “Yeah, that thing is insanely dangerous. I’m really gonna need you to give that back.” She reached out for the Lacrima, slowly prying her arm away from Boscha’s burning grip.

“What?” Boscha said, her confusion rapidly morphing into panic, throwing Luz over to the others. “No! You can’t take it, it’s mine!” She shouted, desperately clutching at the jewel like a lifeline.

“Uh, Boscha, maybe you should?” Skara hesitantly spoke up, concern echoing across her voice. “You’ve been acting really weird ever since you got that thing. It might be dangerous, you know?” She slowly reached out, hoping Boscha would calm down.

Her anger suddenly spiking, Boscha spun around, her hand bursting into flames, slamming around Skara’s throat. “YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!!!” Without another world, she hurled Skara over towards the others, a scream ripping out of the poor girl’s throat.

“Skara!” Amity’s eyes widened in shock, almost uncomprehending of what she had witnessed; Boscha had just essentially branded Skara across the throat. With a shout, she broke out of cover, rushing for the wounded girl. “Boscha, what’s wrong with you!? This is insane, even for you!” While she had never thought highly of the sportier girl, she had honestly thought she was above such acts.

“You just maimed your friend!” Luz roared. “What’s wrong inside your head, kid!?” She demanded, bracing herself for a fight.

“QUIT CALLING ME KID!!” Boscha screamed, summoning a colossal wave of blood-red flames in all directions. “IF YOU WON’T TAKE ME SERIOUSLY, THEN I’LL MAKE YOU!!!!”

With a scream, the assembled Witches and human rushed for the door, desperate to escape the conflagration. With a heave, Amity tossed Skara over her shoulder, not willing to leave her in the same room as the apparently crazed Witchling.

“No, stop,” Skara croaked, coughing lightly.

Amity gave her an incredulous look. “Are you kidding!? She just burned your throat! You’ll be lucky if you don’t suffer permanent damage, and that’s IF we get you to a Healer in time!”

Skara stubbornly wiggled. “She didn’t mean it. That jewel’s doing something to her I think. I can’t just abandon her.”

Amity huffed, frustrated at Skara’s stubbornness. “Even if that’s true, she attacked you! Whether she meant to or not, she’s dangerous at the moment, and could Kill you!”

“You don’t know that!” Skara insisted. “I can get through to her, I know it!”

“You’re deluding yourself!” Amity spat back. “How could you possibly help in this situation?”

“I don’t know.” Skara bluntly admitted. “But it’s better than abandoning my friend when she needs me!”

That struck a chord with Amity, one she viciously stamped down on. Scoffing, she carried the protesting girl out the doors.

Just as they all were about to finish crossing the doors, Luz paused.

“Luz, hurry! Come on!” Willow insisted.

Instead, Luz grabbed the doors, silently mouthing out ‘sorry’ before slamming them closed, and quickly locking them. She turned back to the raging flames the Witchling had summoned, casting a shield to allow the flames to wash over her. Or, at least, it was supposed to. To her surprise, and alarm, the flames crashed against the Barrier, before cracking it, sending Luz scrambling out of the way as they roared past. To her shock, the flames pooled around the doors, all of them, completely blocking off the corridor from the outside world.

“Now.” Boscha crooned. “We’re all alone.”

“Yeah, so what?” Luz snorted, bracing herself for an attack, “You want a medal?”

Boscha laughed. “No, of course not! I just want to prove myself to you, that’s all!”

“Oh great, you’re one of those.” Luz muttered under breath.

“Now please, do me a favor, okay?” Boscha said. Her face morphed into the same manic intensity as before. “And BURN!” With another roar, a storm of flames came hurtling towards Luz.

Biting back a curse, Luz began to cast as quickly as she could. “Light-Make: Battlement!”

A glimmering fortification manifested before her, taking the brunt of the blast. Rushing around her defense, Luz barely ducked a flying Haymaker from Boscha, who had closed the distance in a blink. With a snarl, Luz called up a blast of light, hoping to send Boscha sprawling, only for the other Witch to take it without flinching.

Skittering back, Luz did her best to tune out the crazed girl’s cackling. ‘Damn, I can’t believe I forgot the first rule of battling Slayers,’ She internally berated herself. ‘Never let them set the pace of the fight.’ Slayers, those who practiced one of the Lethal Arts, such as Devil Slayer Magic, were all insanely tough, strong, and quick for their builds and ages. Apparently, Boscha had been channeling that Lacrima since she picked it up, and the synchronicity had started hitting its peak. “Light-Make: Spear Storm!” Crafting a collection of spears, Luz sent them flying, hoping at least one would hit the empowered girl.

It wasn’t meant to be. With almost laughable ease, the girl’s arms whipped forward, effortlessly shattering each spear. “Burn!” She roared again, launching a flame-clad punch at Luz, almost pulverizing her ribs. As Luz skid back, she clutched at her chest, feeling a familiar burning pain, and she didn’t mean the flames.

‘Yep, she broke a rib.’ Luz winced. “Damn it. Light-Make: Halberd!” She cried, swinging the colossal spear-like weapon, watching in satisfaction as Boscha slid backwards after catching the blade, a small ribbon of blood flowing from her hand at the point of contact. ‘But at least I got a hit in!’

“I won’t lose again!” Boscha roared, blasting away with her flames. As Luz desperately ducked and weaved around the blasts, she caught sight of something that chilled her to the bone; the Lacrima was sunk into Boscha’s wounded hand. That was very bad.

“H-hey!” Luz called out. “Are you sure you want to do this? We can end this right now, you know!”

“Not a chance!” Boscha cried, launching a barrage of punches towards the human, each connecting solidly. Luz held in the cry of pain that threatened to break out. ”Can you see it? How strong I’ve become!?” With a fierce shout, and a fiercer uppercut, Boscha sent Luz flying, jaw rattling from the head-ringing blow. “Now that I have this power, nothing can hold me back anymore!!”

“Is that seriously what you want out of life?” Luz ground out, teeth feeling dangerously loose. “To not be held back? Sounds a little lonely, you know?”

Boscha scoffed. “I Don’t need them, they don’t need me! I’m doing just fine on my own!”

“Yeah, but you’re completely alone.” Luz pointed out. “What’s the point of being strong without others around to use that strength for?”

Boscha paused, frozen in place. Why did she care so much about being strong? She shook the thought away. She wouldn’t be distracted, not now! So what if people were afraid, that just meant they acknowledged her power!

“Boscha, are you really okay? Maybe we can find something else to do.”

She roared, lashing out against the human that had beaten her so easily, utterly dominating the fight. A perfect reversal. It didn’t matter if she was alone, she was doing just fine!

“You just burned your friend!”

Who cared if she hurt Skara!? What did it matter if everyone left her!? Each thought was punctuated by a vicious blow against the human, who was curiously not attempting to defend herself.

“Hey, at least you’ll always have me, right?”

She didn’t care… She DIDN’T CARE!!! With a scream, she sent Luz flying again. “Fight back! How can I prove my strength if you don’t fight back!!” She needed to prove herself, she just had to! If she didn’t then everything was for nothing!! The fights, the attacks, the scared glances and whispers in the hall, ...Skara. None of it was worth it if she couldn’t prove it!! “Why aren’t you fighting anymore!?”

With a slow steady pace, Luz strolled over to Boscha, heedless of the harried blasts of flame sent her way; each went flying wide. Mentally, she tallied her injuries; her left shoulder was one good bop from dislocating, three of her ribs were cracked, she felt as if she had a hairline fracture running along the length of her right arm, and she’d probably have to be careful around tough foods for a while. As she finally made her way to Boscha, the almost rabid Witch twitching with violent energy, she looked her in the eyes, and said the only thing that mattered, “Because you’re crying.”

As the murderous fury cleared from her face, Luz watched as Boscha unconsciously relaxed, slowly reaching up to her face, astonishment clear as her fingers came away wet. “What? But I-! I don’t-. Why is this?”

Calmly placing both hands on the girl’s shoulder, Luz asked her, “Is this honestly what you want?”

“I don’t know.” Boscha mumbled, before gaining a feverish energy. “I Don’t Even Know!! All I know is that you came into my life, and the world doesn’t make sense any more!!” Her vision grew thick with increased tears, all but blinding her. “I don’t know what I want! I just keep feeling angry, and scared and I don’t understand anything anymore!” Snot started flowing from her nose as her tears increased even further, actively sobbing now. “I-I just, I just want the world to start making sense again.” She clutched her head, a pained look on her face. “What am I even doing!? I was attacking kids in the street! I went so far beyond anything I’ve ever done to someone! And Skara!” She cried out. “I BURNED SKARA!!! What’s WRONG WITH ME!?”

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, desperately ignoring the screaming pain in her limbs, Luz slowly helped lower Boscha to her knees, bringing her in close. She… was out of practice on giving this kind of comfort, but the least she could do was try. “I can’t say I understand what you’re going through, not entirely. But I think I might have an idea to help with your temper issues.” She gave what she hoped was a reassuring grin.

Boscha gave her a hopeful look. “You mean it?”

Luz nodded firmly. “Yeah. I’m not sure how to help you with the rest, but I can help you with this.” She held out a hand. “Just let me take a look at that wound on your hand, okay?”

With a shaking tentativeness, Boscha reached out, showing the injury to the girl.

Luz sucked in a breath. It was worse than she had feared. The Lacrima was sunk deep; any chance of extracting it was officially gone, not without the backlash killing the girl. She sighed. “Yeah, I can help with this, but it’ll hurt. Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Boscha exclaimed, an almost mad desperation in her eyes. “Please!!”

“Okay.” Luz stated, bracing herself for any sudden uncontrolled attacks in response to what came next. “This is going to hurt, okay?” At Boscha’s nod, Luz added. “And while I’m not sure I can help with your existential crisis, I can be there to help, if you want me to.” Not giving Boscha a chance to respond, Luz grasped the Lacrima… and shoved it all the way in, gritting her teeth at Boscha’s ear-splitting scream of pain. As the pain ran its course, luckily without Boscha letting loose any spells in a frenzy, the girl blissfully lost consciousness. With a tired sigh, Luz slung the exhausted girl over her shoulders, wondering how she could or would explain all this.

Eh, she’d figure something out.

[wretchedbitch]

bee...i would like 2 know your take on the dynamic of our problematic fav akigure’s relationship. how are they when they’re not being petty & bitter towards each other? is shigure more open with his emotions? does akito reciprocate? are there truly any Soft akigure moments?

Let me just  preface by saying I personally am not much of a fan of post-canon Akigure. I’m a bigger fan of their dynamic in the messier, more toxic capacity (bc lbr that shit hits). I just think that their endgame was pretty abrupt, and not the most consistent with the development or the context we’d been given for their dynamic throughout the series. It’s a little whiplash inducing in my opinion, and I guess one can suspend disbelief enough to figure that by the time their dynamic comes to exist as it does by the end of the series they’ve spent some time “working on their shit.” But, I don’t know … I think that’s kind of a big ask. For this “wholesomeness” to come from all that toxicity and complicated feelings that quickly I’m just not buying it. 

HOWEVER: 

Do I think that it is out of character for them to exist in a non-toxic relationship or that they are incapable of having soft moments? No, absolutely not. I just don’t vibe with the way those dynamics coexist in the narrative of Fruits Basket. While I’m not always the most comfy with acknowledging Fruits Basket Another because it’s not something I 100% dig or have caught up with, we do get to see a little bit of their dynamic as a couple and as parents in FBA. I think the pair of them as a couple in a healthier context are a very subdued couple. They just like to be in each other’s company. I would like to think that Shigure is more open with his emotions, especially considering that while the two of them definitely have their own shit to work on Akito has far more baggage to reel in and personal growth to achieve. I would like to think that Shigure is supportive and complaint in those regards. Admittedly, it’s kind of difficult for me to imagine how they are as a healthy couple outside of the few bits we see in FBA that let us know “Aw, they are gentle; and he’s still a shit and she’s still reserved but it works.” The concept feels so almost fabricated to me after being absorbed in this long narrative haul that is their messy relationship. So, I guess in short I think they eventually have the capabilities to be kind to one another and express genuine love without any games or power trips because that’s what extended canon has mapped out for us. But, I’m not the biggest fan of how point A got to point B. 

[fireteam-dauntless]

A Tale of Two Guardians XXV

Chapter 25 : Reevaluation  Part 1 of the Destined series  masterlist

word count : 2.0K tag list : @mail-me-a-snail @basically-nacl @shins-wife @speed-boop​

I woke in my apartment.  I felt better; more relaxed, more awake.  I was expected to appear before the Vanguard this morning at eight o’clock.  I glanced at my clock, it was right before 6.  Sunrise would be coming soon, so I rolled out of bed and got into the shower.  The hot water felt glorious on my skin and the tension in my body was slowly releasing.  I wasn’t looking forward to seeing the Vanguard today.  I’m sure Zavala was going to be furious, and he would probably be pushing for me to be suspended, or even put on lockdown, until I could correct my behavior.  Maybe even Ikora would agree with him, I’ve been way out of line.  I was so personally invested in this mission that my judgement was clouded.  The only one who might oppose would be Cayde, since I’ve been on the team with Skinner and Maverick.  The only reason Ikora might oppose is because I’m one of the few Stormcallers left.

I stepped out of the shower and dried off my body, then wrapped myself in a bathrobe.  I dried my hair with a towel as I walked downstairs.  I rounded the corner into the kitchen, and turned on a pot of coffee.

“Oh, you’re awake.”  I whipped around at the sound of the voice and thrust my hands forward, a Thunderstrike erupted out of my palms and flashed across the room.  A small yelp of pain followed, as well as a dense thud.  “Agh!  What was that for?!”

My eyes widened when I realized it was Maverick.  He was clutching onto his shoulder as his Ghost appeared.  I looked at Dawn as she appeared beside me.  “Why didn’t you tell me he was here!”  I hissed at her, then went over to Maverick and helped him stand up.  “Mav, I’m so sorry.  I didn’t know you were here.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,”  he said as his Ghost started healing him.  “I’m just glad you’re awake.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.  Did you stay here the whole time?  How long have I been out?”

“It’s been about two days since I brought you home.  I stayed in case Zavala tried to send any of his Bounty Hunters in here.  He did once, but they didn’t even get a foot in the door.  I didn’t let them.”

“I—thank you, mon cherie, for staying here.  Do you need anything?”  I asked as I stood and looked around the living room.  The files were piled neatly on the table, my mug that I shattered had been cleaned up and thrown away.  Anything that I had knocked over in my fit of rage was picked up or tossed if it was broken.  I walked over to the burned painting and gently ran my fingers over the scorched edges.  I couldn’t believe I had destroyed it, and I felt tears burning in my eyes.  “I wish I could change things…” I whispered quietly.

“I know,” he said.  “But you were justified.  I guess I can understand that… that you hated me in the moment.”

“But still… this feels so wrong.  I’ve never destroyed any of my pieces like this.”  I walked away from it and into the kitchen, Maverick right behind me.  I pulled down a new mug and poured myself a cup of coffee.  After taking a couple sips, I sighed.  “Maverick… there’s so much I didn’t know about you.  Why, why did you feel like you had to hide from me?”

There was a long pause when I turned to him.  He was looking at the ground, like he was ashamed.  “Angel… You have to understand, there’s a lot about me that I didn’t want you to know.  When people know who I am, when they know me only for what I’ve done and accomplished, they change.  I… I didn’t want you to change.  To be honest, I fell in love with the blissfully unaware Warlock that I met at the entrance to the Vault.  I just wanted to feel like a normal Guardian again.”  

I felt my cheeks flush and I looked down at the floor.  I felt guilty for looking in the file now.  “I should have just asked you…” I murmured softly.  

He laughed softly.  “In your defense, you did.”  When I didn’t respond, Maverick smoothed a hand over my hair and gently lifted my chin.  “Genesis, this isn’t your fault.  I should have told you sooner, I know, but I didn’t want you to leave our team if you knew.”

“I understand, Mav,” I said quietly.  “But… I need to get ready.  The Vanguard is expecting me within the hour.”  I watched the expression on his face shift, almost like he was worried or scared.  “Hey….” I smiled gently and placed my hand on his arm.  “I’m not going to let them love me away.  Everything’s going to be fine.”

I placed my mug down and went upstairs to get suited up.  I slipped on my Nerigal Savant III set that I had gotten from Ikora, and went back downstairs.  “Maverick, go get Skinner and just wait for me.  I’ll be back soon.”  As we walked out of my apartment, Maverick caught my hand and stopped me before I could get away.

“Angel…”

“Mon cherie,” I said softly.  “I promise you, everything is going to be fine, okay?” 

He paused a moment before he sighed and nodded. “Okay.”

I smiled and kissed him softly.  His hand squeezed mine tightly.  When we parted, I gave him a reassuring smile, and went on my way towards the Tower.

“You know you can’t actually keep that promise, right?”  My Ghost said once we were out of earshot.  I nodded in acknowledgement as I carried my helmet in my left hand, and ran my fingers through my hair. But I didn’t want to believe in the possibility of getting locked up again.  I had to perish the thought.

————— 

“Genesis Page, do you understand the gravity of your actions?”  Zavala’s voice was hard and stern.  

I stood before the Vanguard, my helmet placed on the table in front of me.  I avoided eye contact with the Vanguard Commander.  I already explained to him why I disappeared, why I snuck into the Archives, and why I decided to come back.  “Commander, I already explained to you everything.  I know I acted rashly and completely on impulse and my emotions.  And I know that after our unauthorized mission to Phobos, I asked you to give me a chance to prove myself.  I know where I stand, and I know my position isn’t good.  But Commander, please, you must understand—”  I looked up and met his harsh gaze, and he interrupted me before I could continue to defend myself.

“You should be put under lockdown,” Zavala warned, his voice low and cautionary. “Guardian, you are out of control.”

“Genesis is right, Zavala,”  Ikora interrupted.  “She knows she was wrong to act as she did, which not many will admit.  I believe that she should go back into the field after a few days, perhaps.  There is still much she doesn’t know about Maverick and Conor’s mission to kill Crota.”

“Genesis, you left the Tower with nothing but your helmet and a hand cannon,”  Cayde-6 said.  He was staring at me with a mix of admiration and maybe worry.  “You could very well have died.  But you survived on your own on Venus.  And yeah, she screwed up,” he turned to Zavala, “but she’s capable enough to continue.  She should go back into the field, her fireteam needs her to complete this mission.”

“And now that she knows the truth of Crota’s death,” Eris said from the side of the room,  “she is better equipped to carry out this mission to end the Taken King.”

“Enough!”  Zavala shouted and slammed a fist on the table.  I winced and looked down again.  “Genesis, you must be put under lockdown.  We let you go once, but we can’t make the same mistake again.”  

“Zavala, please, if you would just listen—!”

He held up a hand to silence me, then typed in a code on the table.  Two of the Bounty Hunters that I passed on my way inside walked in behind me.  

No, I thought to myself.  Not today.  

Arc energy surged through my core, straight through my arms, legs, and mind.  I cast my Stormtrance and looked over at the Bounty Hunters, who backed off, but still kept their weapons trained on me.  I turned back towards the Vanguard.  They all had backed away from the table, but Ikora was smiling proudly and Cayde was grinning, like he was antsy to see what was happening next.  Zavala was the only one who looked angry that I cast my super inside of the Tower.  Before he could react or say a thing, I blinked directly in front of him, my eyes white with the Arc energy that was flowing through my body.

“Go ahead, Commander,” I taunted.  “Lock me up.  Try.  But I am no use to the Vanguard or to my team if I am on lock down.”

I heard the door burst open behind me, both Skinner and Maverick had rushed inside, ready to defend me.  I turned to look at them and they both stopped in place.  I had this under control.  Skinner nodded and placed a hand on Mav’s shoulder, but they both were grinning.  I turned back to Zavala once the Arc Light around me faded.  He simply stared at me in disbelief.  But I didn’t touch him.  His bounty hunters couldn’t do anything, since I didn’t attack anyone.  After a moment of tense silence, Zavala sighed.

“Your temper needs to be brought under control, Guardian.”

“I am in complete control of my emotions and my Light, Commander.”

He walked away from me and over to Ikora, and they spoke quietly for a moment.  I glanced at my Fireteam with a faint smile on my lips.  I was glad they had my back, even if I didn’t need it.

“Yes… Very well…” Zavala turned back to me, almost looking disappointed.  “Genesis, you will be able to return to the field after a few days to… cool off.  Take this time to learn more about your Fireteam.  Be ready to return to the field in 72 hours.  Dismissed.”

The Vanguard all left the room, followed by the bounty hunters.  I looked at Maverick and Skinner, and walked over to him.  I smiled at Mav.  “See?  I told you everything would be fine.”

Skinner laughed maniacally.  “You should have seen the look on Zavala’s face!  The only other person who’s stood up to Zavala like that had been Metal Man over here!”

Maverick hugged me tightly.  “Good.  I say we all go drinking before we sit down and talk about the team’s history.  This is a victory for all of us.  Especially you.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you confront someone like that, especially not the Vanguard,” Skinner added as we walked out of the room.

“Well,” I said and wrapped one arm around each of their shoulders.  “What can I say?  I have a family to fight for.”

Maverick leaned down to my ear.  His mouth brushed gently against the shell of my ear and my cheeks lit up pink with blush.  “I’m proud of you, Angel,”  he said quietly, so quietly that Skinner didn’t even hear him.

I smiled softly as we entered the Plaza and Skinner hit the button for the Elevator down to the City.  “Thank you,” I whispered back.

[legobiwan]

2, 3, 5, 22? Please?

2. whose wardrobe would you steal?

Probably some weird combo of Han Solo, Dr. Aphra, and Rako Hardeen. Except switch the light undershirt for a dark one.

(*looks down at self* Do I possibly have a thing with utility vests, collared shirts, and sensible I-will-fight-you-now pants? I mean….yeah, the lego says as they are currently wearing a vest, collared shirt, fingerless gloves, and a pair of pants which are both semi-stylish and capable of fighting in.)

3. (old) republic or confederacy of independent systems (separatists)

CIS just because it’s what I’m most familiar with but the Old Republic has some juicy political storylines (Ruusan Reformation, anyone?) that I have encountered in passing in my research, but would love to delve into a bit more. 

(I just love Dooku so much, though.)

5. what’s the worst headcanon you’ve ever seen?

hahaha, like, I’ve been asked this question by almost everyone who sent me an ask. People want the gossip!

In all seriousness, it depends on the context. I’ve seen tropes I love completely manhandled (overpowering characters, characters who can do no wrong, etc.) and tropes I generally steer way clear of done so well that I could suspend my disbelief for a bit. And honestly, I’m wracking my brain for a single thing that I have found TOTALLY offensive and I just can’t come up with one. So instead, I’ll list some ideas that I generally avoid because they clash with my personal interpretation of the GFFA. 

I disagree with any idea that Obi-wan is totally virtuous and without fault. The man is complicated and there is far more going on beneath the surface than the “total Jedi” we are supposed to see. I would also disagree with the idea that Qui-gon went out of his way to hurt Obi-wan. Qui-gon cared, but he was terrible at showing it and had a large (LARGE) tendency to get way too wrapped up in himself. Finally, I’m not on-board with an uncomplicated interpretation of Anakin and Padmé’s relationship, just because of the fifteen million red flags in their courtship.

(For the record, this doesn’t cover shipping, which I have spoken about in the past. “Ship and let ship” is always my guiding philosophy, but I am personally not so into anything involving Obi-wan with Qui-gon or Anakin, with some very rare exceptions. But if that’s your bag, I’m not here to tell you no :)

22. if you could give any character advice, who would you give it to and what would you say?

Okay, here’s something different. I would give advice to Padmé. Mostly, I would give her advice about her whirlwind courtship with Anakin, that it was rushed, that they didn’t really know each other, that they were young, that they would change, that she would be jeopardizing so much what she had worked for with a series of rash decisions and to just slow the fuck down with the entire thing. I mean, fine, date the Jedi, but please, I beg of you, put the brakes on. Don’t sacrifice yourself, your accomplishments, your person - just for a relationship. It’s not worth it.