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gainaxvel3o · 4 years ago

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Clark x Bruce for the imaginary love lives please! If you do this, thanks and I’m excited to read it :)

He heard the alarm and went as fast as he could.

Superman moved at the speed of sound. Bruce made it a general rule to the League that they stay out of Gotham. If he used the JLA Communicator for this that meant things were bad. Clark tried not to think of the various worst case scenarios as he reached the Acme Warehouse.

Upon his ears picked up a cough, Clark flew faster.

Smashing the wall with his bare hands, Superman surveyed the situation. Bruce, still in the Batman costume, was coughing while lying on the bed, an infusion pump dumping a yellow liquid into him. The Joker was on another bed next to his, smiling his ever sickly evil grin while he was tended to by Harley. She panicked. “Big blue’s in town! Shit!” Harley cheered. “Mistah J we need to run! I was expectin’ the birds or the kajillion Batgirls but not this!” “Oh quiet Harley,” Joker responded. “We already threw the gag out there, we might as well go all the way with it! Come on, welcome to the party!”

Superman didn’t waste any time. “What did you do to him?!? “Now settle down Boy Scout you shouldn’t be so angry until I explain everything.” Joker smiled. “Which I will! See, I was taking a stroll around town, borrowing the usual materials I use to bring all the laughs to the dour city when I happened to come across something interesting.”

The Joker pointed at the pump.

“A unique chemical compound that slowly drain the life out of the people. I’m not one to kill my favorite people, but I thought it would be funny if I shared it with your old pal Batman and see if anyone wants to try saving him.” “You diseased maniac!” Superman shouted. “Where’s the cure?” “The cure? Well…” Joker laughed, the same infuriating laugh that made Superman’s skin crawl. “There’s only one way to cure him. Catch!” He tossed a syringe to Superman, who looked at him confused.

“See, in addition to be a clever comedian I’m a brilliant scientist! I pumped the stuff inside of me to check how it works. Turns out my unique chemistry turned the chemical into antibodies. Only drawback is that if you take my blood, I die.”

“Don’t…” Bruce, trying desperately to remain conscious, begged. “Don’t do what he says… it’s a trick…” “You can’t be too sure of that Batsy!” Joker grinned harder. “So what will it be Supes? You want to save him, you’re gonna need kill me! Not save him and he dies while I live. Your code or your friend! Ohohohohoho what a lovely decision!”

Harley glanced back and forth between Superman and her Mistah J. Being his disciple (and girlfriend even if he won’t admit it) she was familiar with this kind of trap. Batsy’s only in a severe degree of pain but not actually dying. She wasn’t sure if Superman could detect it given the X-Ray vision and the hearing and the other powers in his arsenal. Harley was actually curious. What would Superman do? “Tick tock Superman,” Joker said. “Made a choice yet?” A laugh. It didn’t come the Joker, like one would expect. No… it came from Superman. He held the syringe steady. “Okay. You win.” He said. “I’ll draw your blood.” Harley had to check her ears for that. One she made sure there wasn’t any left over ear wax from this morning, she allowed her jaw to fall. “What…” Joker was also pretty gobsmacked. “I mean- what?” “Yeah. Raise your arm.” Superman smiled. It wasn’t out of joy, more a sneer. “I don’t like the situation, but if it means saving Batman I’ll do it.” For a second, Batman struggled against the bed, trying to say something, break out, but his body was too weak. Whatever he said, Superman didn’t register it. He didn’t need to. He knew what he was doing. “Whoah let’s not get crazy here!” Joker took a step back. “No objections or anything? No third option no nothing?!? You’re just giving up?!” “Why not?” Superman said. "Someone’s going to die either way. Better the mass murdering lunatic from Gotham than it’s favorite son.”

And his husband, though Superman left it unsaid. He didn’t want this monster to know anything. “Wow, the great Superman just gives up!” Joker laughed. “I wish I had a camera so I could record it! I won, you lose and snooze and-“ “Yeah yeah yeah, you’re playing five dimensional chess against me and this is somehow going all according to your master plan even though when the dust settles you’ll be dead, I won’t go crazy murdering everyone for no reason and you won’t get your ultimate final battle with Batman.” Harley had never seen the Joker’s eyes twitch so violently. His hands were shaking in bitter spiteful rage.

“Come on Joker,” Superman said. “You wouldn’t want to leave this Earth without pulling a great gag. This? Just pathetic really.” “Oh you want funny! I’ll give you fucking funny!”

The Joker punched Superman in the chest. He clutched his hand in pain, now realizing he had broken it.

“Okay thanks for that.” Superman grabbed Joker’s hand, readying the syringe. “Be ready!” “No… no wait I was kidding!” Joker’s eyes widened and his voice broke. “The chemicals won’t actually kill Batman! It’s temporary! Please don’t kill me!”

“Mistah J!” Harley cried out. “I thought we were supposed to go all the way with a gag!” “Nuh uh, not me! I quit! Not going to lose to the big blue boy who can’t wear his undies in the right direction.” Superman smirked. “All edge, no bite… you really are a bad comedian Joker.” _____________________________________________________________________________________

After locking up Joker and Harley in Arkham, Superman took Bruce to the Bat Cave.

Alfred tended to his master, wiping the blood drawn from disconnecting the pump. Bruce looked over to Clark.

“Thanks Clark.” Bruce said. “It was an impressive bluff you made there.”

“Learned it from the best,” Clark smiled, kissing Bruce’s cheek. “Didn’t think you’d call me to be honest.” “The children were out on a mission. You were the only one that could get here fast enough.” “Love you too Bruce.” “Brrrrr. Using that word. Don’t repeat it.” “What? I love you?”

“There you again.” Clark laughed. Alfred rolled his eyes. “Well you’re clearly content in your lover’s quarrel,” Alfred walked up the stairs, “See you both in the morning.” They were left alone. Bruce searched his husband’s face and body, while Clark stood there and smiled.

“About that what happened Clark…” “Hm?"

“If the Joker hadn’t been lying…” Bruce said. “Would you really have let him die?” Clark sighed. “Bruce…” “Really Clark?!?” “If it was between you and him, I would have.” Clark decided to stand his ground. “You know I despise killing anyone as much as you do.” “Then why contemplate it at all?!” Bruce was shouting now. “No one deserves to die!” “No one does. But Bruce, it was between him or you. If it turned out killing him would save you… I’d feel horrible for the rest of my life, I would be ashamed, I would take anything you say afterwards… but I’d do it. What kind of hero would I be if I let a single innocent life die just so I could feel better about having unstained hands?” Clark looked away. “I only hope when the time comes you’d do the same.” Neither said a word. Bruce was no doubt furious, whether himself or Clark it didn’t matter. Superman sighed.

“I’m going to head to bed. Care to join me?” Bruce got out of the table. “In an hour. There’s things I need to check on the Bat-Computer.” Clark nodded. He didn’t want to admit it, not now, but he knew a rift had formed between them just now. He just hoped it would resolve itself sooner rather than later.

Author’s Notes:

I had a surprisingly good time writing this. It’s a bit of a fix fic for Action Comics #719 where Joker similarly infects Lois with a poison and Superman IS ABOUT TO LET HER DIE instead of killing him. It was such a bad display of Superman’s no kill rule that I decided to call a do over. No I don't want Superman to be going around snapping necks constantly but there’s ways to portray the no kill code that don’t involve making your heroes look like self righteous assholes and that comic ain’t it!

As for Batman… well, I don’t have a lot of positive feelings about him these days but writing his interactions with Clark felt natural and the idea of them having a conflict over the no kill code was an interesting idea. I liked doing it. That’s all I’ll say.

#The Imaginary Love Lives of Superman #Superman #Batman #The Joker #Harley Quinn #No kill rule #Fic #My writing #Asks #Answered #SuperBat #Superman x Batman

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thetypedwriter · 4 years ago

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Lore Book Review

Lore Book Review by Alexandra Bracken

Lore by Alexandra Bracken was one of 2021’s most anticipated YA novels and it's easy to see why. The plot summary itself is enough to pull you in with the intriguing concoction of calling it the combination of The Hunger Games and the Percy Jackson series.

What’s not to love when you fuse the illicit danger of Katniss Everdeen with the mythological enchantment of Rick Riordan’s masterpiece?

Turns out, quite a lot unfortunately.

Before I get into why this book didn’t live up to the insurmountable hype it built up, I’ll attempt to give a basic summary. The key word being attempt as a good portion of this novel’s plot was a mind boggling and convoluted mess.

The book takes place in modern day New York which Bracken likes to remind you every other paragraph with small snippets about how the city that never sleeps smells like sewage and is yet still the best place on earth apparently.

Don’t get me wrong, I love New York as much as the next person, but the pandering to the Big Apple got annoying after awhile.

Within the cantankerous city lives a girl named Lore which we are introduced to by means of her kicking ass in an underground Chinese restaurant’s fighting ring.

Pretty strong start.

Lore’s world (and the reader’s frankly) is tipped upside down when Lore’s long lost childhood friend, Castor, reappears to warn her that he is looking for her. Terrified, Lore is then at first unwillingly thrust back into the world in which she was born-a world dominated by violence, bloodlines, and the Greek gods who are very much alive and out for vengeful retribution.

In a very exposition-dump heavy conversation, we learn that Lore is the last of Perseous’ line with the rest of her family having been horrifically murdered, that a week long event called the Agon occurs every seven years in which the original nine Greek gods or their reincarnated selves become mortal for seven days, and that a series of killing often happen because if you kill a Greek god you then become that Greek god as well as inhabit their powers, abilities, and immortality.

Well, until the next Agon that is.

The currently reincarnated God by the name of Wrath is attempting to end the Agon by killing all the other Gods, but in order to do it he needs to wield a special weapon called the Aegis.

Unfortunately, only the Perseides can wield this shield (for some reason) and thus, Wrath is out to get his hold on Lore as the last of her line so that he can bring this eons old competition to an end with himself as the sole victor and only remaining God.

Confused?

I’d be surprised if you weren’t.

Now, I love Greek mythology. I’ve read the classics and would say I’m fairly up to date on the stories, the legends, the gods, and the stories they represent. I’m not an expert, but I would say I’m knowledgeable on who the major figures are and what they stood for.

I genuinely think this book would have been miserable for anyone that didn’t know anything about Greek mythology.

Bracken does a terrible job of explaining what the hell is happening at any given point, and she often throws out allusions and references to Greek mythology without bothering to explain a single shred of information about it.

In addition, after this laughably and poorly explained world and plot at the beginning, it is almost never explained again. It’s brought up, as are names and titles and weapons and relationships, but it’s never explained in a way that’s feasibly understandable.

At the beginning of the novel Bracken lists who all the important characters are, their bloodlines, and their titles.

I soon figured out why, as every other sentence a name like Wrath or Reveler or Tidebringer or whoever was brought up, and it was impossible to keep track of so I didn’t even bother.

Even Lore brings up that the names are ridiculous, which I appreciate, but the meta moment of clarity doesn't make it any better.

Also, what Lore and her friends get up to over 90% of the novel is a muddled mass of bewilderment.

Why do Lore and Castor and the others need to find Artemis? I don’t know, but sure, whatever, sounds good. Why was Lore the last of her line again? Oh yeah, right, okay, I guess. Wait, Castor died? Oh, he didn’t? Why not? Oh, we’re not going to explain it. Sure, sure.

Throughout this entire novel, what the characters are doing and what is happening is almost impossible to follow with the way it's presented and the way Bracken developed her world. I think this was a really cool idea that had very poor execution.

Points for the originality and the inclusion of Greek mythology, but all of the positives were taken away when that originality was flushed down the drain with a lack of explanation and logic.

Lore very much reminded me of a shoot-em up, bang-em up action movie. Almost every other chapter was some sort of super intense, super climactic fight scene, chase, theft, break-in, etc.

Now. I do think action scenes are hard to write and I think Bracken actually did an incredible job of writing action in a way that was entertaining and thrilling.

However, when the action takes place every ten pages it gets really old, really quick. Towards the end, I downright started skimming the fight scenes, because they lacked so little depth and stakes and we had read so much action at the end point that it had lost all vigor and vitality.

Continuing with the action movie metaphor, most action movies focus solely on the bright explosions and the crazy fight scenes as their selling point of the whole movie, often to the detriment of the characters, plot, and development.

Now, some people like this. I am not these people.

I find action movies boring as most of my enjoyment from consuming media comes from the characters and the developments they undergo.

My biggest criticism with Lore, other than the astonishing storytelling, is by far the characters. I just...didn’t care. About any of them.

Bracken tried to make Lore come across as a strong, opinionated, fierce, angry female character and while sometimes she succeeded, more often than not I found Lore temperamental, aggravating, impulsive, selfish, and shallow.

Bracken very much invoked the tell-not-show strategy that makes any book hard to get through. While there were some decent moments of showing instead of just stating, more often than not, Bracken would tell us that Lore was strong by having other people say it or others calling her weak.

I appreciated Bracken’s feminist agenda and how strongly Lore felt about gender inequality, even if it was a bit heavy-handed at times. Still, I did appreciate this inclusion of civil rights on this front, even if some of the circumstances to incite it were ridiculous or over the top.

In addition, I hated that there was all this backstory that we were just told but not shown. Like in my last review of Wilder Girls, Lore suffers from an intrinsic failure of getting me onboard with these characters and their relationships by telling me how I should feel about them instead of exposing them through action.

I was told:

Lore and Castor haven't seen each other for seven years, but my gosh, Castor is just the best and is so beautiful. Ensue obligatory YA romance.

Lore has a best friend! Yeah. Her name is Iro. Here she is! Um. Okay. Why was this necessary?

Miles is just the coolest best friend ever. Like, look how cool and chill he is. How funny is it that he has no idea what’s happening? Really not funny at all. He was a useless character used to build empty stakes.

The list goes on and on, but Bracken will throw out some sort of fact or relationship and just expect the reader to go “Okay!” Which. I didn’t. On any of those occurrences.

Often Bracken would do this in the use of flashbacks at the most inopportune times (during a fight scene, after someone was injured, right before a huge revelation, etc). These flashbacks were the worst. I do not care for adolescent Lore and child Lore was somehow even worse.

The romance in this book, much like an action movie, is off to the side and really only there to fulfill the trope of having a romance.

Lore and Castor are boring. I don’t know what else to say. Castor is too perfect to be likable and Lore is the opposite. Nothing about their romance was unique or well-crafted.

The kiss between Van and Miles I also saw coming a hundred miles away. I also thought it was pointless as Van and Miles had known each for six days and had had maybe two conversations. So. No. I didn’t care at all about the romances.

It actually made me laugh and scoff simultaneously at the end when Lore is looking at Van, Castor, Iro and Miles and smiles because she realizes that these people are her family.

Ummm. Sorry?

Castor disappeared for seven years and you’ve been reunited for seven days. You’ve hated Van your whole life until this week. You also haven’t seen Iro in seven years and she tried to kill you at least twice in this book. Miles is...fine, but again useless. I don’t even know why Bracken included him except to make Lore worry about him which she only did about half of the time.

Phew.

I know this review has come across largely negative, so this might be surprising, but I didn’t hate it. It lacks substance and depth, but it was entertaining.

Just like an action movie.

If you want some hyped fights and a plot that really doesn't matter and characters that won’t stick with you, but a fast-paced narrative that keeps you on your toes nonetheless, then you would probably enjoy this.

It’s like the equivalent of watching a James Bond movie or one of the millions of the Fast and Furious. Bracken tries to develop the characters, but at the end of the day, most of the story is made up of cool fights, magic, and weapons. If that’s your speed then you would probably really love Lore.

Recommendation: Action, action, action. If you want some high intensity, get-your-blood-pumping enterprise then this is your novel. The writing is fluid, the adrenaline-inducing scenes are non-stop, and everything else falls to the backdrop of external fights and villainous monologues. If action is not your preferred genre, then your best left to get your Greek mythology needs from Percy Jackson or the Song of Achilles instead.

Score: 6/10

#lore #alexandra bracken #6/10 #ya fiction #YA Books #YA literature #book blog #book review #top books #teen books #Teen Romance #teen fiction #Book Recommendations #YA Book Review #ya book rec #popular fiction #popular books #greek mythology

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satsuki2406 · 4 years ago

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OPEN SKY Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

“…And never, ever forget that, your dreams are the wings that’ll help you fly.”

(L/N)(Y/N) has always been forced to live according to others’ expectations. As a member of the powerful and influential (L/N) Family, she has had to live with the heavy weight of seeing others write her destiny with no choice but just obey. But when (Y/N) finally decides to risk it all to take the only opportunity to regain the control of her own life, everything ends up going horribly wrong. Surrendered and disappointed, she receives one last chance to prove to herself and to U.A, along with some unexpected help that this was not a crazy and meaningless waste of time.

Maybe this plan could work after all…

PAIRING: (Bakugou Katsuki x Reader)

GENRE/WARNINGS: Romance, Fluff, Angst, Mentions of sex (nothing explicit tho), dark themes, My poor attempt of comedy, family dysfunctionality, toxic relationships, Strong language (Courtesy of King Lord Explosion Murder 💥), Manga Spoilers.

STATUS: On going

Masterlist \(￣︶￣*\))

6-��Have We Got a Deal?

✒A/N:

I rewrote this chapter like three times, and hopefully, now it turned out better. I read my progress again a couple of weeks ago and it was simply, not right. I hated it so much that I decided to delete it and work again on it. The essence is the same of what I planned for this chapter and although it is a bit longer now, I took the chance to get into more detail about certain things and express better about others. The conversation between Reader-chan and Kaguya may have become a bit deeper than it used to be, but I really liked the outcome and gave me more ideas for the future plot. That's all for now.

Hope you enjoy it! q(≧▽≦q)

So, my dear sweet cousin, do you accept or not?

“W-Wait a minute! You can’t be serious, do you- do you understand the implications of what you’re saying?!” You said incredulously.

“Of course I do, why do you think we are here?” Kaguya said while she took another canape and bit it. She chewed slowly while you watched her attentively, the dread in your stomach growing by increments, exasperated for her to continue. She finally swallowed and took a sip of wine.

“So? Would you care to explain what on earth is actually happening, because you don’t expect me to believe that the cause of such an unprecedented change is because of some internet gossip” You said in a demanding tone.

“Of course it’s not, but if you are patient enough I’ll explain it to you with pleasure, so you better watch your tone with me, brat.” She hissed.

You puffed out your cheeks but nodded in cue for her to continue.

“Approximately three days ago grandmother convened a last-minute meeting in her abode to discuss this problem. At first, I thought she was overreacting about this whole ordeal, after all big corporates and companies are attacked and critized all the time, but after a long, long discussion, we all agreed that the situation should not be taken lightly and it needed to be addressed as soon as possible.”

“That bad it is?” You asked slightly concerned.

“Unfortunately,” Kaguya answered. “Walls covered in graffiti in Kyoto, people protesting and messing with the employees at the ER main entrance in Hosu, broken windows in Deika and thousands and thousands of emails and nasty messages in all our social media accounts. We had to hire the services of a whole publicity agency so they could deal with the problem, hardly. It has been difficult to contain, but it paid off because it hasn’t been leaked into any important newscast. Internet, the origin of the problem, has been another story, unfortunately, in these cases, it can be very difficult and unforgiving to work with; once something enters, is nearly impossible to pull it out and if you succeed there’s always a risk it would pop up anywhere when you least expect it.” Kaguya said while she rubbed her temples.

“Internet is a huge source of news and information for thousands of people nowadays, even millions, fake or not, and also the main responsible that this situation slipped out of control faster.”

You contemplated your next words as you soaked in all the information you just were provided with, so you could express your ideas and queries as clear as possible. “Okay…but why is everybody so angry about our current family situation? I get it’s messed up, but why go as far as vandalize privite property and nag about it on social media?” You asked slightly hesitant.

“As an institution, we had always presented and preserved ourselves as a family, working to, and for the Japanese families generation after generation, no matter where we went, we always went together, always radiating the image of a happy, healthy, and unified family. Throughout the time several members of our family had made multiple presentations in public inspiring kindness and charisma, earning the trust and love of the people, which is impressive considering the heavily hero centered world we live in. Now that there are strong rumors putting all of these apparent facts into question, some people feel mocked, disappointed, and cheated… besides other things.” Kaguya mumbled.

“Sorry I could not listen the last part Kaguya.” You said puzzled.

“Don’t worry, I was just talking to myself, the important thing is that the problem is been solved, millions will be invested but is necessary. We have already started a huge ad campaign, a lot of important heroes will be involved so we can reassure and remind people why we have been their number one choice during over a century, that we still the same and will always remain the same, that we do not change, we improve.”

“I see, but you haven’t explained what does this have to do with me going to U.A-”

“As I told you she decided to make exceptions, due to the unusual situation we are going through right now we need unusual solutions as well and as part of our ad campaign and for the sake of our image she decided that two fortunate souls would have the chance to pursue a carrier of their choice, you know to placate the masses.”

“ Of course, a different series of factors would be taken into account when examining the option chosen and its potential benefits for the interests of the company, if these results are not satisfactory, the other alternatives will be analyzed to find a more suitable one and the aforementioned process will be repeated. Once we find satisfactory results, grandmother will proceed to revise everything once more and give her approval or deny it.”

“So, what you’re telling me is that we are doing the same thing but with more options? And they are going to evaluate if we can actually perform well in these new career options?” You asked unimpressed at your grandmas’ unwillingness to let the leash lose a bit even in a situation like this.

“Exactly right, it’s a change but there are still rules nonetheless.” Kaguya affirmed as she refilled her cup again. “Don’t get me wrong, she is really mad, just the thought of sacrifice two pawns in one single move is driving her crazy”

“Which selection system will be used in this case?” You asked.

“Nominations. As you already know there are two potential candidates, besides you of course.”

“Two? But there’s other three-”

“Aya has already been selected by grandmother herself, he’ll be enrolled into U.A next year via recommendation, everything is ready and processed the only thing left is to break the news on him.”

You grimaced, anxious, and preoccupied to see your already thin chances narrow even more. Your cousin, Aya was a famous vlogger and influencer with a strongly settled fanbase in and out of Japan. His videos generally focus on his daily life, trips to cool and exotic destinations, and the typical ‘eat this’, ‘do that’ challenges that always went around the internet.

He also participated in different campaigns to raise funds for different charitable causes and was a fervent advocator of animal rights and the environment, even donating millions from his own pocket. He always did his best to involve the name of the (L/N) Group, allowing them to organize, participate and sponsor some of these events helping bust their image as a caritative, conscious, and woke organization.

The bastard overflew with kindness and charisma and knew how to surround himself with the right people to manage his channel properly, although no relatable for the regular mid-class YouTube user, you had to admit that his videos were fun, entertaining, interesting, and sometimes, informative, that was the reason they were always flooded with millions of views, comments, likes and overall the crushing success he was experiencing every time he uploaded a new one.

He’s rich, famous, handsome, and had an appealing personality, add hero to that list and you’ll get the recipe to success. It wouldn't surprise you at all if he reached the top 10 of the HBC in a year just out of sheer popularity. His quirk is also fitted for a hero, he’ll need some serious training, but nothing that money and elite PT could not manage.

“How am I supposed to compete with that?” You whispered with your head down watching how your knuckles turned whiter as your hands crinkled your uniform skirt.

“Don’t trouble yourself with what you’re not supposed to, Aya is not competition, not anymore, instead try to focus on the actual competition, and may I add that you got a really big chance with my brother out of the picture. Kaguya smirked at you confidently.

“You think so?” You asked doubtfully.

“Believe me (Y/N), my sister is really smart and competent, but has the charm and social skills of a cardboard box, and Himeko, well… we could resume all her virtues, abilities and skills to shopping, makeup, gossip, selfies, social media, being pretty and an absolute headache. Grandmother got big plans for her after she graduates though, so I’ll take her out of the picture as well.”

“Big plans?” You said arching your eyebrow.

“Let’s say that, right now, we have a great, juicy, and very convenient deal that is in negociation right now and she is a vital piece to close it successfully. Don’t worry, your curiosity will be satiated soon enough.”

“What worries me is that I think I got a grasp of what you’re talking about.”

“Aw. Come on, businesses are businesses (Y/N), C’est la vie.” She said as she shrugged uninterested.

“Yeah, because is not you.” You grumbled.

“Excuse me?”

“I said, why don’t you continue.”

“You are right, where we were? Oh, right.”

‘Was she really just dismissing the topic like that?!’

“Tell me (Y/N), do you think that I would have brought you here and propose this plan to you if I didn’t have an ace up my sleeve? Please. There are some important and positive points that can grant us success if we exploit them properly, but we must play our cards wisely, unfortunately, that’ll have to wait until we are completely alone.” Confused your arched your eyebrow, until your ears were met with the sound of the wheels of a certain golden cart rapidly approaching.

“Hello again ladies, let me take this off,” Hiro said while he took the almost empty canape plate along the rest of the dishes. “Is there anything else you would like? Would you like another beverage (L/N)-sama?” Hiro said looking at your semi voided glass.

“Y-Yes please”

“Alright!” With the swift and skill of years of experience, Hiro served your plates, removed the shiny silver food covers, refilled both water cups and Kaguya’s wine cup as well in less than a minute. “Please enjoy, if there’s anything else you would like I’ll be happy to assist you! I’ll be back in a minute with your drink miss.”

You spent the next couple of minutes in total silence waiting for your drink in order to continue your conversation privately and interruption-free. Just as said, Hiro returned instants later with the promised drink and finally left you two to converse calmly.

“Well, now that the coast is clear, let me fill you up with what you have to know and do in order to obtain a favorable outcome for both of us.” Kaguya began as she sliced a bite of quail breast.

“So, this is my plan…”

Now with your dinner night already finished, you were now heading to your house. This ride was as quiet as the one to the restaurant, but without the suffocating weight of uncertainty. Your head was filled now with the echoes of your conversation with Kaguya, debating, analyzing, considering, comprehending every single word of it.

“You seem troubled, you are doubtful, aren’t you?” Said Kaguya interrupting your thoughts.

“I’m more scared than anything if this doesn’t work-”

“It will, you already know what to do, just focus on that. I’ll keep in contact with you anyway, in case of emergencies or any last-minute matter.” She then proceeded to rummage in her purse and took out a brand-new phone, it was one of those not so high-quality flip phones that you can get for a really low price, probably a disposable one.

“I already put my phone number in it, so we can communicate without issue. This phone is a really basic one, so it has no internet access but you have unlimited calls and texts. Just make sure to keep it hidden from your mother or that blabbermouth maid of yours.”

“Yes, I’ll find a place.”

“Perfect, remember, the announce dinner will be this Saturday, surely your mom would tell you, everybody will be there, they must at least.”

Another twenty minutes passed before you were at the main door of your lavish home. Silently, you excited the car after Soichiro opened the door for you and you headed to the front door.

“We’ll keep in contact, until then, (Y/N).” Kaguya said softly, once she finished Soichiro shut the door, bowed his head, and wished you a good evening. He straightened up his posture and proceeded to hop in the car again. Quietly you observed the car get farther and farther until it disappeared. You stayed there in silence, while the nightly wind swayed your hair delicately. The sound of the door opening distracted you, then, you turned around to be met with the gentle smile of Nobu-san.

“Okaerinasai, (Y/N)-sama, how was your dinner with Kaguya-sama?”

“Pretty…unexpected.” You looked everywhere, making sure that nobody else was listening to your conversation. “I’ll fill you out on the details later” You whispered and Nobu-san nodded knowingly. “I see, your bath is ready (Y/N)-sama. Please take your time and relax, it’s been a long night after all,” He got slightly closer to you and cupped his hand around his mouth, and whispered. “I’m pretty sure you’ll make good use of this time to ponder any thought that is troubling your mind.” He distanced from you, crossed his arms behind his back, and gave you a gentle closed-eye smile. “Would you like a cup of tea after your bath?”

You smiled at him fondly.

“(F/T/F), please.”

You’ve been lying if you said that you could actually sleep the night before. Your head could not stop to reproduce in a loop your conversation with Kaguya the night before, like a broken record you couldn’t escape from. Before you noticed, the outrageous melody of your alarm resounded in the spaciousness of your room. You groaned in protest, unwillingly getting up to start your day.

Dressed and ready, you took your bag and went downstairs to have breakfast. Before you could finish hopping down the stairs you caught a glimpse of your mother sitting at the head chair, like always with your father by her side, she was holding her morning coffee while she read some emails on her laptop.

As always she looked stunning in her soft pink and golden outfit, she crossed her legs, put down her cup and started typing in her laptop.

You straighten your posture the best you could and approached the table with delicate steps. “Good morning mother, good morning dad”

“Good morning dear, how did you sleep?” Said your mother without taking her eyes off the screen in a somewhat flat tone as her fingers tapped nimbly over the keyboard. “Pretty well, and yourself?” You said while you took a seat at the innecesarily expansive dinning table.

“Not so well sadly, there’s been some… issues I had to take care of.” She hissed a bit irritated as she rubbed her temples.

“I-I see, hopefully, you’ll have a better day today, mother.”

“I doubt it, unluckily, but thank you for your words, darling. Now hurry up or you’ll be late.”

“Yes, mother.”

“You should have some fresh fruit honey; the mangos are delicious!” Said the cheerful voice of your father. You smiled fondly at him while he reciprocated with a smile of his own. “I’ll do then, thank you for your suggestion dad.” You answered while one of the maids served you a portion of fresh mixed fruit in a bowl and Nobu-san poured tea in your cup.

“(Y/N)” Spoke your mom.

“Yes, mother?”

“Your grandmother had organized a family dinner this Saturday that we must assist, of course, I expect nothing less of you than be on your best behavior, also is imperative that you choose your outfit today so I can determine if it’s appropriate for the occasion. If you need to go shopping just tell Sasaki, I activated your debit card again just this time.” She said authoritatively.

“Yes mother, I’ll do it today after class.” You said as you topped your fruit with some honey, yougurt and granola.

“Splendid, now if you excuse me, I have to go now, Haru, hurry up or we’ll be late”

“Yes, cara mia” Your father beamed. Your mother then rose from her chair took her handbag and draped her coat over her shoulders. Your father then finished his coffee as soon as he could and went behind her. “Have a good day princess!” Exclaimed you dad. “Thank you, you too!” You answered while you saw them get escorted by an army of bodyguards.

Soon enough the door was closed and you were left alone. “(Y/N)-sama I advise you to hurry as well, school starts in thirty minutes” Said the familiar voice of Nobu-san. “What!? Oh, I’m going to be late! Ok, I got this! I’ll brush my teeth and I’ll be ready-please ask Sasaki-san to start the car! I will be there in a minute!” You stuttered while climbing up stairs.

“Sure thing, Ojou-sama,” He said with an amused smile.

“Thank you again for joining me for shopping Momo”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all, I’ll also take the chance to buy some new accessories as well,” Beamed your ravenette friend. It was the end of the school day and you had asked Momo to help you choose new accessories to complement a dress you already had.

“But to be honest I never imagine that your mom would lose her grip on you so soon even if it’s temporary, what surprised me more was what Kaguya-san told you yesterday,” She whispered trying to no let your conversation be known by Sasaki-san although the automated partition window was up as a precautionary measure. “Are you sure you can trust her?” She said concerned.

“I still don’t know, suddenly everything became so complicated, I mean her plan is good and has a high probability to work, and right now I don’t have a better option, I don’t even have any options, to begin with!” You groaned, confused.

“What’s still bugging me is why is she helping you in the first place? I can’t help but find it suspicious no matter how much I think about it. Did you ask her something about it?”

“I did, but she went into this mysterious and enigmatic mode and just said something like ‘You’ll know soon enough’ It would be easier to pinch a glass than get something out of her.” You said with a tone of frustration.

“I guess that the only thing we can do now is to wait and see,” Sighed Momo while she shrugged her shoulders. “By the way, what are we going to do first?” She said more animatedly.

“Let’s start with the shoes and then maybe a new jewelry set, a new clutch as well would be good. What you think?”

“I think is a splendid idea!” Momo exclaimed.

🏷Taglist:

@bakasbitch18

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braddersbangerz · 5 years ago

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Ada and Noor Vs Tesla and Edison and why it’s completely different between them...

I’ve seen too many posts where people are saying “But why didn’t Thirteen remove Tesla and Edison’s memories when she removed Ada’s and Noor’s?” and the answer to that is actually pretty simple if you look at the show as a *whole* instead of focusing on the details between them.

I’ll start with Van Gogh, and you might be wondering why I’m started with him when he hasn’t got anything to do with Ada, Noor, Tesla, or Edison and it’s simply because Eleven took him to the future to see his life works in the Paris Louvre.

Van Gogh:

Eleven and Amy took Vincent to the future, but the difference between Vincent and Ada is that Vincent is a painter, a fantastic and brilliant painter, but still a painter. He wasn’t the mother of computers. He was just a fantastic painter.

And they spent a while there, and Vincent saw his works being loved by people of all ages, he heard Doctor Black talk about him, cried, that was it because Eleven knew that showing Vincent the future wasn’t going to change the future. He knew that Vincent still travelled his path, ridiculed by his neighbours, and how that ended in his death. Eleven did change the future a very minor bit, or more precisely, Amy did because one of Vincent’s paintings did say “For Amy.” on it, but that’s minor. It’ll make Art Experts wonder just who this ‘Amy’ was, but it won’t personally change the future like Ada would’ve.

Noor Inayat Khan:

I’m just going to paste from her Wikipedia here:

Inayat Khan was classified as "highly dangerous" and shackled in chains most of the time. As the prison director testified after the war, Inayat Khan remained uncooperative and continued to refuse to give any information on her work or her fellow operatives, although in her despair at the appalling nature of her confinement, other prisoners could hear her crying at night. However, by the ingenious method of scratching messages on the base of her mess cup, she was able to inform another inmate of her identity, giving the name of Nora Baker and the London address of her mother's house.

In 1958 an anonymous Dutch prisoner asserted that Inayat Khan was cruelly beaten by an SS officer named Wilhelm Ruppert before being shot from behind. Her last word was reported as "Liberté". She was survived by her mother and three siblings.

She was removed from a very delicate time period that couldn’t afford things to change. Plus, her last words before she was brutally murdered by the Nazi’s was inspired and herself. They did film her death scene, but thankfully, it was removed from the final cut because it was horrendous. We don’t need to see her murder and how she looked after torture at the hands of the Nazi’s.

But the show did one thing, and that was make a new generation of people remember her and what she did for us and for our way of life, so thank Noor Inayat Khan, thank you.

Elvis:

I’m only bringing Elvis up because some people thought to bring up the fact that he had a mobile phone. What the fuck was he going to do with a mobile phone? Literally, nothing, moving on.

Ada Lovelace, Tesla, and Edison as a whole because they were all inventors:

Okay, Ada and why she differs from Tesla and Edison in bullet points because it’s concise then:

Ada went to the future.

Tesla and Edison did not.

They all travelled in the TARDIS, but so did Cleopatra, and countless other historical figures throughout time.

Tesla and Edison dealt with Aliens that invaded in 1903.

Ada dealt with Aliens who invaded throughout time.

Tesla was already branded crazy by the masses, so him saying he saw Aliens wouldn’t have mattered at all.

Edison also wasn’t going to brand himself as crazy by revealing that he saw and helped stop the Aliens.

Ada would’ve used what she saw in the future as a means to get started. This would’ve basically said, “Ada did what she did because the Doctor took her to the future, not because she was a fantastic and brilliant human being who we owe a lot to in this day and age.” Yeah, that message wouldn’t have gone down well, would it?

Tesla and Edison only saw what they either invented in their workshops and the TARDIS.

Tesla wasn’t taken to the future to be shown how his ideas between an integral part of our world like Van Gogh was with his paintings. He was left with a conversation, that was it. He still died poor.

Tesla and Edison are no different from Charles Dickens in S1 because it all took part in the time period they were from.

Some of these takes can simply be solved if you take a step back and look at the entire thing as a whole rather than a few seconds. I get and I understand how unfair it was to Ada and Noor to have their memories wiped, but Ada would’ve used what she saw in the future and Noor is in a delicate position in time.

And if they made it so what Ada learnt in the future as an inspiration to do what she did, then I’d be pissed off at Doctor Who. So this outcome is one I’m happy with because Ada is still an amazing woman who did what she did.

#Doctor Who #Thirteenth Doctor #ada lovelace #nikola tesla #Thomas Edison #dw spoilers

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currentfandomkick · 5 years ago

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I have no excuse on this, just saw the prompt and wrote. inspired by @virgil-is-a-cutie‘s post where Marinette was from Gotham and moved to Paris, many liberties taken on timeline though, and with @justafanwarrior‘s comment on it

Marinette blinked a few times when her parents told her the first time that her grandfather on Papa’s side died, and they were going to move into his old bakery.

She was twelve.

She was getting ready for Tim (who’s elven and should not be allowed follow Robin without backup). She just finished working on a bit of embroidery for his suit when the Wayne Gala came up.

She didn’t know how to feel other than dread. (new country, language lessons, culture shock, losing her friends, her connections, her room and so much more).

She was quiet, nodded, and got ready for bed on time.

She whispered about it to Tim, who she watches out for. Because he’s small, an idiot with a very nice camera and she has to. Its her job to—she caught him when he almost fell and they were ten and nine. Like Jason caught her once. (She was so much smaller then, barely remembered the place but she slipped and Jason Todd caught her and told her to always watch her step because no one else will do it for her. well, she decided that she would watch hers and other people’s. because someone should, so why not her?)

She hadn’t seen Jason for years though. She knew he’s a Wayne now, but Waynes and Drakes have some weird rivalry thing and the Dupain-Chengs cater for the Drakes. So she hasn’t seen him in their neighborhood, not around her family’s business (or her ‘Uncle’ Oswald’s) or anywhere really.

Instead she saw Tim who she decided a long time ago was hers to watch out for.

She couldn’t take him to Paris though.

Tim didn’t like it any more than her. They both know they can’t stop it.

But Marinette made sure he was better at looking out and watching before she left.

It was a year of renovations to make the bakery and house above ready for them. Marinette was moved in the summer. She hugged Tim tight before she left, on one of their rooftop runs for fun (the memory, their last run ever) rather than BatWatch.

They didn’t know Robin saw them for a moment and was ready to give them a Big Lecture, because why would they? They were just moving to breathe, moving to scream in silence and ignore everything they don’t get to control. They were roof top running to have some control in a situation neither of them had any.

Marinette and Tim dropped down to her house, since it was over… for good.

“No going out there again since I can’t go too.”

Tim nodded, crying against her. She cried tooo. They both hated it.

Marinette moved to Paris the next day, beginning of summer. Beginning of the extra crazy as Gotham summers were always ripe with more rogues and more time and more ‘help’ than the rest of the year.

Marinette missed it. She was in Paris helping her parents do a grand opening. It was a success. Maman was glad they got out of Gotham, murmuring it would be better for Marinette. Marinette disagreed, but didn’t contradict her or Papa who was so much happier in Paris than in Gotham. He missed his home city.

(Marinette missed Uncle Oswald showing up at random to make sure no one was doing anything ‘untoward’ to her or people she said he should help. Paris seemed to have a different breed of ‘untoward’ that were well hidden. No one kept them in check. No Batman here to try, no Uncle Oswald to warn her, and no Jason to remind her to watch out for herself.)

On the first day of school Marinette was thrown into being a superhero. Ladybug—she should have used Ladybird or Coccinelle because it was so American but she panicked and now she’s a very American Named Hero of Paris. She prayed no one made the connection.

When Jason Todd died and made the news in the middle of her first year, she cried. A lot. She was Ladybug and couldn’t afford to be akumatized but her parents knew that even if Jason wasn’t around for her since she was little, that she kept those memories close, kept those pictures and wished him the best. They were grieving too—he was almost their son (they tried so hard to get him to stay, but he didn’t want to. He had a mom to care for and Marinette should have asked Uncle Oswald for help when Catherine looked off to her but she didn’t. She was seven and Jason begged her not to say anything so she didn’t.)

She was doing good as Ladybug. (more like putting out fires than fixing the problems, but she did only have observing Batman and Robin to go off of, and none of what she saw was the detective work.) She took down akumas, was working on becoming a good guardian in the future (the kwami admitted she and Chat were the only candidates… the temporary heroes weren’t even in the running) and becoming a better designer. (She now works for Jagged and Clara on the design itself, they have official seamstresses that build her creations to her standards and specifications. She handles the fittings and adjustments when her schedule allows.)

Then Lila showed up and Marinette didn’t get how they didn’t see through the lies. Marinette will admit her lies in French are just… bad. Thankfully they all write it off as her mistranslating her thoughts and her speaking five languages (English, Italian, Spanish, French and Mandarin) rather than it being an attempt at lying. She’s better in English, okay?

But Lila’s were outrageous, even for their school. Maybe it was Gotham, (Uncle Oswald murmuring how to spot a con and a manipulator a mile away, Jason reminding her to be suspicious of every good and too good deal offered, especially with nothing backing it) but she didn’t put too much into Lila on sight.

Then the Ladybug lying and things escalated.

Chloe caught the Drakes talking to one of the events her parents were catering to. Janet was inspecting Marinette’s latest work while Marinette let the woman analyze her choice before being dismissed with a “You have improved, but do try using that sewing machine for your seams next time.”

Tim had been standing with her and they were allowed to escape the crowd to catch up. Tim was not shocked to find out she’d taken to destroying people in Ultra Mecha Strike III on a city wide scale (she won) while Tim was working on more professional photos and debating taking up a sport to be more well rounded (he’s thinking baseball or track because of the running) and they both skirt around her design success because it could jinx it.

Not long after Chloe makes an effort to get along with Marinette. Marinette made a few things clear: she’s not a lackey and neither is Sabrina, that Chloe needs to stop using her family to get out of everything, and that Chloe needs to apologize for hurting people intentionally.

Unsurprisingly, this didn’t go over well the first time.

Sabrina did get close to Marinette instead (Marinette had no issue with this) and joined the girl gang.

Marinette was still skeptical (daughter of a cop versus anyone from gotham is a recipe for disaster) but so far Sabrina just needed to be given normal friend treatment en masses to calm down her obsessive tendencies. It may have reminded Marinette of Tim and his obessions. Kind of like how Marinette took to Alya (superhero obsessed like Tim, and protective like Jason) so she was quick to get used to her.

Chloe did make amends that year (slowly) and kept doing so.

Chloe and Marinette did agree on one thing: Lila is a scam and they didn’t want the class falling for it. So Marinette made suggestions to keep her friends on track for their interests (actually practice, don’t wait for opportunities) while Chloe took to openly opposing Lila as the one Lila can’t touch.

It kept Marinette safe from her attempted manipulations. Chloe was all for it—as Bustier isn’t able to cow Chloe the way Marinette knows the woman would try on Marinette. And language miscommunications could make her seem more complacent and get her in more trouble for not being as complacent as Bustier wants her to be.

Then came the anniversary. The first one. (and the one where Tim is a Wayne now, thanks to Janet passing and Jack being found negligent.)

Lila made the mistake of talking about Jason. Like he was nothing. Like he was a problem and rude and cruel. And a creep.

“I mean, not to speak ill of the dead but…”

“Then shut your trap.” Marinette stuck to Italian. Alya stiffened as Italian had become Marinette’s ‘I am emotional and need you to understand’ language as far as the class was concerned.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to be insensitive…” Lila said in an almost convincing act. Almost.

“Well you are Rossi,” Chloe glanced at Marinette, as she didn’t know what the connection to Jason was.

“I mean, its not like he was much than a…” Lila shut up as Marinette was stalking forward and this? this was not was Marinette was supposed to do. Throw a fit, make a fool of herself, something like that.

Marinette only saw someone trying to drag Jason through the mud. Everyone moved away when Marinette approached (like Uncle Oswald in a silent rage) and she didn’t quite remember what happened from there.

She did remember ending up at the principle’s office with her parents and Lila’s mom.

Who was finding out a number of lies Lila told and Marinette could feel a Talk coming on for her. (Good.)

But then it moved back to why they were there and Marinette saw red as “She was talking about Jason.”

Her parents stilled as that was (almost) family.

Maman was smiling too wide then as “What were you saying about him?”

Lila squirmed as she repeated words that were Wrong.

“She made it sound like he was nothing.”

Tom was the one that terrified them all then, turning to Miss Rossi. “So you mean to tell me your daughter was insulting a child who was murdered that my family was in the process of adopting before he vanished when his mother died and was taken in by the Waynes.”

Damocles paled as Miss Rossi had made it sound like she was getting back at Marinette for bullying her (something everyone but Bustier had denied vehemently. Especially Chloe and Chloe’s word outranked Lila’s) but with all of this… it seemed more like Lila was the issue.

Lila was trying to process the new information. Marinette was going to kill her was her conclusion.

“Miss Rossi could not have known of that connection,” Damocles said, eyeing the girl with something guarded.

It wasn’t more than a day later the school was introduced the Marinette’s uncle.

“Now, which of you is the one that angered my little birdie?”

Marinette groaned as she didn’t call him. Nor had her parents. (He was watching them then. Great. She thought that stopped when they left Gotham.)

Apparently terrorizing her classmates (and the school’s staff) was enough for him. Lila was now at juvie for truancy (the only charge that stuck) and away from Marinette.

She figured that was it.

It was not…

Six months later…

“Tim Tam?”

Tim grinned at her. “Hey Marebear!”

He was at Dupont, grinning like a loon at her. She said screw decorum and scooped him up and twirled as he is still too tiny.

“Okay, I love that you’re here but why?”

“Heard there was a problem in Paris you neglected to tell me about.” Tim gestured for them to go into the car behind him..

Heroes was her first thought. And Hawkmoth, but its Tim so heroes are his focus.

“I figured we were staying out of old habits.” She was a hero, not stalking them.

“We are.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow as she knew that tone, and it meant he had an idea. She slipped into the car with a wave to her classmates.

“What do you know,” she began with.

“Ladybug purifies and fixes, Chat Noir destroys. Good guys. Anything animal themed is a hero, expect Mayura. Bug themed besides Ladybug, Toss-up. Hawkmoth is who needs to go down.”

Marinette filled in the blanks on powers for public heroes. She shrugged on the blurred possible hero (MultiMouse) and let Tim rattle on and on.

“So I was thinking, why hasn’t anyone looked for outside help?”

Marinette blinked a bit as… “The Mayor was told it was a joke by Green Lantern when they asked for help the Stoneheart Army.”

Tim furrowed his brow. “Which one?”

“There’s more than one?”

“Hair color.”

“Weasely looking, that’s all I remember.”

“That was the ginger who is hated by the JL members, and should not count. Want me to ask Batman?”

“Should I be surprised the Waynes have him on call?”

Tim smiled at her, the one that they used when their parents told them to play and they went roof running and were never caught.

“Never mind. Do you need me to contact Ladybug or Chat Noir?”

“Well, I am talking to Ladybug.”

Marinette knew how to play this off. “And Batman and Brucie are the same person because the butts match.”

“Well, yeah, it would make being his Robin a little harder if they weren’t.”

Marinette took a deep breath before hitting Tim upside the head as “you idiot!”

“Hey, hey! Someone had to!”

“Nightwing!”

“Didn’t want to—not the way he needed!”

“I, urgh! Wait—then Jason—”

Tim softened. “Yeah.”

Marinette hit her head agains the back of the seat. “He told me to always watch out for myself and…”

Tim pressed his shoulder to hers. “I know.”

The rest of the ride was silent.

“How did you…”

“Ladybug, your new haircut and word that speech you made on your debut? A lot like what I found from Jason’s things.”

Marinette may have blushed. A bit. Okay, she had her heroes and hers didn’t wear scaly panties—wait. He did, she just didn’t know that at the time.

“No telling me Chat’s identity.”

“Haven’t figured him out yet, but I would love to see your theories on who hawkmomth could be.”

“Needs the funds to run a butterfly garden, and knowledge to do it in secret, local too, and probably a parent to a Dupont student.”

“That should narrow it down.”

A few weeks later, at fifteen years old, Ladybug and Chat Noir defeated Hawkmoth (with Robin playing intelligence, and refusing to take credit). Chat didn’t want to do the reveal after.

Marinette figured it out when he sneezed at a pigeon.

They met up still, but Chat needed a purpose and Marinette was the guardian. She and Tikki exchanged a look. Marinette called Tim.

“Hey Tim? Remember that group project you mentioned? I don’t think I can help, but I know someone who could use an invite…”

Marinette is sixteen when Red Hood makes a splash in Gotham. Tim was there at the time, so was Adrien.

She didn’t know what happened (they won’t tell) and she won’t press… them at least.

Uncle Oswald answered her questions. New crime lord, and he has a bone to pick with the Bats.

Marinette convinces her parents to let her stay in Gotham. Jagged offered his townhouse for when he’s on tour and she can’t go with (she has so many commissions, so no touring for her).

Chloe and Sabrina manage to convince their parents its okay. (Sabrina’s dad was a particularly difficult sell until Marinette’s Uncle Oswald offered to have them guarded by his men. In person. Marinette is convinced he has a team watching her at this point, and is glad she’s retired as Ladybug. It’d be dangerous if she wasn’t.)

Alya somehow got an internship in Metropolis (Marinette wasn’t glaring at Tim for that, she was disappointed he meddled so much Superman caught on and had his girlfriend offer the girl a spot.)

Nathaniel and Nino couldn’t make it for the summer, but both managed to visit.

Thankfully neither of those visits coincided with her own run-in with Red Hood. To be fair, it was at the old bakery location. Now run by a friend of Papa’s who uses a different set of recipes.

Marinette was there and making some of the old recipes for old time’s sake. One of the baker’s was from Papa’s staff before they left. Most of the new staff were a bit sketchy, but nothing that raised Gotham Red Flags.

She blinked a few times during the encounter as Red Hood burst in (it was still light out… she thought at the time) and paused when he saw her.

“You’re the old owner’s kid?”

She didn’t get what her family had to do until… Uncle Oswald. Great. Human Bait-time.

“Pretty sure the kid left town with her family.” Not a complete lie, but an easy deflection like Jason taught her. She’s not as snarky as him (as he was).

Red Hood, she couldn’t tell what that did for him (stupid Helmet) but he did grab what she was and say “yeah, no way the kid would botch a macron like this.”

She really wanted to deck him for that one. As it was her specialty asshole.

He did leave after that and she may have told Jagged and Oswald she’s going to spend a week or two in NYC with Audrey to keep her mind off of it…

Then Tim had her over with Adrien (who Marinette is now convinced is a Wayne ward in all but name since he lives there now) and Just Their Luck, Red Hood decided to break into the Batcave.

Tim went off to defend it, and Marinette sighed as this is her life and she isn’t a hero anymore. Ladybug would be recognized and easily connected but…

“Trixx, Let’s Pounce!”

A fox hero? Unlikely. One illusion spell later (and Bruce, Tim, Alfred, Adrien suiting up) and Red Hood was knocked out.

Alfred was the one to tell her to stay up stairs as “This isn’t something you need to see Miss.”

She dropped the transformation and put her hands on her hips as “This guy tried to kill Tim who I’ve been keeping from dying since he slipped on a ladder in the middle of winter like an idiot. And is already looking for me.”

The group exchanged a look at that.

“How long?”

“He said I couldn’t be me because my macrons were wrong,” Marinette grumbled, ignoring the real question.

“He did what!” Adrien gawked at her.

“Marinette!” Tim was not happy.

Bruce was looking at her like she was the weird one.

“Oh no, you don’t get to look at me like that. I’m not the one fighting crime in as my fursona and teaching other people to do the same.”

Apparently Red Hood was not actually out cold. How does she know this?

He started laughing.

Bruce was sputtering, Alfred was unreadable, Tim was bring pink and Adrien was nodding along as he was one who started calling Batman and other heroes ‘the furrious furries’ when Batman and Robin were brought up as helping them with Hawkmoth over a year ago.

It was strange to think of it as a year ago.

(a year ago she thought Jason was dead, that Hawkmoth was impossible to find and still crushed on Adrien).

Now Jason is alive, Hawkmoth was defeated ages ago and that crush? Gone with that thing called distance and perspective.

Instead she was staring at the guy who broke into the Batcave and implied he was going to kidnap her two weeks ago, if she was herself, and didn’t because her macrons were ‘wrong’ when he clearly has no taste.

“Hey Pixie.”

Her brain shorted as… “Jason what the fuck.”

Her summer was a weird one. Jason was alive, Uncle Oswald and him were doing business, and since Marinette was in shock still, she went to Uncle Oswald’s unannounced (he tells her when he plans to be busy) so she walked in on Red Hood and him arguing over something and…

“Is this karma for helping Tim when I ten?”

Red Hood took one look at her, then Oswald, and it clicked.

“Pixie, why didn’t you tell me this Thing was your Uncle?”

“Mari dear, please tell me your association with this, this brute.”

“He came back from the dead and didn’t tell me,” Marinette told her Uncle as that she could process.

“Ah. That… explains nothing. Mari dear, we’ll talk about this later, feel free to go to the park until I send someone to fetch you.”

“No, I think Pixie will stay right here and find out what you do.”

Marinette did the logical thing one does when a dead almost-was-your-brother turns into a crime lord and is talking to your ‘Uncle’ who you know has a shady reputation.

Get the hell out of there.

She grabbed her things (she kept them in the suitcases just in case, because Gotham) and joined Uncle Jagged on tour because right now? She needed something a bit less insane. And Jagged qualified.

She would love to tell you she went after Red Hood, or helped Tim and Adrien, she would, but she’s the guardian and that means staying out of on-going wars of many kinds.

It also meant she was able to defend herself when Jason Fucking Todd decided to crash a Wayne Gala that Uncle Jagged and Uncle Oswald were insistent that she attend. Clara and Adrien and Tim joined in. Chloe and Sabrina and Alya combined forces to convince her to attend, while Nino consoled her with pats and good music.

Jason Fucking Todd announcing he’s alive at said Gala, and making a scene before chatting up Bruce and the Wayne Clan (There is new girl named Cass. and she did see a blond with Tim, she thinks its Steph but it could be one of his Titan Friends since she saw Superboy looking like less of a fashion disaster for once with a fast talking ginger that she’s pretty sure is the current Kidflash).

Marinette was so glad she was on the other side of the room, and out of the spotlight.

Jason Fucking Todd catching her the next day when she was getting coffee, was not in her plans.

“So, Pixie Pop, we have some catching up to do.”

And she is not bitter he vanished out of no where. That she thought he was dead when she was a little kid and mourned for months, only to find out he’s a Wayne now. Then not be allowed to see him because of the Wayne-Drake thing. Or that he really died for real and then came back without telling her. Or that he became a crime lord on top of it all and Tim a few scars that line up with what Oswald heard of Robin and Red Hood fights that were brutal.

Nope.

Not.

At.

All.

“We do, but I have an appointment already, and you already know how to contact me, so bye.”

He didn’t, but Tim did. And that meant he had to fix things there.

She’s not sure how to feel about her almost-brother and his attacks on Tim. She’s not sure how to process all of this but she can put some distance, right?

Wrong.

Jason Freaking Todd decided to make up some BS story about having taken time to get better and being grabbed by a goddamn cult and it took him time to escape. (Tim told her it was close to the truth the cult was some group called the League of Assassins… she just. Why. just why?)

Then he decided (re: Alfred Apparently knows Gina, who told Maman and Papa) to get her parents involved in making her talk to him.

How? How does he do this from another continent where he runs his (technical) criminal enterprise?

He just shows up after Tim figured what he was doing and told Alfred.

And now Marinette has to talk to her almost-brother-that-died when she’s elbows deep in a design rut and is far more willing to kick his ass than run (or think about talking to him).

“Pixie pop,” Jason grinned.

Marinette refused to respond on the principle. Her parents were downstairs, and she’s trying to make a nice silloutte but can’t and Fuck Off Jason.

“So, uh, I’m alive.”

“Uh huh.”

“I don’t kill people that don’t deserve it.”

She narrowed her eyes as “Tim.”

Jason scratched the back of his neck. “Okay, I was really messed up for a while.”

Marinette rubbed her forehead. “And.”

“You know of anything called the Lazarus Pitts.”

She did. Also they drive you insane (re: beyond reason) with one use.

“I was recovering from them and mostly have the Pitt Juice out of my system.”

“Bruce?” because he’s batman so what can’t he do at this point?

“A friend of his.”

Cryptic, but she doesn’t want to focus on him.

“So, what have you been up to?”

“Fashion.”

“Oh, what kind?”

Somehow she managed to soften a bit and give real answers. Maybe it was because Jason mentioned debating trying school and vigilantism (apparently he goes after abusers and drug lord and people who target kids and pregnant women and okay, she’ll check with Tim later and all for it being the truth but… she wants this to be real.

At seventeen Marinette meets a ten year old Damian Wayne, who is insistent Tim is not a Wayne.

Marinette is ready to throw hands with a teeny tiny assassin child.

Adrien is too.

Tim says he was just leaving, so Marinette makes the “mature” decision to follow him to San Fransico with Adrien on her heels.

They were not expecting Red Hood to show up a week into their stay (Uncle Oswald was expected to pop in and complain about her not being in Gotham, but Red Hood (not Jason but Red Hood)? Not on the list of visitors.

“So you’re telling me this kid tried to start shit with my Replacement?”

Marinette raised an eyebrow and nodded.

Red Hood told her to give him three weeks to fix it.

Somehow, it worked. And Apparently Nightwing was in the doghouse with some of his former teammates? She wasn’t sure how that worked.

She did know that Tim is sixteen, switched to Red Robin (she helped him design it as he’s bad at it and he wanted to look like he was 30 in his first design. 30. Just. No.) and said he had a thing to do.

Marinette and Adrien shared a look.

“I’ll watch the kwami.”

One list of kwami-care later, and Marinette switched to online classes for the year to keep her not-technically baby brother/her idiot out of trouble. Did she mention ninjas were involved? They were. it was a nightmare and she may have let Red Hood know about the League and he may have shown up to help her keep Tim from getting brainwashed.

Oh, and only at that point did anyone bother to tell her about Bruce being missing-missing not just Off-World or on a real vacation-missing.

Tim explained his hunch (because it is a hunch Timmy, and now we have a semi-solid theory) and she just sighs and calls Adrien to meet her in Gotham.

Fluff won’t tell them where (spell stops it) but confirms Bruce is lost in time. Jason is shocked, Dick and Damian are processing, Alfred is bordering on tears and Tim is victorious.

He also calls up the teen titans for help and they get Bruce—Tim and Adrien’s Father figure, not Batman.

She shakes her head and lets them have their reunion, kwami content at her side.

She goes back to Paris as its home now, and works on rebuilding the order in between nagging Tim about his health (he fears only her and Alfred apparently) and harassing Jason about doing his coursework (apparently she, Maman, Papa and Alfred are all effective there).

She’s able to say her parents were right about Paris being good for her, but she doesn’t think Gotham is bad for her.

hope you enjoyed!

#maribat #my fic #my writing

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vaguely-concerned · 5 years ago

Text

Some more mass effect andromeda thinky thoughts as I run around heleus getting some achievements!

- the murderous angaran ai is genuinely so fucking funny. “How are you feeling here on Aya?” “I hope you die” “Is there anything we could do to make you more comfortable?” “BURY THIS PLANET UNDER FIRE AND ASH” “o.oookay. Goodbye then.” “I HATE you.”

- I hope I never become irresistibly moved to write mass effect andromeda fic b/c there really is no other description for a good 70% of the expressions reyes makes than :> and how could one capture that in words

- as mentioned I’ve been doing a bit of achievement hunting and in the process I’ve been switching up a lot of gameplay stuff from how I handled it the first few times around and let me tell you it’s baller as fuuuuuuuuuck -- it just looks so awesome and is so satisfying between the maneuverability of the jetpack and biotic charge and the effects. special shoutout to what happens if you biotic charge a frozen victim enemy and the biotic pull/push combination. (throwing people around like ragdolls is actually so much fun I’ve kept doing it even after I unlocked the achievement lol)

- lol lol when you get meridian online there’s the montage of every planet coming back to life, right? well the one on kadara is from inside kralla’s song, with umi looking out at everything that’s happening. and all I can imagine is her jaded-ass voice going ‘what the fUCK did that asshole kid do now I only just cleaned up after the bar brawl he started with his krogan grandpa and now he’s rearranging the entire fucking planet right from under us goddess I need a drink’

- the implication that reyes ‘cards so close to my chest you won’t even know I’m playing’ vidal just does not shut up about how amazing ryder is to anyone who’ll listen gives me so much life. when you try to be mysterious and laidback but the human pathfinder is so fucking cute tho Y____Y (also go watch his scenes if you’re being standoffish with him the entire time -- he clearly wants ryder to like him so much right from the beginning, he’s doing so much work to no avail and I feel sort of bad for how funny I find it haha. interesting that it really does seem to be an emotional thing as well as y’know the practical/tactical benefits of having the pathfinder on his side. methinks the charlatan might be a bit lonely there behind all his masks lol)

I think this is why I’m willing to give him some benefit of the doubt too, despite all the cloak and dagger stuff -- he’s so immediately drawn to ryder, who you can never make a bad person, really. something in him must respond to that, if potentially only in the ‘attracted to traits I do not possess myself’ way hahaha

- I love sam. so so much. some of the open world implementation is still grating (yes sam. yes I know I can mine this area for resources through my mining interface. we’ve been doing this for a hundred hours sam. you’ve been right here with me the entire time sam. please sam), but he’s SUCH a good and I’d argue underutilized concept (emotionally at least) and the best boy. the fact that he can get SARCASTIC on you fsdhfjsadh he’s growing and learning! he’s doing so from inside your brain which is kind of unsettling but also SO COOL! there’s something about that level of intimacy, of always knowing there will be someone there with you in your head that is super interesting and deserves to be examined more fully -- both how it could be comforting and how it’s r e a l l y not how people or ai are generally designed to work lol.

he also gives us a unique link with our dad and I wonder if the writers would have explored that in more depth if there’d been more development time -- it practically SCREAMS out an invitation to get to play/see things from alec’s POV in short bursts, like the memories you unlock except you could go through playing it as him since sam is common to both of us. (see my ‘our dad comes back through either kett or remnant nonsense in the sequel and we need to find some way to connect with him’ idea. it would be. amazing. listen alec already looked at the ethical guidelines involved in creating ai and went ‘huh interesting ideas but not for me thanks!’, don’t tell me he wouldn’t have left some loophole in so this could happen)

- reyes literally says ‘the cavalry’s here’ when we get to meridian and I for one love him more than words can express (he also asks us if we’re okay in sort of a sweet/worried way right before we get to the control room. aw buddy)

- like we don’t think of them like that because we’re in control of them and see all the stumbles and awkwardness and how young they are all the time, but damn the ryder twins must look like something else to everyone in andromeda haha. they literally stride around like demigods restoring entire planets. on voeld spring non-metaphorically follows in their footsteps. shit dude if we’re talking realpolitik here the angara must feel p r e t t y nervous about this -- there’s no one saying they can’t turn off the vaults as easily as they turned them on. I hope we get them somehow teaching the angara how to do it too, on a smaller scale at least, as a show of good faith or something in a sequel, because that power imbalance is disconcerting

- I’m glad sam and I have such similar priorities whenever we’re on kadara. ‘maybe mr vidal would know. perhaps we should ask mr vidal about this. mr vidal said something relating to this pathfinder maybe we should speak to him’ . yeah sam i know the feeling, same (it does undeniably read as sam having a bit of a crush which is. hilarious?)

- the fact that alec ryder thought ellen responded to his bad boy act in any way when what really charmed her was that he was a great big nerd <3 it’s kind of nice to see a fictional marriage that seems to have just been. nice and stable and chill? just two intellectual equals who like and respect each other very much and not a lot of drama until alec went full alec and started developing rogue ai instead of watching his wife die lol. again I would love for the sequel to involve ellen finally waking up and being like ‘death? trying to claim MY husband? I do not think so, I can die he can’t he’s not leaving me behind’ and helping out and you realize that the reason they were soulmates was that under the relatively rational and unemotional surface they’re both, at heart, batshit crazy mad scientists who are insanely devoted to each other. imagine it tho! the people of andromeda realize alec ryder is back from the dead somehow and doing some Shit out there, they put a ton of resources into curing ellen’s disease because their best shot is something to do with the implants she made, hey presto we’ve got all ryders on the board and in play.

- just want to make it clear that I’m still sad about avitus rix and hope he’s having a good day

- do you think ryder ever asks sam to read something to him ‘aloud’ in his head if he’s anxious and can’t sleep. or just to talk at him about something boring until he nods off. again the possibilities inherent in the concept!!! he has someone who’s closer to him than any other person could be, what’s that like?

- *me sticking to my sidewinder pistol the whole playthrough even though it’s laughably inefficient* I just wanna feel like a cowboy bioware please work with me here

- the male ryder voice actor has such amazing comedic timing, there’s a lot of reaction stuff out in the field he absolutely nails. I enjoy the female voice too and I like how much emotion she manages to convey towards the end of the game especially, but there’s a casual comedy in male ryder’s voice that can’t be beat. (well, it’s not hawke levels, but then nothing ever is, that’s too much to ask)

- I love vorn and kesh so much. nerd krogans unite & make out

- I still want to sit peebee down and have a long serious talk with her about emotional abuse, maybe give her a hug :( fuck kalinda

- this game does not get enough credit for how stunningly beautiful it is, it all got buried under criticism about the animations and it’s a fucking shame. the last few vaults you go through are just mindboggling in scale and visual uh striking-ness. it makes me so sad to think there won’t be any more of it D:

- I really like this mainly casual + logical dialogue options ryder I’ve found; it makes him sound like a younger and more irreverent version of his father, but also softer and less closed off and much more willing to show affection for his family especially.

- i wonder if different people’s individual SAMs will take on a certain tone/unique pattern when they’ve coexisted long enough. have I mentioned. how much I want a sequel to this game

- one last reyes note because don’t look at me okay -- I wonder how much we’re meant to read into ‘being honorable never got me anywhere’. on the one hand I’m fully prepared to believe he’s never even tried doing anything the honorable way in his entire life lol but on the other there’s also some interesting potential in the interplay of that sentence and ‘to be someone’. (there seems to be a deep fear in him both of powerlessness and of being truly seen/recognized -- he equates secrecy with safety pretty explicitly -- which seems... telling? of what I don’t know but telling all the same hahaha) like he might be saying he’s tried doing things the ‘right’ way and it didn’t work and the price was too high, so he just went for this instead with the ends low-key justifying the means. hmmm. :Ia (this is what happens when I get Attached to a character with like an hour of screentime my friends, and I’m already primed to give my entire heart away at the sound of nicholas boulton’s voice)

#mass effect #mass effect andromeda #I'm sorry about this my brain just won't shut up about this suddenly so here we go #reyes vidal #meta

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secret-engima · 5 years ago

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(Whispers) FFXV ten years younger AU; Noctis is like, 10yrs younger than C!Noct. How do you think that would work out???

HGFDSDHGFDS WAIT WAIT WAIT.

I’M CONFUSED.

Do you mean that Noctis is BORN ten years later and the plot still kicks off? Or that Noctis time-travels and ends up ten years younger. I’m gonna assume you mean the former so here we go. I’m sticking this under read more because I am going to RAMBLE LIKE CRAZY.

-The wedding is not a thing. Because Noctis is TEN.

-It is quite possible that he never got attacked by the Marilith, because by the time he was eight, Tenenbrae might have already been invaded.

-That or the invasion was delayed until Noctis got there, which means Luna would be 22 when she meets Noctis and Ravus is 26 so both are WAY more mature and comfortable in their own skin/morals by the time the invasion happens. Ravus does not beg Regis for help but instead helps with the evacuation, Luna is not dumb enough to stop and let the MTs take her, Sylva may or may not still die, but at least she doesn’t take a flame-thrower to the face (might still get stabbed by Glauca).

-Also Gladio is there because he’s like- 21 at this section of timeline and has taken his Crownsguard oaths. Ignis is there too.

-Imma go with my petty side and say that with two adult oracles, an adult Ravus (who was no doubt trained to be a deadly guardian of his sister), a Very Angry Gladio, and a semi-homicidal and reckless Ignis, Glauca has a Bad Day. Maybe dies, maybe not.

-Luna and Ravus escape with teeny Noct and Regis and take sanctuary in Lucis and denounce the Nifs for what they’ve done (Sylva too if she isn’t dead? Which she might be) and the world goes on something of a mass riot because the reason they didn’t attack the Oracles before was for fear of what the public would do if they found out.

-They’re called consequences you morons. You poisoned your cake now eat it.

-Luna and Nyx are a thing. Because Noctis is way too young to even consider it and Nyx finds this feisty Oracle woman who demands to be trained in the glaive with her brother to be Really Hot.

-Luna becomes the Glaive healer, using the Kingsglaive’s movements to disguise her own from the empire so she can still help people.

-If Glauca is still alive, he Glauca tries something as Titus and is murdered by one very angry Luna and one Super Angry Ravus who now has LC magic on top of whatever brand of magic male Nox Fleuret can use (yes I know oracle magic is a girl only thing but MAGIC, the boy has to get something even if its not healing based) because he joined the Kingsglaive.

-Ravus maybe becomes the new Captain of the Glaive? Either him, Nyx, Libertus, or Luche, who is not a traitor because I’ve grown to like him.

-Noctis loves his Shield and his Oracle Sister and Big Brother Ravus, Luna can feel destiny bearing down on them and often cries in private because Noctis is TEN.

-With the world rioting in fury over the truth of what happened in Tenebrae (which I HC in canon was never leaked because the two royals were being held hostage and the Tenebraen people either didn’t know or where being blackmailed into silence with the lives of their beloved royal children), the Nifs take some serious damage to their power base.

-Nifs offer a ceasefire with Lucis to begin “making reparations” with the Tenebrae line and Lucis two years after the invasion.

-Regis smells a rat.

-The rat looks like Ardyn.

-Still, he DOES have little choice but to accept, BUT with the Oracle’s healing and the world public on his side, Regis has way more leverage in this treaty, demands territories be returned and stuff (Galahd included).

-Nifs agree to the terms and come for the signing, Regis doesn’t send Noctis out of the city because as bad as his feelings are, Noctis is TEN and Ignis and Gladio are just young adults.

-The Nifs still pull their invasion nonsense because- well- NIFLHEIM. The Emperor is pretty power mad at this point and is like “if we crush Lucis the dissenters will shut up out of fear”.

-It’s pretty intense. Fire everywhere, traitors making trouble (NOT in the glaive, the Glaive were lured out of the city with leaked reports of a fleet to get them out of the way, it’s corrupt Nobles and disgruntled citizens that do this).

-Without Glauca there, Regis doesn’t die, but he DOES probably get injured and separated from his son, whom Ignis and Gladio take and flee the Citadel, trying to escape the chaos.

-In the chaos of trying to flee the city, they bump into a rookie Crownsguard who just took his oath like- a WEEK ago and he helps them evacuate the prince with his crack shot aiming skills and his knowledge of the city’s back streets (”I like to take photos of the alley cats okay????”)

-The four end up outside the city, separated from all backup, in a hotwired car that Ignis took (”Since when do YOU know how to hotwire a car?” “Since I thought the skill might come in handy now shut up and watch the road”).

-Insomnia doesn’t fall, but the Empire is freaking stubborn and starts a siege or something, so the bros can’t get back in, and since they encountered some Crownsguard traitors in the chaos so they don’t trust anyone outside their foursome and they’re being actively hunted by the Empire ...

-Who’s up for a road trip?

-Also Regis probably thinks Noctis is dead because Angst and is furious beyond words and Luna smuggles herself out of the city to go wake up the Astrals and ask what to do now only to find out from a really vague Gentiana that the Chosen Lives so she’s off doing that solo adventure playing Hot-Cold with the bros as they run around trying not to get spotted by Nifs and figuring out WHAT TO DO. HELP.

(and this is the point where I could either make this a horrible tragedy about child kings and sacrificial lambs but I hate sad endings so I won’t so have some crack-flavored Fluff instead)

-Cor smuggles himself out to join the search but Ignis is doing his job a little Too Well so nobody can find these bros as they run around and Noctis ends up befriending Titan through the sheer power of his Cute and then Ramuh comes down to see because the Chosen isn’t old enough to take on his destiny except oh look. BBY. and his Granddadly instincts are roused for the first time in Millenia and so now the group has a doting Grandpa showing up at random to give advice and Smite People.

-Noctis continues to befriend just about Anything That Breathes as Big Bro Gladio, Brother Ignis, and his new Brother Prompto cart him around the wilderness of Lucis trying to figure out how to get safely back in Insomnia when there is a siege happening (the Siege is keeping the Glaives busy btw, which is why they aren’t out in force looking for Noctis).

-At one point Noctis gets separated from his bros in like- Lestallum or something and is wandering around freaking out when he bumps into someone. “Sorry,” he sniffles, trying hard to be dignified but also is so close to crying. The figure turns and ... looks at him. He doesn’t like that look.

-Noctis, who has been repeatedly told that he is in danger and needs to keep a low profile, starts to duck away from the man, afraid of being spotted, but then the man is in front of him, blocking his way and there are no other people around and Noctis is shaking and terrified, magic sparking under his skin as the man REACHES for him with a leer- and Noctis sobs and his magic reaches out instinctively in search of help-someone-please-PLEASE-

-A sword goes through the man’s chest, pinning him to the wall and suddenly there is a stranger there. A stranger with crackling, snapping magic that coils around Noctis, old and deadly and wounded but not- not evil. The new stranger turns and looks at Noctis, something cold and confused in his gaze, and maybe Noctis should be terrified of this man with red hair and tacky clothes and what looks like black makeup that’s all runny like he’s gotten it wet or been crying, but all Noctis can think is that someone rescued him, someone is HERE and that man has magic just like Noctis so he must be safe and-

-Ardyn feels like the wind has been knocked out of him less because of a scrawny ten year old cannoning into his waist in a desperate sobbing hug and more because- because-

-He hadn’t expected the Chosen to be a child.

-He had known, conceptually, that Regis’s son was very young but that- that was different from seeing it. From feeling young, immature magic latch onto his in desperation and needy trust and looking down at this tiny child who was already sobbing his heart out into the waistcoat of a MONSTER.

-The Chosen King is a child.

-And Ardyn can already feel two Covenants burning under the boy’s skin.

-The Astrals mean to make a CHILD their sacrifice? They will not even wait until he is grown?

-And Ardyn is not ... sane really, but no matter what he tells himself he still has standards and underneath the screaming of the scourge the old Healer King, the older brother who did more to raise his sibling than their father ever did, rears its head and snarls NO.

-Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto, who are all losing their minds over getting separated from Noctis, find him sniffling but content on the hip of a strange hobo-like man who smiles false smiles and says nothing with a great deal of words and somehow inserts himself into their group and never leaves. Noctis doesn’t WANT him to leave and the three are terribly astonished when Noctis blurts out that this poor man is sick and has magic like Noctis, but his sickness makes him tired and cranky.

-Ardyn is trying not to laugh to the point of tears over such a SIMPLE explanation of the Starscourge.

-Anyway to make an already stupid long ramble shorter, Noctis cutes his way to victory by melting the heart of the Accursed into going “Mine. My Nephew Now.” The Empire overreaches and gets it’s back broken by mass riots and Lucis’s defense and Altissia and Tenebrae both rising up in a bid for freedom, Ardyn gets medical help from a Very Confused Luna and they end up curing the Starscourge through the Power of Cute and the Power of Spite (aka Noctis and Ardyn) and then come back to Insomnia with a defected chancellor in tow who is now fully cured and mostly sane again and utterly devoted to his cute nephew.

-Regis is too grateful at finding his son alive and well despite prophecy to really care about the ex-Chancellor happily passing Noctis candy under Ignis’s exasperated eye every time Noctis looks the slightest bit Cuter than Normal.

#SE asks #oliverslewty asks #And A Child Shall Lead Them verse #Secret Engima Rambles

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hellzyeahwebwielingessays · 5 years ago

Text

Superior is INDEFENCIBLE! Part 1: Why MJ SHOULD have known ‘Peter’ was an imposter in Superior #2!

Part 2

I wanna talk about some of the comments made regarding Superior Spider-Man #2 on this podcast. It starts at the 18 minute mark.

The person who voiced the comments under discussion also had some follow up in a messageboard regarding the episode.

So first let’s define what those comments were. Basically it’s all a defence of Mary Jane’s obliviousness to Doc Ock pretending to be Peter in Superior #2. I say defence it’s more of a finger wagging/pointing at the people who had a problem with it and were calling it out.

Mary Jane Watson is not real so stop getting upset about her potentially being raped

If Doc Ock did rape her that wouldn’t be Marvel claiming that it’d be okay to rape people because Otto is a villain

He calls out someone who claimed that Doc Ock ‘technically’ raped Mary Jane by tricking her

If no one is having sex with anyone it is not rape

He tries to justify MJ’s obliviousness like this: Imagine being in a relationship with someone for many, many years. You guys break up and spend a lot of time apart not even in contact with one another and then a few years later you see each other again and hang out regularly in the same social group. There is still an unspoken distance between you two because you weren’t intimate to the same degree as you were when you were together. In that amount of time someone changes. In this case Peter he has had a lot of crazy Avengers adventures since he and MJ broke up. He’s a financially successful member of HORIZON labs, a fact that surprised MJ and hurt her because he did it without her. And now when MJ and peter were back together there has been a few years between the last time you two were together and Peter has done a lot of growing without you. Even though you hung around as friends you don’t act the same way around your friends as you do with an ex that you were now getting back together with.

He goes on to argue that MJ is noticing some differences in Peter that she is commenting upon.

He continues by addressing MJ’s deduction of Peter being the Chameleon in Spec #245. He claims that there were big differences between that situation and Superior #2. Chameleon didn’t have Peter’s body, he was merely using a hologram of it so there’d be ore subtle differences. At the time Peter and MJ were married whereas in Superior #2 they were not. Otto could address any subtle difference MJ noticed by simply bringing up something only Peter would be aware of.

During Spec #245 and the Clone Saga Peter and MJ were more in tune with one another since they were married

‘Chameleon can't make himself as tall as Peter is....same weight....the voice will be similar but can't be 100 percent the same....Ock can though.’

So let’s unpack all this.

“Mary Jane Watson is not real so stop getting upset about her potentially being raped”

I trust I need not go into a detailed explanation about how emotional investment into fiction works.

Instead let’s consider this from a moral perspective. Many if not most female characters in Marvel and DC had gotten the short end of the stick and MJ circa 2013 (when this issue was released) perhaps more than many.

99% of the time rape in superhero fiction, especially to women, legitimately comes from a place of sexism or misogyny. The understandable sensitivity of the topic is such that it’s utterly repugnant to had milked it for cheap tension the way Marvel had done at the time.

And to do it with such a beloved and iconic character, the leading lady of the Spider-Man universe no less. No, that was simply out of order.

That’s not a ticking time bomb that should even BE in a Spider-Man story in the first place.

The PRINCIPLE of the matter is what most people were upset about.

“If Doc Ock did rape her that wouldn’t be Marvel claiming that it’d be okay to rape people because Otto is a villain”

Again, most people were not concerned over this.

What they were concerned about was the damage it’d do to MJ and Otto as characters were Marvel to go through with it and indeed the damage it wound up doing to Doc Ock specifically because he attempted to rape MJ. Until a retcon is employed it will be forever canon that Doc Ock WOULD had raped MJ by deception if given the opportunity; a concept this poster denied on another thread just FYI.

But why would fans feel such a way? Why is Doc Ock doing that somehow worse than attempted mass murder with a nuclear bomb or orbital space technology?

Because everyone reading super hero comic books is totally awwere that death is not only reversible, but that within the context of DC and Marvel’s defined morality systems rape is a special kind of evil.

TVTropes lists off some infamous examples:

“Identity Crisis: Dr. Light was evil, but he wasn't evil until it was Ret-Conned that he had raped Sue Dibny in the JLA watchtower. Following the retcon, it's become standard practice to write Light as a serial rapist. Quoth Plastic Man: "It's like that's his power now."”

“He calls out someone who claimed that Doc Ock ‘technically’ raped Mary Jane by tricking her”

Okay. If someone did say that then they were in the wrong.

But Otto was still exploiting and violating Mary Jane’s sense of trust and emotional intimacy by preying upon her feelings for Peter.

Worse he violated her in other ways (in terms of privacy if nothing else) by accessing Peter’s memories of being intimate with Mary Jane.

The closest real world equivalent to this would be breaking stealing someone’s property breaking into it for the express purpose of seeing private photos given to them by their lover which you proceed to masturbate over…Whilst the person you’ve stolen from watches in horror and yells at you to stop…

Except in context it’s even worse than that because Otto literally feels the sensation of Mary Jane’s body in spite of her never giving him consent to do that.

Maybe you could argue that is not rape or sexual violation. But it’s unequivocally some form of serious ethical violation.

“If no one is having sex with anyone it is not rape”

Even if we said this statement is technically accurate (which can be debated depending on what counts as sex), the issue is one of violation which can take many forms beyond just sexual violation.

“He tries to justify MJ’s obliviousness like this: Imagine being in a relationship with someone for many, many years. You guys break up and spend a lot of time apart not even in contact with one another and then a few years later you see each other again and hang out regularly in the same social group. There is still an unspoken distance between you two because you weren’t intimate to the same degree as you were when you were together. In that amount of time someone changes. In this case Peter he has had a lot of crazy Avengers adventures since he and MJ broke up. He’s a financially successful member of HORIZON labs, a fact that surprised MJ and hurt her because he did it without her. And now when MJ and Peter were back together there has been a few years between the last time you two were together and Peter has done a lot of growing without you. Even though you hung around as friends you don’t act the same way around your friends as you do with an ex that you were now getting back together with. “

This is the big one that needs discussing. First of all here is another poster who had some astute comments:

“While you made a good case for why Mary Jane would realistically not figure out right away that her beloved "Peter" was really Doc Ock, there were, however, two very big strikes against this. In the first place, Dan Slott himself has repeatedly acknowledged that Mary Jane knows Peter better than anyone else.”

This is totally true and it even precedes Slott’s tenure too. She offered Peter insights into himself towards the end of BND and encouraged him to get with Carlie.

Early into Slott’s run she advised him to tell Carlie to truth.

She was able to inspire Peter into action during Spider-Island by pointing out he was still special in spite of everyone possessing his powers.

She reaffirmed his uniqueness after the crisis was resolved.

And she set his mind straight at the end of that story. In fact her big take away from this story was a greater understanding of Peter because of her experiences saving the city with his powers.

She continued to connect with Peter and offer clear insights into his deepest inner nature in the ‘’I Killed Tomorrow’ arc.

She was one of the few people in ‘Ends of the Earth’ who had absolute faith in Peter to save the entire world from the Sinister Six. She was so confident that she exploited the lowered real estate prices due to the crisis and purchased a nightclub.

In the immediate aftermath of ‘Ends of the Earth’ she was again a confidant who offered him advice and understanding over his inner problems. Specifically his guilt regarding Silver Sable’s ‘death’ during the crisis.

She did this again in the ‘Alpha’ storyline, this time zeroing in on stuff connected to his childhood and Uncle Ben’s influence.

Now, we can (justifiably) take issue with the specifics of the above. We could argue they were out of character or misinformed or what had you.

But the point is that Slott was framing Mary Jane as the person both closest to Peter and the person who didn’t just comparatively understand him best, but who simply got him on an incredibly deep level.

And yet when inconvenient for the plot all that went out the window.

So Mary Jane was clearly contradicting Slott’s own personal definition of her.

The astute poster continued.

“After all, she has known Peter was Spider-Man practically since day one, has been in a continuous on-again, off-again relationship ever since they first met, and has lived with him for years. This is someone who, by all accounts, has been intimate with Peter on every single level. Even after brief periods of separation, someone who has been that close with someone else is going to know things about them that other people would not.”

Again this is very on point. Prior to Brand New Day (let alone Superior) and across at least 5-10 years of their lives Mary Jane had known Peter Parker when:

He didn’t know she existed

He knew she existed but hadn’t met her

They had been acquaintances

They had been friends

They had been casually dating

The had been going steady

They had been serious

They had been drifting apart

They had drifted apart and become exs

They had been becoming friendly again

They had become friendly again

They were friendly but had awkward sexual/romantic tension

They were friendly but had not-awkward sexual/romantic tension

They had become confidants

They had become BFF

They were BFFs/confidants who had not very subtle romantic/sexual tension

They had been the above and were falling back in love

They had been the above but had fallen back in love but weren’t dating

They had been the above, had fallen back in love and were practically dating but in denial about it

They had been the above, had fallen back in love, were practically dating but only barely in denial about it at all, to the point where they were making each other breakfast in bed and locking lips

They had admitted their feelings to one another and become engaged

They had been married

They had been married and had major tensions

They had been married and separated

They had been married and were trying to maybe patch things up

They had been married and were back together and patching things up

They had been married and had successfully patched things up

And amidst all that they’d been expectant parents, grieved a miscarriage, she’d seen Peter pushed to a breaking point due to grief or mental instability.

Amidst all that Peter definitely changed. But outside or the above mentioned extenuating circumstances, he had literally NEVER acted like he had been acting whilst Otto was in control of his body.

In fact the Peter Parker she would’ve met again during the 1980s after they broke up the first time would’ve gone through FAR more growth and changes than the Peter between OMD and Superior. Shit it was during this time period where MJ was explicitly said to had been able to read Peter like a book.

Bear in mind this was when they hadn’t spent years of their life together and when she didn’t know the details of how/why he became Spider-Man. It was even written with the intent that she didn’t know at all. And Peter had not yet learned MJ’s own origins and thus become more emotionally intimate with her either.

Equally it can be argued that Peter had changed and grown much more between between their trial separation under Mackie and their reconciliation under JMS when he’d become a school teacher, told Aunt May the truth and considered his powers having mystical roots.

Yet he didn’t act this drastically differently.

He is literally not even talking the same way he used to before.

Even if you act differently among friends or colleagues than privately with your partner, the idea that MJ believes that because of Avengers adventures Peter suddenly speaks totally differently is ridiculous. It’s even more ridiculous when you consider how she can observe him speaking similarly outside of interactions with herself.

Not to mention she is friends and roommates with Peter’s most recent ex-Carlie Cooper and observed their interactions whilst they were dating. Peter didn’t act this way and Carlie could confirm that for her.

Additionally, let’s consider MJ has some psychology and acting training, meaning she’s very good at getting inside people’s heads to understand them. A great example comes from ‘Soul of the Hunter;

And she was able to sense something was fishy about Norman Osborn when she met him. This occurred when she didn’t know he was the Green Goblin and Norman himself had amnesia and didn’t know it himself.

Plus she’s extremely socially savvy and so you would imagine she’d be great at picking up on subtle behaviours like body language, etc. Even if Doc Ock had Peter’s body he would be unlikely to carry himself the same way simply because he’d had no idea how Peter would had carried himself in the first place.

So MJ wouldn’t need to had been married or living with Peter for a while to pick up on the nuances of Otto’s behaviour; not that he’s even being nuanced or subtle in the first place.

But it goes even deeper than this.

Peter and Mary Jane were not like a regular couple. And no that isn’t some Disney-esque miracle love at first sight nonsense either, it’s simple psychology.

As the astute poster noted, the length of time MJ has known Peter and been close to him would mean she’d be able to see through Otto.

But it’s not just that they were friends, confidants, lovers or life partners during this time.

Peter and MJ are one part romantic couple, one part war veterans.

In real life soldiers who fought side-by-side with one another, especially if the situation was very traumatic, forge an extremely potent mental/emotional bond. This is obviously accentuated if there was a pre-existing positive relationship, like if they were friends or family.

A very good albeit fictional example would be the relationship between Captain America and Bucky in the MCU.

Peter and MJ already had a generally positive relationship before they began to fall in love with one another. And they were one another’s best friends by the time they were married. Under Slott’s pen it was also clear that they were one another’s closest companions prior to Superior.

The deep bonds between them would’ve been accentuated through shared tragedies and deeply personal experiences. These would have included their respective origins which echoed one another’s lives growing up. But more poignantly it included enduring emotional pain and trauma together.

Gwen’s death which was the catalyst for their romance.

‘Kraven’s Last Hunt’ which forced the pair to confront their greatest fears now that they were newlyweds.

The death of their child, which is an experience that can often result in the ending of a couple’s relationship. In Peter and MJ’s case they grew closer as a result.

Their life on the run after Peter’s identity went public and Aunt May was dying in a coma. Peter and MJ had options of escaping the situation at the cost of their relationship but instead reaffirmed their commitment to one another.

These are just some of the myriad of traumatic and testing life experiences Peter and MJ shared together. Experiences that they helped one another get through. The pattern of behaviour for the two of them was clear. Emotionally or mentally traumatic situations made them grow closer. And quite apart from traumatic situations there is an element of physical danger heavily involved in this too.

There have been countless times MJ has been rescued by, or relied upon Peter to rescue her from danger.

Peter himself has been rescued by Mary Jane’s physical intervention.

And like him she’s been more than willing to make sacrifices in her life for his sake. This can be something like her career opportunities but have also included risking her life to see him from harm.

But more frequently her presence in his life as ben an empowering force that has enabled him to save himself, a fact he has actively attributed to Mary Jane.

So yes. Peter and Mary Jane are incredibly comparable to soldiers. Just soldiers who happen to also be in love with one another too.

It’s not just the mere existence of these traumatic bonding experiences either but the high frequency with which they have occurred. Any one of the things Peter and MJ have had to endure might have broken the strongest of couples, the best of friends. But so many of them? Seeing their lover/friend Gwen Stacy, their mutual friend Harry Osborn, their brother/friend Ben Reilly and their baby die? All within a 10 year time span?

No.

It is just absurd to strictly apply how the majority of regular couples behave to these two.

And it is equally absurd to argue that they within a mere year or two (during which time they were still in one another’s social circles half the time, still close friends, still confidants, AND had underlying romantic feelings for one another) that they’d fall so far out of synch.

Absurd that MJ could be so blind as honestly presume merely having adventures with the Avengers or becoming a successful scientist could have changed Peter so drastically. And changed him drastically only within the context of private romantic moments, not whilst he was interacting with anyone else.

Absurd that either of them could genuinely not tell an imposter when they see one. This in fact came up during the marriage more than once.

Obviously we have the Chameleon situation, but MJ within like a month of living with Peter she could easily tell (on a dark rainy night no less) that Kraven the Hunter wasn’t the real Spider-Man.

Sure, he was way more violent than Peter normally is. But in a then very recent arc Peter had gotten pretty violent when MJ was threatened.

And for the record MJ didn’t realize ‘Peter’ was an imposter after she witnessed Superior Spidey deliver a similarly violent beating in Superior #6.

During the Clone Saga Mary Jane confronted one of Peter’s clones and deduced him as a fraud.

However she immediately recognized Peter when she saw him. For context she was running for her life at the time, Aunt May’s funeral had been (at best) two days earlier, Peter had been arrested for murder immediately after the funeral, she’d been abducted (twice) by a scary new villain called Kaine and as far as she knew Peter had been locked up in jail, unaware of her plight.

Rationally it made no sense for her to presume the Spider-Man in front of her was the real guy. And yet she just knew because of the bond between them.

Shit, Aunt May deduced the Chameleon (who is a MASTER of disguise) was an imposter in spite of him being far more subtle than Otto was. She could tell simply because she had raised Peter, in spite of being in the dark about him being Spider-Man for years.

The astute poster corroborates further corroborates my points:

“Likewise, as I believe Zack pointed out, the changes "Peter" underwent since Amazing Spider-Man #698 weren't exactly subtle. In fact, by the end of Superior Spider-Man #2, Mary Jane essentially acknowledges that Peter has changed so much that it seems as if he's become a completely different person. Given all of her past experiences with Peter and how intimately involved she was in his life, wouldn't it stand to reason that she would logically conclude that if Peter is acting like a different person, then maybe he actually is a different person and not Peter?”

Let’s move onto the next bullet points.

“He goes on to argue that MJ is noticing some differences in Peter that she is commenting upon.”

“He continues by addressing MJ’s deduction of Peter being the Chameleon in Spec #245. He claims that there were big differences between that situation and Superior #2. Chameleon didn’t have Peter’s body, he was merely using a hologram of it so there’d be ore subtle differences. “

“‘Chameleon can't make himself as tall as Peter is....same weight....the voice will be similar but can't be 100 percent the same....Ock can though.’”

I know I’m adding the final point here but it seemed appropriate.

Let’s consider the fact that Chameleon was merely making I seem like he had Peter’s body whilst Otto id in fact have Peter’s body. Thus MJ would pick up on the subtle differences.

Well first of all MJ would be picking up on various subtle and unsubtle behavioral differences in Otto as I spoke about above.

Second of all this mentality does not fly. Partially because I am honestly struggling to remember a time in canon that anyone noticed physical differences between Chameleon and the genuine articles. Maybe I am forgetting something, but IIRC he impersonated Jameson and managed to fool both his old friends, colleagues and family members (including his wife).

Additionally the idea that there would even be subtle differences is extremely questionable because Chameleon at the time could perfectly recreate anyone he wanted. His powers and technology was such that he was able to simultaneously disguise himself as Peter Parker AND cast a secondary hologram of Doc Ock. He isn’t just wearing a disguise or hologram but rather physically transforming his body and clothing into a perfect replica of his target. These abilities are detailed in ASM #307.

He basically just needs to get a good enough look at his target and he can totally become them.

In the story in question he had Spidey rendered unconscious, unmasked him and even had the time to drug, imprison and disguise him in an effort to make him believe he was someone else.

So yes, Chameleon 100% could’ve perfectly replicated Peter’s body. Height. Weight. Pimples. Everything sans his powers.

This means there were no physical differences MJ was picking up. She just figured it out the moment he kissed her and she knew the truth.

So MJ could tell Chameleon was an imposter in spite of him having identical lips to Peter due to his powers. And yet MJ couldn’t tell Otto was an imposter when he kissed her in ASM #700.

This should be enough to call bullshit on the OP because of the sheer goddam number of times MJ must have realistically kissed Peter before.

But let’s say for the sake of argument that in the Chameleon story it was only because MJ had kissed Peter in recent memory that she could tell the difference. That she wrote off Otto’s kiss as there having been such a long time since they’d kissed that maybe it would just naturally feel different. This argument is critically wounded because less than a year before ASM #700 (in-universe) MJ and Peter did share a kiss in the deplorable ‘One Moment in Time’ storyline.

Oh and let’s not forget that MJ was able to deduce Peter from his biologically identical clones!...Twice!...Under stressful life and death circumstances!...Whilst pregnant!

“At the time Peter and MJ were married whereas in Superior #2 they were not. Otto could address any subtle difference MJ noticed by simply bringing up something only Peter would be aware of.”

Yes MJ and Peter were married when she recognized his imposters. I’m going to address that point later as it’s more relevant there.

As for the latter point though it holds no water.

Yes, Otto could bring up something only Peter would know about, like how he once proposed with a crackerjack box.

But Mary Jane is aware that she lives in a world of shape-shifting Skrulls, mutant telepaths and A.I. intelligences based upon the brain patterns of human beings. All of these concepts have included the imposters having private memories from their subjects.

Looking like someone else AND having access to their memories or private information is totally possible.

Not to mention an imposter could simply keep their subject locked up and torture them for information.

Ah, but none of those things originated from the Spider-Man brand. Surely it isn’t fair to use the entire Marvel universe for context because then nothing would ever make sense.

Okay, then let’s confine this to just Spider-Man specific characters and concepts.

Alien symbiotes are shape-shifters that form telepathic bonds with their hosts. They can often control their hosts’ bodies too. So not only might a symbiote be controlling Peter but it could very well be someone else with a symbiote, one who has bonded with Peter and thus has access to his memories.

The Winkler device was a machine that could brainwash people but also cause them to become irrational and violent. Ned Leeds and Captain Stacy were among it’s victims. It is possible Peter has been brainwashed by that or a similar device, hence he’s acting out of character but he’d still remember intimate things Either way it’d be a cause for concern.

Peter’s robot parents were shape shifting A.I. creatures, and the one based on Mary Parker actually risked her life to save Peter because she genuinely loved him. So, she had artificially inserted memories that could recreate a feeling as potent as love.

And here is the big one…fucking clones.

Peter’s clones have his memories up to the point the DNA sample from his body was separated. But the Jackal had methods of actually updating the memories of clones so they’d be identical in mind as well as body. This is how Ben Reilly, in spite of being grown from DNA donated before Gwen’s death, had all of Peter’s memories from after that point.

Not only does MJ know that but for a long time she believed the man she married was a clone and that Ben Reilly was the original Peter Parker. As a result the man she was involved with from 1975-1995 looked and acted identically to the man she’d been dating prior to that. He remembered when MJ shut the door after Gwen’s death. He remembered the first words MJ said to him. He remembered their first kiss in the airport. He remembered all this stuff even though he wouldn’t have been the real deal. The fact that he turned out to be the genuine article eventually doesn’t matter because Ben Reilly knew all that stuff too.

So his knowledge of private information is absolutely not proof he is the real Peter Parker.

“During Spec #245 and the Clone Saga Peter and Mj were more in tune with one another since they were married”

Mostly I’ve already addressed these. First of all MJ was clearly in tune with Peter prior to Superior as witnessed by all the Slott stories above.

And for other reasons listed above she and Peter wouldn’t have fallen out of tune with one another to the point where MJ could be so gullible. Additionally, they were clearly still mostly in tune with one another on both other occasions they broke up and became reacquainted with one another. I refer you back to how MJ was said to be able to read Peter like a book following their first break up. Again, this was when she was written to not know he was Spider-Man. That changed with retcons but even so she didn’t know how, when or why he was Spider-Man. He didn’t know her own origin and they hadn’t had nearly as many of the serious and intimate life experiences they’d have later in life.

However, more poignant proof can be found when we jump to the JMS run. To be clear between OMD and MJ’s reintroduction into ASM over a year elapsed and then we can guesstimate another year elapsed between then and he start of Superior. But Peter and MJ were interacting in that second year, as witnessed in those Slott stories.

In contrast Peter and MJ had been drifting apart and not been seeing too much of each other face-to-face between ASM v2 #1-13. This was due to various factors, chiefly MJ’s busy modeling career, Peter’s Spidey work and the fact that they were both keeping secrets at this time. They had also been drifting apart emotionally too.

In ASM v2 #13 MJ was seemingly killed in a plane crash and presumed dead for six months.

Six months where she was locked in a room, all alone. Her abductor never even spoke to her most of the time.

She even, developed PTSD as a result.

It was heavily implied upon her return that the time between ASM v2 #1 and her return had been almost a year.

Shortly after her return she and Peter separated and we don’t know how long elapsed between then and their eventual reconciliation in ASM v2 #50. However long it was, Peter and MJ only saw one another face-to-face once for at best maybe 6 hours tops; and that’s being incredibly generous. They also spoke very briefly on the phone to one another. On one occasion Peter tried to call her but hung up.

So that’s at least a whole year in which they had been seeing little of one another, drifting apart and had zero contact for over 6 months. So you know, that would mean they had less time together than prior to Superior. They’d have been less in tune here than at the start of Superior.

And yet in the issue they reconcile they are still in tune enough that they finish one another’s sentences and are thinking the same thing.

They also fall back fairly easily into their old habits together even though they took it slow. They weren’t trying hard to rediscover how one another had changed.

Again, it can be argued that Peter had actually internally changed and grown far more between his first and second break ups with MJ and their respective reconciliations than between OMD and Superior.

I’m not trying to say that Peter and MJ wouldn’t have been comparatively more in tune whilst they were married than at the start of Superior. Just that they would’ve remained mostly in tune and not have been so out of tune that MJ could’ve been fooled as easily as she was.

The proof of this can be found in ASM #604. For the first time in over a year Peter and MJ get a chance to talk following their separation. They are still so in synch that they can speak in unison.

All in all…sigh.

See this guy?

He used to be ‘on side’. He used to be a PeterxMJ shipper. He talked about doing a petition to prevent OMD before it happened. He used to speak out against the badness that was BND and Slott’s run but over time he gradually drifted into being…well look my inner angry emotional assessment would say he’s a traitor. Perhaps that is not the technical term. He basically became someone who would never speak about the marriage other than to bash ‘fanboys’ (as he’d call them in a needlessly aggressive and petulant tone of voice) for still being concerned with it. Whether that was not ‘being over’ the erasure of the marriage or for basically talking up MJ’s importance.

To speak personally about this for a moment, I used to look up to this guy.

No seriously his work on this and another podcast along with his essays in the late 2000s and early 2010s were partially a revelation to me.

Back in 2012 when I discovered his work the idea of actual in-depth analytical essays on Spider-Man was still pretty new to me. The idea of someone not talking broadly on the characters but diving into the details of the narratives and following them sequentially? Man, that shit was an inspiration for some stuff I do here and on other blogs. I’d still recommend some of his earlier works.

His understanding of continuity I once thought unparalleled. Now days, and especially just looking at the above, not so much. It helped me to learn more about the history of these characters and stories.

It seems that I discovered his backlog at the wrong time because I think he had already drifted farther out to become, well, what you can see above, by the time I started listening to that podcast.

I thought that surely these guys, who must clearly know about the subject than I do will call out this crap for what it is. Surely he would? And on Superior #2 most of them did. But he did not.

I remember in 2013 struggling to process that. I looked up to him. I thought that since he knew so much about Spider-Man and so much more than me that he could not be wrong. So either I was wrong or he was wrong which called into question everything else he’d said about the subject matter. Everything else I’d taken his word for was called into question.

I’m older, wiser, uglier and less forgiving now.

I see the situation for what it was.

Someone who used to be good at their job slipping, becoming interested in other things and for personal reasons seemingly getting frustrated with (unfairly) with certain other people and having that taint their stance going forward.

And it feels so wonderful after 7 years of this being at the back of my brain to finally let it out.

I think one more post addressing Superior #2 ought to do it though.

P.S. He got huffy about MJ noticing Peter said toodle-loo to her in Superior #10.

So Peter saying a common phrase he could’ve picked up anywhere (even in the months between issues #2 and #11) is more worthy of complaint than the immeasurably more obvious shit from Superior #2.

Part 2

#The Superior Spider-Man #Superior Spider-Man #Peter Parker #mjwatsonedit #mary jane watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #MJ Watson #spider-man #Dan Slott #otto octavius #Doc Ock #Doctor Octopus #chameleon #The Chameleon

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plainvanillapotato · 4 years ago

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the 100 diaries S3 E5

quarantine diaries: July 5 2020

Season 3 episode 5: “Hakeldama

ok but what are these sad excuses of hoods like theyre really just pieces of cloth that you can barely call a hood

“we bring them peace” immediately cut to bloody bellamy coming back from battle with dramatic music. was i meant to laugh at that because if so i did

“this land is ours now”...umm this sounds a lot like colonization

woah that a loooot of extras. clarkes face was kinda smiling like a dubious smile tho

but also that battlefield full of dead grounders just looked like a bunch of people planking

they attacked while they were asleep?! bitch that sounds a lot of like some police offices in the US...justice for breonna

ofc indra is alive. she has plot armor and thank god for that cuz we need more badass female characters like indra

“we can leave or we can die” isnt this exactly what lexa told jaha and the rest of the space people? i bet lexa wished that she killed these people when she had the chance and before she caught feelings for clarke. big oof on her part

also can we talk about how that was a lot of bullets needed to kill those people. my question is where the fuck did they get that bullets/ammunition bc like they dont have a gun factory now. it also just doesnt seem wise imo to use their limited supplies willy nilly like that

pike handing bellamy jacket....pike said to bellamy wear something pretty. do i ship it? i mean fuck it might as well because idk

bellamy with those crazy eyes. i cant. he said you need to wake up kane bitch im already woke

lincoln coming in with that menace face. thats some intense eye contact going on between bellamy and lincoln. honestly more chemisty between bellamy and lincoln than lincoln and octavia. like do the writers not actually watch the show?!

also is octavia ever going to address that lincoln chained her up. like she got over that too fast. also can we talk about how lincoln went from saying one word to just freely talking. like looking back to when the 100 first got him and him not talking was ugh like its so dumb

*after seeing the arkadia sign* “I didnt see that coming” lmao jaha did not like the name change

did that guy just shoot otan? and otan dies so easily? also why must people automatically shoot to kill bc when there are obviously other ways to deescalate the situation without killing another human

sidenote: why wasnt jaha holding the bag in the first place cuz i think that would have prevented otan being shot and killed in the first place

ugh im still annoyed that abby is one of the 2 healers like they should really teach more people to be healers

murphy and emori be bonnie and clyde for real

jaha looks like a school boy with that backpack but also jaha you need to work on your salesmen skills if you want to sell these people on the city of light cuz rn you sound like a crazy man. like even after your little spiel i still have no fucking clue what the city of light actually is

Wow pike really did go from teacher to chancellor but i mean stranger things have happened in the U.S. you know what pike spontaneously being put on the chancellor ballet is kinda like Kanye West announcing that he’s running for president 2020

so the spacers really just killed those people and left their bodies right near where they live thats gotta stink

oof emori wanted to go after her brother only to find out that otan is dead...yikes

“They’re being interned” pike i dont think this is okay

you get that bitch lincoln but where was the signature headbutt?? but i guess this guy wasnt even worth it

what the fuck pike literally pointing a gun at a sick girl’s head. and also if youre going to threaten a girl let it be know instead of relying on abby to make others realize what youre doing

are they really fucking going to rope raven into his boring ass city of light storyline. bitch why?? but i guess the writers have no other options for her story

sidenote: ravens iconic red jacket is in a desperate need of a wash

octavia reuniting bellamy and clarke. bellamy had a shook face. wow octavia is the true bellarke shipper

Yes bellamy you tell off clarke!

clarke said “I need you” the bellarke shippers must have been quaking!! and ooo bellamy said “you left me” aww bellamy :(

GOOO OFFFFF BELLAMY!!!! damn it Bellamy. stop it, stop consoling her right now. but oh that hand holding really must have been good for bellarke shippers but oop he tricked clarke. ngl i laughed

woah raven really just dramatically pushed some shit off the table and fucking jaha without saying a word and just placed that plastic city of light shit on the table and did a table tap for idk dramatic effect idk i just laughed at this

Ok but if raven is really going down this city of lights story I FUCKING PRAY THAT FINN somehow shows up in the city of lights just for shits and giggles

Clarke turned on bellamy fast but really bellamy went down too easy

stop the hugging clarke and abby. lol abby remember when you were mad at clarke about the bombing but i guess when you mass murder a bunch a people makes everything chill now

what the heck john murphy? why must you put that blood on your face? did you learn that from lincoln?

seriously emori youre waiting on murphy fucking murphy before you see out your brother. i guess water is thicker than blood to her

i love how automatically john murpy assumes the position of dead guy

really murphy saying “go float yourself” to grounders means nothing to them

lol this little ploy really backfired on murphy and emori. but good on murphy for not giving away emori maybe true love does exist

wow look at miller being an ally. i love it

blood must not have blood....ugh the writers really thought they were deep for that

what is this music choice with raven struggling to walk? but also like honestly raven you really could have it worse so chill

really raven you gave in that quick?? finn better being up there like jesus arms open. but also how did she swallow that huge ass piece of plastic without water to wash it down??

that plastic pill really worked that fast?! and lol they had the music pick up the beat to match the moment

fuck its annoying ass red lady you know im kinda thinking that this red lady is a just a lesser version of the red lady in game of thrones.

wait so if she swallowed it does she poop it out and she just has to keep taking the pill or how does this work??

#the 100 #the 100 diaries #t100

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baldwin-montclair · 5 years ago

Text

Baldwin’s Nightingale (Part 13)

Characters: Baldwin Montclair/OC

Timeframe: After the S1 Finale, TV Show canon MOSTLY with some S2, Shadow of Night and Book of Life.

Summary: Whilst Baldwin deals with business away from Sept-Tours, Alisha copes with his absence and the impending wedding.

Tag requests: @christi14 @poemfreak306 @pookie-cleary @hofficoffi @stormyheart326 @simplytimeless @wonderlander594

The Story So Far

Alisha tossed and turned for two hours after Baldwin’s departure. She would never have imagined that sharing a bed with someone for just two nights would so spoil her for when she was then left to sleep alone.

Getting comfortable seemed like an impossibility, she was either too warm with the covers over her or too cold without them, she missed the heat regulating coolness of her vampire’s skin and the feeling of safety in his arms. The loss of this made her think of the first time she had it, their first night as husband and wife.

When he was so initially so gentle he seemed almost fearful that he’d break her if his movements within her were too insistent.

Tormented by the memories of their various intimacies, she gave up on the fruitless quest for sleep and instead got up, pulling on her underwear and Baldwin’s discarded shirt before wandering over to a small table where Alain had placed the chest containing her ‘dowry’.

Alisha picked it up, finding it surprisingly heavy, and brought it to Baldwin’s desk where she sat and opened it once more.

She gradually emptied the contents onto the desk, the folded papers that spoke of wealth contained in both stocks and properties, and, the glittering jewels.

With everything on the table in front of her, she noticed an old parchment style letter complete with seal.

Madame De Clermont.

The name on the front was not written with either a ballpoint or a fountain pen. It was clearly a quill, making the letter old, how old she wasn’t was sure.

In truth, she’d never opened a letter like this before and tried cracking the seal with the Ouroboros depicted. That then allowed her to unfold the parchment and frown at the almost unintelligible writing.

It took a moment to focus on the characters before she was able to decipher it.

Daughter,

The fact that you are reading this should already inform you that I am no longer of this world and greatly regret not having had the chance to meet you.

I write this letter in the hope that it will one day be opened although I have long feared it will not be. If I am wrong in this, please know that there would be no-one more delighted to be mistaken than I.

My wife will guide you in what it means to be Madame de Clermont, she is my right hand, as my son will need you to be for him. Heed her advice in all things as she knows well how to manage difficult men. Love and obey my son and you will find no greater, nor more loyal a protector.

Let me also take this moment also to stress that it does not matter to me whether or not you are of our kind, nor is it a prerequisite that you be changed. Even an old man can learn when he is wrong, and, consequently, hope that his past folly has not deprived a most beloved son of his happiness.

If Lucius loves you and you love him, you both have my blessing.

Your Grateful Father,

Philippe de Clermont

Alisha sat back in the chair, pulling Baldwin’s shirt tighter around her in a vain attempt to feel close to him, much in the same way she’d given him the ribbon.

Oddly, she no longer noticed an aroma of church incense on him as she had when they first met, clearly he’d just attended mass with a liberal use of the cloying smoke.

Now, his burning campfire scent mixed with the notes of rich leather served to perfectly sum him up, both attempts to control and utilise nature, conquer it, prove oneself above it.

Civilised.

As soon as there was light, Alisha was ready for her walk, just around the grounds of the fortress but enough for the cold November air to keep her alert.

The place was peaceful and she didn’t encounter another person, for around ten steps, when Gallowglass jogged out the door behind her.

“Mind if I join you, fancy a walk!” He asked the question that was in no way a question.

“I don’t mind, and I’m sorry.” She glanced across at him.

“Sorry?”

“Baldwin has put you on me-sitting duty whilst he’s away,” she smiled and shook her head when he opened his mouth to protest, “don’t worry, I’m not about to make your job harder. In fact, tell me what his command is and I promise I will help you stick to it.”

“I’m grateful for your offer Auntie, but a command from Baldwin is no a thing that bears repeating.”

“Alright,” she thought to herself, “then give me the jist.”

“The jist,” he stroked his scruffy chin in thought, “is that whilst you are outside, I am not to let you out of my sight.”

“Wow,” she whistled, “that’s more restrictive than I thought it would be.”

“Really?”

“Yes, who’s going to step foot on De Clermont land?”

“There are other ways to snatch someone than on foot.”

“There’s really not.”

“Please tell me you know that some witches can fly?”

She laughed at this.

“What, like on a broom? I think you’re making fun of me.”

“No broom needed, I’ve seen it, I swear!”

“Okay,” she regarded his expression, and believed him, “good thing my only threat comes from a vampire and not a witch.”

“When the congregation finds out about you and Baldwin, the only creatures who wont resent you will be your own kind, and us here, obviously.”

“I appreciate that, and you’re being so welcoming, even if having to follow me around is kinda super unfair to you.”

He had to chuckle at that but even through his cheerful exterior, there was a hint of sadness.

“Trust me, it’s not the least fair task I’ve been given,” he shook his head and the cloud of heaviness dissipated, “and what else am I going to be doing?”

“Planning more mischief with Marcus?” She suggested.

“Unfortunately not, Granny’s sending him to London to collect some miniatures from an auction house.”

“Well, since you’re stuck with me, I have a question for you.”

“Hit me.”

“Do you remember a party here in the past? Something to do with Baldwin’s father and his support for a French King.”

“Henry of Navarre?”

“Yes, were you here?”

“How do you know about that?” He asked with a hint of uncertainty.

“The tapestry, Marthe didn’t know much about it because she and Ysabeau weren’t here. So, were you?”

“I was.” He admitted.

“Then you’ll know, why was the tapestry moved, what happened at the party?”

“It wasn’t a party, Cicogna, the Venetian Doge brought his entire court, they were supposed to be here for a week but one of his musicians was killed. It was blamed on a spy in Sixtus’ retinue. Grandad gave his support for Navarre anyway. Nothing really happened.”

“You count a murder as nothing happening?”

“Just one murder? Aye!”

“Then why did he have the tapestry moved?”

“No idea, Why do you want to know?”

“Honestly?” She asked him.

“Yes.”

“It’s a mystery, I have a fraction of a story and it drives me a little crazy.” She confided.

“So you married a notorious secret keeper?” He asked.

“Fair point,” she smiled.

“Auntie, the past is not something you need to worry about, you’re his mate and that’s all that matters.”

“Thank you Gallowglass.”

Alisha couldn’t help but recognise the strangeness in his statement.

If the present mattered because she was indeed Baldwin’s mate, she wondered what happened in the past that, according to Gallowglass, she needn’t worry about. It did make her think on Philippe’s words, to what ‘past folly’ was he referring.

Perhaps she really wasn’t getting to quench her idle curiosity and decided it not worth causing upset just to learn some gossip.

“So, wedding?” He changed the subject.

“We’ve agreed to give the go ahead.”

“I know, Baldwin spoke to Granny earlier, you did well to escape without her catching you.”

“He called, earlier?”

“Yes, and no, you cannot speak to him or see him before the church.”

“What,” it was her turn to stop, “I can’t see my husband for how long?”

“Jesus, the wedding’s in two days, I’d happily take not speaking to your husband for two millennia if it was on offer.” He chuckled.

“Two days?” She asked, feeling the blood drain from her cheeks.

“Granny works fast, I think she made most of the arrangements before she even got off the phone. We do have a seamstress on staff mind you, so that won’t be a problem, just do as Victoire says, she’s the one with the sewing needle.”

He stopped, his expression turning to one of concern.

“Aw hell, here,” Gallowglass directed her over to a low wall, “sit there, head between your knees before you faint on me.”

She followed his direction without argument, as he hovered nearby, not sure what to do. The vampire custom was clear on not touching the mate of a higher rank vampire but his compassion was at war with this rule.

“Maybe the whole wedding thing has made more of an impact on me than I thought,” she agreed, “are you all religious?”

“Both myself and your husband were pagan, Baldwin obviously much earlier, but Philippe would not have that, we would be Christian, serving one master.”

“God or Philippe?”

“They were both one in the same, I think he could relate, one heavenly father overseeing his children, and he did inform most of the Church doctrine.”

“You’re telling me that Baldwin’s father wrote the Bible?”

“No, I’m telling you that Grandad had a very firm hand in deciding which accounts made it into the final canon.”

“That is...terrifying.” She admitted.

“Why?”

“It doesn’t ever concern you just how much power and influence your family have had over the past two thousand years?”

“Closer to three thousand, and it’s your family now too Auntie.”

She nodded gravely, the responsibility Ysabeau had mentioned suddenly becoming painfully clear.

“Come on, you need to eat something.”

Alisha had no idea how much of an event breakfast was in Sept-Tours, tea, coffee, juice, bacon, eggs, pastries and so much fruit.

She couldn’t do much more than pick at croissant as the table bustled with conversation between every inhabitant of the fortress.

“Isn’t there anything I can do to help?” Alisha asked Ysabeau, who was sitting with Margaret on her knee, the child staring adoringly up at the vampire.

“It is already in hand.”

Alisha had the sneaking suspicion that Ysabeau already had most of the arrangements made before they arrived at Sept Tours, and knew that her step-son would relent.

“After breakfast we will have Victoire make some preliminary measurements for your gown.” Ysabeau’s eyes drifted to the different coloured ribbon around Alisha’s wrist, a ghost of a smile on her expression.

“Have you invited my aunts,” Marcus asked her, “and my cousin?”

“Baldwin will notify Miyako himself but I have invited Verin, Stasia and Freyja.”

“Aunt Fanny’s already in France, she’ll be here before the wedding, I guarantee it.” Marcus smiled, looking forward to seeing Freya.

“What about your father, Marcus? Matthew and his wife...Diana? Are they not coming?” Alisha asked him, causing a weight of silence to fall over the table.

“They won’t be able to make it, unfortunately.” Ysabeau answered.

She realised that Baldwin hadn’t actually told her what had happened with them.

Judging by Ysabeau’s tone - and the way everyone was suddenly studying their breakfast - now was not the time to find out.

“Where is the ceremony happening?” She asked instead.

“Saint Lucien,” Ysabeau seemed relieved by the change in topic, “it will be a Catholic ceremony, if there are no objections?”

“N-no, of course not. What can I do to help?”

“You can learn the Latin phrases you are expected to say and under no circumstances are you to speak with or see Baldwin until the wedding.”

Her cell had been broken by Christina several days prior and without a replacement, it would be easy for Ysabeau to enforce this rule.

“I understand,” she accepted, “and I want to thank you, for everything you’re doing for us, I really appreciate it. I’m sure Baldwin does too.”

Ysabeau almost corrected her, she was keeping a promise, nothing more.

“You are welcome,” she said instead, surprised that her rules had not prompted an appeal against them.

Ysabeau’s gaze was that of appraisal, like she was sizing Alisha up for some unknown purpose, task, role.

The rest of breakfast passed in general conversation until Victoire arrived to collect Alisha for her fitting.

Ysabeau watched until she was gone.

“I do hope Freyja is on her way,” she told Marcus, “if Verin and Stasia arrive first, they will eat that poor girl alive.”

“To get an accurate measurement, you must take those off.” The vampire told Alisha.

“O-okay.” She answered, hesitantly removing the warm, bulky sweater, jeans and vest until she was standing in just her underwear.

“Our priest is...conservative, which means that there will be no bare shoulders or arms.” Victoire decreed as she measured around Alisha’s waist.

That’s when she remembered, the very obvious hickie on the inside of her thigh that she’d noticed in the shower that morning.

She could only hope that Victoire either did not see it or would be too polite to mention it.

It had been acquired during Baldwin’s deliciously cruel teasing the night before, clearly it was some primal impulse to put a physical mark of his claim upon her.

“I don’t mind,” Alisha rushed to protest, “I trust you, with the design.”

In truth, she just wanted the two days to be over and was willing to do whatever it took to make them pass as smoothly as possible.

She started to believe Baldwin was mistaken, about the mate bond, it didn’t just lie with him. When he left, she felt a distinct tug at her heart that was, throughout the day, starting to feel like a vast chasm was opening up, hollowing her out.

“You will be beautiful on the day Madame, I guarantee it. You shall even render Sieur Baldwin speechless!”

Just as she was about to respond, the door to the room opened and a tall, blonde and stunning vampire entered.

“Um, hi!” Alisha greeted, still standing, in her underwear.

“Freyja,” the woman answered simply, as though that was explanation enough, “do you know who I am?”

��Baldwin’s sister?”

“One of them,” she answered with a smile, giving Alisha a frank up and down appraisal, “I’m here to help prepare you for the ceremony.”

“Ysabeau said I have some phrases to learn, in Latin?”

“You...do not speak Latin?”

“No.”

“French?”

“Nope!”

“I suppose it would be pointless to ask how familiar you are with Ancient Greek?”

“Not pointless but the answer would still be nuh-uh.”

“I assume Baldwin chose me as your chaperone due to your...unfamiliarity with our ways.”

“But Gallowglass-“

“Is your guard, do not leave this building without him.”

“Yeah, he already warned me of the hazard that is flying witches.”

“Good, dear Matthew’s mate Diana was taken from here by a witch, one who possessed the power of flight.”

“What happened to her?”

“Tortured, they were lucky to get her back alive.”

“They?”

“Matthew and Baldwin mounted a rescue. He didn’t tell you?”

“No.“

“I’m sure he will, he simply does not want to worry you with inconsequential threats. Baldwin has no patience for fragility, of body or of spirit but you seem to be the exception.”

“I’m not fragile.”

“Of course you are, and I am not saying that as an insult. You’re a warmblood, a musician too I hear. Not a warrior but we have enough of them in this family already. We will find a role for you, one that will suit your sensibilities.”

“A role? I’m getting married, not applying for a job.”

“Everyone in the family has a role, a purpose that furthers the de Clermont cause.”

“I though my role would be to support my husband.”

“Would that be enough for you? Would you not like to carve out your own function?”

Freyja’s words resonated, she never really thought about her place in the family beyond that of an extension, attached but not entirely a part of it.

“What role could I possibly fulfil that has not already been taken?”

Freyja’s smile was triumphant.

“We can figure that part out together!”

“Is that why he asked you to help me?”

“I have some more modern ideas when it comes to preparing the uninitiated for their new life. Verin and Stasia would not be as patient, I’m afraid. He must really care for you, to admit that a kinder approach is sometimes appropriate. My brother does not like to admit when he is wrong.”

“And Did he?”

Freyja snorted.

“Of course he didn’t, his request for my assistance was admission enough.”

“I have what I need for now Madame, we will have a fitting tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Victoire.” Alisha gave the woman a grateful smile.

“Wait,” Freyja told Victoire whilst keeping her eyes on Alisha, “I assume you would like to keep the dress intact after the wedding?”

“I would, yes.” Alisha agreed.

“Victoire,” Freyja turned back to the seamstress, “please keep that in mind when you are devising the fastenings. A newly mated pair kept apart for two days and nights, too many buttons and the dress will not survive.”

Alisha stifled a smile at the vampire’s candour as she pulled her clothes back on before Victoire left them.

“We need a man to give you away at the ceremony.”

“I’ve probably spent the most amount of time with Gallowglass so far-“

“It cannot be Eric, or Marcus, Baldwin’s their uncle. Ideally it should be a daemon.”

“The only daemon male I know is Nathaniel.”

“Perfect, ask him. It should also help with securing the daemon’s vote in the congregation, their leader is his mother after all!”

Alisha read over Philippe’s letter for the tenth time, taking time she should have been using to get ready for dinner. Meal times seemed to be an event in general in Sept Tours.

There was something regretful in the words of the deceased patriarch, guilt too, perhaps. Still, sitting at the desk was not going to urge her up to get ready and she reluctantly stood.

At the door to the shower room she heard a noise, the unmistakable sound of a phone vibrating, the cell phone Nathaniel had given her - alongside his agreement to give her away - ringing on the bedside table.

“Is everything okay?” She said as she answered the call, already knowing, in her bones, who it was.

“And hello to you as well Sweetheart.” Baldwin’s tone was teasing.

“Two days Baldwin! Our wedding is in two days.”

He was silent for a moment then sighed.

“I know,” he admitted, “Ysabeau works faster than even I give her credit for.”

“Surely you’ll be back by then, I’d kind of like you to be there!” ”I will be, I promise.”

“I hope so, Victoire has already measured me for my dress.”

“Oh?”

“Yep, and luckily your mark went unnoticed by her and Freyja.”

“Mark?”

“Let’s call it a token of affection,” she rolled her eyes, “that you so kindly bestowed on me last night with your merciless teasing, on your desk.”

“Ah,” he answered in understanding, “I am sorry, I forget how easily warmblood skin bruises.”

“So it wasn’t deliberate, a plan to mark your territory?”

“When I’m between your thighs, I don’t have the presence of mind to formulate a plan.”

“It’s really mean to talk like that when you’re so far away and I’m all alone in a big bed tonight. I might have to please myself.”

“Do something for me.”

“Record and send it to you?”

“N-“ he stopped.

“Well?”

“I’m thinking.”

“Stop,” she giggled, “what were you going to say?”

“I was going to ask you to wait. There’s no way Ysabeau will let me near you until the wedding anyway.”

“Are you asking me to ‘save myself’ for you because that ship has hoisted anchor by this point.”

“Two days, wait for me?”

“I can do that,” she agreed with a smile.

He went silent for a moment.

“Baldwin?”

“I’m sorry, for almost depriving you of this wedding. Everything happened so quickly I just didn’t think having this was something I-“

“Needed?”

“Deserved.”

“You’re a good man Baldwin, you deserve to be happy.”

“Good men don’t live as long as I have.”

She wasn’t sure what it was about conversation over the telephone that lent itself to such openness from him. Still, the sound of a door being knocked on the other side of the line stopped her from answering.

“I have a meeting before the Congregation hearing so I must leave you now Sweetheart.”

“Then go be big boss man,” she encouraged, “try not to kill anyone, and remember that I love you.”

She hung up just as Freyja breezed into the room.

“I would turn that off and hide it if I were you. Ysabeau is very strict with rules!” The woman headed straight for the wardrobe.

“I have to go wash up.” Alisha got up and made her way to the door, hearing his voice made the separation much more difficult and she had to pull herself together, preferably not in front of her sister-in-law.

“Take your time,” Freyja stated with sympathy, “no red eyes at dinner, and I’ll leave this dress out for you to wear. My sisters will be in attendance and I will help you make a good impression.”

___

PART 14

#baldwin montclair #baldwin de clermont #adow fic #baldwin’s nightingale #adow baldwin fic #baldwinmontclair

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imaginariumrpc · 5 years ago

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GANGSTA: CURSED SENTENCES STARTERS ( CH. 0-1 )

Feel free to change pronouns if necessary. Heavy TRIGGER WARNINGS for profanity, talks of mass genocide, murder and gore. Please specify the muse(s) for multimuse blogs!

“ what happened last time was really unfortunate, huh, ___. ”

“ how are your subordinates faring? ”

“ they are all fine now, thanks to you. ”

“ yo, __, __ wants to talk to you about that case. ”

“ by the way, who was that cute __ who was with __? ”

“ oi, oi, earth to __. ”

“ ____ are a threat to us ___ - to ___ that must be killed. ”

“ they use their resentful power for their own greed and steal away the lives of weaker ones. ”

“ if it crosses your path, kill it. if it hides away, kill it. if any try to hinder you, kill the __ as well. ”

“ burn their houses, expose their corpses. ”

“ exterminate them! ”

“ HAHAHAHAHAHA! LOOK, ___, IT’S SHIT, IT’S A MOUNTAIN OF SHIT! ”

“ they had no choices to begin with, that’s all. ”

“ either way, there’s no stopping this. ”

“ why shouldn’t we be alive? ”

“ we didn’t do anything wrong. ”

“ why...? ”

“ i won’t let this be the end. ”

“ they don’t understand anything. ”

“ let’s make them regret. ”

“ let’s make them know that both them and us won’t be easily killed by merely slitting our heads open. ”

“ ___, we are correct and we will correct it. ”

“ you can’t be fooled. __ are evil monsters and monsters must be killed. ”

“ hateful... it doesn’t matter who, i need someone to hate or i’ll go crazy. ”

“ you’ll probably never understand this. ”

“ ___, from now on, your name will be ___. i give it to you myself. ”

“ don’t even think about throwing it or running away, everything included is what makes you. ”

“ you will be like this forever, unable to die, and live while you regret. this is that kind of curse. ”

“ ___ ... i won’t forgive you. ”

“ the sun has risen. ”

“ let’s go, to ____. ”

“ we shall now commence the eradication of ___. ”

“ there’s smoke over there, is that the back alley? ”

“ oh no, a fire? ”

“ GO, GO, DON’T STOP, QUICKLY, RUN! ”

“ save me... ”

“ were you saying something? fuckin’ ____. ”

“ that voice ... makes me very excited.❤︎ ”

“ damn it, how dare you do that to my ___?! ”

“ DON’T COME HERE! IF YOU COME ANY CLOSER, I’LL KILL YOU! ”

“ you fucking piece of shit, scampering around like that. ”

“ he/she/they went your way, __! ”

“ yeah. ”

“ wait a minute, why do we have to be... ”

“ d...don’t kill me. i beg you! don’t do this! ”

“ you’re noisy, damn pest. ”

“ all vermin will be eradicated by ___. ”

“ the fire’s gotten all the way here. this is bad. ”

“ a... a person is laying on the ground. ”

“ someone! call the police! ”

“ the ___ are born with abnormal physical abilities that we __ don’t have. They can easily use that power to crush us and steal our lives. ”

“ don’t think of __ as humans. they, disgusting enemies of humanity, are beasts taking the shape of humans. those animals that can kill us anytime are living carefree right next to us. ”

“ i can’t take this anymore. kill them. ”

“ he/she/they was/were in my life for such a short time.,, ”

“ if it’s a __, whether it be woman or child, kill it without hesitation. hunt them down, hunt every single one of them down. i entrust this to you, the eradication of __! ”

“ destroy them! ”

“ HAHAHAHAHAHA! AREN’T YOU GUYS TOUGHER THAN US __?! THEN TRY TO FUCKING MOVE EVEN AFTER YOUR FACE IS CRUSHED! ”

“ __, that’s enough, don’t you think? ”

“ aah? the fuck did you say, __?! ”

“ don’t tell me you’re pitying the __ or some bullshit like that. ”

“ that is dead already, throw it away. ”

“ we don’t have time to be playing around. ”

“ playing around, you say? i’m killing the __ just like they told me to! isn’t this a mission to fucking crush them?! ”

“ no! this mission is something more important... ”

“ ____, how about you play with me instead of arguing with[ him/her/them]? ”

“ ... [muse name]. ”

“ see? thanks to __ roasting them out, we have lots of playthings! ”

“ haha, you’re right. ”

“ i feel like puking from the stench of shit. ”

“ [snickers]. ”

“ __, what’s wrong? ”

“ let’s leave __ to __ [he’s/she’s/they’re] weak to [him/her/them], after all.”

“ ... they don’t understand the importance of this mission. ”

“ you don’t have to worry about them, they’re both quite strong. ”

“ i’m not worried. ”

“ wa... wait, [muse name]! ”

“ of course, you are excellent as well, __. i’d be troubled if you didn’t live up to my expectations, y’know? ”

“ i’m counting on you. ”

“ a pack of __ ran into the street over there, can you go after them? ”

“ got it. ”

“ jeeze, it would be nice if they got along a bit better. ”

“ ahhh, you came at a perfect timing. ”

“ clean it up for me. that leftover is disgusting. ”

“ it seems like only __ are being murdered although this is most likely not an attack from the __. ”

“ the only information we have on the perpetrators is that they’re a group of 4-5 people. ”

“ this is a dangerous situation, _____. ”

“ this district is constantly stained with blood as it always has been. ”

“ ... ah? where did __ go? ”

“ here ... ”

“ that’s dangerous ! ”

“ i was just getting bored. since those shits from the __ broke so fucking easily, you bastards will last longer, right?! ”

“ n...no, please, help. ”

“ i have no use for __. if you intend on continuing to interfere, i’ll kill you, too. ”

“ don’t touch them! not them, i beg you! ”

“ __, why do you protect those things. what are those things to you? ”

“ THEY ARE MY FAMILY! WHAT’S WRONG WITH PROTECTING FAMILY?! ”

“ __, are you okay? ”

“ is something bothering you? ”

“ it’s not like you to let a __’s attack get to you. ”

“ __, think only about the mission. ”

“ there’s nothing to worry about, we are doing the right thing, after all. ”

“ yeah, you’re right... this is fine. ”

“ there you are, __. ”

“ i got separated from __. ”

“ oh my, you have to protect him properly as a babysitter. ”

“ i don’t mind if we stand out more and more. ”

“ we’ll kill more __, expose them so everybody in the district is focused on us. ”

“ if we do that, those people will seize their chances and attack as well. ”

“ you bastards must be the invaders. ”

“ __, that was amazing! you were so cool! ”

“ those clothes... i wonder if they’re part of the __. ”

“ i don’t care who they are. ”

“ let’s continue the extermination. ”

“ we’re going, __! ”

“ __ are monsters, that’s why we have to kill them. ”

“ there’s nothing wrong with what we are doing ... we are right. ”

#** rpc; memes.#** blog; mine.#** blog; okay to reblog.#tw; long post #tw; genocide #tw; murder #tw; profanity

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immortals-malec · 5 years ago

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So we’ve moved to comparing/making a rant on Lucelyn and Maruke. (this will be a lot of rambling probably.) First we shall talk about Lucelyn, whom we all shipped for like one season, but that’s because we wanted Luke to be happy. Anyways, what’s the problem with them and why they didn’t work. i had a little post on it while i was rewatching “The Mortal Cup” episode and have decided to expand on it. Let’s go- we begin with the writing because no shocker there that the writing is the main reason why they didn’t work but that’s only on one character’s fault, Jocelyn! Luke seemed to have nice relationship building but Jocelyn’s a mess. So in the pilot we basically shown that Luke and Jocelyn are in a relationship, which is confirmed by Luke’s boss, telling him to marry Jocelyn, I know some might say oh it’s a coverstory but from how Luke acts and how they wrote the relationship from his side, they were in a romantic relationship. But with Jocelyn, they never really wrote her feelings for Luke, NEVER. From the beginning of her character to the end in s2, she’s never shown any romantic feelings to Luke, tbh whenever they interacted it was all about Clary, never about their relationship, it was always about Clary and the memory blocks/erasing she had Magnus do. They showed that Luke really loved her, but Jocelyn never showed that she loved him back as much as he did, makes you wonder if she really ever did love him romantically. Or if she settled for him as a substitute for Valentine. (Get to that in a bit) It really doesn’t help that development that Lucelyn had was all from like I said before Luke’s point of view and the fact is she was in a magical sleep for whole 13 episodes of season one. And also doesn’t help that Jocelyn is a shit character with the writing she had, the show in the first season tried to tell us she was like savior to the downworld(ers), she saved them bah, bah, she’s pure of heart etc. When in reality she’s a selfish bitch and is just as racist as the Clave or as her husband is, just shows it in a different way and never really grew and they just continued to write her that way. I’m basically dead set on her blackmailing downworlders into helping her, because she had the mortal cup so yeah there. Luke didn’t deserve her, when she acted like a racist half of the time to downworlders, he deserved someone who didn’t treat his kind like shit, which Jocelyn showed her true colors in s2, they were there in s1, just they really showed in s2. (Jesus Christ Alec and Magnus were the only ones to call her out on her bullshit) Anyways, she’s a shit character, who didn’t grow. Instead put Alec’s life in danger, to find her daughter! Who is someone’s fucking child. (Still angry) But back to what I was saying the development for them was all one sided, and now I feel like Luke could have been a substitute for Valentine... why? Oh boy let me explain this. Remember 1x06? The episode that explains Luke’s/the Circle’s backstories? When Luke awakens and explained everything to Clary in Magnus’s (guest?) bedroom, he describes how Valentine was before he became a mass murderer. She basically says “He is Mom’s type, just like you.” And boy it rubs me the wrong way and made me realize holy fuck, Luke could’ve been just a substitute for Valentine??? Because this quote makes it seem like it. I mean- look, Valentine was Luke’s parabatai at the time, and when he started to pull away, and she noticed signs of him murdering downworlders, turning evil, she knew it would make her look bad (even though she’s racist herself, she denies it but she is) so she turned to someone else who was basically feeling the same thing: Luke, in a way reminds her of Valentine, I guess, while Luke fell for her, she just fell for the fact he was her husband’s parabatai and had the same qualities. But if that’s not true, I don’t think she loved him romantically as he did her, Valentine’s crazy racist actions against the accords and Downworlders, supposedly pushed her and Luke together, to lean on each other’s shoulders, meanwhile it’s clear Luke hadn’t loved anyone before or at least he thought to himself, he fell in love. With Jocelyn, she loved Valentine, and it seems to be clear that they were meant to be (the alt world is proof) and maybe she thought she did but reality either got it confused with platonic feelings or she used Luke as a rebound which is probably more possible here. Because Jocelyn is just a bitch. Either way it’s clear with the writing Jocelyn had, that she didn’t really love him the way he did her or whatever, just seems to be that she used him for a lot of things. Anyways, now the second problem chemistry or as I should say the one sided chemistry just as there was one sided writing with the relationship. Isaiah is not the problem, in fact he’s what made half of them work but it wasn’t enough. Maxim was the problem- like okay she’s what I pictured Jocelyn to look like, she acts pretty good, but her chemistry with Isaiah is just eehhugh. She didn’t even try tbh, she didn’t try to ever give me emotions, never. She just stood there with the same expression her face when it came to somewhat romantic scenes she had with Isaiah, who did give you Luke’s emotions towards Jocelyn in that flashback in 1x06, that scene where he finds Jocelyn in 1x11, the standing by her side scenes in 1x12/1x13 and catching her at the end of s1? You felt it, you even felt his one scene with Jocelyn in 2x04 like he did it, but with her? Zero emotions! Like even if the writing lacked, improv exists. Just everything with them was one sided and Jocelyn continued to be the worst character/mother alive. The best change they ever did was killing her off, Luke got himself a sexy ass woman. Oop- let’s move onto everyone’s favorite even though we weren’t sure about it at first, Maruke! Now Maruke is everything Lucelyn wished it could be, with the writing and the chemistry. So first we will begin with the writing- you could always tell with what little writing we got for Maruke that they cared about each other, and could be romantically in love with each other one day, which really lacked with Luke and Jocelyn’s relationship, Luke and Maryse isn’t one sided. And also some who still like Lucelyn are like Maryse is/was the same as Jocelyn!!! EVEN WORSE. Lol she had something Jocelyn didn’t. Character development, Maryse’s development is also what makes Maruke works as well. In s1 yeah, she was racist, a bad parent, reminded you of Jocelyn in a different way, we disliked her, in s2 it continued for a bit up until she left and came back for Max getting his first rune, you notice she’s trying to change there, she’s trying to gain back her children’s trust, and also trying not to be so racist with Magnus, (Nicola mentioned at a con that 2x08 is when Maryse started to change her mind about Magnus because he saved Alec’s life when she couldn’t something along those lines) and she makes up with her adoptive son, and Alec brings up their father, which caused her to break down because the whole cheating thing, and we get her sobbing and Alec confronting her, and you feel bad for her, and you see she’s trying to make up for what she did to her children and we were all like “is this the beginning of a redemption arc??? if so i’m fucking up” and she returns in 2b to continue making amends with people and how she treated them before hand, Luke and Izzy, which are both heavily important because she did sl*t shame her daughter, made her feel less compared how she treated Alec and Luke she treated differently because he turned into a werewolf, and honestly good shit, then they continued with making her own up to her mistakes by de-runing her and making full amends with Magnus (3x03 is really fucking important) and fully accepting Alec’s relationship with him! She had the character development to be with Luke. And Jocelyn, was just lol nothing but undercover racist to showing in fully s2, when she died. Back to what I was saying before, with what little we got with Luke and Maryse worked perfectly. Hell even the talk in 3x06 which I love because Luke comes in after Maryse has been deruned and she’s like “Lucian” and they sit down to talk about how they have been ripped away from being a shadowhunter, etc etc. and Luke goes right into how he fucking remembers the last time she had her hair down and that was like twenty years ago ( listen if you remember the last time she had her hair down, you’ve feelings for them okay) and they’re making hearteyes and shit its *chief’s kiss* Their first kiss was oof, like it was damn good okay, they bond over shit and it fits them where you didn’t get to see that with Lucelyn. Also not to forget that Maryse tells Magnus that her and Luke used to be rivals at the Shadowhunter academy and than in the Circle (I believe? I have watched it once I think she mentioned the circle too) which is like holy fuck, one of my favorite tropes is Rivals-Enemies-to -Friends then Lovers, because they really don’t hate each other, they like each other, whoo. With the littlest things in their set up and writing, makes you ship them (along with Nicola and Isaiah’s chemistry which in a minute), and also makes you wonder, did they like each other back then and realize it but couldn’t act on it because they didn’t think the other liked them that way, just with little things you see it in their writing, with Lucelyn’s you didn’t. And now the chemistry, tbh their chemistry is good shit. Like on the top tier as Harry and Matt’s, for Malec. You can see the emotions in the romantic scenes, which lacked with Lucelyn’s, it’s not one sided chemistry with one actor, both actors are showing the emotions, the hearteyes, and probably things that aren’t in the script. Isaiah and Nicola played their strengths with each other, hoenstly, just honestly, even little eye contact was enough for you to be like woahhh. All of their scenes never lacked anything, you could see they were a building romance, even though I don’t know if they were just planting it to see our reactions in s2, so they could build on it, or our huge interest in them and how they could be a romantic relationship made them do it, someone should ask this question. Together, being able to show us the emotions along with the little writing they got, is how Isaiah and Nicola made Maruke work. Bottom line: Lucelyn suffered from one sided writing/chemistry and Jocelyn’s shit character, who never grew, continued to be a racist, selfish woman, while Maruke worked because Maryse had the development, so did the relationship as a whole and were able to show me that these two care a lot about/like each other and eventually will fall in love. Even with little writing.

#lucelyn #maruke #writing problems #chemistry problems #sh couples

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jotunlokisuggestion · 5 years ago

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I’m gonna illustrate to you the Thanos-problem not so quickly.

The studio went to Kenneth Branagh in 2010 and told them they want a villain as good as Magneto for their Avengers film.

And almost 10 years later the MCU wanted to write an interesting, political villain called Thanos for Infinity War/Endgame.

Now, when Kenneth Branagh got the (really annoying) custom-order for a good villain, he didn’t look at the villain the studio liked and copied him. Instead he had the brains to write Loki as a character. With his own personality traits, qualities, quirks, a unique backstory that appeals to Branagh’s strength as a writer, whose origin story can be used and re-used in future films and plots, who has unique and adaptable strengths and weaknesses and who is played by an actor who is really good at playing roles like that.

Meanwhile Thanos is just...going through the Killmonger/Loki/Magneto motions of: political villain: ✅ tragic backstory: ✅ destruction: ✅ big baddie speech ✅ --- but there is no heart to any of that, no sense of detail, no moment for him to shine no personality.

And you know (I really tried to stop myself from adding this) in the 90s we had this flood of dark, gritty anti-heroes with their giant guns and ten thousand pouches. And some of them like Cable were really good while later characters became pale imitations of Cable (think of that famous video of Liefeld inventing a character and he just draws Cable number 8948320 and his backstory is that he’s a cyborg) and all those rehashes of the Killing Joke. And in the end they all lost track of what made these characters good in the first place.

And in the late 2000s and early 2010s we had this wave of young, hip, funny for the lulzs supervillains who just had quirks and no reasons and personality and in the end, basically nothing of substance remains of any of them - an epidemic starting with Heath Ledger’s Joker but were later replaced with young men in suits who were also kinda pop-culturally - ironically Leto’s Joker hopped onto that bandwagon like 9 years late with a starbucks

And I understand why in the last few years, political villains have entered mass-production, but a villain like that doesn’t work unless your writing challenges their ideas. Okay lemme give you another example: Since the (in)famous Far Cry 3 with its very 2012 villain quirky-crazy-Joker-y villain Vaas we now had Far Cry 4 playing in the land of a slightly quirky fashionable young man dictator and Far Cry 5 and New Dawn with an evil Christian cult right in the US.

The transition from early 2010s to late 2010s is obvious but - these are video games and by the time we fight the final boss, we have automatically actually spent a lot of time in their respective worlds. We know why these are horrible people. We are challenging their methods and ideas already when we encounter them. In the MCU, we see Killmonger actually rule over Wakanda and we know while his ideas are good. his methods aren’t - while at the same he challenges Wakanda and forces T’Challa to accept that his father was not perfect. Each time we see Loki rule over Asgard, imperialism is challenged - in the first time when he actually attacks Jötunheim (thus executing exactly the things he had been taught his entire life) and by not intervening in the colonies in Ragnarök. But, you are going to say, Thanos ideas are challenged! We see that people are sad that he killed half the universe! - and I mean yeah, but I didn’t need to watch the movie to know that people would be sad. Instead, everything happens exactly as you expect it would. All these previous examples were interesting because we wouldn’t know what the villains would do and how it would affect the population. Also the final notion - that the universe would eventually be better of if half the universe was destroyed, remains unshaken and unaddressed.

And honestly, their attempt to make Thanos likeable or understandable might be the huge problem of the film. Thanos as a morbid, unlikable killer who’s in love with death works because we don’t need to relate to him for that. We don’t need a connection. Many good villains are absolutely detestable. You can do a lot not by making them seem sympathetic (which is almost impossible with villains like Thanos anyway) but you can make them interesting to the audience-

let’s talk about villains who are absolute giant assholes but I like them:

Yeah him <3 You remember the first season of Hannibal? As members of the audience, we know who Hannibal is before we even start watching. Hannibal Lecter is one of the most famous villains there are. In the movies, he’s arrested in Red Dragon right in the first scene - there is never any doubt about who he is. But in the show, he’s yet an active serial killer and working with the police. The police that solves his murders. The police who doesn’t know that he’s the killer. The killer whose name literally rhymes with cannibal and who makes cannibalism puns. There were hundreds of memes about how fucking frustrating it was that the police always just walked right past him.

That was the thing: We, the audience, knew something the characters didn’t. Like in a horror film when we know the killer is hiding behind the door and the main character doesn’t. You want to fucking scream at the screen in frustration. Okay what does that have to do with Thanos? Imagine all those glimpses and we saw of him in previous movies would have presented him in a likeable light. Imagine if his disciples were actually seen gaining people’s trust or if people in GotG would actually casually mention “oh Thanos will fix this, I heard he has a brilliant plan” or he tried to convince them that there was a huge famine coming. It would have been so frustrating to see people trust him because obviously everyone who reads the comics would know that Thanos is bad news and if we saw people actually trust him? maybe actually give him Infinity Stones to fix the universe because he’s the only one who can use them? Fucking rude.

Reveals :)

I guess I don’t have to tell tumblr who the first guy is but a quick rehash: In season finale of Sherlock, a guy who appears in one scene as the girlfriend of a colleague of Sherlock turns out to be Moriarty.

And guess what? It absolutely doesn’t matter one single fucking bit that Moriarty is the lab guy. And the big reveal doesn’t matter because we’re not given any of the clues. He might as well have been the mailman. Now, the Man In Black from Westworld however? That was a huge reveal. (Major spoilers if you haven’t watched it but I’m keeping it vague). We saw the Man In Black commit the worst crimes imaginable throughout the first season of the show, he killed hundreds of people without remorse. And in his defence, we thought that he thought it was all a robot theme park. Except? We find out that he’s actually the older version of one of the main-characters who absolutely saw robots as people once and evn protected them and loved one. This was both a horrifying reveal, an origin story and it made his crime even worse. That’s good villain-writing.

What does that have to do with Thanos? - Technique. Just how the reveal was written has a huge impact. Imagine if there had been no mention of Thanos at all until Infinity War - and the characters were actually forced to figure out who brought Loki to Earth, who supported Ronan, who attacked Asgard. Maybe you catch some glimpses of his disciples and maybe you get to hear the name of one of them at the very end or Loki even whispers “Thanos” in Thor’s ear before he dies and he as to figure out what that means. Make us work to get there.

Relevance!

Now, they wanted a political villain, right? AHS Cult gave as a political villain who is absolutely detestable every step of the way. But the reason he was scary and interesting is because...it was relevant af. Every word he said, every political opinion he expressed, the way he staged attacks on him by migrant workers and spread fear in his community - that rings very close to home right now. I can get why someone would say you can’t do the same in a Marvel film, but Sci-Fi has always been a projection screen for political subjects for decades now. Star Trek has been doing it since the 1960s and if they had actually committed to making Thanos allude to actual political slogans of today, he would have been way more relevant.

Dynamics (aka how to make someone likeable without condoning their actions)

On my main, I made a post once about Loki and Magneto and how having, forming and developing relationships helps to flesh out a character. In short: We learn to understand them. We see them grow. We see (ideally) how they learn from encounters and how it shapes them. Now we are entering the realm of likeable again with Azula, because what made her a brilliant villain was not her brilliance or her abilities (they made her a great opponent though) but her motivations. The more we see her family, the more we learn that she, too, is a victim of a dysfunctional family. She allows a whole new perspective on the royal family. That scene where she tells Ozai that he ‘can’t treat her like Zuko’? - those were ten fucking books written in one line. Her descent into paranoia basically rewrote every scene of her in the past and is also a reminder that she’s 15 and yes, of course, she’s a victim. She’s a child fighting in a war.

How many meaningful relationships does Thanos have? He’s quite fond of Gamora I guess? Less fond of Nebula? There was an embarrassing attempt to create a connection between him Tony. Now, remember that in the comics, Thanos is someone driven by love. He loves death - that’s the relationship that drives him. It’s important that there is a face to everything. Show me Thanos family, show me his homeworld. Show me his previous desperate attempts to save the people he loved and how he was held back and driven to more and more desperate measures. Show me how he finally gives in and wants to destroy everything.

“show don’t tell”

I’m going to argue for a Thanos solo movie now :) (kinda)

Okay I feel kinda compelled to put David in this when I’m already posting this on my rp blog but also a) I love him and b) shut up. short summary: David was created an android that is programmed to serve humans. He grows to resent them more and more, especially because many of them are petty and abusive towards him until in the second film, he just wants them dead. Now in his first scenes of Prometheus, we see him alone on the ship while the human crew is in cryosleep. We see him eat, play basketball, ride a bicycle, watch people’s dreams. He also watches Lawrence of Arabia while dying his hair to look like him and quotes the above sentence several times just before the rest of the crew wakes up.

It’s a tiny sequence in the film but we learn various things about David: He’s vain, he does things he - as a robot - doesn’t have to do, he identifies strongly with a man torn between two cultures, he has a lot of fun when he’s alone, he habitually spies on people, he is feeling pain in some capacity and he associates it with humans. We learn all of that in those few tiny moments.

compare all of what we learnt in this short sequence to what we know about Thanos. After seeing him in...I think three films by now? And having people talk about him in even more? With literally every character I listed now (excluding Moriarty bc he’s a negative example) we know what drove them to do what they did. We know their pain. We know them. Even if the things they are cruel because here it comes:

They are a Story.

And Thanos is a plot device.

or to quote fellow tumblr user hackedmotionsensors: I’ve never liked Thanos because hes like a video game villain. Like he’s the annoying equivalent of finding the final boss in a FF game and its just a giant head or something stupid.

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kyvir · 6 years ago

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27: "I wish I'd never met you." BoruSara pweaseeeeeeeeeeee

Thanks for the request Anon! -KanaTyy

Annoying

Today wasn’t the best day. As chief of police, Sarada was a busy woman. She worked hard, was dedicated and loved her work. But it wasn’t always easy. Just the day before right in their hometown, a mass murder had occurred. Everyone was frantic. There was so much to be done, so many people hurting from the loss of their loved ones. So many survivors fighting for their lives. Sarada wanted to be even more involved than she was needed to be, so she’d stayed working throughout the night and up until now.

It was noon, she’d stopped by her favorite coffee shop for a snack and a coffee before heading home for a little rest. She was going to take her time, her favorite table was open but when she walked to it and saw an article laying there, her eyes narrowed. She snatched it up to take a good look, staring at herself in disbelief. It was a picture of her in uniform, from her press conference just the day before. That wasn’t what got her. What got her was the headline.

The most sexy chief Konoha has ever had.

She gripped the article tight, hands shaking as she let her eyes search for the writer’s name. It better not be. It better not be…

“He’s dead.” Sarada screeched, crumbling the paper in her hands before storming out of the coffee shop with it.

The anger she felt was almost too much as she got in her car and hurried home. If she didn’t manage to calm down a bit, it was going to be her committing murder next. She couldn’t have gotten home quickly enough, and when she finally did make it, she all but flew inside.

He was sitting at his computer desk when she barged into the study. He was in the middle of work, his reading glasses low on his nose as he looked over them to the computer screen instead of the stack of papers in front of the keyboard. His hair was a mess, he was wearing only pajama bottoms and he looked pretty good. Really good. But Sarada hated him too much to care at the moment.

“Boruto.” She hissed, the article still tightly gripped in her hand.

“One second, sunshine.” Boruto said as he finished up his last sentence. “Aaaaaand done.” He turned to Sarada and took off his glasses, his eyes slowly raking up and down her form. “What’s cookin’ good lookin’?”

“Don’t talk to me like that.” She growled as she walked over to him and slammed the article down on the desk. “Explain yourself.”

Boruto didn’t so much as glance at the paper, already knowing what this was about. “Yeah, quite the piece of work, don’t you think? The chief of police, the hottest woman whoever hotted. Known for her intellect and ability to kick criminal’s asses. One of my best articles yet.” He grinned.

“This is not, funny! I could… I could get you for slander!” She shook in her rage, embarrassed that he would make such an article of her. “I have a reputation to uphold, I can’t be in your sleazy paper.”

“Hey now, my paper is anything but sleazy, I have class sunshine. I take it you only read the title since you’re so upset. I wrote about much more than your looks, but if you still want to press charges then please arrest me.” He told her with a wink.

She raised a clenched fist, fuming. He was always so infuriating, always able to make her lose her cool in a matter of seconds. “What is wrong with you? With everything that’s going on we don’t need something like this. I need to be looked at as a symbol of hope and peace, not a pretty face!”

Boruto stood and crossed his arms, looking down at her. “Sarada, you can’t get upset when you didn’t even read it. What I wrote was the truth and did nothing to hurt your reputation. Read the damn thing before you blow up on me … and I happen to like your pretty face.”

“There’s no way I’d read that stupid article. It’s embarrassing enough as it is. You know when we got together I asked you to never write about me, no matter what it was. You did this without my permission and used such a scandalous title. I am utterly disgusted. I can’t even look at you.” She ranted, glaring at him even though she really wanted to look away.

Boruto scowled. “What the hell, Sarada? Okay, fine. I wrote it without your permission, but there is nothing wrong with the paper! You’ve got no business being disgusted!”

He was pissed she refused to read it and that she didn’t give him enough credit. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew what was happening and what the people needed to hear right now. What she needed to hear right now if she wasn’t so damn stubborn and would just listen. She wouldn’t though, she was too angry. Far too angry.

“What is wrong is that you wrote a paper about me period!” She scoffed, but her exhaustion was weighing on her. She knew she wasn’t going to get anywhere with him and she really needed to sleep. Her vest and belt were feeling heavier than usual, so she reached for her belt to remove it. “I’m done talking about this… but I’m really just… I’m disappointed.”

Boruto grabbed her wrist and brought them to his chest, forcing her to look at him. “Don’t shut down on me, sunshine. You know I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. I promise the article isn’t nearly as bad as you think it is … . and the public really needed it. You really needed it … . that’s why I wrote it without asking.” He confessed.

“I don’t even want to think about it anymore. Let me go… I’m going to take a shower and sleep for a while.” She still had so much to do…

Boruto sighed. “Alright … just don’t go to bed angry. How about I take that shower with you, hm?” He asked and stepped closer. “I’ll make it so you can’t think about anything even if you wanted to.”

Sarada clenched her teeth, scowling as she snatched her hands away from him. Her face was blood red and she really wanted to smack him. “I wish I’d never met you… you drive me crazy.”

Boruto blinked dumbly at that before his own anger started to flair. “You take that back right now, Sarada.” He demanded, blue eyes narrowing.

“Or what?” She challenged.

“Oh I’ll show you what, sunshine.” He said and yanked her towards him, his arms holding her firmly in place. In a matter of seconds, he had grabbed her handcuffs and swiped the key, letting her go after. “Now the question is … do I use them on you, or the both of us?” He mused, showing her the cuffs.

“Boruto… please don’t make me hurt you.” She grumbled.

Boruto laughed. “Both of us it is then.” He handcuffed Sarada’s wrist and his own, using a speed she rarely saw because of his lazy nature. “I’m well aware of how badass you are, sunshine. But you know you’re not taking me out any day of the week.” He said and held the key tight in his free hand. “Now take it back.”

“Fine… I don’t regret meeting you… I mean, we had a lot of good times. But I should have never agreed to marry you. You’re obviously insane and love getting me worked up. I can’t handle you and I mean it this time.”

Boruto groaned at the familiar words. “As if I would ever let you divorce me, especially when you’re being ridiculous. I know you’ve been stressed lately and you’re tired, but I seriously can’t take it anymore. It’s about time I handled your ass.”

“You don’t want to try me. I’ve had a really bad day. I’m exhausted. None of your kinks and flirting is going to help you now.” She shook her head, but she knew… Boruto had a way of making her weak. It didn’t matter how angry she was or how tired. She would submit to him and she hated him for it.

“Keep talking shit, sunshine. Only gets me more worked up.” Boruto told her and took a step back to grab his article.

He quickly walked towards their bedroom, dragging Sarada behind him. Once she was inside he slammed the door closed and removed her belt with practiced precision, it falling to the floor with a loud thud. Sarada didn’t say a word as she glared at him, her expression unimpressed. Boruto paid her no mind as he pulled her to the bed. He pushed her down onto the mattress and laid beside her, opening her vest and then holding her handcuffed hand.

“Listen closely.” He told her and held up the article, squinting a bit to read it. “Sarada Uchiha, one of the best looking women around. However her looks can hardly compare to the passion she continues to show everyday as the police chief. Even now when we have suffered from the loss of loved ones, she pushes on and refuses to give up until the one responsible is behind bars. A sense of hopelessness and darkness has struck our town and given many people fear. Yet all we need to do is believe in the police force and it’s chief as she proudly stands against it all to bring us peace again. Need I go on, sunshine?”

Sarada closed her eyes and turned her head away from him. “I really… can’t stand you.” She whispered.

“I know.” Boruto smiled. “That’s why I had you lay down.” He joked before turning serious. “You work your ass off and all anyone seems to do around here is point out all the bad. They nitpick at you and your boys in blue. It pissed me off so I decided to remind the public about what’s really important. You deserved to be thanked, Sarada. You try so hard … and I love you so much for keeping our town safe. Don’t let this asshole get to you. You catch his ass and I’ll be right there beside you to report it all.”

“You’re really… too much.” She sighed. So maybe the article wasn’t bad. Either way, Boruto would always have a way of making her crazy. She loved him so much and yet nobody irked her nerves like he did. “Okay. I’m sorry.”

“You can make it up to me on your next day off.” Boruto smirked. “Now let’s get you showered and fed so you can get some sleep.”

“Thank you.” She smiled softly then. As much as she wanted to punch him into the next life, she really and truly loved him even more.

#borusara #boruto uzumaki #sarada uchiha #boruto and sarada #borusara fic #kanatyy

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