#few advantages of the s3

[tearfest]

ㅤㅤit was supposed to work. their plan was supposed to work. a new trap built with the intentions of foiling their trap. but maritza was ever the optimist. maybe she should've given up on her glass half-full outlook when the plane had crashed fifty-something days ago, but she was smart — a tier two crime scene investigator for the las vegas police department with an iq of 132 — and so she thought she knew better. that she knew best.

ㅤㅤbut now she was on her third day as a prisoner, still stubbornly denying any offerings of food or drink her captors' attractive representative had to offer. clothes were dirtied from her traipse through the jungle, cargo pants torn in areas from where the brambles had snagged; golden tresses unruly and decorated with the occasional leaf. she was dying for a wash, and she'd heard rumours through the heavy doors whenever she was left alone that this place had an actual shower. a luxury she'd been starved of for far too long. wrists were bound, but her foot reached out to nudge the tray away from her corner; frowning across at the food that made her stomach grumble more every time she denied it. " i'll eat if you let me shower. " the first words she'd said during her captivity, a hoarse slip of desperation.

open to m/f/nb. lost season 2/3 inspired starter — maritza was on the plane when it crashed, and your muse is one of the others. doesn't have to follow the show to a t! their camp (or maybe just them alone) could've captured her for any reason so go wild!

[liliwriti]

The squid game teams with a shy and quiet reader

((Writing to cope with the squid game s3 wait))

🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀

Enjoy!

456 team (gi hun, young il, jun hee, dae ho, jung bae,)

They would all be confused while you stumbled over your words when they were giving out names. You had been invited to join their team since your bed was next to gi huns, and embarrassingly caught you staring and listening to their conversations, but they all welcomed you nicely.

Jung bae would tease you or put you in the spotlight for some seconds in the middle of a conversation. You hated it while it was happening but looking back he may have wanted to include you or get you to warm up to them, and it took a while but you were less hesitant, he was like a uncle to you.

Jun hee was comfortable to be around you learned about her through her body language. She appreciated you when you would go with her to the bathrooms when you felt comfortable enough to.

Dae ho acted like a brother. He rambled, answered himself most times like jung bae, and he would include you alot. You understood his panic attacks as you got a few from just feeling eyes on you nonetheless being in a place like this. He stood by you and jun hee during the games to protect you two and you were grateful as you didn't know if you would be able to think with all the pressure.

Gi hun was like a father figure, he wouldn't pressure you to do anything you weren't comfortable with. During late nights neither of you could sleep he'd talk about when he was here before.

Young il would be protective over you and would be by your side during the games and the main room. During the gun fights, you'd be curled in a ball covering your ears, and he'd be in front of you shooting the guards.

--------------------------

Thanos team (thanos, nam gyu, se mi, min su, geong su,)

Since min su has the same personality it's easy to know how'd they treat you

Thanos took a look at you and snatched you up for his team. Thanos and namgyu weren't the ideal people to be around but you didn't want to be alone so you were grateful.

Nam gyu goes with it if Thanos goes with it, he once caught you crying in your bed when he was on his way to Thanos for more drugs. He felt awkward and hesitantly stopped he tilted his head to try to see your face that was hidden you heard a sound and looked up with teary eyes and jumped out of your skin when you saw him which led him to take a step back I suprise. Embarrassed, you gripped your sheet and was about to just melt in your bed before he whispered 'you good? Someone hurt you?' He didn't seem like the type to care, so it was silent for a moment before you nodded your head lips, tugging into a slight smile. He was surprised by caring too he slid his jacket over his hands, quickly straightened up, and continued his path

Se mi would defend you if any player tried to take advantage of you. She'd drag you and min su with her like two little kids you didn't speak to her much but you'd always be next to her, legs touching while you leaned you head on her shoulder.

Min su was the most comfortable to be around you'd both silently plan out hiding spots if anything got violent. You'd both cling to se mi as if she was your guy's mother. Once in the middle of the night you were sat facing eachother both of you guys just silently crying about your life's.

Gyeong su was more in the background like you had wanted to be. When thanos and nam gyu took off he would've went with them, but looking back at you, your eyes widened in fear of being alone with complete strangers surrounding you. The team had just met a day ago but you did trust them surprisingly. Gyeong su turned to walk and sit beside you patting your back awkwardly but reassuringly.

No name team (Hyun ju, grand ma, Yong sik, young mi,)

Hyun ju kept you close to her. She welcomed you when no other teams wanted you. You owed her your life a few times but she just shrugged with a smile.

The grand ma held your hand either it was walking to the bathroom or walking to the next game

Yong sik grew close to you since his mom wouldn't let go of you, would tell his mom to calm down if she was asking to many questions.

As lovers::: (only doing a few)

Hyun ju:

She would not let you out of her sight. She's scared for you and your social skills but she know she is all you need.

Min su:

You two are stuck like glue together there would need to be threatening to scare you two for you to part, but once you reunite you run into his arms and cried about how scared you were, he'd try to be the bigger man but crumbled at your sobs tightening his hold on your jacket

Se mi:

She's always right behind you, hand on your shoulder to show she's there with you. In the main room she'd take you to a quiet spot and would just hold you

Gyeong su:

He always had a hand on you so you wouldn't get lost. Would also talk for you .

Nam gyu:

Once he took some of thanos drugs you started to avoid him. He acted like he didn't care but it killed him when he tried to calm you down in a panicked state but instead you pushed past him saying you were going to the bathroom. He didn't take anymore drugs after and stuck by you

Taking requests!!

[nalyra-dreaming]

I understand that you don’t have an issue with certain fans wanting to villainize Lestat, but I want to take them out of the equation. Let’s focus on Rolin and how he wrote Lestat. If Louis is already at the PL era then what’s he going to do? We’ll get Armand’s backstory in full and other new characters and their arc but what will this new self-actualized Louis do for the next 5-8 seasons? If Rolin didn’t want to truly stick to the books, why did he sign on to work on the show? Seriously, why?

Oh I have my issue with that, mostly because there is a willful denial of the shifts in the narrative by many by now, but there is nothing to be done about it.

I don't think we'll get Armand's backstory in full the same way as in the books, sorry, nor do I think we'll get the PL era as it was written in the books.

Kickstarting especially Louis' PL arc holds a few advantages though, though I personally thought the way they did his suicide attempt too weak for the impact "Merrick" had.

But in any case - it frees Louis up. He can switch from depression to the self assured (power house) self he is in the later books now, he can take over other characters' arcs and play a more prominent role in the proceedings.

I don't think Rolin will bring in that full host of vampires that the later books hold.

I think he will bring in some.

I think that Daniel and Louis might split up David's parts between them, maybe. I think that would work just fine.

And the thing is - there IS enough "tale" for those 5-8 seasons... there is. But it will be differently set up despite them following the book events.

We will have Lestat's past and rockstar career likely up to the "first/last" concert in season 3. I would be very surprised if s3 did not end with Akasha abducting him, like the book did.

Season 4 will be QotD.

Season 5 might be TtotBT then - will likely be. They all said they want to do it, and they already introduced key characters after all. And they would need the events of QotD for that.

Seasons 6... now the later books access ghosts and spirits - we'll likely already have had ghost!Claudia by now. I am not so sure if they would completely skip "Memnoch" - IF they do that book then they will split the, well... talking, but the actual meat of the story, the kill, the spirit, the Devil, leaving the Earthly plane of existence, purgatory (the purgatory MAGNUS is also in), and then the return, the eye, and Armand's suicide - now that is great yarn, as Rolin likes to put it.

Also, Maharet being there after... they could so easily have Mekare there, too, and connect it then with the PL era.

And the Amel reveals, and the fights with Rhoshamandes will then be the last season(s).

Ending in the dance, which they foreshadowed/echoed in season 1 already.

Through all these events Louis is... there. Given more to do, it will be quite easy to build the "Loustat"-base they have talked about.

And it would still be "doing the books" - in their own way.

I do hope and pray we will get our seasons.

I want to see it :)

[sadiepeach]

Leaked spoilers for Ninjago DR S3 P2 below !!!

So um. I would like to point out something that may upset a few people.

Y'all remember the person following Nya in Mysterium in ep 18, right?

This guy?

Why do so many people keep saying it's Jay?😭😭

Like that guy is so clearly Kai (I suggest zooming in on the unedited screenshot, the details are more visible)

And if you think about it, it makes sense narratively, too.

Kai's last appearance before this scene was when him and Frak came back from Imperium and met up with Sora and Wyldfyre who then proceeded to explain to them off-screen what was going on. Next thing you know, Frak is with Sora and Wyldfyre on their way to Djinnjago.

So where is Kai? I find it a bit hard to believe that after he is told that Nya is alone right now in Mysterium he wouldn't be like: "oh man I should go after her to help, especially since she's alone".

But then I had people point out to me that there's yellow lightning that appeared in the background.

And to that I say

Thunderfang exists and he is visible from pretty much the whole Merged Realms😃

I will say that the way this moment is presented is...strange.

Like, why act all so mysetrious if it's just kai coming to help... my thoughts are that the eerie music and lightning are there to signify Thunderfang's growth in power. But I'd really love to hear other people's thoughts on this.

So is Jay coming back?

Weeeell, idk honestly. My guess is that he will track down Ras and go to the Monastery after him. That way we'll also have someone at the Monastery who can actually fight Ras (I hope he can because atp he just keeps fumbling every fight even though he has advantages like whyyy). I'd also like to hope that Zane and Pixal noticed what was happening during their trip and that they're coming back to the Monastery to see what's going on.

I really wish I could give any thoughts on how Jay's arc in s3 will conclude. I definitely think he's coming back in the last 2 eps for something, whether it is hunting Ras or changing his mind about helping the ninja (very unlikely imo, the guy was really mad when he left and rightfully so). But anything else is a big mystery imo

Hope you enjoyed uhh my analysis? My rambling?

[confusedmothboy]

hate travis haters cause like what did i ever do to you

thats in a joking manner btw i just relate to him on an unhealthy level lemme spew up my thoughts below the cut

so like. we all know hes an asshole the first few episodes. im gonna keep my thoughts and rationalizations on that to myself cause that's not what this post is about, and im not defending him there. BUT. he is such a relatable and accurate depiction of a man stuck in a matriarchial society. my source? *points to myself* i dont feel the need to delve into my home and family life too much on here but im gonna need you guys to know that i know.

okay continuing: travis is never the focus, and he knows that, which is why hes such a fucking asshole for the start of season one. his grief isnt the focus, his father (flaws and all) isnt the focus, and hes never considered that a) he would be stuck out in the wilderness with 15 teenage girls his age or that b) he would not be immediately feared and respected simply because hes a man.

i think he realizes this the second ben gives natalie the gun that he has almost no influence over the group, which he lashes out about. his love for natalie and his willingness to listen to her during season one overrides all of that soon after.

ever since then and through to the end of s2, hes an active side character, but only exists to further nat or lottie's arcs. he comes back a bit when javi is rescued, but as a character, he understands his place in this mini society and fits into it, mainly out of fear, considering what happened to jackie.

jackie also didn't fit into the yellowjackets' dynamic at the beginning, but unlike travis, she refused to adapt to a survivalist mindset. (she was also less of a incendiary dick but whatever whatever)

on doomcoming: i think that that's when travis realizes that not only does he not have control over the group, he doesnt have power over his own autonomy. the girls nearly gang rape and kill him, and he knows that by the morning, he cant do anything about it. considering its the 90s (though this mindset is still SO prevalent) he also probably feels like he should have enjoyed the parts before they held a knife to his throat. the only one who doesnt immediately let it go is jackie (someone who also took advantage of him btw), and she is literally frozen out for it. when they eat her, it serves him as a reminder that he would never have autonomy in the wilderness again, even after death.

just gonna throw the point that his character is very reminiscent of how female characters are usually treated in media out there (reblogged something that went SO much better into it than i can)

anyways, by season 3 hes damn near lobotomized. lottie breaks his mind with shrooms and manipulation and he has like 5 lines the whole season. could this be pinned on the Different style of writing that we were given in s3? yeah, but i think its him understanding thats in the new post fire dynamic, its not enough for him to be on the side, he needs to be PASSIVE. him exerting his strength or emotion is a reminder to the girls that they weren't always like that. he knows that hes one crashout away from being labled a dangerous, naturally aggressive man. him distancing himself from both nat and lottie is his way of undoing all connection from the girls he's grown to fear. plus, hes fucking Tired. hes given up on ever returning to society.

it doesnt matter that his biceps are the size of boulders or that he gets to hold the rifle whenever natalie decides hes allowed to. he is stuck!! my boy is trapped!!! he cant fucking do or say anything no matter how much they do against him - this guy is rightfully scared! despite all his rage hes still just a rat in a cage guys

sorry if all this is fucking incomprehensible but i feel really strongly about him because sometimes it feels like im the only person in this fandom who Gets It and whatever feel free to still hate him this is just yelling into the void

[soclearlytosee]

a primary early s5 threat is likely a s1-style lone Demogorgon hunting kids...

...and that Demogorgon is probably being directed by Vecna.

at this point others have definitely also come to this conclusion, but I just wanted to lay this out somewhere more clearly/concisely.

first, the evidence from leaks/BTS/footage:

an early s5 filming rumor was that Frank Darabont directed a Home Alone-style sequence with a Demogorgon, which came from the same source as a bunch of other things that have been proven true. plus we clearly have a big sequence in a mansion in a Darabont-directed episode (5.03, The Turnbow Trap) reminiscent of the iconic house in that movie.

the lights are flickering in quite a few scenes that we've seen footage of from eps 1-4, and specifically the ones the feature the child characters (Holly's room and the upstairs bathroom at the Wheeler House in ep 1, at the Turnbow mansion in ep 3, and now at the farm in ep 4)

the strangerwriters twitter account saying "Season 5 is like if season 1 and 4 had a baby. And then that baby was injected with steroids."

the rhythmic banging from the date announcement voice memo/teaser feels like a fairly straightforward callback to the s1 Demogorgon's recurring ominous offscreen footsteps (that then escalates, s1 on steroids etc).

There's obviously something going on with Holly and her classmates, and a not quite yet parseable feedback loop between Vecna and the military's interest in them (considering the pap photos of Henry, Holly, and the other kids in the Creel House Mindscape, and the kids at the military base which we've now seen in the teaser footage)

but more importantly, what would that do for us, character- and plot-wise?

Bring up big feelings for our characters who experienced Will and Barb's disappearances in s1

especially since, according to the season logline, a certain anniversary is coming up...

Tee up a reveal about what it looks like when Vecna is directing a Demogorgon remotely

according to the season logline, Vecna is currently laying low: "[Vecna] has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown." similarly, it's pretty clear he's been part of the picture this whole time but if that's the case he had to have been acting from a significant remove in s1 too.

while we are also revisiting Will's time in the Upside Down in 1983 in flashback form, showing us a version of Vecna's s1 strategy in the present would be an additional opportunity to surface some answers after years of the "Was Will taken intentionally or just a bystander? Did Will see Vecna or the Demogorgon on Mirkwood?" discourse.

Serve as a device to travel into the Upside Down

if they bring back the s1 Demogorgon's ability to create smaller, temporary gates, our cast should be more prepared to take advantage of that opportunity to travel to/from the Upside Down this time around. (though the time limit on the lil Demogorgon gates makes that risky...and might lead to something like perhaps a certain character whose early season activities are still a big question mark being stuck in the same clothes for three-quarters of the season)

please don't ask me to square that with Vecna's s3/s4 needing to steal El's powers in order to open his own gates via elaborate teen murder ritual I'm not a writer on this show. let's say it's probably a question of magnitude/temporality for now

so yes, I have come around to feeling like this is probably one of the big drivers of the early s5 plot (after really walking the long way around to get here even though in retrospect like anything it seems like the most obvious choice for them to make, and I think a smart one). other supernatural forces should also be at work - I'm at least feeling some mysterious medical stuff going around, and maybe disappearances via an additional mechanic. plus the Demogorgon situation would start more at a 1.03/1.04 level and escalate quickly, building to a new monster/s reveal around the end of 5.04 with whatever is knocking at the downtown military base's door in the teaser.

and still more to suss out on Vecna's motivations here, what's going on with his Creel House Mindscape set up with the kids (maybe playing both sides by siccing a scary monster on them and then getting to swoop in as a benevolent helper?), how the military's interest in the kids factors in, and then Max's role in all this.

[starrrlights]

Cooking..... I'm cooking....

LIGHTENING STRIKES THE MEMORY

A/n: Takes place during S3, when the Ninja bring Jay back to the monastery. I have not watched the leaked episodes, and I refuse to. Halfway I realized Jay probably would just play his video games the whole time, woops, sorry if this seems out of character(occ)

Pairing: (past) Jay x reader, kind of current Jay x reader

Warnings: light angst, amnesia (jay, duh), quiet/shy(?) reader, fem reader, reader will be kind of taking the spot Nya was in (?) If that makes sense. addressing reader as "she/her" instead of "you". use of (Name). plot holes will be ignored.

pls tell me if there are any mistakes 🙏

★☆★ ○° ˗ˏˋ⚡︎ˎˊ˗ °○ ★☆★

The Ninja didn't really know what to say around Jay now that he was back. ...Well, kind of back. The memory of the ninja blurry if not gone from his brain, leaving close bonds broken. Especially ones that carried deep love.

He wasn't exactly the same, more jerk-y and sassy. But Jay was always like that, no matter how long you've known him. He just now had a different outlook on life now. Not that it was bad, it was just that most didn't want more things to change.

Especially to (Name).

The love of his life, some would say. The Yin to his Yang. The thunder to his lightning. A love that never gave up.

(Name) took the memory loss almost the hardest, second to Jay it seemed. After how many years apart, with the hope of that Jay was searching for her like she had for him was crushed to find that it had turned out that he was doing to opposite and was working in the Administrative Office(?).

They've never broken up in the first place, so how could she pretend that they were strangers when she had the other half of the Yin-Yang symbol he had given her kept safely in the top left drawer in her room?

At times, she would bring it out to hold it, stare at it, until her eyelids closed from sleepiness, letting wet streaks dry into her skin as she dreamt of what could've been if Jay remembered her. At least one memory would bring her happiness.

The rest of the Ninja tried their hardest to bond with Jay again, asking about his time in the Administration and other things. But Jay often just brushed off their questions, walking away with the crutches that was given to him since he sprained his foot.

That didn't mean Jay didn't use the hospitality to his advantage, using the Ninja's eagerness to help with needs he could fulfill by himself. Most caught on to his little scheme but did not want to upset him.

After a while of being stuck around the monastery, Jay began exploring it, peeking into rooms and mentally mapping out the place. For escaping he would joke, but everyone else knew better.

★☆★ ○° ˗ˏˋ⚡︎ˎˊ˗ °○ ★☆★

(Name) and Nya had left to the city to grab more material for mechs and other equipment that either needed to be built or repaired. That left Pixal and Zane to plan out things and get things ready. Jay decided to have a new change a scenery, keeping the duo 'company'. More so just complaining that he was bored or yapping their ears off.

"Huh, it seems like we are missing a few blueprints... perhaps (Name) has them in her room?"

Pixal asked, addressing her question to Zane. She looked through a series of blueprints that have designs for mechs that they had already organized. She could distinctively remember (Name) bringing blueprints to her room the night before. Perhaps that's where they were.

"Jay, could you go see if (Name) has any mech blueprints in her room?"

Jay grumbled at the robot girl's request, but complying began to hobble away in search of the missing blueprints as he didn't have much to do anyway. Anything was better than just sitting around.

He would never admit it, but the thought of seeing (Name) again, if she was even back yet, brought a little bit of excitement in him, like a lightning bolt decided to go up his spine. He couldn't explain it, but he felt a magnetic pull whenever she was in the same room as him. The was she laughed or the way he would catch her gaze on him made his heart do a flip.

It wasn't like he didn't believe that he used to be a ninja, there were pictures of proof that hung on the walls. But after what happened with Lord Ras and the Administration, he began to trust people a little less than before. And the constant company of the Ninja was definitely something he didn't expect, let alone (Name)'s.

Not that he would ever admit that ever to anyone.

Once he got to her room, he knocked on the door a few times, listening for a response. When he didn't get one, he twisted the doorknob and opened the door, he then was met with what he would argue as the best-looking room in the whole monastery. It looked well lived in; like someone put a lot of thought and love in making it feel like a small home.

He stepped further in, walking to a desk that sat against the wall facing a window that looked out into the back area of the place. 'Nice view.'

The blueprints were clear as day laid on the desk, opened to see white marks of drawings and notes. Jay carefully rolled them up and carefully tucked them inside of his arm.

He took another glace around the room, letting his brown and blue eyes drag over the objects. It stopped on a picture frame that laid faced down on a shelf, like it either fell like that, or someone put it like that.

He walked up to it, studying it before lifting it up to see the picture underneath. In the back of his mind, he told himself that he shouldn't be snooping around the girl's room, but something still nudged at him to look.

His eyes widened a little bit in shock at the photo. It was a photo of him and (Name), arms swung around each other as one of her arms reached a camera far out to take the picture. Their cheeks were squished together in a very lovey-dovey way. A way that made his heart lurch out of his throat.

This had to have been before the merge, because he definitely would've remembered something like this. Being this close to her.

From your perspective, it was a date night photo, one from earlier in the relationship. He had taken you to an amusement park, something that you were excited to go to. It was one of your favorite memories by far.

Jay stared at the photo with what could be deciphered as yearning, not looking up from it. It made his heart tug uncomfortably. He slowly reached out to put it back on the shelf before you barged back into your room, a pile of boxed in your arms.

The sudden intrusion made his bones jump; his fingers almost drop the photo. He put it back on the shelf a little too loudly for his liking, hearing her voice going up in alarm.

"Who's there?" Of course, she didn't see him as she walked in, only focusing on not dropping the boxes in front of her. A small sigh of relief left his lips, she didn't notice him yet, he still had time to save himself from embarrassment.

"Pixal sent me to get the other mech blueprints you had up here."

Her head turned to look at him after she set the stacked boxes down, a quiet "oh, Jay" left her lips. Her eyes looked down at the blueprints and gave him a small smile.

"If I had known she needed them, I would have brought them down sooner." Her words brought a small quirk to his lips that didn't quite reach his eye just yet. His mind was filled with questions for what was the context of the photo that they were in. His eyes went to her gaze meeting hers unexpectedly. (Name)'s eyes casted down to the side quickly and a comfortable but slightly awkward silence filled the air, neither not knowing what to say next.

"...Uhm, I-"

"-I should probably bring these to Pixal," He winced slightly at cutting (Name) off. "Before she starts to get them herself."

Quick byes were exchanged as (Name) helped him to the door.

"...Will you be fine walking the rest of the way?"

Jay looked to the side where she stood, giving her a sassy almost teasing grin that didn't fully give away with what he felt.

"I walked here alone; I think I can do the same back."

"Oh, of course."

They say their final goodbyes before they headed their separate ways. (Name) closed the door behind her and put her hands to her face, she didn't think her face could get any more heated up than it already is.

'That was soo awkward...'.

Jay couldn't help but also feel heat creep up his neck and face from both the embarrassment of almost being caught and the newfound information of the mysterious photo that was in your room.

When had that been taken? There weren't any photos like that around the monastery with the other ninja, so were you two... closer? That thought sent a bolt of warmth go up his spine, finding himself planning for the next time he might see her. To get closer to her, just like before.

1496 words

[project-changeling-zero]

i feel like people don't talk about Voltron largely being a team of child soldiers enough.

like, Pidge was 15, Lance was 17, and Hunk and Keith were 18. Allura was 17-18. they were children.

"but Hunk and Keith were adu-" no, they were children. legality be damned.

and Shiro is more of an adult than they are, more developed than they are, but he's still young. 23 is far too young to go to war, let alone be a prisoner, suffer horrible trauma, repressed memories, and is now responsible for a group of teenagers who'll experience more horrors than they have any business dealing with while fighting the man who tortured and broke you so completely.

i get it, we all love our ships, and i'm not shaming anybody for focusing on romance. but i feel like because the fandom is so ship-obsessed, it can cloud a lot of the context surrounding this show, even if it's right in the face. it likely didn't help that it was a kids show, and they were taken even less seriously than they are now.

that, and, well, the bad writing post-s3(?).

i'm going to have to rewatch Voltron at some point ( begrudgingly ) to reevaluate its content and whatnot, but i know well enough that i engage with war stories partially because of the traumas and roads to recovery, if there is one. that's one of my biggest reasons for writing stories of war myself, aside from educational symbolism and parallelism with the real world.

this is especially because i do want to make my own take on Voltron. it has an unofficial name, Neo Voltron, and i already have a few concepts and scenarios in my mind, but i don't want to take advantage of the fact that i have no real consequences for this and want to treat the story of an intergalactic war as seriously as possible.

if you guys would like to know how i'm handling Voltron myself, lemme know and i'll share some information. i'm already working on writing character biographies and reestablishing the more "common" alien races we'll see ( "common" as in "we might see them more than once" ), and kinda OC-ifying the gang, more or less.

just a warning, though, i'm very upfront about the topics i bring into my stories, and am not a child-friendly writer, for the most part. there will be blood, gore, and very heavy subjects, amongst other things.

[fiamat12]

RE: Prevalence and use of NDAs

In the movie Red, White, and Royal Blue NDA’s are mentioned as a standard course of action for hook ups among politicians and families.

The president’s adult son is found with someone his room and the assistant who is in charge of monitoring the campaign/PR/cleaning up messes says, “I’ll bet you didn’t even have her sign an NDA!”

The implication was that for this high profile individual person, the NDA would be signed prior to any funny business as a standard course of action.

It makes sense to me that actors and anyone else in the private eye, especially those who work for a large production franchise (Like SL/Bton) would be instructed to follow the same precautions to avoid any scandals or public relations faux pas.

We don’t know how it all played out, but since A has already revealed enough to cause a scene in the fandom, and I assume L wouldn’t want to sabotage his own career, I’d imagine something went awry and she either didn’t sign one initially, and then ended up with more information/leverage that she could use to her advantage, and/or she didn’t stick to it or tried to get around it to serve her purposes by using anonymous tips to gossip writers, ghost written articles, and posts that imply things without outright stating them, often which are deleted later to maintain plausible deniability. If they (L&A) started out as friends, I’d can’t imagine them continuing to be friendly unless this was all a subterfuge that she was in on, and if so it was very messily done.

☝️I think you meant public eye Anon but private eye is funnier since Lukola has been so secret lol

Interesting thought on the blind items. I will say the People intern who kept writing adjacent articles of "packing on the PDA" lol seems to be in A's peer group 🤷🏼‍♀️

Imo, I don't think L & A had a relationship of any note, perhaps went on mostly group dates at best. I do agree that he prob. didn't have her sign an NDA, let her into the friend group prematurely and she had way too much info. to leverage about his personal life. Perhaps it isn't anything super scandalous in the big scheme, but seeing as fans were already touchy about Jade and his HBS and even brothel Colin, having A run her mouth just as S3 came out AND w/ him & N newly committed/ expecting, it could've been a PR disaster (which sadly it ended up being anyway).

My partner's take: "She's a vindictive B" (enough said lol)

Comments from the Discord peanut gallery ⬇️

"I can imagine that NDAs wouldn’t have crossed his mind with his friend group at the time since he’d known most of them since childhood. (Well, at least the guys.) I think it has certainly turned into a lesson in trust for all of them as they navigate becoming and living as celebrities"

" I don’t think he necessarily slept with her. Not because I don’t think it’s possible for him to have casually hooked up with her. But instead, because of what he did after that, and that is the awkwardness and disrespect to Nic of letting her be around so much after that. Don’t let your booty call turn up at the London press call or be around at the Valentine’s Day event, etc. Imagine letting her still go on the March LA trip while you're already dating Nic again [about to get engaged!]. He wouldn’t do that to Nic. Instead, that suggests to me that he kissed her a few times and she started to hope she could turn it in to more, but he never saw it as more. I do think he messed up by not getting her to sign an NDA from the start. I think he was modest and naive about the level of fame he was about to achieve."

[skullfragments]

i have a lot of questions about the daredevil finale and none of them are to the tune of “omg how intriguing! what’s gonna happen next??”

spoilers below

i’ll preface by saying that i do not like the way they used this whole first season just to set up the next one and that may have me biased negatively towards the whole show.

first and foremost: why exactly was fisk acquitted?? vanessa said something about “agent nadeem and the FBI scandal” which i can only assume refers to the events of s3. but how would that lead to an acquittal??? the whole scandal was WHY he was arrested again. are they really not gonna elaborate on that??

the other thing is the motive behind having foggy killed. he had found out that the red hook port area was outside of NY and US jurisdiction and was going to use that knowledge to get his client’s robbery charge dismissed. (right? that’s how i understood it) the fisks and their criminal underground had been taking advantage of the free port for their business. so is the thought that foggy exposing this charter from the 1800s would put the area under some sort of investigation or scrutiny? or that the jurisdiction laws would be changed? bc otherwise you’d think the fisks would happily take their get out of jail free card.

also i’ve had this question from the beginning: why would there only be a hit out on foggy? nelson murdock and page presumably works on cases together, so why would anyone think that ONLY foggy knew about the port? you’d think vanessa would want to take out all of them just to be sure. (unless matt fighting back interrupted that plan?)

why exactly did they leave frank alive? i mean i’m not mad about it! i don’t want him dead! but that cop that shot him a few times could’ve very easily just blown his head off, and again later when he’s restrained.

how is NYC under martial law and all these council members and such “missing” and the state has no idea?? i know gallo never made it to albany but surely someone at the state level has taken notice? at least of the blackout and the rioting/looting? btw why did fisk lock those people up - he already has them under his thumb with threats and blackmail soooo (also i straight up laughed when fisk announced the 8pm curfew. like yea sure pal)

here’s another one that’s been bothering me all season: what the hell is heather’s deal?? we don’t know shit about her. why tf does she hate vigilantes so much? HOW does she not understand matt’s hatred and distrust of fisk?? she KNOWS his firm was responsible for taking down fisk twice, and i’m sure is at least somewhat privy to how fisk operates, considering how very publicly his crimes were exposed. so??? is she just a shitty person or??? AND ok i know she was mad at matt and hurt and all, but girl their apartment was blown up!!!! is she not concerned at all about that??? hello???

btw i realized that we never saw the aftermath of buck failing to kill matt at the hospital and then the task force at his apartment. i expected to see fisk’s reaction to that. fisk didn’t have any interaction with frank either even though they have history. (i guess this isn’t too important but idk he clearly made it a point to make sure matt/daredevil was killed, so you’d think we’d see his ~displeasure~ at that failing)

ok anyway rant over i guess

[midnight--sadness]

can you talk more about how gi hun and jun ho are seen as the villians/horrible people for the few bad decisions they’ve made? id like you hear what you have to say

omg yes i can! i have so many thoughts 😭

i think it comes from the idea that if you are a good person, you have no space to be anything other than that. we have this idea that being good is easy but ultimately unfulfilling or fruitless. there are no advantages to being good... but we still expect people who are good to only be good. they can't deviate from the norm, they can't be selfish or proud or arrogant, they can't break the status quo.

and this happens all the time with characters. if you are 99% good and 1% bad, then you are bad and irredemable. but if you are 99% and 1% good, then you can have all of the opportunities in the world.

for gihun and junho, i think this happens because people are used to characters turning bad. there a million stories about the hero's downfall, about how he became corrupted by power and heartless due to betrayal and ultimately fell.

gihun and junho show time and time again that they will not fall. and i think that annoys people because if they were in these men's place, they would have fallen already. they would have become the bad guy, so to speak.

people will criticize everything junho and gihun do - gihun didn't personally go outside to help the homeless man during his conversation with ilnam, despite the fact that gihun definitely deserved to have answers to his questions. junho didn't immediately distrust captain park, despite the fact that for all he knows this man was literally just fishing in his boat and happened to catch him adrift at sea. gihun didn't try to stop the fight between thanos and namgyu and myunggi, despite the fact that he also didn't stop the fight between deoksu and that player in s1 and the fact that no one else tried to stop them either aside from inho. junho should have told gihun that inho was the front man, despite the fact that junho had no idea gihun was going to join the games or that inho was going to go undercover.

in a way, it's victim blaming. people are asking "why did gihun not see that inho was manipulating him?" instead of wondering "why did inho feel the need to manipulate gihun to this extent?"

gihun and junho are good, trusting, capable men with a high capacity for forgiveness and compassion. they make mistakes but they are human. and their mistakes are never done out of maliciousness.

but they are held to an insane standard in this fandom that other "bad" characters are not. i think some people believe evilness to be the norm and goodness to be an outlier. it's easy to be a bad person because everyone else is a bad person. it's a pessimistic way of thinking and the reason why we should celebrate characters like junho and gihun.

i personally hope neither of them forgive inho in s3. i have a feeling junho will because inho is his brother, but i hope gihun doesn't. i think it'd be a good way to illustrate how far gone inho is if gihun, a man who can forgive basically anyone, doesn't think he is worthy of said forgiveness.

[softantlers]

honestly lottienat in s3 was pretty good for me. i think their lack of interaction (and generally lottie's lack of verbal interaction with most people throughout the season) is a reasonable transition into her going nonverbal post-rescue. it makes a lot of sense for lottie and natalie specifically to be awkward and on each other's periphery after lottie crowned nat. (remember: they largely hadn't reconciled everything going on between them in s2 before the queen hunt & nat seemed super triggered by the lottieshauna beating + the prayer circles and the deification of the wilderness is an ongoing tension).

then, you have to factor in lottie moving toward shauna's leadership & making some patently confusing decisions to onlookers (voting for ben's execution and then shoving the rifle out of the way). while i think you could reasonably read lottie crowning shauna as a partial move to save nat after she killed ben, this is also fucking confusing. on nat's side of things, this girl seemed to play to ben's advantage during the trial then turned around and voted against him then saved him then showed allegiance to shauna after specifically giving nat the leadership at the end of s2. like, jesus? what the fuck?

but what's so cool about s3 is that, yes, there is tension between them but there's also a lot of softness? by all metrics, nat should be as pissed off as travis toward lottie after she axes the frogger and tells everyone she's staying behind. by all metrics, lottie should be pissed off at nat for killing ben (who she had been putting so much energy into saving as the bridge). but neither of them really seem that angry with each other, besides a few sparks of frustration from natalie. even beside all that, she still turned around and tried to coax lottie to come back while everyone else called her crazy.

man, i don't know. there's just a lot of fun subtext to play around with in s3 wrt being connected, being betrayed, and feeling drawn to each other besides all that (nat turning around & lottie diverting the group when nat's pushed to the ground). imo it made the most sense for their dynamic, and while i would have liked more one-on-ones, i think it's true to form that they're just circling each other all season, some interesting glances and exchanges, but mostly just hesitant. & i also think it's true to the ways lottie doesn't seem able to share much of her interior with the others through s3.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Avatar (Love Interest) Fight: Kavik, Rangi, Katara, Asami (and why Rangi would win)

Based off Kyoshist's video. (and I know I went a tad ham in a comment thread of my own on the video, but I wanted to clearly and fully and long winded-ly explain my thoughts here)

Basically I wanna analyze who is most likely to win in this fight, and I'mma be honest. It's probably Rangi. Like other fights there's a lot of factors and it could go a few ways. But not here, I really think it's Rangi.

I'm not being biased, I love my girl but I don't think she's infallible. But in terms of what she's up against vs what we know of her skills, she has the best chance of winning. (mostly going to talk about key big feats of Katara/Kavik/Asami and then explain in detail how Rangi is a hard counter for either their best feats)

But let's define the setting from the video. (heavy spoilers for Kyoshi novels, light and nonspecific spoilers for the Yangchen Novels as best as I could, and spoilers for ATLA/LoK show and comics if applicable):

Fighters: Kavik, Rangi, Katara, and Asami.

Setting: Ba Sing Se (Lower Ring) (note, showing a different picture than what was in the video, note it's very cramped)

Things that are NOT specified: What time of day is it? Is it a full moon? Does Asami have her glove? What version of the characters are we looking at? Do they know they have to fight? What's the weather?

The picture shown of Ba Sing Se in the video was day time. So we'll assume that, which means no full moon. But I will consider the effects of the fight if there IS a full moon at the very end of this post.

We'll assume Asami has her glove, like she usually does. We'll assume "peak" for the characters that we know of. So S3+!Katara, LoY!Kavik, SoK!Rangi (pre-stab), S4+!Asami.

As for if all 4 know they have to fight each other? I'm assuming yes, it'd be weird if only 1-3 knew but the others didn't.

What's the weather? Picture showed a normal day (aka no rain).

(I'm in the middle of re-reading the comics so I might be spotty on using that info, I apologize in advance if I missed something TT0TT I'm mostly focusing on the base shows/novels)

_______

Trouble for the Waterbenders:

Ok, already starting off and it's not looking the best for our Waterbenders. Unlike the Avatar+their love interest duo fight (which was next to the ocean iirc), the WBs don't have unlimited access to water. Be it big body of water, or even plants to take from, it's the lower ring so it's probs pretty desolate.

(note that I'm making after writing all this: going back through ATLA, we know there's at least one fountain in the lower ring I believe? I think that's where Zuko is residing, and upon looking into an ep of LoK I did see a flowing river in the city somewhere. So they do have some vats of water but maybe not as much as the middle/upper rings)

I don't think it'd be an insta win for them even if they did (I have evidence hold on! it's in the bending prowess section), but this really puts them at a severe disadvantage. And they need all the help they can get.

If it's the day time, then they also have less of an advantage compared to Rangi. Not by much imo, but it's something to note. Not going to make it my center of my argument, but it should be stated.

Ok so the WBs are lacking water. We'll assume they can find it, but it's most likely not as abundant as they'd like. Plus Katara and Kavik now have to fight over the resource.

In terms of the better waterbender? It's Katara. In terms of the better physical fighter (hand to hand) (and also probably physically stronger maybe a dirtier fighter?)? It's Kavik. Who gets control of the water? I'm....thinking Katara, but I think she'll have to work for it considering his strength.

(Something about strength between waterbenders (because I find it hard to measure the strength of chars sometimes esp with how some of the franchise feels inconsistent). We see Katara wield a tidal wave against the Southern Raiders, not as big as what Kuruk does with his Avatar state (or what Roku does in base against his master), but still. Then Kavik is able to hold a giant blob of water in the air with an adult woman in it, for a long period of time. All while Yangchen heals them. And is able to wield a giant amount of water (enough to douse a giant warehouse fire and fight back against opponents). So maybe strength with bending vs strength with muscles isn't always connected, but I'm not sure. It should be noted tho. Anyway!)

Both have the ability to utilize their own body's sweat as a weapon. Kavik has also used his own spit in combat.

But there is a big disadvantage to all of this. If they have to resort to using their own bodily fluids in a fight, they probably aren't lasting long (you need your bodily fluids to survive!). It's a last resort sort of thing, and/or used more in espionage than hand to hand.

Combine this with Rangi and Asami, a bender that always has access to their bending, and a nonbender who doesn't need to worry about it. Rangi and Asami can just go on the attack while the there two have to worry about their element as well as sharing it.

Hand to Hand fighting:

That's fine! They can always fight hand to hand! Except....Kavik and Katara may be at a bit of a disadvantage still...

Kavik's noted to not be the best fighter, but he wins what he needs (that being said, he is still a fairly strong and capable wrestler). He's great at using his strength to scare off enemies (see warehouse and giant arm plank thingy). He does seem able to handle non-benders fairly well, esp if he has water, and lots of it, at his disposal (again see warehouse fight).

Katara's a great fighter, but it's her bending alone that carries her, not hand to hand. Her hand to hand isn't as up there like a Kyoshi Warrior, or a FN academy student, or Asami and her self defense.

If it came down to hand to hand between those two, I think Kavik is gonna win.

BUT, compare either of them to Asami and Rangi?

Asami has taken the best self-defense classes since she was young. And she's kind of insane. TT0TT She's able to disarm a grown ass man and use his own weapon against him. She's nimble, fast, and can dodge punches fairly easily and wait until she gets an opening to either disarm or use her glove. But the craziest thing is her flying scissor kicking (probs not the right name for it) a fucking guy on a motorcycle and flipping him off before landing easily (she flips over a speeding motorcycle that's coming at her... twice!). She has the damn strength to pull a metal bar (that's screwed on, I think it's "shoddy" but still) out of the wall, and can knock a grown man out with a single karate chop to the back of the head. Like I don't think she needs the glove, the glove just makes her that more dangerous.

Even if Kavik (it's just a wrap for Katar tbh) can overpower her with his strength. He'd probs have to grapple her. But that's assuming he can get his damn hands on her (she's very slippery). And if he can't, even without the glove she could probably knock him out.

(I wanna say Asami knows chi blocking, but I have to keep reminding myself Equalist!Asami sadly does not exist. I don't think she knows chi blocking, but that could've REALLY helped her in this fight...siiiigh girl go learn it please TT0TT Crossed out this section to indicate it's a side thought that has no bearing on the rest of this piece, but it should be noted)

The only one who can give each other a run for their money in hand to hand is Asami vs Rangi.

Rangi's a fucking psycho in her own right. Army brat, graduated school at the top of her class, and completed her military training early (plus most likely trained by Hei-Ran, one of the best firebenders the world had to offer at the time). I know I love to fling the nepo baby allegations around with her, but she has quite a pedigree in her own right that she earned. She is stated to be proficient in many weapons on top of hand to hand. (god help anyone here if she grabs a sword)

She trained Kyoshi, and the Kyoshi Warriors' combat is heavily based on her own fighting style (KW, iirc, only lost to one enemy and it was FN Academy students, aka their cousin school you could say). Tbh I wouldn't be surprised if the Dai Li also had some of her moves too because of the training they got from Kyoshi.

Her greatest feat was taking on a grown ass, mountain of a man, who was roughly twice her size. And she fucking just.......man-handled him. TT0TT She easily toyed with that motherfucker. He may not have been an uber elite trained guy, but he was a brawler (a killer too).

Like if the guy did land a clean punch, it'd knock someone out (we know because it did to Rangi). "Oh so she lost" no. She let herself get knocked out (she was making a point to Kyoshi). She woke up just in time to not die, and to snap his leg like a twig from the ground she was laying on.

"So she can't tank heavy hits." Haha. Yeah she can. We know she can tank heavy hits because of her fight in SoK with Koulin. Her, Koulin, and their superpowered not-fire punches. (we'll come back to that in the bending part)

Rangi is strong, she can dodge, and she can easily use her opponents weight against them. Kavik can probably outpower her (TOTALLY off topic, but not: would love to see these two in a giant table flipping contest....I think we would all enjoy it...esp YC and Kyo...Listen Rangi is STRONG but I dunno how strong compared to Kavik TT0TT so we need this for "science" I mean.... yes for science *cough*), but he won't be able to utilize that strength. Even if he does, she most likely can and will throw it back at him. If he grapples her...well..unlike Asami, she has bending. I can see her doing what he did to a man with his spit (she's burning his eyes or she's gonna superheat a limb I just know it, he's dropping her if he touches her).

Now her against Asami? I don't know. It feels like they have a similar fight style. Using the force of the opponent against them, or dodge until the right time to strike. Physical strength, Rangi probably hits harder (see Koulin fight), but both are scary strong because remember Asami just....pulls a metal bar out of a wall and flings a grown man around with her legs while he speeds towards her on a vehicle jadsfjal;f (note: judging by body type, Rangi is probably more buff and/or ripped than Asami, Rangi's body type is more similar to Korra, though she is probs around the same height or taller than Asami).

Now it could go either way imo. Rangi has a few tricks up her sleeve, she can use firebending, and not only in a way that will burn Asami (see Koulin fight), just that it'll make her hits that much harder and faster and more nimble. But, if Asami can tap her with the glove? 🤔Hmmmmm..... So about the glove....

Only Firebenders can do lightning redirection. Not that Rangi knows that, buuuuuut she has to have some resistance to it because she's a firebender. It's how they can survive lightning going through them like that, they are literally bending it through their bodies which is why other benders can't do that, ergo they are probably more naturally resistant. (this resistance is probs one reason Kyoshi was able to survive all those hits besides just the armor and where she got hit, and how Zuko took one to the chest while only partially/barely redirecting it.... Aang was stuck in the sky and got hit in a really bad place all without redirecting and/or him ignoring his firebending side may have been what killed him. So it may not do a LOT of heavy lifting, but it's still better than not having it like a non-firebender would).

Lightning is just super powered electricity. That glove pumps out electricity..... BUT it's probably not pushing out the same power as lightning tbh. Just enough to stun someone.

Basically, the glove won't kill but will knock you out. If Rangi naturally resists lightning, then it's possible it may not knock her out. BUT it's also possible that if she does get knocked out, she'll wake up fairly fast (she did that after getting clocked in the face with a fist the force of a truck).

(oh dunno where to put this cause I just realize: one thing that's interesting in how Rangi fights. Multiple times she'll feign leaving herself open. Only to for her to strike at her most deadliest or it just be part of her ploy: she lets the guy hit her on the Lei Tai and then she breaks his leg, she pretends to wobble with Koulin only to knock her tf out when Koulin charges, she takes her time inhaling when fighting Yun then unleashes hell itself on him...just.....hmmm... a tactic she could use against the others, hard to tell if your winning and should take the shot when it could just be a trap...just wanted to throw it out there for food for thought)

Terrain Advantage:

"I know you're going to say there's not a lot of water, but Katara spent a few days in Ba Sing Se so that says a lot more than the other characters! She's at least familiar with the city. The only other person maybe getting close is Asami but she spent most of her time in the upper ring!"

*laughs* Oh you sweet summer child. Rangi probably knows the most about the damn place:

Having a plan to take out Ba Sing Se probs means.....they know the layout fairly well. TT0TT

And this is BEFORE the FN went full imperialist (that stared over 200 years later with Sozin) ajlfklsdja So FN over here just Batman contingency planning the entire world for the love of the fucking game back then I guess jaksfdjal ("Maybe they were always planning" I don't think so tbh, but let's not get into that here, that's for a different post TT0TT)

And with what we know from ATLA to LoK (and even comments in the Kyoshi novels), is that Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom in general are the slowest to change. So even if we're looking at this being ATLA!Ba Sing Se, or even the one from LoK! Ba Sing Se is probs similar to what Rangi learnt in school. (plus I'm pretty sure that "plan" they mentioned is a reference to when Iroh tried to take over so....yeah...still a viable plan even Aang era years later)

Now the area is probably cramped. Asami is probs used to the tight spaces because she grew up/fought in the city. Katara can probs make due cause she's used to being on the run and thinking on her feet with the change of terrain. Kavik is accustomed to cities and keeping his head low, as well as fighting in them. Rangi is Rangi (she can probs fight in an area with 1000 sq ft or 10 sq ft).

We're assuming this place is crowded, but regardless if there's people in it or not, it's still a cramped area.

Kavik is probably the best at evading and having people lose his trail. He most likely is the one who can and should be able to get the drop on people.

Right?

Well, one slight issue. Kavik (and probably anyone else who attempts to cover his trail like him), have a weakness. The sky. "But there's no airbenders in this fight and no gliders." Well....Rangi.

She knows, no, INVENTED Jet-stepping. It allows her to stay in the air and even hop from rooftop to rooftop with ease. Yes she can't do it non-stop. But the rooftops in the lower ring are REALLY close together. So she'll probs be ok. And regardless, she has the best advantage. She has the aerial perspective and can easily get a drop on anyone.

And god help the poor bastard she gets the drop on. She can fall out of damn bison, and land a punch on the ground that shatters stone and leaves a hole where her fist is (her surprise attack on Yun). TT0TT RIP anyone's skull after that (and yes she WAS aiming for a skull when she did that).

So not only would it be hard to evade her, she could get the drop on anyone. AND the fact she's literally "an elite warrior trained in escape and evasion." If anyone needs to pull back and succeed? She's the one doing that. If anyone tries to hide or run? She's probably tracking them down. She knows the place better than anyone there, and can use it to it's full advantage.

tldr; Rangi has the best advantage with this terrain.

Surprise attacks:

Everyone benefits from a surprise attack on someone. Kavik and Rangi are the most likely to be the one's to pull it off. Asami both needs a surprise attack to make her fight easier, but she also needs to do it without revealing what her glove can do.

That being said, Rangi is....a tad weak to surprise attacks. Ok, to be FAIR, I'm pretty sure everyone on this list has been ambushed, followed, and had some kind of surprise attack on them (so no one is infallible here). But it feels like a running gag for Rangi so I wanna address it. TT0TT (it's important to address when it comes down to "who's able to sneak attack whomst" and their ability to do so)

That being said, there's context to each. The first time Tagaka laid a trap and lulled them into a fall sense of security (dumb move team TT0TT) and surprised them.

Then she's drugged from a distance (No one expects the Yuyan Archers and their darts! *looks at text* damn it doesn't allude to them? I though it did oh well, no one expect shirshu venom then!) with shirshu venom and captured. She was not aware of their presence (and if it IS Yuyan, then yeah....they should be in the FN TT0TT)

There's Kyoshi sinking her in the ground in SoK (divorce arc 2!!! *w*), Rangi can't really dig herself out in a timely manner. *cough* good thing she's not fighting any earthbenders here. >w>

Yun burrows and stabs her while she's in the air (she was IN the AIR, he basically air/water spouted his way up but with Earth, the hell is she suppose to consider that?! plus she was trying to watch Kyo's back, the damn distraction! TT0TT)

But that's the thing, it's all things she wouldn't expect: surprise ambush by waterbenders from below, darted by shirshu venom, her gf betraying her tiny trust ;w;, and an earthbender bending like a waterbender into the fucking air and at an insanely fast speed.

They were all scenarios where she was caught completely off guard. Either because the situation was non-combative when she was ambushed (venom/Kyoshi), OR the opponent pulled out a crazy ass move so fast she didn't have time to react. (note: Rangi can handle a burrower, she saved herself and Kyoshi from a shirshu, it's just the combo of her looking out for Kyoshi and Yun pulling out a new move that countered her jetstepping and did it so fast that pulled her up short)

Now remember when I said "does everyone know if they have to fight each other?" (which is also assuming they know what the other looks like for them to do that). Because they should, it doesn't make sense for only some to know and not others. And the reason I bring that up is because.....Rangi knows. She knows 3 other individuals are going to try to knock her out or kill her. She's on high alert. It's going to be A LOT harder for them to get the drop on her. It's very unlikely they can (she's probably going to go airborne and the rest of them won't be expecting it!)

Not impossible, but I don't see Kavik or Katara pulling out a Yun level surprise move (water spouts are high level but I think more commonly known, but not earth spouts, so Rangi would probs keep an eye out for that unlike with the Yun fight). Regardless, she doesn't have Kyoshi to look after, so she is probs just 100% focused on this whole thing (cause part of the reason Yun got her was because she took her attention away to warn Kyoshi of what she saw rather than react).

Anyway, back to Asami (to finish up the surprise section before going to the bending part). If she isn't careful, and lets the others see what her glove can do, she's in trouble. Benders have an advantage of distance. The second she realizes she can't close in, she's cooked. They will (and should) be keeping their distance from her.

So to summarize. Rangi is the most stealthy, followed by Kavik. With everyone knowing they have to fight each other, she'll be on high alert to anyone trying to ambush her. This is assuming any of them realize they should try to look topside for her. Otherwise, she'll probs just use her vantage point to locate and pick them off.

Bending Prowess (aka the section where Asami can sit and rest, RIP my girl u_u):

Katara and Rangi take the cake in terms of bending prowess.

Kavik is decent, proficient, and even knows some advanced and specialized moves. But his are mostly for spying and espionage (from what I remember, sorry baby boi ;w;), but it is still important to note. He's still strong (able to use his tentacles to pick up giant, multiple stacks of plywood and swing it around like a GIANT bat iirc). He can carry heavy amounts of water too, and can bend it even down to a very small particle (small droplets and such). He is at least crafty in what he does as he is strong. But as he says, he admits he can and will lose fights if he needs to (but he's also able to win fights but...we don't know the circumstances to all of that)

....I don't think he's winning against a better waterbender or a insane firebender (a firebender who probably has an ability to probs make him experience PTSD, Koulin fight yeah yeah I'm getting to it).

Both Katara and Rangi are prodigies in their own right. Masters of their elements even at young ages (tho I don't think Rangi is called a "master"? but when Roku graduated school he was considered a master of Fire, and Rangi graduated early so she is probs a master too, it's probs a prerequisite to graduate tbh). Both are sifus to the Avatar. Both have access to or created specialized bending moves in their field.

So in terms of bending, who wins? Katara or Rangi?

Rangi. It's Rangi. I'm sorry but she.....she's winning. "But-" no it's Rangi. "But Azula-" That's not how you spell Rangi. "But Azula is probably better than Rangi!" A potato and a tomato are not the same, that's not Rangi, next! "Silly, Rangi is not better than Azula." I didn't say she was. "But Katara beat Azula, so she should beat Rangi!" No, that's not how this works.

(something to remember, Katara wanted to fight a 2v1 against Azula, so she probs wasn't very confident in their chances against her. If she didn't have that one plan she thought up on the spot, she may not have won)

Katara was a hard counter to Azula, but Rangi is a hard counter to Katara (Azula obvie didn't know how to deal with that ice wall). Rangi does well against waterbenders (to note: Rangi does poorly against earthbenders, but they be playing some dirty tricks! D:< always using her biggest weakness, Kyoshi >_> Kyoshi was right, damn, Rangi would be invincible if not for her love for Kyo....which is why she got stabbed TT0TT)

"Katara was able to freeze Azula during Sozin's Comet! And this is Azula! A blue fire firebender, the hottest fire! Blue is hotter than white! So she's hotter than Rangi! (lol, wordplay). And it's Blue fire with a Comet buff!" Yeah, Azula couldn't combat that. Rangi could.

Rangi did it on a normal damn day, and it wasn't a small ice block like Katara bent, her ass got pulled down into a giant fucking iceberg! Yeah, that first time she got ambushed? Those bastards laid in wait to pull her ass into an iceberg (oh I know Kavik is getting flashbacks when he did something similar, how did they not freeze?! he almost did! don't worry baby boi I'm still wondering too, maybe we can figure it out together later u_u)

You wanna know what Rangi did? She and her mother (who had one not working arm, fyi Rangi just had cuts on her face), not only fought the waterbenders that took them under. The fought back, won, and firebent their way out while saving a chunk of their men. Then went on and kept fighting.

(Tbh, Rangi is probably the one who beat Tagaka. We know she had the power to knock the woman clean on her ass from a distance because she did. And if not her then she tag teamed with her mother. And no it wasn't a 2V1. It was 2vmultiple. They were facing a mini army of waterbenders WHILE fighting Tagaka, and must've won because they managed to captured her TT0TT And Tagaka was a pretty powerful waterbender too!).

Again, this was ALL ON A NORMAL FUCKING DAY! (see my Hei-Ran vs Atuat post for more :'D because I like talking about that feat they did)

So, Rangi was able to do all of that. On a normal day (aka no Sozin's Comet buff). With "weaker" firebending (based form orange-ish and not blue). In a GIANT LAND-SIZED ICEBERG (aka not a lil water wall). Surrounded by the enemy and their native element (aka why I think Kavik and Katara being near a body of water or rain wouldn't make THAT much of a difference, Rangi has proven to be able to withstand being smothered by a waterbender. See? I told you I'd get to this part! yeah yeah still need to talk about the Koulin fight).

Azula either slept through the class that taught you to be a fucking monster (I doubt it), or Rangi is just that fast on her damn feet (she is, she literally invented Jet-stepping on the fly, pun intended!).

I dunno if Rangi could beat Azula. Lightning bending is OP and hax back in the day/pre-LoK (even then it can still knock someone out). I don't even know if she could beat Xu (who is A LOT faster than Azula or Iroh with their lightning, at least pre-comics Azula I think?). But I do know she has a skill set that counters what Azula couldn't beat! :D

"So that's it? That's all you have to go on?" Well yeah, I think that's enough tbh. But if you want me to keep going I can. Remember the screenshot above? Preparedness carries the day? She probably knows a lot of waterbending moves. Like what to expect, maybe how they act. That kind of thing. She operates Kyoshi's flame like a waterbender in a fight against Yun (not the first time Kyoshi thought of Rangi having waterbending type movements). She also tries to teach Kyoshi airbending....she technically failed but this is more her having a vague understanding of it. I wouldn't be surprised if she knows that stuff so she knows what to expect when hit with it.

Airbending would probably be harder for her cause you can't see it, and thus she'll have a harder time dodging....But she's not fighting an airbender. She's fighting two waterbenders (a bending type she seems comfortable against) and a non-bender (and Rangi's proven she can throw hands just fine without her element). In a terrain she is familiar with. With abilities that give her a lot of different upper hands.

Other (insane) abilities of Rangi (just to finish this off):

The fastest person there. No she really is. Powered by gay and fury. And that's without a fire boost! She literally Rocket Powered Naruto Runs in the FN palace at one point. (the only person that could keep up is Katara but she needs water, and even then Katara could just barely outpace Azula during the comet and that might've just been luck. Because in older fights Katara can barely/doesn't keep up with Mai/Ty Lee in fights)

Might have mentioned it above, but I'll repeat it. She is QUICK on her feet. She reacts to openings quickly. She thinks of things quickly! She notices things quickly!

Again, her flying. No one is catching her ass if she decides to run and regroup. TT0TT

Combustion punching. Oh yeah. This. This is the punching that she and Koulin do when they fight. This apparently normal in the after hours of the academy for midnight brawls (not horrifying at all :D). It's not combustion bending per se (doesn't go a distance), but it deals a combustive blow when it lands on impact. (probably the punch she aimed at Yun's head when she fell from the ground tbh, mixed with actual flame). It deals heavy damage, she can take it, and just seeing her whip this out is grounds to probs scare Kavik (IYKYK).

She as access to the uber white flame. No her base fire isn't white, but after 3 breathes she can unleash it. Remember how big the flames got for firebenders during Sozin's Comet? Specifically during the last Agni Kai w/Azula vs Zuko? Yeah that's Rangi's special move, but white flames instead of blue or orange (more powerful than orange, but not as strong as blue). It's literally hell incarnate. It disintegrates anything that it touches, and it is BIG and it goes FAR.

She can both take potshots at someone while being in the air (she can't stay in the air forever, but it still an option).

Not insane, but she probably has a lot of knowledge on waterbenders. Just from being around Kirima and Atuat (and maybe what her mother may have told her/learnt from Kuruk, since his team seemed to be keen on sharing between bending arts). She knows just how deadly and accurate Kirima is capable of (even being able to walk on mist!) And then she probably watched how Atuat was able to preform miracles on her mother and train the Avatar in a month.

Tldr; Rangi is a force of nature and a terrifying opponent, let alone her being pissed off when fighting too. She has her weaknesses, but none of the opponents are ones that can exploit it.

This is why I think Rangi would win. Katara is her biggest issue, but I think she could beat her. Kavik and Asami would still put up a good fight, but they'd probs get overpowered. u_u

"Ok but Silly, you didn't talk about Katara's healing! Or plant bending or-" It either won't be much help in a quick combat scenario (healing), or it's not applicable or useable (bloodbending/plantbending). I can see Katara stealing water from produce in the market square. But there's not a lot of plants in the lower ring from the looks of it to utilize plant bending. Rangi might not give her a chance to heal, and I don't think she can heal herself that fast....and healing won't work out much if you are knocked out TT0TT (I'll talk about bloodbending down below).

"Ok, so what would need to happen for her to lose?"

The person who can best surprise attack her and have her stay down is Asami, there's still a good chance that glove will knock her out. But that doesn't mean she can't get back up (same for the other's, but one combustive punch to the head will knock you out cold or kill you tbh).

I mean, Lao Ge is right, a rock to the head can work wonders for knocking one out or killing them. Same can probs go for ice too. Or loading up a waterwhip with a rock inside it.

But this assuming they can get the drop on her or hit her with a good windup.

They could gang up on her. The only issue is HOW and WHY? Did she prove she's the biggest threat? I feel like she would be a lot stealthier than that (she's proven to be able to stealthy while infiltrating a prison and that probs meant fighting too all while being fairly quick an efficient, from what we gather from when she broke into a prison). If anyone is going to take someone out silently and cleanly it'll be her. She's more likely to silently pick them apart, and she has the skill set.

The only way this works is if they get information ahead of time to team up against her, or she's unaware that she's in a battle royal (which makes no sense).

I think the key for a team up is if Katara and Kavik somehow overcome the urge to steal their resource and decide to share it. (cooperation is what Watertribe/waterbenders do best). But.....I can also easily see them not trusting the other and thus not fighting side by side. And even if they team up, again, Rangi fought off an mini army of daofei waterbenders and Tagaka on a damn iceberg surrounded by water/ice and apparently won. I think she can handle a 2v1 waterVfire TT0TT (girl ain't normal I swear)

The only way I see a realistic way of her losing is with Katara, specifically:

Bloodbending. Katara can win if she bloodbends. Now some issues: 1) No full moon here, 2) does she even want to do that (she's uncomfy with it from what I remember except for revenge/survival, but let's pretend she's down for it), 3) non-waterbenders can still resist bloodbending if they are determined enough (ex: Mako against Amon, probably the better bloodbender).

But, bloodbending is not an insta win. 1) there may be a range (aka they can stay out of her range), 2) Asami knows about bloodbending (maybe it's common knowledge about Katara or Korra told her, but she also knows about it because of Amon and Tarrlok). So if she can convince Kavik and Rangi to help take her out it might prove that it's more of a giant target she put on her back.

Kavik and Rangi can easily still hit her outside the range. And maybe they can distract her long enough for Asami to attempt a sneak attack (or at least the attempt will distract her before she gets blasted). But then with Katara taken out, they realize very quickly they have to fight Rangi and rip. u_u

Maybe Rangi backs off and lets them duke it out amongst themselves (let them have some spotlight, plus I'd like to see Kavik vs Asami. I can see him doing his evade maneuver and then surprise attacking her. Or she bodies him in a hand to hand fight).

But...uhh....yeah. Anyway, this is why I think Rangi would win considering the setting (and what we know of it), the people involved, and the abilities of everyone there (that can be utilized). (Katara is a close second after Rangi I think tho).

[the-hopeful-squid]

SG S3 Crack Fics-its

A hastily thrown together*, 1-2 episode long crack-y fix-it* for S3:

--

During the rebellion: -> No one has been paying attention to boats/checking in with Caption Park, as they are too focused on watching/quelling the rebellion. -> Unfortunate for them, given that Junho and Wooseok finally figured out Captain Park was a traitor that same night, made him show them where the island was, and just arrived to fuck shit up... approximately 2 seconds after S2 ends.

And thus, Inho's life swings from the cusp of certain victory to utter chaos in the span of about 5 seconds.

Noeul hears the sounds of Junho + Wooseok's arrival: -> In a moment of panic she goes from half-assed traitor to whole-ass rebel, as she turns on her fellow nearby guards and shoots them before they have a chance to figure out what's going on. -> No cameras - lucky for her, Hyunju already shot out all the cameras in the area! -> She only shot Gyeongseok in the shoulder, so he is still alive and able to walk/carry a gun (with help). -> Noeul helps him up, confirms that she's changing sides, and helps him limp back to the dorms to inform the remaining players that the rebellion is back on - with outside help this time! -> None of the guards sent to suppress any further player rebellion in the dorms are expecting to be attacked from behind by Noeul + Gyeongseok. When Hyunju picks her gun back up and joins back in, the guards don't stand a chance. -> Again, Hyunju's sharpshooting and tactical foresight means there is a convenient lack of cameras to show any of this to the square guard managers monintoring things from the control room. -> Rebellion: Take 2 is a go...

Meanwhile, with Inho and Gihun: -> Gihun hears the sound of the island being infiltrated, realizes his backup on the outside might have finally arrived, and lunges to attack the Frontman. A guard clubs him with a gun and knocks him out for now. -> Inho panics and demands that Gihun be taken to his quarters. The Masked Officer argues to just kill Gihun and remove him as a potential threat instead. Inho did not do All That just to kill Gihun now. When the Masked Officer gets aggressive in his objections, Inho panics and shoots him. After that, the remaining pink guards follow orders and take Gihun to Inho's private rooms. -> Gihun wakes up to find himself alone with the Frontman in the Frontman's private rooms. -> Inho is still panicking. Things were going so well for him, and now absolutely nothing is going to plan??? He is Not Okay. -> They fight, Gihun manages to grab Inho's gun, and Inho removes his mask in the hope that Gihun's shock/devastation will give him a chance to recover/regain the upper hand. -> Instead, Gihun is even angrier to discover 'Youngil's' betrayal, aims the gun at his head, and pulls the trigger... only for them both to discover that Inho used his last bullet shooting the Masked Officer. -> Inho's panic is momentarily replaced by shock that Gihun actually tried to shoot his good friend 'Youngil.' Gihun takes advantage of his shock, throws the gun at him, and punches him in the face instead.

Back with the other players: -> Rebellion: Take 2 succeeds, not least because Noeul can guide the players to an exit with boats that was originally designed for evacuation of island personnel in the event of some emergency. Now it gets to be used to evacuate surviving players! -> A few remaining players try to stop Rebellion, Take 2 from happening. Without Gihun around to say no, those players are stopped with the use of lethal force. Poor them. -> A few other still surviving players stay behind from the mass escape in an ill-advised attempt to climb up to the piggy bank and grab the money in it before escaping. Player 100 and Mr. Bitcoin are among this group. Poor them. They don't make it out. -> The rest of the surviving players follow Noeul, Gyeongseok, Hyunju, and the others who grabbed up guns and joined them for Rebellion: Take 2. (Not everyone grabs a gun, but they all escape as a group this time.) -> Most of the surviving players are evacuated in the boats Noeul lead them to. Noeul, Hyunju, and a few others stay behind to find and meet up with Gihun's outside team and rescue Gihun.

Things continue to spiral out of control for Inho/the games: -> Junho and the mercenary team meet up with Noeul/Hyunju and their team, and they make their way up to Inho's rooms to rescue Gihun (and, in Junho's case, do his best to rescue Inho as well). -> Inho doesn't want to be 'rescued.' Unfortunately for him, Junho foresaw this possibility and brought his own tranquilizers on this venture. Inho did not foresee that. -> After Gihun is rescued and Inho incapacitated, Junho breaks off to exit through the secret escape tunnel full of explosives. -> The rest of the team escapes back outside, to meet up with Wooseok who is waiting on Captain Park's boat. Gihun agrees, begrudgingly, to take Inho's knocked out ass with them. -> As they are sail away on Captain Park's boat, the island explodes behind them. -> A bit later, they meet up with Junho - who used the diving gear at the base of the tunnel to escape to the same island he swam to in S1, after setting off the explosives to destroy the island.

Everyone lives!

Hooray!

Roll credits.

A few other fluffy fix-it details: -> Geumja and Yongsik adopt Hyunju as part of their family. Hyunju and Yongsik eventually get together. Instead of losing a son in the games, Geumja gains a daughter. -> Junhee has her baby on the boat back to Seoul. She and Daeho wind up dating and raise the baby together. They are also adopted as family by Geumja. -> Gyeongseok gets the money to pay for his daughter's treatments from Gihun, and his daughter survives.

--

*I make zero claims as to the writing or storytelling quality of this fix-it. It exists solely to bring me joy, and to perhaps inspire others in their own fix-it ideas. (Though to be clear: the title of this post is a pun, not a typo.)

*This post is titled 'fics-its,' plural, for a reason. I fully encourage anyone and everyone to share and add on your own fix-it ideas. Only one rule: make it silly, make it happy, make it hopeful. :)

[generalluxun]

So as we both know this show has a few strengths and some flaws and even though the fanbase can blow the flaws out of proportion or can somehow glaze the flaws and strengths, I want to ask according to you what are the strengths and flaws of miraculous in your own pov.

ML has a solid concept. It has a broad stable of characters. It had some great interconnectivity established early on.

It's flaws? It's piddled away so much of that.

They've proven desperately insecure in their world building. They hyper-detail and retcon to remove any 'flaws'... But all that does is draw attention to the flaws, legitimize them, and often open up new flaws. When you write with the intent of justification of a mistake, it never works out.

They didn't prioritize and take advantage of their stable of characters enough. It's a strange sort of paradox that most of the cast is both simultaneously over and under exposed.

With this many characters the natural progression would have been to expand from partnership to sentai to team. It looked like that was how it would go, as of S2. You had the trio joined by 3 more. (Much)Later on you could add the rest of the roster.

The important element here is focus and priority.

As a pair Mari&Adrien should have been the PoV with greatest importance.

Then when you added the other three their stories should have gained a parity with the original two. Maybe not exactly as much, but at a tier well above the rest of the cast.

And then only later do you bring others up.

Instead the show sticks like glue to Marinette to both her detriment and that of the others. The 'one and done' S3-4 heroes did so little gor their own characters, yet ate a lot of time too. The jam was spread so thin it had no flavor.

If we hadn't tried to hero up everyone so fast we could have had their civilian sides being intro'd while the sentai did hero stuff, allowing both introduction and dynamic development to happen at the same time.

I will say that S6 has (finally) gotten some better side-character focused stuff, and that is a huge improvement.

I would almost love a reboot just to see what this new approach could do from the beginning.

[raptorladylover6969]

One thing I absolutely need from Chaos Theory s3 (or potential future seasons) is for the writers to really zero in on the Atrociraptors themselves, and their relationships with Soyona and The Handler, because based on what we so far have seen in the show, both The Handler and Soyona see and treat the raptors completely differently. Soyona views herself as their “alpha”, the one who controls them, meanwhile The Handler views herself as one of them, a raptor essentially.

But I also feel like the idea of that could also help shed light on and build Soyona and The Handler’s entire dynamic as a whole. If Soyona were to see herself as the alpha of the raptor pack, and The Handler, herself as part of it, would she treat The Handler the same way she treats the raptors? To control her as she does the raptors? Use and take advantage of her as a weapon for her own benefit, like she does with the raptors? Show little to no appreciation/praise for her, like she does with the raptors? Would The Handler, like the raptors, do whatever she says without hesitation, simply over the fact Soyona has her wrapped around her finger? Could The Handler potentially be brainwashed by Soyona into thinking her entire life revolves around Soyona? Soyona does think in some way that she is better than The Handler, telling Brooklynn her laser method is so much better than The Handler’s whistle method.

From what we’ve known and seen, The Handler works directly under Soyona, but also clearly has higher benefits, and might be much more closer to her than we presume, her “right hand girl.” From what I’ve witnessed while doing some annotations, when Jensen receives any information, he gives it directly to The Handler, then The Handler gives that information to Soyona, rather than Jensen giving it straight to Soyona. Does this potentially go for everyone apart of it? All the info goes to The Handler, who acts as a messenger, and delivers to Soyona?

And just how is it that Soyona hasn’t shown any reaction to the fact that Brooklynn, or the Camp Fam is still alive? Some off-screen stuff may have happened presumably. Maybe those scenes of her texting on her phone is just her angrily texting The Handler. Yet when Captain Lang told Soyona about letting the Camp Fam go, and losing the eggs for quite a bit, she was CLEARLY furious, and ended his life. She could just be really good at hiding her anger, but like, you would think she’d be a little salty about the fact the Camp Fam was still alive and in Senegal. You’d expect her to make a few remarks about The Handler being absolute ass at her job, yet she doesnt even bring her up once other than the whole whistle thing???? Like I said, possible offscreen stuff happened, and I earn to see said offscreen stuff in this exact context.

Please season 3, dont disappoint. 🙏🙏🙏