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kiwi-smug-silvalina · 3 months ago

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Okay, hopefully an ask should work lmao

This contains three sections: a short-ish summary of kantje's pov of Showtime, four short examples you can watch to get quickly the vibe, and a little write-up of facts about Onion. Appologies for any writing mistakes. Note that the plot summary is only focused on the his main storyline, and it leaves out/glosses over some interesting sideplots.

Feel free to ask questions, or request more info/moments to watch :D

Plot of kantje's story

After arriving to the server, kantje’s (he/him, name always lowercase) main goal was getting his kidnapped daughter named Onion (she/her) back. At the same time, he made sure to help out everyone around him, be kind, and make the server a better place. He was always willing to talk to his friends about their joys and problems, and he was proactive in solving server-wide conflicts through diplomatic, non-violent means (eg. he held a petition for a dictator to step down, he ran for mayor, etc.).

He was beloved for his outgoingness, friendliness and helpfulness, though he was also known for his great business skills (at times going into slightly scammy territory), and his tendency to self promote. He was composed and good with words, which is not to say he wasn’t an emotional person: over the course of the story there were many times where he yelled and/or cried.

His first step in his goal was trying to figure out *who* kidnapped Onion. All he knew was that it was someone who wears purple, since he heard Onion yell out a rough description of the person. He decided he needs to create a big distraction, so he built a casino with his friend Effy (any pronouns). While the whole server gathered for the casino’s grand opening, he had Effy search the house of every person who wears purple. Effy founds nothing.

This left him with only one purple-wearing culprit: God of the server, ZolisterTV (note: this is a different character than Zolister [without TV], who’s a human. Both use any pronouns). kantje summoned ZolisterTV, who told him that the reason He took his daughter was to entertain The Audience. He considers kantje His favourite "play-thing", a main character for the server's story. kantje didn’t understand what He meant by that, but over time he figured it out.

One day, Effy managed to get an interdimensional portal to work. kantje traveled through it, and after going on a grueling adventure, he acquired two magical items: 1) unremovable armour, which when worn causes you to pursue your primary goal no matter the cost, throwing away your morality, 2) a disc that can grant you any wish from the god that you are a patron of, provided that certain conditions are met. kantje’s patron god is ZolisterTV.

During his trip he also met The Pariah (it/its), guardian of the dimensions, who told him exactly what ZolisterTV wants kantje to do in order for Him to give Onion back: he needs to put on a great show for The Audience by creating a Catastrophy, then a Tragedy, then a Betrayal, and lastly he needs to activate the disc by taking one life of someone who’s a patron of ZolisterTV (note: most characters have five lives). kantje is reluctant to go through with this, since it would involve hurting people.

However, Mugm's (he/him) and Silvasaur’s (he/they, I think) dad Cupid (he/star/spark) got killed, and the two brothers took the disc from kantje hoping to revive Cupid. kantje’s friend Effy was involved, and kantje was crushed by this, desparate enough to put on the magic armour. Gone is the kindness he used to be known for, his morals out of the window. The fact that he's ZolisterTV's favourite gets to his head, and he embraces his role as the "main character".

What follows was him orchestrating the Catastophy, Tragedy and Betrayal. I can go in detail about what happens if you’d like, the events were very interesting and iconic, but essentially it involved killing, manipulating, holding people hostage, erasing people’s memories, and emotional torment.

Through careful planing, the good reputation he built up remained untouched until almost the very end, when he nearly completed the mission. However, Rin (she/they) and Effy, his friends who were horrified by what became of him, revealed all of his actions to the server. Te people decided to inprison him. While he was in prison, Winsweep (he/him) took revenge on him by erasing *all* of his memories. As he slowly regained his memories back, his friends figured out how to remove the magic armour.

Finally it was time to use the disc. There were two choices: bring back Onion, or bring back Cupid. kantje, who had his kindness back after the armour was removed, chose to bring back Cupid. He thought Mugm and Silvasaur deserved to have their dad back after all that kantje put them through, and that he’ll find another way to get Onion back. Cupid reunited with star’s sons, but since star is the self-sacrifical type, star stated that star wishes for Onion to be back instead.

kantje finally had Onion back, and the reunion was joyous. However, kantje was crushed by the guilt of what he did to everyone, and decided that he needs time to reflect, and that the people deserve a chance to heal without him present. Knowing that Onion is safe and in the good hands of his friends, decided to leave for a little while. He gave as many people as possible proper goodbyes and apologies, and then traveled to another dimension.

This is where we have currently left off in kantje’s story, though we can see Onion through Vi’s (he/neos) pov, as he works hard along with kantje’s other friends to keep her safe from the various malicious actors on the server, like Winsweep.

Short but impactful moments

kantje and Onion’s backstory (2:11 long clip)

kantje snaps at God, and begs her to bring Onion back (43:38-45:38)

kantje under the influence of the armour (1:24:00-1:26:18)

kantje is reunited with Onion (2:03:55-2:09:45)

Some facts about Onion

As of right now, she is six-years-old. At the start she was five.

She’s quite shaken by the fact that she was kidnapped, but she’s still a playfull kid.

She gave kantje his scarf, and her favourite disc is Otherside, so these two things are very important to kantje.

She communicates by making the allay noise, which transmits words into the minds of the people she’s talking to. She speaks Dutch (kantje is from the Netherlands), and she’s learning English.

She doesn’t quite understand gender properly. (She also might be genderfluid, but don’t quote me on that, I might be misremembering.)

She’s adopted, and she isn’t the first child kantje adopted. His first child, Niko, is now an adult, and he turned out to be a horrible person (/rp). He is only briefly relevant to Showtime SMP.

Posting this so others can use it as well, im still very thankfull for this nice summary when i was making the web weave

#ask ask #<33 #kantje #Onion #Web weave #Showtime smp

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makeste · 4 years ago

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Hawks: Endeavor-san saved me! / Me: He arrested your jerk parent which led to your homelessness, dashing any hopes your mom who you labeled as a safe parent simply by being slightly less bad bc plushie actually being nice to you now that "that man" was gone and doing the right thing when she repeats his words back at you and which then led to you getting taken in by the government and nearly burnt to death by Endeavor's son, but sure let's call it that.

I don’t think anyone is labeling Endeavor as Hawks’s knight in shining armor here, but yes the fact of the matter is that he did have a profound impact on his life, even if most of that impact was indirect. he was a symbol of hope and comfort and inspiration for him, even if the actual man turned out to be quite different from the image that Baby Hawks built up in his mind. I don’t know why it’s such a taboo to acknowledge that even bad people can still sometimes do things that have a positive impact on others. the world is nuanced like that.

on the other hand, I do agree that one of the most compelling things about Hawks’s story is the fact that he really ends up having to be his own hero for the majority of it. there is no one else there for him, no one to take care of him or come to his rescue. so in the end, he’s the one who ends up having to save himself. but because he’s only a child, and he’s lonely and afraid, he sort of invents this guardian angel figure to give him courage, even though he thinks he’s only make-believe at first. the person might be make-believe, but the feeling of comfort that Keigo gets from him is still very real. and so he can be a little bit braver because he has his friendly hero plushie by his side. he can keep going a little bit longer because he has that small source of reassurance, even though it’s hardly anything at all. it’s the littlest thing, but when you have nothing, even small things can sometimes make all the difference in the world.

but in the end, all of that courage and resilience is really coming from within Hawks himself, which is what I find so extraordinary about him. somehow he still has the capacity for empathy and humor and compassion all without having ever experienced any of those things while growing up. all of it is completely internal. he has some well of strength within him that he was able to draw from even as a little child who had never been shown any kind of love himself. he still cares about others and wants to help people. and there was never any external guidance for him, or any kind of example for him to follow. it was all him. and that is just incredible to me.

anyway. basically there’s just so much good in him and I can’t get over it. I completely lost my original train of thought for this ask lol. basically, Hawks. you are worthy, buddy. you are worthy as fuck. and while I think he deserves all the credit in the world (which he’d never give himself), if he himself feels like he wants to give some of that to Endeavor, whether it’s for arresting his father, or simply for being a shoddy enough hero that he was in the discount bin, and thus wound up being the imaginary father figure that a very young child projected all of his trust and admiration onto because he had nowhere else to turn -- well then, that is absolutely no one else’s business but Hawks’s. end of story.

#bnha 299 #takami keigo #hawks (bnha)#endeavor #bnha meta #hawks meta #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #asks #anon asks

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mintdrop · 4 years ago

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Meet Nanami. A shy, selectively mute “witch” who spends most of her time tending to plants and making herbal medicines. She has a fascination with the ocean and occasionally daydreams about what it would be like to explore the waters. More info under the cut!

Basic Info

Real Name: Nanami Nami Age: 26 as of SHB Race: Dunesfolk Lalafell Sexuality: Bisexual Guardian Deity: Nophica, the Matron Main classes: WHM, SMN (purely for her familiar) DOL/DOH: BTN, ALC, a dream of being FSH Voice Claim: Nao Tōyama (Reina Prowler in Macross Delta, Chitose from Nisekoi, Lyria from Granblue Fantasy)

Personality

MBTI: ISFP Enneagram: Type 9 Wing 1 (The Dreamer) Temperament: Phlegmatic Alignment: Neutral Good

Nanami is soft; marshmallow soft. Introverted to the nth degree, she has no real experience in dealing with other people outside of those who have run a select few shops that she's patroned for years - and even then, she can't meet their eyes. She suffers from selective mutism, meaning words are few and far between in regards to anyone but herself for the most part. However, with enough time and trust, it's possible that you might hear an answer or two rather than see it with your eyes.

Because she knows that she can't function through life (alone or otherwise) without "speaking", Nanami is able to combine her magic with her aether to speak by drawing or writing in the air - she often chooses drawing, as it allows for quicker responses.

When observed from afar, Nanami's true character can be seen; gentle, and extremely caring of those around her. She handles plants and flowers as though they're her family, and more often than not will she end up somewhat red-eyed and sniffly when using a plant for herbal medicines.

Backstory

An orphan from birth, Nanami has lived her life in self-inflicted isolation. The other children of the orphanage were never very kind to her, given that she couldn't speak, was more interested in the weeds growing from the ground than the game they were playing, and often felt sick when in the sun. Of course, children can be cruel, and it would be a lie to say if she wasn't bullied because of it; this only led her to isolate herself more in the long run.

It was discovered at a young age that she was proficient in white magics, and thus spent a long amount of time training under E-Sumi-Yan to hone her skills; thanks to this, he is one of few people who Nanami is able to speak to normally, though only when nobody else is around. She now uses these magics in conjuncture with her "witch magic" to produce various potions and medicines to sell for income.

Nanami lives far within the woods of the Black Shroud, in a small cottage that she had built by herself. When adventurers, wounded or otherwise, would come seeking shelter and aid, she would offer it under few conditions; one, that they understand she would only be around them to administer care and meals. Two, that before they left, they repair a part of her cottage that was in disarray, as her own craftsmanship was fairly shoddy. Thanks to this, her cottage is much more stable than when it had been made.

Stats

Strength: 3/10 Offense: 5/10 Defense: 7/10 Speed: 4/10 Durability: 6/10 Accuracy: 5/10 Agility: 4/10 Stamina: 3/10 Teamwork: 9/10 Stealth: 2/10 Magic: 10/10 Healing: 10/10

Nanami is a healer in all forms of the word; from healing magics to shielding magics, and even homemade potions, she functions as a pure supportive role in the heat of battle. Of course, she'd very much prefer not to fight at all if possible, but she's well aware that that simply isn't the case in this world.

Because she often gets uncomfortable in the sun, Nanami is never found without a massively large hat to mitigate the effects - leading to a hard drop in combative accuracy, as the rim of the hat will often block the far off view. Her close combat skills are basically nonexistent, which can sometimes lead to her being more of a liability if she's unable to protect herself in time. To say she fears these scenarios more than death would be an understatement.

Other headcanons

Could probably sing fairly well if she didn’t suffer from psychological issues.

Has a floating ferret familiar named Ren and a fat cat named Mr. Pibbles.

Has a love/hate relationship with spring - she loves seeing the plants flourish, but hates the allergies that come with them.

Paints as a hobby, but she hides all her artwork in a loose floorboard because she’s embarrassed about it.

Somewhat good at figuring things out on the fly, but her anxiety leads her to second guessing herself almost instantly.

She loves fruits in all forms, especially in drinks.

Fell in love with the ocean after visiting Costa Del Sol once with the orphanage - she wants to visit again, especially on a clear night.

Blind as a bat; she can’t even find her glasses in the morning after waking up - Ren has to put them on his back and bring them to her.

She knows sign language! She just doesn’t use it often because her art conveys things easier to those who don’t.

Aesthetics

Scents: Baked apples, cinnamon, flower shops, rose water Colors: Grayscale, dark purples and reds Animals: Deer, crows, squirrels Clothing: Long dresses, cloaks, large hats, circle frames, long sleeves, layered shirts, long socks Others: Autumn leaves crunching underfoot, candlelight, the faint sounds of a piano from another room, bird calls, whispers

Mun Notes

First and foremost, I want to say that selective mutism isn’t choosing to be mute - honestly, the term is very poorly named, imo. The link the phrase directs to has a few examples that accurately describe Nanami’s condition:

Twenty-six-year-old Hannah is only able to speak with her parents. In other situations like school, where she’s interacting with a larger group of people who she is less familiar with, her words get stuck, and even though she wants to speak, nothing comes out.

For interactions with Nanami, I know it’s hard to portray her when she’s unable to speak, so people are free to have her talk in sets. But she’s very quiet/soft, and pauses a lot. Ellipses are her best friend tbh.

Her design uses a custom face dds that I edited from Mint’s that I don’t mind giving to people who want to pose her if they ask ;w;

#ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #lalafell #// nanami #thank you kiwi for letting me word vomit into your DMs about her and use this character layout aiheksjbfsd #she's been an oc for like.. a month or two but i felt like i neglected my other OCs too much and didn't want to introduce her #but now [jazz hands] fuck that! here is my second daughter

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indigosprite · 4 years ago

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In another ask, you shared your thoughts on why you didn’t like 6996 etc. do you think 2795 share the same problem? I think while Tsuna and Kyoko doesn’t seem as weird as 6996 on the surface upon further speculation and reading works where Kyoko becomes this bamf vongola tenth wife who does anything for Tsuna, it sort of treads the same vibe as Chrome and Mukuro in some way. Idk I just want to hear your thoughts on maybe 2795 and maybe 2786 as well.

Hi hi

Had to search these because I literally did not have any ships for this show until I rewatched it and just merged my favorite characters into one pair that happened to be a ship. I forget the others exist...With that being said, take this with a grain of salt because I honestly don’t even think about these ships a lot, forget they even exist. How KHR was written will always make the the very idea of Tsuna with any of the female characters feel weird or odd unless you’ve managed to read or create enough Fanon that changes your characterization of the original dynamic. I don’t think they share the same problem but maybe a similar one ? Tsuna and any female character compared to Mukuro and Chrome is very different in my opinion. (funnily enough it’s also because Mukuro isn’t a misogynist shsjsjsj) 6996 could work, they actually have a relationship that’s very personal to both parties and unlike 2795 they’re both aware of it and have a distinct unique connection with each other that consists of shared interests trust and mutual respect. it’s just odd to think about because chrome looks up to Mukuro and the power imbalance feels weird, he’s literally keeping her alive. (Which I know is disgustingly sweet I find it very heartwarming. )

2795 is this one sided crush with zero redeeming qualities. There was nothing remotely romantic or intriguing happening between Tsuna and Kyoko the entire series. If we took out Tsuna’s inner thoughts we honestly would’ve thought she was just this nice girl he knows from school. If we took out Tsuna’s thoughts in general and left it up to the fandom pulling this ship out of their butts it would honestly be 1000% cuter. All their interactions read like

“this girl is so lovely I really like her and she’s talking to me that’s amazing”

“Thanks for the pencil. Do your best on the test okay?”

I’m not swooning over the most lackluster interactions on the planet because he is over romanticizing it. Even the reason why he likes her is not that interesting or convincing. Which I mean I get it he’s only 14 he’s not thinking about all the small stuff like emotional support or validation or like not wanting to be alone etc. It’s still just you’re pretty let’s be happy all the time while you hold my hand forever. He deserves that he’s literally a kid. but even when i was younger i didn’t see it between them ever. On top of their interactions being boring they never give us things that make you go “oh wait she might actually like him hmmm” . they could have tried a little harder to make it a little more romantic? sometimes they show us Kyoko in a pink background hands clasped surrounded by hearts and I forget she’s supposed to be viewed in that light. I forget we’re supposed to actually consider her liking him too but what are we supposed to think Kyoko is looking for in a guy that makes Tsuna a possibility when she doesn't exist past eating cake and worrying about her brother and Tsuna. I think it’s also fair to note that they never imply that Tsuna actually thinks about her beyond his image of her but we see how caring he is with his friends to the point where he can point out their flaws and work through them anyways and accept them. Tsuna realizing Yamamoto was not himself during the Guardians trial is a perfect example of this, it establishes the relationship they built with one another. another example is Tsuna acknowledging that Gokudera is overwhelming and short tempered but he wouldn’t trade the guy for anyone because he is loyal and a good friend. he cares for Kyoko as a person in general but he never reaches that depth when it comes to her. he doesn’t have to either because it’s just a crush, how you manage to take that through the next ten years of his life I honestly don’t know.

TL;DR : My ONLY problem with 2795 is the fact that there is nothing to work off of but the implication that Tsuna likes this girl and that’s why they are endgame. she matters very little, just a figurehead of his normalcy. she’s written just as badly in fics, can I blame you? no you were probably like 14 writing them. do a lot of people still do this ? yeah so i’m just not interested until the fanon has changed her character for everyone.

I know I sound super hypocritical because “Sprite what the fuck does 6918 have that’s soooo intriguing they actually canonically hate each other how is that any better.” the answer: Mukuro and Hibari have a more established relationship with mutual feelings than those two, even better they’re actually really strong feelings (of pure hatred). Bonus, despite being aloof both characters also have fully developed personalities and Opinions/Behaviors that we can mold however we please. they actually have a relationship to play around with that's what makes it fun and lets you have those “actually they’re pretty similar in this aspect” because you know shit about both of them individually.

Now for 2786,,, as i sit here and think about it Haru and Tsuna make so much more sense for all the reasons him and kyoko don’t .

Kyoko and Haru were already made solely to be Tsuna’s love interests (specifically Kyoko) , but then it went on to be something they didn’t even bother hiding when they reduced their characters and their interests to looking after kids and repeatedly worrying over Tsuna. The reason I don’t find it appealing is because there really wasn’t any dynamic there at all. This boy liked this girl and that’s literally all it was. She has no depth , and despite being written for him nothing about Kyoko screams you’re perfect for this kid. Nothing says, You’re compatible, You have common interests, you two can rely on each other. She was pretty and nice and polite and that’s all they shared along with half the cast. With Haru they went the completely opposite direction, this girl likes him and is upfront about it. she's not a better candidate just because she's not the typical pretty girl whos quiet and polite and caring,(She’s not the better written female character either, this is reborn. they all lose here.) she’s the better candidate because we actually have a personality to compare to Tuna's. she was purposely given this big personality because he was never going to be in love with her because she’s like all the other intruding figures of his life. Again we have this one sided crush, know he doesn’t like her at all but you can actually see where they do go right and wrong. she’s a complete person.

Haru can handle a little wild in her life, she was the first one to know he would be a mafia boss and it didn’t phase her at all. Tsuna might need that later in life.

In the future when Tsuna finds her crying she tells him not to think her feelings have anything to do with him, completely different dynamic from kyoko whos emotions are always directly related to male characters and what they are doing.

Haru and her cosplays are so perfectly absurd and she does not care how weird he finds them, she has this big embarrassing trait to her that Tsuna comically responds to but just grows to overlook and accept.

she actually talks to Tsuna quite a lot and helps him out whenever she can, because he doesn't like her she's allowed to actually exist in his world and he sees her fully because of it. It makes sense to see his significant other who will be involved in the mafia as an asset who he wants to protect and not just...something he needs to protect bc they honestly don't want this.

she interviews the entire cast of the show because haru just fits there, in a yamamoto like way, she can just handle it.

Tsuna and Haru could have been perfect friends or a couple. they had the grounds for it. it’s just not what he wanted but I can totally see them working out for each other later in life. they make so much sense! i’ll have to think about them more sometime soon.

Hope I answered you questions, this got long.

#long post #khr #katekyo hitman reborn #mailbox #sawada tsunayoshi #Kyoko Sasagawa #Haru Miura #2786 #2795

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atamascolily · 4 years ago

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Unicorn Chronicles, Book 3: “Dark Whispers,” by Bruce Coville

Whenever people grumble about how long it's been since their favorite fanfic updated, I can't help but smile a little in sympathy. As someone who's read a lot of CLAMP manga, I've grown used to the stutter-stop of hiatuses and discontinued stories that will never be finished. To quote the Princess Bride, "Get used to disappointment". It's just an occupational hazard.

I know people who only read completed stories, but I would have missed out on a lot of great material and works that really matter to me if I followed their example. It also meant that I got really good at imagining what happens next.

So it was a delight to discover that Bruce Coville had actually finished the Unicorn Chronicles when I was busy with other stuff (i.e., life) and there were two more volumes. Coville specifically thanks readers for nagging him about finishing, which is simultaneously #hilarious and #relatable.

Song of the Wanderer came out in 1999, right on the cusp of the Harry Potter boom that shook up the juvenile fantasy genre. (Both series are published by Scholastic.) Dark Whispers came out in 2008, and you can see how much the genre has shifted in the cover art alone:

This is gorgeous art by Petar Mesedlzija, but it only tangentially fits the descriptions in the books: Cara doesn't really wear anything like this outfit, and the story emphasizes she keeps braiding her hair to keep it from tangling. She has a sword, but she doesn’t really ever use it?

Furthermore, the layout, design, and chapter headings of Dark Whispers are clearly meant to capitalize on Harry Potter: Grimmwold has a looping signature reminiscent of Dumbeldore's in the opening prologue, for instance. It's a very different feel from the way the first two volumes were presented, and tbh, I miss the old way that has gone the way of the dinosaurs now.

Inevitably, with such a long gap between volumes, Dark Whispers ended up with a very different style and tone than its predecessors. The most obvious difference is that it's REALLY LONG--464 pages in hardcover. Some of this increase in length is attributable to Harry Potter proving that giant fantasy tomes can sell like hotcakes, and some of it is the fact that the storyline is now really big, with a lot of different players moving in different directions.

Inevitably, this means that instead of following Cara's POV for the entire book, as we did in the first two volumes, we are constantly shifting narrators. It's completely understandable, but as a reader, I find it really annoying--like I am suddenly reading an entirely different series with overlapping plot and characters. It's not that this new series is bad, per se, it's just... not what I imagined when I was making up the ending in my head in the early 2000s. I do not know if this disjunct would be so obvious or unsettling to someone who was reading all four volumes together for the first time.

Anyway, so since it's been literally a decade, Coville makes the sensible decision to open with a recap from Grimmwold, in his role as the keeper of the Unicorn Chronicles: unicorns and human hunters are at war; the latter are lead by an immortal woman named Beloved with a personal grudge against the unicorns, and she just got an amulet so she can invade Luster.

In Cara's plotline, she is still coming to terms with the fact that her grandmother, Ivy Morris, was a unicorn in disguise, and is now Queen Amalia Flickerfoot. Her grandfather Jaques is super depressed (because literary references, yo) and also because this is super-weird for him, too. As they prepare for Beloved's assault on Luster, Grimmwold reveals that pages from the Unicorn Chronicles are missing, and that others reveal an unsettling prophecy about unicorns confronting their own darkness and a mysterious figure called the Whisperer.

Another human, Alma Leonetti, comes forth and suggests that the centaurs might know more details. The Queen sends Cara and her friends to investigate, while Jaques and Thomas the Tinker go on separate missions. Thomas does give her a watch that marks the days and also explodes, so you know right away she's gonna need both on her trip. M'Gama the geomancer is trying to determine where and when the Hunters will invade: the date is the forthcoming Blood Moon, but she's still working out the details on the place.

Grimmwold tells the group a story about Alma Leonetti, and how she tracked down the wizard Bellenmore, who opened the gate to Luster for the unicorns. Bellenmore has a snarky talking lizard and great tastes in decorating:

On the mantel above the fireplace stood a row of earthenware mugs with hideous faces. One of them winked at me; another leered and rolled its eyes; a third stuck out its tongue and made a rude noise. Then they began to sing a bawdy song until Bellenmore waved a hand to silence them.

Alma bluffs her way to Luster and eventually persuades the unicorns to keep one of their kind on Earth so humans don't forget true beauty and goodness and the spark is kept alive. The hunters keep trying to kill the Guardian, but they always replace the fallen with a new one and the cycle repeats.

We also learn that Ivy summoned Moonheart to heal Cara as a child, which is what alerted Beloved to her presence, forcing her to kidnap Cara and flee because Beloved wanted the child, too. Ian Hunter was a first grade teacher who had no idea about any of this until Cara disappeared and he was radicalized by Beloved and went through an intensive training camp she's built up for her army.

Meanwhile, Ian is in India, tracking down the Rainbow Prison where Beloved has imprisoned his wife. He makes a deal with a mysterious entity, the Blind Man, trading occasional use of his sight for the knowledge he needs. Beloved's men attack Ian, but he is saved by a street urchin named Rajiv who is eager for adventure, and the mysterious Fallon, who is trying to find a doorway to Luster. The three of them team up and head for the Himalayas to find the doorway to the Rainbow Prison while Beloved's forces pursue them. We learn that Fallon is super-hot and also seeking his best bro Elihu, in a relationship that I'm pretty sure was sexual although it's never stated directly.

There's also a plotline involving the delvers - the evil dwarves we mostly forgot about in Book 2. The King keeps talking to the Whisperer, and sending his subjects to do Evil Things as the alliance with Beloved continues. (The delvers do not love humans, but they hate unicorns and so the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" at least temporarily).

The plotlines converge when the delvers attack M'Gama the earthmancer's house and steal a macguffin and kill Flensa, M'Gama's servant. Cara's party splits up, with Finder and Belle hunting the macguffin while Cara and Lightfoot continue on. Finder is killed (sob) and Belle regrets being a jerk to him. Cara's group is attacked by delvers and she is captured and taken underground. (The delvers either don't know Beloved has an amulet already/don't care/want one for their own purposes.) Cara tosses the amulet into an abyss when it fails to transport her to earth, and she is imprisoned in the dungeons with a delver dissident who has had his name ritually stripped from him for defiance.

Cara renames the delver "Rocky" and the Squijum shows up with the amulet and steals the key. They meet up with Grimmwold, and escape. They also encounter the gryphon Medafil, who is lost below ground, only to wake a monster known as the schwartz, a Terminator-like blind dragon that never gives up pursuit. Cara defeats it using the expanding light sphere from Medafil's nest, and they emerge in the centaur's valley, where Belle is waiting for them with the news of Finder's death.

The centaurs are standoffish, but eventually Cara persuades their leader Chiron to spill the beans: after the war with Beloved began, the unicorns decided to expunge all the darkness from their souls with the aid of a magician named Elihu (hi!), which gained sentience and has been egging Beloved on ever since. It's also corrupted the delvers,which is why they hate unicorns so much. In exchange for the info, Cara agrees to mercy-kill Chiron, which none of the centaurs can do for personal reasons. Cara reports this story to the unicorns, who are all :shrug emoji: about it.

Meanwhile Ian and company are stuck in the Rainbow Prison, the Dimblethum is being tormented by the Whisperer, and ends up taking the macguffin the delvers stole and placing it at the Axis Mundi, the world-tree of Luster, so that Beloved and her forces can enter there. Lightfoot tries to stop the Dimblethum but isn't in time. And the book ends on the seriously metal note of Beloved opening the portal beneath the blood moon and invading Luster with her army. *cue 'Bad Moon Rising'*

[Which, I may note, is pretty much where the LAST BOOK also ended.]

SO. That was a lot.

Once again, the core group of characters from Book One gets broken up. Thomas the Tinker gets sidetracked pretty quickly and isn't seen again; the Dimblethum gets a few brief sequences, but doesn't do much until the end. Lightfoot and Cara are separated fairly early on and don't have much time together, though their musings about their sudden familial connections at the beginning are nice, even though Cara also keeps shipping Belle with Lightfoot. Lightfoot himself doesn't get to do much, Finder dies, and Belle is likewise sidelined by the narrative for a decent chunk of the story. Coville also keeps emphasizing that Lightfoot is a Prince, which just grates on me, too.

I would also like to see more of Cara? She has plenty of scenes, but after two books of focusing solely on her, it's so strange to suddenly be jerked in different directions and it makes me grumpy.

It's great to see Medafil again, but I found the whole delvers/underground plot to drag on too long for my tastes. I'm glad Coville brings back that one delver from the first book who let Cara go because he thinks (rightly) his king is batshit crazy.

I like Alma Leonetti's story, but it feels unrelated to the plot, so I'm not entirely sure why it's there. I think it was originally a stand-alone short story, and I think it's better suited as one, because I can't figure out what its narrative purpose is. Or is it just that Grimmwold is contractually obligated to tell at least one story per book?? Or maybe this is something that will pay off in Book 4.

Ian Hunter's story basically bores me, and I found that whole subplot extremely tedious. He's been more or less retconned to be sympathetic and a victim, and I just don't know how I feel about that.

I HAVE SUCH MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THE BIG REVEAL. On the one hand, it's a great twist to see the psychological shadow as the literal villain; on the other hand, it takes away some of the delvers' and Beloved's agency as villains in their own right because they're now Pawns of a Bigger Bad. It also just seems like such a weird thing for the unicorns to do--and maybe that's a way of making them more alien, but I don't know.

Coville explicitly uses the word 'hubris,' so it also feels weirdly victim-blaming to me because the unicorns are doing it to themselves (and this isn't just a war, but genocide we're talking about here!). For better or worse, this twist muddies the black and white/good vs. evil paradigm into shades of gray: the unicorns are beautiful and good but also arrogant assholes; Beloved is homicidal but also in terrible pain; the delvers are misunderstood and need to be embraced rather than ignored.

Alma Leonetti consistently delivers the best lines - I guess she's taken over the role Ivy Morris used to play, since Ivy is now a unicorn:

"Perhaps the unicorns need to try to recover some of what they have lost?... You face a dedicated enemy who has shown no mercy, one who will stop at nothing to destroy you. And what have you done? Gathered together, which is good. Prepared to defend yourselves, which is good, too. But is it enough? How fiercely are you willing to fight to save your lives? How strong can unicorns be? ... Maybe you need to take in some of that darkness you once released."

I remember feeling oddly disappointed on my first reading, which unfortunately persists on re-read. This story has now moved in a very different direction from the one I expected, and while that's not necessarily bad, it is unsettling and strange. As I mentioned earlier, some of that might just be that the final result doesn't match the story I made up in my head; or it could just be the inevitable result of such a long gap between books and the changes in the fantasy market post-Harry Potter. I don't know.

(I wish I had written down my thoughts about an ending--aka fanfic--because while I could write one now, it’d be reacting to canon, rather than creating it.)

Either way, major kudos to Coville for writing this book, because I had assumed the series was dead and would never be completed, and he fucking did it. That’s such an inspiration, honestly.

#book reviews #unicorn chronicles #dark whispers #childhood influences

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fuckyeahcarlosandlidia · 4 years ago

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The Family Of Love Forever

This contains spoilers, so you’re warned:D

So the show has finally ended in some way it felt like I can relax. Right after part 1 , I’ve spent months feeling very much betrayed, mad, annoyed and sad for being treated as the most significant fans, just because we picked the “wrong” side. And I’m not saying “wrong” because we were wrong or because Carlos and Lidia weren’t worthy, but because we don’t belong to that group of people who drool over Yon Gonzalez, and believe that Blanca is supposed to end up with him, no matter what they do. It felt really annoying to be treated like that, because of fanservice.But after part 2, I don’t feel exactly like that, anymore. Yes, I still believe they ruined their show, I still believe they turned it into something completely different than how it used to be. After season 4, I felt like the nonsense, the bad writing and forced stuff was what kept moving the show on. I’m more than sure that Blanca didn’t like season 4 at all, since we made pretty clear she was always on teamCarlidia and wanted the story to be that way. I think, since the girls gave their own opinion about the ending, they decided to focus more on their friendship, not on the romance. That wasn’t the problem at all, because the girls were the core of the show, and Lidia was the main character. But Martiño should have been there, too.

The thing is that to me they did everything in the wrong way because all about Lidia and Francisco was forced and completely random, it had no build-up at all, and they were together only because they ruined Carlos, on purpose. They were together because circumstances made it happen, not because she actually chose him over Carlos. To me, this is not how you write romance, this is not how make a couple happen, and certainly not ruining the other option, for God’s sake. They did to Carlos everything they could do to make him appear as “bad”. Big failure!

Anyway, speaking of the finale, obviously I felt like there was stuff quite forced, too, like for example the whole Carmen’s redemption, the 2 Albisco scenes at the end – but I’ll be back to that – my God the chemistry was so bad. And I thought the whole ending with the girls was really too much tragic. I figured out that would be the ending; their interviews made me sure of that, and even though, I get the message, they’re heroines for sure, but after everything they went through, I think it would have been fair to give them the chance to be with their children, to get a second chance. The show used to be very fresh and simple, they were simple women, and it wasn’t necessary to make the avengers and martyrs. It was very hard to watch. But I’m glad that, at the end, it was all about the girls, their bond, and their destiny.

Speaking of Albisco, they didn’t even seem like a couple for most of the season. I would say, as it always was. Their relationship was always based on the past and that time at train station, and they didn’t even get scenes, build-up for most of the series. They got two scenes in the whole season. One was the same scene again and again, with flashbacks of them as kids. And the other one was the goodbye scene, which was pretty predictable. I certainly didn’t expect Lidia to go on a suicide mission without saying goodbye, and I won’t deny that this man always meant something to her. For many reasons. I’ve never denied that and I never will. And for how things went, for the circumstances, he was part of her family, too. I just firmly believe he wasn’t the love of her life, for the very same reasons I talked about above and for the story that was told us. Lidia made her choice, she picked Carlos over Francisco, she built a family with him because she wanted to. A family of love. Not out of circumstances. And I really appreciated that Lidia told Francisco “os quiero mucho”, meaning all of them as a family. She didn’t ILY to him and only him. Something that he did. And for me it’s enough, for me it’s really important and it means a lot. Carlos will always be the only man she said ILY to. Again and again.

And now let me talk about the thing that owns my heart. Who talked to me before the ending perfectly knows I had no expectations for the last episodes. I actually believed they got rid of him, and farewell! I truly thought no one would give him justice because of how they killed him off, and how they ruined him, too. But I was gladly surprised I couldn’t be more wrong. ‘Cause there was someone who loved him so much who just couldn’t just let him go without fighting for the truth. For the very moment she asked of him, to know where he was because she believed he could have helped them with their plan against Carmen, I knew there was hope. Not only because of the sad look on her face, but because she thought of him as a potential ally to fight Carmen. Trust. That’s what it was. When she met him again in part 1, she was disappointed to find a different man, a man she couldn’t trust. She even told him that. But soon enough she realized he was exactly the same man she loved.

I was very satisfied by her reaction, too, when she found out he was dead. That he could have killed himself. Denial, shortness of breath, disbelief, non-acceptance. She cried more for Carlos then when she had to say goodbye to Francisco. I love the passion she showed at proving the truth for him. And it was to me such a proof of love. The power of their love for each other was able to go beyond death because she immediately got everything. She remembered every word he told her about Romero, and she knew he couldn’t have committed suicide because of her, because the last thing he told her was “You’ll always be the woman of my life”. She was never his poison, she was his life. And as a guardian angel, Carlos was able to move the plot and help Lidia even though he was no more. It’s because of how strong their love was, that Lidia could win the war against Carmen, and made her change her mind. The “Don’t compete with me for Carlos’s love, you have a very good chance of losing” turned out true again.

Carlos’s life were Lidia and Eva. He spent the last 8 years of his life hoping to find a way to meet his baby again, to be the good father he always wanted to be to her. He still had the “Teddy Bear” we know so well, as the symbol of the beautiful family we had. It hurts deeply, but I was glad they gave justice to this wonderful man, who, with Elisa, just had the misfortune to belong to a bad family. The Cifuentes never had a chance, they were denied their parents’ affection, which is something monstrous, and they never got a chance. This is just unfair. Thankfully, Eva will have the chance to live the life she deserves, even though without her mother and without the chance of meeting her father. I just hope Francisco will tell her who her parents were, because right ‘till the very end Eva had a father and his name was Carlos Cifuentes. And she will always the fruit of the love.

We got the story, we got the moments, we got everything about our ship, something others can’t say. It ended badly, yet I’m glad they gave us closure. Carlos was the only who told Lidia “te amo”, which is different from “te quiero”, because querer means caring, too. “Te amo” is much stronger. And Lidia referred to him as “alguien que había amado”, again she didn’t use this verb for Francisco, at all. And to me it means everything. And she never actually defined or described Francisco in any way. OTOH, we have one of the best quotes ever. Even if Carlos wasn’t there. “Carlos was strong. He would have faced anything.” She says it so passionately, without looking anything or anyone in particular, with tears in her eyes, only thinking about him, meaning every word. Carlos Cifuentes was indeed her hero, the one who always made her feel stronger. They changed each other’s life and they gave everything to each other. With no restriction. It was a rollercoaster, it caused so much joy and so much pain, but it was all before our eyes. "Love that overthrows life, unbiddable, ungovernable, like a riot in the heart, and nothing to be done, come ruin or rupture.” They’re the greatest story of Las Chicas del Cable, “true love, the consequence of a deep and conscious choice” that happened right at the end of season 1, when she decided to let go of the past and to embrace the wonderful future who was right, down on his knees, asking her to spend the rest of her life with him.

I had no idea this show would become such a tragedy. There’s no real winner in this, we all lost something precious, but I’ll never let it go, for real. This blog will always be here to remember who this couple was, who Lidia Aguilar and Carlos Cifuentes was, and to celebrate two great human beings as Blanca and Martiño.

#cable girls #las chicas del cable #lidia x carlos #carlos x lidia #blanca suarez #martino rivas #my stuff

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flightfoot · 5 years ago

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Divergent Points - Feast

AO3/FFN

Previous installment: Divergent Points - Weredad

Turning Points

Inspired partly by this conversation I had with @fearlessinger

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Plagg curled up against Adrien, purring. It’d taken a long time for Adrien to fall asleep.

He didn’t blame him. He’d be having nightmares himself for a long time after this.

Plagg had been separated from a lot of his cats. Most of the time, it was bittersweet. On the one hand, it’s hard to be around a person a lot who wasn’t COMPLETELY despicable and not grow to care about them, at least a little.

On the other hand…

Tikki got the “nice” wielders and the “nice” powers. Sugarcube got paired with idealistic, inventive users who would quickly become fast friends with her. At worst, they’d see her mostly as a tool.

But at least she wasn’t usually considered a THREAT.

Plagg’s wielders tended to fall into two categories; the cautious wielders and the unrestrained wielders.

The cautious wielders were usually wielders he was assigned to by some outside force. The Order of the Guardians, for example. He might get to pick among a few different candidates if the person in charge was extremely generous, but this was a rare privilege.

The most dangerous kwami were rarely allowed that kind of freedom.

And he was considered the most dangerous of them all.

Those cautious wielders were chosen for their ability to temper both their destructive impulses and his own, keeping him on a tight leash. They were rarely outright malicious about it, and if he really, truly wanted to he could probably leave… well, most of the time.

But then he’d have to leave his friends behind. And if the person was mistreating him badly enough that he was at the end of his rope and WANTED to leave…

The monk who had created the Miraculous in the first place in order to allow Kwamis to physically manifest, had also built a safeguard into every Miraculous, just in case the spirits he was trying to pull into the physical plane turned out to be malicious.

Not a totally unreasonable precaution, but it screwed him and all the other kwamis over. They’d never figured out a way to undo the compulsion, and he suspected that most of his wielders hadn’t really wanted to, either.

If his wielder was terrible enough that he wanted to bolt? It was very rare he’d be able to.

He sympathized with poor Nooroo. He’d been in that position often enough.

In those cases, he was lucky if he just wanted to leave because he felt stifled or ignored or unwanted, and his wielder was just enough of a jackass that they wouldn’t let him go or listen to him.

The unrestrained wielders were often far worse.

If he ended up with one of them, it was usually due to something going horribly wrong. His ring falling out of the Miracle box and getting lost, for instance, like what happened to Duusu and Nooroo. Or more commonly, being stolen from one of his other wielders.

With the wielder being either random or an outright thief, he’d rarely had a good time with those wielders, at least not for long. Some of them could be okay at first, giving him more freedom than he’d normally have and not treating him like he was about to launch a cataclysm at any moment.

But they were often the worst ones, because unlike the cautious wielders, they often became corrupted, if they weren’t already. The power to destroy ANYTHING, very, very easily, was a heady power, especially in the wrong hands.

He was often glad to go back to a cautious wielder after his miraculous was inevitably removed from the offender. The cautious wielders wouldn’t make him kill anyone.

Over time he’d just… tried to stop caring. Make light of destroying the dinosaurs, of sinking Atlantis, of any mistake he’d ever made, and it wouldn’t hurt as much to have it thrown back in his face.

Then he was given to Adrien.

At first, he thought this would be just like the other cases where he was assigned; given to a cautious wielder who’d be nice enough, but was ultimately there to control him. Yeah this kid was a lot younger than his usual wielders – while some of the other kwami were assigned to kids for bonding purposes, the Order of the Guardians usually assigned him to adults, who wouldn’t be influenced or persuaded by him as much – and he hadn’t been raised as a monk or even really been vetted much, but Fu had chosen him. Considering how cautious and fearful Fu was of Plagg going out of control, he doubted that the monk would’ve chosen any sort of loose cannon or free spirit as his wielder.

He’d underestimated Fu’s desperation and lack of vetting.

When Fu’d said that he’d found the right wielder for him, he’d known that Fu wouldn’t have been able to look deeply into the wielder’s background or get to know them – they were operating on only a few hours of notice. It’d made him pretty nervous about the type of person he might get, honestly. He’d seen even people who appeared nice and kind slowly become corrupted and dangerous over time.

With only having a few hours to research? There was no telling whether the wielder would be decent even at the outset.

Turns out, Fu’s actual vetting process wasn’t even THAT extensive. Wayzz had told him later that Fu had just randomly tried to walk into the middle of a busy street to see whether anyone would help him, and decided that the first person to help should be Tikki’s wielder. For finding Chat Noir, he just randomly acted like he was super frail, dropping his cane and pretending he couldn’t get up, and waited to see who’d help him. Adrien did, so Fu decided that he’d be Plagg’s wielder.

Honestly he was lucky that Adrien was as famous as he was, otherwise Fu wouldn’t have been able to find out where he lived. At least with Marinette, he’d been able to see her leaving her house beforehand.

…Okay, maybe he was being a little harsh on Fu’s vetting. He genuinely had almost no time to work with, and his tests at least established whether that person cared about the APPEARANCE of being a kind, helpful person.

Plagg shuddered. It was a good thing Lila hadn’t been around at that point. She probably would’ve passed the tests. She at least knew it was a good idea to appear helpful and kind. Made it easier to manipulate people later.

But it hadn’t been Lila.

It had been Adrien.

Even the first time he met Adrien, he liked him.

The kid was bright-eyed and thrilled to see him. Still, just because he was thrilled right off the bat didn’t mean much. Plagg had wanted to make a good first impression – they’d probably be working together for awhile after all – but also test him a bit. Feel out where the boundaries were and how controlling Adrien would be. So he gave a little test. Flying around the room trying to eat everything sounded like a great way to test his patience and his new wielder’s problem-solving capabilities.

Also it was just plain fun. He’d never have been able to get away with this in the temple!

Adrien had gotten annoyed, but nothing worse than that. Had to compliment the kid’s acrobatic skills too. The leap off his climbing wall was impressive, to say the least.

He’d given Adrien the usual spiel about not telling anyone about him, keeping his identity secret, his powers, etc. Well, maybe wasn’t fast enough on explaining his powers. Kid jumped the gun a bit on that one.

After he’d told Adrien some basics about the Miraculous, he’d gone and spread toilet paper all over his room. To his surprise, Adrien didn’t seem to care much. Around that time he’d realized that while Fu may have thought that he’d given Plagg to a cautious wielder, that definitely wasn’t the case. A cautious wielder would’ve lectured him about making a mess, probably in that calm, authoritative voice they often had. Better than the yelling he’d gotten from some of his unrestrained wielders at least.

And then…

“But I'm stuck here! I'm not even allowed to go to school! What good is a superhero who's imprisoned in his own house!”

That was the first glimpse he’d gotten of Adrien’s frustrations.

The first glimpse of the similarities between the two of them.

Their imprisonment, their caution, were for different reasons. People feared Plagg and tried to, if not imprison him, control and restrict him at least. Adrien’s father (and Plagg used that term in a loose sense) at least claimed that he was imprisoning and controlling his son to try to keep him safe. Considering how he acted whenever Adrien did something that was perfectly safe, but that didn’t benefit Gabriel and ESPECIALLY when it threatened his control? He had his doubts. Plagg had had enough wielders justify enslaving him as “keeping everyone else safe from destruction” that he knew the type.

At least Adrien had the Dupain-Chengs now. He may not have been willing to run away to stay with them permanently – yet – but they were there for him. He had a safe place to go with adults who cared about him as a person rather than what he could do for them.

Sadly, he couldn’t say that about any other adults in Adrien’s life. Gorilla came closest, but even then the most he’d really been able to do was look the other way when Adrien needed a bit more freedom than he was technically allowed. He wasn’t really able to give him the support he needed.

Plagg winced a little. While he’d given Adrien some support even early on, he tried not to give too much. Get too attached. The kid was nice and a lot more fun than most of his other wielders, but… well, he’d been burned a lot.

But Adrien had a way of worming his way into even Plagg’s cheese-obsessed heart.

He’d get annoyed with Plagg, but never in a way that suggested he was a burden or unwanted.

He genuinely enjoyed spending time with Plagg, even if most of it was just Plagg sitting around eating cheese.

Most importantly, Adrien NEEDED him. Not just for his abilities – though for that too – but as a person.

Adrien was lonely. Even when he did get to hang out with his friends – which wasn’t as often as he liked, and was prone to changing at a moment’s notice – he still didn’t feel comfortable showing all of him. He had a lot of feelings he kept repressed, that he felt like he HAD to keep repressed, because that’s what he’d been taught to do. And if he stepped out of line where his father could see… well, it wouldn’t be the first time that Gabriel had threatened to pull him from school.

Plagg had been the first person who was always there for him. Who couldn’t be taken away. Who he could express all sides of himself around. Anger, frustration, adoration… everything. Even as Chat, he mostly just let out the part of him he didn’t feel safe showing normally. He still didn’t really show every side of his personality.

Plagg had always been the one who people felt like they needed to teach and lecture.

He’d never needed to be the one to teach and provide support instead.

It made him feel needed. Wanted. In a way he’d never been before.

And this kid…

He looked at Adrien’s sleeping face as he twitched, making small distressed noises.

Plagg snuggled up against him harder. “Don’t worry, kitten,” he whispered. “I won’t leave you. Not forever. I’ll always come back.”

Somewhere along the way, Adrien had turned from just a kid, to being HIS kitten.

He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when the change had occurred. It just kind of… was. But he knew when he first suspected it.

Adrien hated being left in the dark. Feeling like he wasn’t trusted. Wasn’t wanted.

But it wasn’t Plagg’s place to bring him to Fu without a very good reason. Not when Fu could’ve gone to Adrien at any time and chosen not to.

Plus – well, there was a more selfish reason.

He was afraid that Fu would interfere in the bond he had with his kitten. Teach him about how uncontrollable and dangerous destruction was, how out of control Plagg’s powers could get, and that he should keep him on a tight leash.

Even as Adrien’s frustration grew, Plagg still didn’t give in, though he was tempted. And not just by exotic stinky cheeses, though those WERE tempting.

Then Adrien reached the end of his rope. He took off his Miraculous and detransformed, believing that it genuinely didn’t matter whether he was around or not. That he wasn’t needed, that no one would notice or care if Chat just… didn’t show up.

That’s when Plagg realized just how much he cared about Adrien. And how much his kitten needed to hear that. That HE would care if Adrien wasn’t Chat Noir. If he didn’t see him again.

I will!

Why? Because you won't have anyone to give you Camembert?

Oh, I'm sure there'll be another Chat Noir to give me cheese... but he won't be you.

That’s what Adrien needed. People who genuinely trusted and respected him as a person, and not as a tool. Who valued his feelings and opinions.

As nervous as Plagg had been about how Fu’s interference could affect his bond with Adrien, he was glad he’d showed up right then. That Marinette had cared about her partner’s distress over the seeming lack of trust – of not even having enough information to know WHY he was being left in the dark – to push Fu into talking to Adrien directly. To showing Adrien that it wasn’t that Ladybug didn’t trust him or believe they were equals, but that it was just Fu’s commands, and it wasn’t her secret to tell.

Even if it meant that Adrien might put him on a tighter leash, if meeting with Fu helped Adrien… well, he’d survived being restricted before.

But that hadn’t happened. In either sense.

Sure, Fu had met with Adrien ONCE – but that was it. Only once. And only after being pressured first.

Plagg kept on waiting for Fu to contact Adrien again. He might not be able to hand out his address – with Marinette visiting regularly, there was too much chance of them bumping into each other – but he could still drop by and visit Adrien. Or even ask Ladybug to arrange a private meeting between him and Chat Noir, if he couldn’t get to Adrien without being spotted.

But he just… hadn’t.

Plagg had entertained the idea of asking him on one of the occasions he himself went back over there, but he doubted he’d get a satisfying answer. It hadn’t seemed worth having a confrontation about at the time.

Even at that point though, he still wasn’t quite ready to tell Adrien everything. He trusted Adrien, he really did, but… well, old habits die hard. He was terrified that this would all end, and Adrien would turn cold and controlling, like some of his other wielders.

Which was why for Nooroo’s birthday, he created a stand-in and didn’t tell Adrien that he was leaving. They were already going behind Fu’s back to do this. Going behind his wielder’s back just seemed normal. Natural.

When Tikki had told him that she’d just told her own wielder exactly what she was doing, he wasn’t surprised. Tikki rarely got the controlling ones. Telling the truth rarely had negative repercussions for her.

Then the akuma happened.

And Plagg hadn’t been there.

When Adrien had needed him most, he WASN’T THERE.

And Adrien didn’t even know what’d happened to him.

He’d flown back to Adrien as quickly as he could.

Finding him imprisoned in his room, alone, desperately pulling on bars he KNEW wouldn’t bend - he’d known that Adrien feared being imprisoned. That he lived in a gilded cage, one that Gabriel would open the door of occasionally, but that Adrien always had to return to lest he lose that right.

And worse than being imprisoned? Being alone.

Without even knowing why the person he’d cared for, the person who’d cared for HIM, had vanished.

He’d felt pretty guilty after that, especially seeing Tikki and Marinette affirm how much they trusted each other.

Because honestly?

He trusted Adrien too.

He might have hang-ups about his previous wielders, but taking that out on Adrien was unfair. And that day, it had hurt him. Badly.

So when Adrien had told him that he knew what it was like to have his freedom restricted, that he didn’t need to sneak around to leave – that was when he’d decided.

His previous wielders were his previous wielders. They were NOT Adrien.

And it was high time he returned the trust that Adrien had placed in him.

Because Adrien placed a LOT of trust in him. He didn’t even fear his powers! Everyone else was always worried about Plagg going out of control and destroying everything, even his fellow kwamis.

Adrien had never doubted him.

On Heroes Day, he showed no fear or trepidation about Plagg causing a little destruction in the street to let Adrien escape from Gorizilla and transform. He KNEW he could do it. And when he did? When he managed to keep his powers in check himself, only causing as much destruction as was needed? Adrien had patted him on the head and called him his hero.

Now it was time to be Adrien’s hero again.

Carefully, he extricated himself from Adrien’s side. Now would be the WORST time to wake him. Seeing Plagg gone after what he’d just been through? Would be his worst nightmare.

But at least Adrien still had the ring this time. He’d know that Plagg hadn’t been stolen. And he trusted that Plagg would come back.

Still, best to be back before Adrien noticed he was gone.

He looked back at Adrien – his wielder, his best friend, his kitten – and flew off into the night.

Fu was sound asleep when he arrived.

Unsurprising. Feast being around wouldn’t have been conducive to sleep, even if Fu HADN’T pulled his little escapade during the middle of the night.

He was probably exhausted after the kind of day he’d had.

Unfortunately for Fu, Plagg, frankly, didn’t give a crap about that.

If he didn’t want to do this now? Tough luck.

“WAKE UP!”

Fu startled awake, flailing wildly.

“WHA-?”

Wayzz appeared at his side. “Plagg, what are you doing here? Master needs his sleep.”

Plagg growled. “Well, he should’ve THOUGHT of that before KIDNAPPING ME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!”

“I had to,” Fu mumbled groggily, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. “Feast would’ve eaten Adrien and Marinette otherwise.”

Plagg glared at Fu, then took a deep breath. “You were willing to put your own life in danger from Feast, but not theirs. You believed that taking their Miraculous was the only way to keep them safe. Fine. I can respect that.”

“What I CAN’T respect is everything you did surrounding that.”

Fu looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“You gave me and Tikki to Marinette and Adrien with almost no explanation, no training, and no support. And I was fine with that at first! Just sink or swim, either they’d manage or they wouldn’t.”

“But then I got to know them better. And I got to CARE about them. Fu, Marinette is drowning in her responsibilities. I don’t get to see as much of her as I do Adrien, but- well, she’s not subtle about it, and Chat’s one of the few people she can open up to about it. It’s gotten better recently since she can talk to Alya and Nino about it as well –“

Fu’s head shot up. “What! Alya and Nino know her identity?”

Oops. He didn’t mean to let that little fact slip.

“For how long?! Marinette knows the rule-“

Oh HELL no.

“THAT IS A STUPID-ASS RULE!” Plagg shouted. The shop shook slightly, his destructive energy leaking out – though thankfully not enough to actually cause permanent damage.

Still, he needed to reign himself in. Destroying Fu – or the rest of Paris – was not on his agenda.

He wanted to shake Fu and make him understand what he was doing wrong, not make him go the way of the dinosaurs.

Once everything stopped shaking, he took another deep breath and continued. “I understand the reason you don’t want anyone else to know their identities. If Hawkmoth akumatized or just had the right mind control akuma take control of that person, their identities could be jeopardized, putting them, as well as Tikki and I, in danger.”

“But you know what? NOT having anyone else know their identities is ALSO dangerous.”

“They’ve both been suffocating, Fu. Marinette in her responsibilities and the pressure to maintain her double life, and Adrien with not being able to really show all sides of himself, and of having very little stable support.”

Fu frowned. “Marinette is a bright young woman who has handled the Ladybug Miraculous admirably, and Adrien seems to have managed well enough before now.”

Plagg bit back some nasty curses. Best not to destroy the shop. Or Fu, he guessed. “Yes, they’ve MANAGED. Which is more of a testament to how resilient they are than anything you’ve done. But the point is, just because they’ve MANAGED doesn’t mean that they should be expected to! They’re only FOURTEEN. They need more support and help than you’ve given them – than you can provide. Alya and Nino give them that. They were able to take babysitting off Marinette’s shoulders, help them sneak out when they need to transform, and just generally have their backs!”

“Wait, so they know not only Marinette’s, but also Adrien’s-“

Plagg flew up to Fu’s face, an inch from his nose. “If you even THINK about taking me away from Adrien again, I will cataclysm you where you stand.”

“Plagg!” Wayzz shouted, dismayed. “How could you threaten-“

“How could I? HOW COULD I?!” Plagg screamed. Vases started to rattle.

Deep breaths, Plagg. Think of cheese. Lovely, delicious, stinky cheese.

After getting a handle on himself, he spoke, struggling to keep his voice level. “You have no idea what waking up to find me gone DID to Adrien. What that’s like for him.”

Fu frowned. “I know he’s your friend, but he survived before I gave you to him-“

Plagg growled, quivering with rage. “SURVI-“

He cut himself off as the shop started to shake again.

“PLAGG, GET CONTROL OF YOURSELF!” Wayzz yelled, positioning himself in front of Fu.

As much as Plagg hated to admit it, Wayzz was right. He needed to calm down.

Mmmm… Adrien with Camembert… Camembert bread straight from the Dupain-Cheng Bakery (seriously why couldn’t they just live there, human laws were stupid)… Marinette and Adrien kissin-

Nope. Nopenopenope. He’d seen enough of that. Those two were gross together, why would that even come up when thinking of calming things?

(He steadfastly ignored the warmth that filled his chest when he saw the two of them finally able to be together and happy. It was warmth from eating tons of cheese bread, that was all).

Ok. Back to yelling at Fu. He NEEDED to understand this.

“Do you know what his life was like before he met me?” Plagg hissed.

Fu blinked. “He’s grown up wealthy, so he’s never wanted for anything – except going to school. He models a lot, though he only started doing that in the past year, after-“

Fu’s eyes widened, realization dawning. “After his mother went missing…” he ended softly.

“Do you get it now? At least that small part of it?” Plagg asked.

“He probably had flashbacks to when his mother disappeared,” Fu murmured. “Thinking that he was losing someone else he cared about, so soon after losing a parent.”

“Yeah.” Plagg deflated slightly. “That hit him pretty hard, but he’s persevered and done REALLY well despite that. Especially considering – well, you know what you said regarding him ‘never wanting for anything’? That’s not true. At all. Him not getting to go to school? That’s the tip of the iceberg. Gabriel – that man does NOT deserve the title of ‘father’ – has kept him isolated from people for basically his whole life. Maybe his mother too, I’m not sure, I’ve been afraid to pry too much. She’s a sensitive topic, and even I know better than to stick my paw in that.”

“Anyway, Adrien’s only friend growing up was little miss cause-of-half-the-akumas-in-Paris CHLOE, and even THAT was mostly because Gabriel saw some value in having his kid be friends with the mayor’s daughter! And once Emilie went missing, he didn’t even allow Adrien to see HER! He was stuck all alone in his room with no one to talk to or support him right after losing his mother. And by ‘stuck’ I mean actually imprisoned, because yeah, Gabriel’s a DICK, and worse than that, he’s a RICH dick who can afford a security system that seals all entrances and exits in his house!

“Oh, and remember when I said Adrien was ‘alone’? Well I MEANT that. His father’s only left his house a handful of times since Emilie went missing, but does he spend any time with his son, who just lost his MOTHER? NO! He constantly makes Adrien cancel or just prevent him from making plans so they can eat together at least, but he only shows up maybe a fifth of the time! No apology, no nothing. Adrien has to drop everything to accede to his wishes, but he doesn’t even CARE enough to apologize on the few occasions when they DO see each other in person! He treats Adrien as an employee at best and an object at worst. He only holds value as long as he does EXACTLY what Gabriel says, and if he ‘fails’ him in any way – doesn’t do quite as well at a photoshoot, isn’t as perfect at piano-playing as Gabriel would like – he’s punished severely, often by taking away his ability to spend time with his friends, some of the only people who DO care about him as a person!”

“I care about Adrien!” Fu interjected, affronted.

“Do you?” Plagg growled. “You’ve only visited him ONCE, after Marinette asked you to. You’ve never asked me what his life was like or how he was feeling or doing, even though I’ve visited here a few times! So tell me, how have you showed that you care?!”

“Master was willing to let himself die to keep BOTH Adrien and Marinette safe,” Wayzz cut in. “Yes, Fu may have made some mistakes, but he DOES care.”

Plagg breathed out. “Ok, yeah. I’ll give him that. He was ready to sacrifice his life for them. But the way he did it – that didn’t exactly scream ‘I know and care about them as people’. He had you KIDNAP me ad Tikki, and he didn’t even give Adrien the luxury of knowing what was going on beyond a quick letter! The only reason he wasn’t completely lost on that was because Marinette texted him with details after talking to Fu, because she was TIRED of leaving her partner in the dark when he didn’t need to be.”

“Fu never gave me or Adrien the chance to protest or argue, present alternative plans or arguments. He never gave us the chance to decide. He just decided that that would be the best course of action, and that was that. No one else’s opinion mattered, because HE’D made a decision. If anyone protested? He shut them up.”

“Well…” Wayzz looked uncomfortable now.

“Oh.” Plagg’s voice lowered, his ears pinning back. Softly, he said, “He did it to you too, didn’t he? Shut you up when you started poking holes in his plan? When you said things that went against his decision?”

Wayzz squirmed, not looking Plagg in the eyes.

“..Yes,” Fu admitted, taking over from Wayzz. He walked over to the turtle kwami, cupping his hands, allowing him to rest in the bowl shape they formed. “I’m sorry, Wayzz. I should never have done that. I truly believed at the time that taking the Miraculous was the best move to protect them, but at the very least, I should never have tried to stop you from talking. To renounce you so I didn’t have to listen to your arguments.”

Wayzz just gave a small nod.

“You see the problem?” Plagg asked. “You care about other people’s lives – I’ll agree with that much – but you keep on forgetting that they’re people, and that they have the right to know information that affects them, to give their input, and to make their own decisions. Yes, Marinette and Adrien are young, but they’re the ones out on the field, not you. They have the right to know whatever they need to in order to make informed decisions – BOTH of them, not just Marinette. She normally takes the lead, and she’s damn good at it too, but don’t dump everything on her shoulders. Let her have support, let her lean on other people. And give other people the ability to provide that support. Yeah, you can’t tell both of them everything – there are some things even we kwami can’t be allowed to know, in case we’re compromised – but you can sure tell them more than you have. Like for instance, what happens when a Guardian renounces their Guardianship?

Fu flinched. “I don’t know how much longer I have before Hawkmoth catches up with me. I don’t want her to worry before then.”

Plagg’s tail lashed. “Oh sure, and you don’t think she might worry AT THE TIME?! I know she’s a superhero, but she’s still HUMAN! And she’s just a kid! I understand not wanting to worry her, but when you plan to dump the guardianship on her lap, she has a right to know what it comes with!”

“And that’s another thing – did you ever bother to really ASK her whether she was okay with being Guardian? Or did you just decide she would be?”

Fu looked at the ground, mumbling. “That’s how it’s always been done…”

“Yeah, and ‘how it’s always been done’ is STUPID,” Plagg said. “Look. Honestly? You’re a decent Guardian compared to some of the others I’ve had to put up with. But that’s not saying much, and Adrien and Marinette deserve better.”

As Fu opened his mouth, Plagg hastily added, “And by that I do NOT mean shove the Miracle Box onto Marinette and skip out of their lives! –well, let’s be honest, out of HER life, you’ve never done squat with Adrien.”

“The sad thing is? I’m not sure who has it worse – Marinette for being the one you shove everything onto, or Adrien for being left in the dark.”

Fu was quiet for a moment.

After a few tense moments, he spoke. “I knew I had failed as a Guardian – that I was never even really a Guardian in the first place – but I’d never realized I’d failed these young people so badly.”

Plagg nodded. “Yeah. You have. But that doesn’t mean you can just skip out because you did poorly. You made this mess. Now, you need to fix it as best you can.”

Fu nodded, determination shining in his eyes. “What do you recommend? Beyond what you’ve already said.”

“Well for one thing, actually try to get to KNOW Adrien. Talk to him, treat him as a person, not just a tool. Let Marinette and Adrien know that the secret identity rule is rescinded, reassure them that you won’t take their Miraculous, and that you’re ok with Alya and Nino knowing.”

Plagg hesitated a moment, but then plowed on. “And… this one really IS more of a suggestion, not an order. But. Maybe observe Alya and Nino and get to know them as well? I think they might also be good candidates for permanent Miraculous, and Nino might be a better Guardian candidate than Marinette. Not because she’s not perfectly capable – she’d make an awesome Guardian I’m sure – but because that’s really too much to dump on her, and to prevent hers and Chat’s relationship from becoming too imbalanced again. Divide the responsibility, so it’s not all resting on a single person’s shoulders – especially when they haven’t agreed to it, and don’t know what all it entails.”

Fu closed his eyes, contemplating. “If you think that’s best, then I’ll follow your suggestions. If there’s one thing this incident with Feast has taught me, it’s to listen to others seriously. And honestly – you’re right. About everything. And… I’m sorry.”

“Apologize to Marinette and Adrien, and try to fix this mess. THAT, will be a sufficient apology,” Plagg said.

Fu smiled. “I will.”

As Plagg flew towards the window, Fu called out, “Oh, and Plagg?”

Plagg stopped, turning around. “What?”

“Thank you.”

Plagg grinned. “Hey, I’ll give you a kick in the butt whenever you need it. Just – don’t need it again, alright?”

He flew off into the night, back towards his kitten.

It looked like things would change for the better.

#divergent points #ml fanfic #miraculous ladybug #feast #fix-it fic #Plagg #Master Fu #adrien agreste

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hellzyeahwebwielingessays · 5 years ago

Text

The Not-So-Amazing Mary Jane Part 5: The Return of Mysterio

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We finish off our coverage of Mysterio’s history by bringing us up to date. We will also be covering more MJ centric events as we set up for AMJ #1.

Welcome to the 2010s!

Beck’s Back Baby!

Marvel truly brought the original Mysterio back in early 2010 as part of the overarching ‘Gauntlet’ event running through Brand New Day. However, later retcons from the ‘Spider-Men’ mini-series revealed he’d actually been back even earlier than that. He simply opted to concentrate his efforts on Earth 1610/the Ultimate Universe.

Because I do not want to go through the agony of refreshing my memory of BND or Slott’s run I shall instead simply take note of one significant event Mysterio participated in during the latter.

In the ‘Ends of the Earth’ arc (ASM #682-687) Mysterio was knowingly complicit in Doc Ock’s scheme to seemingly fix global warming. In reality it was the dying doctor’s goal to mass murder half the planet so that he’d be immortalized in the minds of the survivors as worse than Hitler.

Long story short, Otto planned to use space tech to manipulate the sun’s rays and direct them at whatever areas of the Earth he chose. In effect he could heat up or cool down whatever areas of the planet he wished.

It all kicked off in ASM #682 when Otto used his weapon to target half the world and heat it up. Known areas affected included New York City, Illinois, Rio De Janeiro and Ontario. The art depicts animals suffering or dying along with masses of people enduring severe pain and with some passing out; presumably from serious heat stroke.

Ock claimed this was merely a demonstration of what the real life effects of global warming would be. His intent was merely to shock people into accepting his solution of using this same technology to resolve the climate crisis. However, even if he were sincere (which he absolutely wasn’t) he still would’ve caused a lot of unnecessary harm to up to 3.5 billion people and many more animals and wildlife.

Sure, this is all Ock’s scheme and none of the Sinister Six seemed to know his true intent. But his initial demonstration was still sadistic and harmful even if no one died (which is frankly contrived and ridiculous). Mysterio still went along with it, and as ASM #684-685 proved it was for purely selfish reasons. As payment for ending global warming Otto wanted to have the Sinister Six’s criminal records expunged and $2 billion paid to each of them.

Granted later (for equally selfish reasons) Beck switched sides. But that still demonstrates what a bad person he ultimately was.

The thing to bear in mind is that this was all highly public. EVERYONE on Earth knew about this and MJ was depicted on panel as a witness among the billions of onlookers. So she knows Mysterio only helped save the world out of selfishness and was willing to harm billions of people out of similar selfishness.

Invasion>Attention>Reconciliation?

One last time skip brings us to the home stretch; Nick Spencer’s run on ASM.

In the first issue of Spencer’s run we learn that Mysterio has fabricated a highly believable alien invasion (chiefly utilizing practical effects) at the heart of town.

Daredevil, the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy are among the heroes who’ve assembled to deal with the crisis. Beck’s effects are so convincing that he has all of them fooled and thus unable to resolve the situation. That’s pretty impressive when you consider that between them they’ve got immense intelligence, scanning technology and hyper senses.

This is yet further proof of just how skilful a trickster Mysterio is.

Peter defeats Beck but almost dies in the attempt.

Prompted by his experiences that night and by Mysterio’s own words, Peter sought out MJ.

Upon finding her he relayed (without specifying details) how he almost died earlier and how this put things into perspective for him. The end result of their talk is that he and MJ finally reconcile.

In the last instalment I spoke about how Peter clearly keeps MJ abreast of most of his super heroics; or at least did when they were married.

Let’s bear that in mind as we consider this specific situation

After years of separation and false starts at reconciliation, the magic has finally been rekindled between them.

It happened the very same night as, and in direct response to, an event involving Mysterio.

An event we already know Peter mentioned to MJ without specifying details.

An event that involved a deliberately public staging of an alien invasion at the heart of Manhattan! An invasion that involved the Avengers no less! And one of whom (Iron Man) MJ worked for until very recently.

Whether that night or soon thereafter it is extremely likely Mary Jane would’ve learned that Mysterio was behind the event in question.

Peter would’ve told her. It beguiles beliefs that he would’ve done otherwise. In the seminal ‘Kraven’s Last Hunt’ storyline Peter was completely missing for two weeks, buried alive by Kraven the Hunter. Within hours of crawling out of the ground Peter reunited with Mary Jane and the dialogue clearly conveys that he informed her what happened off-panel.

Furthermore, in the one shot ‘Soul of the Hunter’ Peter deals with some of the aftermath from ‘Kraven’s Last Hunt’. Specifically he believes he has seen Kraven the Hunter’s ghost. After this encounter Peter’s told MJ what happened, further proving my point. However, his dialogue also implies he regularly confides in her or feels obliged to be honest with her.

Additionally, as discussed last time, off-panel he obviously must’ve told MJ that he confirmed Mysterio’s death.

For the sake of argument though let’s say Peter didn’t elaborate. That being the case, then Mary Jane would’ve likely asked for a little more information.

Peter’s nearly died countless times before and during their separation. But on this specific occasion he was prompted to seek her out. Why? What was so special about this time?

Let’s remember MJ has studied psychology and worked as an actress, both of which entail a healthy dose of inquisitiveness.*

She also has a knack for getting in Peter’s head. This fact was stated and demonstrated as far back as Spec #85 (if not earlier).

Another example of this skill can be found in the ‘Soul of the Hunter’ one shot. In this story MJ recognizes Peter’s guilt and trauma over what Kraven did to him and the hunter’s consequent suicide.

In her younger days MJ also had a curiosity regarding Peter after she initially learned he was Spider-Man. In Untold Tales of Spider-Man #16 displayed this acutely, depicting MJ even following Spidey on one of his adventures.

More poignantly let’s put ourselves in MJ’s shoes for the moment.

The love of your life just randomly showed up at your home, proclaimed they nearly died and now wants to get back together after years apart.

Wouldn’t you want some more details? Wouldn’t scepticism or basic curiosity or concern lead you to discover more?

But let’s severely stretch the suspensions of disbelief. Let’s say that at no point did she nor Peter talk about what led to their reconciliation. Even accepting that, surely Mary Jane would’ve heard about Mysterio’s involvement.

Super powered people are hot news in general. Peter for example was able to reliably make money from selling Spider-Man photos for years. In Mysterio’s case, he was one of the few costumed criminals who actively designed his look and schemes to be attention grabbing. It was pivotal to his plan back in ASM #13 and his entire life has been built around a desire to put on a show and be centre stage.

More importantly, the sheer scale of his crime and the number of heroes involved in combatting it (which included ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’) would’ve been serious news. It would’ve been covered by pretty much any news service Mary Jane cared to consult. That’s not even mentioning just general conversation occurring around MJ during her daily routine.

Basically osmosis would ensure MJ learned of Mysterio’s involvement.

That’d be especially true considering he is a villain she, her lover, her friends and her family have had direct dealings with. If it were Moses Magnum she’d have still found out about it. But to say she would’ve remained in the dark when it was specifically one of Peter’s enemies is ridiculous.

Within MJ’s memory Mysterio isn’t a villain who’d simply be lost in the sea of freaks and weirdos Peter combats. He’d stand out even among them due to various factors:

His duels with Spidey. Spider-Man has battled a lot of costumed villains but when you look at his history he doesn’t actually fight all that many repeatedly. The ones that he does amount to just over two-dozen. It basically amounts to most (but not all) of the villains introduced in the first 50 issues plus several few others, most notably Venom, Carnage, Hobgoblin and Jackal.

His bizarre appearance. Mysterio designed it specifically to be attention grabbing and even amongst Spidey’s regular rogues it’s the most baffling. He wears a fishbowl for a head!

His involvement acts of public terror. These include his TV message from ASM #66 and ‘Ends of the Earth’. The latter was probably the single most global scheme any of Peter’s villains have ever participated in and a highly publicised affair. In fact all six of the villains involved in that would realistically stand out in most anybody’s mind!

The regularity of his fights with Spidey. Mysterio isn’t the Big Wheel or the Hypno-Hustler. He’s one of just over two-dozen foes Peter regularly tangles with.

His personally targeting MJ and her loved ones. MJ was abducted by Mysterio (remember she didn’t know it was actually Berkhart) and lived a fake life as a result. One of MJ’s mother figures had her death faked by Mysterio, which broke the heart of her beloved Aunt Anna. The love of her life was framed by Mysterio early in his career and had his sense of sanity and confidence attacked by him, not to mention his workplace (see FNSM #12). If you wish to count it, Mysterio also faked the death of her ex-boyfriend and long time friend Harry Osborn.

His actions violent actions in ‘Guardian Devil’. Even if one argues MJ only knew what she heard on the news the extreme level of violence Mysterio engaged in was unusual for one of Peter’s foes. The Goblins or the symbiotes might do stuff like that, but most of Peter’s other foes aren’t nearly as bloody as Mysterio was in that story. In fact Mysterio himself hadn’t been prior to that so this would’ve been a surprise. As such this would very likely stick in MJ’s mind on some level.

His suicide. Arguably above anything else he’d done, Beck’s suicide would’ve made him stand out amongst Peter’s foes. Few of Peter’s major enemies have seemingly definitively died and only 3 could be said to have done so by taking their own lives. Considering how Mary Jane isn’t going to be forgetting Kraven in a hurry someone intentionally copying him is inevitably going to stick out to her.

All of which is to say that MJ isn’t going to lose track of who Beck is. She isn’t going to treat him as simply another costumed creep in a city chock full of them.

He might not stick out in her mind in the same ways (or to the same degree) as some of Peter’s other foes. But he’d definitely be among the foes that would stand out to her.

Heading for Hollywood

The fallout of Mysterio’s ‘invasion’ was chronicled in a back-up story in ASM v5 #1, wherein he stands trial. This further proves how serious and public his crime was. But it’s relevance lies in how it contextualizes Beck’s actions going into AMJ.

Mysterio is represented by lawyer Janice Lincoln (secretly a super villainess herself) who tries to get him a lighter sentence on the grounds of insanity.

Abruptly though, everyone (sans Beck) seemingly die as the courtroom is transformed into a nightmarish sight. Mysterio is then confronted by a powerful and demonic figure (eventually referred to as Kindred).

Their consequent conversation heavily implies that following his suicide in ‘Guardian Devil’ Mysterio went to Hell, was recruited by Kindred and resurrected to fulfil a mission on his behalf (the specifics aren’t clarified).

This mission is part of a larger campaign against Spider-Man, whose secret identity both Kindred and Beck are aware of. In fact Beck’s staged alien invasion was intended to dispense with the collected heroes on Kindred’s behalf.

Kindred gave Mysterio one more chance and Beck suddenly found himself back in the courtroom as though nothing had happened.

Convinced of his insanity he was sent to the Ravencroft institute for insane super villains, which is where we find him next in ASM v5 #24-25.

In these issues, we discover that Beck has manipulated his psychiatrist (Dr. Winhorst) into believing he is in fact Mysterio. At the same time Beck has readopted his guise and Dr. Rinehart. As Rinehart, Beck further manipulated Winhorst (dressed as Mysterio) into having a therapy session and nearly revealing Kindred’s real identity. This prompted Kindred to appear and murder Winhorst.

As Rinehart, Beck gave a statement to the police regarding ‘Mysterio’s’ death. This confirmed that the authorities had found a body and at least at that point in time believed it to be the real Mysterio. Since Beck has faked people’s deaths before (including his own) it is entirely plausible that he had the means to fool their methods of verifying the identity of the body. This would be the case even if the authorities used Marvel universe pseudoscience.

However the story never confirms if Mysterio’s death became public knowledge, the police may well have been keeping it quiet as they investigate further.

These are factors to bear in mind when we go forward.

Kindred catches up to Beck and reveals he is fully aware of the attempted deception. He chastises Beck for failing to fulfil his mission for him. Kindred admits though that had Beck done as he was asked he’d have been returned to Hell.

Instead of punishing him though Kindred instead produces a film script Beck wrote. He suggests that in his remaining time alive Beck fulfil his life’s dream and make the film a reality. His rationale for this is that Beck’s goals align with his.

Specifically that in giving Beck what he wants it will somehow deny something to someone else Kindred has a vendetta against. This leaves Beck confused.

In this same issue the new Electro takes an acquaintance of Mary Jane’s hostage and threatens to kill her on social media. Using her acting skills to deceive and distract Electro, Mary Jane manages to rescue her ‘friend’. Her social media performance is lauded and swiftly followed by her old agent contacting her and offering her a role in a new movie by a new writer/director, one who asked for her by name. This is of course Mysterio.

In ASM v5 #29 we see MJ rehearsing the script with Peter, as I mentioned earlier in this essay series. Something else to take note of though is that MJ and Peter mutually praise the script.

Anyway, as the issue proceeds Peter is divided about MJ’s departure. He wants her to be happy and pursue her career but also doesn’t want to lose her (again). Unfortunately Spider-Man business crops up causing him to miss her departure for L.A. There are no hard feelings and the couple are committed to maintaining a temporarily long-distance relationship. Nevertheless, this saddens Peter as we learn he was hoping to propose to Mary Jane.

I bring this issue up because it is not only directly continued in AMJ #1 but it provides potentially important context for our analysis of Beck moving forward.

Beck is making this movie for himself. However, he is fully aware his dangerous demonic overlord wants him to and has a vendetta against Spider-Man; whom Beck also knows is Peter Parker.

Kindred claimed that by allowing Beck to make his movie he’d be denying someone something they want. It is extremely likely that this ‘someone’ is Peter and the ‘something’ being denied is Mary Jane. This is evidenced by Kindred’s portrayal up to this point coupled with the sadness MJ’s departure caused to Peter.

What is a little more debatable is if Mysterio personally wanted MJ in his movie or if he requested her presence on Kindred’s orders. There is no on panel evidence of the latter and Mysterio’s confusion in ASM v5 #25 implies he doesn’t understand how making the movie will help Kindred.

On the other hand Beck is not unintelligent so if he knows Pete is Spidey and that Kindred is targeting him then it’s unlikely he couldn’t deduce Kindred’s meaning. After all, its unlikely that Beck wouldn’t do a little homework and found out the man who famously took photos of Spider-Man also had a long romance with the actress/supermodel Mary Jane Watson.

Furthermore there seems to be little rationale as to why Beck would want Mary Jane in his movie other than due to her connection to Spider-Man. Her acting credits are small and wouldn’t be all that impressive in his eyes. This supports the idea that MJ’s inclusion in the movie was due to Kindred not Beck. Or perhaps her involvement was something Beck wanted but that was due to her connection with Spidey, making her a pawn in his scheme.

Regardless, Mysterio likely knows MJ’s involvement plays heavily into what Kindred wants, even if he hypothetically doesn’t know exactly how. This makes his insistence upon using her unethical and his lack of honesty dangerous to her and her loved ones.

That just about brings us up to speed on Mysterio. Now we’re ready to truly get into the meat of the matter starting with Amazing Mary Jane #1.

*It could be argued this is the rationale behind making her a journalist in other continuities such as the Ultimate Universe or the Gamerverse.

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#Amazing Mary Jane #Mysterio #Quentin Beck #mjwatsonedit #mary jane watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #MJ Watson #Leah Williams #spider-man #peter parker #Brand New Day #Dan Slott #Doctor Octopus #otto octavi #nick spencer #Avengers #Guardians of the Galaxy #Sinister Six

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bigskydreaming · 5 years ago

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I'm not sure if you got my request because i didn't had internet when i sent it, so i'll write it again xd Do you think Dick (and the batboys in general) are famouse like Bruce? Because in the comics there's not any clue about it, i've never seen anyone say something like "oh look! Its Dick Grayson!, y'know, Wayne's first ward/son And its a shame, because reporters would make such a hard life to all of them, it would maka a good narrative tool

Honestly, this is a prime example of that inconsistency I rant about, and also DC’s refusal to just COMMIT on even the most basic aspects of their universe like….uh…how many kids does Batman have.

afhsahfklahsklfhal

Like, you would think that would meet the MINIMUM requirements of “shit you should probably have figured out and make sure everybody’s on the same page with” but DC’s like….nah, that’s not important.

So I mean…..I’m reasonably certain - like this is just my personal belief, but I’d put money on it being right, lol - but I think the primary reason there’s so little mention in the comics of how Bruce’s kids are viewed in the public eye/how much the public are aware of them (in the New 52, at least, as pre-Flashpoint there was a lot more plot around that kind of thing, especially back in the 80s and 90s)……

…is because 90% of the writers and editors have no clue either, and nobody wants to be the one to ask, and like, open that can of worms. I 100% think you could ask five different writers at DC which kids Bruce has OFFICIALLY adopted in this current continuity, and get five different answers, lol.

There’s been so much handwaving about Dick’s status ever since Spyral, and again - I think its because nobody bothered to think through the logistics of the Hypnos/global-mindwipe machine BEFORE writing it into the story, and then once it did occur to any of them to like….wonder just how specifically it worked, they were like, fuck it, better just be as vague as possible. So, according to Grayson, everyone Helena didn’t program into the exclusion list before the satellite was activated should have no recollection of Dick Grayson, which is why he was able to ‘go back to his old life’ and be Nightwing again, without worrying about his secret identity having been unmasked…..

But what does that mean for his official identity as adopted son or even just ward of billionaire Bruce Wayne? People can’t have NO memory of Dick Grayson and still remember that Bruce Wayne took in a kid named Dick Grayson. I mean, as far as I can tell, the overall consensus in the comics seems to be that after the satellite was activated, Dick just kinda started from scratch as ‘Dick Grayson’ like, he was free to be himself again, but it was like he was a blank slate/came out of nowhere as far as everyone else was concerned. But again, that means as far as anyone outside of their close circle of family and friends know….Dick Grayson is a non-entity to Bruce Wayne and the two have no history.

Which I mean, is fairly shitty and you’d think if nothing else, there’d be massive story potential there for delving into Dick’s character and his relationship with Bruce and examining how he felt about ‘having his old life/identity back’….except with the caveat that as far as the world is concerned, his life and identity don’t and have never included his father.

Cut to DC: Naaaaaaaah.

But even WITH that, plot holes persist, and abound, because…..why didn’t the satellite erase the Court of Owls’ knowledge/memory of Dick? Even before Luthor gave Cobb those goggles and files to help him with bringing Ric into the fold, Cobb clearly was already stalking Ric and knew exactly who he was….the Court obviously already had that doctor in place while he was still in recovery…so, whoops. I mean, you could probably come up with an explanation about the Court, via their own tech and resources, having had some protections in place 24/7 that kept the satellite from affecting them even though they weren’t on guard for it specifically…..but again, Occam’s Razor….I feel like the real answer is DC just didn’t care enough to think things that far through. Especially since the average Bludhaven citizen, like Bea, at least didn’t seem totally blown away when Ric revealed to her that amnesia aside, he was supposedly some rich billionaire’s adopted kid….which again suggests that as far as the writers were thinking, people in general are familiar with the idea that Bruce Wayne has more than one kid.

Then you’ve got Jason’s whole situation, and to be honest….I really only have the vaguest idea what’s going on there, because reading Lobdell books is against my religion, and I am a devout and deeply spiritual person, as you all probably can tell. I mean, I know that there’s something going on where like, Jason had himself legally resurrected in the public eye and is openly referring to himself as Bruce Wayne’s formerly-assumed dead foster kid……but like, is that the official official word, or would other writers if you asked them say they’d been operating under the assumption Bruce had adopted Jason too at some point in the Rebirth timeline, or….idek, man.

I…..honestly don’t have the faintest fucking clue what to make of the many back-and-forth retcons about Tim and his parents and his official place in the Batfam/relationship with Bruce, and am actually slightly terrified of even trying to make sense of that clusterfuck of a Gordian knot, so my official stance on Tim is to just like….back sloooooowly away from the anthropomorphic-migraine-masquerading-as-a-backstory, without like….agitating it and accidentally setting off another multiverse Crisis birthed wholly from just that one all-consuming black hole of a retcon.

I mean, there’s a reason I basically just shoehorn all the kids’ official pre-Flashpoint family statuses into anything I write in Rebirth continuity, and that’s not just stubbornness and my refusal to play the “now this kid is adopted…now he’s not…now he is again….except he’s not….oh he’s adopted again…..oh wait now he’s not again" game.

Its like. Also for the sake of my sanity and stuff.

(And also hahahahaha fuck you DC times infinity, every time you use the words “blood son,” or “real family” in a comic, or have one of Bruce’s other kids refer to Bruce as “your father” when talking to Damian, as if that’s not an utterly bizarre and roundabout way for any sibling to refer to their mutual parent and thus I j’ete REFUSE to acknowledge it as valid….ahem, anyway, my point is, every time they do that in a comic, I double down and headcanon Bruce throwing a random as fuck gala for literally no other purpose than to remind all of Gotham that he has half a dozen kids and they’re all better than everyone else’s. Ugh. Kill it. Kill the “blood son” nonsense with fire and lightning and also lots of stabbing maybe).

Anyway, that’s my official stance on DC’s stance on Damian in the books.

Then as far as Cass goes….ugh, her origins were pretty much utterly butchered by the New 52, which IMO has also failed to give us Cass and Bruce bonding and dynamics sufficient to Sate Mine Ire™, sooooooo…..I mean, my perception of the current canon is that Cassandra’s official status is “secret mystery foster child that nobody really knows about,” but because I do not care for that and there’s the whole not sufficiently sated ire thing I mentioned, I officially reject this canon and willfully replace it with pre-Flashpoint Bruce and Cass love and adoption. DC’s welcome to kiss my critically acclaimed hiney if I’m doing it wrong.

Which brings us last, but certainly not least, as its only this way because I go sequentially and Duke is still Shiny and New comparative to the others and will be until the next inevitable fostering/adoption/clone hi-jinks bumps him up the sequential ladder (except I randomly switched Damian and Cass around this time because LOOK I DONT MAKE THE RULES, THERE ARE NO RULES i hvea Adhd hiccup sob leavem e aloooone soooooob)…..

Duke’s official status, much like the rest of the Batkids, can be summed up as Honestly, I Really Don’t Have A Fucking Clue And Am Just Winging This Whole Thing.

I mean, there’s less inconsistency with him, due mostly to the fact that so few writers other than Snyder use him (boo, hiss, and not just because I hate having to give Snyder credit for stuff - look, I love his Duke, but I loathe how he writes Dami, its a thing, I just…don’t get me started). But what inconsistencies there are….well….they’re a bit glaring.

Basically one major storyline showed Duke as being an official foster kid/ward of Bruce’s and living out of the Manor with Bruce and Damian and occasionally Tim when he’s not off road-tripping around the multiverse….and then Batman and the Signal had Duke in the care of his uncle, who was stated to be his legal guardian and Duke was constantly sneaking out in order to meet Bruce in the special Signal-cave he built specifically for Duke to operate out of so he didn’t have to like, drive all the way out to the Manor to change just so he could then drive back into the city and patrol. And then Batman and the Outsiders just said fuck all that, here’s Duke and Cass hopping hemispheres with the Outsiders every other issue, so apparently nobody’s making unscheduled visits anywhere back in Gotham to make sure these two are where they’re legally assumed to be, which again, for the record is…..*error, source not found*

LOLOL and the really fun thing about this little back and forth is I’m pretty sure allllll these conflicting takes are all the work of the same writer. Like. GET ON YOUR OWN PAGE, DUDE.

Also, again I have to assume the “Can’t Be Bothered To Give A Shit, Or Maybe They’re All Just Really Bad At Logic” curse has struck again, because….uhhhh…..

….at no point anywhere in Duke’s stories have I seen Bruce or literally anyone else express concern about the fact that Duke living with Bruce as his official foster, like he definitely and clearly was at some point at least…..means that literally every single one of his We Are Robin friends who knows that he was taken in by the Batfam (and there’s several of them who know this)….like, by the transcendent properties of You Can’t Honestly Think They’re That Dumb, that’s a good five or six civilians out there who probably took all of five seconds to play connect the dots and figure out the Wayne family, having officially taken Duke in on paper…..is pretty likely the Batfamily.

I mean, I like all of Duke’s friends and would definitely headcanon/write them as all being trustworthy and able to keep this knowledge to themselves for Duke’s sake, if nothing else, but I mean, its pretty unprecedented for Bruce to out himself and all of his kids/allies by extension, to like, that many civilian teenagers all in one swoop….

…sooooooo, you’d think, AGAIN, logically, maybe, perhaps, this is the kind of thing that should be brought up in a narrative somewhere as a plot point worth delving into, y’know, just for shits and giggles and maybe a little bit of that whatchamacallit - oh right, character development, but.

Cut to DC: Naaaaaaah.

*throws up hands and does the I Can’t Even Shuffle all the way home*

In conclusion:

DC is a mess. The official/public status of each and every Batkid is a mess. Except for Damian, the blood son, but we have that pencilled in on the schedule to be killed with fire and also stabbing, so he can get filed under ‘just a fucking mess’ with the rest of his siblings. Hashtag Solidarity.

I mean, I say just write or headcanon their official status however you damn well please, and it’ll STILL be more effort than I believe DC has put into organizing and staying consistent with all of this, and thus STILL make more sense than what we currently have to work with.

*Shrugs* If they don’t care enough to provide a clear canon blueprint to follow when mapping the Bat Family Tree, I can’t be bothered to care if the one I make up myself happens to contradict one single mention of one kid’s official status as claimed by one issue of one book.

Especially if it was written by Lobdell.

Jason’s just a foster son my ass. grumble mumble bitter vengeful swears and a pox on all DC’s houses. WHY DO YOU PEOPLE HATE ADOPTION SO MUCH, INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW AND ALSO FUCK YOU.

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insanescriptist · 5 years ago

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I've been wondering for awhile, but between you and Umei, how much of the worldbuilding and information on How Things Work in all the stories is stuff you knew already and stuff you spent a lot of time looking up and investigating? Because it's crazy how detailed all these fics are and its amazingly good

Hmm.. it varies by topic? Generally is it common knowledge (ie does it exist in that world/cannon), hobby knowledge, personal knowledge, inferred knowledge (ie if this is this then that implies that), specific knowledge and what’s needed to be known by the character/audience that determines it. There’s stuff that gets left out that we figure out and I’ll give an example of it later.

Some things we can’t get out of researching, like Umei had to research a lot of the historical customs. Who’s allowed to wear what (status symbols), levels of formality, appropriate behavior... That’s specific knowledge. Specific knowledge that has to be known by the characters even. Because you can’t hand wave everything. Plot says otherwise.

Umei probably didn’t have to do much research on the textile manufacturing -the basics are the same world over, get materia, spin thread etc- because she does knit and it’s not hard to find a book on it or more specific all kinds of sites. As an example, yesterday Iz went to Dollar Tree to buy bags to stick some already bought Christmas presents in and found a nice book called The Practical Spinner’s Guide: Silk by Sara Lamb. Which covers what silk is, varieties, properties, blends, how to spin, equipment to spin it on, dying, working with different dyes, weaving, knitting, other applications and how to care for silk in the first hundred pages. At the Dollar Tree. Where everything is a single dollar (and tax). As Umei knits, she might have already had a resource like that handy. That’s hobby knowledge.

As a different example, let’s see... Squalo. Squalo knows sword techniques. But sword techniques are made specific for each blade type. So his adapted longsword using a technique designed for a katana in KHR canon? There’s going to be a difference in effect because the blade length differs, the shape differs and he’s not even holding his sword technically. It’s common sense if you think about it as you can’t use a rapier like a greatsword but Izzy knew about it from personal knowledge. Iz likes her swords. Izzy may have beat various relatives with wooden mock-ups of different types of swords when she likes thirteen or so. To be fair, they had swords too. Personal knowledge.

Then we get to inferred knowledge, which is based on the common knowledge of the world. Like Fire Temple has Monks; Kakuzu kills one of Asuma’s fellow Guardians. So what religion? Well, Hashirama names his techniques off of Buddhist things and the Uchiha have the Shinto covered but Shinto has Priests. So he had to be Buddhist. Buddhism must exist in the Elemental Nations. That one is Easy. Umei may not have figured it out like that but it means that Buddhist philosophy exists.

Compared to ‘Uzumaki sealing affinity’ which has all kinds of doozy implications. This is Izzy’s thought process about it: We get told that it exists, they were great at it, it was their specialty. We don’t get told a single bit of How or Why. We see fuinjutsu used to store things, we see it used to heal, we see it used to mutilate, we see it used to protect, we see it used to contain, we see it break the boundaries of time and space. These examples we see are from Konoha -mostly- who gets their sealing knowledge from the Senju and thus the Uzumaki. So how did the Uzumaki get the knowledge to do all that? Well, clearly they built up on what previous seal masters had done like Minato with Tobirama’s hirashin. So obviously they have an archive, they have a system for that archive to be useful and the work within to be understood,so they have a bloody School! A school that is used from an early age! Not apprentices, but classes full of students learning fuinjutsu. Which still doesn’t tell you How or Why they learned fuinjutsu or continued with it to make it the Uzumaki clan’s signature. Until you realize that they live on an island -limited space- and so have to use ships -limit space- and that based on where they have to be -somewhere between Kiri and Kumo, the villages with the second and arguably third best seal masters (ask me later that is)- they’re geographically at risk of typhoons. How do I know that? Ame. Ame is practically always drowning in rain, so how is all that moisture in the air there? Air currents push clouds against the mountains, squeezing it out before it gets in Kaze no Kuni or even parts of whatever Earth Nation is. So the wind has to blow in from the ocean. If the world of the Elemental Nations is similar enough to ours then the paths the storms travel would be similar -planetary rotation happens at different speeds depending on location from equator- so assuming that the fucked up peninsula that Fire mostly dominates and Tea is on one end up are geographically similar enough for that to be like Florida turned sideways... Anyway, so weather patterns says typhoons exist and Uzu is at risk of them, which is a great reason to have barrier fuinjutsu. Because it’s not just the wind but the water. Uzu’s an island; they can’t risk what farming land they have so the crops and animals need protection. It’s not just the flooding risk but the salt making the land less arable. Food is a concern. Other goods are also a concern. They probably take a lot of mission pay in foodstuffs and things they just don’t have the land to farm. What would they get paid for regularly and in high demand that could potentially require fuinjutsu? Taking care of typhoons. How? Fuinjutsu. What makes the storm a typhoon/hurricane is the amount of energy gathered and moving; not how fast the storm moves but by how much energy it is blowing out. Containment seal to siphon off excess energy -natural chakra exists and heat is energy too- and reduce the Cat 5 to a Cat 1 or 2? Why yes, various island nations that exist south of Fire and Fire would pay much for that, annually. Also an economic reason that Kumo and Kiri later destroy Uzu because with Uzu saving Fire money by preventing massive storm damages, Fire has more money for its shinobi and other war endeavors and while it wasn’t a problem for the Uzumaki when everyone was still warring clans time, with the shinobi clans unified into villages competing on a national scale... sabotaging the enemy nations by making them have to pay for damages natural disasters could cause is a very valid tactic. Hence why fuinjutsu was also the downfall of the Uzumaki; blaming it on the existence of jinchuriki and the Uzumaki as a threat to them is just laziness.

Oh and all that past the ‘Uzumaki have a school of fuinjutsu’ is not needed to be known by the various characters in Direct Thee to Peace so probably won’t be mentioned ever in fic. But this does explain why the Uzumaki within the Senju have more formal experience and expect Hashirama and Tobirama to understand what ‘as formal as with the Daimyo’ means because the Uzumaki obviously have various Daimyo as clients seeing as how they’re protecting various islands and parts of Fire from typhoons. It also means that while the Uzumaki can’t feed themselves without said missions but that doesn’t mean that they’re poor. It is the Senju that are the poor cousins and it shows rather blatantly sometimes. Which Izzy tries not to laugh about too much. It’s mean to Tobirama.

#Izzy answers #worldbuilding #Naruto #an economical reason to destroy Uzu #because a threat to eight different shinobi #spread out over six villages #is not a reason for two major villages to band together #or at least not for me #not quite sure on the fuinjutsu mechanics of how it would work but some sort of absortion containment array powered by the user's chakra #sounds like a viable explanation to changing the weather by manipulating the amount of energy available #it sounds kinda like bullshit #but if Sasuke can pull a lightning bolt out of a storm #he started with fire jutsu while fighting Itachi #and dissipate the storm then why can't fuinjutsu fuck up a hurricane?

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aspoonofsugar · 5 years ago

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What do you think of Mori's role in BSD?

Hello anon!

I have talked a little bit of Mori and his ability here.

As far as his role in the story goes I think he embodies two things.

1) The mafia.

2) The past.

1) As far as the first point is concerned I would like to highlight the symbolic role of the mafia in the story.

I have talked a little bit about it in the post I linked above:

At the same time, on a macro level, the story needs a resolution of some type between the Mafia and the Ada since it is obvious that the two organizations are linked because of the past of many characters in the ADA being linked to the mafia somehow. Dazai, Yosano and Fukuzawa all have a past which involves one or more members of the mafia, for example.

And here:

The mafiosi are who the detectives could become if they were to completely lose themselves in their most violent and darkest parts, while the HD are who the detectives could become if they were to embrace simplicistic ideals over people. This is also why this arc has been particularly hard on Kunikida since among the members of the ADA he is the one who risks to do so the most.

In other words the mafia is nothing more than the societal structure which organizes and takes charge of those people society doesn’t care about. The mafia symbolically represents the part of the city nobody wants to aknowledge and everybody fears. In other words, it is some kind of macro-representation of a collective jungian shadow.

The tripartic alliance perfectly illustrates this point:

The alliance is based on the collaboration among three organizations each one associated to a specific time of the day.

The Military Police and the Ability Secret Service are associated with daytime because they represent the accepted authority and law. They are who the citizens look up to and they must adhere to the rules and the laws.

The ADA is associated to the evening because they are an in-between the day and the night. They want to preserve the law and try not to act outside of it, but also see its limits and use loopholes and bend the rules to help people. They can look both at the government and at the criminal world critically, but they have also been shown to work well with both.

Finally, the mafia represents the night i.e. something which is totally not bent by the rules of the day. They are that part of society which was in chaos after the war and over which Mori seized control.

The members of the mafia are basically people society gave up on and who have no interest into being re-integrated in it:

Let’s highlight that Hirotsu has “society” among his dislikes and he is one of the oldest members. In short, he embodies why a person prefers spending their whole life in a criminal organization rather than in the respectable world. It is because of a dislike for it.

As far as Mori is concerned he says so:

He claims to love Yokohama even with its dark side and it seems that he has taken upon himself the difficult mission to organize this side of the city. However, the interesting thing is that, under his leadership, the mafia and the underworld have basically become nothing more than a mirror of society and the same abusive structures and dynamics if not worse have been established. However, this is also why Mori has been so successful.

Mori is loved and accepted by his subordinates specifically because he gave the mafia members the illusion that they can be a society on their own. He gives rules to the criminal world and organizes it, so that it can be more tolerable. After all, it is not by chance that the people most loyal to Mori are those who have experienced a much more chaotic world:

At the same time, these people are also somehow convinced of this:

They have accepted the world of the night as the only world where they can live and prefer this world to have some kind of law, so that they can feel more like people.

However, here lies the contradiction of the mafia and of Mori. All in all, this regulation of the world of the night is also what lets this world survive and favours specific dynamics from which both the governement and the mafia gain something, but which have negative impacts on the individual.

Kyouka’s case is a perfect example of that.

All in all, Kyouka is a victim of both the government and the mafia. On one hand the government chose to use her as a scapegoat to protect itself. On the other hand the mafia weaponized her ability.

She is also an example of how these two realities which should stay separate have actually built a twisted and beneficial relationship. The government can use the mafia as a scapegoat and a place where they can recycle individuals they don’t really want to take care of, while the mafia takes these individuals and turns them into pawns.

To summarize, the mafia represents that part of society which should remain hidden and is accepted as long as it does. Mori is the one who made this possible by transforming the underworld in a society he administers and in this way he makes it tolerated, but also makes sure that the true problem behind these people who have not a place to belong is never addressed nor solved. So, in a sense, Mori is weaponizing a social problem.

2) I have talked about BSD addressing a generational conflict in the meta on the Guild Arc whose link is above.

One of the reasons why the integration between the two organizations and in general among the different sides of Yokohama is so difficutl is not only because of the characters’ personal problems (unwillingness to cooperate, old grudges etc.), but also because the younger characters who have the best chance to change things find themselves in a flawed system they inherited by older characters.

All in all the series explores the theme of having to deal with the consequences of one’s parents’ actions (both negative and positive) and the characters all need to make themselves independent from parental and mentor figures, so that they can become their own people.

As that meta makes clear Mori is one of the representative of the old generation. He has contributed to the current peaceful situation Yokohama is in, but at the same time he has also been exploiting other people’s weaknesses.

Simbolically, it is interesting that his ability is the same, but also almost the opposite of Kyouka’s aka the character I used in the already mentioned meta to explore the theme of facing a parent’s legacy.

Both Mori and Kyouka’s abilities consist in guardian entities who protect their host, but who also exhibit specific personalities.

As it has already been stated Demon Snow represents Kyouka’s parents’ legacy which is ambiguous and with which Kyouka has to reconcile.

Elise is instead a child because symbolically she represents Mori’s tendency to manipulate and exploit the weak. She can also represent Mori’s own emotional side which is underdevolped like a child is.

Demon is initially presented as a dangerous and ruthless monster, but turns out to actually have good intentions and to be willing to help Kyouka, while Elise is introduced as a harmless little girl, but she is later revealed to be a violent ability.

This also fits with how Kyouka and Mori themselves are introduced in the series. Kyouka appears as a cold assassin, while Mori as a friendly doctor. However, these appearences are soon subverted.

However, the most interesting thing when it comes to this foiling is this:

Mori has perfect control over Elise to the point that even her current tantrums happen because Mori wants her personality to resemble Yosano’s, while Kyouka can’t influence the Demon’s behaviour and has just recently gained enough control to use her ability without her cellphone.

This perfectly shows where the two characters are in termsof control over their lives and the things around them. Mori is an adult and one of the most influencial people in the city, whereas Kyouka is a child who has been moving from a horrible place to another until she found someone willing to help her.

All in all, Mori is linked to these two concepts and I am expecting for him to be overcome in the end precisely because he embodies them too much. On one hand I think the conflict between the mafia and the ADA should be settled, but it seems difficult as long as Mori is around because his involvement in traumatic episodes concerning Dazai and Yosano’s pasts makes so that him being around makes so that the conflict is always there even if asleep. On the other hand the younger generation should surpass the previous one and do better and this symbolically overlaps with exponents of the old generation leaving the scene either because they die or because they lose power.

Specifically, I think Mori is bound to play a role in Dazai’s arc because of the two of them being obviously foils, as both Fifteen and the Dark Era show.

Mori is who Dazai could have become if Oda’s death had not made him realize something important:

“He’s a friend”

Dazai is as ruthless and as manipulative as Mori is, but he is not ready to give up a genuine and healthy connection he has made and in this way he both learns and shows that he is able to think outside of an utilitaristic mainframe, while Mori is not able to do so. He probably cares about Dazai to an extent, but he won’t develop this emotional attachment into something healthier.

That said, Dazai’s arc in the manga might very well involve him becoming someone completely different from Mori and so overcoming the influence the man has had on Dazai’s life once and for all and solving his personal conflict with the mafia in a positive way.

As a matter of fact, Dazai’s past with the mafia is brought up pretty often and he has left some important relationships unsolved. The one with Akutagawa is probably the most important, but there are also the ones with Chuuya, Koujo and Q who all knew him and have shown different levels of resentment over him leaving the organization.

At the same time, Dazai is trying to recreate a new version of the soukoku partnership he had with Chuuya and in this way he is stepping into Mori’s shoes as the one continuing the “tradition”.

However, I think that shin soukoku will actually answer Mori’s question:

��Only a diamond can polish a diamond. I wanna see for myself if that is true”.

The problem with Mori’s attempt is that it was purely utilitaristic, while I think that Dazai might be willing to make Akutagawa and Atsushi work together both because he needs them to fight against a strong opponent, but also because he might be trying in this way to fix the damage he has made to Akutagawa. It is still a pretty indirect and manipulative attempt, but at least Dazai is recognizing that there is another level to people other than their strengths and weaknesses. And it is probable that Natsume, by talking about diamonds, was referring to people’s interiority rather than to their abilities. In other words, Mori might have attempted to find an answer to Natsume’s words by onlu combining the ability of two people, while Dazai might find a better and more meaningful one by having his mentees develop psychologically thanks to each other.

These are my thoughts so far!

Thank you for the ask!

#bsd #bsd meta #mori ougai #osamu dazai #asksfullofsugar #anonymous

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thepilgrimofwar · 4 years ago

Text

The Fish & The Crows - Edited Roll20 Log

[Back dated to after An Offering unto War, and before An Example]

Dressed in the clothes of merchants and peasants fleeing the war’s start, Lirelle, Vissehn, and the company of Crows made their way across the borders of the Bulkwark and into Dawnveil. Lirelle’s homeland, separated from the Shalemarch and the Goodember Manor by a mountain range that they Dawnveil Guardians knew like the back of their hand. The Manor was built in what used to be a quarry, dug into the mountain side, to create something opulent and somewhat defensible for cheap- Following the Goodember philosophy under Nelio’s rule.

But as defensible as they thought it was, they did not account for the quarry being infiltrated. Joined at the lowest levels by miles of troll tunnels that winded their way through the entire mountain range of the isle. Relics of an ancient past and older wars. Tyrelius, the mercenary captain in charge of his Lord’s security, upon receiving Garris’ letter, doubled his patrols. Grateful for the professional courtesy of the warning. In turn, the honorable captain had not informed anyone else. It would be a battle between the two companies.

[Event Start]

Aravel:"Right. Here's the exit, we'll wait just inside for when you lot are done, yeah?"

Vissehn salutes with his blades. "Yeah, just don't close it afore we get back."

Seria looks towards the youth with some degree of fondness. "I take it you're ready?"

Aravel just laughs. "Of course not. I want to see you march tubby in here, or carry him in like a pig."

Elithys rubs her hands together, gazing at the manor shrouded in darkness and outlined in moonlight. "Time to get to work!" she said under her breath.

Lirelle nods. "In and out. Don't stay any longer than you have to, all we need is the man himself."

Elithys , true to her word, casts a sphere of arcane magic just large enough to blow a hole through the wall, and any unfortunate souls caught within- In itself, it was silent, just not the crumbling of rubble or the screaming of the guards within.

Garris:"Going to need to talk to her about definitions of silent later."

Nelio Goodember continues sleeping soundly. Nonethewiser of the crisis that loomed over him.

Lirelle simply strides up, steps unhurried. Around her hands swirled blackness, and she let it go, the shadows clawing at the guards inside. Garris followed not far behind her, raising the crossbow on his belt.

Vissehn hooked his thumb forward to Seria and started leading them up towards what looked like a delicious entry that did not involve combat just yet.

Tyrelius has been waiting for this moment. Assuming the explosion was no more than a diversion, he calls all men on duty to him, setting up a choke point in the hallway to the bed room of Nelio Goodember.

Lirelle regards the mercenaries in front of her with indifference, but just before she lets loose another torrent of shadow, Garris leans one arm in front of her.

Garris:"Wait wait wait wait. You're all either going to die right here because of the boss, or... We're recruiting."

Tyrelius 's men stare at each other. Retreating behind the gap in the wall. They had been briefed that The Crows were who they were up against. But, no one told them that they were recruiting... "How much is the pay?!"

Garris:"As good as you've heard! Better now since there's less of us for the moment."

Tyrelius 's men look at each other once more, and about half of them shrug, sheathing their weapons and walking outside the manor to the horror of the ones remaining loyal to Goodember's purse.

Lirelle shrugs. That worked out considerably better than she expected. The rest though had made their choice.

Garris looks at those smart enough to leave. "Good choice."

Tyrelius calls for the rest of his men to stand to, then moves to wake Nelio Goodember who was still sleeping through the sounds of battle echoing through the halls "Lord Goodember- Goodember!" He shakes them awake.

Nelio Goodember has a rude awakening. shaken awake by his mercenary captain. "What?! What's going on?! Why are you in my-" he sees about of his house guards armed to the teeth. "Ah. Uh. Is everything under control?"

Vissehn moved on silent feet as their troops slipped through, deeper into the manse. They have one goal here.

Tyrelius:"We're fighting a band that specializes in taking the heads of Lords. So, You best be ready to run when I tell you."

Garris:"Hey, new blood! If you want a cut of tonight's purse get in here and show us your worth."

Vissehn looked to Garris and pursed his lips. Welp. Close enough. "Seria you move forward, I'll support Garris then catch up."

Vissehn sighed. "Fuckin' fatasses wont get out of the way."

Seria walks up to the last of the guards, her daggers slipping out and coated in red faster than they could react. "Apologies. You're in my way." She turns to the rest of them down the hall and smiles, giving them a short bow as by way on introduction.

Garris:"Rest of you are dead or joined, might want to reconsider your banners right about now. I know they aren't paying you enough to die to us."

Tyrelius 's men by the staircase, who wasn't in eyeshot of their commander, look at each other and saunter back up the stairs as if nothing had happened.

"Told you."

Vissehn nods to Seria, and the pair sprint forward towards to Tyrelius, through the gap.

"Last chance afore I have to shoot, fella."

Vissehn waggles the rifle in his hands, finger very obviously on the trigger.

Tyrelius looks to his employer, then back at the battle taking place in the gaps of the manor. The fighting is vicious and the outcome seemed clear to him. "Run!" he yells at Nelio. "Now!"

Vissehn grins. "Boom."

[Vissehn Annihilates a unit of mercenaries down a corridor]

Seria smiles. "Now I really want you to work for me."

Tyrelius 's men fall around him as Vissehn and his men lay down a line of fire. Smoke fills the room as combat further intensifies.

Lirelle:"Tyrelius! Last chance! You and whoever's left can come with us, alive and with heavier pockets."

Tyrelius coughs as the echoes of Garris' voice reach him. "Take care of my men- And don't let anyone say we didn't go down without a fight!"

Garris:"As you wish."

Vissehn:"Oof, what a call to make."

Lirelle simply lets Garris do the talking. Easier that way.

Tyrelius falls. Dying for what he believed was right.

Seria sighs.

Seria:"You could have been useful Tyrelius."

[Nelio Goodember attempts to escape]

Vissehn attempted to block with the barrel of the gun, but the master soldier gets through the guard due to the doorway being restricting.

Nelio Goodember rushes out of his room, and attempts to vault over the balcony railing- But his heel catches on the corner and he trips.

Vissehn curses as he hears the commotion in the bedroom. "Fuck it, deal with this bastard I need to get the fuckin-- the-- Fuck!" He just runs.

[Vissehn catches him at the last moment]

Vissehn:"Gods above what do they -feed- you?!"

Vissehn groans as his arms strain.

Nelio Goodember is too stunned to respond.

Vissehn:"Oof thats a lot of face blood."

Nelio Goodember groans.

Vissehn:"Maybe heal him? He looks like he needs it."

"In more ways that I can count, hhhh"

Nelio Goodember comes back to his senses, and immediately starts struggling again. "UNHAND ME!" He yells as he tries his best to squirm out of Vissehn's grip, not aware of the plunge below- or the fact that he might do so face first.

Vissehn just spits in Nelio's face. Big loogie.

Nelio Goodember:"GAH!"

Lirelle | As Lirelle walks up with Garris, she figures that this could have gone smoother, at least in regards to their target who seemed to be trying to kill is own self for her. As her Second goes to assist the boy, she lets the shadows drip like freezing ink from her hands onto the man below.

Vissehn horks, readying another volley!

Vissehn starts to DROP

Vissehn:"Hey Hey fuck!"

Vissehn falls after Nelio, and just. Clings like a tick.

Nelio Goodember cushions Vissehn's fall.

Vissehn:"Gods I didn't even feel that."

Vissehn pats Nelio's belly.

Lirelle peers over the balcony.

Vissehn:"I'm sure all the ladies say that to you though."

With Goodember safely facedown in a hedge, the mission was deemed a great success. Bound and gagged with roughly new recruits, The Crows make their way back towards Dawnveil through the tunnels.

[Event Ends]

#Epilogue #The Crows #Vissehn

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ineffable-dads · 5 years ago

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For Sale: Baby’s Crib, Never Used

Ineffable Husbands, Ineffable Dads, FLUFF, just them going so soft

Summary: Aziraphale and Crowley get a crib for Isabelle

A/N: Please COMMENT AND REBLOG IF YOU LIKE THIS! Also, let me know if any of you would like to be tagged in up coming one-shots.

Word Count: 1.5K

“Crowley?”

“Hmm?”

“We should probably get a crib.”

The demon blinked in surprise, that statement effectively taking his mind away from the human child safely cradled in his arms.

It had been three months since Isabelle, Izzie, as Crowley kept insisting, had been left on the demon’s doorstep. The ease of the adoption process had been nothing short of a miracle but that was to be expected.

Crowley had initially wanted to avoid the whole business. Isabelle was theirs after all. Official government men in black suits coming around asking questions could be put to rest with the same ease as the angel dealt with suspicious men in black suits poking around his shop. But, Aziraphale insisted humans had rules about this sort of thing. So, Crowley rolled his eyes and signed all the necessary papers when handed to him.

The girl had taken on her father, Mr. Anthony J. Crowley’s last name, with her middle name Agnus, supposedly coming from her other father, Mr. Azira Fell’s, mother. The actual explanation of her middle name coming from a long dead witch who had written a book which contained both nice and accurate prophecies dating from the 1600s up until the remaking of the world, would had been too long and complicated to explain to the perfectly polite, but rather indifferent people at the adoption agency.

In no time at all it was all signed and approved, and Isabelle A. Crowley had found her new home in a top flat in London with a demon and angel as her legal guardians.

From the moment the ink was dry, Aziraphale had spent every waking moment, which was to say, every moment as angels do not need to sleep, reading a researching all the odds and ends required in raising a human child. Crowley, meanwhile, decided to play it by ear; which was to say giving his ear to Aziraphale whenever he found himself stuck.

One of the first things the angel had read was the baby’s need for physical contact. He could hardly go a single article without the mention of what psychological horrors could be wrought on a child without it. He had explained as much to Crowley, which had led to the obvious solution; they just wouldn’t put her down.

Neither he nor Crowley needed to sleep, even if the demon did enjoy the process. Physical strain wasn’t a factor, and both of them could say there was something rather comforting in having a tiny warm bundle tucked against them at all times. The only thing hindering them from holding her 24/7 was the need to use both their hands, and they each had the other to cover them on that score. It seemed all rather taken care of, which was why Crowley felt the need to voice the obvious question.

“What for?”

“Well, I’ve been reading—”

Crowley didn’t bother hiding the roll of his eyes before looking back down at Isabelle.

“He does that too much,” he told her. “Please don’t do that when you’re older.”

“I’m being serious, Crowley,” the angel said before looking down at Isabelle himself. “And please do read too much. It’s good for you.”

Isabelle made no real commitment one way or another, landing on making a general happy sound at her fathers’ voices.

“The point is,” Aziraphale said, getting back on track. “I think it’s important we start putting up some boundaries. She’s going to be crawling soon, and walking, and well, everything else. We need to give her some space, and apparently cribs are a way to help ease the transition.”

Crowley raised an eyebrow. “You were the one who said holding her was the only way she wouldn’t be traumatized.”

“I might have over reacted,” admitted the angel, his face going flush with embarrassment.

Crowley didn’t say anything for a moment, glancing between the angel and Isabelle and back again. The look on the former’s face taking on a slight pout.

“Fine,” he said with a sigh. “Crib. Good. Fine. First thing tomorrow.”

And first thing the next morning they did. Aziraphale strolled into the flat, crib in hand, looking overall rather pleased with himself.

Crowley left him to do his thing, finding at least an hour’s occupation in watching Isabelle attempt to roll over onto her stomach. He didn’t know where the notion kids were only entertaining after they started to talk, the faces Isabelle was pulling told a long and hilarious story all on their own. Inevitably, she had to give up and Crowley decided to indulge in watching Aziraphale attempt to put the crib together.

Some part of him, deep down, knew he could just miracle the crib together or at least lend the angel a hand, but Aziraphale’s own faces were just too good to pass up. Besides, the angel was determined to figure it out on his own.

“She’s still human,” he insisted. “The very least we can do is keep the miracles to a minimum and try to work things out the way humans do. Set a good example, as it were.”

Crowley was tempted to point out that Isabelle was certainly not going to remember any of this by the time they put her down for an afternoon nap and, given he was a demon, he gave into the temptation. Aziraphale then promptly kicked him out of the room, but it turned out to be all for naught. After four hours of tinkering, he came to the conclusion angels were not built for handy work and ended up miracling the cradle together anyway.

Finally, night time fell and it was time to test if the angel’s efforts had paid off.

It all went off rather smoothly. Aziraphale wrapped Isabelle tightly in a blanket just as the articles instructed and soon enough her eyes were closed as she drifted off to sleep. They each left the room, the angel smiling in self-satisfied pride. Crowley, however, could not quite join him.

While it was rather nice to have both arms back to himself again, there was a definite oddness to it. He was reminded of when he first started regularly taking human form. There was a learning curve to the coordination and function of his various limbs. In a way, he was back to square one, having to adjust to having two functioning hands as opposed to just the one. And to be honest, he wasn’t sure if he completely liked it. However, he didn’t dare voice these thoughts aloud, not even to Aziraphale. He did have a reputation to uphold after all.

Eventually he decided to get some sleep of his own to keep his mind off things. Or rather, he tried. His mind kept drifting in and out of consciousness, his entire body on edge as his ears strained to hear Isabelle from the other room. This would all be much easier if he was just holding her.

Before he could give the matter anymore thought, he slipped out of bed and walked towards Isabelle’s room. He went to open the door, but hesitated when he saw a shadow coming from just underneath the door. Carefully as to not make a sound, he pushed the door open. On the other side stood Aziraphale, holding Isabelle gently in his arms.

Crowley had to smirk as he leaned casually against the door frame.

“Interrupting something?”

The angel gave a slight jump before his features took on a guilty look.

“She was crying,” he lamely defended.

A lie, but Crowley decided not to point it out and only held his hands up in surrender. “No judgement angel.”

Aziraphale nodded and gave one of those unsure smiles he always gave when he remembered Crowley was a demon and therefor his word needed to be taken with a grain of salt.

“Shouldn’t you put her back to bed,” suggested Crowley.

“Oh, not yet, I think,” Aziraphale said a little absent mindedly. “I only just got her to sleep. Maybe I should just stay here for a while.”

It was getting harder and harder for Crowley not to laugh. “Not bad thinking.”

Aziraphale didn’t say anything for a moment. The fretting look on his face only getting worse as he gazed down at the child in his arms. “Oh I do hope I’m not doing the wrong thing.”

It was said quietly, more to himself than anyone, but Crowley heard it all the same. The urge to laugh faded as an odd, reassuring warmth came to his chest. The kind that comes when you realize there’s someone else in the boat with you with the other paddle.

“Oh, you’re an angel,” Crowley said. “I don’t think you can do the wrong thing.”

Aziraphale smiled, properly this time, as the memory of their first meeting came back to him. It would all be alright.

Years later, the angel and demon would put an advert in the paper reading; For sale: Baby’s Crib, Never Used.

And Hemingway’s ghost rose from the grave, only to roll back over pretending not to be put out.

#ineffable husbands #crowley #aziraphale #good omens #crowley x aziraphale #ineffable dads #isabelle crowley

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fulgensun · 5 years ago

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𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑯𝑬𝑬𝑻.

repost, don’t reblog

BASICS.

full name. Tidus pronunciation. Teedus nickname. Ace, Star Player, Jecht’s son gender. Male (he/him) height. 5′9″ or 175 cm age. 17-18 && 20 in ‘Will’ zodiac. His true date of birth is unknown, so we can’t be sure. if we follow the trend of also Zidane and Squall etc DOBs, Tidus would be born on October 10th and be a Libra. but given he’d be the most dysfunctional Libra ever I personally doubt it ahah I headcanon him being born on July 19th, the day FFX was first released, so his zodiac sign here would be Cancer. spoken languages. Common Spiran which is the same language spoken in his Zanarkand, tiny bits of Al Bhed learnt during the pilgrimage.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

hair color. Dark blond with brown roots. As a child, he had light-brown hair. eye color. Sea-blue irises, the same as his mother’s. skin tone. Quite tanned, mostly the result of hours spent outside - probably practising under the sun. Actually, he isn’t fair-skinned even as a child - nor his parents seem to present a particular pale tone of skin which may have genetic reasons involved, but teen/adult Tidus would still be more tanned than he himself looked like as a seven-year-old boy. body type. He has an athletic built, which comes from his years of swimming and blitzball practice. He’s a little underweight for his height and age, though. At the age of seventeen, Tidus’ muscle form is already very defined and toned. accent. Tidus present a rather funny and child-like sounding accent most of the time - or when he’s not being too serious or firm; for example, his original dub has him ending sentences in --SSU, which is a very informal and friendly deflexion, also used by very young people. That makes it sound like he sometimes changes words in a rather playful manner (in the japanese dub), which would simply translate in him just sounding very informal. voice. He has a very sharp voice, that leans on higher tones when he’s relaxed or excited. When more serious, instead, he tends to drop some tones in his voice pitch, but he doesn’t really notice it, and when he does it doesn’t bother Tidus. dominant hand. He is right-handed, he’s seen throwing the ball in Blitz with that and he is also seen mostly kicking the ball with his right leg too. posture. He’s an athlete, swimming agonistically has proved to make back muscles stronger and firmer, so standing correctly straight comes as something natural and effortless to him. Still, Tidus tends to slouch forward very often when he sits, it’s very rare to see him sitting straight anywhere when he’s made wait long periods of time or when he’s particularly bored. In those cases, he really looks nothing like the athlete he is -- as he props his weight whenever it feels more comfortable. scars. Nothing major or too visible like his father, the few scars he’d have would mainly be the result of the most physical Blitz matches he has attended or just peculiar and tougher battles fought during the pilgrimage. tattoos. // birthmarks. // most noticeable feature(s). His vivid eye-color, probably the contrast between skin tone and hair color too; weird clothes for Spiran standards.

CHILDHOOD.

place of birth. Dream Zanarkand. hometown. Dream Zanarkand. birth weight. 7 pounds. birth height. Around 20 inches. manner of birth. Natural birth. first words. The common ones all toddlers learn first, or his own name. siblings. // parents. Unnamed mother and Jecht (father) parental involvement. His mother would difficultly care and hardly give proper attention to the young Tidus whenever her husband was home from work; she was still a very docile and gentle figure to the boy, a composed yet often distracted kind of mother. She’d often cater all her strengths and attentions to Jecht, sometimes ignoring or neglecting the child’s cries or pleas till her husband would make her notice at last; as a child, Tidus simply didn’t notice this side of her or chose to forget about it, thinking instead his father would keep her away from him on purpose to monopolize her affection - a fact that did add to his childish reasons to hate Jecht. His father would be home for way less time than Tidus’ mother, because of his work. He was a rougher and brusque type of parent and despite loving his son, he could never express it clearly nor found a way to show him. Still, his father was somehow the one who sparkled in Tidus his sense of competitiveness and his passion for blitzball, no matter if the man would often verbally belittle his weak son’s poor attempts with a ball – that’s the type of father Tidus has believed to know. Still, Jecht was involved in his growth, the novel even reveals it was him who taught Tidus how to swim as a child. Once Jecht disappeared and was believed dead by his fans and city, Tidus’ mother fell chronically ill and depressed, ceasing to care or tend to her son. She died of sheer heartbreak shortly after Auron came to Zanarkand to become Tidus’ guardian.

ADULT LIFE.

occupation. Ace Player of the Abes Team back in Dream Zanarkand; Guardian when brought to Spira; post X-2, Tidus returns being a Blitzball player (most likely playing for the Aurochs) and quickly regains his once-lost fame and popularity. current residence. Verse dependent. Dream Zanarkand before the events of FFX. Right after X-2, Besaid, but it is heavily implied he left the island to move to Bevelle a couple of years later his return, living near what’s called Mika-Road, the recently built street which leads to the new blitz stadium. close friends. Yuna, Wakka, Rikku, Auron, Kimahri, Lulu. A part of me really wants to add Clasko to this, too, while he’s obviously not as close as the others for Tidus. relationship status. Canon-ly speaking, in a relationship with Yuna. financial status. I’d say, he’s in the financial middle class. Considering Spira’s hierarchy, nothing can really top the clergy, the monks, the priests and priestesses, not to mention the ex Maesters which I would consider the higher class. As Blitzball is considered an integral part of Spira, but it is not a humble job, that’s the class he would be part of. driver’s license. Dream Zanarkand had cars and all but I guess he never got a license back there, and that kind of stuff just don’t exist in Spira; he has the chocobo riding license, haha, directly earned it through Calm Lands weird races. criminal record. By Spiran Temple standards and teachings, he’s accused of heresy for having entered the sacred Cloisters when still not a guardian twice; he’s also accused of having conspired with Al Bhed and joined their insurrection back at Home, and of having interrupted an important Yevon wedding in the holy capital. He’s also accused of having opposed and most likely killed warrior monks during the wedding crash, not to count Guado guards in Macalania and Home. He escaped prison and became a ‘most wanted’, too, with a bounty on his head. Plus, opposing Yunalesca and Yu Yevon could be associated with blasphemy. He did partake in the murder of Seymour, a Maester of Yevon, not to mention the fact Spira did believe Tidus and the others had killed Kinoc too. I guess the accusations all fell with the following crisis of the Temple and the disappearance of Sin but… vices. Being too loud, daydreaming, being too impatient. Pride.

SEX & ROMANCE.

sexual orientation. Heterosexual romantic orientation. Heteroromantic preferred emotional role. submissive | dominant | switch preferred sexual role. submissive | dominant | switch (?) libido. Average for his age and curiosity, I guess. A little above that if we consider the novel. turn on’s. // turn off’s. // love language. He’s anything but subtle when it comes to relationships and partners, even to a fault sometimes. He is a deeply affectionate boy despite the way he was raised, so he likes to prove it physically: hugs, hand-holding, pecks, kisses - love and tender signs and gestures, little favors and gifts, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. On a darker note, I guess it’s to be expected given his fear of loss and abandonment, but his love language is sincere nonetheless. relationship tendencies. He was and is still seen as a charismatic boy. At home, he’d have many fans and girls fawning over him at every given occasion over him (and his bond with Jecht) - and while the attention is something that did fuel him, sorta, I bet it was something that was seen as a way to get into first relationships. Maybe even out of fear of solitude. It changes once he leaves Zanarkand for good, I guess his devotion for Yuna speaks louder than any other word.

MISCELLANEOUS.

character’s theme song. X hobbies to pass time. Swimming, playing blitzball, cooking and eating, reading Al Bhed primers, practising fighting and time-related spells, napping, daydreaming. mental illnesses. Anxiety disorders, fear of abandonment. physical illnesses. // left or right-brained. Right-brained. fears. Loneliness, to disappear, abandonment, silence. self-confidence level. It’s a rollercoaster... it goes from high to low depending on both situation and mood. vulnerabilities. To be considered weak, or too emotive. Also... Yuna?

tagged by: ......... i stole. ohohhhh tagging: @painsrequiem @sunstolen @sabazio / @exciofides and whoever else

#▐┊ about.#long post #[ back at it again. with the long. hc posts ]#[ old habits die hard ]

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