#he was a rock star now he's a super hero

[heybiji]

sketching a ttrpg npc that has yet to show up on screen yet. i'm well.

[call-me-strega]

Dc x Dp Prompt #24: The Midwest Prince(ss)

Danny is a Singer/Siren/Banshee au where he’s basically a Chappel Roan-type figure.( Also, I'm Dead on Main trash so Strangers-to-Friends-to-Lovers, Celebrity x Civilian romance for two of my favorite boys)

Danny’s Ghostly Wail develops into vocal manipulation bc he’s a siren or banshee. Ember teaches him to sing and control the power. He finds music is a good outlet for his emotions and decides to pursue music as Danny. It takes him a few years but he develops a style and brand that he bases off the Realms. However, he doesn’t anyone to connect him to Phantom so he uses parts of his ancestors’ names to become “Walker Gale”(shout out to my beautiful mutual @mirigold-mayflowers for helping me pick that name), ordinary small-town midwestern boy turned Music Icon. He hires Val as his personal bodyguard, Sam as his manager, and Tucker as his head stage tech.

He dresses in really campy clothes the low-key mimic his ghost form as well as other ghosts he’s met. The outfits change to match the vibe of the song. So a rock ballad with an outfit inspired by Ember, Show Tunes-Murder Mystery-type-beat with a costume for Amorpho, EDM-techno-hyperpop themed song styled after Technus or Skulker, etc. He just has a lot of fun experimenting with his appearance and he’s an icon for it. He even makes friends with Star and Paulina through this and they give him feedback and help with new looks. The eventually join the team as his PR and Styling team.

Since he’s a banshee/siren all his songs have this underlying despair/sadness even if they have a fun and bubbly beat. He also references his feelings about being/hiding as Phantom and being partially dead and shit but vaguely so no one actually knows or assumes it’s a metaphor. Many of the themes are actually things lgbtq people identify with, specifically trans and bi fans. He also references battles he’s fought and ppl assumes he’s talking about mental illness or abuse which attracts another category of fans altogether. Again inspired by Chappel Roan his first album his called "The Ascent and Downfall of a Midwest Prince" gaining him the nickname the "Midwest Prince".

He’s weird and unfiltered and full of emotion and he gains a few fans in the hero community too. Raven and Zatanna start a fan club for him, well aware he’s some type of banshee/siren but knowing that the extent of his powers are being used to deliver beautiful performances. The are staunch supporters of him and his music and spread it to their friends. The current fan club is Co-Presidents Zatanna + Raven, VP Greta(Secret, a.k.a: a ghost hero), Starfire, Bart, Cassie, Tim, Kon + Jon, Steph, Cass, and Billy.

His identifying features are a signature make-up look and white underdye (when the color is on the underside of the hair). He’s grown his hair longer so it’s not super visible when he has it down and not styled. He also looks different without make-up so he can totally go unrecognized in public and live life semi-normal (as normal as a half-ghost vigilante powerhouse superstar can be). He actually planned it to be that way so that he could still go to college and stuff even though he’s doing it mostly online. All this to say that Danny has low-key got a Hannah Montana thing going on. Also, let's mix it up a bit and say he's based in Star City.

One day Danny goes to a second-hand book store because he's looking for a cheap textbook when he bumps into an absolute hunk of a man who doesn't seem to recognize him. Jason had been in Star City to visit Roy and Lian. He stopped at a second-hand bookstore to see if he look for some older editions of books (one time he found a second edition copy of Persuasion so he likes to peruse) and ran into a super pretty boy who made his chest feel funny and doesn't realize he's a Wayne. They got to talking about started really connecting. They decided to exchange numbers and kept in touch, meeting up every now and then when they had the chance. Danny gave him his private social media accounts so Jason never learned much more beyond that Danny worked in the music industry but not his exact role in it.

Eventually Danny moves to Gotham, either bc he switched labels or to be closer to Jazz whose doing her doctorate thesis on reforms that need to be made in Arkham. He and Jason begin meeting up in person more frequently and start catching feelings. Danny really wants to ask him out but feels sleazy doing it without telling Jason about his past and superstar alter ego. However, he also doesn't want to lose the mostly normal friendship they have. On the flipside Jason wants to date Danny but doesn't want to drag him into the life of a vigilante or the life of a Wayne. Both of them Pine and Agonize over this. In the end Danny decides to bite the bullet and tell Jason who he is, every part of who he is. He invites Jason over for a movie night and tells him he's got something important to tell Jason.

That same day Starfire decides to introduce Walker Gale's work to the other Outlaws and Jason really resonates with his work. He identifies with the lyrics on a literal and physical level and recognizes the underlying emotions that usually only other ghosts or liminals can. Starfire overjoyed that her friend likes his music decides to show Jason some of his music videos and photos. Jason, not being blind or an idiot, recognizes not only the props and costumes but his crushes face under that (very well done) make-up.

Jason is stunned and conflicted: it’s not like Danny lied to him about who he was, but he was entirely truthful either. Did he assume Jason knew? Or did he just not trust Jason? Why did he even bother with Jason, a seemingly regular guy, if he had such a claim to fame? And Jason keeps listening to his music and it’s speaks to him the same way hanging out with Danny does, making him feel seen and connected. It makes him all the more sure that someone incredible as Danny doesn’t need someone like Jason. He heads to Danny’s place that night very subdued.

He gets to Danny’s place and the smile that greets him twists him up inside. He puts on a mask and tries to act normal but Danny can tell somethings up but persists as he has made up his mind to be clear with Jason. He sits him down and tells him there is something important he wants to tell Jason. He starts by letting Jason know that he cares about him very much and appreciates the normality and closeness of their friendship. He confesses that he doesn't normally get that bc well, he's the superstar "Walker Gale". Danny goes onto say that the reason he didn't say anything earlier was because he treasures the simplicity of what he had with Jason and the reason he's telling him now is because he couldn't continue a relationship that he wants more from without being completely honest.

Jason's heart thunders in his chest and he stares at Danny with a slightly constipated look. Danny asks Jason what's wrong and on an impulse Jason word vomits his feelings. That he actually found out through a friend earlier today, that he really connected to his music the same way he did with Danny, that he's never felt seen the way Danny sees through him, that he's never felt the same way as deeply before, that he's completely and utterly in love with Danny but was scared to say anything and get him involved with his crazy life and the Waynes. And Danny sits and listens shellshocked.

And the only thing Danny can think to do is kiss this incredible boy senseless and tell him that if he likes him back then they can figure it out.

[savnofilter]

Oh wow,,, to be Stain's younger sister and found by Tenya then fucked brutally as savage revenge against your brother

                   tenya iida x [afab] reader

warning(s): sexual content, revenge sex, degradation, dumbification if you squint, reader fucked stupid, hate fucking, begging, cervix trope.

read more: masterlist | student masterlist

a/n: this has sit in my drafts for so long but ive finally thought of an idea. if you dont like rough & mean fucking this not for yew. thank you anon!

your brain felt as though it was turning into mush.

the simple act of keeping your eyes shut only aided slightly in trying to keep yourself from totally losing it. your mouth is agape, drool running down the side of your mouth and your head is hung low. your body rocks violently back and forth as your ass has no choice but to meet the harsh thrusts of the navy blue haired hero behind you.

you couldn't even moan. the force at which his cock piston in-and-out of your sopping cunt was a testament to how much you secretly desired this—despite the circumstances on which why this is happening to begin with.

you had heard him spit something out at you, but you had no more braincells left to respond, much less hear whatever he said. Ingenium's hands gripped at your delicate skin, the taught texture of his gloves creating an uncomfortable sensation similar to a rug burn. each time he brought your back against him, he used his hold on your arms to force you back onto his cock.

"Speech--less, huh?" at least, that's what you think he said. you groan in response, tears brimming at your eyes when you feel him adjust his hips slightly, his length now brushing at your g-spot and now aiming to fit the rest of his cock within your cunt. "Dumb bitch."

after all of these years, you would have thought that you could have been untraceable to your mock-vigilante brother, Stain. which the man had apparently traumatized one of the newest super heroes years ago before he could make a proper name for himself. the man new aged past that point, it's almost ridiculous with how much anger and passion he has to nearly fuck your brains out.

when you came home, that's where Ingenium—the youngest of two brothers—waited for you. he had started patient with before getting aggressive very fast. to be honest you weren't too sure how you ended up with his huge cock stuffed within you, but the outcome was very much appreciated. your brother's actions led you to this point and you're honestly not too sure that you're complaining. except maybe for the fact when you presumably wake up in the morning, you'd be sore all over, nauseous and dirty with all the fluids from tonight.

you whimper trying to signal him that yet another orgasm was about to cum, but he ignored your protests. small sobs escape your lips upon the sensation of his tip now pocking at your cervix at each thrust.

"P..lease!" you slur out. you could feel your walls quiver, your body readying for yet another orgasm brought upon from the man behind you.

as if Ingenium couldn't hear you, or give a fuck, he brings you back against his cock harsher, the impact bringing stars into your vision. a shriek leaves your mouth as you finish once again, a deep shiver racking through body as his pace never lets up. at this rate you weren't sure when he was going to finish.

you just hope that your brother will forgive you if he ever found out...

    all rights reserved © do NOT steal, alter or copy this work.

[casualaruanienjoyer]

Where would these Aot characters take you on a date?

Armin: The beach. Obviously! This man is in LOVE with the ocean, but somehow today he's not gazing at the waves. He's gazing at you! This is why he ends up tripping on a rock and landing face first in the water.

Mikasa: A fun walk through a market. She loves checking out things she hasn't tried yet with you. You end up buying so many goodies that Mikasa has to carry them for you...with her strong arms...

Jean: A romantic dinner. It's a 5 star restaurant, amazing food, specially picked table. He's even wearing a suit. It would be great....if he didn't book the wrong date.

Connie: The cinema! Big fun action movie with awesome super heroes fighting bad guys and he keeps going on and on about cameos... you fall asleep halfway through and he steals your popcorn.

Eren: An arcade! You two spend hours and hours playing all sorts of games together, and you beat Eren every time. He does manage to win you a cute plushie at the crane machine....after god knows how many coins were inserted.

Levi: Takes you on a cruise/boat trip down the canal, coffee and tea included. It's very nice and quiet and there aren't many other people on board. He steals a kiss from you as you're busy admiting the sights.

Hange: TO THE MUSEUM! You spend so many hours making fun of stupid looking statues and paintings. Hange gets a bit too close to one of the exhibits and triggers the alarms. You run away before security catches you.

Pieck: Escape room. But unlike the usual, Pieck is doing everything in her power to make sure YOU don't escape her. You get kicked out for making out in the escape room.

Onyankopon: He has the same idea as Levi, but you two are late to the cruise... so instead he rents a swan boat and you end up paddling around a lake. It's so hilarious and your cheeks hurt from laughing at all his fun stories.

Reiner: You two go for a walk in the park. You feed a squirrel for the first time and that makes you incredibly excited.... until you notice Reiner being chased around by a group of angry swans. He's heading towards you. RUN!

Annie: she didn't outright invite you here, but you found a note in your bag asking you to come to this dessert shop at 1pm, so you did. You didn't expect to find Annie here, waiting for you. She threatens you into buying her one of each dessert available and you go broke.

Sasha: Somehow you end up at a buffet together, typical. You have no idea how many plates you've already eaten and end up in a food coma. Next time, you're choosing the place!

Yelena: Axe throwing bar. Is this really a date? You keep asking this question in your head over and over again as Yelena throws axe after axe towards you.

Zeke: Zoo! It's been really fun seeing lots of animals you've never seen before. But you spend an awful amount of time at the monkey enclosure. Zeke ends up freeing some of them and you two are now wanted by the police. Great.

[kkeidawrites]

Toy Enigma

Welcome to Day 16 of Blacktober!

On a warm night in Autumn, the famous man of steel flew overhead of the city of Metropolis, keeping an eye and ear out for any suspicious activity that could occur.

Superman keeps his watchful eye on the city and at times he wished that the city would stay this way like tonight but, by living in said city that was wishful thinking.

Without paying any attention to what is in front of him, Superman is slapped in the face by a metal pole. He shakes his head to get himself together and forward to see Toyman causing usual mayhem in uptown Metropolis. That blasted giant robot that he would normally use was twice as big as the last one he designed.

Flying faster in order to stop him, Superman uses his x-ray vision to see where Toyman was and saw he was encased in the dome of the robot. In one clawed hand the robot held a blaster in one hand and used it to blast green orbs into the buildings he would stomp through.

Superman uses his laser vision to destroy the blaster and punches the chest area of the robot. Toyman rocks back and forth in his car seat and glares angrily through the glass window he sat behind.

“Annoying, Superman! You’re ruining my fun!” He uses the levers and pulls the left one down so it would make the right hand of the robot swat at the hero in red and blue.

Superman dodged the clawed hand and uses his laser vision again to make a dent in front of the robot. It didn’t do a thing and Superman grits his teeth in frustration.

The clawed hand tries to make a grab at him but Superman dodged again and punches the robot once more.

It stumbles backward, destroying the cars below him and creating some explosions from the crushed cars. This became an issue, as the explosions started fires below the robot. Superman was in a tight position here, with this robot in the way, firefighters wouldn’t be able to help battle the fires nor help any people trapped.

“Yoo-hoo, Superman! You should really pay attention to your playmate!” Toyman taunts and was finally able to grab Superman in his clawed hand. Superman struggles to free himself but, it was useless.

Superman needed help and fast. The people below watched on in distress as their hero was being held captive.

“Superman!” A man gasps in disbelief.

“Come on, fight back! You can take him!” Another citizen calls out.

It didn’t do much for the man of steel as the clawed hand seemed to tighten its hold around his middle. Superman groans in slight pain and glares at Toyman who laughed manically.

“You like it? I was able to make my new toy out of magic alloy, a little tip I was able to get from a very good friend of yours. I’m sure you know him well, Superman!” Toyman says places his hand on his cheeks.

“Luthor.” Superman hisses and groans in pain.

“Ohhh a gold star for you! Now, I will be able to know if you can break in half like an action figure!” Toyman presses a button and this activates the robot’s hand to start squeezing harder.

Superman begins screaming in pain but still struggles to get out of his grip.

Just in a nick of time, a grey beam cuts the hand holding Superman and this slacks the pressure off the hero to get out. Looking behind him, Superman sees a brown skinned woman levitating. He hadn’t seen her before and took in her fit. Her brown-red hair is partially translucent, and rippling along with her eyes glowing a grey color. She wore a tight grey and blue one piece unitard jumpsuit, with her breasts peaking out and a grey mask.

She flies by the speechless Superman and uses her powers to take out the left leg of the robot, making it get down on one knee.

“Help the people below, I’ll take care of the robot.” She says and Superman nods.

He flies down to where the fires were beginning to spread and uses his super breath to extinguish the flames, even picking up the fire trucks that were finally able to get pass the carnage, to the buildings where they can help civilians.

“We’ll take it from here, Superman! You go and help that lady stop that thing.” A firefighter tells him and Superman salutes him then flies off to return to the robot battle.

Toyman tries to use his other weapons installed in his robot to destroy the fleeting woman but, it was all taken out by said woman. Using her beams again, she slices off the other leg of the robot, and just in time Superman punches the robot’s remaining upper body and uses his foot to kick the glass.

Toyman yells in fear as he’s grabbed by the front of his purple shirt and lifted out of the robot. The woman blasts an orb into the husk robot and it destroys it completely.

Citizens below yell in delight and cheer for the heroic duo. Superman slowly floats down to the street and hands over Toyman to the police that were on standby.

Reporters were already swarming him as soon as he had turned around and of course, the one in front is none other than Lois Lane.

“Superman, after that struggle with Toyman who is the woman that helped you?” She asks and Superman glances over his shoulder to where the woman was last seen but, she had already disappeared.

“I don’t know.” He says.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The next couple of days pass by and Superman had donned his human persona, Clark Kent at a fashion show event he needed to attend to get the scoop on the latest for his upcoming article.

Fixing his glasses, Clark fishes through his pocket to get a pen for his notepad but, couldn’t feel one on him.

“Clark Kent, you’re a familiar face that I wasn’t expecting to see tonight.” He looks up to see Lana Lang walk up to him, and puts a hand on her hip with a smile beaming at him.

Clark blinks in disbelief at whom he was seeing and a smile forms on his lips.

“Lana, I haven’t seen you in Metropolis in two years! How’s Paris?” Clark asks as the two old friends hug.

“Eh, oui, oui, this and that but, the food is exquisite. You should fly over there sometime and try it.” She whispers the last part to him and Clark chuckles.

“Been to Paris, the portions aren’t quite enough for me I’m afraid.” He says.

“Oh, well since you’re here, I would like to introduce you to one of our newest models for Lana Lang Fashions. I know you’re here for the big scoop and I’m sure you’d want to know what it is.” Lana grabs his arm and practically drags him to one of the designated dressing rooms.

Knocking, Lana hears a woman tell them to enter and the two walk into the dressing room.

A brown skinned woman sat at the plush pink vanity in the room, wearing a grey robe and matching slippers and looks up from the mirror to her guests.

“Y/n, this here is my old friend Clark-“

“Kent. Yes, I’m quite familiar with the infamous reporter of the Daily Planet.” She swivels around in her seat to face forward with the two, her brown-red hair pulled away in a updo of hair clips as she brushed at another section of her hair. Black eyes take in the two, as she adjusts the shoulder of her robe to fix.

“Even more so that I would be seeing the one and only Superman in person, once again.” Y/n smirks smugly and both Lana and Clark eyes widen in surprise. Clark is quick to point a glare at Lana who jumped in surprise.

“Lana!” Clark barks and Lana puts up her hands defensively.

“I hadn’t told a soul, Clark I swear!” Lana exclaims.

“Calm down, I figured it out myself. Lana didn’t say anything, and I believe we’ve already met, eh Superman?” She says and puts down her brush. She uses her right hand to illuminate the familiar grey glow of her powers and levitates a nearby shoe.

The two stare in a stunned silence, and were forced to walk into the room more as the door closed behind them.

“I think we have some things to discuss, don’t we Clark?” Y/n says and puts her left leg over her right.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Enjoy and thanks for reading! Be sure to like, reblog, follow and comment!

Let me know if you guys want a part 2!

[boundlessentity]

Everyone needs to go see You’re Next asap because it was incredible and I was grinning like a stupid little idiot the whole time. I immediately need to go watch it in Japanese with subtitles.

Anyways, here are some of my thoughts! My memory is terrible though so they’ll probably be a little out of order and I’ll probably miss a bit. That’s fine though, it’s not plot analysis.

Spoilers below the cut!

The intro sequence was pretty cool actually

Heehee screen time for Sero! And Ojiro gets to talk and show off that he can actually do stuff! Underrated character appreciation time🥰

Immediate Star Wars reference, I see…

Drinking tea with a picture of a pretty girl. OH WAIT HE WAS MAKING TEA FOR THE PICTURE BECAUSE THATS WHAT HE USED TO DO FOR HER AND NOT JUST BECAUSE HES FANCY I GET IT NOW

Iida using Bakugou’s entire hero name only for people to immediately shit on it for being so long is hilarious and everyone should do it more

This man is #notmyallmight and tbh pretty ugly? Like I didn’t think I would miss all of the deep creases and heavy shadows on All Might’s face but he looks weird without them.

The goth woman in the spider web dress is kinda pretty actually I vibe with it

Ooooo pretty lights! I don’t feel so good, Mr. Stark…

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, Izuku sleeps tonight…

He’s like “okay phew I’m good I’m stable like this” and immediately plummets to his doom. Like that whole sequence in the tube was so funny, and then you think it’s over but it’s snowball time! Plus Soggy Deku is adorable, he looks like a wet cat (affectionate)

“I’ve never been so insulted so politely?!”

They did my boy Kaminari SO dirty throughout this whole movie but I was especially disappointed at this part. Mineta I understand, even after they toned him down in the 6th season, he’s still a pervert. But Kaminari is so much deeper than that and has had so much character development, and they decided the perfect happy little daydream for him would be women in bikinis? No way. What little we did see of him in the movie was so shallow.

The other daydreams though? Hoo boy😮‍💨

Todoroki’s perfect daydream is him with his family, being happy. Him, scarless, playing with all of his siblings INCLUDING TOUYA while his happy parents sit together and watch them with a smile. I swear if that little scene was on screen any longer I might have teared up.

Shouji’s too, like oh my god. His is a world where he was accepted for who he is and he and the little girl are happy and he doesn’t feel like he has to hide his face behind a mask because he never got the scars in the first place😢

Idia’s being him and Tenya being heroes together. Because that was his dream. And he can’t have it anymore.

Momo you’re adorable, please never change

Deku’s being him with all of the All Might merch and a hero who believed in his dreams from the start🥲 and then OFA User 1 snapping him out of it? Vestiges for the win, again

Speaking of, I love how much they had him using all of the vestiges’ quirks throughout the movie. My boy has grown so much🥰

That whole scene though was really cool, the way it was set up like a doll house? I enjoyed that, I wish we had gotten to look at it a little longer. Looks like Hagakure’s was being visible and having all of the outfits, Uraraka’s was floating on a cloud, Jirou’s was rocking out with her guitar, and Sero’s was doing some kind of Spider-Man tape shit idk. Wish I remembered what Ojiro’s was

Dark Might using a rotary phone to make a video call and then immediately taking credit for the name Dark Might? Cringe

HAWKS OH MY GOD LOOK HES THERE TOO

Fr Hawks got a lot of screen time throughout the movie, most of which was really not necessary or particularly relevant (not that I’m complaining😜)

Are those off-brand Nomus in suits?

“I’m a walking cheat code” is such a killer line damn

Dark Might is so delulu oh my god.

Other stuff happens, I don’t remember having any super intense thoughts so I’ll jump ahead for now and come back to this if I feel like it later

Mirio! I’m glad they included him the guy is underutilized

More of the pros! Especially MIRKO and the combination of Edgeshot and Best Jeanist

I’m glad they’re giving Uraraka so much attention, she was kinda brushed over in the other movies if I recall correctly. Iida too, though not as much

Bakugou the strategist!

Tokoyami getting his moment in the proverbial spotlight. Not the literal one, that wouldn’t be helpful. “Those who can fly, should fly,” indeed

Bakugou and Todoroki out there working together with surprisingly little bickering. I’m impressed.

HAWKS. Descending from above like the stunning angel he is! I’m such a sucker for his dynamic with Tokoyami, the mentorship and genuine care there between them? The fact that he’s encouraging and pushing his bird protege to be better? Love love love

I know Julio just explained it but I still don’t really get Dark Might’s quirk. If someone could explain it to me that would be great thanks

Even Dark Might sees how much potential Midoriya has wow

Literally just naming states at this point. Detroit Smash who?

Big Three coming in hot! Kick some villainous ass! Speaking of, it seems that Bones Studio had indeed decided to return All Might (Dark Might technically)’s ass to him.

Thrown into a statue of himself and he popped like a balloon lol

Forgot that the city was empty and started freaking out when the ship was crashing. I thought people were getting squished🥲

Yes Julio! Go be with the one you love!

Shoutout to Mitsuki and Inko being best friends

A bit of a predictable ending but satisfying nonetheless!

Maybe a little bit unclear when in canon this takes place? Largely when you consider the little moment after the credits

The movie was intense but also had a lot of. Moments of comic relief which I really appreciated! It was super well balanced

I had a million and one thoughts but it’s the middle of the night and I don’t really remember what they were. Anyways, it was a very strong movie imo, 10/10 because I had a good time

[white-wolf-buckaroo]

Chapter 6: Goodbye, Emily

This is probably one of my favorite chapters, and also one that broke my heart while writing it (it didn't help that I was listening to the Monsters Inc soundtrack while doing so, especially Boo's Going Home). Check out the full hearbreaking playlist for this fic here!

Word Count: 2500 ish

Warnings: it's giving Sully leaving Boo, iykyk

Fic Masterlist here!

Age 7

Summer came, and with that, the rest of the half-bloods.

Luke and Annabeth had been at camp for a bit longer than a month now, and they had settled in pretty well; after the initial turmoil of Thalia’s demise, life at camp went back to normal, and before they knew it, summer had arrived.

Emily had gone back at training with her siblings and some other demigods from various cabins, but she purposefully kept her distance from Annabeth; unspoken tension lingered between the two, and they avoided direct confrontation in the arena. Luke was an excellent swordsman, though; apparently, he and Thalia had been on the run for a long time, and he was experienced with combat fighting. His presence, and his skills, were a constant reminder of the dangers lurking outside of camp.

That summer, though, Thalias’ sacrifice and Annabeth and Lukes’ arrival wasn’t the only big thing to happen to Emily: every year new demigods arrived for the first time at camp, and this time, a young girl, around two years older than her, made it to camp, accompanied by a satyr named Gleeson. Her name was Clarisse La Rue. Claimed by Ares, she was Emily’s older half-sister.

Maybe she couldn’t be friends with Annabeth, but she had now a new sister!

Clarisse settled in their cabin in the morning, and in the afternoon she was already training with her siblings. Emily had flying class that day, and although she was super excited to meet Clarisse, she loved the Pegasi too much to miss out on riding them.

At dinner, the tables were once again full of demigods, all of them gathered for the summer. Emily loved it. Clarisse was there too, on the opposite end of the table, and she seemed to be fitting in nicely, which Emily thought was good. She was a bit louder than Emily, though, and she also seemed a bit harsh when another camper, a son of Hephaestus, accidentally pushed her while walking by; he apologized, but Clarisse’s face still looked angry.

They all sang songs together by the campfire, and Emily felt like the weight of loss on the shoulders of everyone who had been there when Thalia died lessened. That night, she dared to sneak out again; she hadn’t done it since the night Annabeth and Luke arrived, but she felt better again, and so she went outside to look at the stars.

What she didn’t expect, was to see her father that night.

Ares materialized in the quiet darkness, his form merging with the shadows; he never visited Emily during the summer (too many children around for his liking), but at night, with her alone sitting on a rock by the beach contemplating the stars, he thought otherwise.

He was starting to go soft on her.

“Anything interesting up there?” Emily looked at him, her whole face lighting up, and an instant smile appearing on her lips “Is there seat for one more?”

Emily moved to the side a bit, allowing her dad to sit down. She remembered then their last encounter, when he told her to not be friends with Annabeth; he didn’t seem mad at her now, so she guessed she had done good. His approval was everything that mattered to her.

“Don’t you get tired of sitting out here, all by yourself?” he knew of her little escapades, for a long time now. She always sat outside, even in the colder months, looking up at the sky.

"I like the stars. They keep me company" she said in a hushed tone "They're all sparkly, shiny… and they've been twinkling for, like, thousands of years! Chiron tells me their stories, often, and one day… I wanna do something super cool like the heroes from the stories, something… so brave like what Thalia did, so that when I'm not here anymore, my spirit can go up to the sky and turn into a brand new shiny constellation”

You didn’t hear stuff like that from Ares’ kids very often.

They were children of war, not poets or dreamers. Yet Emily’s yearning for heroic deeds, echoed something familiar to Ares – the desire for glory in death, to be remembered as a warrior… that was a fighter’s last victory, and it was something else she had also inherited from him.

“Look, that one looks like Chiron!” she was pointing at the sky, at the Archers’ constellation, which certainly looked like a centaur. Ares hummed, looking up as well; he never looked at the stars, not anymore. Why bother, if they looked the same as thousands of years ago? “He knows a lot of things. And he teaches me a lot too”

“Seems like that old centaur has been keeping you busy, huh?”

There was a sense of… ease, between them. They felt comfortable with one another. That was something Ares hadn’t felt with his children in a very, very long time, not since he withdrew from their lives. Whatever it was that drew him so much to Emily both intrigued and unnerved him. It scared him like nothing else could. Feelings, attachment, love… emotions were dangerous in war. They could be lethal.

But they were also the very essence that fueled one’s determination to keep fighting.

“Oh!” Emily looked back at him again, having remembered something “Guess what? I got a new sister today!”

She told him about Clarisse, who had arrived that morning. How she had already began training with them all. How she had seemed to settle easily among her siblings. Ares knew, of course; he had claimed her after all. That girl was different to Emily: she embodied the typical traits associated to him, and that most of his children had. He had seen her fewer times than Emily, and he wasn’t really interested in seeing her again anytime soon. She didn’t spark anything remarkable inside of him.

Ares listened to Emily talking about her new sibling, his stoic expression revealing little of the thoughts swirling within him; she expresses joy at having another sister, the news however, didn’t elicit the same enthusiasm from her father.

“That’s great, Ems” he responded, although he didn’t really mean it; he didn’t really care, to be honest. His face was neutral now, not really showcasing any emotion – there was a stark contrast between what he felt when he thought of Emily, to when he thought about his other children, and he was starting to become aware of that.

“She’s more like my brothers and sisters than me, though. She seems tough, and she’s loud. I think you’ll like her. Maybe you could come one day and meet her!”

Ares felt a sudden pang, a subtle discomfort, that made him want to disappear that same second. A crippling, uncomfortable feeling on his limbs and his chest, that made him clench his jaw and his muscles tense.

Emily’s innocent anticipation of him confirmed his fears. He sensed her growing attachment, her yearning for connection, which was something he had encouraged himself with his visits, and her believe that these sporadic meetings were something normal, when it was the opposite. It sparked an uneasy realization.

In that moment, Ares had to choose; if Janus had showed up that instant, he wouldn’t have been surprised. He couldn’t meet Emily’s expectations… and he was convinced that not even trying he would reach them – they were so high as the stars above them.

As the god of war, he had spent millennia cultivating the image he uphold even nowadays: ruthless, strong, an unyielding force indifferent to softer aspects of existence. He embodied the cruel moments of battle, where there was no sanity, but only raw emotions and an instinct to survive, to fight, to kill, and to thrive. Emily’s presence challenged this self-imposed narrative, the very essence of his divine existence.

She was still pure, and he could understand her eagerness for a real father-daughter relationship – he’d had that same feeling once, when he still believed Zeus could be there for him not only as a king or a ruler, but as a parent. For Ares, the idea of fatherhood clashed with his persona as the god of war, and the vulnerability that accompanied it was a territory he was unaccustomed to navigating.

The realization that Emily expected more from him than what he thought he could provide made him decide to distance himself for good. These sporadic visits would only encourage and enliven the idea she had of him, which was something he didn’t see himself as: a father.

He would end up disappointing her. He knew that it was inevitable. In his divine logic, a clean break seemed a safer option. So even if it pained him… he would ignore those feelings, and move on. He couldn’t be the father she sought. The remains of what he felt would vanish in time, and in a few centuries, he wouldn’t even remember them.

At least, that’s what he told himself, not entirely convinced.

If Emily’s mother was still around, everything would be better. She had been nothing but perfect to raise their child, in his opinion. Now without her, he didn’t know how to be the only parent Emily had left. He was… scared of ruining everything, so he’d step back. It was the best option.

He’d never stop caring, but he couldn’t stay by her side. Not anymore. For her sanity, and his own.

“You should go now” he said, looking at her little face. She resembled him, kind of. Every day that passed he saw more of himself in her than he thought was originally there “Warriors need their rest”

“But I’m not tired” the yawn that followed said otherwise. Ares didn’t hold back his chuckle.

“Oh, really?” she nodded, but another yawn came to her.

She then did something that made his heart skip a beat: she slid to the side, resting her small frame against his arm, and started playing with his fingers, tracing the patterns of little scars on his skin, and fumbling with one of his rings.

“I miss Mommy” she mumbled “But I’m happy to have you, Daddy”

She insisted that he accompany her to her cabin, since he’d never been there at night, and he gave in; he made darkness surround them, hiding them from anyone who could still be up and see them, but Emily didn’t seem to notice as she pulled at his hand in the direction of the Ares cabin, giggling. He found himself tucking her in, something he never thought he would do; she clutched that stupid teddy bear to her chest, smiling sleepily at him, in a bubble he created so none of his other children would see him. He didn’t want to deal with that.

“All set?” it was certainly an unfamiliar task, even slightly awkward for him, but he easily draped the thin covers over her, shielding her from the fresh summer night air, and she seemed content enough. He didn’t relish much in the feeling of making her smile, though - it was time “Goodbye, Ems. Stay strong for me”

“Can you stay until I fall asleep? Please, Daddy?”

“No, kid. Daddy has to go”

She sighed, fighting back tiredness. Oh, his little warrior.

“Goodnight, Daddy” she lifted one of her hands, and rested it briefly against one of his cheeks. She fell asleep a few seconds after, hugging her teddy bear off to dreamland, mumbling one last ‘love you’ before completely succumbing to sleep.

Ares stood up quickly, not bearing to stay there any longer. He may think this was going to be a clean break, but right now, it felt rough, sharp, and bloody. He made his way out of the cabin, off to the night, but he halted in his step one last time, looking at his hands; Ares could still feel Emily’s fingertips tracing the skin on his own fingers, playing with one of his rings.

Taking off said ring, he snapped his fingers, and made it disappear. It didn’t vanish, though, no. It appeared on Emily’s camp necklace, resting over her chest alongside the bead she had acquired last summer. With that, Ares left camp half-blood, for good this time.

Things didn’t get better for Emily from then on.

The sister she had thought could be her friend, turned out to be uninterested in her, rejecting her for her youth (she was only two years older than Emily, but that seemed to make a huge difference, being so young), and also because she wasn’t as rough as most of their siblings. She just wasn’t how Clarisse thought Ares’ children should be; Clarisse proved to be a stark contrast to her own demeanour, and while Emily cherished the gentle moments at camp, Clarisse, embodying the more traditional traits of Ares' children, sought intensity, sharpness, and harshness.

The dynamics within the Ares cabin began to shift as well. Her siblings, once fond of Emily's sweet nature, now gravitated towards Clarisse, recognizing familiar traits in her that resonated with their own. The demigods outside the cabin acknowledged Clarisse's formidable temper, making it clear that she wasn't to be underestimated.

Initially, Clarisse struggled to accept Emily as her sister. The stark differences between them, from their personalities to their approach to combat, baffled Clarisse. While Emily displayed skill in the arena, it wasn't enough to bridge the gap between the two sisters. Emily found herself grappling with the shifting dynamics, losing favour with her siblings as Clarisse asserted herself as a formidable force within the Ares cabin.

There was this one time where Emily asked one of her older brothers if he wanted to go to the strawberry fields to help the satyrs collect the harvest, like they had done the previous summer, but then Clarisse got in the way, laughing at her for wanting to do something as mundane as that.

“It’s fun, though” replied Emily “And last time they gave us extra strawberries”

“Oh, yeah, that sounds like something Ares would love seeing his children do” Clarisse snorted, and she nudged their brother, who still hadn’t answered Emily; he was older than both girls, but not as harsh as Clarisse, and she intimidated him “Do you want to go pick up some strawberries like a little boy? Or do you prefer to go to the arena and fight some Hermes kids with spears?”

He looked conflicted, until he sighted, shaking his head no to Emily’s direction.

“Maybe next time. Have fun, though”

The Ares cabin, once filled with warmth for Emily, became a battleground for dominance, and Emily found herself on the outskirts.

Clarisse reveled in the admiration she received from her siblings at her fighting skills, whereas Emily struggled for the first time to reconcile her own identity with the expectations placed upon her as a daughter of the god of war. She sought solace in the familiar embrace of the night sky, fiddling with the ring her father had gifted her at the beginning of summer, tracing the braided metal, memorizing every quirk and curve.

Her father didn’t show up anymore, not even when she was outside alone, at night; she hoped that at least then he would appear, but nothing happened. The very last day she had been truly happy, was when she had last seen him.

She remained hopeful, though, thinking that probably in autumn, when most of the campers went back home, he would visit again. Until then, she would wait for him. She would be strong, like he wanted her to be, and she’d resist. She could do that until he’d come see her again.

Little did she know, he would never visit her at camp ever again.

----

Taglist: @strawberryys-stuff@ladysybilchronicles@kyuupidwrites@nhloversblog@beansficreblogs@priyajoyyy@zeeader@lightsgore@gengen64@holb32@therockywhorerpictureshow @jasontoddorjasongrace @lflores2008 @mymelodymia

[siblingshuffle]

Sibling Shuffle: Random Bits of Lore

I’m gonna be busy this week, so probably won’t post very much. So, have some assorted lore. Sorry!

When Roll found out that Rock hadn’t seen Star Wars, she called the rest of the family for an “Emergency Movie Night.” (Rock is now not only a fan of the first movies in the Star Wars trilogy, he also keeps some of his possessions in a Star Wars backpack.)

Speaking of movies, Roll likes Mulan. I’ve had this headcanon for ages and I don’t know where exactly it comes from, but she thinks Mulan is super cool. She has definitely dressed as Mulan for Halloween at least once.

Blues has never thrown out a gift someone gave him. His scarf (a gift from Dr. Light) is his most prized possession, yes, but he has kept some pretty useless gifts, too. For example, he has a bunch of "cool-looking" rocks that one of his best friends used to hand him and infodump to him about whenever they hung out.

Bass isn’t allowed to play competitive games inside of Wily's fortresses/castles/hideouts with Piano anymore. Not after… the incident. 

When Piano first learned some internet slang, she used it. (Imagine this girl pointing blank-faced at an E-Tank and monotonously announcing "This be bussin', yo. No cap." and then downing the entire thing.)

All Robot Masters have a function that governs their decisions. Roll & Rock are both supposed to "help people" (which both do by hero-ing, Roll does still help at Light Labs & Rock initially did by helping Wily) (Rock also likes to help out at local animal shelters, and Roll helps fix robots that are damaged in her free time), Bass has something more like "help / support Piano" (which doesn’t say anything about how useful he has to be, which he exploits), and Piano has something like "be the strongest/best" (which gives her a surprisingly large degree of freedom). Blues just happens to have the most versatile function: he’s supposed to demonstrate the capabilities of Robot Master AI - basically, his function is to "be himself".

All of them are kinda stuck in their function, however. Roll and Rock will always be looking for ways to help people. Bass can’t often turn down a request for help from Piano (even if he’s not actively looking for ways he can help like Roll & Rock do). Piano, similarly, can’t refuse a chance to prove her superiority. And Blues would rather literally die than risk losing his personality. There are loopholes in each one (for example: Rock’s function being exploited by Wily up until Kalinka’s kidnapping), and they each have their own thoughts & feelings on their functions, but they can’t really "escape" them.

Most Robot Masters can’t swear. Bass, as you can see in the comic strips, has tried. They get real-time censored by a loud beep if they try. Because Dr. Light was still working out the details of the censor at the time of his construction, Blues can’t talk about hell (the place) without getting censored like he’s saying hell (the swear). (Blues won’t let Dr. Light fix it, both because he doesn’t like anyone poking around in his programming and because he thinks it’s funny.)

And that’s all I’ve got for Random Bits Of Lore! I’ve got a few more, so if this does well, I’ll add more in the near-ish future.

Thank you for your patience!

[aviatrix-ash]

Lil TFA au blurb that will totally be a comic in the future, but those take forever to make sooo~☆

So in my comics Skyfire used to host this podcast/radio show that he would use to basically vlog his daily scientific findings from around the galaxy, broadcasted from a super powerful transmitter he had installed on himself. Anyone in the galaxy who was tuned to the open radio frequency he shared it to. Skyfire believed scientific knowledge deserved to be shared. He's kept this up for millions of stellar cycles, long before the Autobot/Decepticon war. He was never sure if anyone was truly listening, he had maybe 20 subscribers, most probably long dead in the war. He didn't care, he was happy to share his passion!

He even kept broadcasting most of his work during the war, even though he was under orders from Megatron to cease, so the Autobots couldn't make use of his "Decepticon funded" research. He did, however keep some research on a private data server in his lab. Some data he didn't want getting out to assist the war in any way. Skyfire wanted nothing to do with it, but stuck around the Decepticons for Starscream. He spent the majority of the war huddled in a lab and Starscream encouraged him to ignore Megatron's orders anyway, even if he wished Skyfire would join him in battle.

Skyfire did however stop for a brief period, after he learned Starscream had gone against his promise to never use his private data findings for war purposes that could lead to harm of any innocents not associated with Autobots or Decepticons. Skyfire learned he had used Skyfire's planetary Energon research to have the Decepticon's engineers design a quantum Energon harvester that'd instantaneously absorb a small star's energy and all that of planets within range. They already had a small prototype they had used on a handful of planets, which Skyfire had found out when he went to revisit one of his favorite little worlds and arrived to find it lifeless and destroyed.

Fast forward to the future, where he's with Powerglide and he's living his best life as a non-aligned Cybertronian citizen Skyfire is still doing his little vlogs on occasion. He still thinks he's broadcasting to those few loyal mysterious subscribers.

Until Powerglide has him meet his show's biggest fan, who happens to be his good friend Cosmos! Cosmos at first is heavily conflicted because, 1. this guy was not only an ex-Decepticon, but one of the top scientists under Megatron and former Conjunx Endure of the Decepticon's 2nd in command too! (Dont meet your heroes) and 2. Cosmos is not only a big fan of the show, but it was his inspiration to do his own planitary charting and thus basically his whole life! How he spent millions of nights dozing off as a wee bot listening to this Cybertronian in his audials speak of the universe with so much love and kindness in his deep yet gentle voice. Hearing this voice say his name in person practically stunned poor Cosmos at that point in time, he totally forgot about the Decepticon thing for a moment. (He was totally thinking, oh man he's already got a Conjunx Endure! 😭)

Eventually Cosmos gets the courage to ask Skyfire if he would be cool helping him clarify some of his research of a faraway planet and invites him over to his home observatory. When he does come over, Cosmos is trying his hardest not to fully geekout, but Skyfire ends up being the one to geekout upon seeing his neatly categorized rock collection from various planets. Cosmos mentions most of his rocks are purchased or brought to him by friends like Powerglide, since he himself is afraid of committing to offworld travel. Skyfire notices a rock from Nebulos, which he himself remembers Powerglide bringing with in his cockpit. He starts infodumping stuff about a planet one of the rocks was from, Cosmos joins and they both pause and laugh. Cosmos is now geeking out over how he he's finally met THE host of the show that's his entire life. Skyfire laughs and didn't believe anyone was even listening to his show. Cosmos stops him and slowly tells him he has millions of fans on Cybertron and it's offworld colonies. He's even got online fanclubs and forums. They were a dormant for a while until a very dedicated fan (of course it's secretly Powerglide. That's just how Powerglide expresses love 🥺💕) brought some nostalgic attention back to the show and started hyping up new episodes. Skyfire is ecstatic and overjoyed (Powerglide isn't getting away with this unscathed 😏). Skyfire and Cosmos later discuss revamping the radio show and Skyfire invites him to co-host with his expertise!

[solarpunkpresentspodcast]

It’s Time to End the Hero’s Journey

I don’t know about you, but I’ve absolutely had enough of it: the story structure known as the hero’s journey.

It’s everywhere, from Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark to just about every Bruce Willis or Tom Cruise movie you’ve ever seen even through to Barbie and The Hunger Games. A hero is called to action, refuses the call before begrudgingly accepting it, has adventures in which (generally) he is repeatedly tested, receives assistance from mentors and other helpers, is brought low by a nemesis shortly before (generally) ultimately succeeding, and comes home an enlightened person.

Brought to public awareness as a common pattern in myth by Joseph Campbell in his books, like The Hero With a Thousand Faces, it has irritatingly come to take over western, industrialized movie making and mass market fiction. We have even, to a frightening large extent, internalized our own personal narratives as hero’s journeys thanks, in part, to the self-help industry.

But this is all laziness and a terrible failure of imagination. On top of being egotistical and self-indulgent, the hero’s journey is far from the only structure possible for stories. Worse, its sharp focus on the individual and the male experience of heroism, instead of on community or other ways of moving through life, it has us longing for strong leaders of single–minded, masculine vision. And it has us dreaming of ourselves rising the occasion in the fight against tyranny and catastrophe instead of imagining ourselves working together with other people to solve systemic problems before they plunge us into exactly that sort of catastrophe and tyranny.

Oh, Have You Ever Heard This Story Before

Even if you haven’t been formally introduced to it, you encounter the hero’s journey all the time. Lifted from myths like the wanderings of Odysseus, the story of Jonah, the life of Buddha, and many fairy tales, the hero’s journey has morphed into what feels like our default mode of storytelling.

Take the “save the cat” rules for script writing, which are just the hero’s journey template. Just about every Hollywood blockbuster now follows this formula. Not just just about every Bruce Willis and Tom Cruise (and the Rock and Vin Diesel and Liam Neesen and etc) movie ever, but all the super hero movies. Even female protagonists are frequently shoehorned into the hero’s journey template (see: Angelina Jolie in “Salt” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”; Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games books and films; Mila Jovovich in all the Resident Evil movies; and even the little girl at the heart of the story of “Spirited Away”), as if the only way to be interesting is if you’re a hero just like the guys.

But This Is Not Great

While these stories make for great escapism, they’re not great for actually changing the world.

Look at the sort of places the hero’s journey goes…

At the end of the movie Edge of Tomorrow, it becomes clear that the whole point of Tom Cruise’s character’s saving the world from alien invasion is that he’s learned to be a brave, bold hero, rather than a selfish coward. This doesn’t make him less arrogant, but it means he gets the girl, the satisfaction of knowing he has saved the life of anyone he will ever meet, and a magical fresh start that wipes away the negative consequences of his previous insufficiently heroic behavior.

Or, look at Katniss at the end of the fourth Hunger Games movie (Mockingjay, part 2). She’s sitting in a sunny meadow with her husband and young children. On the one hand, oh, I get it know. This is why ordinary people pick up arms and go to war in the face of a terrible threat. She fought so hard and sacrificed so much, not just for her own survival, but so her as not yet even conceived of children could grow up in freedom. It was all worth it. On the other hand, she’s been transformed from being a fearless warrior, skilled hunter, revered leader, and the chosen one who fomented an entire revolution by staying true to her ideals and made the world safe from not one, but two tyrants into a harmless young mother, utterly unthreatening in a faded, modest calico dress, tending to her husband and young family. The whole point of her journey is that the minute she she doesn’t need to be a strong, fearless, rousing warrior anymore of unprecedented skill with a bow and arrow she can happily settle into domesticated bliss, aside from a bit of PTSD? That, deed done, she can now settle into the fate she was truly made for, that of being tame and ordinary and enjoying her subservient place in the patriarchy? I mean, ARGH!

And then there’s “Oppenheimer”, which took the incredible story of everyone and everything that converged to create the atomic bomb, drop it on Japan, and start the Cold War and turned it into the personal hero’s journey of one man. So ridiculous and, frankly, so meh. Go read The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes—which is one of the best books ever written—if you want your mind properly blown by this story. Sure, his story of the endeavor is way more challenging to the reader—you’re going to be exposed to actual information about atomic physics— than the celebrity biopic approach. But you get so much gain for your pain if you push through the reading of the story. You’ll learn so much of the history of the chemistry of the elements that make up existence, of the various genius scientists (all of whom were some pretty interesting characters) involved in the advancement of nuclear science and the Manhattan Project, and you’ll truly feel the horror of the scientists when the military comes along and takes the product of their hard work to save the free world and doesn’t give them any say on how it will be used. But Oppenheimer (in the movie about him). Oh, poor guy, gets his name drawn through the mud by a political nemesis and is a bit sad when all the people die when the bomb is dropped. Sheesh. Doing its sad little treading of the boards in the shadow of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Oppenheimer is the perfect example of how limited, narrow minded, narcissistic, and shallow the hero’s journey approach can be compared to other ways of telling the story.

 We Should Be Telling All Sorts of Stories

Honestly, these hero’s journey stories aren’t the only kinds of stories we should be telling—either within in the genre of solarpunk or not. Not only is all this heroic journeying getting boring, there are major downsides to locking ourselves into this single vision of story. Like becoming fans of authoritarianism and monarchy.

David Brin had some great words about how Star Wars’ use of the hero’s journey results in main messages that are authoritarian and undemocratic, leading us, for instance, to forgive—and even fete—great evil, despite the millions of death that person (Darth Vader) has caused, so long as he performs a personal act of redemption in the end. Star Wars and its hero’s journey involving the Skywalkers has us cheering on people with a magical hereditary right to power, as if we’re fine with consigning basically everyone else to be followers.

Jo Walton and Ada Palmer also touched on the down sides and limitations of the hero’s journey, at least adjacently, in their editorial in Uncanny Magazine that called for more stories that don’t center on a single protagonist, called to action, from whom all change unfolds. Using history as their example, the point out that events generally happen because of the actions of the many, not just of one special single person. I might add, when big outcomes do hinge upon the actions, leadership, and unique talents of one single person, it’s generally someone despotic, like Hitler or Stalin. And, as pointed out to us by one of our listeners, Jon Ronson has a great podcast with one episode in particular about how trying to understand your own life as a hero’s journey can lead you to brainwash yourself straight down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories, until the call to action you hear is to undermine, if not actually overthrow, democracy.

 To the Typewriter Computer, Solarpunks!

Here’s my call to action by you. Let’s let solarpunk stories dump the hero’s journey, even as a means to explore life in a solarpunk future. Let’s use all the other story structures instead.

Let’s tell stories about endeavors—like the making of the atomic bomb—not about a person undertaking an endeavor—like Oppenheimer herding his cats at Los Alamos.

Let’s tell stories about relationships between people, or between a group of people and the natural world.

Let’s tell stories where the actions of an individual on his, her, or their own never advance the plot.

Let’s tell stories about moments, or about conflicts, where what’s interesting is the development of the moment or conflict, not of the protagonist and antagonist’s paths through them.

And when we do tell stories about a single protagonist, let’s not keep religiously following the structure laid out by Joseph Campbell and copied by save the cat.

Not every protagonist needs to be a hero! There are so many other arcs to follow.

[iamvegorott]

Magicians Don't Need Superheros Pt33

First: Link Prev: Link Next: Link

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Marvin chewed his cheek as he read over the texts again, having doubts about the newest plan for dealing with the Iplier. He wanted to spend more time studying chaos magic but Chase was getting antsy about the Ego running around without being watched over. Marvin was sure if the whole ‘red eyes incident’ didn’t happen, he wouldn’t be as worried about time. 

“I still don’t know how to feel about this,” Jackie muttered, chewing on his nails. “He’s, like, magic and stuff. Wouldn’t he notice a tracker on him?” 

“It’s a device made with nothing magical attached to it.” Marvin didn’t look away from his phone as he lowered Jackie’s arm to get him to stop chewing. “The only reason he’d try to find it is if he’s suspicious. I still don’t know how Mad made something so small.”

“Did you ever catch what Anti traded Mad for the tracker?” Jackie rocked between his feet, sticking his hands into his hoodie’s pockets to prevent himself from gnawing on them more. 

“Nope. But knowing them it’s either something to do with sugar and caffeine or fire.” 

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll agree to come with us? We won’t have to worry about the tracker at all if he does that.”

“Maybe.” Marvin sighed and put his phone away. “If we weren’t looking for this Iplier, I’d be enjoying this view more.” He commented as he looked out. 

They were standing on top of a fairly tall grass hill, the view Marvin spoke of was mostly of trees but the change in weather made them look beautiful with their hues of red, orange, and yellow. The sun was beginning to set and the sky was giving off matching shades. 

“Sunset really is a lovely time of day.” 

“It does look super pretty.” Jackie agreed. 

“Imagine having a picnic up here.” Marvin had a softness in his eyes. “Sitting on a blanket, a little basket of snacks, sipping champagne, and watching as the sun leaves and the stars begin to shine. Then a cold breeze would come in and you’d cuddle under another blanket to bathe in the moon’s light for as long as possible.” 

“That sounds nice.” Jackie found himself looking at Marvin and smiling. It really did. A date that didn’t end in disaster sounded like a miracle. Marvin also seemed to be very happy at the thought as well. “Maybe-”

“There he is.” Marvin had turned to listen to what Jackie was going to say, but he saw the Iplier making his way down the path over his shoulder. “Remember the plan?” 

“Yep!” Jackie popped his lips, forgetting what he was going to say and getting into hero mode. 

“Time to pretend I don’t want to kick him between the legs,” Marvin muttered to himself before taking a deep breath and walking with Jackie over to the Iplier.

“Oh, great. It’s you two again.” The Iplier scoffed with an eye roll. 

“We just want to help,” Jackie said.

“You can help by leaving me alone.” 

“Fun fact, that’s not going to be happening,” Marvin stated, going the very blunt route. “You’re part of this weird Ego thing. You’re an Iplier. The Manor is waiting for you. The sooner you follow us to said Manor, the sooner we’re out of your hair.” 

“You’re not funny.” The Iplier started walking again and huffed when Marvin and Jackie blocked him. “We are going to have another incident if you two do not move.” 

“Just come with us and all of the details will get filled in. You’re not going to last out here.” 

“Not going to last? Do you have any idea who I am?” The Iplier sounded beyond offended. 

“It doesn’t matter who we think you are or who you remember you were, it doesn’t affect where we are right now. Trust me, I’ve learned this the hard way and I am still learning.” Marvin could see out of the corner of his eye that Jackie had his hand prepped with the tracker, the curving of his palm giving it away. 

“Don’t put us on the same level.” The Iplier began walking again and this time it was only Marvin stopping him. 

“We’re not about to make this into a measuring contest. You can do that plenty with some of the other Ipliers. There’s one in particular I have in mind you’d have a fun time dealing with and I would love to watch that show.”

“Stop calling me an Iplier.” 

“The more you hear it, the easier it is to accept.” 

“Sure.” The Iplier was once again trying to leave, pushing Marvin’s shoulder to make him turn. Marvin grunted to himself in annoyance, wondering how in the world Jackie put up with him for so long. He grabbed the back of the Iplier’s jacket and yanked. “Enough!” The Iplier snapped and turned. Marvin got to see his face better and noticed the sharp spiral around his eye was beginning to glow. He was prepared to get hit with the same spell from before but Jackie slipped between them. 

“It gets like really scary out here on your own,” Jackie said, hands on the Iplier’s shoulders. 

“You should worry more about yourself.” The Iplier stated, putting both hands on Jackie’s chest. 

“Aw, man.” Jackie recognized the glowing on the hands and a moment later, he was launched backward. His body slammed into Marvin and sent both of them tumbling down the hill. Marvin had a creative line of curses as they went while Jackie just…yelled. 

Marvin landed at the bottom of the hill first on his back and half a breath later Jackie flopped on top of him. The crunching of the leaves was loud when it was right under one’s head and Marvin already felt a headache knocking at the front of his brain. Jackie had a feeling some leaves got under his hoodie with the sound and texture against his body. 

“You okay?” Jackie asked with a grunt, basically doing a pushup to move himself away from Marvin.

“Peachy,” Marvin grumbled. 

“I have some good news at least.” Jackie gave a weak smile. “I got the tracker on him.” 

“Good boy.” Marvin lightly chuckled, patting the top of Jackie’s head and not noticing the tint of pink on the other’s face as he started sitting up. “We should get back and fill the others in.”

“Y-Yeah. We-We-uh--We should.” Jackie stammered and scrambled to his feet. 

“I swear that Iplier has a personal vendetta against my hair,” Marvin sighed, pulling a leaf out of his bangs. 

“We can use it as an excuse to steal Henrik’s hair mask again,” Jackie suggested after clearing his throat and offering a hand to Marvin. 

“That sounds fun.” Marvin took the hand and stood up. “And we’re both covered in leaves.” He added as he plucked a leaf off Jackie’s sleeve. 

“You’re telling me.” Jackie held the bottom of his hoodie and shook it, some pieces of leaves falling out of it. 

“Better than red-eyes.”

“Much better.” 

[brandwhorestarscream]

I read the newest post on the cybermorph au and this. THIS IS THE SHIT I’M TALKING ABOUT! Bro Trion just LEFT the YOUNG MECH WHO GIVING BIRTH! Not gonna lie, if someone I loved left me during childbirth (not by choice but still) -I’ll straight up become a super villain. Fuck it. this is D-16’s canon event.

Love your work, hope you can continue with pregnant D-16 part 4 and the cybermorph au!

In Alpha Trion's defense, they know next to nothing about cybermorphs. As far as they know, chestbursters are always fatal (they're not, but we can get into that later). The best thing to do if you're faced with cybermorph eggs is to run. Don't try to be a hero, just put as much space between yourself and them as fast as you can. He made an executive decision to protect three vulnerable children from a grisly fate, in his mind: he's not the bad guy in this

But we can talk about that later: for now, poor D-16 all alone 🥺 When he wakes up he's having rapid ocontractions and the next egg is already on its way. Normally it wouldn't be a problem, but these eggs have been trapped inside for months and are huge compared to the usual morphling pods. He's all by himself in labor, and all he can do is strain and push and wrap his arms around himself. Pathetically attempting to hug himself, he rocks back and forth in a desperate attempt to self soothe, crying harder than he ever has as he delivers egg after egg after egg. Laying in a puddle of bloodied mud, he calls helplessly for Orion, for anyone to help him, but his voice echoes endlessly in the cave without answer

He has no idea where they've gone, he had passed out and was unconscious when Alpha Trion evacuated them all. He doesn't know what happened. Disoriented from pain and too weak from labor, once all five of the eggs are out he faints again. He's lost a lot of energon, and was already sick when they arrived. Tbh, the only reason he doesn't die is because of his morph code. Cybermorphs are damn near unkillable, and his body enters a form of suspended stasis in an attempt to regenerate and preserve his spark. At some point during the birth his whole body had transformed, so the frail, unmistakable form of an infant cybermorph queen lays comatose amongst the deceased Primes, five large ovomorphs nestled together nearby.

They could be there for hours, days, weeks, months, years. The queen will remain in a coma til his body can refuel, and the eggs will remain in stasis until an incubator becomes available

Thankfully though, neither will have to wait long 🤭 Alpha Trion has evacuated the younglings elsewhere, and tells them what he knows--about Sentinel, about the quintessons, and about D-16. That he's dangerous, all of morphkind are dangerous, and they absolutely cannot go back for him. They would all die. "I am sorry, little ones. I know this is distressing."

Knowing they're can't outrun the old mech, nor escape the strength of his hold, Orion waits until nightfall and they're all asleep to run away from their camp.

...followed by Elita, cuz she knew his dumb ass was gonna try something.

........followed by B-127, because he wants to be included.

They hike back toward the cave (they still have the map, after all). Bee asks if they're sure this is a good idea, cuz, y'know, Alpha Trion said they'd die.

"I don't care what he thinks," is Orion's response, frowning. "Dee's not a monster. He'd never hurt us. And right now he's hurt, and he's sick, and he needs us!"

It takes them quite awhile to get there, but it's still dark when they duck into the original cave entrance. The stars are beginning to slowly blink, promising the delivery of morning sun shortly, when they make their way inside. It's still incredibly dark in the Grave, and even with their mining headlights it's hard to see.

"DEE!" Orion cups both hands around his mouth to yell as they stumble through the darkness. "Dee, we're back! Are you alright? Where are you?"

He can't remember exactly where Alpha Trion had laid him down. The cavern is spacious and they spread out, trying to find their friend, calling his name repeatedly.

Suddenly, something splashes under Orion's pede, cold and slimy. He backpadels with a yelp of surprise, kicking his leg in disgust. "Ok, gross, I stepped in something-"

He hears a soft crinkling noise and looks down, scanning the ground with his little beam of light. There's... a weird oblong thing on the ground. Silver in color, and sitting in a puddle of what looks like crusted mud, dirt wetted with energon. The round silver thing looks rubbery, outside smooth and springy, and the top is blooming open like the petals of the weird invasive plants they'd by now become well acquainted with.

"Huh..." He kneels down to investigate. "Hey, guys, were these here before?"

Elita's voice echoes from the darkness, somewhere to his left. "Was what here before?"

"These rubber things!" He reaches out and pokes it with one finger. It jiggles, and pulses softly with pink light, almost reminiscent of the energon veins. Another crinkling noise, and he glances to his right. There's another one, nearly identical to the first, opening up it's petals. He glances upwards, and sure enough, there's a tiny bit of light beginning to bleed in from the cave ceiling. They must be reacting to the sunlight! "I think they're more of the 'nature' stuff-"

There's a flash of movement from the corner of his optic and something flies out at him from the darkness with terrifying precision. It impacts his face, his denta, with such force it sends him crashing backwards onto the cave floor, screaming. Its too dark, he can't see, there's something cold and wet and slimy attacking him. He tries to claw at it but it's slippery, and he gags as the long, wet little creature forces it's way into his mouth and dives down his throat. He gags grandly around it, whole body flailing as he tries to pull it out, but its too fast, slithering with speed like a darting pipe-viper down his intake. He feels it slither over his glossa and the tip of it's long, wormy body disappears past his lips--and then everything goes black.

...

Press F for Orion 😔 cybermorph survival guide rule #1: never poke at alien eggs!

For anyone wondering why they're not facehuggers, its because these are morphling eggs. Morphlings are cybermorph sparklings: they can only be created through sexual fertilization of an egg, and hatch from their eggs in larva stage. They still require an incubator, and while inside, they undergo rapid metamorphosis then pop out as actual sparklings later. Drone eggs, which are asexually produced by a queen, follow the more traditional xenomorph life cycle, being deposited by a facehugger parasite and then chestbursting as the traditional worm-like larva. Hope you enjoyed

[desultory-novice]

The Interactions of Marx & Magolor

Some think I'm out of my mind thinking Magolor's castle (or “Magolor Land”) bears a resemblance to Marx, and even more crazy to think it will lead to an appearance by him in the remake. 

...And maybe they’re right!

But I would just like to see these two who have been hinted at knowing each other for nearly TWELVE YEARS to finally interact on screen together. Canonically. (Not counting Star Allies. Great as it is.)

So, with that in mind, let’s take a look back at all the times Marx and Magolor have canonically (or canon-adjacent) been hinted at knowing each other or otherwise been seen together!

1) Magolor’s “somebody” in the "Return to Dream Land" script

<Screenshot from JO ThumbsUpMaster>

Full Text of the conversation from Wikirby: (Bold text mine)

"By the way, I knew about you long before our fateful meeting."

"Kirby, the happy-go-lucky hero with the bottomless stomach."

"I even know somebody who knows you quite well!"

"Even on this world, you're incredibly popular!"

"There may even be some folks here who have fought with you before."

"If everybody would just get along, it would make things so much easier."

"Nothing good comes of fighting. Let's always stay friends, Kirby!"

<Bonus> My translation of those same lines: 

"...The truth is, I already knew about you. The carefree and gluttonous hero, Kirby of the Stars, living on distant Popstar! Why, among my associates, there's someone who knows you all too well. That's just how popular you are; even on my planet. Heh heh heh! 

And one of them seems to have fought with you but really, how dumb can you get? If we all became friends, everyone could be happy. That's why fighting's just no good. I hope you'll continue to stay my friend, Kirby!"

...I’m kind of sorry we lost out on hearing Magolor slyly call Marx an idiot behind his back in English! Maybe they’ll add it back in DX?

2) Marx shows up in RtDL’s Kirby Master cutscene

<Screenshot from flipswitch3111>

The rest of the audience is made up of duplicates of characters already in the game. Only Marx was included without having any other visual appearance in RtDL. Aka, he’s a new resource - for a half-second back shot in a 5 second movie. Now, he had a 3D model for the Super Star Ultra cutscenes, but that was years ago, and this still would have required porting him over.

There must be a meaning to all that effort...

3) They have a rare gold Rock transformation in Kirby Triple Deluxe

<Picture taken from Kirbypedia>

The game immediately after we learn they may have known each other, they appear together on a statue? Once again, this requires either making a new model for Marx, or carrying over his SSU model.

This rock transformation is used AGAIN in Planet Robobot, seemingly emphasizing that the two of them are linked in SOME way. The only difference is that the two of them have been downgraded to common granite...

I guess the gold foil wore off? Tee hee...

4) Marx appears again in TDX's Kirby Master scene. Only this time, he’s sitting next to Magolor! (And Galacta Knight, curiously enough.)

While getting the “somebody” line requires playing RtDL extensively, it really does seem that HAL were more open to the idea to revealing that the two had some connection by this point, thus, letting them sit together.

<Screenshot from Meteorz>

4) Magolor slips up, in talking about Kirby in a way he only could have known from talking to Marx in the text of “The Starcutter and the Lying Wizard” (an official novel adapting RtDL’s plot.)

 The novel adaptation drops the “I know someone who knows you” scene, but it includes at least one line from Magolor hinting at the same idea...

--

--

--

Now, the English text above is from my translation of the novel, but you can read my explanation of said translation and why I think it still supports Marx being the one here - if you’re concerned I’m biased. (I won’t deny the possibility exists, but it doesn’t completely invalidate the idea either.)

5) Official makers of Kirby Merch, Ensky, has the two of them talking!

Back in 2017, Kirby_Ensky ran a popularity contest, the goal of which was to decide which characters should get more merch. (Waddle Dee won, btw.) 

Now, each candidate got a little shoutout tweet of their own. And Magolor's made special mention of Marx! (No other characters got this kind of call out btw.) The highlighted text says: 

"He was seen talking with Marx in the waiting room. Are they up to some trouble again...?"

The use of “again” suggests they have a history of working together.

6) The official Kirby twitter portrayed them together multiple times!

Often, they’re planning mischief. In fact, three of the pictures create a little mini-story (stretching across several years!) where Marx and Magolor plot to play a trick on Kirby by telling the puff that circling those mysterious objects you see all over Popstar 25 times will turn them into chocolate. 

They grin, seeing Kirby fell for it completely, with the puff eventually exhausting themselves (and all of Channel Dream Land) out with all that walking.

 However, when the duo try again, this time telling everyone that the star blocks you see everywhere are actually made of cake, they're caught in the act and forced to make a huge pile of star block cakes for their lie.

7) Re-ment’s Kirby-themed Hanafuda cards. 

Each card has a Kirby character or reference to something in Kirby on it. Marx and Magolor each have their own card and are part of the same "suit." What this means is they can be grouped together to create a match.

Not every familiar pairing is grouped together via suit like this, but it’s certainly interesting that they were. Especially as their art appears to almost fit together.

<Picture mine>

8) Re-Ment’s "Garden of the Stars: Afternoon Tea" 

Re-ment is better known for their figures, and they released a sweet set that has Kirby in a little hat and Waddle Dee with a frilly headband enjoying tea and sweets in the garden of the stars! It even comes with a signboard that has Kirby and Waddle Dee welcoming guests to the party. 

HOWEVER, the sign board actually has a secret reverse side which Re-ment later revealed on Twitter, featuring Marx and Magolor instead! It almost seems to suggest the two have teamed up once more and are planning some kind of prank to disrupt Kirby and Waddle Dee’s peaceful tea party!

9) The 30th Anniversary Music Fest

For the 30th Anniversary Music Fest, Marx and Magolor are paired together in both the merch (sharing a keychain design) AND the initial promo video. The promo video is interesting, because the only other characters to be introduced “in a set” like they are is the otherwise indistinct Waddle Dee trio. 

They also play similar instruments: guitar and bass.

10) The Marx costume and Magolor costume interact in a humorous way in this Super Kirby Clash video!

This particular video was posted on the official Twitter to advertise Marx’s equipment, a late game unlock. In the end of the clip, "Marx" is seen playing a trick on "Magolor," causing him to get squashed flat by the Blocky.

Here’s my translation of Magolor’s commentary on said tweet!

"If you could wish on the milky way, what would you wish for? I'd wish for galactic conque....err, I mean, for my shoppe to thrive! 

This equipment comes from a guy who tried to make a certain planet his own. It's incredibly powerful, but it'll make you want to play tricks on people! Hey, stop giving your friend trouble!"

...Similar to calling Marx an idiot early, he uses a rather dismissive form of address to refer to him here. He’s probably still upset about being smooshed. (Interesting too that said “friend” could very well be Magolor speaking on behalf of the Magolor-costumed Kirby. Aka, treating them as “friends.”)

11) Magolor's "Marx" outfit is "lovingly dedicated" to Marx.

Okay, okay. This sudden seeming evidence of a deeper relationship between Marx and Magolor coming out of nowhere in Super Kirby Clash isn’t exactly what it says in the original. (Gotta say, for whatever reason the original line turned out this way, I unabashedly love this version of it!) 

Though I'd like to take this time to point out that there IS an interesting theory with decent evidence (in JP) that Shopkeeper Magolor in Super Kirby Clash is apparently Magolor from the main dimension, transported to the Dream Kingdom by some strange means...!

EDIT: Theory was apparently confirmed true in an issue of Nintendo Dream.

<Screenshot from まるピンクのカービィ解説>

He's the only character to refer to Clash's Kirby as "Kirby of the Stars" - OUR Kirby’s nickname - and he makes a reference to his original villain speech, a reference no one but him could possibly get in this alternate fantasy world. (As you can see in the above tweet, Shopkeeper Magolor teasily mentions his ultimate goal in RtDL something that doesn’t mesh with his friendly, unassuming “shopkeeper” role in SKC.)

 Meanwhile, Marx doesn't make an appearance anywhere in Dream Kingdom, meaning the costume and the jester's exploits the costume speaks of may be Magolor bringing information about Marx from the main timeline into the Dream Kingdom-verse. 

So... Magolor knows Marx’s story AND what he wished for.

12) This official clip promoting Dream Buffet shows them interacting

Yet again, the two appear together in an official promo video. I heard it suggested this one could be "revenge" for the Super Kirby Clash clip, as it’s “Magolor’s” turn to interrupt “Marx” feasting on strawberries. This seems to imply that when they can't find other characters to troll, the two troll each other!

13) Lastly, the towers of Castle Magolor/MagoLand resemble Marx’s Wings

I initially thought that more of the castle’s design could be a reference to Marx, such as the shapes on the tower body resembling those on his hat, but as higher res pictures of the boxart have come out, that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. (There is a blue and red spot near the entrance that has a sun symbol on it. No telling if there’s another tower with a moon symbol...)

But we can see the colorful tiles much more clearly, and they and the flags do bear the same rainbow pattern as Marx’s wings are shown to have in his official art, a pattern that Magolor otherwise has no relation to.

Will this coincidence lead to anything? ...I guess we’ll find out!

--

Phew! I do believe that's most all of it! You could also compare their attacks, which have some similarities, although that doesn’t say anything about them having met. Now, I may have missed some interactions elsewhere though, because as you can see, there are a few really obscure places where they show up as pair. 

(And there some that are so tenuous I didn’t think they counted, like the two of them having their Poyo Poyo Cushions announced together, or both being on the “villain” side in the Kirby werewolf board game. There’s also some of the Star Allies celebration pictures and other group pics that have both of them, sometimes even in proximity to each other, but I left those out since the concept of the Dream Friends blurs the line of who knows who somewhat.

Only mildly related, there’s also this clip from a Nico Video stream about Kirby Clash that says nothing at all official about the two of them, but is completely hilarious as two men on the right come to the awkward realization that Marx and Magolor’s plushies have fallen down in a very “suggestive” manner and how are they going to adjust them without drawing more attention to it.)

...And there you go! They’re hardly inseparable (as the above video shows, they’re VERY separable! XD )  but seeing them hanging out causing trouble together is a strangely common sight. Whether or not they knew each other in the past, it’s safe to say they “know” each other now.

Here’s hoping that these two villains with a history stretching back for over a decade will someday enact their lovable mischief together on the same screen!!

[doamarierose-honoka]

In 2010, Rayman was dead. After two popular minigame collections with his then-co-stars, the Rabbids, Rayman was usurped from his throne as Ubisoft’s mascot and relegated to cameo appearances in games like Academy of Champions: Soccer. Sam Fisher has suffered a similar fate recently.

Then, a miracle - Ubisoft released Rayman Origins, a gorgeous 2D platformer with excellent movement, incredible music, and enough charm to make you forget all about the limbless wonder getting kicked out of his own series. Not a Rabbid in sight.

Origins was an incredible new beginning for Rayman, but it was only the beginning. Two years later, Ubisoft Montpellier did it again with Rayman Legends. Not content to simply be an improvement on the first game, Legends was one of the best 2D platforming games of all time. It looked like things were only going to get better.

Unfortunately, despite massive critical success, Rayman faded into the background once more, with only a few minor mobile games since then. Now, his long decade of silence is finally over thanks to Ubisoft Milan who, ironically enough, have brought Rayman back in a game that stars the very creatures who originally kicked him out.

“I would say that I started thinking about the DLC as soon as I saw the work on Sparks of Hope going in the right direction,” Sparks of Hope’s creative director Davide Solani tells me. “I loved the idea of closing this fantastic journey of Sparks of Hope with Rayman, as Rabbids were originally introduced in a Rayman game. I felt it was the correct thing to do”.

Rayman in the Phantom Show marks Rayman’s first appearance in a game in some time, which gave Ubisoft Milan the opportunity to redesign the character for his reintroduction, which also marks the first time he’s been in 3D since his Super Smash Bros. Trophy model in 2014.

Solani tells me that extensive work went into designing Rayman’s new look for the game, with the idea being to aim for something “new, current, and fitting for our universe”. Specific effort went into Rayman’s facial expressions and the body and shoes, for which the team challenged themselves to “dare a little” by introducing pockets and a larger hood to give the limbless wonder more comfort and a sense of identity outside of adventuring.

Of course, one of the most important elements of Rayman’s design is his hair which, beyond the whole lack of limbs thing he’s got going on, is one of the key parts of the character’s identity. Rayman’s hair is used both to fly and to look fly, and it’s a core part of this look.

“[It’s] one of the most 'representative' parts of the character,” Solani says. “We wanted to avoid just an indistinct mass, but also not to go overboard with details. We therefore focused on creating this balance between volume and details. A fully animatable tuft that would help to underline the character's charisma and emotions.”

Rayman may have a new design this time around, but Sparks of Hope isn’t above referencing the hero’s past. The Phantom Show is stuffed with nods to Rayman’s history, including reworked versions of his combat fatigues from Hoodlum Havoc, a cutout of Globox and some plum juice from the same game, a cardboard recreation of the first level from the adventure that started it all, and even some shoutouts to the pirates from Rayman 2.

Another Easter Egg Solani points out is Rayman’s weapon in the game, which resembles the plunger gun that he used in Raving Rabbids. You’d think that Rayman would want to avoid memories of that particular encounter considering everything that happened after, but he’s rocking a brand-new one in the Phantom Show.

“I loved the idea of paying a tribute to the plunger, in a way,” Solani tells me. “With my team, we’ve imagined how a new plunger could look like years later, and how this new basic weapon could be transformed through the various costume transformations, and what special ability could result from each. It was a fun process for us.”

It’s not just Rayman himself who returns for the Phantom Show, as the DLC also sees the return of David Gasman, the voice of the limbless wonder for nearly all of the games in the series before Douglas Rand took over the role for Origins, Legends, and the mobile spin-offs.

“Like many players, for me, David Gasman is Rayman’s voice. Also, we did use David as Rabbid Mario in Sparks of Hope, and it was a tremendously fun experience working with him. The idea of having him going crazy to voice both Rayman and Rabbid Mario was too good to miss. “

One of the most interesting things about the DLC is that it’s not just a reunion between Rayman and the player, it’s a reunion between Rayman and the Rabbids as well. The limbless wonder hasn’t been on-screen with them properly since TV Party, with only a small cameo from the screaming nuisances in Rayman Adventures between then and now.

The DLC plays into this time gap, with Rayman holding a grudge against the Rabbids when he first runs into them. Solani says that this was one of the ideas that the team worked with and that they loved seeing Rayman and the Rabbids bickering, but that they start to work together across the expansion, as Rayman quickly gets over his grudges in the name of being a hero.

Rayman in the Phantom Show closes the door on Rayman’s past while being brutally honest about the hero’s long absence. It has fans wondering if the DLC opens another door for his future, one that many want Ubisoft Milan to be involved with.

“We don’t know yet what we’ll do in the future,” Solani says. “But I can assure you that working on Rayman was a true honour for all of us.”

[astridthevalkyrie]

chand ko chakor dekhe, tujkho naseebo wala (the bird looks at the moon, a lucky one looks at you) | hawks x reader | chapter 6

“You’ve died twice? From clocks? “I know you’re not blind to the rocks and debris flying literally everywhere! The world would be better off without you in it!” you scream at the villain. The machine is even louder as it breaks and jams into the ground. “Flying building pieces or something, I don’t know—one hit me yesterday. The first day I got knocked into a wall, and then I woke up hugging my body pillow. Same thing the next day. And the next, and the next. Did my number three pro hero partner save me? No, he let me get stuck in a fucking time loop!” Or, you’ll do a lot of things with infinite time on your hands, but falling in love with Keigo Takami isn’t one of them.

a/n: yesssss update's out have a fun time reading!

warnings: suicide attempts (with the understanding that she will reset), hawks pins reader to a building, rudeness, icky romantic stuff 🤮

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

“Whoa.” Your hands come up in front of your chest as the kid’s arm crackles—crackles?—with lightning. “Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa hang on, I don’t fight children!”

You don’t think the nerd hears you, because he’s jumping forward with wide, fearful, despaired eyes. “Detroit”—of course he’s an All Might copycat, USA lover, star spangled stripes, would still smash their number one hero, though more like she’d smash you because she’s super strong—”SMAAASH!”

Fuck your life. Truly.

—————————————————

You go back to the beach the next today. Not to kill All Might again, even if you did cheat and break the vow you’d made to yourself the first day you officially started training to be a hero (haha your soul is broken you’re going to hell except you’re not because you’re stuck in a time loop and ohmygosh maybe this is hell maybe when you got hit by the rock that first day you died what the shiiiiit). No no, you won’t kill him again, because you’re just far more interested in who this tiny little green loser is and just how he KOed you with one punch.

That’s not, like, easy. You killed the top ten heroes minus the dumb bird! By right of passage, that makes you the number one! Or at least the number two if Hawks is de facto one even though he totally isn’t. He admitted MULTIPLE times that he would have just let you kill him. Who needs a flimsy number one hero like that?

Speaking of flimsy number one heroes.

You’re probably losing your mind more than you thought. Why are you looking at a chibi version of All Might?

Goddamn are heroes stupid! You’re perched up just barely out of view and neither the LITERAL NUMBER ONE or his protege have noticed you as they eat and yap about CLASSES of all things!

Okay, so when you killed All Might, he wasn’t exactly himself because he hasn’t had his Snickers bar yet or whatever. Which means you didn’t really kill the number one, and so the right of passage still leaves you at number two (yeah yeah, de facto Hawks number two, then you). 

So if Small Might (good one! that’s original!) can’t fight you, that would mean the real foe you’d need to defeat is YOUNG MIDRORIYA! Only problem is that YOUNG MIDORIYA! is a child and y’know, you’re not quite that comfortable in your amorality yet. Already you feel queasy every time you think about the way you killed LightMight. 

Still, one doesn’t just go around California Cabana-ing every single person they see, so when YOUNG MIDORIYA! starts walking back to whichever hovel he crawled out of, you follow him until you see someone trip in front of him, large drink in their hands. 

What would have soaked his shirt now completely coats his face with just a liiiiitle bit of wind.

Respect your elders, kid. You’ll never be the next Mini Might with that attitude. Although, that isn’t any reason to apologize that profusely to the lady that spilled the drink. No, there’s no need to buy her a new drink either, your face got soaked, not her’s, she was the one not looking where she was going. OFFERING AN AUTOGRAPH FROM ERASERHEAD? HUH? DID SHE LOSE HER DRINK OR DID SHE LOSE HER WHOLE GODDAMN FAMILY?

Oh, she doesn’t even know who Eraserhead is. Ha. That’s right, walk home with your sorry little green head all wet. That’ll teach you not to bribe civilians.

—————————————————

The next day, you wake up, ignore Hawks’ text first thing in the morning, open your window and jump out. Then you wake up in your bed again, and repeat. Repeat. Repeat. It’s entertaining for all of six minutes before the nothingness and despair becomes passionless.

What’s left? What more is there?

Well, it was kinda fun taking Ryukyu up to space (no it wasn’t?). You could try that again. Opening the window, you go up this time, instead of down.

Today, you’ll try to reach the sun.

First, you’re shot by someone who must think you were a stray bird. First, rude. Second, still illegal. Rot in jail. You love being a pro hero, the police do whatever you say with overt rudeness but begrudging submission. 

Second, you look into the sun too long and uh. Die. That one’s embarrassing.

Third, claws dig into your hips and yank you down. 

“Hey!” You scratch at the hands assisting gravity in bringing you closer to the ground. “What the hell, what are you doing? You never get here this early!”

“What are you doing? Where are you even going?”

“I will kick you in the balls if you don’t let me go, you dumb shit!”

“You’re so nice,” Hawks drawls, and his legs wrap around yours too, one arm around your front to pin your arms to the side. Now it’s only his wings keeping you afloat, his air giving you flight. It infuriates you, appealing muscles aside. “Someone just took a picture of us, by the way. Have fun explaining that one.”

You growl as fiercely as humanly possible, wriggling in his grasp. “Stupid stupid stupid bird impedes justice, gets murdered for it.”

“Too wordy for a hashtag.”

“Okay, how’s about—” It makes your chest hurt when you do it, but you suck in wind towards you using your own breath, and shoot it down to throw his arms away from you. “Hashtag I Did Hawks’ Dad!”

His wings flap as he falls, but he catches himself in no time. You’re propelling back up already, clouds not even within touching distance yet. Not that you wanna touch them. They’re really cold. Might as well touch Endeavor’s heart while you’re at it.

“For your information.” His nails graze your nape this time, and he grips the back of your uniform. With a grunt, he pulls you back again, too strong for those weak birdy bones. You shoot downwards, gasping. “That would make you a criminal fucker.”

You’re sideways, hair twisting in strange ways as you glare up at him. His wings expand impressively, blocking the sun and giving you a good look at a world of crimson gold. 

“Sorry about your dirtbag father. Can you get out of the fucking way?”

Hawks holds up a finger with a condescending look, pointing to his right, then his left. “See these? These are legitimate directions to fly in. Up is nothing. Up doesn’t have anything for you.”

“You’re a fake friend,” you spit, jetting up with a fist raised. 

He blocks, immediately raising his leg to kick you, but you saw that move coming because sometimes you watch his fight compilations for entertainment (and his compilations in real life too, duh). His foot connects with your arm, and the sunlight gleams in his visor. “Is that so? Elaborate for me.”

“Do you know how fucking bored I am? Do you have any idea how much I hate every single fucking person on this planet?”

You land a square hit on his chest; the victory is short lived. Feathers sneak into your sleeves and pull you down, ignoring your kicking and screaming.

“Who could you possibly hate?” he sings.

“You, for starters, winged piece of shit! And Endeavor, yeah, that’s right, dickrider. Cry about it. I hate All Might too—did you know he’s a fraud? And his stupid ass sidekick, or ex boyfriend, or whatever, I paid him a visit and every time he’s about to tell me my future I end up dying, because life hates me just as much as I hate life! I’m not even allowed to know how I go out! Ryuku and Best Jeanist think they can appeal to my better nature, well, I DON’T HAVE ONE! Oh, I hope you get to marry someone someday, Hawks, and I hope they cheat on you and take all your money.”

It might look like you’re flailing, but you’re not. You’re just trying to air out your own clothes to get the feathers out. The man who had taken a picture of you is not full on recording the fight you and Hawks are having.

You flash him two matching middle fingers. 

“Stop it,” Hawks snarls, apparently fed up now (one word against Endeavor and Fanboy Hawks comes out to play). “That shit’ll go viral, you know it will.”

“Sorry to ruin your perfect image, golden boy.” You finally rip the last feather out of your sleeve, biting it in half and spitting it out just to spite him. “Kiss my ass—fuck!”

You’re pinned. Fully against the building. The feathers aren’t under your clothes, they don’t need to be. They connect with each other to form a link that pins your ankles and wrists individually and before you can suck in any air a few more stuff into your mouth as a makeshift gag. Upside down. “I’m not worried about my image, songbird. Your popularity rating is at an all time low lately.”

Because you don’t pose for posers the way he does. And also maybe how not child friendly you are in interviews. Maaaybe because most of the other heroes don’t even like you enough to team up with you.

Not! That! It! Matters!

Hawks can read you well enough from your eyes. He maneuvers his body upside down to look at you face up, and looks into your gaze with a slight quirk of his lips. “What’s the matter, Nightingale? You hate hero society all of a sudden?”

NO SHIT.

“You wanna skip patrol today?”

NO.

“Why not?”

WE’LL BE CALLED TO FIGHT CLOCKINTHEHOLE ANYWAY AND IF WE DON’T GET THERE IN TIME PEOPLE GET INJURED AND YOU GET ALL SAD FOR THE REST OF THE DAY.

“Sorry, gonna need your mouth to transcribe that one.” The gag is lifted and before you can scream he covers your mouth with his hand, “Hey,” he coos, looking like his hair is flying up, “I’m serious. We can skip patrol, or I can do it on my own. I’ll cover for you, no problem.”

“Dude,” you choke, and the wetness running up your temple makes you realize you’re crying, “I wanna die.”

His face changes immediately, dropping every bit of his persona in an instant. The feathers loosen and release you, dropping you, and he catches you bridal style before you can turn on Aerial. 

“Alright, hang on.” His face is pained as he nudges your window open, carrying you in. “Hang on.”

The blood rushes back to your head, and the tears fall normally. He places you against your headboard, right next to the body pillow you always wake up next to. The sight of it makes you cry harder.

“Hey, hey.” Just like he did every time you tried to manipulate fighting tactics out of him to use against Endeavor, Hawks’ thumbs come up to brush your tears away. He sits at the edge of your bed, as though he’s visiting you in the hospital. “Hey, pretty girl, c’mon. Talk to me. Tell me everything. Let me help you.”

Your hands tangle in your own hair and your eyes shut, looking every bit the crazy lady you’ve become. “I want to fly into the sun. Please, just let me do that.”

“I can’t,” he pleads, taking his visor off and setting it aside. His jacket goes next, and he drapes it over you like the two of you aren’t indoors. And not on a date. He’s watched one too many cheesy romcoms. His favorite is John Tucker Must Die. You think that’s because he has mommy issues.

“I can’t,” he repeats, nudging himself next to you and moving your hands from your hair to your lap. His own hands go up to pat your hair down, and brush your shoulders, touch as light as a feather. 

He’s grooming you. Dumb bird. 

A painful sob escapes you, and you fall into him as he rubs your arms, your back, your hair. His bodysuit quickly becomes wet with your tears, but he doesn’t seem to mind, lips on your temple and arms tight around you. He even leans down and kisses a tear straight off your cheek.

“I’ve been living the same day again and again. I’ve lost count of the days. I killed people and I manipulated you and you keep helping me but nothing works. Everyday I have to go through this. Everyday the universe finds a way to kill me. I haven’t—” Your own wail cuts you off, and he squeezes you closer. “I haven’t seen nighttime in forever! I’ll forget what nighttime looks like soon, I’m so sick of the sun!”

He doesn’t say anything. Sometimes he believes you straight away, sometimes he doesn’t, but either way he eventually takes it in stride. He cheers you up. He takes you places or he talks and talks and talks until you’re laughing, laughing so hard you almost don’t feel the pain when you die.

His lips burn on your skin. He keeps them on your temple, warming you far more than his jacket does. 

“I hate telling you this every time,” you sniff, “I wish there was a way I could fast forward it.”

Still, he doesn’t talk. He moves instead, holding you to his heart like you’re.

Gold.

When Hawks does speak, his voice is thicker than normal, like he’s holding back something. Tears of his own, or a confession. Too many times he’s seen you vulnerable now, even if he doesn’t remember, and you don’t think you’ll ever see him in such a state. 

“If you wanna fly into the sun, I won’t stop you.”

You look at him. No hint of a lie in those golden eyes. Pulling away from the safety you’d embraced for a second, you sit back and swallow. “Yeah? No lie?”

“No lie. You’ll come back, right? The day will reset. So it’s okay.”

“Yeah.” Unless today is finally the last day. But you doubt it. You’ll know when it is. If it ever comes.

“Then you can go. Or…”

A few minutes ago, you’d have jumped out the window the second he stopped holding you back. “Or?”

“Or.” His tongue pokes into the side of his cheek. Thinking face. One of the few people who doesn’t have a dumb thinking face. This one actually looks like he’s thinking. “You let me take you somewhere.”

“Where?”

“Surprise,” he says softly, “you’ll like it. Promise.”

And you figure you can always fly into the sun tomorrow. The giant ass star isn’t going anywhere.

—————————————————

He’s had a hand over your eyes for a couple minutes now, guiding you inside…somewhere. Every few seconds he makes a shushing sound, to who you assume are bystanders wondering why the rude hero who trended number one on Twitter this morning (#FrightingaleBreakdown) is wandering around.

“Are you taking me to a strip club?” you ask suddenly. “I really don’t wanna go to a strip club right now.”

“No, but that’s a good idea. Tell me that one later. Or, tomorrow, or whatever. Whenever you want.”

Yeah. Okay.

A door closes, and that’s when he finally moves his hand. You’d assumed you would have to shield your eyes from some ceiling light. But instead, you’re met by even more darkness.

Well. Not total darkness.

There’s a hint of white. A sliver of silver. And it’s everywhere.

You honesttoGod gasp, staggering back as you witness the night sky. The stars twinkle like shiny teeth (that sparkle, adding beauty to my faaaace, my shiny teeth that glisten, just like a christmas tree, you know they’d walk a mile, just to see me smile (woo!) my shiny teeth and me). Your hands tremble as they close over your mouth, and you don’t realize that you’re tearing up until Hawks’ fingers are under your eyes again, catching the tears before they can fall.

“I know a planetarium isn’t the same as the actual night.” He glows like this, how does one do that? What’s his skincare routine? “But…it’s better than nothing, and I’ll bring you here whenever you want. You say the word to me and we’re here. Or anywhere else. If you can’t get out of the loop, then you should take advantage of it. Have fun. Do things you’ve never had time to do before. I’ll help you.”

For all this trouble, you should stare up at the faux sky, not at him.

“And um, to speed up the process.” His cheeks dust pink, and he whispers, “Keigo.”

That’s when you find your voice. “What?”

“Keigo. My name. I’ve never told anyone, so, you know. I’ll believe you faster.” His face is red now, all the way up to the tips of his prickly ears. 

“Kei-go.” You test it out on your tongue, eyes on him. “Well, what if I’m just messing with you and I’m not actually reliving today?”

He exhales in a way that tells you the thought didn’t even cross his mind. As if you’re sooo goodhearted you would never do such a thing. But you absolutely would.

“It’d be worth it.” Hawks—Keigo—shrugs. “To hear you say my name.”

Oh.

You step forward, you think, to kiss him, but before you get the chance the ground shakes, and then crumbles directly under your feet. You don’t even hear his cry of surprise. Is this an earthquake? No, quicksand? But that makes no sense—except the curse doesn’t make any sense at all, so yeah. Sure. You’ll go out like that.

You wake up with the taste of sand and good sense never to try and kiss your partner again. 

—————————————————

“You’re early!” Hawks greets you at patrol.

“Yeah, well.” You sigh, blowing into the cup of hot tea in your hand. “We don’t all take our time like you, Keigo.”

[mooseyspooky]

Moz Solo was already on it @lovely-lady-fox! FamousWhenDead posted the whole thing:

Johnny Marr: How could Meryl Streep agree to be in Mamma Mia?

The guitarist lets us into his cultural life, from his love of David Hockney to making his friends watch a Joan Didion documentary

My favourite piece of music For a long time now, it’s been My Goal’s Beyond by John McLaughlin. Like his work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, it is in a genre entirely of its own. It’s unquantifiable and makes me feel a certain way, no matter what happens in the outside world.

The lyric I wish I’d written “You’re going to reap just what you sow”, from Perfect Day by Lou Reed.

The instrument I wish I’d learnt Piano. I can play it, but only in amateurish fashion. I should say though there are guitar players who play the piano nicely like Neil Young, Paul McCartney and David Bowie. They play it as a means to an end and do wonderful things with it. But I would like to be a few levels up from there.

The music that cheers me up Any good pop music, which by definition usually means contemporary. There are things from my past that of course make me feel good. But there’s something about hearing music that’s fresh, upbeat and represents the modern world — it makes you feel that everything is OK.

I’m having a fantasy dinner party, I’ll invite these artists and authors Gary Oldman, Muhammad Ali and certainly Marilyn Monroe.

And I’ll put on this music Spirit Power: The Best of Johnny Marr.

Overrated I don’t tend to like shitting on people, but Mamma Mia!, for God’s sake, or We Will Rock You or any of those sorts of musicals. How did it get to that? We’re supposed to go along with the idea that they’re good. What was Meryl Streep thinking she was doing starring in that film, and Julie Walters? What were they thinking? There are a lot of things culturally that we’ve just gone along with and they really must stop.

Underrated

Blindboy Boatclub, the artist and musician from Limerick, is best known as one half of the Irish comedy hip-hop group the Rubberbandits. He’s amazing, has such an interesting way of thinking and also hosts the brilliant series The Blindboy Podcast too. One of the best books I have ever read is his Topographia Hibernica. I can’t recommend him or it enough.

My favourite author

Aldous Huxley. People would assume I’m thinking about Brave New World orThe Doors of Perception, but I’m actually referring to his work after he moved to the United States in the second half of his life. His essays and lectures are even better than his earlier work. I rediscovered him in the Nineties and he is my actual hero. Everything you read of his is an education.

The book I’m reading

Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson. It’s a trip, moving around from style to style. The novel is loosely based on Greek mythology, but set in modern times. It’s relatable and super interesting. PJ Harvey introduced me to Carson, an intriguing cross between an essayist and a poet.

The book I couldn’t finish

The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley. Just couldn’t do it.

The book I’m ashamed I haven’t read Ulysses by James Joyce. It just sounds so hard going. I love the idea of it and feel genuinely bad that I haven’t read it, but I do also feel like I know so much about it already. I admire it enough, without feeling the need to put myself through the hassle of reading it.

My favourite film Sergio Leone’s film Once Upon a Time in America. When it was first released, I went to see it a few times and decided then it was the best thing I’d ever seen. I recently saw The End We Start From, starring Jodie Comer. It’s so good. Amazingly, I came away from it with this feeling of triumph of the human spirit. It says a lot about what it means to be human and what we fundamentally need, which is compassion, connection, love and understanding. And Comer is just so believable in the role.

The box set I’m hooked on I’m rewatching Nurse Jackie. There’s so much good stuff out there that whenever I occasionally revisit old, great stuff, you forget how much it stands up. I like anything Edie Falco is in. I also have just rewatched the documentary Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold. I’ve watched it at least three times and whenever someone comes to my place that hasn’t watched it, I watch it with them.

My favourite TV series It has to be Mad Men. One of my friends is eagle-eyed and noticed that when they put an album on a turntable, it has the correct label from the Sixties. That’s crazy.

The film I walked out on

There are loads, often stuff I take my kids to see and they don’t even notice I’d left. I didn’t enjoy Baby Driver — I didn’t like the music in that at all.

I wasted an evening watching Manchester City play in the Champions League final in 2021.

The last movie that made me cry These days I can cry at almost anything so I can’t remember.

The place I feel happiest Running around Brooklyn, over the Williamsburg Bridge. Or around Portland, Oregon. Whenever I’m at those places, I always run unless I’m injured. I’ve done a lot of things in my life, but nothing quite beats that.

My guiltiest cultural pleasure Cheese and onion pasty, chips and peas. Anybody who says that’s not a culture doesn’t know what they are talking about.

If I could own one painting it would be We Two Boys Together Clinging by David Hockney. Any of his work would be a dream to own. Even the iPad stuff is beautiful. I went to see David Hockney: Bigger and Closer at the Lightroom and it was great.

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