#him just going “uru!” in yes commander

[mirrami226]

ignoring last day purgatory to enjoy watching vod of etoiles play funny pigeon rythm battle royale game with his friends :)

[unordinary-analysis]

Episode 174

Honorable mentions:

I’ve been thinking a lot about Cecile recently (I don’t know why) and about how she went from being in control and having authority behind the scenes to being John’s punching bag. It’s scary really how much power John has over people. Cecile, I’m almost certain, still has ambition though, so I am looking forward to seeing what her next move is. 

I’m not going to talk about the basic confirmation of the New Bostin/Wellston association in John’s mind because I’ve said everything I wanted to say about that in the last handful of posts, and I’m looking forward to moving on past that analysis (mainly so I don’t have to restate everything I’ve ever said in every post ever every time I want to write a new analysis lol). I might write something on this in the future though because it was a big part of this episode, but not right now lol.

The height difference between Arlo and John gets me every time ksjdfhsjeraksjngj

Rereading episode 123 reintroduced me to John’s, “ARLO, YOU BITCH”

The same thing happens in episode 123 and 174. Arlo is obviously better off in the situation, but for some reason John feels the need to punch him in the face. And both times it’s not strong enough to even move Arlo’s jaw sidkfhskjfrnkk.

I just want to say that it is pretty much confirmed that John has some sort of mental health issues as a lot of people were saying in the comments of this episode. Arlo also says something that sounds like he thinks this. I’ve talked about this before (don’t remember where/when), but I just wanted to put this here as an acknowledgement of that. I don’t know. I’m not sure if that will lead anywhere specifically in the future or if I’ll talk about it.

While writing this, I accidentally almost wrote Seraphina as Claire and I just--

I think from now on I’m going to be trying to keep these posts shorter because I think they get hard to digest when they end up at almost 5k words like last week’s. Also, I want to learn how to be able to shorten things without losing any substance, so that’ll hopefully happen. Who knows.

John:

The thing about John’s development as a character is that it’s so subtle that it’s a while before the changes are really obvious. I mentioned this while talking about how the switch between John’s fake side and his dark side had become so apparent after such a long time of watching John’s side, but I’m talking about something different now. I think that chapter of this fake vs real John in my analyses ended last episode along with that climax. Right now I want to talk about John’s violence.

I know it’s not exactly (or at all lmao) new for John to be extremely violent, but while in the past that violence had always been targeted at Arlo or Cecile or someone else, now it’s being targeted at Seraphina. For the most part (besides that scene between John and Cecile in episode 167), Seraphina has been kept out of that drama, and that is because John was still trying to convince her of the whole innocent cripple thing. But now, as she just told him that she knows who he is and what he’s done, there’s no more reason for John to hold back, and he doesn’t. In this episode, John grabs and yanks her arm and stuff. And in general he hurts her like he doesn’t care about her. It really was more of his demeanor that made his actions stand out. But everything just seemed so much more extreme because we’ve never seen this with Sera before. Sera’s always had this special significance to John that we kind of got used to. Anyway, that’s why in this episode, even more than all the others of Joker beating up people, John’s violence is very obvious. I also want to say that I think John’s violence has peaked. And, yes, I say peaked because I don’t think John will get any worse from here on. He might stay at this level, but he won’t become even more violent. I mentioned that I closed a chapter of my analyses last episode, and that chapter was about the inevitable takeover of John’s true, dark nature. When John finally became fully dark last episode (or however I said it), he reached his worst point and I think that is the limit to how bad he is going to get. I might be wrong though. 

Another thing that I noticed was just how different Seraphina and John’s dynamic has changed throughout the story. Obviously, there was going to be a change, but I realized it’s been a complete switch. We started this comic with John as the quiet, but will fuck you up cripple and with Sera as the everybody’s scared of, powerful bitch. Now we can just reverse those and it fits. As some of you may know, I am a sucker for dynamics and this had me thinking. I’m just wondering how their dynamic is going to change again. Because, oh boy, it will.

Arlo:

    When Arlo walked in, my heart stopped, but that’s a little off topic for this-- Anyway, as I said in honorable mentions (and yes this had to be said twice), that height difference between John and Arlo has me livingggg. Height difference is a really good, kind of subtle way to compare two characters, and I think uru-chan does this on purpose because it was something she also highlighted in episode 123. Height difference is used in this comic to express authority/superiority. In episode 123, Arlo stands up to John for one of the first times and refuses to keep being his errand boy. While previously in their scenes, the height difference was never stressed, in this episode, multiple panels show it, symbolizing that in this scene, Arlo has more power, has more control. And in this week’s episode, there’s a similar meaning. When Arlo walks in, John is taken off guard and stutters Arlo’s name. Arlo, on the other hand, is presented as cool and calm. This dynamic, too, helps to orient Arlo as the person most in control in the room.

    Anyway, besides in relation to John, I feel that this episode is really where Arlo starts to gain his authority back. We all know that he’s been struggling with losing his title as king and watching John ruin the school, but he never did anything about it because he felt it was hopeless. But, as I said, Arlo is portrayed as the most powerful in the room in this episode, even though he technically isn’t. That’s difficult to achieve and something that used to really set Arlo apart from others: his ability to command authority. This is one of the reasons why Arlo made such a great king. Anyway, Similarly to Sera and John, I think that this part of the story is a turning point for Arlo too. He’s being pushed back into the drama by Seraphina and I think he’s finally going to get himself back. That authority we saw from Arlo in this episode is what I think of him as. It was nice to see it again.

Hallway Scene:

    This is going to be a quick little section, but I didn’t want to put it in honorable mentions. During the hallway scene between Seraphina and Arlo, I felt that when Arlo brought up John, he was talking from a more outside point of view. He says, “He needs help. He’s so lost in his own head… Nobody can get through to him. Not even you.” This was a very observational thing to say, which I feel Arlo is really good at. Arlo knows when he needs to step back. Seraphina, on the other hand, still seemed caught up in John’s thought. She says, “I’m just a cripple. And you’re just his errand-boy. The Royals, and this whole school… all garbage.” Sera is still trying to figure John out, she’s still only focusing on him, which can be expected, but is still not ideal. She does say, “If that’s how he truly sees us… then what makes us worth listening to,” and, “Now that it’s over, I just want to move on. I have more important things to focus on,” which do state that she wants to move past John, but just the fact that she hasn’t accepted that she can’t even begin to comprehend John’s thoughts separates her from Arlo. Seraphina is still treating John as an equal part of this situation, whereas Arlo knows that he’s just a distraction. I’m not sure if that made a lot of sense because I struggled with words, but who knows.

Terrence:

    Just here to say that I absolutely adore anything there is to do with Terrence because of his potential and link to the underlying plot of UnOrdinary. That’s it. I’m just excited. You might be asking yourself, if they thought the previous point could’ve gone into honorable mentions, why not this one? It's even shorter! To that I say ha. Imagine limiting Terrence to a single bullet point. The disrespect.

[amusewithaview]

Drunk-Dialing Wormholes (MCU/Tolkien crossover)

A/N: This is for @uru-viel who recently Did a Very Cool Thing.

As a general rule, Darcy was against drunk!science.

She was, in fact, usually the voice of reason that shouted down the drunk!science.  Darcy, as a general rule, tended to prefer drunk!dancing or drunk!marathons (preferably of B-level slasher films).  Darcy did not think that drunk and science should be in the same hemisphere, let alone the same lab.  The closest she had ever come to drunk!science was when she attempted to figure out the tip at Waffle House at 3:00AM on Thursday night.

Everyone made interesting decisions in college.

Today, she was making an exception to her general rule.  Today was a day for exceptions and skirting of rules and ignoring of guidelines.  Today was the day of Jane and Thor’s break-up.  Darcy would call it ‘the big break-up’ but, truth be told, the relationship ended with more of a whimper than a bang.  There was long distance and then there was long distance, she was honestly impressed that they’d managed to maintain the flame for the length of time that they did.

Just for the day, she was bending the rules.

“Wine and science,” Jane said, the lower half of her spine undulating side to side as if her core muscles had forgotten how to work.  “Wine and science,” she repeated, “is a marvelous combination.”

“I think there’s more wine than science.  And not enough whine.”

“I hate that I can hear the spelling change,” Jane muttered.

“You know me so well.”

“Too well.”

“Wounded,” Darcy said.  “I am hurt.”

“You are drunk,” Jane said, reaching over and gently pushing on her shoulder.

She obligingly swayed, tipping so far she almost unseated herself on the stool.  “I’m the drunk half of this drunk!science experiment,” she said sagely.  “Now go bring some more science into the party so I can bring more wine.”

“I...don’t think that’s how it works.”

“We gotta keep it equal!  Even!  Ish!”

Jane pondered that for a moment, then nodded and shrugged.  “I had... I had a thing I was going to do, with that - that-”

“The other thing?”

“Yeah.”

Darcy pulled a face.  “Now I’m sad, because I think I know which things you mean.  We spend... a lot of time together.  Maybe too much.”

Jane shot her a mournful look, “If we weren’t platonic besties-”

“We’d be the bestest girlfriends,” Darcy finished, holding out her fist for a bump.

Jane bumped back solemnly.  “In another life.”

“One without Thor.”

“Or Ian,” she added.

“Ugh,” Darcy said, grimacing.  “Don’t remind me.”

“Sorry, sorry... I’ll just,” she gestured vaguely towards the Bridge machine.  “I’ll just bring the science level up enough that we can open another bottle of wine.”

“I’ll need wine and whine if we’re talking about Ian.”

Jane poked at the machine, “I had an inkling the other day, but it was a weird one.  I think my inkling was on the right track.”

“Did you write it down?”

“I didn’t want to waste the ink if I was wrong.”

“Cute,” Darcy said.  “Maybe I should introduce you to Sam, he likes puns.”

“No men, not for at least... three months.  Mourning period.”

“Fair.  So...the inkling.  Need paper?”

“Nah, no paper.  Just a few adjustments, like-” Jane wrenched at the machine, turning it a quarter to the left and then hitting a few buttons out of Darcy’s line of sight.  “There, that might do it.”

“Might?”

She shrugged.  “The inkling was vague and now wine.  ‘Might’ is as good as it’s going to get tonight.”

“You want I should press the red button?”

Jane pursed her lips.  “Uh...maybe we should wait until tomorrow?”

Darcy gave her an exaggeratedly patient look.  “Jane.  Janey.  What is tonight?”

“Drunk!science night.”

“This night comes but once a relationship!”

“True, okay.  Push the button.”

Darcy swayed over, one hand clutching her wine glass, and slung her other arm over Jane’s shoulder.  She leaned in, pulling Jane along with her, until her hand could flatten over the big red button.  She locked eyes with the older woman and waggled her eyebrows until Jane started giggling, then and only then did she push the button.

It was difficult to say who was more surprised when it worked: Darcy or Jane.  But one moment they were cheerfully tipsy-slash-drunk in the lab and the next moment they were stumbling forward into a forest.

“This isn’t where I parked the bar,” Darcy said.

“Oh my god,” Jane breathed.  “It worked!”

“Your inkling worked.”

“It worked!”

“Jane...”

“I can’t believe-”

“Jane!”

“What?”

“You didn’t write down the inkling.”

“Well, no.”

“So nobody knows where we are and, unless they’re like, as smart and specialized as you, odds are they won’t figure out how we got here.”

“...oops?”

Darcy squeezed her eyes tightly shut for a moment.  “I’m too tipsy for this,” she muttered.  “Okay, so, here’s what we do.  We walk until we find people-”

“People?”

“Sentient beings, preferably ones we can communicate with, and then we ask them for help.  Your machine can only move people through space, right?  Not time and dimensions?”

“Theoretically, yes.”

“Well, ok then.”

“But if I’m wrong?”

“Panic, pain, the whole nine yards.  But first!  Optimism!”

“Fueled by wine.”

“That’s the best kind of optimism!”

Wine-fuelled optimism only got them about fifty feet further into the trees.  The forest was dark, slightly dank, and quiet enough to impress upon the women the need for both speed and silence.  The light, shaded by the overhanging branches and leaves, was dim enough to be confused with dusk.  The weather was just warm enough that they were comfortable, but both wondered how that might change once true night fell.

“It’s too quiet,” Darcy muttered.

“Don’t say that, you’ll freak me out.”

“Join me in my freak-out.  The water’s fine.”

“Ha ha,” Jane muttered, carefully clambering over a massive downed tree.

There was no clear pathway, but the trees were too large to grow too close together and they provided enough shade that the space between them largely empty of sun-craving foliage.  There were mushrooms and shrubs, unrecognizable to either woman, but those were easy to navigate.  It was, after all, very simple to travel through a forest when you have no clear destination.

Being neither accustomed to camping nor even remotely acquainted with woodcraft, both of them were utterly surprised to find themselves suddenly surrounded by people with bows and arrows and skin that glowed faintly in the dim forest’s light.

“Definitely not in Kansas anymore,” Darcy muttered.

One of the people stepped forward, lowering his bow.  He said something in a smooth language that seemed entirely comprised of L’s and R’s.  At their obvious incomprehension, he switched to something with more glottal stops.  Seeing their continued confusion, he scowled, stepping even closer, and studied them intently.

Darcy watched as his eyes skimmed over her and then stuttered to an obvious halt on Jane.  She barely kept herself from rolling her eyes.  Jane, for some reason unfathomable but utterly amusing, seemed to attract a certain type.  That type was blonds, usually affluent blonds, but it was true regardless of placement on the gender spectrum.  Darcy did not understand it, but after several years of friendship, including many nights at varying bars and/or restaurants, she felt quite comfortable making the broad, sweeping generalization that her friend was blond-nip.

He said something soft and quietly awed, then slowly slid his bow into a sheath on his back.  He reached out a hand to Jane and-

Jane reached back.

Darcy watched with wide eyes as her friend accepted the hand and allowed herself to be drawn closer to the stranger.  “Uh...what’s going on?”

“I...have no idea,” Jane said, never taking her eyes off of their new friend.  “But I’m strangely okay with it.  Can’t tell if that’s the wine talking or leftover thrill of success from the science.”

“Maybe both.”

“Probably both,” she agreed.  “But he’s...”

“Holy shit, he’s an elf!” Darcy squeaked as the stranger tilted his head to listen to them, long blond hair sweeping to one side to reveal a very pointy ear.

“He’s perfect,” Jane breathed.  There were stars in her eyes as she looked at him, and considering the woman’s hobbies, degrees, and life-long obsession, that was saying something.

It was, honestly, kind of adorable.  The strange man and Jane were just... standing there.  Gazing into one another’s eyes.  After a minute or so, another one of the strangers (elves!) sheathed their bow and glided over to the trio.  This one was a redhead and looked female, assuming that the elves subscribed to anything approaching human gender ideas.  The ginger elf said something to the blond in that first liquid-silver language, it sounded soft and curious.

The blond responded, sounding just as breathless as Jane.

Ginger elf made a face like she was having too many emotions to convey.  She turned smartly towards Darcy and made a broad gesture, obviously beckoning her closer.

“Hi, I have no idea what you’re saying but I’m totally not a threat,” Darcy said as she obeyed the unspoken command.

Ginger elf tilted her head to one side, looking amused.  She turned to the rest of the elves and said something hard and quick, head tilting to the left of where Darcy and Jane had been walking.  The others melted back into the foliage, though Darcy assumed that they were still there, and the elf turned back to her with a raised eyebrow as if to say, ‘Well?  You coming?’

“Well,” Darcy muttered, gamely following the elves and Jane, “we found sentient beings, now we just gotta work on the communication bits.”

It felt like hours later that they reached something approaching civilization.  In this case, ‘civilization’ came in the form of a fortress whose walls were made of living trees.  Darcy gave them props for sustainability and their obvious support of the environment, but she was feeling tired, grumpy, and slightly queasy at that point.  Wine and exercise were not a good combination.

Much like wine and science.

Darcy, who at this point wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and sleep off what was sure to be an awful hangover, was a being made of regret.

Then she glanced over at the blond, who had introduced himself as ‘Legolas’ in the most adorable ‘Me Tarzan, you Jane,’ moment to ever make Darcy wish she had a functional camera, and her regret subsided.  Legolas and Jane kept sneaking glances at each other, and every time they locked eyes it was as if the world melted away.  And then either Tauriel, the redheaded elf, or Darcy would have to poke and prod them to get them moving again.

Darcy and Tauriel were well on their way to becoming friends in spite of the language barrier.  There was an entire code of raised eyebrows and exasperated half-smiles shared between them as they helped shepherd their friends onwards.

The tree-fortress had a very large tree-door that Darcy decided not to think about too hard because the door appeared to be made of living wood and that was some next-level horticulture right there.  Beyond the gates was a city, but a tree city.  It was everything Darcy had imagined as a child when people described ‘tree houses’ to her, like Swiss Family Robinson meets fairytale, and she was instantly enchanted and enraptured.

The rest of the elves from the original encounter had melted back out of the woodwork and formed up at their backs as an escort.  Darcy had a moment to feel wary before they were ushered into a very large tree-house-thing and into something that was obviously a receiving room.  The tip-off was the very large and intimidating chair at one end of the room.

There was another elf-man sitting in the throne (because what else could it be?), long-limbed and graceful even stationary.  He also had blond hair, and Darcy had a moment of worry as to whether or not there would be a blond-off for the favor of fair Jane.  Clearly the wine had yet to leave her system.

The new, somehow even blonder elf was staring at Legolas and Jane with a faint frown, then his eyes swept over to her and - oh.

Huh.

Well.  Shit.

His eyes were silvery, or maybe blue, it was difficult to tell with the distance between them but - oh.  He had risen and was rapidly closing that distance.  He stopped in front of her and reached out and, just like Jane, she reached back immediately.  His hand in hers felt like that swooping feeling when a roller coaster first starts its descent down a big hill, like fireworks and killer harmonies and she was soothed and exhilarated all at once.

“What the fuck, Jane,” Darcy breathed.

“With you, 100%,” she replied.

Legolas and her elf - shit, that was too possessive, that wasn’t, but it was?  Too confusing - started speaking in the flowing language.  After a moment, her elf nodded sharply, then lifted his free hand to press his palm to his chest.

“Thranduil,” he said.

“Darcy,” she replied, smiling helplessly.

She was feeling sightly better about the wine/science combo.

[ayma-nidiot]

“Don’t Speak Their Names”- Shrimpshipping fic Chapter 31

This chapter can be found here on AO3.

Chapter 31 - The T.V.

~29 December 2005~ 

In an extremely rare moment of peace, Rex decided to take a stroll through downtown Domino City with all his… friends, for lack of a better word. If anything, he felt bad that everyone was doing so many nice things for him, and he had no appropriate way to return the favour. The weather during their stroll was as nice as it was shortly before regionals. After all I’ve done to everyone since then… am I really deserving?

It was Espa, of all people, who snapped him out of his thoughts. “FREAKING OW! ”

“Espa?” Mako turned around to see his boyfriend trying to bend over to pick up a maternity shirt that fell out of his handbag. “See, this is why I told you not to bite more than you can chew. Because you’re not-”

“Yeah, I know, I’m not a shark. Or a shifter like you.”

Mako smiled as he gently stroked Espa’s baby bump. “Maybe one of our babies might be. Wouldn’t that be cool?”

“So, that’s why I’ve been in pain all the time. Ugh.” Espa groaned, then looked to Rex.

“What, have the twins been giving you trouble?”

“Yeah… They’re growing so fast. Not helped, of course, by how they always want spicy food. If they don’t get it, they’re kicking me like crazy…” Espa rubbed his temples. “I haven’t been getting much sleep. I don’t know how you do it, Rex.”

“Heh, what an odd way to bond. Well, just think of how happy you’ll be when you finally get to look into their eyes. And believe me, it hasn’t been much easier for me, either.” Rex’s smile quickly faded. “At least you have the father of your babies at your side.”

The party, now feeling like they were done for the day, decided to make one last stop before going home. Rex’s beloved park was badly damaged from the monster attacks, and even with landscapers working hard to restore it, he knew it would take forever to regrow the roses that were once there.

“This is the park where we had the baby shower…” Rex couldn’t bear to look at the brambles all over the park benches. 

“Come on, Papa, chin up!” Amber hugged her mother from the front. “The Earthbound Gods are almost all gone, and after they are, you and Daddy can duel your hearts out here!”

“And me?” Joey pointed to himself.

“Yes, Joey, and you.” 

“But what about you , Amber?” Rex asked. 

“I… I don’t know…” Amber trembled. “After the Earthbound Gods are all vanquished, I will have served my purpose. So I’ll probably return to my own time.”

“You know what, fuck that noise.” Rex wrapped an arm around his daughter. “You’re one of us now, and nothing’s going to change that.”

“And I know better than anyone that time paradoxes really aren’t a thing when my cousin is involved.” Mokuba laughed.

“Too bad he couldn’t use those mysterious powers of his in Battle City.” Espa chuckled.

“Ah, shaddup,” Rex scoffed. “You weren’t even there in our ancient Egyptian time travel.”

“Papa… Okay, I think I’ll stay after all and attend my own birth, if only to make sure that Daddy isn’t late.”

“I hope he’s there at all… Ggh!” As Rex chanced upon the central tower of Domino City and the T.V. on it, another contraction hit him - so he called Dr. Balls for advice. “Doc, I’m having more regular and painful contractions now. And I’m feeling them everywhere, not just in my belly anymore. I know I should have told you this yesterday, but... this all started yesterday.”

“Then you need to get your butt over here right now, because you’re experiencing true labour. Your mucus plug came out a while ago, so it’s only a matter of time before your water breaks too.”

“Yes, Doc… I’ll be there in a minute.” Rex hung up.

“I’ll push you on the wheelchair to the delivery room, if you want,” Joey offered.

“And I’ll hold your hand throughout the birth if Weevil isn’t there,” Mokuba chimed in.

“We might as well all be there,” spoke Atem. “You’ll need all the support you can get.” 

“...” Rex said nothing, and merely looked at the giant T.V. that displayed the news.

“I thought you said that the park was your final pit stop for the day? You sure don’t have a sense of urgency for someone who’s about to give birth,” Espa noted. “What’s wrong?”

“This T.V…. It’s where Weeves and I watched the finals of that K.C. Grand Tournament we almost crashed.”

“I still think you guys should have won that duel,” Kaiba remarked. “Zigfried just got a super lucky starting hand.”

“We’ve been through so much together ever since I fell for him after regionals…” Rex subconsciously started crying; he hugged his baby bump with one arm and stroked it with the other. “And yet… he’s not going to be present for his daughter’s birth, all because of the Earthbound Gods.”

“Papa, I-” Before Amber could say her piece, she saw a familiar face out of nowhere. “Daddy!”

“Weeves?” Rex turned around. Sure enough, Weevil stood only a few meters away, staring longingly at the same T.V. He ran up to him and starting kissing and hugging him immediately. “I knew you’d come back to me! Baby, I missed you so much.”

“...” Weevil remained silent for a spell before he hugged Rex back. 

“You…” Rex’s tears turned to tears of joy. “You really are back…”

“No he isn’t!” spoke a demonic voice from above, whose source was invisible.

“A-Arrrrrgh!” Weevil knelt to the ground in pain. “My… My head…”

“Weeves!” Rex began to panic.

“Show yourself at once!” Atem demanded. “Or else you will know the power of ancient Egyptian magic!”

“Now now, Uru…” Watda appeared behind Weevil in the form of a crimson devil, with several snakes in place of legs. “Have you forgotten what your real goal is?"

“'Real goal...?'" Rex's fleeting good mood faded. "Weeves, explain yourself!"

"And why should I have to?" Weevil's voice hardly sounded like his own now. "Actually, scratch that. I'll explain myself... through battle!"

"You... You can't be serious?!" Rex wanted to collapse to his knees right then and there. "Grr! Watda, get out of my boyfriend's head if you know what's good for you!"

“You cannot unwrite what is already written!” Watda cackled as red-and-purple shadows emitted from Weevil’s heart. 

“Weeves!” The temperate weather gradually began to foul up, to the point where even Rex noticed. But that didn’t make him want to go to the hospital room any faster, his quickening contractions be damned.

“...Yes, my love.” Weevil’s clothes slowly peeled off, thanks to the flames that Watda created. “Your wish is my command. Say the word, and I will kill anyone who gets in our way.”

“Weeves?” Rex’s heart broke seeing his beloved get intimate with someone else. “You can’t mean that!”

“Oh, I think he does.” Watda caressed Weevil’s face. “Once I am through with you, I will bear Uru’s children. Then, this world will belong to the Earthbound Gods!”

“Weeves…” Rex patted his baby bump. “Does the love we share mean nothing to you now?”

“Whatever are you talking about? Ha!” Weevil cackled.

“Weeves…” Rex stepped back as his contractions gradually got worse.

“Papa!” Amber angrily turned to Watda. ���Stop filling my mom’s head with shit!”

“Uru! It’s time!” Watda’s snakes delved deeper into Weevil’s body. “Receive untold powers!”

“Yes!” Weevil’s laugh became more sinister as his form began to change.

“Arise! Earthbound God Sanpedro!” So were Watda’s last words before he completely fused with Weevil. He was now not only half-shifted, but he also had red eyes, four dragon’s wings, and a maroon chain whip.

“Ha…” Weevil felt no need to say anything yet, hoping that the power coursing through him and his intimidating presence would speak for themselves.

“That’s…” Amber shook. “That’s the creature… that killed everyone…”

“Oh… my… gods…” Atem looked up in slight fear; even though it was midday, Weevil’s new transformation enshrouded Domino City in dark clouds. 

“Instead of gawking at him, why don’t we do something about it, pharaoh?” Kaiba shifted.

“You said it, Kaiba!” Joey summoned Red-Eyes Black Dragon and mounted it. “So bug boy has wings now. How hard could he be to defeat?”

“You really think so?” Anita and Weenus, as Aslla Piscu and Cusillu, showed themselves.

“I killed your buddy the whale like it was nothing!” Kaiba scoffed. “And you’ll soon learn that messing with Seto Kaiba will be your first - and last - mistake.”

“I’m right behind you, Kaiba.” Dip revealed herself.

“Ccarayhua… You’ll fucking pay, traitor! Hyaaaaa!” Anita thrust her beak at Dip, who counterattacked with her lizard tail.

“You go ahead and kill the damned rabbit’s other allies…” Weevil ordered. “Leave the damned rabbit and his daughter to me. ”

Amber had to think fast as Weevil approached, with his chain whip at the ready. “I never thought I’d have to do it again…”

“Amber?” Rex was about to mount Red-Eyes Slash Dragon.

“But if transforming into Rabidragon is the only way to bring Daddy back to his senses, so be it.” Amber lowered to the ground, hovering only slightly about it, as pink flames erupted from the ground. The flames changed her body into that of a dragon with rabbit ears, cottonball-like fur, and red spikes all over her body and tail.

“Beautiful…” Rex admired his daughter’s true form.

“Papa, get on,” Amber insisted. “We have a better chance of fighting the monster from the air.”

“Oh?” Weevil raised an eyebrow as Rex and Amber flew up to his level. “I’m a monster now? Whatever happened to ‘Daddy?’”

“You’re not my Daddy!” Amber glowered at Weevil. “You’re a disgusting monster that has driven Daddy mad!”

“Hah! Well, good luck trying to kill me without also killing your Daddy!”

Just then, Rex could hear a voice call from below, “Rex!”

“Mom?” Rex looked to see Ptera, Spinos, Camellia, and Adelaide running to him, 

“Get down from that butt-ugly dragon… rabbit… thing this instant, mister!” Ptera demanded. “You should be in the delivery room!”

“Harsh, Grandma… By the way, I’m Amber. Or Rabidragon, whatever you want to call me.”

“Oh my… S-Sorry.”

“And who is that? ” Camellia squinted at her son. “Weevil?”

“Ah, yes…” Weevil didn’t bother to descend, as Watda’s henchmen surrounded Rex’s family. “If it isn’t the Earthbound God Uru’s mother herself. You’ve served your purpose, as have the rest of you lot.” Weevil nodded, giving his monsters the go-ahead to attack.

“Oh, no you don’t! Go, Jurrac Tyrannus!” Spinos summoned his ace monster that barely protected Ptera in time.

“Spinos… Heh! I’m not some damsel in distress you need to save! Watch this! ” Ptera summoned Dark Driceratops and Black Ptera in attack mode. 

The Dark Driceratops fell an enemy close to Anita. “You lot are strong, for nonshifters.”

“And it’s too bad you’ll never get a taste of their power!” Kaiba blocked Anita from proceeding further. “But you’ll get a taste of the queen of Egypt.”

“And its awesome crown prince!” Heka did a funky dance before generating a ball of light from his hands.

“Heka, for gods’ sake, we’re in a battle!” Kaiba chided. “Be thankful to Ra that you haven’t gotten your head chopped off yet!”

“But I haven’t, Papa! Look what I can do!” Heka released a storm of light balls at several enemies around Weenus - and even one at Weenus himself.

“Ggh…” Weenus winced as the light ball took off a good chunk of his monkey tail. “I can’t believe I let this nimrod injure me!”

“Looks can be deceiving!” Heka stuck his tongue out.

“Aww, you’re so amazing, my love!” Amber squealed. 

“How dare you flirt on the battlefield instead of fighting me! ” Weevil charged, nicking Amber’s shoulder with the chain whip and nearly knocking Rex off.

“Aaaaaah!” Amber cried.

“Babe!” Heka violently pushed aside the enemies that swarmed him, killing most of them. “Get out of the fucking way!”

“Like hell I will!” Weenus slapped Heka with what little tail he had left.

“You… son of a bitch…” Heka held the gash in his arm, but still charged forward. “Nobody comes between my girlfriend and I, ya hear me?”

“Huh?”

Heka began to sing, “Ireruruy iraruy…”

“What? Heka, you idiot!” Atem exclaimed as his Millennium Puzzle glowed. “Your body can’t handle the Pharaoh’s Incantation! You’re not mature enough-”

“Irakah urugem iomo atakatu, ijusanim uatust…”

“You…” Weenus could hardly remain in monkey form.

“You die!” Heka’s arm became enveloped in a blue, sword-like beam of light. “Now!”

“Gah…” Weenus reverted forms mid-air and fell to his death.

“You’ll pay!” Anita tried to slash Heka with her wings, that was until Kaiba took the hit instead.

“Leave my son alone, cur!” With his teeth, Kaiba seized Anita by the wings and kicked her hard enough to rip them off one by one.

“Hmm?” Weevil looked to the two Earthbound Gods who had just died. “Tch! Useless bastards. But no matter… Rex, I will kill you on this day, just like I did in Amber’s future. Do you remember, oh dear daughter of mine?”

“No…” Amber’s body started to blink like a car light. “No, leave me alone!”

“Amber…” Rex stroked Amber’s ears. “I’m here, and we’ll free Weevil from this evil. Together.”

“Hahaha! Come try me, rabbit stew!” Weevil unleashed the chain whip upon a weakened Amber.

“Weevil! Ugh!” Rex’s Tyrant Dragon barely managed to get a hold of the chain whip. “Please! You’re better than this! Even under that disgusting disguise, I know my bug duelist is still there. I know that the man whom I’ve literally been to hell in back with many times is still there.”

Weevil’s attack faltered for a spell. “D-Do you honestly think that you can sweet talk your way to defeating the most powerful Earthbound God of all? What a joke! I’m not weak-minded like Ccarayhua! And I’ll prove it to you right now!”

“If…” Rex closed his eyes in resignation as his last strong monster fell to Weevil’s chain whip. “If that’s how you really think, then-”

“Aaaaaaaaargh!” 

Rex opened his eyes again to see that Kaiba had taken the hit for him, and took a rapid nosedive in human form. “Kaiba! Gods, no!”

“Big Brother!” Mokuba led the ���Dweeb Patrol” to where Kaiba had fallen.

“Hahahahaha!” Even though he was several thousand feet in the air, and Kaiba’s intervention knocked him back a bit, Weevil found it prudent to spit upon Kaiba’s body. “So much for the ‘God-Shattering Star,’ huh? That's what he gets for ruining my childhood! Fuck you, Seto Kaiba! I curse your name! I despise you!”

“Our God-Shattering Star…” Phuckdis couldn’t transform, as his flight feathers had been cut during the battle. “He has fallen!”

“P-Papa…” Heka was still fatigued from his battle with Weenus, as well as using the Incantation. He couldn’t even crawl to Kaiba, and passed out before he could try.

“Heka… My love, not again…”

“And to think, your cousin died for nothing, because you’re going to die anyway!” After brushing himself off, Weevil started his attacks anew, which Amber struggled to block.

“Amber…” Rex let his Duel Disk fall from the sky. “This is hopeless… If the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon can’t defeat Weeves, then what am I supposed to do?”

[loki-god-of-menace]

The Only Thing You Have to Lose is Your Mind

Loki does not expect Hela. He doesn’t expect Sakaar. And he most certainly does not expect the Grandmaster.

But the stakes are higher than he thinks...

Inspired by this art.

Again.

Hela’s blow had come unexpectedly. Her entire presence was unexpected, and though Loki prided himself on adaptability (if nothing else) he had not counted on her being able to destroy Mjolnir.

A part of him was glad. The sentiment was petty, but the object of worthiness that had so long defined his life in parameters of ‘unworthy’ was gone. It was little more than crumbled Uru rocks on a rather indifferent New York alley-way.

But it considerably reduced their immediate sources of defensive power, which, in their situation, he had recognized as grim. He did not know Hela. His knowledge reached a wall where she was considered, and though he had deduced magic-user and insane in the first several minutes, he was rather at a loss for all else.

Not that he could judge sanity with any merit.

They had thought Asgard. If they could return to Asgard they would be able to regroup. But she had followed them and Loki had felt something slice through his armor and explode his chest in white hot, before he was knocked clear of the Bifrost and tumbled out into space.

Again. He gasped, except there was no air to breathe. He kicked and squirmed like a fish, reaching cold fingers toward the glittering, raw energy of the Bifrost still channeling through the dark, but he realized there was a gulf between them.

He coughed, his lungs contracted, and when his body spasmed inward on itself, he noticed the gash through his armor and the thick, red of blood where his chest ought to be.

Oh. He thought. He had survived death twice and this was to be his final moments?

He shivered. Or maybe it was his muscle twitching as bones caved inward on themselves.

Death never became easier. He protested, weakly. One would think it might be after rubbing shoulders with it so many times. But it was still frigid, terrifying, and final, and no amount of reasoning, or poetic words, could take that away.

The Bifrost rushed away, taking Hela and Thor with it and Loki closed his eyes.

Again.

He dreamed.

A part of him knew he should not be dreaming if he was dead, and a separate part of him wondered if this was death.

He was rushing through a sea of stars that was space, except it was not utterly black, but warm, gentle shades of blue scattered with nebula and constellations. He did not know if he could breathe. His mind told him his lungs were collapsed and he could not breathe, but he did not care.

He was reaching. Reaching for light that was just too far from his fingertips.

What was it?

It blinded and drew him all at once. He only knew he had to reach it.

Loki awoke. His eyes flew open and he gasped; hungry for air. His lungs burned like a fire had been set in them and he coughed until his ribs ached.

Oh. He remembered. Thanos had reinforced his ribs. After breaking every one of them, healing them, and rebreaking them, the time had finally come for him to descend to Midgard and the Titan set out to modify anything they had damaged too significantly under torture.

It seemed his lungs were not crushed after all.

A pity. He put a hand to the white, sandy ground and shoved himself up, noting the bloody smear beneath him and the distinct, unmistakable sight of boots in front of him.

His vision snapped up and he was standing to his feet in seconds, reaching for a dagger beneath his hip, never minding the wound and the light-headedness that assaulted him.

The woman (yes, that was right. Her hair was twisted up in a bun; her face was marked with paint; and her hands settled on her sword) moved with almost equal alacrity and grabbed Loki’s wrist. She drew her own blade, and barked a,

“Stop.” Adamantly, but Loki only smiled, and twisted around to bring his elbow into her face.

It was then he registered she was not alone, and that the others around were all clad in obnoxious colors, armed to the teeth, and several of them had crackling, fiber-wire nets. It was also at that moment his chest heaved and he fell onto his knees.

The hiss of a net-launcher gave him time to roll out of the way, catching one of his would-be captors in their own traps, but it was a short-lived victory as the woman loomed up, her nose shadowed with blood, and swung for his head.

Loki bent to dodge, and shuddered when pain ripped through his heart.

Oh. That is not right... He groaned, and the butt of a sword crashed in to his skull.

He growled and the hard, decisive hit was repeated.

Loki roused a second time.

“There he is.” A voice drawled. There was a monotone quality to its energy, “Rise and shine, Asgardian.”

Whoever it was, they could not have been more annoying if they had been knocking on his head.

Loki exhaled, sharply, pressure clamping into his temples as his green eyes opened and focused.

The Grandmaster, clad in gold and lavishly decorated with splashes of red and blue, and shimmering paint, smiled. Somehow it managed to be all-teeth and nothing pleasant, and Loki’s gaze narrowed.

“Where am I?” He murmured, discovering his voice was rough. Suffocation had a tendency of doing that.

“Why, Sakaar, of course. My kingdom. My domain. My grand design.” The Master spread his arms out, and then stood, thrusting his chair backward with considerable flare.

Loki tensed, but the Grandmaster was before him in a few strides, flicking his chin with a finger and ‘tsking’. “Now, now. Let’s not be like that. I’ve had them heal you. Dress you! Only the finest for my... eh.” He chuckled, “guests.”

Loki’s eyes became flinty. It was true enough that they had healed him. His chest still felt strained, but not severed. His clothes were blue now - dark, supple blue leather and a draping, golden cape that fell in folds over the couch he was seated on.

What in the Nine...

“I suppose I ought to be grateful that your barbarians knocked me head in and saved me from a wound II was most peacefully dying from.” Loki bit, and the Grandmaster laughed,

“Oh, you are the sharp-tongued one. I knew that. But I wanted to see it for myself.” The Master turned and waved a hand, “Leave us.” He commanded to a stoic, armored guard and the woman that had earlier fought with Loki.

Loki exchanged a momentary look with her, before she disappeared and the door slid shut.

“Now.” The Grandmaster shifted away, a contemplative half-smile on his features, “Asgardian. Or...” His teeth flashed, “should I call you Thanos’ pup?”

Loki’s jaw tightened and he stood, “I have a choice few words to call you as well, but I have better breeding than to say them.”

The Master waggled a finger and crept closer to Loki’s space, “Deflection. Deflection. He would like to have you back, would he not?” He queried, matching Loki in height, inch for inch. He seemed to be gauging Loki’s reaction, as well as the reliability of his information. “You see, we - the Titan and I, that is - trade. In living wares, mostly. Contenders for my arena, servants for my palace of mazes.” He slipped a hand over Loki’s shoulder,

“He owned you, at one time, I believe. I almost envy him, sometimes. His methods are effective.” The Grandmaster observed, “If I a little... barbaric.”

“Says the one who pits beings against one another like dogs in a ring.” Loki bit. His skin was crawling. How much, exactly, did this Grandmaster know?

The Grandmaster nodded, but did not deny it. “I’ve watched him work, you know. Watching him break them down until they will do anything for him. How would you like to go back to that?”

Loki snarled, his insides knotting and magic sparking to life at his fingertips.

“I wonder what he has planned for you this time? Oh, how you begged him last time...”

Loki had the Grandmaster by the throat in one, vicious, fluid moment, but the Grandmaster only wheezed with laughter and pried Loki’s fingers away with surprising strength. There was a sheen of blue on his skin and in his eyes when he did so - flickers of his true nature he kept contained in his... slightly less exotic form.

“What do you want?” Loki breathed, eyes snapping.

“Oh. Nothing much. It’s just... you know how much I love a game. You see, you and I are not all that different. We enjoy a spot of chaos, now and then, and we really have no one.” The Grandmaster wandered over to his desk, and danced his fingers across it.

“We both love power, love rule...” The Master’s grey brow arched as he glanced at Loki over his shoulder. Loki, who had returned to rigid silence.

“...Love a bit of fun. So, why not a wager? A gamble.” The Grandmaster steepled his hands as he eased by down in his chair. He rocked backward on his heels, “After all, the only thing you have to lose is your mind.”

Loki despised bargains in which he held no cards; in which his ability to survive was as unpredictable as the outcome. Survival had become his sole purpose, after-all. If the Grandmaster was loathsomely right in one thing it was that Loki’s list of reasons to live had been steadily dwindling over the last six years. His mother was gone. Thor had made a vow of indifference toward him. The Warriors and Heimdall had convinced themselves he was a traitor, by every definition, and Odin had ceased to care for him before he even knew.

“...What are the stakes?” Loki asked, his voice taut and noncommital, though revealing a subtle bleed through of resignation.

The Grandmaster seemed giddy, “Your life, your brother’s strength, against my best Gladiator and Thanos.” He rubbed his lean, fingers together, “The Titan would pay me handsomely for you - in chattel and in credits - but that is no fun if you do not have a sporting chance of winning.”

Loki listened but his thoughts were halted on brother. What had he to do with this?

“...You have Thor.”

“Why of course...!” The Master hummed, “And if he wins, you are free. But if he does not...” He shook his head, “Ah, well. Until then, you are my guest. Just...” He leaned forward, resting his lips against his elevated hands, “Just do not try to leave.”

Loki’s fingers unwound from the fists they had become clenched in. He turned, looking questioningly at the door, as if he intended to test the Grandmaster’s claim that he was a guest immediately. The multi-colored metal slid away.

Loki was half-way out, but stopped and pivoted, “...What of Thor, if he wins?”

The Master ginned again. It did not comfort him.

“My finest Gladiator’s are like kings... beneath me, of course. Won’t he enjoy that?”

Loki turned aside and strode out.

No. No, he will not.

[unordinary-analysis]

Episode 137

Honorable mentions:

I love how blyke called arlo out so dramatically in the middle of the night

One of the ‘King’s responsibilities’ that Arlo mentions is “organizing school events.” …? Like what lol. Turf wars was a separate item on that list, so it can’t be that…?

Blyke and Isen were babies once, true story

#forklo is sailing guys

Was going to make a separate category, but everything kind of merged into one long blurb oof.

I really do assume way to much in these haha

    Blyke believes that to be king, you have to be a fighter and your ability is what makes you a good king. I don’t know what to think about this other than the fact that Arlo should kind of be offended. Like, wow, this kid really believes that my ability got me this far? I mean, yeah it really did play a big part of his kingship early on, but that was because of Rei and what he did, not because all king’s should beat everyone else down. Did Arlo really only show Blyke that by fighting good, you will command and lead well, making the right decisions for everybody and maintaining the order that is necessary for the hierarchy to work as intended?

    But then Arlo says, “It’s not like you lucked your way into becoming a royal. After I’m gone you will be the strongest male in school. That makes you qualified.” At first, I thought this was extremely out of character for Arlo. Like, really. Arlo saying that all you have to do is be strong to lead. But like… I feel kind of stupid now because he is totally in character and I’m just being ignorant (sorry guys, you all probably already knew this). Arlo secured his kingship with his strength. He reshaped the school that Rei had left behind and turned it into something that was functional. Reshaped is the wrong word. It’s more like he defeated it, burned it, and let his hierarchy rise again from the ashes. Because that’s what he did. I really liked that in this episode, we learn how much Arlo had to rely on his powers rather than his given authority. He had to fight to gain control. He didn’t get Isen and Blyke to listen to him by just telling him that he was king. He had to beat their asses to show them who was the boss (granted they were freshmen and hadn’t been really exposed to Rei’s reign). But like also, the girl in the back when Arlo was stealing the fork said, “Who does this guy think he is.” They have no respect at all for Arlo. None. They don’t even know who he is. The only way that Arlo created the name for himself that he has today was to use his ability and “beat them back into their place.” So, yes. Because of the nature of his reign and of his strict belief in hierarchy, it is natural to understand that Arlo thinks the ability makes a person.

    But now, I want to bring up another king. Not Rei, but John. John, the king of New Bostin. Because of his ability, he was qualified to be king. I’m sure everyone reading this know what I’m about to say, but I just want to add another Arlo quote from this episode. He said (to Blyke), “As long as you continue to grow your ability and remain at the top the others will naturally follow you.” Not only is this incredibly sad and disheartening once you really read into it, because Arlo is basically admitting that he can do nothing else, the school will wind up following John, but also this is really ironic because of what happened to John at New Bostin. John was powerful and never weakened. He ruled with an iron fist. And, ya know what, John was turned on by everyone (kjshdfkkjshf you know what I meant). There’s truly not much difference between the actions of John and Arlo as they became king (and notice I said actions not motives). They beat people down to establish their dominance, to establish their claim as the strongest and both did it to gain power and respect, to be in their “rightful place”. So then why did they turn on John, but not Arlo?

    This might have a bit to do with their lack of unity, as Arlo calls it, but Wellston never decided that Arlo was too much of a tyrant to try to overthrow. Because, if we consider how John led to be tyranny, Arlo can’t be treated with any less contempt. So I’m going to attribute that to Rei’s leftover faith. Good thing that that isn’t the kingship I want to compare to John’s because I wouldn’t have gotten far.  Arlo didn’t get overthrown because of Rei, but what kept everyone from turning on Rei?

    Perhaps one of worst reign’s ever shown on UnOrdinary was Rei’s, which is impressive considering how peaceful the guy’s ideologies were. Like Arlo said, he repressed the powerful and gave the weak false hope, absolutely destroying the hierarchy that ruled the world at the time. I honestly don’t know why the authorities or principal didn’t step in. But I’m more shocked that the students didn’t. Sure, the low-tiers didn’t have any reason too, but no revolution was won by the weak. Only the powerful could take down the powerful. One problem...

    Another quote from the latest episode is, “But because Rei was the most powerful at the time, we all had no choice but to listen to him.” Another Arlo quote. Also, really wise when we compare it to the events of literally any uprise in UnOrdinary ever. Because, when the students of New Bostin all teamed up against John (unity and all), they still ended up the ones bloody and beaten. They still fell into their rightful places under their rightful king (which John was, but I won’t get into that).

    Yeah, I’m sick of details, so I’m giving y’all my answer. Rei and John’s reigns ended differently because of the people at their side. (hear me out).

    John had Claire at his side. A usually peaceful girl who only wanted the best for the greater good. The fandom may crucify her, but she reminds me a lot of Remi. She reminds me even more of Rei. Her beliefs that the strong shouldn’t just be able to take advantage of the weak drew her to John in the first place and later caused her to betray him. I refuse to believe that the girl only became friends with John to gain power. Surely if she had that strong of clairvoyance, she would’ve at least seen some of the outcome of her mutiny. Even if her ability is really crappy and she only gets a vague and short look into the future only once in a while, any look after John’s massacre would’ve told her how it ended. So I stand firm in my belief that she was similar to Rei, that is, carried his beliefs to some extent.

    Rei, however, was close to a young kid named Arlo. We don’t know what Arlo believed in before he took over as king. We don’t know how far Rei had gone when Arlo first went to Wellston. We do know that Arlo, before becoming king, had to be like Claire. I don’t mean traitorous, but he had to (at least to some extent) believe in what Rei did. Claire turned on John because her friendship with him and her beliefs were conflicting. She chose her beliefs. Arlo had no such conflict and so, voila.

    (I hate the end of this small analysis, so just focus on the upper paragraphs)

    (like seriously, I could’ve sworn I had something better to say… D:)

    My point here isn’t that anyone who holds the superheroes beliefs is going to screw everything up (though that is an important takeaway). I want everyone to understand that all it takes is one thing to change the outcome of things. All it took was a separate set/coupling of morals to keep Wellston to turn into the bloodbath that New Bostin was. Not to be all dumb and stuff like “be nice because you could make a difference.” More like the butterfly effect. Not original I know, but I feel that the journey was more meaningful then the destination (i preferred what i said in the early/middle paragraphs [most everything but my outcome lol]). But like I just want to say that I applaud uru-chan’s writing. Other than that, I really don’t know what I want to be my point. Because that’s all I’ve been trying to say from the beginning. Uru-chan’s writing makes me so happy and just her in general lol.