#i FIGHT to stay relevant in ur lives people

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losing relevance in real time? couldn't be me

[trainsinanime]

Was Namaari gaslighting Raya?

In Raya and the Last Dragon, one hot take you’ll find quite a bit is about the part where (spoilers) Namaari says to Raya that they’re both responsible for Sisu’s (temporary) death. They’re saying that Namaari is “gaslighting” Raya here, and that she’s the one responsible because she’s the one that brought the crossbow to what was supposed to be a peaceful meeting. Is that true?

To discuss this, first of all, let’s set aside the fact that this is not what “gaslighting” means. Gaslighting is an abusive long-term project, not a single thing you say once. People way overuse that term on the internet. I’m sure there are people who say that scams like shell games or NFTs are gaslighting (they’re not). This scene, if anything, is just normal lying and/or blame shifting, but it seems to me that this is what we’re talking about anyway. I’m also going to ignore that Namaari clearly didn’t bring the crossbow to kill Sisu, but rather to (threaten to) shoot Raya, because that’s still not a nice thing to do.

Personally, I think that at the very least, Namaari is telling her truth here. She truly thinks that she and Raya are both responsible for what happened. She isn’t deceitful, she isn’t trying to manipulate Raya, she’s not even begging for her life, she’s just explaining her view. Of course that is only partially relevant; just because it’s not a lie doesn’t mean it’s the truth.

So that is the big question: Is Raya to blame here, at all? Even though it was Namaari who brought the crossbow, and pointed it? I think yes. To explain why, let’s look at the structure of the movie.

This movie is almost an ur-example of the structure described by screenwriter Craig Mazin in his “How to write a movie” talk (original audio version). The movie has a clear central dramatic argument: Cynicism and isolation versus optimism and trust. Raya and Namaari both have similar arcs where they start the main part of the story very cynical and isolated; Raya arguably more so.

Throughout the movie, Raya meets more and more characters and situations that discourage her cynicism and encourage her to be optimistic and trusting. She has moments of being trusting, and sometimes it pays off, sometimes less so. And as she meets more and more people who prove trustworthy after she gave them a chance, her cynicism slowly melts away.

Namaari’s arc is parallel and similar. She believes she lives in a doomed cat-eat-cat world, partly through her own actions, and everything she does to protect her own people is justified because there is no alternative. But then she sees her favorite dragon has returned, and she begins questioning everything she thought. She sees that there is hope after all. But just like Raya, this isn’t a one-and-done thing, especially since her mother encourages her to stay cynical.

When they meet outside the Fang city, after Raya’s letter, we find both of them at the midpoint of their arc. Both know their old, cynical mode of being doesn’t work anymore, and they both want to get rid of it. Both would outright say “I guess trust is a good thing”. But neither of them is yet ready to actually believe it.

Yes, Namaari brings her crossbow, but she’s not taunting Raya; she’s apologizing. This time, she knows she’s doing something wrong, but she can’t bring herself to do the right thing yet either.

Meanwhile, this is Raya’s big chance to show that she’s learned the movie’s lesson. It shouldn’t be a surprise to her that Namaari brought the crossbow. Your ex enemy doesn’t immediately become a friend just because you wrote a letter, and that wasn’t the point of the letter. The point is this, here: It is Raya’s chance to convince Namaari to do the right thing. And that was always going to require Raya placing a certain amount of blind faith in Namaari. Raya needs to tolerate Namaari’s aggression long enough to convince her. The movie makes it clear that she has an actual chance of making it work.

But Raya can’t bring herself to trust Namaari long enough. She knows she should, but she hasn’t internalized this yet. And so she gets aggressive and escalates a situation that she always knew was going to be tense.

For both of them, this moment is the test: Have they learned the lesson of the movie yet? Both of them fail miserably. And wow, do they get punished for it.

What follows is the low point of the movie, where both of their world views are shattered completely. Their old cynicism is gone, their new hope and trust is destroyed, and now all that’s left is depression and blind rage. The movie helpfully points this out by giving us some extreme backlighting, making the entire fight between the two almost monochrome. The characters have basically lost all color and nuance, and are now just shadowy silhouettes, because that’s what their emotional state is right now. Yes, the folks at Disney do know what they’re doing.

Namaari is the one to say this out loud. That’s why she doesn’t care if Raya kills her. And Raya realizes the same. That’s why she doesn’t kill Namaari; not because she cares, but because she doesn’t anymore.

Then some time later we get a do-over: The same situation again; the stakes even higher, success even less certain. And this time, Raya has realized her mistake; now she has full faith in the theme of the movie. This time she is open to Namaari, she is patient with her, and instead of being aggressive or guarded, she isn’t showing any resistance to anything anymore. And when she turns to stone, she is smiling. Because now Raya knows that even if it doesn’t work, she’s still doing the right thing, and that matters the most.

It takes Namaari a few moments more to get there herself. She even briefly considers leaving, through the small but unstable way out that exists for her. But she can’t; not because the way out falls, but because she hesitates too long. Raya’s faith in the theme of the movie worked, and she did convince Namaari, even if Namaari hasn’t yet realized it herself. Finally, of course, she does realize that Raya has already won her over, and she does the right thing after all. And when she turns to stone, she’s kind of okay with it as well.

And of course we get literally the same moment we had in Finding Nemo or, even more literally, Frozen, where it seems like it didn’t work, and the faith in the theme of the movie was misplaced. Plus, in this case, we get to appreciate some incredibly beautiful subsurface scattering on the stone statues (meaning the way the light partially filters through the edges). Seriously, the graphics in this movie are amazing. You’re doing yourself no favors by being too jaded to appreciate the finer pixels in life.

Of course, as Mr Mazin said, faith in the theme rewards, and everything turns out fine and it’s all peace, happiness and pancake, as we say here in Germany.

But the crucial part is that this high point of the movie works because we previously had the low point; because we previously saw it go wrong. Not just the world at large, but both main characters. It’s their third, final chance, when both have finally learned their lesson.

If you want to assign blame like a traffic accident, to decide which percentage gets paid by whose insurance, yeah, maybe Namaari gets more of it. But narratively, Sisu’s temporary death happens because both characters failed, and both need to fix it together.

[freefloydcollins]

Obviously I'm devastated. Being the traitor solved so much for Hagakure's character. What's a more perfect canon justification for why a character is always on the periphery and never even has a small moment of relevance than they were doing it on purpose to both avoid fighting their true allies and to stay out of the general consciousness of the enemy you live within? And the questions we could have had answered about her: how exactly does her quirk work, how did she pass the entrance exam, what she wants out of being a hero, etc, are now total blanks again. We're basically back to square one with her and her character.

That being said:

Honestly I never cared for Aoyama. He annoys me. So finding out about the constant heartbreaking stress I think explains so much about his aggressively superficial personality. He's terrified of anyone looking deeper because all they will see is lies and broken mirrors. This whole situation adds a ton of depth to his otherwise cringeworthy demeanor. Plus, it explains the weird shit with the cheese. His explanation of "I know ur like me" or whatever never made any sense. Honestly when that happened I thought it could be a traitor clue but when the Hagakure herring dropped I was so interested in what it could mean for her I forgot all about Aoyama.

However, I dislike the explanation that his quirk is foreign to his body so that's why it doesn't work well for him. I know we have Dabi as an example of someone who's quirk hurts their body, but with him he has to actively use it. With Aoyama it "leaks out" ambiently such that he needs a constant support item. It was so interesting to me as a window into the lives of people who have powers that are more like a chronic illness than an ability. And now it turns out his body just wasn't designed for the quirk. So he is actually more like deku than he thought but to me it's still less satisfying.

At any rate, as much as it would have been good for her character, I'm glad Hagakure isn't evil. I just don't like it when a character I like turns out to be naught but lies and deceit. And I just never like Aoyama so it's not so sad for me personally even if it is a really sad part of the narrative as a whole.

I could go on abt this but this post is already really long. Yea we jumped the gun with Hagakure but honestly from a narrative perspective she's still the better choice for the traitor so I think we're valid.

[halfhappyhooligan]

a voltron au? in 2020? it’s more likely than you think

look. LOOK. i know that voltron is stupid and we hate it but lets be honest: everything up until season 3 was pretty good and had lots of potential !!

today i was rewatching voltron and a thought struck me: what if, instead of shiro being cloned, he was chipped and turned to the side of the galra?

so here it is, i did not blink since i thought of this

(warning, i have not seen voltron in a while and this is just knowledge i have stored in my moss brain and stuff i know from rewatching the first season)

au where shiro goes evil bc of what happens @ end of season one instead of the clone thing bc 1) haggar rly could not have made thousands of shiros after bumping into team voltron like what twice? its hella improbable and 2) just… weird

so instead they insert a chip in him that helps them spy and control him just like kuron (the clone) did minus the unlikely storytelling

eventually after the convo with sendak when he was in the pod trying to temp shirp, he does have thoughts about helping zarkon

(“im already infiltrated with the arm, i could just speed up the process by leaving now. save the team the trouble of investing in a leader that’s doomed to fail from the strart.”)

shiro ends up leaving team voltron in season 2 after zarkon goes crazy w the black lion n stuff

^^ this adds to Keith’s reasoning of joining the Blade of Marmora (shiro is his main stability and one of the main reasons he even stuck around with team voltron, so with shiro gone and keith questioning his place as the leader and paladin of the black lion, he decides the BoM is just.. what’s best for him) 

obviously lance isn’t happy with this (“you just told me that i’m a valuable member, now you don’t think YOU are? what logic is that?”)

ofc keith goes anyways

lance becomes paladin of the black lion

allura takes on the red lion

who has blue lion? ...idk this isn’t that thought out (maybe matt after pidge finds her family) (which will happen earlier in the plot since we can forget about the miniplot of black no longer responding to shiro)

enter lotor only this time he has a sidekick and what omg its shiro wow

shiro has that bigger version of his arm that was once offered to him

he’s stronger and scary, but his eyes aren’t the same, he has the strength of a galra but lacks the passion 

in the fight between lotor and zarkon, (and after, of course lots of self doubt and questioning) shiro comes between them and convinces lotor NOT to kill zarkon

then zarkon kills lotor

everyones like oh shit bc surely someone who’s life was just spared wouldn’t kill the person who seems to have the most power

but he did. bc he’s zarkon. and he’s fckn crazy.

shiro doesn’t go back to team voltron bc its too much too easily

instead he takes the place of lotor in the group of gals 

he convinces them all to rebel against the galra

eventually they teach him all about quintessence and all the shit lotor had planned that they can’t do anymore

(lotor wasn’t harvesting alteans in this universe bc what the heck even was that subplot that had little to no relevance to the main storyline?

instead he was trying to find a way to technologically bring back alteans (kinda like how allure’s dad was originally preserved in s1)

i know nothing about How Stuff Works and i dont remember much about quintessence n shit but the basic idea is that when tying in some of a persons artifacts with technology stuff and some quintessence then boom. a weird route from astral projection land to the team is created and ppl can come back or smth idfk

but lotor was never able to get the comet so shiro decides he and the gals will get that comet and try to bring back as many alteans as they can

^ all this while infiltrating as many galra fleets as possible + saving planets under galra empire

they personally visit every planet that lotor was in charge of and release them from galra control

they are able to bring back an altean (its romelle) and she talks abt her friend who lives on the balmera and they go to the balmera and its revealed that it was shay’s great grandmother so romelle asks where shay is and shay’s family is like with team voltron of course

so

they take her

obviously team voltron, the BoM and the Rebels r very hesitant to make contact but they decide to try it out

keith refuses to meet, instead he’s on the team that stands guard

reunions !! 

romelle and shay hit it off and hunk makes a dinner much like roselle’s past (allura and coran also hang out and they all vibe)

lance talks to shiro abt everything to do with keith and shiro is like dude do u??? like him?

and lance is like what? no ofc not—oh shit.

and keith ✨overhears ✨

pidge matt and shiro catch up n shit

meanwhile keith is like Hey Lance Uhhhhhh What The Fuck

they end up being like hey since we’re all here and we hate zarkon what if we make a plan to end the galra’s reign Right Now

so they do

and y’all.. it’s hella baller plan

except something is going wrong and in the middle of an attack zarkon is able to get the upper hand 

due to haggar’s magic and lance’s mental and emotional instability, zarkon is able to get in his head

everyone is trying to talk him down but they’re all under a lot of pressure

allura is also conflicted bc she wanted to be black lion bc she wanted to rub it in to zarkon’s face that she was stronger than he and that she could beat him at his own game

but the negativity and instability feeds into zarkon’s power and makes him and haggar stronger as they pull in voltron to finally take over the team and regain their status as the most powerful alien race

hunk realizes this and is like okay can y’all stop being negative? its clearly affecting them in a good way and it makes us an easier target

and pidge is like im literally a child pls i don’t wanna die i just got my family back it can’t end like this

shiro realizes what’s going on and he goes to save them

he uses all his energy, pulling in the positive memories (everything: first learning about space, becoming a teacher, meeting adam, meeting keith, first making team voltron, his friends and family--all of it) to push back zarkon and haggar’s powers and battle once more in the astral realm 

in defeating zarkon, shiro loses his life

afterwards keith enters the ship in a hurry and is like where the fuck is shiro where’s my brother what did you do what happened

and team voltron is like hey man.. we are so so sorry

and keith cries because the last thing he ever said to shiro was mean

lance feels like its all his fault since he was supposed to be a good leader

they talk about separately while hunk pidge and allura discuss

krolia is like keith we, ur family, are here for u

and axca is there and shes like um?? hey?? sry for trying to kill u bro

and he’s like i absolutely do not wanna talk i just lost my closest friend

they talk about it later

axca tells keith abt shiro finishing lotor’s work and abt bringing people back and well.. 

they use the methods to help keith visit shiro in the astral realm

shiro is like oh uh hey i was just having a drink w adam we r happy

and keith is like shiro u fuckhead why would u sacrifice urself

shiro sighs bc cmon keith you KNOW why “remember what i always said? we can’t focus on what went wrong..”

“we’ve got to figure out how to make it right” keith finishes

keith breaks tf down crying and screams apologizing

“i love u shiro. ur a like a big brother to me.”

and shiro is like yeah i know and ilyt but hey. everyone’s safe and happy. im safe and happy. & you deserve to be too. you don’t need me anymore.

so the galra rule is over and everyone goes to their respected planets

romelle and the other alteans as well as some galra babes hang in earth

romelle and shay r in an apartment together and have a garden

allura realizes she may not have been the strongest leader for voltron, and  couldn’t stop zarkon on her own but that physical strength doesn’t define her as a whole

her heart is strong enough to care for everyone, so thats what she does

allura starts running an inn for alteans filled with painted sceneries like altea in case anyone ever needs a reminder of home

when lance reunites with his family its a real tearjerker

rachel finally gets her jacket back and veronica is like So.. Axca 👀

the McClain’s host a huge party for everyone and it’s filled with lots of hugs and loud music and even tho lance was way too tired, he danced all night

he wouldn’t trade his family for the world—genetic and chosen

when hunk reunites with his parents they don’t let him out the house for hours, he tells them all about his new best friend shay as well as hundreds of his favorites stories from space

they are so, so proud of him

hunk spends the next days playing minecraft and animal crossing with pidge, giving their brains a rest from being on hyperdrive for 3 yrs straight

when pidge gets home she finally gets grounded by her mom, only being allowed to leave the house to see her old teammates

(same for matt and her dad)

(her mother cries so hard when they opened the door to the home)

the holt family holds movie nights filled with popcorn, cuddles, and tears

keith moves in with the holt family, and finally accepts that he has a home as well as a family

he often goes on trips with the BoM but mostly just stays on earth

after a Team Voltron sleepover in the altea inn keith and lance decide to get an apartment together and live their lives in love and in peace

everyone gets together once a year in celebration of shiro and the sacrifice he made for them

they use the ship to visit Astral Shiro and once they even met adam

everyone laughs and catches up and just... live their lives

everyone is happy

pls ignore any and all errors lmao

again, just a thought !! maybe i’ll write a fic abt it idk for sure but yeah

feel free to add anything <3

[mallowstep]

you have a mistyfoot au?

yeah well okay i have stupidly many riverclan aus actually like there are so many. i'm not going to explain. well. okay hold on let me start with the easy ones. in no particular order

ioth ("in offering to hestia", series is olympus mons and some one-shots are up now): best way i can describe it is that stonefur and leopardstar are in a political marriage and leopardstar cannot have her vice president and her first...man? be the same person, so he's a stay at home dad and mistyfoot is deputy

hawkstar (someday when the world is much brighter; i don't actually refer to it as hawkstar; fic that's up is "i want for you this: that you are well"): basically feathertail lives but with chronic pain and also mistyfoot gets taken with greystripe and leopardstar dies before they get back and mostly it's an excuse for fluff

scratch au (nothing's up yet): basically a role swap between firestar and bluestar, and stone&misty and feather&storm. so misty and stone are apprentices during tigerclan.

leopard mom au: leopardfur is fireheart's mom. that's all. also he's halfclan but it's barely relevant and i wrote a good scene for this one where she admits she had to choose between his life and stonefur's (ends up not mattering), and stonefur is like "no leopardstar i'm not upset u chose ur son over me"

river fire au: firepaw joins riverclan. stonefur is his mentor. three generations of mentors and apprentices kill tigerstar together. uh. actually the way more interesting part of this is about feathertail but she's featherstone in this au and she and greystripe lead bloodclan after the great battle and then stonefur drags her to the lake territories (long story), and then she tries to kill leopardstar. like i said there's a lot. did i say that?

okay and now the ones below the cut are all significantly darker than canon, so as always, be mindful.

cws: sexual assault, child abuse, a few more specific ones with certain aus

all of these aus are tagged as such. e.g., misty au is #misty au

misty au (one last way past the malice; the only thing on this list that i actually write): basically stormpaw gets rescued but mistyfoot and featherpaw are recaptured. also stonefur lives but anyway. featherpaw is starved, physically abused, and degraded, and tigerstar repeatedly rapes mistyfoot. mothwing, hawkfrost, and tadpole (in au: frogheart) are born to mistyfoot, feathertail raises them.

human misty au (i mean okay there's a lot i've written for this under the tag it's just not on ao3): misty au but w/ people. no but while a lot of plot beats are the same it's very different. there's a lot more religious trauma. stonefur does his own stitches in a hotel bathroom after kidnapping (read: rescuing) stormpaw (from a cult). leopardstar has a really thought out backstory that is nothing like canon. squirrelpaw and hawkpaw get into a fight on the first day of high school. mothwing and leafpool have kids during their first year of medical school. etc. if you go investigating cw: cults, religious abuse, and (rarely) sexualisation of minors

dark au: blackfoot/mistyfoot where he's trying to help her during events of misty au. it's good, really good. dark au anon if ur still here i want u to know i love what ur doing. oh also i think this is actually more tied to leopard au which is below. whatever i love this a lot. um. does anyone remember if the whole blackfoot-stonefur fight thing was ever addressed?

primrose au: primrosepaw lives. my favourite thing that came out of this was a scene in a human au i wrote where prim and blackclaw go to visit mistyfoot and featherpaw and she's just sharply jealous of featherpaw and it's not really fair because featherpaw went through hell but at the same time prim hates that she doesn't have a proper bond w her mother anymore

leopard au: OKAY THIS ONE HAS SOME GOOD SHIT but first: cw: parent being involved in sexual assault of child it's basically that leopardstar and mudfur help mistyfoot and featherpaw escape but get caught. tigerstar turns his vitriol on leopardstar and aaaaaaalso forces mudfur to say some real fucked up shit to her. i really like. i wrote a leopardstar and mudfur reconcilliation and i don't know where it went but i really liked it i am fascinated by this au the family dynamics are so tangled

stone au: tigerstar assumes stonefur and leopardstar are mates and after mistyfoot escapes goes "whelp tigerclan needs kits so you two better get it on." stonefur and leopardstar are not mates. there's. uh. there's a lot. a lot of guilt. oh also specific to this au: leopardstar was stonefur's mentor and they've been close their whole lives. just. very intimate and trusting and close and platonic and my fav part of this au is how all of the things that used to be about them are now public acts of performance and also i went mad trying to express how there's a possessive affix in meow meow language and how they use it differently and can you tell this au was my idea and not suggested to me by anons?

fuck what was the other one called? oh!

debate au: offshoot of leopard au where it's the same but worse. i got to write stonefur killing tigerstar and also there's...like. i don't think there's a ton for this one but i have thought about it so much

and i think (?) that's it

[foulserpent]

adore ur remake of oblivion so i have to ask. how would u remake skyrim.

thats something i havent thought out as extensively so it wont be as good as my oblivion rewrite idea. ill just focus on main questlines rather than all the issues with the world itself

heres a summary bc in spite of what i just said, this is long as fuck:

get rid of or completely rebuild the civil war plot (use new vegas formula a bit here).

create real choices and real consequences for the dragonborn and how their rise to power will influence them.

throw in a little ambiguity and make them have to work for their hero status

rewrite miraak to be a more effective foil to the dragonborn

adjust alduin

adjust the blades

civil war:

i think the biggest thing that needs to just happen IMMEDIaTELY is either just. removing the civil war or rebuilding it from the ground up. if they want to keep the factions the same, literally they should go with a new vegas approach where the conflict is largely between imperialists and fascists, playing the fascist questline is treated as a pretty unquestionably evil option, and theres a separate independent ending. also either way i think the stormcloaks have to be rewritten to be less appealing to white nationalists lol. its okay for Bad People to exist in videogames, but it should not be something irl racists can unite behind.

so if youre going to keep it, add in an independent resolution, maybe even two (a more "no gods no masters" kind, and maybe one where the dragonborn seizes control, which would have to involve the main quest probably)

main quest:

i think the dragonborn should struggle more. it doesnt hve to be like the nerevarine but their “chosen one” status should not just be handed to them. let there be more ambiguity in the prophecy, more question about how predetermined fate is. if theyre really super special, let them earn it.

a major theme should be grappling with power, and questions of the dragonborn's own nature. you should have to make real decisions about the kind of person you want to be and whether you will embrace a powerhungry nature or deny it, and your absorption of souls should have an effect. maybe you dont Need souls to unlock shouts, but it makes the function easier and more powerful or smth. the more souls you absorb, your character should be changed. not enough to ruin the game, but NPCs will be a little scared of you. maybe you even look a little different. you are a mortal body with dozens of godshards inside you and youre extremely powerful, it should be like that.

it would have to be done carefully to not come off as some shitty slapped on moral of "wow youre such a bad person for involuntarily absorbing the souls of dragons who try to kill you", id envision it as like. if your character makes actual powerhungry choices in the plot, its monstrous, if they strive to be a good person but are warped by all the souls, its tragic, and you can find ways to abstain from it entirely. alternate routes to fighting dragons. challenging them to duels etc

on that note, dragons need to be more people and less just monsters. each one of them is a person, and that should be very apparent. you should be able to engage with them in ways other than just killing outside of a few plot relevant ones, and even ones who just fight you should at least like. talk to you.

also alduin needs work, at least have his motivations be more clear. like why exactly is he so determined to enslave mortals rather than fufilling his duties as world eater? also its written really fucking confusingly bc on one hand its like "alduin has abandoned his duties and is just running around being a dragon" but then at a few points its implied that he IS trying to end the kalpa as hes supposed to, which is like...which one is it. im pretty sure its supposed to be the former so lets just pick a narrative and stick with it.

so like honestly i think the basic structure of the main quest can stay, it just needs to Know what its doing rather than just kind of flailing around

dragonborn dlc:

i think it needs work, mostly in the miraak department, since they set him up as like a big intimidating villain but hes kind of nothing . stop trying to make him live up to dagoth ur, and instead really hone in on him being a foil to the dragonborn. he is an example of what the dragonborn could become. from that point, either: make him actually really intimidating, or make the playing field feel very level to play up how this is hermaeus mora ultimately pitting prospective tools against each other.

i would go for the latter approach, though miraak should still have to be a convincing villain. set up miraak as the big bad, but make it become increasingly clear that hes just another chucklefuck ensared in mora's tentacles. which i think they were TRYING to do but werent very successful. like i like that YOU dont get to kill him, mora just decides hes not needed anymore and does it himself. really shows that this is all just kind of a farce. i even like the idea that maybe miraak is like, kind of a hollowed out meatpuppet for mora at that point but idk. 

either way id want the dlc to actually challenge how superspecial and stuff dragonborn are, by making the Legendary Duel Of The First and Last Dragonborn be very clearly be like the equivalent of bugs in a jar being made to fight.

The Blades:

the blades need work, but i actually think their depiction is.. accidentally? good. i think their insistence on killing paarthurnax is good and makes sense, but it needs to be reworked and yeah you do need to be able to talk them out of it or handle it otherwise (even by killing them) bc its such a meaningless quest.

make their motivation more clear like delphine and esbern dont want him dead for just his 10000000 year old war crimes, its really about them being incredibly fucking paranoid individuals and needing the ultimate proof that they can trust you. so beef up the whole blades - you - paarthurnax dynamic. give them all more meaningful and complex interactions. this doesnt mean Make Paarthurnax Bad, but maybe give like more of a legitimate reason for the blades to want him killed (legitimate does not mean Good, like it could be they percieve him as a threat to the empire)

[eponinemylove]

aftg tattoo/flower shop au

@essence-29

so it’s wymack’s parlor and he still technically runs it and everything but he’s tired most of the time and he lets kevin pretty much take over

kevin has almost no tattoos himself except one he got that he deeply regrets (in my mind it’s bc riko was his piece of shit ex boyf and pretty much made him get it, but however u want to imagine the backstory of this tattoo is up to you)

anyway he runs the shop with his dad. matt, renee, and seth all work there

andrew runs the flower shop around the corner (managed by betsy). he could not give less of a damn about the parlor tbh. he barely noticed it existed

he’s more of a piercings guy anyway but it’s not like he’s against tattoos

at least, he didn’t care about the parlor until him and renee became friends

i imagine they met at the flower shop when she came in and ordered some for allison. maybe they started seeing each other around more and more, and you know how andrew makes friends. he probably followed her to work one day and they went from there.

either way they’re besties and they work on the same block. so andrew goes in and out of the tattoo parlor fairly often to pick up renee or have lunch.

him and kevin obviously run into each other at some point, probably more often than not

at first they ignored each other’s presence but then andrew started to notice kevin

tattoo artist without (many) tattoos? interesting. he won’t talk about the tattoo he does have? very interesting. he flinched when someone dropped a glass of something and it shattered? now you have his attention

and of course kevin can’t help but notice the hot, 5-foot-nothing guy who comes in at least once a week to harass his patrons and distract his employees

both of which are definitely crimes andrew commits regularly around the parlor

andrew invites kevin out for drinks one night after they’ve been noticing each other for a while. it’s not flirtatious or romantic, but it does feel... weighted. kevin goes. renee and the others are there too, vaguely, but he still manages to end up spending most of the night alone with andrew

they talk. a lot. it’s really slow going because neither one of them particularly feels like talking, but they do. or they come to a mutual understanding at least

they have a weird relationship after that that none of kevin’s friends or andrews relatives can even pretend to understand, but you know what? whatever. they’re KevinAndAndrew

i don’t want to say they’re attached at the hip, but they totally are. anywhere kevin is, andrew follows, especially if kevin is drinking. and they’re not even nice to each other. that’s the confusing part for the others. just looking at them, you wouldn’t even think they were friends, much less maybe-kind of-dating?

so this goes on for a couple of months, and just when everyone thinks they’re getting used to it, neil comes in

literally no one was ready for him. he shows up at the tattoo parlor one day and just applies for a job. no resume, no interview. straight up walks up to the front desk and asks for a job

kevin wants to throw him on his ass but matt says the least they could do was interview the guy

(neil probably looks all kinds of a mess. not like insane or dirty, but just generally disheveled and exhausted and... neil. he looks like neil)

kevin still thinks this is a waste of time, but he lets neil show him what he’s got

no one was expecting neil, but they definitely weren’t expecting him to be so goddamn good

it’s hard to tell if he’s a natural or has actually had years of hardwork and practice, but he’s an amazing artist and he knows his way around a needle

so they hire him.

matt becomes quick friends with neil. seth and neil don’t get along, per se, but they’re almost the exact same brand of asshole so there is a sort of solidarity between them

renee obviously is nothing if not entirely pleasant to neil, but he still has issues trusting her

and kevin? well kevin kind of hates his newest hire

he complains to andrew about him nonstop. about how he’s stupidly talented and a complete bastard and gets along with people but in a chaotic sort of way that makes kevin anxious and annoyed and

kevin has a lot to say and andrew is more than inclined to listen

it’s a surprise to no one when andrew is in the parlor the next day, scoping out neil for himself

oh, and i should mention that neil has literally NO tattoos. not even one. (his mother would never allow something so easily recognizable)

neil barely notices andrew until he confronts him after his shift. i don’t know what he would say, but it would go pretty much like how their meeting went in the books, just probably without the racquet

a fight immediately breaks out that matt and kevin have to break up. renee knows better

yeah neil and andrew don’t get along

andrew is very interested though. so he does what andrew always does. he gets nosy. and personal. and mean

it takes him a surprisingly long time to find any information on neil. he thinks it might be a fake name and kevin assures him that it’s definitely likely, which helps exactly none.

eventually the only thing he manages to gather is that neil has one hell of a temper and could start a fight in an empty room. he also won’t take any shit from anyone, whether it’s from andrew or some random Karen screaming at one of his coworkers for giving her daughter a tattoo she didn’t approve of. he can and will tear someone to shreds, and as much as kevin hates it (“Neil that’s bad for business, you can’t verbally abuse the clients”), andrew is very amused

kevin secretly also really likes neil. it’s hard not to—he says everything kevin wouldn’t dream of and sees through all of kevin’s bullshit. also he’s ridiculously hot and incredibly good at his job, and there’s nothing kevin appreciates more than talent and competence

after, idk, a month? of getting nowhere to unraveling neil’s past, andrew invites him for drinks.

kevin is there of course and pre-approved the decision. matt comes along bc he doesn’t trust andrew in the slightest and he loves neil. renee is there to make sure no one actually gets murdered. seth just shows up bc he thinks something funny might happen, like another fight

not strictly relevant, but allison, dan, and nicky working at the bar/club they frequent??? a Concept.

andrew and kevin are both pretty surprised to find out that neil doesn’t drink. they try and “convince” him otherwise, but neil refuses and short of drugging him, there’s not really anything they can do

nothing really happens the first couple of hours. nicky flirts with neil a couple of times, neil doesn’t notice, the usual. things take a turn when neil spots kevin’s tattoo. other than that, the night was a bust

since this is an au, idgaf what’s in their past. reader interpretation, use ur imagination, go crazy. however, whatever kevin was involved with, neil was somehow tangled up in too. that part stays the same

he doesn’t mention it

he doesn’t mention it

he doesn’t mention it

and then, of course, he mentions it

it’s not on purpose or in anyway eloquent. they probably get into some sort of fight while closing up and it just slips out

there’s a moment of “oh shit”, the complete understanding that passes through the two of them

they don’t mention it

except they do, because andrew finds out

he and neil have a another “talk” bc yeah andrew might run the flower shop, but if neil brings trouble from kevin’s past back to him now, when he’s doing so much better, andrew can and will actually commit homicide

and that’s the start of their relationship!

well, no, not really. neil still takes a while to warm up to them, and a while longer to start feeling any sort of romantic attraction to them. and of course that’s after he realizes they’re even a couple, because trust me, with those two is always questionable whether or not they’re even friends. or acquaintances. or on speaking terms

also they have to eventually talk about everything. set boundaries, clear the air. neil gives them piece by piece looks into his past. it’s slow work, but it’s a little bit of trust given by someone who has never trusted anyone before.

yeah so anyways everyone thought KevinAndAndrew was confusing? well they don’t know what the fuck is going on with KevinAndAndrewAndNeil

what they do know is that kevin and neil do some of the best tattoos in the country. what they do know is that andrew and neil take smoke breaks together in the back alley, halfway between their two shops. what they do know is that andrew and kevin have adopted neil into their relationship and the three of them are so close-knit, it almost becomes impossible to find one away from the others at any given moment

what they do know is that at least twice a week, the short, blond, very scary flower-shop guy walks into a tattoo parlor and a 6-foot tall intimidating tattoo artist and 5’3 ginger with a sharp tongue and sharper attitude immediately stop what they’re doing and go meet him

that’s pretty much it. scary blonde who sells roses for a living falls for scary tattoo artist who doesn’t seem to believe in tattoos. both these idiots then fall for the (not at first glance) scary new guy who is obviously trouble, because this is a tatto/flower shop au, and everyone loves the broken badass with a heart of gold.

there’s something to be said here about the most intimidating and kick-ass power couple (throuple?) ever

also it’s funny bc based on appearances alone, everyone expects neil to run the flower shop, and kevin and andrew to do tattoos. boy are they in for a surprise though, because andrew knows every single flower you could ever think of sticking in a bouquet, and neil could operate a tattoo gun blindfolded

ALSO they all get matching tattoos at some point bc they’re idiots and in love and it probably has a whole crap ton of heartfelt meaning that i don’t want to explain bc i feel like i’ve rambled forever at this point and still said nothing significant

oh and neil 100% gives kevin a coverup, replacing his old tattoo with something else.

there’s all kinds of plants decorating the parlor courtesy of andrews shop, and neil and kevin design andrew’s logo

and betsy makes everyone flower crowns at some point. andrew refuses to acknowledge it i’m any way, but dutifully wears it regardless. neil wears it to work the entire day, and after hangs it in his office-thing. whatever tattoo parlors have. kevin straight up refuses to wear it but neil wears him down and he puts it on for like 20 minutes. there’s even pictures to prove it

[whyihatetonystark]

Sorry just stumbled across your blog and I don’t get why ur hating on RDJ? He’s just the actor isn’t he it’s not like he’s tony stark

If you really wanna know why people here hate him, I‘d suggest checking out the “Anti RDJ“ tag. There’s a lot to find there, most of it supported by sources.

But very well, here are my reasons for disliking him:

Improvised a transphobic joke in IM1, a Prima Nocta rape joke in Ultron and the whole ass rant Tony delivers at the beginning of Endgame. He was actually supposed to apologise to Steve for driving them away and leaving the world defenseless, you know, like he did, but RDJ turned it into “I was right all along, fuck your precious freedoms”. I think the sexist joke Tony makes toward Aunt May in Homecoming also came from him.

Did blackface. Sure, many say that it was satire but the opinions are kinda divided on this one. But then, at a movie premiere a couple years ago he called himself an “honorary black man” because of said blackface. Shoulda see Chadwick Boseman’s reaction to that, it was super funny.

Keeps emphasising his “great” relationships with other actors. At first, it was Chris Evans, then Tom Holland, then Brie Larson. It’s portrayed as him using his reach to prop them up, but I honestly think it’s so he stays relevant and never falls off that hype train. Can’t let the fandom forget about how much all the others owe him, after all.

Negotiated for much more screentime and bigger paycheck in Civil War. He was only supposed to be there for a couple scenes, but then thought “damn, it would be so much better if Tony had about as much screentime in this Captain America movie as the titular character”. That’s why we had an Avenger 2.5 movie instead of a Captain America one (Serpent Society will forever be in my heart).

Called Civil War his own little Iron Man 4

Is frankly, not that good of an actor. He keeps insisting that he is basically Tony Stark, that he brought the character to live perfectly. Now, if you know a bit about Tony Stark in the comics, you know that’s not true; there are many differences. Instead, he kinda just plays himself and still I am underwhelmed by his dramatic acting performance. Don’t forget that he had only a very few acting jobs besides Marvel for the last ten years, and most of them have failed at the box office, often partly because he didn’t deliver a convincing performance. He just played himself. You know, like he does in the MCU.

Keeps forcing his way into the MCU, his co-star’s solo movies in particular. Remember, we’d have a Captain America: Serpent Society if it weren’t for him. He’s already stated that he’d return to the MCU if Marvel can afford him, which is a pretty arrogant thing to say since Marvel has made him big and filled his pockets with several hundred million dollars while all his other projects in the last ten years bombed and bombed hard. There is a reason most other Marvel actors have jobs besides the MCU and he doesn’t.

Terrence Howard, the man who originally played Rhodey in IM1, had been one of the few people to fight for RDJ getting the role of Tony Stark. So how did RDJ say thank you? He was offered/negotiated for a massive pay rise for IM2, with the option of sharing the money with the rest of the cast (who got their pay reduced). He said no and kept it all. So then, Marvel approached Howard and told him that they would only pay him an eighth of what they had originally promised him. And they told him that he could either take it or leave it. When Howard then tried to call RDJ for an explanation, his “friend” didn’t answer his phone for three months. Source.

Just to make it clear: I don’t hate him for not being a good actor. Whatever, there are tons of others who aren’t either. I hate him for acting like the world revolves around him, for portraying himself as the one and only actor, the one who brought Tony Stark alive 1:1. As someone who has the right to push other actors out of their employment, to take their money or their screentime. Come back when you’ve delivered a good, dramatic performance, hun.

I feel like there is much more I’m forgetting, but if anyone has any additions, feel free to add them. Again, you can find all of that and so, so much more just by browsing the anti tag, with sources, videos, pics and all, so you know I’m not just pulling this out of my ass. Also, keep in mind that many things the fandom dislikes about Tony were added to the character by RDJ. From sexist jokes to the downright fascist rhetoric in Endgame.

[ivcsisms]

        - ̗̀ NOW INTRODUCING:  IVES ❝ IVY ❞ SERRANO !

new york’s very own ives serrano was spotted on broadway street , with a striking semblance to danna paola ! you may know her as @poisonivy or hitting the front page of tmz as social media star joins top 1% of only fans earners after just one day on the platform. according to tmz , she just had your twenty-fourth birthday bash . while living in nyc , you’ve been labeled as being manipulative , but also alluring . things that would paint a better picture of you would be strawberry champagne, rose petal blunts, and red glossy lips paired with gold jewelry . ( cis female + she/her  ) 

    ♡ — ›   𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲 / 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬    &   𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬    &   𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬    &    𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 

hi cuties !! i missed u guys sm !! i was around before the revamp so some of u already know me / ivy but to those that don’t hello i’m tay !! i can’t wait to meet y’all n ur muses soo i’m jus gonna get into it and give this a like if u want me to come bug u for plots !! or if u wanna hmu on discord u can find me at tay#6638. if u want a very long-winded, overly detailed account of everything in her life u can read the bio / stats page i linked above but if u don’t want to read all that shit here’s the basics: 

okie so the first thing u need to know abt ivy is that she is literally always lying like.. her name isn’t even rly ives ! it’s her middle name but still. she started using it when she was a stripper ( which she started doing like on her eighteenth birthday ) and her stage name was poison ivy, and then she created her online persona using the stage name and everyone just knew her as ivy so she went with it

she wanted to hide her real identity at first for like safety reasons but then as she became more and more popular she kept lying to hide her shady ass past bc she’s definitely been arrested a few times for like possession and petty theft/shoplifting type shit and also she doesn’t want anyone to know that she grew up poor, and that all of her money doesn’t come from a trust fund like she says it does

and that’s because most of her money comes from scamming and blackmailing rich men ! also from being a sugar baby but generally most of her money comes from being manipulative and using her looks for evil. she always jokes that her job is literally jus being pretty !

she got most of her ‘fame’ from instagram and other social media, and she’s done a little bit of modeling but more than anything it’s just like being the face of a campaign or a brand ambassador or smth bc she’s too short for the runway so u know like mostly print stuff. 

but most recently she’s been in the news for blowing up on only fans which honestly is the platform she’s probably most excited about being popular on bc u know.. money. she started the account like... mostly as a joke just like ha ha what if i had an of and she posted some pretty tame like lingerie pics and made a bunch of money super quick and just decided This Is What I Do Now bc she was a stripper for a while so it’s not like it’s anything that new to her

definitely spends too much time on tik tok !! social media in general tho too, she’s like always on her phone and is one of those people that can’t just hang out without posting selfies/videos on every social media site and then not-so-secretly obsessing over the engagement on it 

since her fame doesn’t really come from like ... talent ( i might make her a singer again later but for now she’s just Pretty ) she’s always doing crazy shit to keep her name in the press, whether it’s feeding into dating rumors or starting public fights with people, she’s always just trying to stay relevant and get attention ( plus the insta engagements lead to more sponsorships and brand deals sooo... all press is good press to her ) 

she is so selfish, and will always put herself first in any situation. she literally will throw u under the bus or take advantage of u without even thinking twice ok she’s so used to being manipulative and self-centered that she doesn’t even realize she’s doing it sometimes 

that being said she’s super charming and tries to keep a bit of a balance with her reputation, like people expect her to be pretty erratic and unpredictable, but she tries to at least seem nice most of the time so that she isn’t just like... universally hated. she’d much rather be hated by a small group of people that have a reason to hate her but have a mostly ok public reputation, ya know ?? 

and some people definitely have good reasons to hate her bc she takes advantage of / steals from her rich friends a lot ( not her good good friends but like acquaintances ) 

if you actually manage to get through her walls tho she is a super loyal friend and will literally do anything for u, it just takes a lot to get there like she doesn’t open up to a lot of people and is super super selective of who gets to see her be vulnerable and express her true emotions. like how she’s really feeling bc she can fake cry on command so she can be tricky and make u think she cares when she rly just wants something 

she’s also a huge partier and much more pleasant when she’s drunk or on drugs, except for the times when she gets too drunk and will pick a fight with anyone who is unfortunate enough to cross her path. 

she’s very toxic in relationships and therefore never seems to stay in them long, but also dating people / making people think she might be dating someone more famous than her is one of her favorite techniques for getting attention, so she tends to jump around a lot and have those awful on again / off again type relationships 

she’s also bi so her ass is rated e for everybody 

a lot of times she pretends to be dumber than she really is so people don’t suspect her of being the manipulative mastermind that she is, and also she’s so good at lying that sometimes even she believes her own bullshit. she also purposefully keeps an air of mystery about her, especially when it comes her her childhood/background type stuff, she’s just really vague and will usually change the subject when it comes up 

she wakes up every day and chooses chaos, that’s the gist of it really !

connections 

so i have this connections page from before and i’m still fixing / updating it BUT it has a lot of rly good ideas on there but here are just some like general ideas i would love !!

pr relationship / flirtationship / fake enemies ( like they pretend to hate each other or fight on social media for the attention ) 

exes on bad terms ( ig they could be on good terms too but i like drama ok ) 

someone she stole from 

someone that hates her for some other shady shit she did

party friends !!

mom friends that will make her Chill tf out 

bad influence friends ( either they bring out the worst in her or she brings out the worst in them / peer pressures them to do things ) 

on again / off again exes !! 

fwb / casual hookups 

friends to lovers or even better is enemies to lovers,, pls 

nd of course just like general friendships !! fake bitches need friends too !!

[natsubeatsrock]

The Rewrite of Fairy Tail: Part 25 (Ultear)

Was Last Ages a good idea?

Part of me wants to say that the answer is yes considering Opening 16 having my favorite visuals of any Fairy Tail opening. The clock twitch at the start is one of my personal favorite aspects of the opening and it wouldn't be there if Last Ages didn't happen.

Of course, pedantic issues like that aren't enough to blind me to the weight of what I'm advocating. Ultear is one of my favorite characters in the series. I wouldn't suggest essentially writing out one of my favorites if it didn't need to happen. 

But that's just it. Did it need to happen? (Don’t worry, we’ll get to talk about Ultear as a character.)

A good place to start is its place in the Grand Magic Games arc. The reason it needed to happen, as the story goes, is that multiple people need to be saved from situations and the difference of one minute, while also remembering what happened in the alternate minute, was enough to save the lives of multiple people. Most notably, Lucy was able to avoid being killed and Gray wasn't impaled by multiple dragons. It's framed as a sacrifice that caused other people to live.

At the risk of sounding callous, I'm not sure this was really all that much of a concern. For all the people who did get affected by the spell Last Ages, there is one important person who wasn't: Natsu. As sad as it might be to consider our favorite characters dying it wasn't like their actions stopped the Eclipse Gate even after Last Ages. Lucy knew how to stop the Gate, but she didn't destroy it. Neither did Gray, Juvia, Lyon, Meredy, Baccus, Romeo, Macao, Wakaba, Cobra, Gajeel, Wendy, Laxus, or anyone else whose name isn't Natsu Dragneel. It would have been tragic, but the result would have been similar. (An interesting "what if" scenario I may or may not consider.)

And consider the scale of the event in the arc. The entire world was set back by one minute. It's described as innocuous enough that it was barely noticed by most people. Of course, this is juxtaposed with how important it meant to the actual people at the moment. However, consider what that means for the majority of people in the universe. Ultear could have done nothing and it would have as much of an effect for the people within the series universe.

This is, of course, not to say that Ultear's sacrifice didn't matter past Grand Magic Games. This is to say that the idea that this sacrifice changed a lot isn't as true as Mashima would have us believe and that there might not have been much of a need to have Ultear get basically written out of the series.

After using Last Ages, Ultear becomes a part of the time stream, showing up at times when it gets messed up. (At least, that's the explanation I'm going with.) She makes two as her younger self in this form. We obviously need to talk about (read: you're going to read my interpretation of) these moments. But, I want to start with the second moment first and you'll see why.

The second meeting was Ultear's appearance during Wendy and Chelia's fight with DiMaria. Now, there are issues with their interaction in regards to the Third Origin, but that's for other reasons. This wouldn't necessarily be impossible if Last Ages didn't happen. After all, she's doing this in conjunction with the rest of Crime Sorciere. The only reason this comes off as shocking is exactly what she went through Last Ages. As long as they show up and Ultear remains a member, there's no reason for she shouldn't be in the fight. Heck, we may have gotten interactions between her and Gray.

And, with that totally non-bitter transition (I'm actually okay with that), let's talk about the meeting between Gray and Ultear during the Sun Village arc. This is part of a trend wherein Ultear, either implicitly or explicitly, serves as a reminder for the fact that you shouldn't sacrifice your life to save other people, even if you love them. Her sacrifice reminds Gray that he ought to continue living on for other people.

But, and I again recognize this does sound callous, that's stupid.

I mean, it's exactly the kind of message he ought to keep with him, especially in those moments. But, I'm not sure that this is a point that ought to be beating in the ground as much as it was, especially to the point it was in the way it was. In Gray's specific context, it makes symbolic sense that he is saved by her. But, shouldn't Gray already know that from as far back after Galuna Island?

It could be argued that Gray needs to have these lessons reinforced multiple times through his journey as they clearly haven’t sunken in. To a degree, I understand that as a realistic portrayal of depression. But, what happened to “I will seal your darkness away”? Isn’t it possible to have him remember that instead of Ultear sacrificing herself?

And that gets to another thing. What does this mean for Ultear's character? Much of the reason that she's willing to do this at all is that she believes that she is a terrible person at heart and can't make up for what she's done over the years. Therefore, she wants to use her life force to help other people's lives.

I don't think that is in and of itself a terrible motivation for an action like this from a reformed villain who thinks the way Ultear seemed to. I don't even think that she's entirely wrong to think so, considering she wanted to kill present Rogue to stop future Rogue. I could even understand our hypothetical character going through with his or her choice and going on to save a large number of lives, as Last Ages does.

However, this is a Mashima villain. He's stated in the past that he likes to make villains that are more than just evil. While we can talk about how he did with that goal, this feels like something uncharacteristic of his villains. 

And even if he wasn't open about his penchant to redeem villains, we'd absolutely know something is up. Jellal was in a similar spot during Nirvana - ashamed of his existence and ready to die - but he ended up being a better (not sure good is the right word) person. Meredy was convinced to become good and even was part of the reason Ultear started to want to change. Flare changes during the Grand Magic Games arc into Sun Village arc. Sabertooth becomes a good guild (not that they should have been evil anyway). A lot of Alvarez Empire arc involves Brandish's struggle of doing good and/or evil and Irene realizes she actually loved Erza before stabbing herself. Oracion Seis joins Jellal in Crime Sorciere (under duress).

In a sense, Last Ages is Mashima's way of saying, "This one's staying evil. They can't change." In another series with another writer, that wouldn't be annoying. With Fairy Tail, this is clearly purposeful. My job isn't necessarily to speculate as to why, but I can't think why that would make sense to him except that it makes the parallel to Ur for Gray. In a world where she doesn't come back to relevancy in the final arc, I might be to accept that as fine. Considering she did come back and that the continued relevance of Crime Sorciere past the Grand Magic Games, it’s not as if I can’t do things with her character if she were to stay alive.

Therefore, I'm actually going against canon in this regard. In the rewrite, Ultear wants to go through with the spell Last Ages but is prevented from doing so. (I’m debating who stops her.) With this, Ultear continues to be an active character during the series. What the circumstances are surrounding her not going through with it and what she does now that she's a part of the series are topics worth talking about. However, I'd like to save those for another time.

For now, though, I feel that it's worth mentioning is that not every villain has to be saved or redeemed. I'm not here to argue that every villain is equally deserving of a second chance, even though I absolutely believe such to be true on some level. Some villains will and should stay evil until the end. But if Jellal is going to struggle to do the right thing, I think Ultear should try to as well.

Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18  | Part 19  | Part 20  | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Ayesha Liveblogs Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card S1

Not to be someone born in the 90s but wow this is a change from the more simple animation style new anime truly likes things shiny, intensely bright and round lmao

Ah I guess the prologue is just a reanimation of the original anime finale? That’s fair it helps you reintegrate if it had been nineteen years for you

“That way, you’ll realize who you consider to be your Number One” Eriol’s advice has gotten less cryptic since he stopped lying

“The person I love the most... is you” Lmao didn’t Syaoran ALREADY do this confession in the final battle this is like in Naruto the Last where Naruto just forgot that Hinata had already said she loved him

Fdshkfjhkjdfhksjhfkjh wow Yukito appearing with a flower background and shine effect and softened face is this a style choice or is this just Toya Vision™

I think Toya’s voice IS different rest in pieces I still respect u bro 

“How do I feel about Syaoran” [Pan across Syaoran in floral background] It is a style choice how very shojo manga of you

I’m really very confused by the references to Tokyo Tower bc I’m pretty sure they were battling at Tsukimine Shrine did I miss something??

No I just checked it was definitely at the shrine in the anime did THEY not check or were they like ‘hmmm not enough drama only Tokyo Tower for our battle backdrops pls’

This is the third or fourth flower backdrop in the first ten minutes jkhkdjhg the floral effect artists said ‘I WILL BE SILENT NO LONGER’:

I DO NOT understand the chronology of this the bear exchange was the last scene in the anime is this before or after the finale???? If it’s after then why is Syaoran still in town

Rjhkjhgkj is the entire point of redoing this episode so Sakura could also give Syaoran a bear

“Toya was too embarrassed, so he had me bring it over and went back to his room” Lmao @ Toya sending his boyfriend to be nice to his sister in his place 

If this show does not stop the floral cutaways I will not be able to take it seriously it is Ouran High School Host Club levels of intensity jdshfkjshdfkjhsdk

“Will you wait for me?” “Yes! I’ll wait! I’ll be waiting!” I think they threw out all continuity just so they could establish that these feelings were for sure mutual for the setup of the sequel series

That, or the original series so heavily discarded manga continuity that they are trying to walk it back to something more accurate without any real explanation

Rffkghkfghkdfhgkj if they’re referencing the original anime bear scene what was the point of that stupid prologue SO WHAT IS THE TRUTH

“My name is Mike. I’m from Portland” LOL references to Americans in anime are always so funny 

“Now I can stay in Tomoeda forever” did u bring ur mom and sisters orrr

Gosh I’m actually quite thrown by how quickly this romance escalated it took them 57 episodes to just use each other’s first names and now it’s taken them one (1) episode to Commit 4Ever At Age 13

HAHAHA do they have smart phones now? Always on the cutting edge

“I Am a Stuffed Animal” some of the quirky captions ARE worth it

“Make sure you tell him... even the smallest things” Yue has become more of a romantic since he got closure and a part-time boyfriend 

“I never knew! Thanks for telling me!” “Never change, Li-kun” kjhgkjhdkj STILL MY GULLIBLE BOY some things don’t ever change

Is that a dragon?? They are really expanding this magical universe

It bears repeating the polar opposite levels of pacing from the two shows it’s only episode one and they’ve already established so many new rules and powers 

I don’t blame them for it though bc they have to put forward some kind of plot progression

There were so many visual effects in that scene I couldn’t even tell what was happening lmao it’s like reading manga battles

“But why are these things happening in Tomoeda again?” I mean not to point fingers but Syaoran’s arrival is fairly recent

“Did Wei-san come back with you” “No, just me. But he said he’d come to check on me in a while” HE’S 13?? CHILD. WELFARE. LAWS!!!!

“I wish that I could’ve used it as a reference” “For what?” “To make something that would look wonderful on you” LMAO now that Syaoran and Sakura are a thing He is Included in the outfits 

“’Great to have you’ so you can do what?” don’t bully ur sister Toya, u r both happy with your respective relationships now

WHAT ARE THE STAKES OF KERO PRETENDING TO BE A PLUSHIE TOYA IS LITERALLY DATING THE MOON

I understood “Gale” but what exactly is a “Siege” card this feels a little abstract 

“We managed to keep him in the dark” did u tho? Again. Moon boyfriend

“So it happened in her room” Did u put a protection spell on that bear or something Syaoran 

I genuinely do not tire of Syaoran and Sakura’s shared gullibility this couple is morosexual solidarity

How convenient that Sakura’s new key just announces whenever there’s a new clear card to collect lmao

I meant what I said about Toya’s love language being touching Yukito somewhere above the shoulders 

“You’ll find out when the time comes” Dfddjhfjkdhf Toya what are you going to DO 

Two cards in one episode is quite a bit for ep 3 I guess they’re trying to give her some more fighting options lol 

Is the implication of the way Sakura just happens to be coming across magical phenomenon that Clow Reed didn’t make his cards but just harnessed magic that existed in nature 

For no reason other than my own suspicion I think that something funky is going on with Syaoran’s powers

“That person was almost the same height as me” I mean so was Eriol

“Sakura and the Lovely Transfer Student” we know by now transfer students mean that shit’s about to get real

“And then you slept with your belly uncovered” “I did not!” Toya’s gentle bullying to distract Sakura is always weirdly sweet

“Your brother is so funny Sakura” CHIHARU’S RIGHT STAN TOYA

SHINOMOTO ARE YOU SHITTING ME JHDFGHDGDFDD WHY DOES IT RHYME

“I hope we can be friends” if I know anything about this show this means she’s going to do something very shady immediately

I wonder if this will be the season that Tomoyo’s filming of everything Sakura does finally becomes plot relevant

I do think it’s weird that Sakura trusted a new key without questioning it

“I’m changing back” LOL @ YUE TRANSFORMING INTO YUKITO JUST TO AVOID PEOPLE I’M STARTING TO REALLY LIKE HIM

DGSJGSJDGDJGSFFSJDHJS YUKITO APOLOGIZING FOR YUE LEAVING RUDELY THAT’S MY POLITE AND HANDSOME MAN WHO HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING WRONG IN HIS LIFE

I KNEW Syaoran was being suspicious!!! Talking about Sakura with Eriol in secret phone calls

“I came here to be ready for that time, when it comes” current theory is that Syaoran has NO powers and that’s why he is not running out of his classroom for teenage battles with the Forces of Nature

“How much has Yukito-san been eating?” “Not as much as he did when you were in elementary school, but he still eats a lot for his size” This must be a strange conversation for their dad to listen to but I like how this is code for Does Yukito Have Magical Chakra Exhaustion

“Um, I just... Phone call” said Sakura, as she was forcibly moonwalked away right in front of her friends’ eyes

LOL is Tomoyo being unable to film Sakura going to be a recurring joke 

“Don’t worry about it” “I have to, when it’s about you” Syaoran really going Full Boyfriend Mode huh

I’ve never questioned it in until precisely this moment but who pays Kero’s phone bill?? Is it Tomoyo? Who is the account holder for this stuffed animal did she establish Kero as a legal person

“Momo-chan, let’s be friends okay?” I feel like this has to be immediate foreshadowing for Momo being alive

[Cucumber cut incorrectly] “Gotta show Yuki” hjkfhksjdhfkjhd rude of Toya but the caption kills me

Ddjkhfkjdhfjkdhfkjh the pure juxtaposition of this energy:

Tomoyo: They have other things to do

Chiharu, thinking that it’s a romance thing: [Winks]

Syaoran and Sakura: [In the shadows while threatening music plays]

“I didn’t feel... anything” oh NO why r their magic senses NOT tingling

I feel like I have been had, they had an episode called the “Song of the Moon” and Yukito didn’t even show up?? Rude

SCREAM this magical FaceTime call is much funnier than I could’ve imagined

“Yukito is in a recitation club, which he takes very seriously” GDGJFGJGJHGDG Yue very respectful of not occupying Yukito’s time with magical shenanigans LMAO

“And we’ll make them the cutest oxygen masks you’ve ever seen” Tomoyo, like the background effects artists in this anime, will not be stopped

Well colour me inaccurate I guess Syaoran can use his powers and he can do a fancy new sword thing

I like this flying scarf it’s the first of the new cards with a personality

Poor Syaoran always so serious to being a Teenage Wizard is hard

Wow I bet there’s NOTHING weird about the fact Akiho lives in Eriol’s house it’s just pure happenstance (said no one)

“Could we um, go out together?” I think this is the first time someone has explicitly scheduled a date in all 80+ episodes

I really do enjoy Toya’s never-ending list of temp jobs lmao 

“Still going on, huh?” Toya’s older brother senses are unparalleled

LMAO IS THIS A 15 YEAR OLD BUTLER

Ghgjhfjfjhfjh what is the scale for these heights why is Kaito twice the height of these 13-year-olds

Unsubtle shot of this man’s pocket watch echoing Sakura’s dream

I’ve never seen a more Rich Person Reaction than Akiho getting upset that Katio, a service worker, stated that taking care of her was his job hfkjdhfkjh

“I came to Japan because there was a book I wanted”

1. VERY Rich Person thing to say

2. Wow I wonder which of you has a MAGICAL BOOK that’s been doing weird things lately

“What language is it” “I don’t know, but I’ve learned to read it” me when I hear people speak South Asian languages LMAO

Why does everyone keep referencing the Time That’s Coming? Toya, Syaoran, Eriol... they’ve all caught Mizuki’s affliction of vague and unhelpful prophecies

*One more go to jail Mizuki for the road

I hope that these stupid FaceTime calls with Yue are in EVERY episode from now on

Does the fact that he’s listed as Yue-san in Sakura’s phone mean that there’s a phone for each personality omg

OMG I just realized the ep title (Sakura’s Thrilling Aquarium Visit) must be a throwback to “Sakura’s Heart-Racing First Date” which was not a date but took place at an aquarium. Cute!!

GJHGSHJGFSGH Yue is me whenever people talk about video games:

Kero: Hey, Yue, play an online game with me

Yue: [Hangs up immediately]

“I made you wait” “Nah, I got here too early. It’s still twelve minutes before our meeting time.” I think she and Yukito had this exact exchange in that early ep

“She doesn’t have magical powers, but she’s oddly perceptive” I hope that Meilin’s one and only magical power is precognition lmao

Omg every time someone in this show speaks English I am so thrown 

“I wasn’t sure how I should look at him” awww Syaoran trying to re-establish himself in the family

I guess this aquarium HAS changed in that it developed a security system for when the tank breaks [youknowwhathatisgrowth.gif]

LOL I guess it’s convenient to have an invisibility cloak when ur breaking and entering I was wondering how they were going to deal with their criminal behaviour in the age of cameras

Ep 10. Sakura’s Unbelievable Juvenile Detention Centre

Weel weel weel looks like Sakura isn’t the only one with new powers nice ice Syaoran!! I missed their tag team fights

OH MY GOD IF THIS PHOTO ALBUM ACCEPTS THE CONTINUITY OF THE SECOND MOVIE THEN SAKURA AND SYAORAN HAVE ALREADY! DONE! THEIR! CONFESSIONS! WOULD YOU PICK A LANE

“You want the person you like to eat good food” Besides the fact Kaito is twice your height and therefore probably an adult... u should not make advances on people u employ - this is all very bad-vibes-no-jutsu

I am shocked that it took this long for Sakura to notice that her new cards paralleled the old cards

Syaoran is staring at Kaito like he murdered his spouse in a previous life 

“So he has Moon magic too?” UHHHH WAS SYAORAN’S MAGIC ALWAYS MOON-BASED I FEEL LIKE THAT’S NOT CLEAR

Also very unclear why Eriol keeps leaving her on read if he’s talking to Syaoran what

I love how Kero has independent friendships and communications with both Yukito and Tomoyo lmao

How many times has Penguin Park been destroyed by now

“Perhaps your dream is gradually progressing” Progressing into what exactly the Battle of the Nice Thirteen-Year-Olds

Why is it that magic in this universe comes with above-average athletic ability LOL

Once again, without a body/personification, these cards seem harsh

Kaito seems like too much of a red herring a la Mizuki so I’m going to assume the other presence we see is someone we either haven’t met yet or smth really fucked up with the rest of the main cast 

I’d lose my mind if it was Toya but I genuinely hope not he’s too nice

I honestly missed Meilin ever since she chilled out a bit she’s very fun

“The emoji in her message definitely looked thrilled” [Bob Dylan voice] For the times they are a-changin’.....

“I don’t know when it’ll happen, but when it does you’ll know” Toya.......

Toya’s absolutely nonplussed reaction to his Moon Boyfriend never ceases to amaze

Yukito: [Sighs and floats into the air to wrap in a wing cocoon]

Toya: [Sitting and staring unfazed] 

Also am I crazy or was that transformation on purpose bc it really had the energy of ‘Fine if you won’t talk to me maybe you’ll talk to Rude Magical Me!!’

“Did I change again?” GUESS NOT LMAO 

Also it’s fun how as different as Yukito and Yue are, their shared brain cell says ‘TOYA COMMUNICATE WITH MEE’ 

“But ever since Syaoran came back, he’s had something important on his mind” People don’t give Sakura enough credit for her emotional intelligence

Can we take a minute to appreciate Sakura’s outfit fashion ICON

What is this Furry card that makes u dress up in ears and a tail lmao

“I’ll treasure [these cookies]” “I’d rather you ate them” LOL

My Furry card prediction gets more and more accurate with each passing second (even a broken clock’s right twice a day)

Uhhhhh Syaoran what did u sell to the moon devil to be able to cut through the space-time continuum

Sakura: NO THAT’S MY EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SYAORAN

SCREAM this family and their circle of hair cutting (also if Yukito cuts Toya’s hair, does Toya cut Yukito’s? Or does it not grow bc magic jfhkfh)

“I’m pretty sure that was middle school English” Sakura hearing English is me hearing French LMAO 

“Sucks, doesn’t he?” MEILIN PLS

Djhfjkdhkjfhjk Tomoyo’s immediate rage at being the centre of attention

SAKURA DOING MAGIC RIGHT IN FRONT OF OTHER PEOPLE OMG

“Surround the entire mansion” Very subtle Sakura I’m sure no one in your whole town will notice

“I hear her father specializes in archaeology, so he might have some interesting books” “Have I mentioned Sakura-san’s father to you before?” [Dramatic cut in music] WELL

Oh my GOD did Kaito just turn back time bc he regretted what he said immediately? Honestly a mood

Also: BITCH

“You’re so alike, and not just because of your names” I have to say I’ve been thinking since her first appearance that Akiho looks like Nadeshiko so if they’re not related I will be surprised

“Sometimes watching good people makes me feel sad” well damn Meilin

I’m going to guess this Teenage Robot is the equivalent of the fight card that Meilin fought upon her introduction

Aw HELL YEAH SAKURA AND MEILIN TAG TEAM FIGHT WOOOO

“Aren’t you and Syaoran doing too much for those you care about, and forgetting to care about yourselves?” WELL DAMN MEILIN U R THE NEW TEENAGE SUPERHERO THERAPIST

 “Can I call you ‘Sakura’ from now on, too?” AHHH THESE KIDS

LMAO AMAZING IT TOOK 13 STRAIGHT EPISODES FOR MOMO TO EVEN TWITCH

“We are indeed progressing... toward that time” I feel THREATENED

Once again I cannot stress strongly enough how much I love physical comedy

Sakura: They don’t seem to be causing any harm

The dessert rolls:

GOD the roll cakes eating each other to form one giant monster Babushka doll roll cake jhfjkdhgkdjhgkj incredible

EXCUSE ME MA’AM WHY WAS THERE A DEMON GIRL IN THE REFLECTION OF THIS SHATTERED CARD 

“Please laugh again” Akiho is v nice I really hope Kaito isn’t mean 

“Once a magical contract is formed, it can’t be broken, unless something really serious happens” [Quirrel voice] Can anyone tell me what foreshadowing is?

“What do you feel” “I think it’s a card” Very observant Sakura I think they gathered that

When Sakura gets all four of the base elements is Momo going to turn into a 200 pound giant rabbit

I like that every time Toya is concerned about Sakura, Yue appears suddenly to discuss the matter seriously with him [Gay and Wondorous Life of Caleb Gallo voice] He’s in this relationship!!

“When you’re angry or upset, it shows on your face, even if you don’t say it” Yue IS in this relationship woooow

“When humans realize they’re talking to a fox, they won’t sell you mittens. In fact, they’ll catch you and put you in a cage.” UH who is the fox in this metaphor not Sakura I hope???

Years later Syaoran is still winded if Sakura makes too much eye contact khgkghkjg 

The fact that Yukito reads at a children’s hospital... truly one of The Nicest Not-Humans On Earth

Well with each passing episode we have less and less reasons to trust these cards and Kaito the Young Magical Butler

Ever since Kaito reversed time, I cannot shake the persistent thought that Akiho IS Nadeshiko. That’d be weird but u know... I’ve seen this show do weirder

“Your sweets look better” “No, yours!” Grandpa witnessing this date

“Also if Sakura-chan goes to college or wants to do something else, he wants to help” TOYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

“Any further, and you won’t be able to return” NADESHIKO BE MORE SPECIFIC 

“It was my robe” Wait what ur family is a magical society or smth and somehow u don’t know Akiho??? How in the whomst

Everyone in this anime is like, ‘Haha Yue looks mad’ as if Yue does not look mad every second that he’s alive

KHKJHKFJHKJFHJ GRANDPA MASAKI REALLY GONNA GIVE SAKURA A HOUSE AND TOYA NOTHING LMAO WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE THE LEAST FAVOURITE GREAT-GRANDCHILD LOL

“Nadeshiko would talk to things that weren’t there, and try to reach an understanding with things that couldn’t talk” 91 EPISODES LATER AND MR. KINOMOTO FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGES MAGIC?? OKAY

AND HE KNEW BOTH SAKURA AND TOYA HAVE HAD MAGICAL PROBLEMS FOR 3 YEARS!!! MR. KINOMOTO WHAT KIND OF HANDS-OFF PARENTING

“I want me to tell me [about your pain] too” wow this is the CALL-OUT EPISODE

“The house they live in was once torn down and replaced with an amusement park” were the continuity errors of accepting the second movie... A PLOT POINT?!?!?!

DAMN U KAITO I REALLY WANTED THINGS TO BE OKAY FOR AKIHO

“But I’ve got a great poker face” “Yes you do. But Yue does not” JKHDKJGHKJSHGKJHDKJGHSDJGHKJH BY DIALOGUE ALONE IT’S LIKE WHENEVER ANYONE SEES YUE’S FACE TWITCH IT MEANS HE’S HAVING AN EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN

Yue: Evil magic looming overhead is bad for your wifi signal actually

“I will obtain these new cards. So I can use the relic I took from the association to activate that magic spell” Kaito really laying out his motivations out loud in a library. Insensible. Vague and probably misleading. 1/10 villainous monologue 

Sakura’s powers are WILD she can duplicate the strength of her magic 

“Power that’s too strong will bring unhappiness to its owner” SYAORAN :((

I feel like the only way this can end is Toya giving Sakura magical noogie so she doesn’t have to carry all of her powers like the reverse of what he did for Yue-kito 

THERE IS TOO LITTLE TIME LEFT IN THIS SHOW FOR ALL THE ANSWERS I NEED THERE’S ONLY 20 MINUTES AHHHH

THERE ARE 12 MINUTES LEFT AND STILL NO ANSWERS!!! WHAT HAPPENSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I GOT ABSOLUTELY NO ANSWERS OH MY GOD?!?!?!?!

[handweavers]

why do u like bioshock 2 more? genuinely curious, i do think the game gets shit on 2 much but imo didnt expand upon the original in a way i (personally) enjoyed, would luv 2 hear ur thoughts

tbh i don't like the idea that games have to "reinvent the wheel" to be considered good, bc its just resulted in games constantly trying to outdo each other and focus on whatever Brand New Thing they can add to a game whether it's graphics or some new button you can press or whatever, rather than focusing on how to tell a good story and ensure a player experience that is impactful or enjoyable. like how a major draw with anthem was the jetpacks and being able to fly everywhere, which was "groundbreaking", except the actual game sucked ass and less than a year after release very few people actually play it. so i don't find it really helpful to measure a game by how original it is but by how well it was executed and the ways in which it impacted those who played it.

& from that perspective bioshock 2 is one of my favourite games, because it took the most striking parts of the original (like the setting) and created a story out of it that i found a lot more emotionally meaningful and asked philosophical questions that weren't 1) easy to answer and 2) felt more relevant and applicable to my own human experience. it ties into my central storytelling philosophy that if it doesn't center love or passion in some capacity i don't really care about it. it took bioshock's setting and elaborated more on the dehumanizing aspects of capitalism and the ways in which people will harm others for their own gain, whether financial or social or otherwise, and the abuse parents inflict on their children and call it love.

subject delta's story has stayed with me since i first played it 6? 7? years ago. bioshock 2's story of a man who was captured and violated and stuffed into this metal suit he's now completely reliant on for survival and brainwashed by some libertarian capitalist dystopia under the sea and put in charge of caring for a little girl who would be violated in similar ways by her own mother, who then murders him when she realises that her daughter and this "monster" love each other as parent and child more than her daughter loves her, who is then resurrected by the daughter when she escapes from her mother as an adult so you can help save her and other little girls from being brainwashed and abused and violated is a 100000x more impactful for me than than the story in the original bioshock, which i would argue is not a story centered around passion or love, at least not in a way that is as meaningful. it's a good story and a good game, but it hasn't stayed with me like delta's story in bioshock 2.

the entire game you're trying to find eleanor, your daughter in every way that counts, and you can choose to become the monster the capitalists tried to brainwash you into being or you can save as many people as possible. subject delta is traumatised but wholly motivated by love for his daughter. through the game you examine the ways in which capitalism dehumanizes all of us, but especially the most vulnerable in society by denying them agency, self determination, an identity. subject delta broke his programming by loving eleanor, he broke his programming to find her and he breaks his programming by defying his "creator" over and over again to do what is right. in the "good" ending, you've saved every little sister, every Actual Tiny Child, from being brainwashed and experimented on and turned into a resource harvesting machine for profit, and you've saved eleanor, and for the first time all of them have the right to self determination. you die, yes, but you sacrifice yourself for them, and you live on forever as part of eleanor and she carries what you taught her with her for the rest of her life and chooses to do good and break her own capitalist programming. she defies her mother and the years of abuse she suffered at her hands to carve her own story and do the right thing by preventing her mother from hurting other children the way she was hurt.

i love subject delta. he physically cannot speak the entire game because capitalism has literally taken away his voice, but hes still able to use his "voice" by impacting the lives of others and making the deliberate choice to do the right thing. throughout the story you begin to understand what they did to this man, who he was before, what they made him do, what they took from him, and it's so tragic and heartbreaking and painfully relevant to our current society. while the game is science fiction, everything i've mentioned is applicable to any capitalist society especially our own. capitalism doesn't want us to be motivated by love or passion, it doesn't want us to do the right thing no matter the cost, it doesn't want us take back our agency from those who oppress us, it wants us to be quiet and subservient and do as we're told because it lines the pockets of the powerful. it's an incredibly powerful story from that angle, but also to approach it as an abuse survivor. your parent might love you, but not in the way you deserve to be loved, not in the right way, and you are allowed to carve your own destiny without them.

to me, bioshock 2 is about saying "no, you do not get to decide who i am, you do not get to erase my humanity" and emphasizes something core to me: loving people and being loved by people is the greatest honour, and it makes everything else we suffer through in this life worthwhile. loving people in the right way, in a selfless way, is a holy thing, and in a world that wants us broken and yielding to stand up and fight for the people you love and do the right thing is worth it at any cost. that entire concept is central to who i am as a person, its fundamental to my perspective and the way i live my life, which is why that same narrative thread in bioshock 2 hits me like a brick, for better or for worse.

[z7rkive]

DHAU: What To Know

Hey! its what all of u have been waiting for: more dhau stuff :)

Also!! most of this is by the one powerful braincell @snaxarba and I share hhh,, we’ve both worked hard (lmao not rlly we just screamed at each other sksks) on creating the universe around dhau uwu she’s been a great help aaa please send her love through her inbox! She’s currently writing a fic for this au, so if u got any questions or want a snippet go over to her :))))

Now that that’s out of the way, get ready for a LONG post:

GENERAL INFO

DH = Deathly Hallows

5 members

Fandom name: Hallows

Ages: S.S (26), T.R. (24), D.M. (21), H.P. (21), C.D. (19)

Hyung Line (oldest members) : Prince (Severus Snape) & L.V. (Tom Riddle)

Maknae Line (youngest members) : Draco Malfoy, Seven (Harry Potter), & Zed (Cedric Diggory)

Visual Line (“Faces/Most Handsome” of the group) : L.V., Draco, & Zed

Rap Line (Rappers in the group) : Prince & Zed

Dance Line (“Best” Dancers) : L.V., Seven, Prince, & Draco

Vocal Line (“Vocals of the group) : L.V., Seven, & Draco

Choreo Line (Take part in creating choreography) : Prince & L.V.

OTHER RANDOM INFO:

They work under G.G. Entertainment (G.G.E.) with Dumbledore as the Big Boss

Drarry is the most popular ship among fans

Dispatch is a company that takes photos of idols and tries to expose dating scandals

Dispatch Boss: so r they dating anyone

the hallow stan twt is crazy as fuck lmao

theres so many memes

solo stans are fans who only like 1 member of the group (the person is their favorite) and don’t pay attention to the others/give hate to the rest of DH

antis are just hateful ppl in general, they send lots of hate to either Hallows, one specific member, DH, or just the whole group in general

one time Severus and Harry did a vlive (they haven’t done one in a long time so sevenprince fans were excited! :0)!! Harry’s like, “Sev and I have a great plan for this live! :D” and then someone in the comments just says, “Can we have a different member on vlive please :/ i dont wanna look at both yall ugly mugs lmao” :((

Harry, “Cedric? Ah no he’s not here. Draco? He’s not here either sorry :(. Oh ok, I’ll get Tom for you guys.”

big sad^ :(

ot5 = loving the whole group; EX: “No solo stans allowed!! only ot5 enthusiasts!!!”

it does not mean they all fuck skshs

but All7 means they all fuck harry lmao

there’s this super popular twitter account called “@Sevensfw” and it’s basically just an account that posts bottom harry moans ft other DH members

DH wasn’t that popular before, but a fancam of L.V. dancing blew up on social media, and that got them a lot of attention

there will be lots,,, and lots,, of social media in this fic

we get inspiration from u guys as fans so go off on ur reactions

INFO OF THE MEMBERS UNDER THE CUT :)

MEMBERS

Prince / Severus Snape

Oldest in the group

Prince Stans are called: Robins

Produces most of the songs

Unofficial leader; whenever Harry’s not there he’s automatically in charge and no one questions it

Bat Dad / Goth Daddy

Joined G.G. Entertainment to become a producer but then got stuck with DH

“Nation’s Prince 💞💞💞” - Robins uwu

GENIUS !!!

He’s usually very frowny and makes lots of mean remarks but he’s rlly a soft boy daddy

He, Harry, and Tom are the ones who speak most in interviews

People say he’s lazy because he stays indoors most of the time but!!! He works his ass off helping produce most of the tracks the band makes

AND helps choreograph their dances and help run their big ass dorm

Husband material 10/10

Deep voice mmmm

Big ass softie for their leader

Snape: *makes Harry dance & moan for no reason at all* “all in the name of music.”

He and Harry have been labeled the “Mom & Dad” of DH by Hallows

He and Harry usually discuss big decisions to see what’s best for the group

Only other person he’s comfortable with besides Harry is Tom since they’re closer in age, and work together with choreography

He and Tom are chill buds; the “mature ones of the group”

When he first got into DH, he actually thought Harry was a visual of the group ;)

Harry needs help? Whether it be to get away from Visual Line or just in general Goth Daddy got him 😌

one time he and harry went to another country and couldn’t speak the language, and the waiter thought they were a couple bc of the way they acted around each other so they got a couple discount sksksks

So,, so underrated,,, like please stan this whole ass man

Why wouldn’t you??? like,,, he know how to cook, he humble, he got the tongue technology, husband material, high ass IQ,,, tall, dark,,,, what more can u ask for tbh?

you could also ride his nose lmao but ig thats reserved for Harry

L.V. / Tom Riddle

Visual as FUCK

Has the biggest vocal range; king can go from Deep & Raspy to High & Angelic in 0.001 seconds

One word to describe his voice: soulful

used to be part of the rapline in their early debut days, but for some reason he hasn’t rapped recently?? kows r thirsty pls rap for us again tommy boy,,,

bc of that he’s not “part” of the rapline, so he’s just labeled as a sub-rapper, which means he’s like the backup-backup rapper.

Wanted to be leader and kinda resented Harry for a bit before he met him and now he too, is whipped for Harry

Does not care for personal space, literally just crowds around Harry whenever the fuck he wants

He’s labeled himself as Harry’s personal seat, and is always pulling Harry into his lap

Tom’s never been touchy with others but for some reason Harry is just,,, There. He likes that feeling that Harry gives him whenever he’s around; he’s fascinated about his own actions toward Harry so he’s always trying to explore their physical intimacy

HES GOOD AT EVERYTHING AND HE KNOWS IT; everyone’s just like, “wtf that’s not fair”

Yeah he’s good at everything but he watches anime sksksk 🗿🗿🗿

Lowkey-Highkey dislikes Cedric bc dumb bitch unplugged his computer while he was binge watching bnha & happy go lucky mf named Tom’s fandom KOWs (like cows 🐄), when it was supposed to be Knights of Walpurgis smh

His dance!! His dance sequences always look like fight scenes and it’s the B E S T

Very smooth & quick on his feet

Literally so many fancams of him body rolling

Takes no shit from antis,, they’re not relevant.. only DH & Harry are 😤

Adopts any brand with the initials L.V. And everyone just goes along with it

Tom stans (KOWs) clown pre-debut Tom bc he was gonna have his stage name as “Lord Voldemort” and no one will let him live it down skskks

Was scouted by another agency- that agency asked him to audition for their company but he thought it was a scam; he would’ve been in a diff group if he went

Originally auditioned to G.G. Ent. To become an actor, but changed his mind.

Since he’s also one of the choreographers he’s always trying to make it so he and Harry get lots of skin ship

Draco Malfoy

Harry’s/Ferret’s/Hallows’ sugar daddy no lie

KING OF FANSERVICE

Whatever the fans want? The fans get. Whatever Harry wants? He gets it too.

Draco appreciates his Hallows/Ferrets sm,, he’s always reminding them that they are the ones who keep DH going and that without Hallows they wouldn’t be where they are

He always tries to go on vlive (think: IG live, but better) every 2 weeks even with their busy schedules and just spends time talking with the fans :’)

During concerts he’s interacting the most with everyone, walking around the stage the most so the fans can see him from different views: he’s always trying to make eye contact with them

He’s rich enough he doesn’t have to be an Idol but he still wants to stay ,, he wouldn’t give up DH & Hallows for anything.

also helps with any financial problems the boys have!! they need a place to rent? he got their backs

Center of the group!! This means whenever they’re dancing you’d usually find him in the center/middle position. The center is the one who calls attention to them-self the most and has to make sure their formation looks good; they have to carry the group during a performance. If the center looks bad, then the rest of the group and performance is too.

STABLE AS FUCK VOICE. Do you know how hard it is to dance and sing? At the same time??? Draco makes it so effortless,, when he sings and dances his voice doesn’t shake or waver- It’s stable and whenever he’s doing a live performance his voice sounds like it’s from the actual track

HE LOVES DANCING. Dance dance dance. He joined DH because he really just wanted to dance, he didn’t think he’d be part of the vocal line lmao but ugh king got thru

He & Harry are both 21, and Draco’s always making it a point that he’s older than Harry (only by 2 months!); since they’re the same age, they relate and hang out with each other more. He and Harry usually go out and have “bro-dates”. He talks to Harry abt personal problems n vice versa.

He and Harry always support each other and have formed that bff bond and Draco’s always pulling Harry towards him on stage so Harry will get noticed more (since Harry’s one of the unpopular members, while he himself is veeerry popular)

Antis usually say that Draco doesn’t really have any talent and that he just bought his way into DH with his money and good looks, and that he doesn’t deserve his place as ‘center’ :(

The Confident Gay,,, always slapping that Harry booty.

Cheesy asf,, any chance he gets he always flirts w Harry

Seven / Harry Potter

Best leader 11/10

Always comforting members !! He sings to them to make them happy :)

Main vocal- king can hit that note 😩.

Voice is very calming/lullaby like. Relaxing uwu.

Mother hen lmao,, he’s always worried about his group and how they’re doing

Thighs

Duality king go from 0-10000000 real quick

What a caring bitch I love him

Gives special massages to his members when they feel stressed,, and in turn they help him when he needs to step down from all that leader work.

He’s not really one to do ‘cute things for the fans on purpose’ but when he does he gets really embarrassed,, flustered bb will hide his face behind his hands n cover himself. He’d hide his face in his clothes, on another member’s chest/shoulder, or look at the ground while he stirs in cute embarrassment

Knows the members have some type of fascination with him so he uses that as like a punishment/reward system- “First one to memorize all their lines And choreo gets to go with me to help pick out my clothes.”

Insult his group? Won’t hesitate to cut u with his long eyelashes + sharp tongue lmao

Reassuring Hallows that they’re fine even when they get hate because they have each other,, DH/Hallows is best ship

Blames himself when another member gets hate- he feels like he’s not taking care of his group and he’s trying his best to make them feel not excluded :(

Lil bun bun uwu 🐰Seven Nation !! Stay winning 🤩🤩🤩 Protecc this hard working baby 😩

On stage he’s a force to be reckoned with,, like ugh what a sexy boi hshsh,, but off stage!!! A literal cutie!!!!! Soft & pure

Second half of underrated duo

Built up muscle during debut, but throughout the years/eras he went a bit lax, and since he didn’t have as much muscles since before, he’s gotten a lot of hate :( The members love his squishy cheeks n thicc thighs but antis think he should have a sharper jaw line hhh

oblivious mf,,, he rlly went on a date with a female idol from another company without knowing it was a date hh this boy

actually got in DH because he lost a bet

Zed / Cedric Diggory

Sunshine boy!! ☀️ Literally a ray of happiness in the group,,, always smiling and keeping everyone happy

most popular boy

Chaotic mf,,, in this au he’s the equivalent of the shaggy meme 🗿

Joined DH bc of Harry :’)) He’s gotten offers of joining other agencies but decided to go with G.G. Ent and decline all those offers because he saw Harry sing n dance + had a taste of Harry’s sweet personality when he first met him!! 

Cedric joined when he just turned 15, so Harry and the other members have been raising him for like 4 years :(. He could be a manifestation of all their groups personalities.

Looks up to Harry so much?? He’s Harry’s biggest fan and will literally do anything for him,, Harry’s done so much for him when he was younger that he wants to try and repay his leader by also being there for him :(.

M U S C L E  M A N / STRONG boi

literally harry sat on his back while he did push-ups wtf,, like he doesn’t even get winded if harry runs and jumps in his arms

every hallow who’s been with them since debut (15) to present time (19 going on 20): WHY DID HE GROW UP SO FAST HE HAD CUTE CHEEKS HOW DOES HE HAVE A JAWLINE WTHHHHH

his fandom name: satans

ok like,, cedric used to be a rlly shy boy during the beginning years of debut days and like?? he’s been getting more comfortable and one day he just thought “fuck the agency i do what i want” and he’s so happy now

this is why he’s so chaotic,,, his fandom used to be named “Puffs” but after Cedric’s Big Awakening, the Puffs renamed themselves as “Satans”

“Oh you’re a Hallow, too? Cool! I’m a Robin! :D” “Nice! I’m part of the Satanic cult haha”

earlier i said he was a sunshine but uhhhh

When he’s on stage ohoho,,, damn what a M A N,, like??? spits fire and memes on a daily basis

h a t e s losing,,, “I’m never losing my virginity” “Why??” “BECAUSE I NEVER LOSE”

Harry meanwhile: but u could win me??? 

Cedric is just,, “...” “for the greater good” 

released a solo album called “Spared” (name idea was from L.V. bc Cedric ate his last dumpling; originally wasn’t gonna go with it but Harry liked it lmao)

Spared Title track - “Kill The Spare”

The seventh track on his solo album is called “Septem”, and its basically a song dedicated to Harry and how much he appreciates him as a person, how he’s so thankful to have him and his life,, blah all that mush

Septem = Hedric/Zedven shippers anthem

Cedric has a cool necklace that he always wears and he tells people, “Harry gave me the chain. It had a different pendant but I changed it for this one. It’s the Roman numerals for Seven.” :D

so,, much,, puns its stupid

a crackhead

his whole group is made up of crackheads but he’s the TRUE crackhead  ya feel

this boy is always active on social media im,,, like?? he’s just on vlive talking with the fans and then he’ll show the camera around to where Draco is helping Harry stretch before warm ups (surprise they’re in a compromising position) and Cedric just goes, “Haha! I love friendship :).” 

started his dancing career when he joined DH, so he’s the most behind with dance; many people criticize him bc he’s a “bad dancer” but everyone knows he’s a better dancer than any Hallow

but!! he has improved so much D: sunshine baby rlly went thru it

[uglyducklingpresse]

Backlist Bulletin #6: NETS

NETS is not strictly an erasure, so much as an idea of an erasure. The title is taken from inside the letters “The Sonnets of William Shakespeare.” Each numbered piece in the book offers a Shakespeare sonnet in pale gray text, almost melting into the page, with some words Jen Bervin has selected in full black. So the erasure exists but the source text is still discernible. In the “working note” which closes the book, Bervin states her aim of making the language “open, porous, possible,” also saying “when we write poems, the history of poetry is with us.”

*

The first thing I think when I hear the word erasure is Mark Doty’s banger, “Homo Will Not Inherit.” Published during the mid-late years of the AIDS crisis, it opens with a description of New York City, arriving at a xeroxed picture of jesus taped up in public space, with “homo will not inherit; repent and be saved” written on it in marker. The speaker responds repetitively to this attempted warning. In one iteration, he says;

I’ll tell you what I’ll inherit:

stupidity, erasure, exile

In a poem that finds a lot of fierce delight in queerness, this stays with me like a hook. The inheritance, which is our pain on the cultural, heritable level. The inheritance which is the queer condition of being erased, being unremembered, or remembered wrongly. In a poem which, by and large, is celebratory, I am haunted by this moment.

Claiming literary techniques as queer can be sloppy and counterproductive, at times, but it is also very satisfying. So I’d like to claim erasure as queer.

*

Another thing I like to claim as queer is all Shakespeare (fight me.) I could talk for a long time about the sonnets as queer texts, and about contemporary gender nonconforming queer writers like Julian Talamanetz Brolaski or Jos Charles who implement ornate, archaic language in parts of their work. Literature is one of the ways I know we have always existed.

I realize that enjoying classical trappings, and specifically liking Shakespeare, is not an original position. What I’m getting at is that people talk a lot about the continued relevance of Shakespeare without acknowledging that there is at this point a vast cultural apparatus propping up his relevance. It’s like the ur-version of complaints about remakes and sequels on successful movie franchises. There is a lot of work that probably never gets made because we are all still gagging over Shakespeare’s relevance. (I admit I’m thinking more of theater than poetry.) I’m saying I’m ambivalent about the choice of the sonnets as a source text for erasure, and even having spent some time with the book, I am still not sure about it. Is it the clearest text, for Bervin, for this project of illuminating the presence of a history of literature within the present?

*

What is interesting (and very queer) about erasure is that it contains, inherently, a question of which text is the true text. Is the original the truth? Or did the original contain and obscure some deeper reality which the erasure made visible?

*

*

Why erasure? Does erasure have inherent qualities? Is it easier to erase than to generate? Certainly it feels game-like, math-like, as though it sits in another part of the brain. Is erasure an act of creation, distinct from writing?

I’ve read some erasures that feel successful that are mostly strange-making or whimsical. I’m thinking mostly of Matthea Harvey and Amy Jean Porter’s collaboration Of Lamb.

But beyond the surreal or disruptive possibilities of the form, erasure is political. There’s this great Solmaz Sharif essay about that. Erasure occurs in the non-literary sense of the world, all around us. There’s active erasure, and erasures of selective attention. Some news is not news, some voices are not voices. There are structures for archiving and validating peoples’ stories which constantly erase entire perspectives, entire lives, from the record.

Erasure is political and as such can sometimes be corrective. A couple years ago New Republic put together a piece about the movement towards erasure poetry under Trump, some need emerging for a reclamation or recontextualizing of language, faced with the illogic and malice embedded in the administration’s rhetoric. I know of two writer-artists (Erin Mizrahi and Isobel O’Hare) who are making erasure poetry from #metoo celebrity apology letters. Or Chase Beggrun’s book RED. RED is taken from Bram Stoker’s Dracula as NETS is taken from the Sonnets of William Shakespeare. Chase’s project feels clear and specific, in how it relates to the source text — where the original was a story about monsters, male heroes, and woman-victims, in RED it is a woman who acts, pursuing and being pursued by husbands and monsters. It is a book about trans identity which never needs to argue about trans identity. It simply finds itself, existing within the flesh of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, like a figure inside a sculptor’s stone.

*

There are many beautiful moments in NETS. With the original Sonnets present as a ghost-bolster, it is easy to see beautiful things, easy to appreciate the sparseness Bervin can create from those compact, lush texts. But the most impactful single poem, for me, is not in that category. It is this:

NETS came out in 2004. The Sonnets were published in 1609. In art the specific brings the general to life, which also contains the possibility of alienation, of staying too opaquely inside of the present and making work which fails the test of time. In this poem, the potential for making work against the backdrop of history comes alive for me. In this poem I understand why this project is necessary, why Bervin needs access to a canonical, larger-than-life, ancestral vocabulary for her own experience.

— C. Bain

NETS is available directly through Ugly Duckling Presse (here), through our Partner Bookstores (here), and through Small Press Distribution (here). Purchases made directly through Ugly Duckling Presse on January 24 are 50% off, use discount code DISAPPEAR at checkout.

The backlist bulletin is a column on titles from UDP’s back catalogue, curated and written by Apprentices.

[originaljediinjeans]

Avengers: Endgame (Spoilers) Reaction

Things I didn’t like:

Seriously Thor had to end up LIKE THAT? SERIOUSLY THEY REALLY RUINED HIM

Tony being “stuck in space” just wasn’t a huge deal after all, thanks a lot

Just...five years of trying to “accept” what Thanos did? They literally can’t do anything? That is just so wrong. 

Also REALLY BRUCE? Sheesh so tacky

Tony comes right back from space, settles down w/ Pepper and refuses to talk to anybody

First thing when he comes back he’s all like “Steve UR a liar and I hate you” Like he doesn’t want to go after Thanos bc deep down he’s like “Bringing back half the universe means bringing back your precious Bucky but I don’t think so” (he’s actually just bitter about losing to Thanos but you know me, I’m autistic, it’s all about Bucky) gosh

Wait, so the cosmos depends on the Infinity Stones existing? So Steve just puts them back where they came from, nothing is changed, what happens now that Thanos is no longer around, where do they end up? 

Or did they get destroyed?

So Thanos isn’t really dead? Neither are his minions? Someone can bring them back? They’re really just in the soul realm?

Everything about that one death scene. Like they used the exact same footage and imagery from Gamora’s death in Infinity War. 

About 30% or more of the movie is montages, I needed more actual scenes with dialogue and characters connecting! 

Also Thor taking off with the Guardians 2b a space bum forever. That is like...the worst. Who wrote that?

Things I am on the Fence about:

“Resentment corrodes. BTW you can have your shield back. Dad made it for you.” okay, guys, that’s great but this is a three-hour-movie, surely you have time to sit down and have a real heart-to-heart apology session 

Captain Marvel as 80% CGI and 100% goddess

Really? It was that easy to get the Aether out of Jane without the Svarthaelfen coming for it? Also Rocket what did you do to her? 

Steve Rogers ending: I guess it’s what the fandom wanted. Judging by Hayley Atwell’s smug face she may have written the scene herself. But I was kind of getting used to the idea of Sharon (even them just being friends), and Steve actually moving on...

Also I get that it’s more politically correct to let Sam be Cap, and that “poor Bucky has suffered enough”

TBQH I get why he’s okay just saying goodbye to Bucky and leaving him in the present. They grew up together in Brooklyn, so they had those happy years together, and now Steve has freed him from Hydra and Bucky can go live his own life so it’s all good. Steve only knew Peggy for 1-2 years so he needs the time with her, if he wants it

Heil Hydra: I know that this is totally a reference to that one thing in the comics. But dude, did you want them to think you were Hydra? Or you were just telling them you were onto them? Well, either way it worked. 

Things I Did Like

The Ancient One meeting Bruce Banner and serving him the tea, also his astral form is still Bruce Banner and this pleases me a lot

Tony and his dad afjlfakjfdsajhladfhk j

Clint and Natasha being space pilots can I get more of this please?

Tony being a selfish jerk and hiding from the Avengers and ignoring that the rest of the world is suffering...but at the same time being a dad and a husband and living his best life and taking time for himself and not suffering

And then Tony getting off his high horse

Natasha refusing to not be vigilant or give up even though everyone else has

Scott Lang talking to Tony Stark like, what up, dude! We need to take a chance!

PEPPERONY OFFSPRING IS A THING! BLESS!

STEVE DID THE THING!!!!!!!!!

Ebony Maw is back and he is uglier than ever

*cackle of laughter* Justice. Sweet justice. 

Thor having the talk with his mom 

Thanos over the course of the film slowly becoming a better villain, and finally attacking with all of his powers and deciding that benevolently destroying half the universe isn’t enough

Thanos real desire: to satisfy his own ego

Thanos is not in Endgame as much but by the end of it he is a 50% better villain than he was in Infinity War

AND THEN EVERYONE COMES BACK AND ALL THE PEOPLE COME THROUGH THE PORTALS AND IT IS AN EPIC BATTLE, A TRULY GLORIOUS FIGHT

Like everyone who got snapped and then some come out of those portals armed and ready 2 fight like they’ve been itching for this for 5 years

okay so their “souls” still existed in the Soul realm, good, I was afraid they were all disembodied particles floating in random

Captain Marvel showing up to the boss fight and smacking Thanos but him being able to smack her back, finally she’s not invincible!

Also her shorter hair --ooooh hair envy!

Rocket talking to Thor on Asgard and telling him to get a grip, that was good

“I am inevitable.” “I am Iron Man.”

4-year-old Nathanial “Nate” Pietro Barton, Cooper and Lila, Laura--Clint’s family--yeah if Clint had died it would have been devastating

Clint and Wanda’s moment after the funeral, demonstrating how she and Nat were also part of Clint’s family

Scarlet Witch versus Thanos, YEAH THAT’S RIGHT YOU SON OF A MOLDY CASSEROLE, YOU GONNA PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO VISION

FEMALE AVENGER BOSS FIGHT

VALKYRIE LEADING THE ASGARDIANS

“Avengers...Assemble.”  

I WAS LITERALLY CHEERING AND SCREAMING DURING THIS WHOLE SEQUENCE YOU HAVE NO IDEA IT WAS SO COOL

Just seeing Bucky again my heart afdskjfad;l

Just the epilogue and the funeral and seeing everyone together again as they should be, more or less

Steve and Tony going back to the 1970s--the whole segment is just great. Loved it. Steve’s undercover uniform is nice

I didn’t realize he could possibly run into Peggy until just before he realized he was in her office!

“Bucky is still alive.” Well, that’s one way to scare a body

Sam, Wanda, and Bucky at the funeral

New Asgard is a thing. This pleases me. 

Re-enacting Peter Quill entering the temple on Morag and then him getting hit over the head *points finger and laugh* like that was literally the only good thing about the time travel and revisiting the past

The GOTG staying for the funeral, that was nice of them. 

I have literally never been happier to see Spider-man in my life

Sebastian Stan’s face, that’s all

Steve and Bucky hugging goodbye, “Don’t do anything stupid until I get back.” “How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.” OKAY NOW I’M HAVING FEELS

Also it’s really nice of Hank Pym to go to Tony’s funeral--did he go to Howard and Maria’s?

Things that Should Have Happened: 

Where the heck is Loki? 

Steve and Bucky should have had a scene together during the battle, fighting side-by-side

Bucky should have been the first person that Steve saw

Bucky carrying the gauntlet during the big hustle would’ve been a nice bonus

Loki stealing the Tesserract and disappearing--all that does is set up his Disney+ TV show. Shouldn’t that have led to more problems?

Like they seriously set up everything that could possibly go wrong but only one or two things do--well the movie was only 3 hours long, if they’d had five they could have made it more complicated

They could have made Thor a weepy alcoholic without making him a gross bum. 

More of the main characters dying besides the two that did. 

Tony and Nebula needed 10 whole minutes of relationship time. 

Just more of the 06 Avengers and Rhodey spending more time with Nebula and Rocket and their personalities bouncing off of each other

We should have at least been shown Tony and Pepper having a private civil ceremony, also her telling him that she’s pregnant

If Natasha needed to die at all, it should have been her going down in a fight, getting stabbed or something. Like someone could have showed up at Vormir, like Thanos sent someone once he got the intel from Nebula, and Nat and Barton had a boss fight at the top, and then Nat gets stabbed and thrown off

I was still actually expecting Tony to literally adopt Nebula

They could have done something about the fact that the Red Skull is the freaking Guardian of the Soul Stone(TM). Wouldn’t Nat or Clint have recognized him? Like the fact of his identity isn’t even relevant to anything--gosh, him meeting Steve must have been interesting

So Nebula didn’t kill Thanos. Hmph. Was there a way it could have happened, though? Is there a way she still “beat” him? Maybe by killing the past self that was still loyal to him? 

You had three hours to tell a great story and make the things we didn’t like about Infinity War better, and all you give us is beer-belly Thor and a lot of time travel gimmicks? sheesh marvel

[asknightqueendany]

I want to tell you this from a Sansa stan perspective. I’ve seen u mention the Vale issue where she hid it from Jon. The way I see it as that Sansa hasn’t seen Jon in years, she had to convince him to fight/come home and she had no idea how good/bad he is at fighting, she also was never close with him before, was suffering from trauma ptsd and was extremely terrified at going back to ramsay (she legit said she’d kill herself if she had to), so she basically did what she had to. Cont’d...

           Part 2- I honestly would’ve done the same thing. She knows there is no way in hell ramsay can find out abt this and she can’t tell jon bc he is too straightforward (shown when he pledged to Dany in front of cersei) and he may not have seemed as desperate to ramsay therefore giving ramsay over confidence. Now I know jon is a fan fav and ur thinking wtf she could’ve killed him. But she barely knows him? I mean she even thought arya would kill her in s7. Besides Sansa has been on her own for long..    

           Part 3- so she doesn’t have any time to leave her fate in anyone else’s hands. I think it was a last minute decision! I don’t think she wanted to go to baelish bc she knew that would be letting him back in her life. She was probably wrestling w/ the idea of doing this and ultimately decided to. I think it was smart what she did. TBH back then jon wasn’t this crazy impt part of her life, she had just reunited with him and the fear of going back to ramsay was GREATER than the fear of losing Jon!    

The Sansa/Knights of the Vale/Battle of the Bastards issue is always a hotly debated one amongst her stans and those of us who are Sansa-ambivalent.

There were a few parts of your asks anon that I didn’t entirely understand [in bold above] but I’ll try to address anyway.

Your reasoning for Sansa not telling Jon about seeking help from Baelish and the Knights of the Vale are:

Sansa doesn’t know Jon that well - “she was never close with him growing up, he isn’t crazy important to her, she doesn’t know how good/bad he is at fighting…”

She’s afraid of going back to Ramsay, said she’d kill herself before she’d let this happen.

And she was wrestling with the decision to even ask for Baelish’s help because she didn’t want to let him back into her life.

With the exception of your point about Sansa not knowing whether Jon is a good fighter or not - that’s not really relevant - anon, I think all of the above is pretty valid and generally agreed upon by most Sansa supporters and why she doesn’t tell Jon about the KOTV.

So obviously, the ordering of the episodes is incredibly important here.

We’ve got the Jon/Sansa reunion at Castle Black in 6x04, an entire episode before the Sansa/Baelish reunion in Mole’s Town in 6x05 - when Baelish tells Sansa about the KOTV being at Moat Cailin.

Jon and Sansa reunite in 6x04, it’s the first time they’ve seen family in years, they hug it out, Sansa gets cleaned up off-screen, they reconvene likely in Jon’s old office and they reminisce for a bit over soup and bad ale…but then almost immediately after reuniting, Sansa asks for Jon’s help to take back Winterfell. This is before they know about Rickon, this is before Ramsay has threatened the Free Folk Jon let south of the Wall, this is before Sansa knows Baelish has brought the Knights of the Vale North. This is before everything. Jon and Sansa haven’t been openly threatened by Ramsay yet and they have nothing but each other - no armies, no allies, nothing.

And Sansa still asks Jon to help her in that scene in 6x04.

For someone who allegedly doesn’t trust Jon, she’s already asking SO much of him. She hears in a scene off-screen that Jon assisted the Free Folk and let them south of the Wall and she immediately asks how many of them there are…hinting to Jon that she wants him to ask them to fight for her.

[Side Note] This is one of the things that pisses me off about Sansa and her stans. Daenerys gets hurled the “she’s entitled” accusation a LOT but Sansa here, in this scene with Jon, is acting SO entitled. Entitled not only to her brother’s allegiance to her and his sword - asking him to fight for her - but also entitled to the people who are possibly loyal to Jon. Sansa has never spared a second thought for the Free Folk, has never done anything to help them in any way, her story has never crossed with them at all…and yet now that she knows her brother helped them, she’s already thinking of them as potential soldiers in an army for her to take back Winterfell.

And again, at this point, they haven’t received Ramsay’s letter. They haven’t been threatened yet. And even when they do receive Ramsay’s letter, there’s still the possibility of Sansa and Jon going into exile in Essos. She’s a talented seamstress. She could be employed by some noble lady in Essos and have a comfortable living. For all she knows - before Ramsay’s letter - Rickon and Bran and Arya are dead. So why take back Winterfell? She tells Jon “We’ll never be safe” but that’s not really true. She’s got a very narrow view of the possibilities here.

Arya actually did go into self-imposed exile in Essos to become a Faceless Man - knowing there was a possibility she could be turned away - which she was at first, but she went anyway. So it was completely a possibility for Sansa as well. She just didn’t want to do that. She wanted to go home. She felt she had a right to do so. And of course, she wanted her revenge against Ramsay. Totally valid, I don’t blame her for that.

But let’s call a spade a spade.

This wasn’t for Sansa’s “safety”. Safe would be avoiding the fight altogether. Safe would be Sansa not gathering up an army of a few rag-tag Northern Houses and the Free Folk thereby painting a proverbial bullseye on her back with a sign that essentially says “Hey Ramsay, I’m right here in this military encampment, come get me.” [End of Side Note, but actually addresses anon’s second point about Sansa being afraid to go back to Ramsay…clearly, this is not the way to stay off his radar]

Getting back to the main point again, Sansa not telling Jon about the KOTV…

The whole excuse of Sansa “not trusting Jon” because she doesn’t know him that well, they were never close, etc. I think is pretty bullshit. D&D have this to say of the Jon/Sansa reunion in 6x04 in the Inside the Episode:

“The idea that after all Jon and Sansa had been through as characters that they’re finally able to put a foot back on solid ground in terms of family and somebody with whom they have a bond that runs deeper than any other bond. It was a big moment for the two of them and for us to see it played out.”

“And to learn where we’re going to go with a relationship that never really meant that much to either one of them before now means so much because at this point, they’re all that they have.”

“It’s really only the additional pull of family and finding out that Rickon Stark is still alive that forces his hand and pulls him back into this fight he was trying to step away from.

Also of note: at this point, Sansa knows Jon died. “I can’t stay here, not after what happened,” Jon tells her, “what happened” being that his men mutinied and killed him. If anyone is in further doubt that Sansa knows about Jon’s death, Tormund openly says “He died for us” when they’re negotiating with the Free Folk and Sansa doesn’t bat an eyelash. So she knows Jon died and was resurrected.

So we’ve got these two people back together, the only living family either of them have that they know of, Sansa knows Jon died, Jon knows Sansa escaped Winterfell to get away from her rapist husband. Those are MAJOR things! We’ve also got to remember, Sansa hasn’t been involved in the fantastical elements of the story thus far. She hasn’t seen magic or dragons or anything really. So to find out her brother was brought back from the dead is CRAZY. ~Honestly, I really hate that the show just glosses over that like it was as simple for Sansa to accept as, “Oh yeah, Jon had open heart surgery but he’s fully recovered now.” Like, no. This is seriously unbelievable stuff~ But regardless, Sansa knows this happened to Jon. She accepts it. We never see her question his resurrection so she must have seen his scars, spoke to Melisandre off-screen or something.

And yet, even though she knows he died, even though he’s her last living family member, even though she’s already asked him to help her take back Winterfell, Sansa doesn’t trust Jon enough to tell him about the KOTV….?

Of Sansa and Baelish’s meeting in Mole’s Town where Baelish tells Sansa about the KOTV and that they’re basically at her disposal should she ask him for his help, D&D have this to say in the 6x05 Inside the Episode:

“Sansa’s gotten pretty good at playing the game. When she sees Littlefinger though, it’s not about politics, it’s not about trying to manipulate him or anything. He betrayed her in the worst possible way and so in her mind everything that happened after that he’s to blame for it. I think it goes through her mind how satisfying it would be to see Brienne just cut him in two right here. But she doesn’t and that she doesn’t is an interesting quality of Sansa’s. That she’s started to look a couple moves ahead and she’s starting to think ‘is it possible this person will be more useful to me alive than dead?’”

“It’s funny because even as she’s trying to make a clean break with Littlefinger, Sansa is showing us the ways in which Littlefinger has shaped her way of looking at the world. With the decision not to tell Jon about the meeting with Littlefinger, with the decision not to tell Jon how she knows about the Blackfish, if she really trusted Jon, and she really was coming at this as a clean, pure Stark, she would tell the truth to her brother and the person to whom she has real allegiance at this point. For whatever reason, she holds back on that and I think that shows that Littlefinger still has some kind of a hold on Sansa.”

Granted, Dan Weiss’ line “For whatever reason” is a bit of a cop-out because it still leaves the audience wondering…okay, what is the reason? He says Baelish has a “hold” on Sansa and certainly, with what David Benioff says before about Sansa “thinking a couple moves ahead” and Baelish possibly being “useful” to her makes sense. But still, even if Baelish would be “useful” to Sansa, it doesn’t explain why she doesn’t tell Jon.

Weiss says, Jon is the only person whom Sansa has real allegiance to at this point. Yet she lies to him and manipulates him.

Going back to anon’s point about “Sansa not sure she wants Baelish back in her life” - or from what I’ve seen of some stans: Sansa doesn’t want to tell Jon about Baelish because Jon wouldn’t allow it after Baelish sold her to the Boltons, Jon wouldn’t approve, I’ve seen some people even go so far as to suggest Sansa’s afraid of Baelish…

But none of what D&D say above suggests any of that. In fact, Benioff’s quote about Sansa looking a few moves ahead indicates Sansa was already considering the offer Baelish brought to her but refused to his face because of his betrayal of her - selling her to Ramsay. She’s hurt, she feels betrayed, she knows Baelish loves her, yet she knows she needs him. Accepting his offer of help right away would make Sansa seem more forgiving than she wants to appear in Baelish’s eyes.

Or, alternatively, as suggested by Sansa’s letter, decoded above, she knew Baelish would require some sort of “reward” for his help and didn’t want to owe him, likely knowing it may even be her own hand in marriage after Ramsay’s death.

But EVEN STILL, even with everything Baelish has done, judging by Jon’s reaction after the battle “You told me Lord Baelish sold you to the Boltons…you trust him?” he wouldn’t have been opposed help from the Vale, had he known it was an offer on the table.

And this was not a last minute decision of Sansa’s. This was something she was stewing about for weeks. She had this information for a while and let’s face it, she sent this letter out to Baelish well before the battle. Again, the KOTV were garrisoned at Moat Cailin. That’s not a short distance to Winterfell. The distance as calculated HERE between Moat Cailin and Winterfell is about 350 miles. Even if it were a hundred miles, it would still take a week, longer maybe, for the KOTV to reach their destination. Not counting the travel time for the raven.

And we can’t say Sansa didn’t “know” whether or not Baelish would come through. Of course he would come through. That’s why she hesitated. Because she knew he would do whatever she asked of him. Again, she knows he’s in love with her. 

So far as Jon was concerned, if Sansa already had told Jon that Baelish was the one who brokered her marriage with Ramsay and she was afraid Jon wouldn’t want further help from Baelish because of that, Sansa could have lied and said it was her cousin Robin who was offering her his help, not Baelish. She could have made something up, anything. Baelish had gone back to King’s Landing, went to go serve the Lannisters again, whatever.

Jon knows they need all the help they can get. He’s not going to ask too many questions and he really can’t argue when there’s the promise of a mounted army of 2000 men at their disposal, especially if Sansa already has a good cover story for it - Robin Arryn, Lord Protector of the Vale, is her cousin.

There’s just really no good reason Sansa could have for not telling Jon about it. No. Reason. She lied to him about the Knights of the Vale - lie by omission - and she manipulated him using Rickon as an excuse for Jon to go to war when Sansa knew there was a very slim chance Rickon wouldn’t live.

Again, Sansa has some wins throughout GOT but she really does not impress me in the later seasons with either her attitude or her actions. She doesn’t start to put

family

first until the very last episode of Season 7 when she off-screen goes to Bran and asks for his advice on the whole Arya situation and Bran tells her Arya isn’t the one she needs to look out for, it’s Baelish. Everything before that, everything before the Baelish execution scene, Sansa is looking out for Number 1 and spends most of her screen time either undermining Jon or being sore about the fact that she’s not Queen. Sorry.

Oh yeah and, in the 6x09 Inside the Episode….

~~~Dan Weiss confirms Ramsay is Jon and Sansa’s “prisoner” after BoB~~~

Just saying…