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kaibacorpintern · 4 years ago

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the wound

word count: ~2500

summary: kaiba has some pointed thoughts about yuugi’s recent cooking injury. platonic rivalshipping. post-DSOD

a/n: a woman has too many unfinished one-shots in her google drive so i’m making time to finish them instead of overthinking them (and never finishing them.) yes this is about cooking and yuugi and kaiba and depression. yes i have already written about this. whatever man. enjoy.

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Same time as usual. Two in the afternoon, on Saturdays. Same place as usual. The picnic table under the massive oak in the park, two blocks away from the Kame Game Shop and twenty minutes by subway from the station under the Kaiba Corp tower. Seto took the subway mostly out of scientific interest, taking a professional curiosity in the world Atem had wanted to live in, and because Atem had told him to enjoy it. What had he seen here, in the faded orange seats and bright pastel advertisements and the quiet scattering of human-not-Puzzle bodies? What had he felt, as the subway swayed around the curve in the tunnel, unseen in the darkness and known only by its momentum, making everyone sway with it? Hands curled around handrails and books. Fingers on phones. The train burst into daylight. The side of that girl’s head against the glass, watching Domino slide by with an equally glassy look in her eyes. Two layers between her and the city. Missing someone? Or just bored of life?

He slunk off the subway, unnoticed and unknown, in an immaculate white hoodie and aviators, stainless steel water bottle dangling from one hand. Yuugi was waiting for him at the park entrance, as usual, wearing some kind of fashionable belted dark purple romper, with the usual tote bag full of games hanging from one hand. On the other hand, something unusual: his fingers stuck out from a half-formed mitten of gauze, giving his slender hand a clumsy, snub-nosed silhouette. He was having trouble holding his iced tea, thumb and fingers alligator-clamped around the lid. Someone had drawn a pair of flowers in pink marker across the back of the mitten, a bumper sticker of cheerful admonition: 🌺 BE CAREFUL! 🌺 Not Yuugi’s handwriting.

“Hey,” Yuugi said. “How’re you doing? You sleeping better?”

Seto pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head, over his bangs, crown-like.

“On and off,” he said, which was true. His nights were now vast, tossing oceans of insomnia between shores of just good-enough sleep. Last night he’d simply given up trying to swim and instead, for the first time in years, read a book for amusement instead of education. Some sci-fi novel Yuugi had mentioned and Seto bought on a lark from the bookstore in the subway station. Most of his amusement came from correcting the bad science in the margins, until he woke up at dawn with his glasses bent and his bed linens blotted like calico cats with black ink. “What happened to your hand?”

“Oh, this?” Yuugi said, lifting his mitten-hand. “So, I was making a ceviche yesterday…”

He told the story as they walked through the park to the oak tree: the protagonist was a ripe avocado, its tough, disingenuous alligator hide concealing a soft, buttery-green flesh. The arc of the conflict: avocado against knife, a natural antagonist. The climax: the knife, ignorant of its own bluntness and made arrogant by the shine of its own steel, slid off its trajectory like a failing rocket and plunged at speed through plant skin and plant flesh straight into human skin and human flesh. The resolution: two identical cuts, a half-opened avocado and a half-opened hand. Man versus fruit.

"There was so much blood Otogi almost fainted," Yuugi said, thumping the tote bag onto the wooden table and straddling the bench sideways. "So we went to the ER and they stitched me up, and then when we got back home I finished making the ceviche. What game? You pick."

"Hive," Seto said. He couldn’t stop looking at his bandaged hand. It drew his attention like a glitch on a screen, an inescapable aberration. “Does it bother you?”

“I mean, it hurts, but whatever, you know?” Yuugi said, digging into his tote bag for the drawstring bag of wooden tokens. He spilled them onto the table in a clattering cascade of wood against wood. They rapidly sorted them out. “It’s not my first cooking accident.”

Seto raised his eyebrows. It was a testament to the amount of time they’d been spending together lately - every Saturday afternoon for a handful of hours, until he made some excuse to leave, and Yuugi accepted it not because he was gullible but because he knew Seto had a battery and it ran low - that he didn’t even need to ask a question, and Yuugi simply provided an answer, with examples.

“So, here, I was frying onion rings for Jounouchi, and I splattered hot oil all over my arm,” Yuugi said, lifting his hand and pointing out a haphazard constellation of white scars over his forearm. “Then here - I was baking cookies for Shizuka’s birthday and touched the tray fresh out of the oven with my bare hand, like a moron, I dueled Jounouchi after and drawing my cards was like, ow - ” he waggled his fingertips - “and this one is another burn - ” a long white ink-stroke across his wrist - “from when I was making ramen for Anzu, ‘cause she was home from New York. And this one - ”

More interesting than how and what were who. This burn for Honda’s birthday barbecue, that cut for Otogi’s game night. A violent kiss between blade and fingers behind a frothy veil of soapy water, cleaning up after a movie night. Another spray of oil splatters, frying tempura for his mother. A lot of meals for her, his grandfather, Jounouchi. Every scar Yuugi showed him had a name attached, almost all of them below the elbows, as though collected there for easy reference. Seto frowned as Yuugi's fingers flew over this map of friendships and family, their routes landmarked by midnight breakfasts, lazy brunches, beautifully-wrapped bento boxes. Something about it tasted sour to him, his tongue held tight and bitten between his teeth. All of his own scars had only one name.

“You probably think I’m a klutz,” Yuugi said, with a sheepish smile, sliding one of the wooden tokens into place around their hive.

“I told you to stop doing that,” Seto said briskly. “I’m not some dumpster for all your insecurities. You think you’re a klutz. You have no idea what I think.”

“I - ” Yuugi started, and huffed, with another smile, his chosen defense against causing offense. “Sorry, force of habit - ”

“Forget it. You don’t ever cook for yourself?”

“Duh. Of course I do. And I eat what I make with everyone else. It’s not like I make a pizza for all my friends and just sit there watching them while they eat it,” Yuugi said. “But I like cooking for people. I love... nourishing them. Knowing they’re not going to go to bed hungry or anything, and I can make something for them that makes them feel good.”

Seto tapped a wooden token on the table, under the guise of thinking about the game but really thinking about the kind of friends Yuugi made, and how he made them. Jounouchi. Honda. Atem. Himself.

“Did you ever cook for Atem?” he said, because he couldn’t help it, and braced against the soft look that came his way, with a default smile, a pre-emptive look, I'm fine. this didn’t hurt me smile.

“Yeah,” Yuugi said. “I did.”

Like what? Did he like it? Did he help cook or did he just watch? Just the two of you or with everyone else? Tell me. What did you nourish him with? What do you think he’s eating now? I ate pomegranates when I was there. Bread and honey and figs and garlic and beer. Nothing I ate makes me spend six months with the living and six months with the dead so instead I trade off day and night. Sometimes I leave for a few minutes, mid-afternoon, and I can hear my own name clattering through me as Mokuba calls me back. Seto kept all these comments to himself. There was only so greedy he could get with Yuugi’s grief; only so much he could share of his own.

He slid his wooden token into place around the honeycomb of pieces. Yuugi swiftly countered. Seto lapsed back into thought.

Yuugi took a quiet slurp of his iced tea, gave it a shake, rattling the ice until it settled, and took another, watching ducks paddle into the reeds at the edge of the pond and paddle out, a portrait of calm patience. It had taken him some time to get comfortable with Seto’s long silences. In concession, Seto made the effort to shorten them.

It was the kind of day where stepping into the shade made a difference. The air was darker and cooler under the trees and the flowering bushes that lined the park paths, while the rest of the earth baked in a cloudless dry heat. Seto made his move and pushed the sleeves of his sweatshirt up to his elbows.

“How about I cook for you sometime?” Yuugi said brightly, nudging another wooden token against the others with a single fingertip.

Seto scowled, not at the suggestion but at the way his thoughts splintered apart, like two halves of a wooden log split by an axe. He had no doubt Yuugi would pull out the stops for him, slave and sweat for hours over some seventeen-course feast of modern art finger foods. Or maybe something cozy that made him feel like he was just nineteen instead of nineteen and exhausted. Whatever it was, Yuugi would put in the effort. But.

“No,” he said, and made sure to clarify this refusal before the clouds finished gathering over Yuugi’s face in a dejected overcast grey: “I don’t need one of your scars named after me.”

“I - what?” Yuugi said, flashing him an uneven, sideways smile, and Seto felt a flicker of irritation. Atem would’ve understood immediately. But, in fairness to Yuugi, he was being a little obtuse.

“You have a way of suffering for your friends,” he explained. “And I think part of you likes it.”

Yuugi straightened up in his seat, suddenly electric.

“What the hell? It’s just cooking,” he said, with a stormy flash of lightning in his violet eyes. “You’re reading into this way too much. I cook because it’s fun and artistic and I like feeding people, not because I like… self-flagellating or something. Seriously, you can’t just spout off - ”

“You misunderstand me,” Seto countered. “There’s no reason to… hurt yourself on my behalf. If you want to eat together, I’d rather go to that kitschy little ice cream place down the block and get a fucking waffle cone. I don’t want you unable to duel because you burned your hand trying to pan-fry a steak for me.”

Yuugi opened his mouth, brows furrowing together… and scoffed, a surprisingly affectionate sound. He rolled his eyes around the park, his gaze swinging across the sunlit grass, and looked back at Seto.

“Okay. First of all, I've mastered the art of the pan-fried steak, and you should try it,” he said. “Second of all, what makes you think you’re not someone worth suffering for?”

Seto snorted, masking his inwards flinch. Mokuba already suffered enough, thank you. And for what? A ghost of a brother. A black hole, a perpetual collapsing. Things went in and they crossed the event horizon and the pressure squeezed them for eternity without ever letting them reach the center and nothing ever came back out, as much as it wanted to. The scientific term for such distortion of effort, stretched to an immeasurable length without breaking, was spaghettification. Even a black hole needs to eat!

He slid one of his tokens back and forth with his fingertip, short, scraping jerks of wood against wood, thinking.

“Direct attack on my life points,” he muttered.

“Yeah, you also got me pretty good,” Yuugi chuffed. “Let’s call it even. But relax. It’s just cooking. I love the process, and I love the result, and I love doing stuff for my friends. It’s not some big… metaphorical… symbol of something. This - " he lifted his mittened hand - "doesn't mean anything except I mishandled a knife. It’s not like… you and Duel Disks.”

But Seto also loved the process and the result and more than once he'd injured himself, machining parts or fiddling with wires that, like all wild living things, bit back in fear of his touch. He splayed his hand over the table, watching blood drip onto his work station, knowing he should get up, clean it, bandage it. But it was only two in the morning and there was work to do.

“The Duel Disk is a symbol of Kaiba Corp’s future,” he said, closing his hand into a fist. "I know what you've done for your friends. I’ve seen it. Doesn't that merit the same... mythology?"

Yuugi gave him a funny look, half skeptical, half knowing.

"That’s nice of you, thank you," he said, and an uncomfortable blush crawled up Seto’s neck. Sometimes he did understand. “Are you sure you don't want me to cook for you?”

Seto opened his mouth, closed it, folded his arms on the table. He felt like he was trying to explain the feeling of the color blue, or the arguments for why numbers do or don’t exist, or what it was like to dream. Well, you see, the last time I saw Atem, he told me - correction: the last time as in the most recent link in a chain of time, not the last time as in the end of the line, because he also told me we’d see each other again - he told me to enjoy this, and you know me, I never do what I’m told. And I can’t do what he told me to do because he was my friend, and if friendship is just getting caught in a great sticky web of small cuts and large cuts and burns and bruises and tears and suffering because they’re here and suffering because they’re not, then just go ahead and let the spider drink me up and dump what’s left of me in the dirt. I am so sick and tired of pain. Mine. Yours. Ours.

But he did enjoy these afternoons. He was enjoying the process of making this: he had more with Yuugi now than he ever had before. He reached across the table and took Yuugi’s bandaged hand between his own hands, running his thumb carefully over the inked warning. Yuugi's hand relaxed in his. Yes, Yuugi was wrong. It was the same as Duel Disks. In any act of creation there was pain, there was power, and there was glory. What difference was there between a hologram of a dragon and a steaming bowl of soup? Both nourished something. Both were an answer to hunger. Discovering an emptiness and filling it.

“Okay,” he said, releasing Yuugi’s hand. “Alright. Cook for me.”

“Yeah?!” Yuugi said, with rising excitement, beaming. “What should I make? What do you like?”

“Make me a steak,” Seto said, smiling. It felt good to see Yuugi smile. His hypothesis neatly undermined. See? It’s not all damage. “No. Surprise me.”

#fanfiction #intern memo #rivalshipping #a lite snack... once i've written up a few more i'll cross post to AO3 #okay good Night i am. wiped the fuck out

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potteresque-ire · 4 years ago

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Gg,

I’ll say this using the simplest way too. I’ll also say this, knowing it doesn’t solve anything ~

You didn’t start the culture of comment control (控評) and the fan circles that execute them, which stifled any rational discussions about entertainers. You didn’t start the culture of treating constructive criticisms—even opinions that fall short of being praises—the same as malicious slandering, something to be buried under a pile of positive comments, of rainbow farts. You didn’t start the longstanding frustrations among netizens, who felt they couldn’t even gossip freely when entertainment is all about the gossip. You didn’t ignite the antagonistic views of non-fans against fans that would one day turn into support for that movement against you.

You didn’t criticise fan circle culture on one hand, and encourage the practice of comment control on another. You didn’t tie the act of comment control to patriotism, didn’t mobilise fan circles to perform comment control on message boards in support of the Hong Kong police in 2019, taking advantage of the fan circle’s high level of organisation, their experience in performing such task, and their intense need to be seen as patriotic such that their idol will be viewed favourably by the government. You didn’t praise these fans who were there for their idol 阿中哥哥 (Chinese GeGe) — a virtual idol who personified the Chinese government—and called them patriotic.

You didn’t make performative patriotism a pre-requisite for entertainers to survive in c-ent. You didn’t require performative patriotism to be placed above logic, above personal preferences in expression. You didn’t portray performative patriotism as a goal sufficient to justify any means. You didn’t teach impressionable young fans that as long as the cause was deemed by the powers-that-be as patriotic and honourable, one can ignore the laws, scale the Great Firewall and go to otherwise banned websites; one can cause havoc on and trample on their perceived enemy’s communities.

You didn’t equate silencing one’s opponent with patriotism.

You didn’t market reporting culture as an honourable, noble deed. You didn’t resurrect reporting culture from its Cultural Revolution’s grave, with the knowledge that it had always been a weapon against people expressing different opinions. You didn’t ask your media arm to pen articles about the rewards to be made by reporting. You didn’t list the people who had reported on your official website like they had made honour roll. You didn’t make reporting so open, so righteous-sounding that many didn’t think twice to join the effort, even if it was only about a piece of fiction they didn’t like.

You didn’t make reporting of certain content on a website sufficient grounds for censoring an entire website. You didn’t make censoring a thing. You didn’t censor one of the few remaining websites left with relatively free expressions, while the rest of your team was already performing heavy-handed censorship on a certain pandemic—a certain pandemic that had killed, that had brought much anger, sadness and frustration. You didn’t put a chokehold on people who had already felt they had no room left to talk, when they were bound to their homes and could do little but talk. But vent.

You didn’t create a system where venting against the powerful could get one into trouble. You didn’t marry the politically powerful with the commercially powerful. You didn’t build the society where the few people left with perceived higher social status and who could still be attacked with little consequences were entertainers—especially young, recently break-through stars with little backing from the media companies, and the commercially and politically powerful people behind these companies.

You didn’t start 227.

The moment the axe fell on AO3, Gg, there was very little you could do, very little you could say. 227 was indeed an explosion, from too high a pressure from freedoms of speech that have been too strangled. They said you were mute? So were the theys who called you that, who didn’t have the guts to take their complaint to those who deserve it. You became the eye of a storm you didn’t brew, the eye that could’ve been anyone else—anyone else who wouldn’t have known better what to do.

Offer guidance? Exactly what kind of guidance? Tell your fans that AO3, which does host material offensive to the Chinese government, has the right to remain inside the Firewall? Tell your fans that reporting is wrong?

Is your guidance asking the solo and cp fans to keep their peace? Fans fight. Solos and cpfs fight. These fights happen on a daily basis, and there would’ve been no 227 if they were the cause of 227—because everyday would’ve been a 227. 227 became 227 because one of these fights, which happened to be between your fans, also happened to have knocked upon one of the most important pillars that prop up an authoritarian dictatorship: suppression of the freedom of speech; it stumbled upon what had already been a field of landmines, the buried anger of the people who have been silenced, censored over the years.

COVID put in a full, fresh layer of landmines, still buried shallow and waiting for inexperienced youngsters—who could be fans or non-fans, fans of any idol—to trip over their sharp corners.

These days, people call the youngsters who tripped over them the shrimps. One explosion triggered another and in the din, you were accused of not warning the youngsters, and thrown into the exploding field for punishment. To set off all the other landmines in danger of exploding. No one asked why the landmines were there.

Appropriately, perhaps, or ironically ... have you thought about this, Gg? That your silence might have played a role to your survival in the industry, the support you’ve got lately from the state media? Because you took one for them, for those who created the storm and buried the landmines, who did all the things you didn’t do. Because you became a convenient punching bag for a country of 1.4 billion who needed something to punch. Because you took the blows gracefully and without complaint, didn’t utter a word that would’ve made obvious the instigator of the damage you’re now apologising for. You eased the guilt in the people doing the punching by having so many gifts they didn’t have; it must have given some people cold joy to land their fist on your gorgeous face. You’ve gritted your teeth and stayed silent even after the water armies, the yxh’s entered the scene, eager to feed on your corpse. The rot they smelled was the commercial value on you.

Have you thought about this, Gg, that you might’ve already performed the social responsibility implicitly demanded of you and in flying colours, by being the punching bag, the landmine sweeper? That when you promise to take more social responsibility in the future, that you may be asked to do something similar?

No one asked why the landmines were there. They’ll pile up again.

Yes, I’m frustrated. I read your letter and wanted to scream. I understand why you said everything you did, understand the realistic need to issue an apology and I respect and adore you, as always, for your maturity, your emotional intelligence. This letter is therefore neither a complaint nor a criticism against you; this is me, venting my frustration, from that half of me that knows painfully well that your letter is necessary and the right thing to do.

Still, the other half of me wants to say your letter is utter nonsense.

Because your only mistake, Gg, is that you’re too likeable, and too likeable, perhaps, at the wrong time. You have too many fans who made all these issues you didn’t create so much more visible. You had too many fans at a time when COVID took too many victims, when the whole sociopolitical climate demands one voice and when every fan of yours is an individual with their own voice, their own likes and dislikes. You have too many fans who dearly love you but also require you to become a “public figure”—I’m putting this term in quotes as you did—a “public figure” who can help them decipher the conflicting messages the society is sending them re: the meaning, the responsibility of a fan, a “public figure” who, as you admit yourself, requires construction from Gg the Idol and Gg the regular person from Chongqing.

Gg the Idol and Gg the regular person from Chongqing who, you also said, require mutual acceptance. Gg the Idol and Gg the regular person from Chongqing who, therefore, must have significant conflicts—mutual acceptance isn’t necessary otherwise.

Who’s this “Gg the public figure” that will emerge? Or, what? How human will he/it be? How much will he/it still be you? Where are you going to be in this “public figure”?

And that’s the most difficult thought to endure this morning. To become a better self—you keep emphasising, as if you weren’t good enough, kind enough, courteous and respectful and professional enough to begin with.

A better self, may I ask, to who?

#pie metas #too grrrrrrr right now to insert the references #sorry #* sighs *

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justarandomsideblog · 4 years ago

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Okay I admit it I'm obsessed, just more Winged!Fundy AU stuffs

-Most of canon is side-stepped, using rough elements as a guideline (L'Manburg was a thing, it had its revolution, the 16th and doomsday, Wilbur died, Fundy and Phil are estranged/disowned, Fundy has his prophetic dreams which jumpstart his godly magic, etc) but Fundy is around the same age as Tommy, Tubbo and Ranboo are physically (the former of the two being immortals and the latter having a naturally long lifespan), and it takes place in a world where the nuke wasn't stolen and Quackity gets to be happy okay. Fundy is still being haunted by his dreams and begins to suffer from derealization, though I have no intention of going into details about it.

-Dream himself is mortal and isn't the big bad, but DreamXD, his twin/doppelganger is a god of chaos and is the main antagonist, and Dream is working for DreamXD. DreamXD has noticed Fundy's powers awakening.

-Phil is one of a handful of Angels of Death, having been created by Death through magic. He is technically Death's son, and if Death ever falls is the next choice to become the god of Death. He is technically a god, but as the son of a god and having wings he is referred to more often as an angel. Wilbur and Tommy are his biological sons, though they have different mothers (who are mortal and lived roughly 100 years apart). So technically all three of them are Angels of Death, and all their wings are made of magic.

-Wilbur manifested his godly magic when he was 3, and had Phil there to guide him through it so that growing his wings wouldn't hurt. His wings were pepper gray and white, but when he was still a small child he had a traumatic accident that irreversibly damaged his wings, and his wings were magically removed since leaving them be would have caused more problems.

-Tommy was barely 6 months old when he manifested his godly magic and grew his wings, taking both Phil and Wil by surprise. His wings are pure gold, a stark contrast to his father and brother. He still has them, but he started hiding them when he got involved in wars since they would become a target for the enemy.

-Angels have a special magic called an Angel's Bond, where they can, only once in their lives, share a bond with a mortal and extend their immortal life to them. There's different kinds of bonds this can fall under, though the most common are familial bonds, often between a mortal who was taken in by gods or angels. It ties that mortal's life to the angel's, and until the angel dies the mortal cannot die and will only age at the same rate as the angel.

-Techno and Tubbo are Phil's adopted children. Techno was found as a young Piglin in the nether, and he was roughly the same age as Wilbur. Phil ended up using his Angel's Bond with Techno. Tommy brought Tubbo home one day, Tubbo an orphan trying to get by in the forest, and Phil welcomed Tubbo into their home. Tommy ended up using his Angel's Bond with Tubbo after finding out that Tubbo's going to grow old and die before Tommy ever even reached adulthood. Phil has concerns about Tommy using his One and Only bond so young, but it can't be reversed so...

-Sally is the daughter of a god, and was created through magic. She has many sisters. Their mother calls themself Mother Nature, even though they are more accurately Life (versus Phil's father being Death) and Fundy is the actual embodiment of Nature, being the one and only descendant of Life and Death.

-Wilbur and Sally knew each other were angels/spirits/the children of gods, and they knew they were the children of opposite gods, meaning that their love was technically a forbidden love as life and death magic was never meant to mix. They fell in love anyways, and though the god of Life disapproved, they just sat back and watched. Sally actually couldn't have kids, being a product of pure magic, and ended up asking Life for help, and in the process made a deal; she and Wilbur got to have a kid and in exchange, they could never awaken the kid's magic (thus, these two immortals' son would be doomed to mortality) and Sally had to return to the sea after the kid turned 5. Oh, and Sally had to take a different form after being pregnant because Life did not want their grandchild to appear human. Yea Life's a sick fuck. Wilbur actually wanted to disagree but Sally wanted to have a kid biologically (they did raise several adopted kids which was very fulfilling but Sally just... wanted to have a baby, idk why, couldn't be me) so she agreed. Wilbur cried the day he came in for breakfast to find his wife had transformed into a fox woman cause he knew the timer had begun.

-They didn't tell anyone, not even Fundy, who they intended to raise as a mortal. They took away all magic from their house and told Fundy that Wil was a musician and Sally was an accountant. It was after Sally disappeared that Wilbur built L'Manburg's walls.

-Wilbur managed to keep Fundy from manifesting his magic all throughout his childhood and teenagehood, and he never found out that Fundy figured out astral projection and shapeshifting. After Wilbur died, however, Fundy began exploring a little more and ended up discovering some of his other powers (prophetic dreams/dreamwalking, being able to mold the world around him to a degree, things like that) and Ghostbur didn't remember enough to keep an eye on him. Phil had no idea, since Wilbur never told him, he never met Sally and Fundy hadn't manifested his magic when Phil was around. This time, where Fundy is completely alone and has all the time to himself, is when he begins manifesting the magic his parents had tried so hard to keep him from manifesting, and it's when the phantom pains from wings that hadn't grown yet began. It is a PAINFUL process to grow wings, even magically, because it comes from under the skin/attaches to muscle and bone, and since he has no older or more experienced Angel with him he has no one to help him or guide him...

-Ranboo is there when Fundy's wings grow, a very traumatizing moment for both of them (blood and Fundy definitely passes out and all that fun stuff), and manages to convince Fundy to not immediately try to chop them off with an axe (Fundy was panicking) but Fundy refused to go to Phil or Tommy because he has Issues(TM). Namely, he didn't want his family to decide he's suddenly worth loving because it turns out he's just like them after all. In fact, he's terrified that if they find out, he can never have a relationship with them because he'll never be sure if they love him or just love that he's like them. He wants to be loved for who he is, not what he is...

-On the other hand, Phil and Techno threaten to kill Dream when Dream shows interest (/p) in Fundy, and Phil tells him to "stay the hell away from my grandson" because even if he's angry about the whole Butcher Army thing, still, he is NOT about to let some cretin near his grandson. They do love him. They're just mad and waiting for a proper apology. (Phil, of course, does not know Fundy is more god than mortal so the idea of him manifesting death magic and growing wings doesn't even cross his mind, and doesn't know he let Fundy go through the wing growing process all by himself.)

-Funboo (/p) shenanigans as they try to hide the existence of Fundy's wings from literally everyone else. Tommy and Tubbo finding out in possibly the worst way possible. Tommy freaking out because Fundy A) went through that painful and traumatic process without another angel there to help, B) is trying to teach himself how to fly and use magic, and C) didn't feel like he could go to his own family about this thing that everyone in their family has gone through.

-Emotional family shit as Tommy realizes just how alone and isolated Fundy felt, not even willing to go to his own family to learn more about his magic? Learn how to fly?

-Enter Tommy&Tubbo&Fundy&Ranboo (/p ofc) shenanigans as they, very specifically, try to hide this from Phil, Techno, Ghostbur and anyone else they think might even possibly let it spill to them. Also Tommy taking over teaching Fundy about his magic and flying, because "no offence Ranboo but this is very different from enderman stuff"

-Fundy trying to come to terms with the fact that his family's perception of him won't change just because it turns out he's not mortal

-Fundy figuring out how to astral project right out of the mortal plane and talk to his father in the afterlife. It's tense ofc their last meeting was not a good one but Fundy needs answers because nothing's adding up....

#Fundy #DSMP AU #Winged!Fundy AU #I might add more later but it's almost midnight and I have work in the morning #Also it's super annoying that I need to add /p to every relationship tag so people realize I'm not a sicko #Not tagging the other characters cuz I don't wanna clog up their tags #but yes I love SBI+Tubbo+Fundy+Ranboo sue me

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onebadwinter · 4 years ago

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Baron Helmut Zemo Tropes

Taken from Here and Here

Anti-Villain: Sometimes verges on this, though it's a case of Depending on the Writer.

Arch-Enemy: After his father's death, he takes this role to Captain America and leads the Masters of Evil after inheriting the title.

Aristocrats Are Evil: He's a baron after all, and believes his aristocratic heritage entitles him to rule.

Avenging the Villain: Helmut's original motive was to kill Captain America because he killed his father. Eventually, Helmut came to the realization that actually, Heinrich was an awful father and an even worse person.

Badass Normal: Has no powers, but regularly fights the likes of Captain America and the Avengers. He usually has a contingency that will allow him to deal with his opponent's plans anyway; it's only when these contingencies fail (as happened during his battle with Moonstone at the end of the initial run on Thunderbolts) that he's in trouble.

The Big Bad: Of his fare share of arcs, particularly those involving the Masters of Evil.

Brain Uploading: He only survived being decapitated because Techno uploaded his consciousness to a computer.

Butter Face: A Rare Male Example. He has the body you'd expect of somebody who can keep up with Captain America in terms of physique... but that handsome form is contrasted by a hideously malformed visage. For a while, he had a young, dashing look again after hijacking the body of the Helmut from another Earth, but only two years later his face got disfigured again. When he got Carla Sofen's Moonstone, he used it to fix that, but when Melissa broke it again...

Calling the Old Man Out: During his trip back in time, he ran into his father while the latter was gleefully doing mad science for the Nazis. Helmut had long since discarded any Nazi prejudices he had once had, and was fuming watching his father put down other races, the handicapped, etc. Finally he had enough and started beating the hell out of him while giving a "Reason You Suck" Speech. Quite the sign of Character Development for the guy who started out worshiping and avenging his father's memory.

Captain Patriotic: At the beginning of the Thunderbolts, he disguised himself as Citizen V, supposedly the son of a previous hero who'd gone by that name, whom Zemo had killed. Zemo went the whole hog, even decking himself in a cape designed after the American flag.

The Chessmaster: Zemo has a plan for everything, and lays them out months in advance.

Cool Mask: Wears a tighter fitting version of his father's mask.

The Cynic: Has a generally negative view of humanity.

Daddy Issues: He loved his father, and his father loved him... until the Adhesive X incident, where he became outright abusive in every way. Originally, Helmut blamed Captain America. Now, he acknowledges that his father was just a horrible human being.

Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: He once shot the Grandmaster, one of the Elders of the Universe and a being way outside his normal weight class, through the head. Admittedly, there were mitigating circustances that allowed him to do this, and the Grandmaster did get better (because, hey, comics).

Disney Villain Death: Many, many times (see Never Found the Body below).

Even Evil Has Standards: Arranged the death of one of his ancestors during a time-travel jaunt, after he found out the man was a rapist and a mass-murderer who did it all For the Evulz. He later clashed with another ancestor when he thought he was harassing a girl (the two were actually in love, and he quickly apologised).

Evil Genius

Evil Is Petty:

The Faceless: He rarely ever removes his mask, due to his face being horribly scarred in a accident.

Facial Horror: His head has been slashed up so badly that it's practically a skull, with ribbons of flesh draping over his eyes and sliced-off cheeks and lips. The sight of his face visibly disgusts everyone in the original Thunderbolts.

Freudian Excuse: Raised by his father to believe in his inherent superiority. There wasn't a lot of dad hugs down in that South American jungle, mostly just rants and lectures.

Good Scars, Evil Scars: Hideously disfigured beneath his mask.

Grand Theft Me: After becoming a "ghost", his mind was transferred to the actual son of Citizen V (Techno noted it was basically him playing a joke). That is, until an energy conflict - the V-Batallion tried to teleport Citizen V as the body was being sucked into a portal - made his mind be expelled into Techno's machinery. But given he arrived at Counter-Earth, this meant Zemo could do a literal case of the trope, and took the body of his self from this world.

Heel–Face Revolving Door: Cannot make up his mind which side he is supposed to be on. He even once took a bullet for Cap despite being his sworn enemy.

In the Blood: The arrogance and the drive for control certainly are.

Joker Immunity: Unlike his father, he can never seem to be put down for long.

The Leader: Of the Masters of Evil and the Thunderbolts.

Legacy Character: To his father, Baron Heinrich Zemo XII.

Manipulative Bastard: Zemo's very good at getting other people to do what he wants, playing on their emotions and desires.

Master Swordsman: One of the best in the Marvel Universe. Zemo's dueled the likes of Captain America and survived several decades worth of warfare on a time travel jaunt.

Nazi Nobleman: Started out as one, though he's moved away from fascism in recent years. Nowadays his goals align more with Dirty Communists.

Never Found the Body: During the run of Thunderbolts alone he was declared dead on four separate occasions, all of which turned out to be false. In each instance, his body was never found. By the fourth time, most of the team just assume he'll turn up eventually (not that they want him to).

Noble Demon: He's much more noble than his father,for sure.

Purple Is Powerful: Signifies his aristocratic leanings.

Secondary Color Nemesis: Purple, to oppose Cap's blue and red.

Take Over the World: He insists it's to save it. Some people (like Songbird) aren't convinced.

Taking the Bullet: Once leapt in the way of an energy blast an insane Moonstone aimed at Captain America. Messed his face up bad.

There Are No Therapists: This guy is seriously messed up and would probably have turned out differently if he got professional help.

Token Evil Teammate: Alongside Techno, he serves as this for the first iteration of Thunderbolts. While most members of the team fall somewhere between The Hero and the Anti-Hero, Zemo shows no signs of having softened whilst playing-hero, and alongside Techno manages to almost conquer the world and turn it into a Darwinist nightmare. He also constantly mocks his teammates for wanting to be heroes, calling them "weak" and "traitors to the cause" when they show the smallest signs of heroism outside of their pubic duties.

Unlucky Thirteen: He's the thirteenth Baron Zemo.

Well-Intentioned Extremist: In his mind, at any rate, after some Character Development, he becomes determined to take over the world for its own good. That doesn't mean that he's not an Axe-Crazy terrorist who's willing to perform some truly heinous actions for the sake of the "greater good." Zemo: I would never have hurt a world I worked so hard to save.

Western Terrorists: More like this than a Nazi.

Wicked Cultured: When being held at swordpoint by his worst ancestor, an evil aristocrat who believed only in the absolute of power, said ancestor's son (who'd struck up a friendship with Zemo) asked what was more absolute than power. Zemo's answer? "To be, or not to be."

Worthy Opponent: Sometimes sees Captain America this way, and definitely sees Sharon Carter this way.

Xanatos Speed Chess: He's good at incorporating the gambits of others into his plans, as evidenced by his deft manipulation of Moonstone when they were both members of the Thunderbolts.

One of his nastiest acts of spite was destroying a box of Cap's treasured belongings, including some of his last links to the past, right in front of his eyes.

What was his initial plan in founding the Thunderbolts? Pretend to be heroes, earn America and the world's trust, become famous and respected, and then gather knowledge on the other heroes to... sell to the criminal underworld? Eventually, Moonstone points out this is a freaking stupid plan.

Taken to the highest extreme possible. When he actually did have the power to implement whatever change he might have wanted, Songbird shut him down with the intention of killing him out of not trusting him. What were what he believed could have been his last words?

MCU Zemo Tropes

Adaptational Attractiveness: He's quite handsome here, while his comic counterpart usually has to wear a mask to hide his hideously charred, disfigured face. This is true to his first appearance in the comics as a one-shot villain, before he was scarred upon becoming a recurring character.

Adaptational Heroism: In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, when he does don his iconic comic book alter ego, unlike in the comics where he was a straight-up one-note supervillain, Zemo here is depicted so far as an Ambiguously Evil Anti-Hero ally of Avengers Sam and Bucky without mostly ever betraying them until his escape from the hotel in the fourth episode with most of his redeeming and justifiable qualities shown upfront more than his villainous qualities that Civil War mostly showcased, but still likely an on-and-off antagonist simultaneously during his Enemy Mine with the two superheroes.

Adaptational Nationality: In the comics Helmut Zemo is German, but here he is a Sokovian. Ironically, his actor actually is German, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier sees a bit of his German accent creep in. He also has a vast array of vehicles and a private plane in Germany, and seems very familiar with both Berlin and the German language. Whether this is a Retcon into making him part German or just a Mythology Gag is yet to be seen, though he does identify Sokovia as "his country".

Adaptational Nice Guy: His comic counterpart and that of his father were literal Nazis who wanted mass genocide and world domination, and while the Helmut of the comics did grow out of the former, he still tends to try the latter. This version of Zemo, despite being on a black ops killing team, has a much simpler and more sympathetic motivation, while his father was merely a civilian. Neither have any ties to HYDRA (aside from Helmut's exploitation of HYDRA's Winter Soldier project), while the versions from the comics are both prominent members of that organisation.

Adaptational Wimp: In the comics Zemo is a major adversary of Captain America and the Avengers, with a particular emphasis on his skills at fencing and manipulation. While this version retains his cunning, he is also presented as much less of a direct threat to anyone despite being a former black operative; when Black Panther decides to bring him in alive, he goes down with barely a struggle. Most of his success ties into this, with him exploiting his lack of obvious supervillainous affect to stay under the heroes' radar until his plan requires him to show his hand, then relying on Steve and Tony's flaws and personal issues to do most of the work for him. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier shows that he hasn't forgotten how to do his own dirty work, however, putting his soldier skills to use alongside his usual guile and strategizing once he gets back into the fray.

Adaptation Personality Change: In the comics, Zemo is generally depicted as an unapologetic villain who is primarily driven by a selfish desire to rule over others. His film version, on the other hand, has a much more sympathetic motive for his villainous actions, as he's just a victim of the Avengers' collateral damage in Sokovia seeking revenge for the death of his entire family.

Affably Evil:

Alas, Poor Villain: His defeat in Civil War is treated as an utterly somber affair, with him having nothing left after completing his plan and hoping to commit Suicide by Cop at T'Challa's hands before trying to kill himself when T'Challa refuses to be consumed by vengeance as Zemo has. Even though he got what he wanted (up to a point), it doesn't change the fact that his family is gone forever.

The Alcoholic: Following his escape from prison in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Zemo reveals himself to be a little bit of a tippler, partaking in shots, champagne, helping himself to Sharon's expensive liquor collection, then taking more shots at a club. He apparently approves of the way they party in Madripoor.

All for Nothing: He wanted to destroy the Avengers and was content with them dividing. Thanos's arrival and the events of Endgame undo all of that. In fact, the Avengers are no doubt more beloved than ever as a result.

Anti-Villain: Despite the grim and often hypocritical in hindsight actions he resorts to, he does have some good traits and was hoping for a cleaner way to get what he wanted first. Also, his motive — revenge for the collateral damage-induced loss of his family — is at least a little sympathetic.

Apple of Discord: His Evil Plan is to find evidence that Bucky Barnes murdered Tony Stark's parents while under HYDRA control and show it to Stark, so Bucky's friend Steve Rogers and Tony will turn on each other over whether to spare or kill Bucky, and the Avengers will be ripped apart as they side with one leader or the other.

Arch-Enemy: Since the death of Ulysses Klaue, it seems Zemo has taken his seat as Wakanda's most wanted for the death of King T'Chaka. Not a day after he breaks out of prison, Ayo is already hot on his trail to capture him.

Aristocrats Are Evil: It's revealed in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier that he is a nobleman like his comic counterpart. Though unlike said counterpart, his upbringing had nothing to do with him becoming a villain since his father was by all accounts a decent man in this universe.

Badass Longcoat: The events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier have Zemo wearing a stylish winter coat, complete with Conspicuous Gloves.

Badass Normal: Unlike most of the Avengers, he's just a plain old human. But, through sheer patience and ingenuity, he still managed to tear them apart. During the trip to Madripoor he proves to be no slouch in combat either, reminding everyone he was former special forces. He also comes much closer to permanently stopping Morgenthau than Falcon or Bucky have ever managed so far, largely because he's fully willing to kill.

The Bad Guy Wins: Downplayed. Zemo has achieved his goals but with never with the fully desired outcome.

Batman Gambit: He's good at finding ways to make other people do things for him by exploiting their predictable behavior.

Beard of Evil: He has grown a beard during his eight years in prison as seen in Episode 2 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Beware the Superman: His return in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier reveals his own take on the idea. While he is against the idea of a Super Soldier on principle, he is not specifically against them as people, but more how they are precisely put on a pedestal, their flaws washed away/ignored and subsequently inspire Blind Obedience. He specifically notes how the personal loyalty inspired by Steve Rogers to Sam and Bucky (then, even now) precisely drives them to such extremes—even breaking the law much like they did to free him. Sam and Bucky do not protest the point. He admits that Steve was not corrupted by the power he was given but points out there was only one of him compared to the many who would abuse it. He is proven right on this point by John Walker taking the super soldier serum and going off the deep end.

Big Bad: Of Captain America: Civil War. He exploits and exacerbates the ideological differences between Captain America and Iron Man, resulting in the eponymous Good vs Good conflict that threatens to destroy the Avengers.

Big Damn Villains: As Sam, Bucky, and Sharon are pinned down by bounty hunters in the Madripoor shipyard, Zemo suddenly makes a grandiose entrance in full villain garb on a ledge, killing several assassins by shooting a nearby gas tank with his pistol before going to ground and taking down the rest in close combat, opening up the heroes' window of escape.

Blue Blood: The Falcon and The Winter Soldier reveals that he was always a baron. While the fall of Sokovia took away most of the power of the title he still has a lot of money and connections as a result of his position.

Breaking the Fellowship: Thanks to his efforts, the Avengers are severely compromised, with several of the foundational friendships that held them together torn apart and anyone who sided with Cap imprisoned or branded a fugitive. Even Tony and his supporters still bear physical and mental scars caused by fighting their friends.

The Bus Came Back: After being imprisoned at the end of Civil War, Zemo returns in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, with the title characters seeking his assistance in tracking down the source of the Flag Smashers's Super Soldier powers.

Cape Busters: Has a personal grudge against the Avengers and plots to destroy them by pitting them against one another. By the time of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he has apparently narrowed his vendetta to all super soldiers, stating that they "cannot be allowed to exist." At the same time, as stated above in Beware the Superman, his is more nuanced compared to other versions of this trope.

Character Tic: He has a habit of tilting his head whenever he's attempting to manipulate someone. It seems to be a subconscious thing he does, as he immediately stops doing it when Sam notices and lampshades it in Episode 4 of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.

The Chessmaster: He plays all the Avengers like pawns. He frames Bucky for a crime, to have the world hunt him and lure him out of hiding. This partially causes the Avengers to turn on each other, divided over Bucky's innocence. He takes the UN interrogator's place, extorting information out of Bucky and using the trigger words to activate Bucky's soldier conditioning. Before finally showing Tony the tape of what really happened to his parents, sending him into a murderous rage to kill Bucky.

Colonel Badass: He used to be a Colonel in the Sokovian Special Forces, and he is one of the most effective foes the Avengers have faced — though not because of his combat abilities, but because of how effective he is about executing his plans.

Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: In Civil War, he's never called "Baron Zemo", the title he goes by in the comics, and is instead referred to by his military rank Colonel. This is subverted in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which reveals that he was Sokovian royalty and has several characters address him as "Baron".

The Comically Serious: His stoic demeanour tends to stick out when he's in the same room as Sam and Bucky, like when he awkwardly jumps to the defense of Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" soundtrack, or his crappy dancing in Sharon's nightclub.

Composite Character: He takes Klaue's role as the man who murders King T'Chaka.

Cool Car: He actually has a lot of these. His family owned an impressive collection of classics, with plenty of Rolls' and Bentleys in his garage. It's a taste he himself had acquired, as he, Sam, Bucky and Sharon make their getaway out of Madripoor in a super-charged muscle car he had stashed in the docks.

Crusading Widower: His wife was among the civilian casualties in Sokovia. He keeps a recording of her last voice message on his phone.

Cunning Linguist: Zemo's multilingualism allows him to assume different identities. Aside from his native Sokovian, he speaks English, German, Russian, and presumably French, given that he was able to convincingly impersonate a French-speaking psychologist.

Death Seeker: Once he has put Iron Man against Bucky and Cap, he first attempts to persuade Black Panther into killing him, then decides to shoot himself. Black Panther catches the bullet before snagging him a headlock so he can face justice.

Determinator: He manages to find new resolve after Civil War, and Iron Man's sacrifice has done little to change his views. With Iron Man dead and Captain America retired, he decides he will stop the creation of any and all super soldiers in the world no matter what happens.

Divide and Conquer: His plan against the Avengers, seeing that there's absolutely no chance he can fight them on his own. He even compares the Avengers to some sort of a mighty empire, which can only be felled by using this tactic.

Driven to Suicide: Tries to goad T'Challa into killing him, and then to shoot himself when he refuses. Neither works out for him; making enemies of a guy with Super Strength and a bulletproof suit was a bad idea, evidently.

Elites Are More Glamorous: His family is Sokovian nobility and he was colonel in EKO Scorpion, Sokovia's black ops kill squad. Even if Sokovia was a developing Balkans country, that still makes him pretty dangerous.

Enemy Mine: Downplayed Trope. Despite not personally hating Sam and Bucky, the latter two consider their alliance with Zemo this due to Civil War and the damage he caused; the only reason they tolerate him is that he can accomodate them with the resources they need to take down the Flag-Smashers. To his credit, Zemo doesn't hesitate in helping their cause because of his Beware the Superman beliefs, even expressing interest in facing Karli Morgenthau herself.

Even Evil Has Standards:

Evil Genius: While he has combat training, his greatest strength is his intellect. Aside from his abilities as The Chessmaster, Zemo was able to crack the encrypted HYDRA files on the Winter Soldier program that Black Widow released to the Internet and build a very effective EMP bomb in his hotel room.

Face Death with Dignity: When T'Challa finally catches up with him at the end of Civil War, he's completely calm and fully prepared for T'Challa to kill him to avenge his father, even seeming to acknowledge that in his mind T'Challa's revenge against him is just as justified as his own revenge against the Avengers. Later, in episode 5 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he's completely calm and accepting when it looks like Bucky is going to execute him, and later he calmly walks away with the Dora Milaje when they show up to take him into custody, knowing there's a decent chance he's going to be executed in a spectacular fashion in Wakanda for killing the king (for some reason the Dora Milaje went to all that trouble just to turn him over to the U.N. where he'll be held in the same prison that used to hold Captain America's half of the Avengers, but he's got no way of knowing that).

Facial Scruff: His brief appearance in the second episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has Zemo with this due to his time spent in prison. Downplayed in that it looks relatively thin despite having been locked up for eight years at this point, and he shaves it off shortly after.

Fantastic Racism: He has a distaste for enhanced individuals in general, and super soldiers in specific. Specially if such super soldiers are put on pedestals he deems completely unearned.

Flaw Exploitation: He turns the Avengers, particularly Steve and Tony, against each other through a series of Batman Gambits with the ultimate goal of making them fight each other to the death — or if not that, at least to the point of no longer being a cohesive unit. In particular, he reveals to Tony the truth of what happened to his parents knowing that he'll go into an Unstoppable Rage against Bucky and that Cap will prioritise keeping Bucky alive even at Tony's expense.

Friend to All Children: Invoked in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In the fourth episode, Zemo earns the trust of a few children in Latvia by offering them sweets in exchange for information. But he also uses to opportunity to manipulate them into thinking Bucky and Sam aren't to be trusted.

Four Eyes, Zero Soul: When he infiltrates the UN compound to activate the Winter Soldier, he wears a pair of glasses as part of his disguise.

From Nobody to Nightmare:

Gambit Roulette: The final part his master plan relies on little other than his assumptions on the personalities and capabilities of various characters after studying thousands of pieces of intel from HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D. that Black Widow dumped online back in Winter Soldier. The whole thing would have fallen apart if...

Godzilla Threshold: Sam and Bucky see recruiting him to stop the Flag-Smashers at this...and ultimately cross it when they run out of options.

Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Even if any of the above had happened, Zemo still would’ve won because his entire goal was for the Avengers to disband - whether through an amicable parting-of-ways or a bloodbath - it was always a matter of how big his win would be. The only real flaw in his plan was the interference of Black Panther, and the creation of the Sokovia Accords, both of which he’d have no way to account for.

He Who Fights Monsters: He wants to take revenge for the death of his family, which he blames on the Avengers for causing collateral damage in the Battle of Sokovia. In doing so, he is responsible for the deaths of dozens of innocent people himself. He even earns someone coming after him for revenge in T'Challa.

Hidden Agenda Villain: His motives remain unclear for much of Civil War and are only revealed as the final battle is taking place.

Hidden Depths: Like Sam, he's a fan of Marvin Gaye and considers "Trouble Man" a masterpiece.

High Collar of Doom: He does the Marquee Alter Ego and Not Wearing Tights through the whole of Civil War, but his winter gear in the third act features a large collar turned up, giving off this vibe. His supervillain gear in Falcon and the Winter Soldier also features one of these, albeit with his comic self's fur trim included.

Human Shield: Thanks to his EKO Scorpion training, is fully capable of taking hostages to hide and shoot behind, as a group of assassins in Madripoor discovered.

Hypocrite:

Interrupted Suicide: After explaining his motivations to T'Challa and apologizing for the death of his father, Zemo tries to shoot himself in the head. T'Challa, however, has none of that, and stops him to make sure he pays for his crimes and turns him over to the authorities.T'Challa: The living are not done with you yet.

It's Personal: Zemo has a personal vendetta against the Avengers. His family was killed during the Battle of Sokovia and he simply wants revenge on those he holds responsible. As pointed out in Beware the Superman, he extends this to any Super Soldier held in such high regard, which is why he has no problem teaming up with Sam (who's more or less Badass Normal like himself) and Bucky (who is a Super Soldier, but isn't exactly held in high regard). When he, Sam, Bucky, and Sharon come across the HYDRA scientist responsible for creating more Super Soldiers after the failed Siberian Winter Soldiers, Zemo quietly and stoically shoots the man before the team is attacked.

Jerkass Has a Point: In episode 4 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Zemo explains why he doesn’t believe that super soldiers should be allowed to exist. By his own previous statements, Sam would probably agree with much of what he says, and John Walker spends the rest of the episode illustrating his arguments.

Kick the Son of a Bitch:

Kill and Replace: Murders the psychologist who was supposed to be evaluating Bucky and takes his place, taking the opportunity to activate Bucky's brainwashing during the evaluation.

Knight of Cerebus: He's a Villainous Underdog, but he manages to tear the Avengers apart through tactics. Unlike previous villains, his methods includes manipulating Tony into trying to execute Bucky to avenge the deaths of his parents and turning on Steve in the process. Averted in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier when his Laughably Evil side lightens the mood.

Know When to Fold 'Em:

Laser-Guided Karma:

Laughably Evil: Downplayed the next time he makes an appearance as he becomes The Comically Serious in an Endearingly Dorky kind of way when he joins in Sam's conversation with Bucky to praise Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" soundtrack, or his lame dancing in Sharon's nightclub.

Manipulative Bastard: He is very skilled at manipulation, having studied the Avengers' psychological profiles in order to exploit their individual weaknesses and play them against each other.

Man of Wealth and Taste: Zemo is a baron and more than loaded, owning a private jet, a fleet of classic cars, a personal retainer, and plenty of money and stashed resources.

Marquee Alter Ego: In Civil War, Zemo does not wear a mask — or any kind of costume at all, unlike his comic book counterpart. This changes in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Master of Disguise: Zemo uses prosthetics and heavy makeup in order to convincingly make himself look like Bucky Barnes in the security cameras, fooling just about everyone into thinking the latter was responsible for the UN explosion. He later pulls a Kill and Replace on the psychiatrist who was intended to interview a contained Bucky with no one none the wiser until things start going wrong. Although the latter example is downplayed as when Tony finally discovers the real psychiatrist's body, he looks decidedly nothing like Zemo's impersonation of him.

Misplaced Retribution: Zemo holds the Avengers responsible for all the damage Ultron caused; while Tony and Bruce did create Ultron (after the former was influenced by Wanda), the "end all human life" thing was still his idea. The rest of the Avengers, however didn't know about Tony's plan, and did their best to stop Ultron once he went rogue.

Moral Myopia: He seeks to avenge his family, but he ends up killing multiple innocents who surely had family of their own. He acknowledges this, seeing as how he apologizes to Black Panther for killing his father but by that time he’s hoping to be killed so he can join his family, either by T’Challa or his own hand, so it’s more about easing his conscience rather than remorse for what his actions indirectly caused.

Movie Superheroes Wear Black: Instead of the purple and gold costume he had in the comics, he sticks to dark civilian clothes. Near the end of Civil War, he has a pitch-black coat with a large collar. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier trailers and promo images however reveal he’ll be getting a new costume featuring his signature purple mask and even incorporating the classic ermine trim on his collar.

Nazi Hunter: As part of his Adaptational Nice Guy he's no longer a member of the Nazi-affiliated and fascistic HYDRA group, but is shown to despite and openly oppose them, telling Karpov that "HYDRA deserves its place on the ash heap". The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has him openly despise Nazis and reveals that he'd been hunting down and killing HYDRA members for years as part of his quest to destroy the Super Serum, long before the destruction of Sokovia.

Necessary Evil: How Bucky, and especially Sam, view him in their fight against the Flag-Smashers. No one knows more about the super-soldier serum and Hydra than Zemo, and fortunately for them, they have a common enemy in the Flag-Smashers.

Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!: While his plan does succeed in its goal, it does allow Steve to find Bucky, after fruitlessly spending two years scouring the Earth for him, and gives them an ally who can get the brainwashing out of Bucky's head.

Nice to the Waiter: He is quite friendly and courteous to both a staff member of the hotel he stayed at for Civil War, and his old family butler.

No-Nonsense Nemesis: Zemo is an extremely pragmatic man who knows full well that he's just an ordinary person in an extraordinary world, and realizes that it will give him no quarter if he were to dally about with regards to his vengeance. He has no choice but to be utterly cutthroat if he wants to complete his goal. This is especially shown in his first full-blown action sequence in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, taking down assassins after himself and the heroes in a surprise attack that wouldn't be out of place in a first-person shooter game.

Non-Action Big Bad: Although he has military training, he never directly fights any of the Avengers in Civil War, acknowledging that he could never physically stand up to the likes of them. Instead, he relies more on subterfuge and deception. Becomes a Subverted Trope by the time of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, showing he's fully capable of taking down several assassins after the heroes, though all of them are still normal humans.

Not So Above It All: After being freed from prison in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Zemo shows that he isn't a stoic and unpleasant individual 24/7. Notably, he jumps in on Sam and Bucky's conversation about Marvin Gaye's Troubleman soundtrack to give his own thoughts on the record, and he can be seen thoroughly enjoying himself Madripoor, drinking quite a bit of hard liquor and awkwardly dancing at the Little Princess nightclub.

Nothing Left to Do but Die: After getting Tony to fight Steve and Bucky, Zemo decides to listen to his wife's voicemail one last time, before deleting it and attempting to commit suicide.

Nothing Personal: He tells T'Challa that he is sorry for killing his father and that he seemed like a good man in Civil War. While conversing with Bucky for the first time since the events of that film in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he says this verbatim about using him to tear apart the Avengers.

Not Wearing Tights: He doesn't wear anything remotely resembling a costume in Civil War. However, he dons the purple mask in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Outliving One's Offspring: His son was a casualty from the Avengers' fight with Ultron.

Old Money: He is generationally wealthy due to his family being Sokovian royalty.

Only Sane Man: In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it says a lot about Sam's present circle of associates that (other than Sharon Carter) Zemo is by far the most mentally well-balanced individual Sam has around him at his job.

Papa Wolf: The reason he's out to destroy the Avengers? His family was killed in their fight with Ultron.

Patriotic Fervor: Averted. As Zemo himself remarks ruefully, while he served in Sokovia's armed forces, his drive for vengeance isn't out of any love for the country, as he never actually had much patriotic feeling. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier shows that he does have some serious grievances over how it ended up, though, even chastising Sam and Bucky for not visiting the memorial.

Politically Correct Villain: As part of his Adaptational Nice Guy he's no longer a member of the Nazi-affiliated and fascistic HYDRA group, but is a fan of Marvin Gaye and understands Trouble Man (Sam's favorite album) to be a condensation of the African-American experience. Also berates Sam for stereotyping himself as a "pimp" just because he's flamboyantly dressed.

Purple Is Powerful: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier sees Zemo don a purple mask, coat, and gloves as he resurfaces to the criminal world.

Put on a Prison Bus: Zemo is taken to prison by Black Panther before he can commit suicide, ultimately sitting out the next few years until his return in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. And it happens again in Episode 5 of the aforementioned series, where he's taken by the Dora Milaje to the Raft.

Pyrrhic Victory: Zemo succeeds in fracturing the Avengers and getting the majority of them branded as fugitives, but he is also captured by Black Panther and still has to face prosecution for the murders he committed. It also works vice versa on his capture being a Pyrrhic Victory for the heroes. Best summarized by the following exchange:Everett K. Ross: So how does it feel? To spend all that time, all that effort, and to see it fail so spectacularly? Helmut Zemo: ...Did it?

Revenge Myopia: Getting his revenge was worth anything — including inflicting upon others the same pain he complained about suffering. Lampshaded at the end of the movie, when T'Challa observes that the revenge he seeks has consumed him. Worse still, because he tore the Avengers apart, they had no gameplan and were unable to present a united front against Thanos, leading to even more families the universe over being devastated by the Snap.

Rogues Gallery Transplant: Downplayed. While Zemo is still an enemy of Captain America and The Falcon as he was in the comics, he also ends up becoming an enemy of Black Panther's, due to his involvement in King T'Chaka's death. It extends to the entire nation of Wakanda as well, as they immediately dispatch Ayo to apprehend him when he escapes from prison in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Royals Who Actually Do Something: His noble lineage while serving in the Sokovian special forces makes him this.

Secretly Wealthy: He may have been living the gritty villain life in Civil War (probably to fly under the radar), but The Falcon and the Winter Soldier reveals that he is a wealthy Baron like his comics counterpart. Sam even reacts with "So all this time, you've been rich?"

A Sinister Clue: Zemo is left-handed and is the Big Bad of Civil War. Shooting a gun with his left hand starts off his Big Damn Villains moment in Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Sucks at Dancing: While the gang rests and spends the night at Sharon's club in Madripoor, Zemo's dancing moves leave him wanting. Let's just say he was channeling his inner Commander Shepard.

Suicide by Cop: After apologizing to T'Challa for killing his father, he says that he seemed like a good man "with a dutiful son", saying this last part with a meaningful glance, obviously hinting that he's fine with T'Challa taking vengeance upon him now. When T'Challa refuses to do so, Zemo attempts to just shoot himself, but T'Challa thwarts this effort as well.

Superhero Movie Villains Die: Subverted. After completing his plan to turn Iron Man and Captain America against each other, he first attempts Suicide by Black Panther. Attempts being the operative word, as T'Challa refuses when he realises how close he came to turning out like Zemo. As a result, Zemo attempts to shoot himself in the head, but Black Panther stops him and turns him into the authorities, leaving him incarcerated but very much alive.

Supporting Protagonist: Of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, as most of Bucky's and Sam's story and dynamic are sometimes told from his viewpoint during his team-up with them.

They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: There's nothing from his looks that would suggest that he's more than just an everyday guy.

Took a Level in Cheerfulness: He's much more upbeat in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier than he was in Captain America: Civil War. Which makes sense: in the latter he had just lost his family and was on a revenge quest whereas in the former the stakes aren't as personal and he's had time to grieve for his family in prison, meaning he has the time and temperament to joke around, make fun of "allies" and dance badly.

Took a Level in Kindness: Downplayed, but in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he's much friendlier with Sam and Bucky than he was with Tony and Steve in Civil War. Justified, as this time around he's working together with them to take down the Flag-Smashers and even then he still takes the time to engage them in relatively civil conversations.

Tragic Villain: He pursues his vengeance purely because he feels he has nothing else to live for without his family. This is highlighted by his decision to goad Black Panther into killing him and, when that doesn't work, shoot himself.

Tritagonist: Of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, when he teams up with Sam and Bucky in their crusade to defeat the Flag Smashers, while being more developed as a character in contrast to his debut in Civil War along the way of the narrative.

Tranquil Fury: Despite spending the whole movie on a murderous crusade, Zemo avoids all the theatrics of Loki or Ultron and seldom even raises his voice. This includes when he finally spells out his motives to the heroes.

Troll: Even when he's not manipulating or killing everyone around him, he's kind of a dick, as seen in his reappearance in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, reciting Bucky's trigger phrase, knowing it doesn't work, just to upset him, needling Sam about his experience in the Raft, and later telling his retainer to serve Sam and Bucky them any food that's gone off.

Truer to the Text: Zemo in Civil War was a borderline In Name Only depiction of him. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier retroactively adds a lot more aspects of the original comic character, such as his noble status, his costume, and his physical prowess.

Unknown Rival: To the Flag-Smashers, particularly Karli Morgenthau. Do to being enhanced with the super-soldier serum, Zemo considers the Flag-Smashers to be dangerous individuals, and is more than willing to form an Enemy Mine with Sam and Bucky to take them down. Karli on the other hand, isn't even aware that Zemo exists until he shoots her and destroys the serum right in front of her. Even then, she seems more content to get up and run than to try to confront him for his actions.

Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He successfully managed to break up the Avengers, hoping to bring down the most powerful team of beings in the universe to avenge the deaths of his family. Unfortunately for him, it worked a little too well, as they don't stand on a united front when Thanos arrives and, despite putting up a good fight, get flattened by the Mad Titan. Said Mad Titan then uses the Infinity Stones to wipe out half of all life in the universe, turning the world into a total mess that it spends five years trying to recover from until the Avengers find a way to set things right. Even when they do undo the Snap, the world falls into utter chaos once again trying to handle those that were restored to life, leading to the Flag-Smashers taking rise and causing just enough trouble to force Bucky and Sam to bust Zemo out of jail to help them.

Villain Protagonist: So far of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, when he teams up with Sam and Bucky to take down the Flag Smashers, getting more screen time and more of his development unlike in Civil War.

Villain Respect: As of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Zemo develops this towards Sam Wilson due to his refusal to be ehnanced into being super soldier while maintaining his idealistic outlook. He also concedes that Steve Rogers was not corrupted by the power he held but holds him as an exception.

Villainous Underdog: He's not a Physical God, not an alien, nor a Super Soldier. He's just a former military colonel with patience, a simple yet effective plan, and The Power of Hate. This is exactly why Sam and Bucky decide to bring him into their crusade against the Flag-Smashers.

Weak, but Skilled: Invoked. Zemo is a professionally trained special ops colonel who has the combat skills to take down regular men with ease. However, he knows that no amount of skill can destroy a group of enhanced individuals like the Avengers, and so relies on his manipulation and espionage skills to turn them against each other instead.

Weapon of Choice: A Smith and Wesson 6906 pistol, which he uses to execute the other Winter Soldiers and attempt suicide.

Well-Intentioned Extremist: Zemo's objective in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is to stop the creation of any and all super soldiers, believing that they create symbols of facism like the Red Skull once did. He accomplishes this in the fourth episode by shooting Karli Morgenthau multiple times and then smashing the remaining vials as Nico is helping her escape him.

What You Are in the Dark: When Zemo corners Karli and discovers the last of the Super Soldier Serum in her possession, rather than take it for himself, which would have made his mission a lot easier, he smashes the vials and would have successfully destroyed them all had Walker not intervened.

Wicked Cultured: He's a connoiseur of music and art, as revealed in Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: He has quite a sympathetic motive for his mission of revenge against the Avengers, namely that he blames them for the death of his family.

Xanatos Speed Chess: He's not in control of everything that happens in Civil War (for one thing, he has nothing to do with the Sokovia Accords), but he's good at taking advantage of unexpected situations to further his plans. Even more so in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In Civil War, at least he still instigates most of the events, but in the show, he's broken out of prison without having expected to and is more or less thrust into an ongoing conflict he has nothing to do with. He still manages to play the heroes and the villains—that he utterly disagrees with—and so far has gotten away completely unscathed, once again having succeeded at what he set out to do.

He's the Big Bad of Civil War and is more than willing to commit mass murder to achieve his ends, but the times he acts polite or remorseful are genuine. He states he'd rather avoid unnecessary deaths if he can, has a few standards, apologizes to T'Challa for killing his father, has regular courteous interactions with a staff member of the hotel he's staying at, and even eventually apologizes to Bucky for using him. Considering he's just a grieving man who's dedicated to avenging the deaths of his family, it makes sense he wouldn't act like a cackling maniac.

By The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, he is shown to be fairly courteous to those around him (who, apart from his family butler were his enemies before) and he is capable of holding civil conversations with Bucky, even offering him a genuine apology for his actions in Civil War. He also agrees to join Sam and Bucky's crusade against the Flag-Smashers, without the driving of a hard bargain one might expect from him. He is also fully willing to lend his resources from the criminal underground to Sam and Bucky to take the Flag-Smashers down, no questions asked.

While none of the Avengers die as a consequence of his plan in Captain America: Civil War, he accomplishes his main goal in dividing them and is content with this. While the looming threat of Thanos forces them back together in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the reunion turns out to be temporary — by the time of Spider-Man: Far From Home, WandaVision, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the Avengers are still very much defunct.

In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he successfully killed the man who recreated the super soldier formula and destroyed all but one of the remaining samples while inadvertently leading to John Walker gaining the Super Serum for himself. This turns in Zemo's favor after Walker brutally executes a defenseless Flag Smasher in broad daylight in front of civilians, corrupting the image of super soldiers in the public eye. He willing gives up a chance at pulling a Villain: Exit, Stage Left to visit a memorial and allows him self to be captured, his work done.

He framed Bucky Barnes for bombing the United Nations, then relied on everyone else including Captain America hunting him down for it, and further that no one but the Avengers would even be capable of killing Bucky, to get access to Barnes and his knowledge of HYDRA bases.

He arranges for his ruse to be discovered by the media, relying on Tony to find out and make amends with Captain America, so they'll both find the Siberian compound where Zemo reveals to them that Bucky killed Tony's parents.

His entire plan is based on assumptions from the S.H.I.E.L.D. intel on the Avengers he's studied that Captain America's over-protectiveness of his friends and Iron Man's complex over the death of his parents would mean not only that the two would turn on each other if Bucky's involvement in the Starks' death was revealed, but that Steve wouldn't have talked to Tony about Bucky's potential involvement beforehand.

His setup gambled on the fact that it is a conflict that only works if there are no voices of reason to hold either of them back. The fact that the airport fight left only two active members of the Avengers, Bucky and a third party present in the Hydra compound in a place where no one would interfere was a happy accident for him since most of the Avengers present could have prevented things from reaching the breaking point. Of course, this is covered under Heads I Win, Tails You Lose.

Notably, this is also why he finds Bucky a bit tolerable, since he is being bewared of.

In a stark contrast to his comics depiction, he lacks any affiliation with HYDRA and outright states that they deserved to be brought down. A conversation in Falcon and the Winter Soldier reveals he despises the Red Skull and those who idolize him, and he kills Doctor Nagel while the man is gloating about being a god.

Despite his profound hatred of the Avengers, he declined to unleash the other five Winter Soldiers and shot them dead rather than risk someone else doing so, as they were worse than Bucky and would do untold damage to the world given the order. He also seems uncomfortable with the concept of experimenting on humans in general.Zemo: If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep. Did you really think I wanted more of you?

Zemo was "just" a special forces operative, but when his family was killed, he used his intel on HYDRA to take on the Avengers and came closer to destroying the team than any previous villain.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier reveals that at some point, he became involved with the criminal underground, under the simple but accurate alias of "Baron".

A) Captain America and Bucky had captured Zemo before Iron Man arrived (then again, he was in a fortified bunker that would take serious fire-power to break through).

B) Iron Man had not figured out where Cap and Bucky were headed in the first place.

C) Iron Man had not come alone, meaning there might have been someone to restrain him or talk him down after he learned the truth.

D) Black Panther had succeeded in killing Bucky during one of their three fights during the course of the film (of course it’s highly unlikely that he even knew the Black Panther existed).

E) Captain America told Iron Man that the deaths of his parents were orchestrated by HYDRA.

Zemo hates the Avengers after the collateral damage they caused killed his family. So he decides to split the team up and in the process causes collateral damage that kills other people's family members.

Zemo believes that "gods" like the Avengers should not be allowed to exist. Sam points out that be decreeing who deserves to exist, he's speaking like a god.

Tortures and kills Vasily Karpov for information. Karpov is not only a still loyal HYDRA operative but one of the main leaders of the Winter Soldier project and ordered the death of the Starks and his slow death is just desserts. He does the same to the HYDRA scientist responsible for making more Super Soldiers in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, finishing his work from Siberia.

He also happily participates in the interrogation of Doctor Nagel, the Mad Scientist who recreated the Super Soldier Serum via human experimentation, and personally guns the man down.

Zig-zagged; he knows very well that he can never kill the Avengers himself, since more powerful men than him have tried and all have failed, which is why he makes a plan to get them to kill each other for him.

In the secret HYDRA lab in Madripoor, he and his comrades come under attack. Not knowing where the assailants are, Zemo makes a quick getaway, causing Sam and the others to think he bailed... only to show up moments later when the assassins are in plain view, making it much easier for him to take them down.

When the Dora Milaje apprehend him a second time in episode 5 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he surrenders himself without a fight, presumably both because he knew he had no chance of victory and because he had already achieved his goal of destroying the current iteration of the super-soldier serum.

He uses Bucky's Trigger Phrase while the latter's locked in an apparatus, making him go on a rampage. By the end of Civil War, he himself is locked in the same apparatus.

He kills T'Challa's father in the course of his Evil Plan. After T'Challa learns the truth about this, he foils Zemo's attempted suicide to ensure he faces justice for his crimes.

#HelmutInformation

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teetlesandnimjas · 4 years ago

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What if in the explosion the brothers got separated?

This is a villain turtle au- if you don’t want to read it you can scroll past! I know it’s a cliche concept but it was fun! And I like doing my own spin on things.

(Note in this au when they’re mutated they are a little older, young kids, as this idea wouldn’t work if they weren’t SEMI competent. They’re still 13, 14, and 15 in modern times, but when they’re first mutated Mikey is 3, Leo and Donnie are 4, and Raph is 5)

Donnie: got scooped up by Draxum in the end, and works as his assistant first, son second. He has a similar position to Foot Recruit; despite being fully capable of actually being useful, he is treated with little respect and does mundane tasks like running errands and fixing random, broken objects. He is trained constantly but is told over and over again that he is “not good enough” yet. Despite this he puts his heart into everything he does. Broken clock? Sure he’ll fix it and it’s got LAZERS now! This causes him to accidentally make problems, and Draxum thinks that Donnie is “a complete and udder fool” which is further from the truth. Villain Donnie is a lot like canon Donnie personality wise but a bit more serious. He does not approve of Draxum’s use of mystic powers, and resents using them himself. He refuses the axe Draxum tries to give him. Draxum has little regard for what Donnie thinks and does, and therefore has an awful relationship with him. And yknow Donnie’s abandonment and self-worth issues? Yeah crank that up to 11. Basically Donnie hates Draxum and the Mystic City, and the Shredder going rouge is the last straw. “WATCH ME! ILL WIPE OUT THE HUMAN THREAT WITHOUT YOUR STUPID MAGIC! YOU HEAR ME BARON DRAXUM- I DEFY YOU!”

Leo: made his way to New York via Senior Hueso. Originally I was going to have him raised by Hueso but then realized it wouldn’t make a lot of sense- so Senior Hueso picks baby Leo up off the streets but ever the wanderer Leo walks right through the GIANT PORTAL IN THE WALL. From there Foot Brute, attempting and failing to find members for the clan, picks up this tiny, promising turtle off the street. “What is that thing?” “I dunno but he’s cute- and we’re in need of members” “That is an actual child” “so?” And then Leo is raised by his two dad- I mean sensei. I put raised lightly. He was treated better than Donnie but he was never given a lot of attention, and therefore turned to causing trouble to get attention. And not just from his dads, from anyone he can. Causing mischief in the city actually helped him in his training, as he became very skilled at sneaking, fighting, and stealing. He butts heads with Foot Recruit a lot because of his constant need for approval and attention. She finds him genuinely annoying while he just views it as “playful teasing.” That comes back to bite him the butt upon meeting Donnie, who comes along to help make form the Shredder armor, but he does not want to be there. Forced to work together, Donnie gets sick of Leo’s crap real fast but they don’t really hate each other, but in the moment they needed to play it off like they did and therefore gave the impression to the other that they DID hate them. Confusing, I know. Draxum tries and fails on multiple occasions to nab Leo but if he does he realizes it’ll put a major dent in his plans. So he forbids Donnie to speak to Leo. But no one stops Leo from talking to him. But Donnie’s coldness and Leo’s cruel banter really doesn’t help them get along. The moment Shredder goes rogue and the Foot Clan collapses, Leo flees in fear. “What if” this and “what if” that but mostly because he tried to take out Shredder and ruined his clan name. But even on the street, Leo remains the same annoying, much more cruel and dark humored mutant.

Mikey: Got scooped up by the Mud Dogs and taken to Big Mama, dragging only Lou’s glasses with him since even as a toddler he picked up anything shiny he saw. I plan to draw the interaction between tiny Mikey and the Dogs (and how Mikey got his name in this au) but that’s a surprise. Anyways pretty quickly he got entered in the Battle Nexus. Think about the appeal that fight would have! Just a couple years of training and then bam! “Introducing Hakka-gu! Our youngest fighter ever- only 8 years old!” And having natural talent and capabilities he was an instant hit. And he wasn’t treated horribly, after all Big Mama couldn’t risk one of her most profitable champions running away. But he is still treated as nothing but that- a profit, a marketable product. No one calls him his real name anymore, no one cares about him, just his capabilities. When he gets injured it isnt “are you okay?” It’s “is your body okay?” And sometimes he’s treated like an idiot- especially by Big Mama. He was never taught language and has very botched speaking patterns because “intelligence isnt important for a champion.” Well eventually he has enough of that, and through a bloodbath, he is able to escape to New York. Now he’ll get respect- he’ll make them respect him. But he gets quickly spotted by the Foot Clan and Draxum, as he’s in the way. Upon finding out about the plans to wipe out humans, he knows he has to stop them. Who can respect him if THESE GUYS wanna take over the world? He’s not getting mistreated again. But when the Shredder goes rogue he panics- he cant stop it but... he knows who can. He goes crawling back to Big Mama and strikes a deal. A better champion. Better than him. And she takes it, although in the end she makes some... alterations to the deal. But this doesn’t stop his quest for respect, and he ultimately heads back to New York.

Raph: Savage! He’s alone, a young child who doesn’t know where to go. He panics, and rampages all the way to New York. After a good, long, temper-tantrum, he finds himself in an alleyway, climbing into a sewer. And there he eats rats, he sets up a not-so-homely-home for himself. He flashes in and out of his anger, but he is almost always emotional and looking for some sort of control in his life. He gets that through rampages, causing destruction in any way he can. Usually he doesn’t make TOO much of a mess but he’s brought down a few buildings in his time. Eventually, upon seeing a rampaging demon-armor in the streets and seeing 2 figures trying to stop it (at this point Mikey is getting Big Mama) he realizes there are others out there like him. And then begins a struggle for control not over the world, but over himself too. There are times he gains control and although lonely, he knows he must learn. He learns English in flickers, and it isn’t perfect, but he can communicate. He can talk to them. Now he just needs to stop hurting them.

Extra notes:

In this au the only one with their weapon is Donnie. Mikey and Leo are skilled with the weapons they have in canon (the Ōdachi and Kusari-fundo) but they do not have mystic powers. Raph is... well... Raph. He can’t fight with weapons well but he can pack a punch.

Mikey is still a chef and artist, taking a liking to the ability to create, but just like with everything else he “needs to focus on his fights” so he can’t have interests. A kid like Mikey HATES this and any time he can he sneaks away to bake and draw. Usually this is at 2 am.

Leo has anxiety. The minute something not in the plan happens, or a loud noise, or having to talk to someone without a script, he goes into fight-or-flight mode. He often finds that the answer is to fight.

Raph is not necessarily evil- he is an antagonist but he is not evil. He simply has no control and lashes out at everything. That’s why he stays in the sewers. Nothing down there’s moves other than rats, bugs, and the water. But he has to get violent urges out some how.

April is a reporter-in-training in the au, as she never met the turtles until after the Shredder incident. She’s immediately interested in it, as she is everything “supernatural” and she gets dangerously close to some of their fights. I don’t know how they meet yet or if she becomes friends with any of them.

After the Shredder incident, the only thing stopping each turtle from destroying New York is each other. Seriously. They keep getting in each other’s ways because “I want to take over the world, not THEM!”

They all have certain villain stereotypes. Donnie is sort of a mad scientist, Leo is a teasing, monologging villain, Mikey acts like a nut case but has a certain intelligence to him, and Raph appears as a total destroyer.

In the end they get redeemed and find out they’re family, but it takes a while. Mikey is the one to hunt down Draxum, while Leo stalks him. Upon finding this out, having 3 out of 4 looking for each other, they find each other pretty fast. And there’s a big dramatic apology scene with all 3 of them, and at first Donnie thinks they’re conspiring against him and ambushes them but is only met with three harmless turtles who refuse to fight him. They tell him what the deal is and Donnie is shocked. And then he’s pissed. “WHY DIDNT DRAXUM TELL ME!? YOURE LYING! LIARS! NO!” In the end he realizes the truth, but it takes a little “talk” with Draxum. And then Donnie nearly commits murder. Don’t worry they stop him. But there’s no Draxum redemption arc because Donnie would continuously try to commit a felony. April is also somewhere in there and like gives the brothers goodness lessons but idk where that fits in I’m still working this out shajajajajaj

#rottmnt #rottmnt au #villain turtle au #i love theeeeese #also sorry theres no cut i couldnt figure it out on mobile #YOURE GETTING ART SOON! IVE ALREADY GOT MIKEY!#TaNTalks #im sorry

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unproduciblesmackdown · 3 years ago

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crossposting billions analysis/musings here but now thinking about 5x08 kind of makes more sense with the context of like, whether that could’ve kicked off them specifically being concerned about loyalty / worrying about unpleasant surprises, since they obviously don’t expect to run into rian having another job, and then instead of going “hey so like, what’s up” to rian about it, they apparently start off strong(arming) a bit, since rian is also starting off bothered by the treatment, and, while we don’t have any reason to think that rian apparently possibly having been moonlighting catering the whole time was going to make her want to quit or have any other conflicts with her mase carb job, after taylor again tries to just go right to the flexing authority / applying pressure approach, now rian’s apparently unsure about staying at tmc, which doesn’t seem to have been true before, establishing that taylor’s reaction to “oh shit is rian Not committed to working here” by already sort of taking a somewhat antagonistic / punitive approach, one which was somewhat bemusing in the first place since there was no indication this had or would cause problems or that they couldn’t just like, talk to rian without preemptively taking that stance, and thus not put rian on the defensive as well / Be antagonized from the start, but they sure did, and it showed us that this was counterproductive, and that only when they both decided to start an exchange with a more conciliatory approach (quantciliatory: see: taylor & winston in 3x03, and then in their next meeting in 3x09) was the situation set up to be resolved, also thanks to taylor voicing their actual motivations in a somewhat unexpected offering of vulnerability re: their lore & also not just trying to push rian into this / hold anything over her head here really

also of note that now, despite taylor’s own trust issues clearly at play, they’ve repeatedly told rian she just kind of has to trust them, despite rian knowing she doesn’t have a lot to go on / can’t really do anything but wait and see if she gets burned by that, which, you know, taylor might have to do with wendy, who hasn’t even gotten around to her “then trust me” line. and, in the midst of these points, is outright saying they can’t trust people b/c they get fucked over, so.

and of course thinking about the entirety of s5 here & gaining & losing (& firing) employees.....rewind to 4x11 when taylor’s saying nobody has to argue for comp b/c the results speak for themselves, but is also asking people to defer bonuses &, in doing so, presumably stay at mase cap for another year, & winston points out that this is less just giving them all a choice & there’s pressure to defer & this suggests employees might be expendable / collateral re: losses tmc might take on if taylor’s commiting to an indefinite revenge jag against axe, a journey that requires you to dig two graves and neither needs to be mine....but he also does not quit, and mafee makes it about trusting taylor, which winston acquiesces to. also notable that lauren like, pseudo breaks up with taylor, but doesn’t, but takes her bonus now b/c if they break up she’ll have to quit, and none of these things really seem to bother taylor at all. then there’s 4x12, where they get to tell their employees they’re all the best & sexiest in the business & tmc is getting back on track, but when we see [all of tmc, apparently] in s5, they’ve presumably had to downsize, or who knows if some people didn’t want to go to axe cap....they kept all their named people, so probably it wasn’t necessarily about taylor having to deal with people quitting, but also probably people Had to be let go, which they not only don’t enjoy like, in general, but of course sucks when it’s their own employees & they would rather not have to downsize or be dragged back to axe cap in the first place, just seems like an Insecurity & Vulnerability Issues exacerbating matter overall, and, naturally, specifically about axe fucking everything up for them

then over the course of s5 you’ve got wendy being generally unhelpful in 5x01, making sure to not really put her back into helping taylor & the rest of mase cap out as part of her job without taking advantage of a chance to ingratiate herself to lauren, which lauren goes ahead & names for what it is. then in 5x02 it’s time to take advantage of taylor’s absence, pull a non axe cap employee over to take care of an axe cap mess, aka lauren, refuse to defer to sara at all and then deflect any responsibility for sara’s disgruntlement / feeling out of place as a result onto taylor, and then of course, you have sara’s sort of halfhearted attempt to voice her grievances to taylor, whose response not only highlights their own unhappiness but now sure definitely seems to suggest that despite recognizing lauren’s business decision to do axe cap stuff as A Good Opportunity, that’s included in things they’re unhappy about but also can’t do anything about. and then in 5x03 sara’s still unhappy & despite clashing a bit further with taylor, apparently taylor doesn’t consider that sara might quit, cue their “don’t worry, i’m not going to fire you” line before sara does quit, & evidently being thrown & unhappy about the fact that she has. & shoutout to their outright telling wendy they can’t trust her & she shouldn’t’ve jumped in and decided lauren should do shit for axe cap, which wendy evidently takes to heart by which i mean she passive aggressively deflects the whole thing and i am sure nothing has changed at all with her and she’d do it again if she felt like it.

then in 5x04 there’s the thing with mafee wanting to switch seats at the lunch table, aka sit with the axe cappers (even if it’s not that clear whether it’s Just a seating change or if it makes him more tied to axe cap re: the actual work he does, seems to at least partially involve the latter, for all intents & purposes) and while taylor does not express anything like “wow really betraying my trust here / this isn’t very loyal of you” they’re clearly unhappy with it, even if we don’t know that they’re actually upset with mafee about it, or anything

5x05 and everyone at least listening to winston about “we can’t and don’t trust wendy” even if nobody particularly cares if he’s fired, who knows if taylor was that concerned, but they at least put in Some effort in the form of stalling for time about it. just a bit odd if they cared enough to put in that nonzero effort but also maybe had no other contingency plan here, and winston’s pointing out that maybe they should be convincing him to stay on....like, yeah, why not? there’s no particular reason for winston to be singled out as Un Impact Fund Worthy, while apparently lauren, & for completely unknown reasons, mafee, are good to go. lauren telling mafee he has “nothing to worry about” to which winston somewhat incredulously goes “he doesn’t but i do??” does kind of sum that up lmfao like, yeah, sorry, but why??? and then there’s the fact that the oil divestment thing which directly led to this impact fund route came from a project winston worked on with taylor i guess, & which taylor decides to run with when, despite sara & mafee both voicing skepticism, winston alone is like “hell yeah we can let’s go for it,” and then, you know, winston also does not quit or anything after axe then invests in the shares that tmc theoretically could’ve. and wendy just got here and isn’t really citing anything about winston about Why he in particular has to be fired, and is figuratively Resting Her Case b/c he doesn’t get her metaphor correctly or w/e?? i see no reason tmc employees shouldn’t think wendy’s trying to isolate taylor / get rid of people who aren’t tied closely enough to axe cap over taylor.....and then spamming F for the fact that there’s this whole subplot that stems from this wherein lauren’s the one pointing out to taylor that they can’t trust wendy & to offer her like, a share of the company in the teens%, and then taylor doesn’t listen to lauren by offering wendy 40% and lauren doesn’t listen to taylor by confronting wendy & telling her she’d better not fuck taylor over, smash cut to wendy fucking taylor over in 5x10 there and lauren Not getting to take it out on wendy, and taylor not doing so either

but here we are still in 5x05, theoretically, wherein winston does just accept not being fired, and wendy’s bailing on the mase carb soiree b/c axe is whining at her to stop doing her stupid bullshit about her stupid life b/c he’s having emotions, so that’s great. and while maybe winston doesn’t need to trust anybody out here b/c apparently, unless ever discussed directly / otherwise, he Is just fine staying at tmc so long as he’s simply not fired, and taylor apparently presumes he will (not like they seem to worried about anyone else even considering quitting either, i guess), he also sure seems to have some people on his radar re: his own vulnerability, like, already Doesn’t trust wendy even if 5x05 is the first time she directly goes after him in any way, can point out that this is about taylor too even if, again, he hasn’t really been directly involved in wendy going after taylor in s4 or prior, & also he still would probably like some validation from taylor themself but will also shrug it off 4 sec later if he doesn’t get it, & for whatever reason may never be brought up in dialogue he sure is committed to working for them or he wouldn’t be here & stay here. & he likes rian, & doesn’t seem too threatened about like, not going “oh heyyy” & acknowledging he likes her actually, as soon as the soiree even, & then there he is in 5x07 having been negged but forging ahead with the determinedly amicability & just kind of tempering the “i’m Just Looking Sometimes, i’m Not Pressing” thing rather than being like “nooo i don’t have a crush on you” or anything. and also, in front of mafee during the soiree lol, and possibly now taylor & lauren if they inferred anything beyond “idk there goes winston operating in the wrong, too literal context / being overly earnest & spontaneous or something” about it....getting off topic talking about winston here maybe but originally the topic was “thinking about 5x08 in an additional/new context as of 5x10″ so guess the post has already gotten off lol

anyways winston’s not really being burned, except also he is (expressing repeatedly he doesn’t feel valued by taylor lol......) but also he doesn’t mind enough to like quit so it’s fine? and mafee might kinnnda have his back at times, won’t narc on him, might intervene if he’s being harassed / threatened, thanks guy. & rian seems to like him in some kinda way and you know, she Did jump in there & apparently truly singlehandedly of her own sole motivation save his employment, i guess? he may as well trust fall swoon into her arms immediately. but guess he’s just vibing out here, and really like, the way billions works, plot focus is dangerous & nobody really just has an episode’s focus of “and here’s [character] just having a great time! they’re so happy! hoorayyy” and even the attention of other characters can be bad. axe shouldn’t’ve looked at him, but do think that was probably just winston off the shits raring to be validated by anything and going “damn i was glanced at? big day for winstons,” and if other characters are writing him off, then they’re probably not also going to come after him (although you know. there’s 5x05!! but she did drop it quick enough i suppose) or be threatened by him in any way and Defensively come after him. i am off track here

anyways then 5x06, things are fine, nobody’s quitting or being threatened with firing, 5x07 they’re fine but also axe is fucking everything up and taylor has to deal with that / know that even [him not being able to be trusted to not fuck everything up For Himself] can fuck with tmc as well as collateral damage, then 5x08, as once stated way back at the beginning of this post, maybe sets off taylor having trust issues re: closer to home threats here, i.e. how committed their employees are, even if it Seems like they are (which, they probably are! i.e. how there probably need not have been any issue w/rian having this side job if taylor hadn’t kind of forced it as an issue) & taylor’s able to resolve it with a bit of vulnerability / dropping the [best Defense is a good offense] insistence

then of course there is 5x09 & seems like maybe it’s A Problem that not only did axe fuck things up for them after saying to their waist that he wouldn’t, but he also said it to wendy & in part b/c wendy backed taylor up, but then also axe went through mafee like well fuck things up for taylor or i’ll fire you, and mafee’s response may have been one that taylor understood but also sure like, had the implication that there’s nothing else he would have or could have done in the face of axe, either then or going forward so long as they’re at axe cap, which can’t be very heartening, and although of course taylor just realizes axe is the problem, when in 5x10 they’re clearly fucked up about not being able to count on anyone truly standing between them & axe / not siding with loyalty to axe vs them when push comes to shove, it’s not difficult to retroactively apply that to this situation with mafee & suppose that like, even if in that moment they didn’t consciously go “wow so i’d better be worried about this from other people too” apparently by the time in 5x10 they learn actually lauren’s Not guaranteed automatically staying with mase carb / them & that wendy, despite again a face to face conversation, is like yeahhhh fuck it i entrusted axe with this and i have no reassurance(tm) for you except bullshit nothing, seems like maybe the first [i’m unexpectedly vulnerable??] internal emotional dustup from 5x08 & then the much more obvious one in 5x09 wherein mafee’s just asserting it as a given that if axe wants to hurt them he will & there’s nothing for it has kinda coalesced & been set off here by first realizing lauren isn’t automatically with them & then that wendy’s just over here doing whatever making them all the more vulnerable to axe & then they’re apparently launched into very defensive mode about all of it, but they’re also clearly personally hurt about things rather than Just like, considering strategy or whatever, or yeah their directing their reaction at their relationship w/lauren & just cutting it off themself wouldn’t be so spiteful & yknow, maybe they’dve simply fired her but been like eh yeah sure go to axe cap but don’t give axe any tmc secrets and also maybe we should break up. meanwhile, if they can have one personal relationship blowup after having tamped down [being bothered] by issues in it for a good while now, it’s like, maybe not guaranteed that just b/c they’re not confronting mafee about anything here they’re not also tamping down [being bothered] which may Potentially blow up later.......do not want that

so congrats i guess to winston if nobody’s really bothered re: him lmfao, like, hey, then they won’t be Bothered(tm) down the line either......again with the like, taylor maybe trusts him to be Loyal b/c they’ve given him the least individual / personal focus here ever so like, if i Don’t trust you, i trust you lol....guy who’s just kinda Around, and is also kinda invulnerable(tm) for it, where rn his most vulnerable thing going on, which is uncoincidentally his most like, involved arc / thread re: character material, is Liking rian, and we don’t know whether that’ll go anywhere. if it’s a joke, that’s kinda underwhelming, but if it’s setting up a romance watch out, that’s where billions concentrates the theme of what’s lost / fucked up in the course of trying to play / compete in / win in this game, but wherein winston is maybe protected by the fact he’s Not really trying to be exceptionally ambitious / at the forefront of things & is instead just kinda out here vibing & rolling w/stuff, which is harder to narratively come down on so as to execute some thematic material....but which may also result in like, his not getting any relationships really, although if he & rian have this mutual affinity / kindred spirituality, why shouldn’t they get to be buddies, which is not so often crushed to make a thematic point as romances are.....also, let’s see him talk to tuk outside just the once, that went great, in 5x08 anyways. i’d say like, as is true of anyone amicable w/him, feel free to kiss but also everyone watch out with that around here. and that brings us back to 5x08 so may as well pretend that’s a definitive conclusion b/c the [series of interconnected billions tangents] that this post has been can go on indefinitely.

#winston billions #if you can believe it tl;dr the issue w/rian in 5x08 may have set up this thread w/taylor coming to a head in 5x10 there....

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askthewitchlady · 4 years ago

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Ajin: Demi-human (season 1) Review

THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

Oh my goodness was this a slog to get through, Three days people, it took me three days to get through 13 episodes Because OMG Setting aside the fact this is some of the ugliest 2d to 3d rig work I have ever seen, I have never seen a show have some much going on with out achieving anything. Ok ok ok let me start this properly.

In the world there are being known as Ajin, these Demi-human beings are rare with only three known cases in Japan, the Ajin are capable of resurrecting from fatal wounds making them Semi-immortal, they also have the ability to summon being known as ‘black ghosts’ which can be used for all sorts of things. There is unfortunately no way of knowing if a person is an Aijin until they suffer some for of mortal injury at that point their body will regenerate and they will live this is the case for Kei Nagai, a high school student studying to be a doctor. While the government of Japan have led people to believe that Ajin are kept in protective custody it is learned that not only are they but most other countries use Aijin as test subjects for medicines and weapons, including life fire testing, because of their regenerative abilities.

Story time

17 years ago during a war in an unnamed African nation the first Ajin was discovered. Reffered to as a soldier of god because he could not be killed the soldier was immobilized and claimed as property of the US government.

Now Kei Nagai is an apathetic highschool student studying to be a doctor on his mothers demand. While to his ‘friends’ he seems like a cheerful if easily taken advantage of boy the truth is he is apathetic and cut off from the people around him seeing only the value they have to him personally. While walking to school he and his friends note another boy their age Kaito sitting outside a convenience store they comment on how weird he is and question if Kei is his friend after Kaito waves to him, Kei denies this and they walk on.

At school the subject of Ajins is brought up because of their value in the medical feild, one of Keis friends shows another classmate a video of Inhumane testing on an Ajin subject. The boy also asks his teacher if the truth about the high reward for an Ajins capture is true. For some reason this startles Kei and his reaction draws attention so he asks if Ajin aren’t really human. His teacher says they are not.

Reminiscing he vaguely remembered the death of a childhood pet, after burying it while trying to console his sister he wonders about death and witness’ something strange. curious about the memory he decides to visit his sister in the hospital and tries to ask her about what she remebers but she refuses to discuss it being outright hostile to him.

still lost in thought and wondering about Ajin as well as flicking through Study cards Kei misses the stop light and begins to cross the street before being hit full on by a truck. the truck drags his body quiet a ways as it skids to a halt and his friends are horrified by what they’ve witnessed, the driver is shaken and climbs out desperate to say that it was Keis fault when to their shock Kei crawls out from under the truck dazed t first he is confused about what happened before quickly realizing and becoming upset he insists he’s human and begs for his friends to believe him however he realizes they only see him as a way to make money by turning him in. in terror Kei screams unintentinally releasing his voice, another unique trait of Ajin that causes a temporary paralasis in those who hear it, before fleeing the scene.

a little later Yu Tosaki and his body guard and assistant Izumi Shimomura of the Ajin control branch of the government arrive to question Keis friends and his mother. As this is going on it is revealed that Kei has fled to a local Shrine and then into the woods beyond, desperatly thinking who might help him he remebers Kaito who had been a childhood friend but whome he’d been told not to be around anymore by his mother. Desperate and worried Kai Might also want to turn him in but feeling alone Kei calls Kaito and the other boy is ready to help his friend filling a duffle bag with supplies and heading out, knocking out a poliece officer who had found Kei Kaito offers his old friend a hand up and they flee the area on a motorcycle.

The Bad

Despite how much I’ve written that happened in the first episode. it not actually a lot. theres a lot of nothing in this show and thats a major problem. I a not against quiet moments, for example Hiyao Miyazaki is very well know for his long silent scenes, but even these scenes serve to tell story in one way or another, I get the feeling either the writer or director of this show wants to emulate that but the quiet scene in the show just don’t accomplish anything. theres also a sense of ‘artistic padding’ where things are added for the art of it, I don’t know if someone in the production team had higher aspirations or if they where just desperate to cover the ugly modles but it doesn’t work.

The episodes feel long but almost nothing happens. or a lot happens but none of it matters or is memorable. The motivations of the antagonist make no sense, and while I have a theory of who he truely is I won’t say untill I do my reviw on season 2 (Which won’t be for a while because this was so hard to sit through)

Kei himself is a terrible protagonist, there are moment whre you think he’ll get better, but he really doesn’t in fact I thought the show was going to pull some kind of switch and make the story focus on the friend Kaito who seems to really genuinely still care about Kei even though they hadn’t been friends for years and who insists even if Kei is an Ajin, he’s still Kaitos friend so that’s all that matters. But Kei leavs Kaito after only a couple episodes

It’s clear that there is something not right with kei from the get go, the first time we see his phone all his friend are listed not by name but number literally ‘friend 1′ ‘friend 2′ and so on, and as the show goes on theres an impression that the creators where trying to make Kei a Psychopath. I’m not talking Ax wielding movie psycho but a clinical psychopath, no empathy no connection to the people around him, a general callous nature and his willingness to use then abandon anyone who might have value. I’m not a fan of using mental illness as a way of making people ‘other’ mental illness is demonized enough, and frankly it’s hard to empathize with a protagonist who openly admits they don’t care about anyone.

There aren’t any real stand out characters either, they all feel like cut outs, you have you deceptively friendly antagonist, you have your to serious government agent, and his body guard who obviously has a crush on him, you have the best friend, you have the friendly granny.

It’s just all been done before and better.

Now about episode 8 a character name Ko Nakano is introduced and for a moment I thought Oh the shows just going to give us a new protagonist... NOPE! he get capture by Kei who keeps him locked in an old shipping truck for the rest of the season, Fuck that noise. honestly Kei gets less and less likeable as the show goes on. He abjectly refuses to get involved with trying to stop the antagonist, Sato’s, terrorist plot even saying openly he doesn’t care what happens to other because he’s found a nice place where he can live a quiet normal life. Kei had in fact been taken in by a kindly older woman who convinced the villagers kei was her grandson from tokyo who had gotten into trouble and was staying with her.

That being said.... There’s a couple good things

The elderly woman is quiet charming, she doesn’t care about the Ajin or what ever other trouble Kei seems to be in she just sees a young man who helped her after she fell and lets him stay. If not for another villager recognizing his picture on the news and reporting him to claim the rumoured reward Kei clearly would have been happy to stay in that little village forever and just live a quiet life.

The opening theme song is pretty good. the CG is frustrating in that in the opening they show shots of characters as they looked in the manga and those drawings are amazing, This would have looked so much better 2d Animated.

The black ghosts are kind of neat.

theres a couple interesting fights with the Ajin, since they recover almost instantly from death they’ll actually kill themselves in combat to resurrect with out their injuries or to even escape grapple or escape the effects of tranquillizers, so that’s neat

I haven’t got much here guys I’m sorry I’m trying but this just, I feel like there might have been something good under all the thick thick thick padding.

Final Thoughts?

I don’t recommend it, even for one watch it’s just a slog, it’s not enjoyable it’s not even a good time killer because it feels like it drags.

Everything from plot point to characters to scene have been done before in better shows, and the aesthetic is just Ugly, terrible CG modles with awkward round movements to avoid collision issues clearly, and the backgrounds look like someone took photos and then put them through the photoshop watercolor filter.

There’s nothing worth reccomending about it, I know Netflix has stuff way better then this so go watch that because this so Not worth your time.

#anime #anime review #Netflix #netflix review #Ajin #ajin demihuman #ajin demi-human #reveiw #So not worth it

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shineonmalcolmbright · 4 years ago

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Shine On, Bright: Chapter Twenty-Two

Table of Contents

Past

Without Ainsley, Malcolm stood alone blinking several times to realize the wall in front of him was actually normal. The gutted remains of it ceased to exist. Of course, right? There wasn’t really crusty blood across its wound. He imagined it all. His brain brought it to life because as soon as a thought crept inside, it writhed around too fast skewing his thoughts. His mother complained about his brain because it led him into dark corners and there’d been Tommy, his so-called imaginary friend who warned him: You won’t be safe in Colorado.

“Wait!” Malcolm blurted to nobody in particular, he hoped he was alone but chances of ever being alone at the Overlook Hotel were slim. “It’s downstairs! It’s. . .downstairs. . .”

He’d found the magazine before while digging through the boiler room at some other point. If it wasn’t up here then it’d be down there. He was careful to not leave trails of murder behind in their pretend apartment. His mother would have a fit if she ever found out his sick new obsession. He followed an invisible path to descend into the bowels of the Overlook.

The journey straight into darkness felt as if his insides were bruised. A deep sick feeling inside of him. He saved a little flashlight in his back pocket knowing they’d meet again and again. There was some old song he heard his family play.

Hello Darkness, my old friend.

Now the light didn’t help out a whole lot. A bit of it sliced through the murky darkness. Humidity weighed it down with being so close to the boiler or so Malcolm guessed.

I’ve come to talk with you again.

Before he struck the last, last level he let the flashlight scan its way through the darkness to be sure he was alone. All he needed was to be alone, alone again, alone down here.

Because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping.

Ghosts weren’t good company.

Malcolm closed his eyes for a split second once he touched down on the lowest level. He let the absence of sight increase his hearing but only the boiler grumbled. Alone. Alone. Alone again.

And the vision that was planted in my brain still remains.

He made his way over to the boxes full of newspapers and magazines. The stories of murder all compounded into one spot.

Dust floated and danced around him. His knees scraped the floor knocking more up into his face causing his nose to itch and himself to sneeze. Malcolm managed to catch it in the crook of his elbow. When nothing else made a sound, not even a mouse, he returned to the stories in front of him. Except before Malcolm could uncover the story of the family annihilator all over again to prove to Ainsley why her friends weren’t her friends, but instead the ghosts of murdered girls.

Murdered girls couldn’t make good friends.

There wasn’t any sign of the girls though. There wasn’t any sign of the father or the mother. He pried through it only to pause hating the idea falling into his brain at the sight of some old headline. The paper curled with slight decay.

Burglar uses Chloroform: Attacks a Woman in Room 237, Robs Her and Cuts off her Hair

No photo but underneath the article speared its way straight into the story.

According to experts, beautiful hair for wigs can be as valuable as some jewelry.

That imagination struck sending shivers down his spine thinking of how somebody had to find the woman with her hair shorn off and all her items gone. For some reason, he folded the paper and pressed down on its new crease. He squeezed it into his other pocket before returning to his search for those Grady girls.

“Pst.”

Malcolm froze.

He’d read about the crooked woman he found in the basement.

About how she threw all her children from the rooftop and hanged herself down here. They didn’t find her body for weeks. Police searched the town and further for her hoping to arrest her when she’d been falling to pieces beneath them all along.

Malcolm closed his eyes letting his hearing do some seeing. A muffled voice spoke up, it only spoke in gibberish and not quite at him. The gibberish sounded as if something or somebody tumbled over into some distant corner. It shut up and something slid across the floor.

Maybe if Malcolm told himself: It’s just shoes crunching along the ground like how shoes crunch on grave. Wasn’t like there was any gravel for the basement floor. Yet something slid forward brushing dust-up tickling his nose. His elbow caught his sneeze and then he opened his eyes for the first time to greet the fact that he wasn’t ever alone down there. Peering over his arm, he shined the light before him to find. . .nothing.

To be sure, Malcolm scanned the room with his light not seeing anything of interest. He checked each corner accidentally whispering out loud to himself each time, “Alone. Alone. Alone.”

Pst!

But that time around it sounded like the sole of a shoe for sure squeaking across the ground. He went to look over his shoulder to see what was coming.

There wasn’t anything nearby to protect himself and he had no idea if it’d help with a ghost antagonist. Maybe his brain could save him. He had the shining according to Gil and maybe he could shine real bright, brighter than the light in hand.

Only as he turned something grabbed a hold of him. Pressure hoisted him from the ground. His knees scraped the ground as some space came between him and the floor and somebody smothered him. His lungs burned without any oxygen entering them only it was worse when he attempted to breathe cause the burning grew, it seared his lungs, his mouth, and his chest right before the darkness took him.

Burglar uses Chloroform: Attacks a Woman in Room 237, Robs Her and Cuts off her Hair

“MALCOLM!”

Never before had a name sounded so violent. Jessica wielded each letter as if it were its own weapon. A series of knives or axes struck Malcolm. His head ached alongside all of his muscles. He rolled over burying his face into his pillow.

“Malcolm! Don’t you dare! You’ve been like this long enough, it’s time to wake up, get up, and start your day.”

When Malcolm sat up, he came face to face with his mother who put a hand on his forehead. She waited a few seconds and began to nod as if she were a doctor all along. “No more fever!” She backed away from him heading toward the kitchen area, which meant. . .

What?

“Fever?” Malcolm’s voice sounded all raspy. For a second, he feared he’d lost his voice all together. That the word in his brain would never leave. He looked all around. “How-How did I get here?!”

Jessica rolled her eyes. She popped the cork on a bottle of wine. “That’s not very funny, Malcolm, we’ve been here already for what? A month? More?” She began to pour herself a glass. “Seems longer than that.”

“NO!” Malcolm didn’t mean to snap. It did get Jessica to actually stop pouring her glass of wine. “I mean, how did I get here from the boiler room?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The boiler room! I was down in the boiler room! Something attacked me!”

Jessica took one long sip of wine, it seemed to be necessary as if it were her life source. “Malcolm, stop this nonsense before you scare your sister.”

But Malcolm looked all around, he wasn’t even wearing the same clothes but instead was in pajamas. Somebody was in the bathroom, the toilet flushed and water ran. He glanced up noticing Ainsley stood inside. Not that he meant to spy on her. Just her thoughts were so loud as she watched the water run pretending to watch her hands. In the time she stood there pretending, she could’ve just washed them.

Off to the side waited Malcolm’s notebook. He paged through it finding the same page as the day before and started to write 11/12. Only Ainsley leaving the bathroom with faint thoughts of Oh he’s awake disturbed him with the cacophony of Jessica playing out him rolling and rolling and rolling in his bed almost toppling off it for over 24 hours.

“What’s today’s date?” Malcolm blurted.

“November 13th,” said Jessia before taking another long swig of wine.

“Mr. Boots said it’s Friday the 13th, a bad luck day,” Ainsley added.

The day was November 13th and something. . .wasn’t. . .right. . .

11/08: Woke up in library. Thought I went to bed. 11/09: Woke up in ballroom (?). Remember going to bed. Mother said something about taking a pill to sleep better. Don’t remember falling asleep. 11/10: Is it possible to not remember falling asleep but waking up? Feels like haven’t slept for days. Ask somebody about it. 11/11: Woke up in bar, heard music, heard voices. Father found me, we talked, said to talk to him, didn’t hear all the noise. Ask him about it later?

Malcolm held a pencil, it hovered over the page in his notebook while he sat up in his bed. Even with his mother in the kitchen, it felt as if she were hovering around him tweeting like a bird about a fever, fever, fever because somehow he got back there and had a fever?

There was a whole day missing.

11/12: ????

“Malcolm, look at me when I talk to you.” At least Jessica caught his attention. Malcolm poked his teeth with the eraser. “Are you sure you’re feeling better?”

Malcolm nodded and offered a smile, just for her.

“Do you want any orange juice? Ainsley and I picked it up from town yesterday.”

11/12: ????

“Oh, sure. Yes, please.” Malcolm managed to stay smiling at Jessica even as she turned away. Ainsley stood close by. She peered out of the kitchen at him giggling about something. He rolled his eyes and looked down at his notebook. There wasn’t even a memory around to why he started this, but again it made sense. Nothing stuck and a day was all gone.

11/13: Woke up in bed. Last thing I remember, boiler room. Looking at newspapers. Then nothing. Is there something wrong with me?

#Prodigal Son #Prodigal Son fanfic #Malcolm Bright #The Shining #Overlook Hotel #Twins in Blue #Prodigies #Malcolm Bright whump

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angstytieflingbard · 5 years ago

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Platonic THB x Child!Reader Request

Request: “Could I request another Adventure zone fic(sorry if this is annoying lol)? If not its okay! Again thank you for the first one! Another platonic fic with the reader being a young kid, and they seem pretty innocent. Until its revealed that they are a antagonist character and like actually a pretty intelligent manipulative person...but gets reformed cause its actually her mom who's the real antagonist? Just them interacting with the main three + Angus? Thank you for your time!” -anon

Summary: You thought you’d always have to do what your mother said. She wasn’t kind by any means, but she was what you knew. However, when a chaotic group of adventurers you had tricked into her grasp not only defeat her, but decide to help you, you start to realize how kind the world really could be.

Warnings: Heavily implied unnamed antagonist death

A/N: Okay taz anon, here it is! Sorry it took so long! It took me a couple tries to be happy with the plot, honestly, but I think it turned out pretty well. If you’re reading this, and you enjoyed it, or you want me to write something else for you, shoot me an ask! My request rules/fandoms are linked in my bio. I hope you enjoy!

~~~~~

You stared ahead blankly, shock settling into your bones. Your mother was gone. You knew you should feel something, sadness or anger or some mix of the two, but instead you just felt… cold.

She’d been evil, you understood that, and she’d done everything in her power to raise you to be the same way, going as far as to use you as an agent of sorts for her schemes, despite your young age. In fact, that had ended up being the cause of her downfall, using you to lure in a group she called ‘reclaimers’ in her desperate search to find some kind of powerful object. She’d never told you exactly what she was looking for, partially because any time she mentioned it or the organization also looking for it (and similar objects, from what you could glean) all you could hear was static.

You sat on the steps of the old keep your mother had used as a base, and eventually, out of the corner of your eye you saw someone sit down next to you. Magnus, the kind, strange human man with the axe he called ‘Railsplitter.’

“Hey, kid. I’m sorry you had to be in there for that. That was… rough.” You blinked, knocked out of your thoughts by his apology.

He was apologizing? To you?

“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have stayed anyway. I knew she’d try to kill you if you didn’t agree to help her. And I knew you’d say no.” You admitted. You pulled your knees up to your chest and wrapped your arms around them. Magnus nodded.

“Smart kid. I should’ve guessed, considering you managed to lie in two separate zones of truth.” He said with a small chuckle, attempting to lighten the mood. You smiled slightly, but before you could say anything the doors of the keep burst open. Taako strode out, flicking a strand of his long blonde hair over his shoulder as his cloak flowed dramatically behind him. His heels clicked on the stone as he approached.

“Alright, we’ve finished up with the, uh…” He paused, glancing over at you.

“You can say that you looted the place.” You said bluntly. Taako laughed, ruffling your hair in an almost fond gesture.

“Yeah, that. I think Merle was checking down some side hallway he saw, he’ll be back in a second.”

“Did you guys find my room?” You asked curiously. Taako tilted his head, thinking.

“The only bedrooms we saw was the little dormitory for your moms’ goblin friends, and your moms’ room obviously.” You nodded, a little disappointed.

“I’m back! And I return with gifts!” Merle called out as he finally came out of the keep, practically waddling with how fast he was walking. He held a small sack in his arms, which he deposited in your arms as soon as he got close enough. You opened it, glad to find a few of your more valued belongings, specifically a plushie shaped like a bat, a few books, and the drider-silk cloak you had gotten as a gift for your birthday earlier in the year. You clutched the sack to your chest, giving Merle a grateful smile.

“Thank you, Merle.” You told him honestly. He waved your thanks off with a small shake of his head.

“Don’t mention it, kid. Really, don’t, I have a reputation to uphold.” He told you, and you couldn’t help but give a small giggle in response.

“Besides, he’s probably gonna sell literally everything valuable that was in your room, so this was really the least he could do.” Taako remarked with a smirk. Merle huffed indignantly, but gave no defense.

“C’mon, the --- should be here soon. I called with the ------ while you were inside.” Magnus said, and you blinked up at him, curious about the static you’d heard.

“You can do the static thing too?” You asked, and all three of them shared a glance.

“We’ll explain everything when we get to our… organization. ------------ will be able to explain better than us anyway... “ Magnus told you placatingly. You frowned, but nodded, letting the three of them guide you over to where their apparent rendezvous point was supposed to be.

~~~

Your first few hours on Moon Base Alpha had been chaotic, to say the least. Magnus had helped you out of the pod, and Taako had patted your back comfortingly as you attempted to get over the disorientation, both from flying and from having traveled in a vehicle you apparently couldn’t physically comprehend.

Then, you were ushered into the director’s throne room, where the three explained where they found you and why they brought you up, and she had, after much convincing, given you a vial of voidfish ichor to drink, which you had been quite upset to find tasted like rancid lime go-gurt.

Now, you sat in your newly assigned dorm, waiting for the boy who was apparently going to be your roommate, re-reading one of the books Merle had grabbed from your room before you left. It was a volume of a young adult detective serial, one you’d loved endlessly from the moment you were able to read it. Your mother had disliked it of course, on account of it encouraging general goodness, but she’d eventually relented after you took to practically tearing the keep apart brick by brick to hide the books in the walls and floors in the hall outside your room.

Eventually, the door opened, and a boy about your age came in, eyes already seeking yours out with a pensive stare. He was a little shorter than you, with dark, freckled skin and curly black hair partially hidden by a blueish grey flat-brimmed hat. He was also wearing khaki shorts with a blue argyle patterned sweater vest over a short-sleeved button up, and simple walking shoes.

“Hi.” You said after a long moment of staring each other down.

“Hi. You’re (Y/N), right? Madame Director told me you’d be bunking with me.” He moved to sit on the bed across from yours, the one already personalized with small decorations and posters on the wall.

“Yeah. They didn’t tell me anything about you. Just that you’d be here eventually.” You admitted.

“Oh! Well, I’m Angus Mcdonald, world’s greatest detective.” He introduced himself, holding a hand out for you to shake. You sat up, turning and leaning over the gap between your beds to shake his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Angus. How did you become the world's greatest detective?” You asked curiously.

“You just gotta be good enough at it for people to recognize you. And know when not to shy away from things people say aren’t your business.” He smiled as he talked, obviously proud of his title. You nodded at his words, thoughtful.

“You kind of remind me of a character from a book series I really like. Here,” You commented, grabbing the book you were reading and showing him the cover. He gasped, and you could practically see stars in his eyes.

“Wow, you read the Caleb Cleveland series?” He exclaimed. You felt a smile creep onto your face.

“Yeah, they’re my favorite books ever. My mother never liked them because, you know, Caleb Cleveland is good and all, but that never stopped me from reading them.” You confessed, your voice taking on a conspiratorial tone. He grinned at you.

“That’s so cool! How did you get away with reading them?”

“I started hiding them behind loose stones in the floor and walls so she wouldn’t find them.” You explained with a giggle. He laughed with you.

“I’ve gotta tell you all about some of the cases I’ve been on as a detective. That’s actually how Taako, Magnus, and Merle met me!”

“I’d like that.” You told him honestly, and his grin grew even wider. He started to ramble about one of his favorite cases to solve, the case of the Rockport Slayer, and you felt whatever tension had been in the room when he first came in bleed away in the wake of your newly discovered shared interests.

You liked it here, you decided, settling in to listen to your new friend’s story.

#taz #the adventure zone #taako #taako taaco #magnus burnsides #merle highchurch #angus mcdonald #x reader #reader insert #fanfiction #fanfic #probs ooc but this is my third go at this particular one so #*shrug*

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ba1aphoebeowen · 5 years ago

Text

Essay Research

How does Marceline’s upbringing affect her relationships in Adventure Time?

The above is my current idea for an essay question, however after some difficultly in writing a draft with this in mind, I am considering changing it. We have a group tutorial session next week where we will be able to discuss other questions that have to do with this character and the idea of child psychology - whatever I do change it to I still want to relate it to Marceline’s childhood.

Outline Research

Marceline Research:

Marceline as a character is supposed to come off as quite the teenager, being ‘cool’ and looked up to by the younger protagonist Finn. Her aesthetic design is meant to come across this way, but behind this are certainly layers of personality and backstory that made her into what she is now. She may have started off as a ‘typical teenager’, but has developed into much more as the show has progressed.

·Art of Ooo: - Pendleton Ward on Marceline: “Girls own more than just one outfit”. Marceline wears a variety of outfits throughout the show, all keeping to a ‘teenage’ theme. Some rebellious, others elegant. - Rebecca Sugar on Marceline: “She seems bad, but she’s anxious and doesn’t have a high opinion on herself” “Tries to hurt people on purpose because that’s less painful than hurting people by accident” - Oliva Olson on Marceline: “The World sees confidence, maybe even a hint of intimidation or haughtiness. Yet, deep down, there’s always a reason she got that way. She has lots of layers.”

· Adventure Time Pitch Bible: - “Marceline is a rocker girl. She’s lived for centuries and has developed a disregard for social conventions” “Throws life to the wind” “Finn does NOT approve of Marceline’s mischievous prankster ways, but he’s totally captivated by her butt kicking appeal”

Adventure Time Episode Analysis

Many of Marceline’s relationships are quite rocky, especially at the beginning of the show. She starts off as very antagonistic toward the protagonists in her first appearance, and from that point has either teasing or negative relationships with other characters. These relationships are, however, addressed and developed in a serialised fashion and these relationships become a lot more layered.

I Remember You - Reveal of Marceline and Ice King’s relationship

This episode starts on the character of Ice King, the supposed villain of the show up to this point, singing to his penguin. He was to write a song to ‘get babes’, so goes to visit Marceline, someone he knows is proficient in this field.

His arrival is unexpected, and when Marceline sees him, all she says is “no”, quietly. She furthers their first interaction with anger, telling the Ice King that she had, on a previous occasion, to “not come around [her]”. She continues to be angry with him, wanting him out of her house, until she sees him struggling with his cables and starts to feel pity for him. When Finn and Jake enter to take him away, she decides to let him stay.

They start off with a song where Ice King talks about princesses and his favourite, Princess Bubblegum. He then gets upset as he lingers on how alone he is. Marceline starts to get uncomfortable at this point. To stop him from destroying her house in his sadness, Marceline tells him to “stop acting like this” and to “stop acting crazy”. He pushes her and instantly regrets it, apologising and getting out of her way”. This leads on to a short song by Marceline where she says things like “I’d like to help you, but I don’t know if I can”, “you know I’m actually glad to see you.” Ice King takes this the wrong way and tries to kiss her, and she tries bringing up his past life. Some of the clippings of newspapers he brought had images of him “before the war”.

Using some notes Simon wrote during the war, they sing a final song focusing on Simon’s sadness at how crazy he’s becoming due to the crown. Marceline gets some insight into what Simon, her parental figure, was feeling during the worst time of his life – slowly losing his memory of her whilst trying to save her. “Please forgive me for whatever I do when I don’t remember you”.

This episode is the first to show Marceline and Ice King’s relationship in more detail and gives a good overview to it. When Marceline was young, for whatever reason, she was left alone on Earth in the remnants of the Mushroom War. Simon finds her and takes care of her for as long as he can before the effects of the crown drive him to insanity, and at this point, he leaves too. From this we can determine that Marceline was left alone without a caregiver for two stretches of her life where she desperately needed one.

More of their relationship during Marceline’s childhood is explored in the episode “Simon and Marcy”. Here we can see Simon’s drift into madness as he uses the crown to keep them safe. Due to their past, Marceline feels melancholic toward Ice King, wishing that he would remember her as she does him. Later in the show, she gets the chance to talk to Simon again, and they reconcile this issue for the moments they can be together. This happens in the episode “Betty”, where she sacrifices an important thing to her in order to help him fulfil his final wish.

It came from the Nightosphere - Reveal of Marceline’s father

This episode starts with Finn and Marceline singing a song together, where Marceline sings a strange song about her father eating her fries, giving it a very sad tone. “Daddy do you even love me, well I wish you’d show it ‘cause I wouldn’t know it.” In this first scene we can already see some of Marceline’s relationship with her father.

She wants him to care, but she doesn’t seem to want to put in the effort to see him, so Finn does it for her. Hunson Abadeer, Marceline’s father, introduces himself by trying to eat Finn’s soul and has an evil aura to him in general. He then leaves to devour the souls of everyone in Ooo – Marceline seems indifferent to this issue, and instead just wants to get her axe bass back, which her father stole.

Although Marceline is angry with Finn for bringing her father there, they have a light-hearted relationship throughout this episode “Marceline, drop the Finn bomb!”.

Marceline attacks her father to get her bass back, but when he says, “you can’t destroy me”, she stops. “I don’t want to destroy you, look, just stay out of my life!”. She gives up on attacking and talks to Finn and says “I just want my dad to care about me”.

They continue to face Hunson until Finn gets to the point where he gets the axe out of his grip, and Marceline gets it back, and the interactions between her and her father at this victory reflect a teenager / father relationship “in your face dad!” “Give back that axe Marceline! You don’t respect it enough”. They end this exchange by walking away from each other, and Finn tries to keep them together by playing the song Marceline sings at the start of the episode.

“Marceline, do you really feel this way? Of course, I love you.” As they reconcile, Finn finishes his mission by stabbing Hunson to release the souls he’s eaten and sends him back to the Nightosphere. Marceline’s mad at him for embarrassing her, but they end on a friendly note.

From this episode we can gather that Marceline and Hunson’s relationship is complicated but is also familiar, in the way that it’s a teenager and parent relationship. They no longer see eye to eye at all, especially since being separated by different dimensions, and due to a fry eating incident, Marceline feels like her dad no longer cares about her. She would rather pretend he didn’t exist, but still lets her feelings about him eat away at her. Hunson doesn’t seem to notice much tension between them, and while he feels like she doesn’t respect certain family values – such as the axe that was passed down to her – he still loves her and doesn’t see that she questions that. He’s loving but distant.

They interact further in other episodes. We see that in the past it was Simon that looked after Marceline when she was abandoned as a child, and we must question where her father was in the scenario. In a flashback clip in “Marcy & Hunson”, much further on in the show, we see that when Simon had to leave Marceline, he sent Hunson to care for her in his place. In this flashback, he shows no regard for the time that Marceline must have spent alone and acts as if they were already acquainted. In this episode he also shows extreme pride in Marceline’s concert performance but doesn’t realise his boundaries.

Marceline’s relationship with her father is distant. As her only biological family in the show, you would think they would be closer, but there was no attachment to him as a child. He was always just some random guy that popped in and out of her life and didn’t give her the emotional support she needed growing up.

Ketchup - Background to Marceline’s mother

This episode features just Marceline and BMO. It starts off with BMO showing up to Marceline’s house to fight a vampire threat that had already been dealt with, but Marceline finds something else for them to do. She has an old USB that BMO can help her investigate, and whilst it scans, they tell some stories. Animation wise, these are very stylised. BMO’s story has a vert fantastical twist to it, demonstrating their childish attitudes.

Marceline tells a story about her and Princess Bubblegum, and their relationship as best friends, and the recent events in the show.

The USB then reveals its contents, and we see some images, the most important being one of Marceline with her mother. Throughout the show, we don’t get to see much of Marceline’s mother at all, and while she doesn’t reveal anything about their relationship, BMO creates a story with the picture. The story they create suggests that the mother could only be with Marceline for a short time, but she had to leave after a certain period. In response, Marceline says “I think I’ve heard a story like that, a long, long time ago”.

As stated, we don’t see much of Marceline’s mother throughout the show, the most notable other appearance being in “Everything Stays”, where she and a child Marceline are seen in what seems to be a mobile home in the middle of some fields. Marceline’s mum just finishes talking about how she met Hunson and tells Marceline to sleep. She complains that her dreams are too “weird” to sleep, and her mother responds that “something weird might just be something familiar viewed from a different angle, and that’s not scary, right?”

Marceline’s relationship with her maternal mother was short-lived, and while it seemed like she only had her mother there at the time, this area of her childhood seemed okay. But Marceline only has her mother, it seems, which would have created a lot of dependency on her throughout this time. It looks to be before the war started, so before Simon finds her alone, giving some more context as to what must have happened at this time. Marceline’s mother, whether willing or not, was the first person that she cared for to leave her.

What was Missing - Relationship to Princess Bubblegum

This episode is fairly early in the show, with quite a simple scenario – a range of character have something that was very important to them stolen by a ‘door lord’, and they all work together to get it back. In the end, they must perform a song as a band to open the door and get their stuff back. Marceline, being the musician of the group, starts the attempts by singing a song that seems directed at Princess Bubblegum, talking about how she wants to, effectively, kill her.

When PB complains, she grows agitated and says “you don’t like that? Or do you just not like me!”. The song she sings now describes how she’s not perfect enough for PB and hints at an earlier relationship where they ended on bad terms. “I’m just your problem”.

This song ends when Marceline gets very deep into her emotions, and decides to pull back, reverting to more vulgar lyrics that suggest killing PB rather than making up with her.

In the original episode, Marceline goes as far as to spit on PB, causing her to try and leave. Finn pulls everyone back together for one last shot at opening the door, singing a song about their friendship.

When the door does open, it’s revealed that PB’s important item was a band shirt that Marceline had given her a long time ago, something she now wears as pjs.

Up until this point in the show, Marceline and Princess Bubblegum’s relationship was portrayed as teasing and mean, but this episode gave this more context, that something had happened. In future episodes, like “Varmints”, we discover that PB got very busy with creating and managing her candy kingdom, and didn’t have time for Marceline anymore, which is most likely what caused the rift in their relationship. In the series finale “Come along with me”, their relationship is fully reconciled, and they kiss, confirming that they had a romantic relationship in the end.

Marceline spends a lot of the show pushing PB away and not wanting to get too emotionally involved with her again. In the episode “Sky Witch”, she goes to PB for help recovering her childhood toy, but tries to keep it professional – PB was just the only one that could help, that was all.

Stakes (Miniseries) as a whole - Reveal of Marceline’s mother and growing up

In this episode, we get a few flashes into Marceline’s past. We start off with her mother and a young Marceline, who wants to play, but her mother tells her it’s instead nap time. Marceline complains that her dreams are too weird to sleep, and her mother comforts her, saying that “all dreams are weird”, and begins to sing a song:

Let’s go in the garden,you’ll find something waiting Right there where you left it lying upside down When you finally find it, you’ll see that it’s faded The other side is lighter when you turn it around Everything stays, right where you left it Everything stays, but it still changes Ever so slightly, daily and nightly In little ways, where everything stays

We then move on into the future, where Marceline has lost her mother and now only has Simon. He’s preparing to leave, seeing himself as too dangerous to be near Marceline anymore. Marceline doesn’t want him to go. We then see a teenage Marceline, hunting vampires. She’s fighting for moral good here, but still has these violent tendencies.

The same teenage Marceline is then seen meeting humans and being very friendly but not quite fitting in, the people seeing her as an evil vampire. She still seeks their approval though, and wants to help them. This takes some time, and she eventually becomes friends with them after they recognize their connection through music. She continues to live with these humans to help and protect them from vampires. She wants to rid them of their threats to keep them there, because for whatever reason she can’t go with them. This accumulates in a fight between her and the vampire king - the humans lose trust for her after this, and she becomes immortal.

Throughout this series of episodes, we see Marceline addressing her vampirism and wanting to be rid of it. She’s seen history repeating itself over and over, and doesn’t want to be around for it anymore - she wants a normal, human lifespan, even if it means eventually perishing.

“Some bad things happened to me when I was little. When I became a vampire I was a messed up kid. Now it’s a thousand years later and I’m still messed up”

Throughout this mini series, Marceline has multiple dreams addressing her feelings toward the current situation, the first of which shows a distinct wish to not be a vampire anymore, and to separate herself from it. She feels as if this is her identity though, and in the dream her body breaks apart.

In another episode, we see a bit more of Marceline’s past without Simon. As a roughly 10-12 year old child, she had to fend for herself (find herself food, build herself a shelter etc). Other people still didn’t want to interact with her at this time.

#character research

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early-sxnsets · 6 years ago

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Proximity

Archive Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17343617/chapters/41048414

Chapter 4/11 of Of Wealth and Leisure

Word Count: 2080

Summary: A brief conversation leads to a long walk and leaves Sir Snow wanting more.

It takes me until the tail ends of August to finally take myself out on a walk around the gardens.

As tempting as they’ve been, observing them through my guest room windows felt fulfilling enough until now. As the summer slowly sinks into a muckier, more green season, I find myself growing disappointed that I didn’t take the effort to seek out the flowers. Therefore, I’m finding my way around the sprawling, well-kept garden of the Grimm-Pitch estate.

As I walk, I delve deeper into the mild insanity that's been creeping up upon me over the past few weeks. Every action of Mr. Pitch feels quite peculiar. Antagonistic, while also somewhat ones of attention seeking and perhaps partially of hopeful bickering. Part of me wonders where our rivalry is headed, as he does not seem overly invested in my destruction, but rather interested in how my downfall would lay out.

What that means, I’m not sure. I simply know that our destinies are intertwined somehow, but the way is uncertain.

I wish I could figure it out. If there were a way--a secret key or a hidden door--that could reveal answers to everything, then I’d give up my knight’s honor for that valuable knowledge. Mr. Pitch would mock me for that, telling me I made such a stupid decision for information that I don’t require. Nevertheless, I crave it. Isn’t that a requirement enough?

Stopping by a fountain, I rest to ponder and look out among the greenery.

All I can think of is Mr. Pitch.

Oh how unfair; a haunting of my mind in the worst possible way. Is it intentional on his part? Is he somehow responsible for my endless thoughts and dreams of him, some of which including compromising situations? Surely, those are based in deep hatred manifesting into peculiar nightmares.

Surely.

As I gaze out, I spot someone far off by the edge of the woodland. The person simply stands, leaning against a walking stick and staring out wistfully. Purely out of curiosity, I stand and brush off my jacket as I slowly begin to stroll over.

The figure grows in familiarity over the closing of the space; dark slicked hair and well tailored suit. He’s smoking a pipe, staring out into the trees wordlessly as smoke slowly rises from the front of him. It’s devilishly handsome, and overwhelmingly mysterious. It’s as if he were looking for trouble..

“I suppose those vampire myths aren’t quite myths at all,” I joke, walking up behind him with my hands tucked into the pockets of my trousers. He whips around, narrowing his eyes at me for a lingering second before his body rotates back towards the trees.

“I didn’t quite think you occupied yourself with such invasive nonsense, Sir Snow,” he says back. While he barks it in a typical, condescending tone, there’s the slightest hint of sadness in his voice.

My foot lands down, snapping a twig. He flinches, but doesn’t turn.

Frozen in time and staying behind him, I watch the smoke trickle up into the air as he peers out into the slowly swaying leaves handing to unsteady branches. “They’re all an unfair commentary. My injury shouldn’t be mocked as so.”

My heart picks up guiltily, mouth hanging open as he bares himself and his expressions to me. As if time were slowing, his body rotates back to half-facing me as he stares. If he were staring at my chest, it’d explode.

“I-I didn’t realize,” I blubber, hand flying up to run across my jaw and chin as I rub. “I’d assumed they were only jokes…”

“Jokes can be harmful.” He shifts his weight between feet, eyes locking back forward.

Hesitantly, I step closer and wait for him to respond with a biting remark, but he simply stays silent. Fearfully, I continue onwards until I’m standing beside him and overlooking his profile. He doesn’t dare move his gaze, steadily observing the land in front of him.

“The injury was unfortunate enough to be so close to my neck; I should have bled out, if it weren’t for quick attention. I’m aware of my scars, but they only serve as reminders to be careful with others.”

My eyes follow the rise and fall of his pipe, breath struggling to come out normally. A swirling anxiety settles in my throat, lodging it and making me nauseous over my accusations. “I’m not entirely sure the rumors are based on your injury, Mr. Pitch. Rather, I think they’re based on your appearance.”

Moments pass before his lip curls up and eyes fall shut. “What do you mean by that, Sir Snow?”

“I mean,” I quickly try to cover, “your… appearance. It follows that of classic bloodsucker’s tales. Not that you look like you drink blood, but rather your…” Will I get murdered if I continue? “Stature and air that you hold yourself in.”

“Stature?”

“I--your-”

His laugh cuts me short. “Stop wasting air, Snow, or else there won’t be some left for the rest of us.” He offers his pipe, and I politely decline. “You can stop your entire explanation. I understood your intent long ago, I just enjoy watching you struggle.”

His confession hurts in an odd way, as if I wished he enjoyed something else about me.

We stand in silence, heads turned away from each other as I gather the courage to break our invisible walls. They’re much more reinforced than I’d imagined; anything to get through to him would take an axe, a flame, and patience.

I’m terrible with patience.

“I… never quite got a full tour of the grounds,” I start, eyes dragging down to my feet as my boot digs into the mildly muddy ground in front of us. “For months I’ve been wishing to see the farmland, but instead I’ve been left to watch from afar. It’s quite a pity.”

He dares a glance at me as I urge him, face open and welcoming to his attention.

“Perhaps I could spare a small amount of time showing you the land.” He sounds reluctant, but not protesting.

That’s all I need.

He taps his walking cane to the ground, offering an extended elbow as his classic brow raise greets me. I take it without pause, hands resting against the stiff fabric of his suit jacket.

Slowly, we make our way around the garden. For once, Mr. Pitch takes an opportunity to speak without directing it in hatred towards me. He rather steers his words in the direction of praise and sharing of fondness in his memories, rambling on about the sprawling lavender he used to pick and dry with his mother at a young age. While it causes his smile to falter, he continues on, going on a winded rant about the prickles of roses and the unfairness of their romantic association.

At last, we take the path down to the fields, yet he insists we take the walk slowly while he speaks on. Childhood stories, historical facts, and family tradition, all rolled up into his continuous stream of consciousness. By the time we reach the end, I believe I could write a very short book on the recounts of his family’s involvement with local produce in the past century.

As we walk through, he stops briefly by the apple orchard and picks off a single apple, dusting it on his jacket before handing it to me without a pause to allow me to thank him. Thus, we continue while I eat, taking a path towards their vineyard. He speaks highly of it all, mentioning that he would run down to the farming fields as a child with his nanny and try to help the harvest, but would be stopped quickly in his tracks. By the expression set on his face, I believe he always quite wished he could join them.

Upon our return to the garden, he releases my arm and clearly avoids any sort of eye contact as he tips his head in a nod and strolls wordlessly back into the manor. Thus, I’m left with with the feeling of sinking in my legs and heart, watching him walk away after he’d been so unmistakably close. Briefly, I consider what possible mistakes I could have done, but a quick peering at my pocketwatch snaps me back towards reality.

Of course. It’s nearly dinner.

As in, he and I sit silently at as much of a distance that a dinner table will provide, eating in a stilled atmosphere. It's such a stark contrast to what we had before.

I retreat to my room, I look over my figure in the mirror and nervously thread my fingers through my curls, breath trickling out in a nervous exhale. I can’t manage to bring myself to a plausible explanation to my anxieties around him beyond it being my fear that he’ll attack me. Except that’s no longer quite at the front of my mind. Instead, now I think of how he looks in the very slowly sinking daylight, or how my palms grow moist when he dares a glance towards me.

Peculiar.

The dinner bell chimes, yet I take my time to join. Once I do, I take notice that Mr. Pitch’s head raises as I enter the room, following me to my seat directly across from him. He doesn’t smile, but then again, why would he?

We don’t speak, nor do we truly meet each other’s stolen looks, unless it's to challenge them. We remain distant, yet vaguely longing (for, what I suspect, are answers).

I can’t take this unspoken back and forth. I refuse to leave the distance unaddressed, especially after the events of today.

There we stood, in the center of his family’s private vineyard with no workers in sight for the last 10 minutes that we’d been strolling. He could have easily taken his brief moment of the unexpected upper hand to end me right there, amongst a claim to his family’s power, but he didn’t. Instead, he ran a hand along the plump fruit hanging among the vines and said to me (and me only) that he’d run barefoot along the rows of wine grapes. His privacy, while not as intimate as any admission of feelings would ever be, felt as close as skin contact.

As we routinely dismiss ourselves from dinner, I catch the soft hem of his sleeve when he reaches the grand staircase. I feel him tense, breath audibly catching in the air as he startles and turns. As if a trigger was pulled, he snaps back to his tight-lipped sneer.

“Do you mind, Snow?” He’s a snapping turtle again; defensive and hard shelled.

I stand my ground, jaw setting as I lock my eyes onto his stormy glare. “I haven’t quite explored the local trails.”

He snorts at that, loosening up as his chin tilts up, quite literally looking down upon me. “I don’t see how that information is necessary for me in any capacity.”

My wrist snaps down as I let go in frustration. I’ll admit, my anger flairs enough to startle Mr. Pitch once again. At least he doesn’t run now. “I wish to have someone experienced show me the way. Someone who won’t treat me as a higher up, even if they should be leading me around.”

Scoffing my way seems to be one of his favorite things to do. “Are you asking if I wish to accompany you on a horseback journey through the countryside? Do you wish me to request that Cook Pritchard throws together a picnic lunch to bring as well?”

We stare at each other in tense silence for moments, simply breathing until I shrug.

“Yes. Sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“I wish for you to lead me.” My voice drops, wavering in the slightest in fear that someone nearby may hear me. I’m not fully sure of what I’m scared of--rivals can interact--yet the mild recurring case of my shortness of breath remains.

He doesn’t flinch, analyzing me in his brief once over as I stand pitifully one step below him. He could easily shove me down.

He doesn’t.

“There’s a storm rolling in,” he states, pulling back from the space we’d been set in as he rolls his shoulders. “Once it passes in its entirety, then we may go. Is that fair to you?”

My lips curve up, stretching out my cheeks in perhaps the most genuine smile I’ve had since my arrival at the residency. “More than so.”

#carry on #fanfiction #snowbaz #fanfic #fic #mine #simon snow #tyrannus basilton grimm-pitch #tyrannus basilton grimm pitch #baz pitch #simon #baz #of wealth and leisure #victorian au #im sorry for such a short chapter but i swear ! the rest get longer from here on out #also hehe it really picks up next chapter #as in something happens and oh boy ! be prepared!

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recentanimenews · 5 years ago

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Ranking All 49 One Piece Anime Arcs (Yes, Even The Filler)

On July 7th, the long-awaited Wano arc of One Piece begins, and because we're about to jump into an arc that's been building up for eleven years, I think it's as good a time as any to rank all 49 of the arcs that we have already. And I'm going to include the filler arcs, too, because even though many of them can't really hold a candle to the main narrative, I think a few of them are quite underrated.

49. Buggy's Crew Adventures

This isn't really an arc so much as a sigh of relief after the runaway train of emotion of the last few episodes of Arlong Park. You can laugh at Buggy for a bit after watching Nami's soul get ripped apart (and then put back together again).

48. Post Alabasta

You know video game sidequests that are basically around to level up your specific partner characters so that they don't get immediately wiped out in boss fights? This is the anime filler arc version of that. It's fun, though.

47. Foxy's Return

I loooooove Foxy and I looooove the Davy Back Fight arc. But Foxy's Return doesn't quite hit home. It might be because we last saw Foxy six episodes ago, but it truly speaks to Foxy's character that he'd try to make a grand, dramatic return after he got the crap kicked out of him so recently.

46. Spa Island

Foxy returns again in Spa Island, though this filler arc is mostly notable for the fact that Luffy uses Gear Third to split an artificial island in half. That alone wins this arc points.

45. Warship Island

Warship Island isn't a bad filler arc, just a victim of poor placement. It comes right after Loguetown and right after the Straw Hats have each declared their dreams. So it becomes a pit stop arc, like the Straw Hat crew getting gas and snacks before they head out on the Grand Line.

44. Little East Blue

I like to think of Little East Blue as a celebration of pre time skip One Piece, where the Straw Hats get (deservedly) celebrated for a bit. It's cute and it's a nice prologue to the Strong World movie.

43. Z's Ambition

The filler arcs that precede the movies are an odd bunch, as they tend to end with the main villain of the movie showing up in the last five minutes and declaring their plans. So it's hard to enjoy them on their own. That said, Z's Ambition has enough action that even if you don't watch Film Z (but you should, as it's great), you won't really mind the cliffhanger finale.

42. Straw Hat Separation

After Kuma wiped out the crew, this batch of episodes shows where they all ended up. And it's mainly a montage of Straw Hats being confused. And don't get me wrong—the Straw Hats do confusion like nobody's business. But you get more out of their separation in the Post War arc when they finally get around to business.

41. Diary of Koby-Meppo

Koby is a character that has always deserved more time, so getting a few episodes devoted to him and Helmeppo training to be Marines is welcome. Also, my dude Garp shows up for the first time, which means that I've rewatched these two episodes FAR more than I should.

40. Goat Island

Goat Island doesn't feel as "classic" as G-8, nor is it as entertaining as Ocean's Dream. In fact, it's about as fluffy as the goats that appear in it. But a three episode arc where Chopper talks to goats and Luffy doesn't beat up a villain but rather causes him to get shipwrecked? I'm FOR it.

39. Chopper Man Special

Chopper Man has Chopper in a cape. It's worth it for that. Please @ me. Chopper Man, you're my hero, and I hope you one day get a Chopper Man & Sogeking Save The Grand Line special.

38. Romance Dawn

Romance Dawn establishes a lot of things that will become classic tropes in One Piece: Going to a new island, meeting new crew members, helping out little kids, taking out a power hungry warlord, etc. It's a blueprint arc, and it works well as that. Sadly, the anime would not continue the "introduce a Straw Hat character with rad guitar" idea like they do with Zoro here.

37. Orange Town

The East Blue saga only gets better as it goes along, and Orange Town provides a nice counter to Romance Dawn. For example, if Axe-Hand Morgan represented the seriousness of the Marine threat in the last arc, then Buggy represents the other side of the villains that the Straw Hat Crew will encounter: cartoonish, loud, and beaten in a really fun way.

36. Ruluka Island

Ruluka Island feels like condensed One Piece, like you'd just add some water to turn this four episode arc into a twenty episode one. It's a nice arc to stretch your legs in before you go to the big themes of Jaya.

35. Ice Hunter

Ice Hunter is neat because it gives every member of the Straw Hat crew a little time to shine in a story that is action-packed and intriguing. If you miss pre timeskip One Piece and haven't watched the Ice Hunter arc, give it a shot.

34. Marine Rookie

I know that we're all eager to see the Straw Hats reunite in Wano, but if you want to see more of Whole Cake's Sanji Retrieval Team, the Marine Rookie arc makes for a solid bonus round. Also, the only reason it starts is because Luffy eats all of the Straw Hats' supplies, which, logically, should be the beginning of waaaaay more One Piece arcs.

33. Silver Mine

If you didn't get enough Bartolomeo in Dressrosa, then surprise! They made a filler arc just for you.

32. Boss Luffy Specials

You know when you fall asleep watching a show, and then you wake back up and, in your grogginess, suddenly whatever is on TV looks insane? That's what happened to me with Boss Luffy. I had just finished watching Ace's fight with Blackbeard and then, boom. I was out. Then I wake up and see the Straw Hats in 19th century Japan. The Boss Luffy stuff is fun, but I think it's best viewed when you're in a delirious half sleep. That's just my personal preference, though.

31. Caesar Retrieval

Caesar made for a fine antagonist on Punk Hazard, but he's even better as shreiking deadweight that the Straw Hat Crew and Company have to keep alive.

30. Little Garden

Little Garden isn't as cool as Whisky Peak, nor does it provide the emotional gut punch of Drum Island. Instead, it's mainly here to further the theme of what it means to be a true warrior and introduce giants (and dinosaurs!) in the One Piece universe. It gives Usopp some of the character development that he needs and Zoro almost cuts off his own feet in an effort to keep fighting. Any arc that illustrates how hard Zoro goes gets at least one thumb up from me.

29. Loguetown

Loguetown is a fun arc when you consider just how much it expands the scope of the world. Smoker and Tashigi truly begin the Navy's quest to stop the Straw Hats, Dragon gets introduced in a big, mysterious way, and Luffy takes a massive step in establishing himself in the realm of pirating. However, the Straw Hat side stories in the middle (aside from Zoro's awesome bit in the sword shop) slow it down a little.

28. Zou

Zou might be one of the most visually rich arcs in the series. From the massive elephant to the Mink tribe to the terror of Jack to more lessons about the poneglyphs, there's a lot shoved into this short span. And between the intense epics of Dressrosa and Whole Cake Island, it's fits nicely as 10 cc's of wonder and fantasy injected into the New World.

27. Fishman Island

Fishman Island occupies a weird spot. It's thematically heavy, but also serves as the action-packed Straw Hat Crew comeback tour. It needs to stand on its own, but it also caps off with a declaration of war against Big Mom, a villain that won't be encountered for years. In all, I feel that the importance of the Fishman Island arc is yet to be truly realized.

26. Ocean's Dream

One of the final two filler arcs on this list, Ocean's Dream seems like One Piece fan fiction in the best way. If you were dissatisfied with Luffy's fight with Zoro on Whisky Peak, you get another round of it here while Zoro is being mind controlled.

25. Syrup Village

If Romance Dawn and Orange Town were warm up laps, Syrup Village is when One Piece begins to break out in a sprint. The introduction of Usopp and the Going Merry make for some great moments and it's this arc that got me hooked on One Piece when I first started watching it.

24. Dressrosa

Dressrosa, for better (and sometimes for worse) is massive. Doflamingo is a threat that had been popping up since the Jaya arc, but because of Dressrosa's scope, his defeat can feel a little lackluster, especially when you consider that he's a pitstop on the road to Kaido. But Dressrosa introduces the endlessly cool Fujitora and the Straw Hats' big pirate alliance, and also gives us the dual backstories to Law and Doflamingo, neither of which disappoint. Also, Doflamingo's abilities lead to some of the coolest action scenes in the series.

23. Return to Sabaody

The post-timeskip starts with a bang, as the Return to Sabaody arc is both hilarious and thrilling. The Straw Hats get to show off their newfound strength as they do what they definitely couldn't do in the first Sabaody arc (easily knock out a Pacifista). And we also get to meet the Fake Straw Hat crew, which does a nice job of illuminating just how much the legend of the Straw Hats has grown since they were last together.

22. Reverse Mountain

One of the major strengths of One Piece is that it can accomplish three kinds of storytelling at once—giving us a narrative that is immediately satisying, giving us a narrative that will be satisfying in the near future, and giving us a narrative that will be satisfying in the long term. In the Reverse Mountain arc, we not only get a nice story about Laboon, but we also get introduced to Baroque Works (who will be the main antagonists of the saga), and also, we get hints that will only pay off when Brook is introduced years later. Reverse Mountain is short, but it also displays Eiichiro Oda's wonderful talent as a writer.

21. Long Ring Long Land

I've seen people on the internet say stuff like "WHEN I REACHED THE DAVY BACK FIGHT ARC, I NEARLY STOPPED READING!" and man, why? Quitting a series that you love because it slightly diverts from the hero fighting god-like enemies in order to participate in some fun games? Everyone has their own opinions, but your opinion of what fiction should be is wrong. That said, this arc is hilarious and great.

20. Whisky Peak

Whisky Peak is so cool. It's an anime arc with swagger, the kind that steps into a bar and buys everyone a round. I want to be friends with Whisky Peak but I know, deep down, that Whisky Peak is far too rad to be friends with me.

19. Reverie

The best thing about the Reverie arc is that it makes the world of One Piece a little more conveniently manageable (Oh neat. All of the major side characters get to hang out for a while), while also opening a can of worms (What's with the giant straw hat? WHAT'S WITH THE GIANT STRAW HAT?). Because this is the most recent arc, I don't know if we've seen the ripples that it will create across the One Piece world, but I sure am excited to.

18. Post Enies Lobby

This isn't the first time the Straw Hats have been forced to flee a place. However, this is the first time that it's felt like they'd be wiped out if they didn't. The return of Garp (and the spectre of the Yonko) throw the Straw Hats into all new territory, one where maybe being the plucky underdog team isn't enough to save them from the threats that come. Also, goofy Franky joins the team, which provides a nice counter-balance to the hints of oblivion.

17. Punk Hazard

Punk Hazard is home to one of my top 10 One Piece fights (Vergo vs Law & Smoker), features one of my favorite locations (an island that is half fire/magma and half ice/snow and home to an evil science base), and introduces a character that has only grown on me with time (Here's a hint on who he is: He laughs like "SHERURURURURURU SHERURURURURURU). It's kind of a prequel to Dressrosa, but in that spot, does a great job at furthering the menace of Doflamingo.

16. Post War

The introduction of Sabo aka Steampunk Ace aka I'm Just Kidding Sabo Is Kinda Cool and Luffy realizing that he has his crew to keep him going make the Post-War arc into a short but powerful cap to the pre-timeskip era.

15. Amazon Lily

Boa Hancock is a supremely underrated One Piece character, with a terribly sad backstory, amazing powers, and a hilarious crush on Luffy. And Amazon Lily helps further the major trend that will reach fever pitch in Dressrosa of Luffy amassing supporters because he's just such a dang ol' nice guy. Hopefully Hancock will one day meet Bartolomeo and together they will start a Luffy fan club and then argue over who gets to be President.

14. Jaya

If you were in the dark as to what the themes of One Piece are, here comes Jaya with a flashlight. This is basically a montage of the things that are important to the Straw Hat crew, and it introduces Blackbeard, a guy that will go from "Oh he seems interesting" to "OH I HATE HIM" over the next few hundred chapters. Luffy saying "Do I know how to throw a punch, you ask?" before absolutely walloping Bellamy still gives me goose bumps.

13. Thriller Bark

There's so much good to Thriller Bark—the spooky atmosphere, the introduction of Brook, the underrated Gekko Moriah, the Binks' Sake song, the Straw Hats teaming up to face a giant zombie, etc. And just when you think it can't get any better, Kuma shows up and rocks the One Piece world.

12. Impel Down

Hey! It's Buggy! And Mr. 3! And Mr. 2! And Crocodile! And our new best boy Jinbe! And Ivankov! As both a launching point for new protagonists and a comeback for old foes (along with introducing Magellan, one of the best villains in the series, and Shiryu, one of the scariest villains in the series), Impel Down succeeds. I love it more and more with time.

11. Drum Island

I've written an entire article about why the arc where we first meet Tony Tony Chopper makes me weep, so I'll try to be brief here. Drum Island is beautiful. It's the story of a little deer guy that couldn't find a place in the world and the loud rubber bro that gave him one. It's an arc about the price of dreams and the power of having someone stand up for you when you need it most. It's about love and respect and kindess. And now I'm about to cry again. THANKS A LOT, ONE PIECE.

10. Baratie

The Baratie arc is the first hint that we'll get about how hectic the One Piece world is. We meet Sanji, we meet Don Krieg, and we meet Mihawk (and is stronger than the whole cast of the show combined at this point). Syrup Village is about leaving your comfort zones and Baratie is about finding a home in the chaos that follows.

9. G-8

The best One Piece filler arc and the One Piece arc that I most revisit (it's only 11 episodes, can you blame me?), G-8 is a One Piece Greatest Hits collection and possibly the first thing you should show someone if they want to get into One Piece but don't have long to do so.

8. Alabasta

Are the Straw Hats ready for the Grand Line? Are they ready to topple evil villains and protect those that need help? That's what Alabasta asks and the answer is "Oh yeah." Luffy punching Crocodile up through the center of the city is an iconic moment, showing us that the Straw Hats, whether they mean to be or not, are forces of good in the world.

7. Marineford

Marineford is loud and chaotic and powerful, forcing Luffy into a situation where he is simply an especially energetic pawn on the chessboard of battle. It's just as much of a rescue mission as it is a quest for survival for him, but in the midst of Whitebeard and the three admirals and the Shichibukai, Luffy makes his mark. However, he doesn't do it through displays of awe-inspiring force, but through his willpower. Aokiji is right when he says that Luffy isn't "ready for this stage yet," but the thing that scares the Navy most is that one day, he will be.

6. Sabaody Archipelago

This is not a happy arc. It's a satisfying one (Luffy punching the Celestial Dragon will never get old), and it's an illuminating one (Silver Rayleigh, y'all!), but it's not one that will end with cheering. Kizaru shows up to put an entire generation of pirates in their place and Kuma wipes out the Straw Hats. That said, even if it concludes with the most uncertain moment in the series, it's still a fun ride.

5. Arlong Park

Nami is the soul of the Straw Hat Crew, and learning what she's been through at the hands of the despicable Arlong is heart-breaking. But Luffy doesn't need to know every detail to know that he needs to help and the Straw Hats walking to Arlong Park is another one of those "One Piece is literally the best thing ever" moments. And by the end, every Straw Hat bro gets a victory, Luffy gets a bounty, and Nami gets her freedom. And what does she do with this freedom? She joins a ship full of dummies as their navigator. And I'm so happy about that.

4. Enies Lobby

For many, Enies Lobby is THE arc and I'm not disagreeing with them. It's such a display of raw emotion and exciting battles, a nonstop rollercoaster of everything that makes One Piece great. And it ends with a Viking funeral for the Going Merry, a scene that reveals Oda's true power as a writer: He makes you sob about a ship.

3. Whole Cake Island

If Enies Lobby is about being a hero, then Whole Cake Island is about letting that idea go. The Straw Hats can't beat Big Mom or her crew and will have to settle with getting Sanji and getting out. And Katakuri, the protective brother of the Charlotte family, learns that he doesn't have to be perfect all the time. It's a beautiful arc that shows that Oda is willing to play around with some of the pre-established ideas of One Piece.

2. Water 7

Robin leaves. Usopp defects, Luffy is forced to do things that no captain wants to, and a villainous team shows up that seems unstoppable. Water 7 may be the first half of a story that continues with Enies Lobby, but I find it to be the better one (though not by much). It's an arc that constantly leaves you saying "Well, what else could go wrong?" and then something else does. And it's just so good.

1. Skypiea

This is it. Everything good about One Piece, from the powerful villain (with a great weakness), to the touching themes, to enchanting locations, to the gripping adventures, is wrapped up in Skypiea. And while I have no problems with arcs being connected, there's just something about the standalone nature of Skypiea that leads me to regularly revisit it. It's an arc that makes me glad that I started this nearly 900 episode adventure in the first place. And that's the highest compliment that I can give.

Want to make your own ranking? Then watch One Piece on Crunchyroll! It's literally the only way.

What is your favorite One Piece arc? How do you feel about this ranking? Let us know in the comments!

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queenevaine · 7 years ago

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Merry Christmas everyone! I have a special Christmas fic for those who are fans of Kingfield, but I also wanted to say thank you all sooooo so much for all the love and support of my writing. Seriously, I can’t express just how much it means to me, especially as someone who has written stuff before and gotten little to no comments/feedback on it. I check every single reblog to see what people say about it, and it makes me so extremely happy and grateful to see people adoring it. You guys are why I enjoy writing so much and am able to keep going, so thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I hope you all enjoy this!

A bit of tagging, because plenty of this was inspired by @notthebasement pointing out a Kingfield dynamic in ‘Something Just Like This’ by Coldplay. It ends sweetly, I swear.

Dwight enjoyed the snow falling from the grey sky, a change from the normal dreariness that surrounded the campfire. Christmas was fast approaching, not that he knew exactly when, but sometime soon would be fine for exchanging gifts and celebrating. The thought of the holiday approaching was heavy on Dwight’s mind. He wanted to get presents for the others, especially for David for saving him so many times that Dwight couldn’t count. There had to be something in the Entity’s realm he could put together to fully convey how grateful he was.

Dwight was sure David was too good for him. He had a blunt attitude, and could be antagonistic, but when David cared about something, he put everything into it. With the Christmas season approaching, Dwight wanted to do something nice and prove himself. He wasn’t all that special, but he could manage plenty of varying situations without stress.

Dwight had vowed to himself to find some alcohol, a rarity in the realm of the Entity. He didn’t care for it himself, but the present would probably be something David would enjoy. Trial after trial, Dwight took back bits and pieces of anything notable to make an offering. A bottle from Gas Heaven, bits of leaves from Coldwind Farm, a paper to write on, and mud to make the paper stick to the bottle.

The offering crackled and melted in the flames of the campfire, before it abruptly sputtered out and plunged Dwight into the darkness. When the fog cleared, Dwight was in the cornfield of the Rotten Fields. He immediately looked around, spotting Nea in the distance and Ace’s aura further away. Dwight started searching for a nearby chest, rummaging through the worn, ambiguous shapes that the Entity clearly put there to fill the space.

His hand hit something hard, but not the plastic like in the flashlights or the metal of the keys. He grabbed the bottle out of the chest, grinning as he spun it in his hands. He stood and kept his grip around the neck of the bottle firm, determined not to drop it or lose it. I just have to escape now. With new resolve, Dwight focused on the generators. One already lit up, and he could sense Ace working on another.

He took deep breaths to calm himself. He was normally nervous, but was still able to compose himself enough to lead the others. This time, there was a little more at stake that Dwight didn’t want to lose. The generator Ace was working on lit up, and soon after his own was powered. He felt the pit in his stomach, the fear of losing everything he had spent a little over a week putting together over hundreds of trials.

He heard the humming before ever hearing his heartbeat race. He kept close to obstacles in the field, waiting for the Huntress to pass by before moving on. He heard her wind up a hatchet, and looked over his shoulder to spot the glowing eyes behind the mask. Without any hesitation, he got up and bolted as the hatchet slammed into the hay bales that had been beside him. She yelled in frustration, chasing after him with the axe in her hands.

She gained quickly, throwing another hatchet at Dwight and catching his shoulder. He couldn’t help crying out in pain, but quickly bit his lip to stifle it. Another generator lit up, but the Huntress didn’t even flinch in her focus. He could distract her long enough to let the others finish the generators and open a gate, and then he would just have to make it out. Easy enough, right? He knew how to keep a Killer busy around pallets. He clenched his fists tightly as he ran, determined to make it out alive.

The last generator lit up and the exit doors blared as the Huntress’ axe slammed into his back while sliding across a pallet. He groaned in pain, crawling as close to the pallet as he could while he formed a plan. I am not dying today. The boards of wood shattered and splintered, the Huntress continuing her humming again as she reached to pick up Dwight.

In a swift motion, Dwight grabbed the nearest board of wood and slammed it across the Huntress’ face, catching her off guard as she staggered and groaned, then roared with anger. Dwight took the opportunity to get up and run, as painful as it was. She shouted at him now, in a language he didn’t understand, but it wasn’t hard to tell that she was incredibly upset. He ran for the red lights in the distance, zig-zagging between rocks, trees, and walls to avoid another hatchet.

His heart kept pounding as he ran, seeing Nea and David in the exit gate. His thought was immediately to hide the bottle, he couldn’t go to all this effort to have the surprise wasted. Almost on cue, the Huntress’ hatchet soared through the air, embedding into Dwight’s forearm and make him drop the bottle.

The cry he let out was more of frustration than of pain as he heard the unmistakable shatter of glass. The pain was second to the anger of having gone to all the effort of making this happen, only to lose it in a single second. He heard David running towards him, shouting with his usual anger.

“Oi, Rabbit bitch! Fuck off!”

Her attention shifted, and she chased David off as he ran back into the cornfield. Nea wrapped Dwight’s injuries with bandages, keeping her attention wary for the Huntress coming back. Their gaze snapped to the fields as they heard David scream, and Dwight could tell the Huntress had caught him and put him on a hook. He moved to go back and save him, but Nea stopped him.

“She’s not gonna move, we gotta go or die too.”

The thought only made Dwight even angrier. He glared at Nea, letting out an annoyed breath.

“I’m not leaving him behind.”

Dwight looked back to where David was hanging, seeing the wordless motion that the Huntress wasn’t leaving, and going back would nearly be suicide. Despite it all, Dwight walked back towards the field and toward the cause of his racing heartbeat. Nea grabbed his injured forearm, making him wince.

“We don’t have a choice, unless we all wanna die too.”

“Let go of my arm.”

The stern tone in his voice caught Nea off-guard, but the shock of it only lasted a moment on her face.

“We’re leaving, whether you want to or not.”

“I said. Let. Go.”

The two stood there in a silent staring match, even as Nea’s hand dug into his injured arm. Without warning, she suddenly yanked Dwight towards the exit and past the barrier the Entity allowed them to stay before finding themselves at the campfire. The campfire materialized in front of Dwight, making him shout in a release of every emotion. He spun around, getting in Nea’s face.

“YOU LEFT HIM TO DIE!”

Nea shoved Dwight backwards, staring back with a cold, bitter calmness.

“Don’t fucking get in my face.”

Dwight felt his face getting hot with anger. He wanted so badly to hit her, to take it out on her for making him leave David behind. He felt like a failure, a week of preparation gone in an instant, and leaving David to die was the last straw. He took a deep breath.

“Don’t you ever think of doing that again.”

He didn’t wait for her response, instead turning around to walk into the woods surrounding the campfire. He’d be back eventually, the Entity made sure of that, but he needed to clear his head and be alone. His arm was red and already bruising from Nea’s grip earlier, shaking his head and looking up to the sky. Fucking idiot. He felt so worthless, so painfully average and forgettable.

He held his injured arm tighter as he felt tears forming. He felt terrible, trudging through the snow to just walk. He wanted so badly to prove he was more than a nervous wreck with no real skills in anything but hiding. I can’t even have that, can I? All the others had unique skills they had mastered, and Dwight’s was to guide the others in what they already knew how to do. He sunk to the ground next to a tree, resting his head against the bark. He was still hurting, Nea had patched him up enough to only stop the bleeding. He couldn’t think about healing himself, when his thoughts were on David. What is he going to think and say? That I abandoned him?

He shook his head, trying to stop thinking like that. It wouldn’t help at all, and he didn’t want to be pitied because he was hard on himself. Even still, that didn’t stop his anxiety, afraid that David would decide that he wanted better.

He slowly looked over to the rustling of bushes, squeezing his arm as he noticed the familiar jacket and David walking out with bloody bandages wrapped around his chest. This is it. He’s going to be upset at me and break up. He took deep breaths, waiting for David to speak up. The other kneeled down next to him, head tilted slightly.

“You doing okay? Nea told me you stormed off on ‘er.”

Dwight couldn’t help the scoff.

“She leave out that she shoved me, too? We had an argument. Didn’t wanna talk to her more.”

David laughed, grinning like nothing was wrong.

“Oh yeah? I gotta teach you to throw a good punch sometime.”

Dwight smiled weakly, trying to relax himself. David’s expression immediately shifted to one of concern.

“You been crying? Th’fuck did she say to you? I’ll kick her ass into next fuckin’ week if you want.”

Dwight shook his head. Well, might as well let it all out now.

“W-we had to go. I didn’t want to leave you behind, you save me almost every time I get into trouble. I was trying to get a present for you, I spent a week getting stuff together to offer to the Entity to let me get it, and the Huntress broke it just feet away from the gate. I wanted to do something nice and surprise you, but I can’t even do that. I’m not special, and I.. I was afraid you weren’t going to want to be with me.”

Dwight let out a breath. David sat with his arms crossed.

“Dwight, d’you think I’m a fucking idiot?”

“What? No! God, no!”

David reached to grab Dwight’s uninjured arm.

“Then why th’fuck do you think I don’t know what I want? I don’t give a shit what the others think. I want to be with you, and that’s not fuckin’ changing. I protect you because I don’t want you gettin’ hurt. You don’t ‘ave to get me anything, only thing I’d miss is you.”

He’s way too good for me. Dwight felt the tears stream down his face, prompting David to pull him close. David’s hand was rubbing his back, trying his best to be comforting.

“I don’t want a perfect superhero, Dwight. Just remember that. Besides, you smacked the Huntress across the fucking face! That was amazing.”

Dwight nodded, letting out a laugh. He felt ridiculous now, but still enjoyed the comfort.

“What was the gift, anyway?”

“It, uh, was a bottle of alcohol. I don’t know if it would’ve been good or not, but, I was hoping.”

David grinned, breaking into a laugh.

“I don’t miss goin’ to a pub that much. But, I appreciate it, babe.”

David gave Dwight’s cheek a quick kiss, leaning back to smile. Dwight rubbed his face, clearing the tears away.

“Well, I thought it’d be a nice surprise. But.. oh well, I guess. Can always try again, just won’t be in time for Christmas, I think.”

“Doesn’t matter much t’me. Just keep yourself safe, yeah?”

Dwight nodded, moving to stand up.

“Yeah, I will. Thanks, David.”

David nodded, a wide grin forming on his face.

“Now, how’s about a bit of fun?”

Before Dwight could respond, David took a handful of snow and compacted it to a snowball to throw at Dwight’s face. He wiped it away, the Entity’s recreation being just as cold and soft as normal snow. With a grin, Dwight grabbed a handful of snow himself.

“Oh, you’re on!”

Instead of throwing it, Dwight reached to shove snow down David’s shirt. The undignified yelp made Dwight laugh hard.

“You little shit’ead! C’mere, you!”

David lifted Dwight off the ground with ease, walking to the nearest snowbank despite Dwight’s squirming.

“No, don’t you dare!”

Dwight was unceremoniously dropped into the snow, leaving a hole where he had fallen through. David jumped into the bank alongside Dwight, taking a large handful of snow and sticking it into Dwight’s shirt.

“DAVID, IT’S COLD!”

Despite the shouts, he was laughing the entire time.

“YOU DID TH’SAME TO ME, THIS IS REVENGE!”

Both of them were laughing, wrestling in the snow. By the time they made their way back to the campfire, their cheeks were red, and David’s jacket was around Dwight’s shoulders.

#QueenEve writes #Dead By Daylight #David King #Dwight Fairfield #Kingfield

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