#i think phoenix deserves to punch someone. as a treat

[hershelwidget]

I’ve been playing PLvsPW and for some reason I always thought that in This Certain Scene, Phoenix decks Barnham in the face. I did not realize until I actually got to that scene that I got that impression from fanfiction and I feel like I’ve been played

[soundcrusher]

Day 3 ( I think? It's late, and brain won't working rn ) of asking random ahh questions to the blogs I follow

Hey sorry that it's been a while but I've been busy and couldn't come up with any other questions those few days

A transformers oc of yours that is most likely to be in jail for something that they very much deserve to be in LMAO

Wohooo! Day threeee!

Hey, it's okay. I get it, when you're busy, you're busy. ^^

---

Galen for Aggravated Assault.

Granted, someone would have to really piss him off to get him to do it, but considering how protective he is over Polaris and most of his family, he wouldn't be afraid to throw a punch hard enough to shatter a jaw and or saw someone's arm off.

BUT, that's mostly a "What if" scenario.

So, if he talk current canon, I would say O2. Alone for the unethical experiments she does. I mean, turning Cybertronians into drone like beings is something that should get you into jail. (Normally.)

But then again, Record's the one with the criminal record. (Most of the things on his record aren't even true, but some are.)

Although, Runningway should also be mentioned because of the Attempted Murder on Phoenix. And Second Fiddle for the mutiny together with the other shady stuff he did.

But that would also mean that Reg!Tankcrusher should be on the list, because of how she treated Phoenix...

Okay, so, in short. I don't have any oc who's currently in jail, but there's kinda a list with who should be in there.

And now that I think about it, there should probably be more on the list.

[ot3]

Ugh I do wish capcom had done something with phoenix and apollos relationship other than those horseshit theyre trying to feed me in aa6 I really do want to see phoenix and apollo work through their stuff and get on actually decent terms with each other. Like theyre going to be stuck crossing paths for for rest of their lives I want them to be friends I want them to like each other I really do and I think that there are so many ways you could believably make it happen

Like I think if phoenix ever really understood that before this went down he was someone apollo had idolized he'd get some severe guilt right off the bat there. Obviously everything phoenix did he did for good reason but that doesn't mean that he wasn't being a piece of shit a lot of the time. And I think phoenix could rationalize being A Piece Of Shit to someone he thinks of as kristophs old employee far more than he could rationalize treating someone who looked up to him that way. I think that would be the thing that would make phoenix realize that he wasn't just playing dirty in this sort of ambiguous whole cloth way, he in fact took advantage of apollo very specifically. And although we as the audience know apollo felt this way about phoenix I am pretty sure that if memory serves it never comes up To phoenix. Considering one of the first things apollo did was punch him (deserved) and also phoenixs just general sadsackery I don't think it's ever something phoenix would guess and I don't think apollo wants to tell him either.

I also think part of why phoenix is so uninclined to actually mentor apollo is also because of the huge difference between where apollo is at vs where phoenix was at when he started working with Mia. Phoenix was a huge wreck and a complete moron when Mia started training him and meanwhile by the time apollo shows up at the waa he's a fully functional if not very green lawyer. I think in a weird way phoenix almost has more faith in apollo than he thinks or acts because I don't think phoenix could resist helping apollo if he Really thought apollo needed it. He's a shifty bastard but he's not cruel on purpose and he is still deeply loyal to the people he considers to be his responsibility.

Like theyre both just so completely off base on their expectations of each other its kind of tragic. But I thi k they could work past it and they have plenty of time to do so

[the-al-chemist]

🧡Trick AND Treat 💜

Can I get a fact and Thunderstorm for Dante, please? 🥰

Thanks for the ask!!! 🕸

So, my fact for Dante is that although he comes across as very laid back, he actually has to work hard to control his temper. He keeps a muggle punching bag in his spare room and practises kick-boxing to help him with his anger management issue.

As for the prompt, here is a story about one of the times Dante’s temper got the better of him. It briefly features @thatravenpuffwitch’s Leo Ruserun-Hale, and mentions Dante’s father Cain, who was created as part of @kathrynalicemc’s Phoenix Resistance project. A warning - it depicts violence and bullying, and contains mentions of blood and war.

A Difficult Truth

Dante left the Great Hall having barely touched his breakfast, his feet and hands restless with anticipation. His first lesson of the day was Defence Against the Dark Arts, and today, his class would start learning about the Second Wizarding War.

Perhaps it was strange that he was so excited about the prospect of learning about such a dark and difficult time in the wizarding world’s recent history, especially considering that his father had died fighting in the war, but Dante had always wanted to know more about the father he couldn’t remember. His mother didn’t like to talk about him - it made her too sad - but she had told Dante that he was a soldier, and Dante was looking forward to learning about his father’s great battles and acts of heroism.

He was the first to arrive at the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, a full fifteen minutes before the lesson was due to begin. He tapped his foot as the minutes passed by and more of his classmates gathered in the hallways outside, all talking in low voices. A group of Ravenclaws were whispering to themselves and snickering, and one boy turned to look at Dante with a scathing look in his eyes.

“You’re here early, Briarwood,” said the boy. Dante frowned, not really understanding why he cared. “It’s funny, I’m surprised you even bothered to show up today.”

Before Dante could ask what the boy meant, one of his friends - a girl - also spoke up.

“I don’t think that I’d have the nerve to come to this lesson if my dad had been a Death Eater.”

“What?” Dante almost laughed. “My dad wasn’t a Death Eater.”

The boy and the girl and the rest of their friends actually did laugh.

“Don’t lie, Briarwood. Everyone knows all about how your dad was a supporter of You-Know-Who,” said the first boy. Dante’s frown deepened, and the boy’s mouth dropped open. “Wait, you didn’t know?” He turned and looked at the others. “He really doesn’t know!”

“Know what?”

The Ravenclaws laughed again, all except for one boy with dark skin and cropped black curly hair. He looked awkwardly at his feet and murmured quietly, “Guys, leave him alone…”

“No, Leo. Briarwood deserves to know the truth,” the first boy said. He narrowed his eyes at Dante and told him, “Your dad was a Death Eater, and-”

“You’re wrong!” said Dante, his fists clenched in raised. “My dad was a hero. He fought against You-Know-Who.”

“He fought for You-Know-Who, dummy. He had a mask and a Dark Mark and everything.”

“That’s a lie!”

“No, it’s the truth. He would be in Azkaban right now if he hadn’t been murdered. Just as well, someone that evil and twisted is better off dead…”

It was as if a dark cloud in Dante’s heart had exploded in a sudden burst of thunder and lightning. Before he even knew what he was doing, he flew at the boy, knocking him to the ground and his balled fists making contact with his chest, his cheeks, his nose. One of the girls was screaming, and someone was shouting, but Dante’s heart was pounding in his ears, drowning them out.

A pair of hands grabbed hold of Dante and dragged him back to his feet and away from the boy as he struggled against them.

“What happened here?” a voice - his teacher’s voice - demanded. Dante said nothing. There was blood on his knuckles and tears streaming down his face.

“He attacked me!”

“Only because you were saying all that stuff about his dad.”

“I was only saying what was true,” said the boy who had been taunting Dante. His nose was red and there was already a purple bruise on his cheek. “It’s not my fault that he didn’t know the truth. And it’s not my fault that he’s as violent as his Death Eater dad!”

“My dad was not a Death Eater!”

The Defence Against the Dark gave Dante a quizzical look and sighed deeply, pityingly. Dante’s eyes widened.

It was true. It was all true.

He broke free of the hands that restrained him, but instead of lunging at the boy, he ran away, leaving his thundering footsteps to echo through the corridors behind him.

[curedeity]

Shogun Steel Episode 6:

-alright ren got her episode now to destroy any chance of her being a serious character by letting takanosuke take her pride.

-i love that maru is number 1 in the sound off. Maru appreciation

-ren would get along with tetsuya, shed do the krabby finger things

-why is everyone so mean to ren shes just a ray of sunshine :((( like come on zyro you should be excited to have her around

-benkei: synchrome beys are banned. I dont want this show to be fun

-maru didnt call tsubasa by his title and she shouldnt! She only respects madoka!

-why does rens hair look like that from the back? I elect we never discuss this again

-benkei just accepting ren makes me think she talked to him beforehand. Though it is in character for her to just show up (or maybe ren already knew benkei ahead of time. Like she would if someone had given her phoenix-)

-cant believe we dont get to see shinobu vs ren

-ren is constantly annoyed that her rivals are gays obsessed with each other and none of them will just professionally battle her

-benkei: I RUN A SMALL BUSINESS I NEED TO OPEN THE SHOP

-MARU HAS A LITTLE PONYTAIL OMG

-ren would steal all of julian konzerns money if they met

-benkei: whats up with ren? I have vegetarian options

-takanosukes voice. Omg. His voice. I always forget the specific cadence he has and am punched in the face with how much sillier it is than anything i can imagine. Thank god for his voice actor this is the silliest shit

-takanosuke: you cant be zyro kurogane! Zyro is a manly man amazing blader who couldnt possibly be a girl!

-takanosuke is misogynist im so surprised

-takanosuke and ren could be such fun rivals if takanosuke wasnt a dick wow

-takanosuke i swear to fucking god id you say another word against ren-

-seriously the way everyone in the story ignores her in favor of zyro is so incredibly frustrating and puts a terrible taste in my mouth. Even if you dont think the show is trying to pose that as a positive thing it makes the characters come off as unbelievably sexist.

-ren gets good character development. Not that shes allowed to be the focus, theres a boy here now so lets shove ren to the side

-takanosuke your crush is destroying your ability to be a likeable human being

-shinobu gets a nice speech from benkei. Ren doesnt. Mhm mhm i see the favoritism here

-nvm what i said about hating kite. Takanosukes introduction was so shit im never gonna be able to unsee it.

-i like shinobus arc to getting a special move, he did have a good arc this episode and it builds great off of shinobus character. Theyve finally set it up enough that they can pull off his character

-takanosuke shut up, you dont deserve a good moment this episode. I want him to run away crying.

-summary: i was expecting to dislike this episode as rens downfall but i was not expecting to hate it so extremely. The way they treat ren is so disrespectful that i cannot imagine ever liking takanosuke again without remembering this. Not to mention it souring the rest of the cast. I think i complain a lot about the treatment of women to the point i worry its become desensitized on this blog but this episode left me feeling terrible. Seeing depictions like this genuinely make me feel pushed aside and depowered as they take away my ability to be recognized as a person just because of my gender. An awful episode with very few redeeming qualities and i see no excuse for rens treatment.

[realisticjojoxreader]

Jotaro beats the shit out of your boss 🥺🥺🥺

sorry this took so long lol

jotaro x reader (?), probably between parts 3 and 4, 1.1k

"This guy bothering you?" asks Jotaro, eyes flashing. He looks about ready to kill a man, which works out for you, honestly, because you have a man in desperate need of a gruesome end.

Your boss smirks that awful smirk of his and says, "No, we're all good here."

"I wasn't talking to you," Jotaro says bluntly. "I was talking to this one." He gestures toward you, and you feel yourself blush ever so slightly. Truth be told, he's never given you the time of day before this, despite your best efforts. You're not even sure if he knows your name. It's nice to have him acknowledge your existence after weeks of you subtly making goo-goo eyes at him. "This guy bothering you?"

Uh oh, you think, watching as your boss's face starts to get red and splotchy like it does before he blows his lid. He's going to kill Jotaro.

Jotaro could probably defend himself, if it came down to it, but you would still prefer things didn't escalate. It would be nice to see your boss get his stupid face beat in, though. That might rule, actually. The more you think about it, the more you kind of want it to escalate, because Jotaro would almost definitely kick your boss's ass, and that would fucking shred.

"How dare you speak to me like that!" shrieks your boss, obnoxious and ear-piercing as ever. "Get the hell out of my restaurant!"

"This isn't a restaurant," Jotaro points out quite fairly, "it's a coffee shop. And no, I'm not leaving. I already paid. I just need my other drink. Leave your employee alone so I can get Jiji's nasty coffee and leave."

In your wisest move of the day, you say nothing, skirting around your boss and trying to finish Jotaro's order. Professional legend over here.

Your boss, though, won't let it go, because of course he won't. He's a fucking moron and you hate his guts. "Absolutely not! I want you out of here right this instant or I'm calling the police! You hear me?! The police!"

"For what? I haven't done anything wrong. I didn't even curse at you. You can't just take my money like that."

"Out, out, out!" howls your boss, so angry that he grabs a bottle of liquid vanilla flavoring and hurls it at Jotaro, who lets it hit him right in the chest. You wonder why he doesn't dodge, because you know he can. You've seen him react almost instantaneously before, most notably when you nearly spilled hot coffee on his lap—he moved so fast it was like he teleported. Why not get out of the way?

The answer is this: Jotaro is now allowed to snap. Having been hit with something, having been attacked, having been assaulted, legally speaking, he's not the one who escalated. Now it's self-defense. Now he's free to beat ass. "You wanna take this outside? Fine." And with that he leans forward, grabs your boss by the collar of his idiotic polo shirt, lifts the man over the counter, and drags him out the front door. The casual display of strength makes you a little hot under the collar.

You quickly finish Jotaro's second drink and grab both of them with your sweaty hands. As soon as they're safely cradled in a paper tray, you hurry outside under the guise of giving Jotaro his order, but you know full well you're really going to gleefully watch your boss get his ass kicked. It's gonna fucking rule.

Outside, Jotaro and your boss are standing across from one another, both doing weird poses that look worryingly unstable. You wonder if a freak gust of wind would be enough to knock one of them off balance—with the way your boss's knees are positioned, you're almost sure it would be. How is that even anatomically possible? And don't even get me started on Jotaro, who's leaning back like the goddamn Tower of Pisa and pointing like he's Phoenix fucking Wright. Are you an insane people magnet? You thought Jotaro was normal, for Christ's sake, but now he's just yelling in the street and doing some kind of elaborate LARPing.

When you came out here, you expected to see someone getting punched. You did not expect to see two grown men just stand and scream, flailing wildly as if they're dodging imaginary punches. Maybe you should go back in and empty the tip jar while your boss is otherwise occupied.

Then, it happens. "Fuck this," says Jotaro, before rearing back and punching your boss square in the face. Something cracks. The sound echoes.

Your boss howls with pain and you can't keep the grin off your face, glad to see the man who's treated you like shit for so long finally get what he deserves. You're not sure why Jotaro got involved at all, but you're so, so glad he did. ...Hopefully this won't have repercussions for you.

Crumbling into a broken heap on the ground, your boss says nothing more. He's not dead or anything, though, just injured and embarrassed.

Jotaro says his catchphrase and rolls his shoulders before walking over to you, one hand in his pocket. "Those mine?"

You nod, handing over the paper tray, face burning. You've never had someone stand up for you like that before. Standing there, looking up at Jotaro, you're overcome with the need to say something, anything, to express your gratitude. "Thank you," you say emphatically, though it doesn't feel like enough.

"Whatever," says Jotaro, not even looking at you. He takes the drink and turns on his heel to presumably walk away.

"Wait!" He stops. He turns. He looks at you, eyes narrowed. "Um. Seriously. I owe you one for standing up for me like that." Okay. Time to shoot your shot. The worst he can do is say no, right? You'll probably survive a rejection. "Can I make it up to you with coffee sometime? Or maybe dinner?"

He looks at you like you're the dumbest person alive. "You think I did that for you? I just wanted my stupid drinks."

"Oh, but I thought…"

"You thought wrong. I wanted my shitty drinks and your ultra-capitalist boss was getting in the way of that. If there was another barista there, I would've asked them to make it, since I'm sick of you making that nasty face at me, but you were the only one there."

So he did notice the goo-goo eyes. "But—"

"Yare yare daze." And with that, you feel yourself lifted off the ground, but Jotaro's not touching you. Before you can get even a single word out, you're flying through the air, landing with a splat in a nearby canal.

Wait, what the fuck?! There are no canals around here! There should be an Ulta here! Where did this canal come from?! How did you end up here, is Jotaro fucking telekinetic?! And WHAT IS THAT BITING YOUR ANKLE—?!

[daddywright]

I have only recently got into the ace attorney fandom, and this story was the first story I read, and I feel spoiled! I absolutely loved every chapter, so I'm gonna word vomit here and tell you everything I love about this!

"She offers him a smile. It’s small, tentative, but it possesses a strength that makes a hidden part of him twist and burn with quiet envy." the first time we see nick's wish to be as strong as mia!

Considering the fact that nick didn't have any prominent figure in his life, it makes sense that he would look up to gregory so much

"Phoenix looks up, and starts walking towards Mia Fey

He doesn't stop for two years."

THE RELATIONSHIP THAT MIA AND NICK HAD WAS PRECIOUS AND DESERVES MORE THAN WHAT THE FANDOM GIVES THEM

"Larry’s arms wrap around him, squeezing almost too tight" People forget that Larry and Phoenix were good friends too, and Larry would help his best friend

"Nobody believed him, nobody but Mia" Maya is what Phoenix is to Mia and I adore that

"He wishes, desperately, that he’d said it while she was still alive. I loved you. For everything you did." Not you absolutely breaking my fucking heart

Also the first AA game felt unnatural in the sense of how seemingly unaffected Phoenix seemed at Mia's murder so I'm really glad you wrote it this way

"Expensive. Thoughtful. Too much." SHUT UP NICK YOU DESERVE ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING

Also quick break to mention how I absolutely fucking love your writing style and i wish I was literally half as talented as you cuz the last time I read something that made me feel this multitude of emotions was ocean vuong. And I practically worship Ocean Vuong. So now I worship you too

"You're a stranger to me // When will I stop hoping?" I never really realised just how badly nick musta been hurt by good ol' bratworth before this fic, but now that I have read it, it would have hurt him so bad

"Is this why you never answered my letters? Because I was a reminder? Because it hurt too much?" Honestly what happened to miles and phoenix's friendship hurts so much because it should have never happened, and miles didn't deserve that.

"Maybe Miles Edgeworth is not the man he thought he’d be, either." yo when I tell you this hurt I mean this huRT

Fun fact! My birthday is on the same day as DL-6 anniversary. Gregory Edgeworth died on my birthday. I feel horrible now

"monster. You were nine years old and he's a monster. " No one has made me feel this much emotion for what happened to Miles in a single sentence other than you. I commend you for that

"I love you," he says quietly. He has never said those words to anyone, except for Dahlia Hawthorne.

Maya sniffs in his ear, crushing him tight. "I love you, too."

He has never heard them back.

PHOENIX HAS NEVER HEARD THE WORDS " I LOVE YOU" COME BACK TO HIM ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME WHY NOW I'M SAD

"Tell me everything. Every detail—" Miles is worried bout nick and why wouldn't he? gods you're so gay miles but tbf if I knew someone like nick irl i'd go ballistic too

"He determined the motive for his own assault...with amnesia. Naturally." My man's smart af and he is king

"Is that what she thinks of me? That I'm like that? That I don't care about who the bad guys really are?" Gumshoe noooo you're hella precious! Also this particular chapter was so well written! loved this soo much!

Also taking a minute to appreciate the pacing! Rarely do I ever come across an author who just hits that sweet spot of perfect pacing and you did! so thank you!

Alright so here are a few thoughts that I felt capcom needed to do which you did for us!

no. 1 - Address the trauma phoenix faced with not only dahlia but also with mia's death

no. 2 - Actually fucking flesh out a good relationship dynamic between larry and phoenix

no. 3 - actually! have! phoenix! be hurt! in bridge to turnabout! istg my man would not have dropped from a burning bridge to a freezing river only to have a cold

AUNT FRANZY AND PEARLS MAN!

THEY CUTE

ok so I have a LOT of feelings for bridge to turnabout and HOO BOY BUCKLE UP

So I always thought that in this fic, miles must have felt fucking awful! I mean he very clearly hates who he was and what that has led to but that must have been doubled over with this case! Phoenix would have died if not for mia and it would have been indirectly miles's fault. I think about that alot

Like he said that he very much regrets whatever he did as bratworth in the phone call with gumshoe but i don't think he anticipated this. poor edgeworth

Also I think this was the final nail in the coffin for miles. Phoenix forgave him, after all the fucked up shit miles did, and that made that man go "how is this guy so fucking compassionate awwwww shit I'm in fucking love with this idiotic brave man".

my main thoughts were "holy shit phoenix must have been feeling awful." like to learn that you were in love with a person who turned out to be a murderer but then not a murderer cuz everything you felt about that was real and just...... it must have hurt. He never fell in love with dahlia. it was iris, always. and WHAT ABOUT MILES DURING THIS!!! Like to learn that the man you love was falsely led to believe that he was in love with a person he rarely met and then learn that his ex who is not murderous might still be in love with him because "that was real. that part was real." like damn. people just gloss over this

also I feel terrible for iris F in the chat for iris lads.

Dahlia literally haunting that courtroom scene. I felt mia's power. I felt her desperation. I felt everything and I am once again in awe of the absolute power your writing holds.

also godsdamn pearls had to go through all that shit huh. also FRANMAYAAAAAA THANK YOUUUU

I too, am a hoe confused as to what I should feel towards diego.

Ok anyways we jump to disbarment now

"He just winks at her and says Maya has other talents, and if Mystic Maya overhears, she puffs up at him like the fish from the aquarium she saw once, the one with all the spikes and silly eyes."

you know what constantly amazes me? your ability to change tones so effortlessly. When writing from edgey's pov, the language is sophisticated. precise. when writing from pearly's pov your language is simplistic, child-like. from phoenix's pov it's natural. grounded

"She never knew anybody who made faces like him, growing up in Kurain, and it’s one of the things that makes him special." Yo phoenix is the most amazing uncle ever and we all know it ok he's brilliant

I'M RUNNING OUT OF CHARACTER LIMITS

PEARLY CALLING EDGEY AT FIRST SIGN OF TROUBLE I'M SOFFFFTTTT

“I think I did something really bad." trucy baby no it's not your fault

pearl and trucy bonding supremacy. my girls would fuck shit up

"She’d meant to do this properly, one day." Thank you for giving importance to maya's feelings. thank you for treating her like a real human being. thank you

“Everything that happened...for what? It’s only gotten people hurt. Pearly. Our mother.” Me. Me." I felt so bad for maya here. I wish I could tell you in precise words about how this exact framing of the sentence is what broke me. "me. me" maya deserved more, but mia did all she could

"What do scared kids need? ...Food." not you breaking my godsdamn heart again. phoenix just knows what's it like being a helpless child, and he'll be damned if he ever lets anyone face that again

“‘Course, Pearls,” he says reflexively, before frowning. “What for?” reflexively. if every man in the world could be like phoenix wright then the world would be worthy of the gods

"Another one?" give it 2 years edgey she'll be your daughter too

"after countless hours creating the man’s living space in his mind from the background snatches he’d seen in the man’s ridiculous video calls." NOT ONLY DO THEY VC FOR NO PARTICULAR REASON BUT ALSO MILES ACTUALLY SPENDS TIME TRYING TO RECREATE HIS ROOM?? BECAUSE HE WOULD ONE DAY LIKE TO BE IN IT??? good gods these bitches gay. good for them

"because just as day is light and night is dark, Phoenix Wright is an honorable man." damn straight. you love to see it (it being a 27+ year old man pining for another 27+ year old man)

also hey miles! how do you feel about the fact that the man you love changed his fucking major and degrees halfway through college just so he could see you again only for you to be incredibly rude to him and make him end up in jail! (i bully edgeworth cuz i love him)

"Wright finishes, shrugging like it’s nothing, like his commitment and belief isn’t the most extraordinary thing that Miles has ever faced." it's more than pining at this point. it's incredible faith and trust. Miles had someone who cared about him even after all those years despite him having changed so drastically, ofc he would be surprised. Miles loves phoenix and so do i.

also HOT DAMN YOU WRITING IS JUST * MWAH *

Also the whole segment where they kiss is just !!!!! miles wants! it's beautiful! THEY'RE IN LOVEEE

receiving poisonous bottles which your ex tried to kill you with. My man can't get a break huh

Miles being chivalrous and protective and absolutely stealing my godsdamn heart (and phoenix's too)!

Klavier being the absolute king that he is we stan

The hostage situation section? gods miles must have been terrified.

Phoenix not being able to promise pearly that he'd always come back home and miles hearing it and like... ouch. my heart. you didn't need to do that (but i love your for it)

GODS THE CLIMAX WITH KRISTOPH WAS SOOO SATISFYING AND LIKE MY MAN PHOENIX REALLY PUNCHED THAT BITCH HUH

klavier baby I am so sorry

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL!

and thus my comment ends. I believe I have almost used up all of my commenting limits and i leave with these few parting words : HOLY SHIT YOUR AMAZING AND I LOVE YOU!

also I made a playlist on spotify for this fic! here's the link : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3k8lRHiO8ZXQDLpiTUL7SN?si=fc3b35b4ab064867

gods this was long huh

GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY....WHERE DO I BEGIN...THE FACT THAT YOU BROKE THE CHARACTER LIMIT ON AO3 AND MADE A PLAYLIST? WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?

thank you so much for all the amazing things you said....i am crying on a Wednesday morning knowing my writing was appreciated this much. thank you!

[sebastianshaw]

My big issue with how Marauders deals with Shaw is that while yeah, Shaw always was a bastard piece of crap I want to see fail, I want it to be fair, I want it to be developed properly.

There's no satisfaction in seeing someone that was already defeated losing, Duggan never gives him a chance, he isn't a good villain he is just a punching bag and a plot device.

And the fact he hasn't let Shinobi punch that bag at least a little bit it's annoying, if you will do character bashing at least make it a public event for everyone he wronged, not only the women you want stepping on you, Duggan.

(Sorry I didn't answer this earlier, I was out and this is the sort of ask I needed to be at a computer to reply to ^^) YES EXACTLY. Even if you're not at all familiar with Shaw, or if you hate him (which is totally justified/valid, there are MULTIPLE reasons to DESPISE Shaw, I think there's MORE reason to hate him than not, and I say that as someone who loves him), even if you think Duggan's overall characterization is correct. . . it's still poor writing in how he portrays him as incompetent, incapable, and not at all a threat to the heroes. We also see this in Verendi and the other bad guys who appear, NONE of them have been able to even slightly challenge the heroes in a serious way. And that's a problem. Because a story is only as good as its villain. If you do not provide a suitable challenge to your heroes, if you do not give them an obstacle that they have to struggle against, then their victory doesn't mean as much. If we don't feel fear for our heroes, if we don't feel there's a possibility they could fail, if we don't find ourselves wondering how they'll win (or in some cases, even survive), then it's not half as satisfying when they do overcome those odds. Shaw is introduced in Marauders #2 as needing to come to Emma for financial aid, which is absurd enough. Shaw is the business as Sinister is to science, this is the thing he's the best at. So instantly, his biggest talent is undermined, and he's in the position of needing something from our hero, who lords it over him. He is then debased into throwing a comical tantrum like a bratty child, and then Kate comes in and "zomg pwns" him by calling him a bitch, ooooh! Even if Duggan had written him perfectly for the rest of the series, this would be a really bad way to introduce him as anything resembling a capable challenge for our protagonists. This can work for lesser villains, for ones who are meant as comical lackeys or slimy underlings, or for who are meant to be more a HATE SINK than anything (note that Hate Sinks are rarely the primary antagonists; for instance, in Aladdin, it's not Jafar, it's Prince Achmed) but if they're meant to be a Big Bad, it doesn't work. You can't introduce your overarching villain---which Shaw seems meant to be, as he's the most consistent one---as a joke. You definitely can't continue to treat him as a joke that the heroes can poke and prod and walk all over at every turn. I think even Duggan knew that to a degree, because he let Shaw suddenly become competent just long enough to kill Kate, which is what gives Kate and Emma justification to then wipe the floor with him like they did. He's written as otherwise being too much of a helpless inept clown to justify such a response. And speaking of said response. . . god it's so bad? Not because Shaw is brutalized---I am fine with that, I legit agree he had that coming and he's a bad guy, I'm not expecting him to win or fare well---but because he's brutalized so easily and with so little resistance. Shaw is not an easy foe, and he never has been. His combination of resources, influence, and mutant power is an incredible force. It has been stated in canon that it's easier to take down a small country than Shaw, and he's generally proven that true. He fails in every story he's been in, but he puts up such a fight on all fronts, physical and scheming, that it's easy to forget that, and typically does a lot of damage to the heroes in the process. Sometimes he even obtains some kind of consolation prize. Whatever the story though, besting him is almost always a struggle, as it should be. So if you told me that Kate and Emma, two incredibly intelligent and skilled and powerful women in their own rights, took on Shaw, and that the fight ends with him missing an eye and in a wheelchair, I would think this must have been the most epic battle since the Phoenix Saga. Some incredible fight that displays the cunning tactics and physical ferocity of all three, giving them each their due in a glorious battle that the ladies win by the skin of their teeth. I would have LOVED that. And we

know that's not what happens. What happens is a farce so pathetic it would be funny if it weren't so vile. It's also nonsensical; Kate is able to bloody Shaw's nose BEFORE they turn his powers off, which shouldn't be possible, this man was introduced taking blows to the face from Colossus and SMILING. Or how Shaw has ZERO SECURITY at Blackstone and OPENS HIS OWN DOOR despite being shown to have staff earlier and being a canonically intelligent, cunning man who had to know these ladies were on to him. It's a completely effortless curb-stomp battle, and it does not only a disservice to Shaw as a villain, it does a disservice to Kate and Emma. Because as you said, they don't earn this victory. There's no struggle, no effort, no doubt they'll win. And that not only saps all the tension out of it, it robs them of a chance to shine. If they're not forced to give a fight all they've got, we don't get to SEE all they've got. And as you said, there's no satisfaction in seeing Shaw lose if he was already losing every step of the way. I am all for Shaw losing. My favorite stories of Shaw all have that. But goddamn, do it RIGHT. Also: yes god you're completely right about Shinobi. I think Duggan treats Shinobi with sympathy simply because he hates Shaw so much, but he's also not interested in giving Shin any real spotlight or closure when he could just have his favorite women doing All the Things instead. I think he will eventually come back to Shin's story but it's already WAAAAY overdue. And Shin deserves a shot at Sebastian SO MUCH!!!

[gotshadowbanned-feralfungii]

How Kristoph's Actions Affected Klavier

If Capcom won't do it then by god I will. I think a lot about the Gavin brothers and Klavier specifically. Kristoph is a master of gaslighting and we've seen how he treats Klavier in canon. From what we know about Klavier, and Kristoph, and their dynamic... even though the aftermath of the whole thing in regards to Klavier isn't really touched on properly in-game... I have some ideas I'd like to share. I'd put them under a cut but Tumblr mobile really do be like that. So let's just get to it.

Klavier probably feels like all the guilt for Kristoph's actions is on him. We've seen in comics that as they grew up Kristoph would blame Klavier for things that Kristoph himself had done, and with such certainty that Klavier himself would doubt his own memories of events and actually feel guilty. He didn't just take the blame for his brother, he genuinely felt he was in the wrong for something he'd had nothing to do with.

We also see in-game that Kristoph knows exactly how to play Klavier. Exactly how to hurt him, to manipulate him, to break him down. And Klavier grew up with that. With someone manipulative and controlling, selfish and cruel. And Klavier himself being so sincere and honest and kind as we see in canon... He'd be the perfect proverbial punching bag for someone like Kristoph. A soft heart is easier for hard hands to shape.

Not to mention he actually used Klavier to get Phoenix disbarred. Klavier, who values the truth. Klavier, who even then wanted to do the right thing. To find out that his own actions contributed to someone else's misery like that? That he hurt innocent people? To know that even as he grew up Kristoph could trick him so easily and use him as a pawn? How badly must that hurt? How horribly must that shake him? Any confidence he'd gained whilst stepping out from Kristoph's shadow, any resolution that he was smarter than to fall for his brothers manipulation anymore... All shattered. He would feel horrible for all of it, I'm sure. Such thoughts and feelings as:

How could he look Phoenix in the eye after that? How could he interact with any of them? It was all his fault, everything Kristoph had done was on Klavier's shoulders and he deserved to be punished just as much as Kristoph did. Maybe even more so. Maybe the others wouldn't hold a grudge against him. After all, he'd had no idea at the time that he was doing anything but the right thing. But even if they didn't, he held a grudge against himself. He couldn't let himself get close to any of them. He'd hurt them all too badly and he didn't deserve the love and warmth their circle shared. So he isolated himself. Separated himself. Self-imposed exile.

He works hard. That's a canonical fact. But maybe he works harder after all that, more than is healthy. Because he needs to atone? Because he wants to punish himself? Maybe both. But he's stubborn about it and even Edgeworth can't scare him into leaving the office at a reasonable hour. If he's focused on a case then his mind can't drift. If he's thinking about a trial then he isn't thinking about how everything was his fault and he could have kept it all from happening and he was a sham and a coward for allowing himself to walk away a free man while Kristoph was convicted, even though he was just as guilty.

It doesn't help that he visits his brother, who just reinforces those awful thoughts. Who convinces Klavier just as Klavier convinces himself. He can't let himself off the hook. He owes it to his brother, and to the ones he hurt. Not the ones Kristoph hurt, the ones Klavier hurt. Because this is all your fault, Klavier, surely even you can see that? Why don't you take responsibility for all the harm you've done? I'm disappointed, Klavier. I thought you were better than that. Aren't you supposed to be smart? Don't you value justice? Why, then, do you not hold yourself accountable?

He really needs to stop visiting Kristoph.

Whats's worse, people keep inviting him to things. Trucy, Apollo, Athena- hell, even Edgeworth and Blackquill run into him at work and try to get him to drop by to a gathering the main cast are having. A game night or a movie night or a Steel Samurai marathon. It sounds fun. But he always has an excuse not to go. He says he has a case he needs to study when the truth is he can't look Wright in the eye without feeling like his chest is going to cave in on itself. He says he has to record something when the truth is he thinks Edgeworth secretly despises him for hurting Phoenix and is just keeping up a professional politeness. He says he has a headache when the truth is he can't stand how Trucy and Apollo and even Athena light up as if they actually want him to be there. It makes him feel sick. It makes him lightheaded. The truth is, the thought of facing all of them makes his stomach twist into horrible knots.

How could any of them want him to be there?

How could they want to be around him?

He doesn't even want to be around himself.

Because it's just like when they were kids. It's just like it's always been. 

Every horrible thing Kristoph has done is entirely Klavier's fault, and he can never shake off that guilt.

[streetcarname]

thinking about how mike waters in mopi was supposed to be straight despite being a gay hustler. like y'kno. "gay for pay" the way scott is but river phoenix who was also bisexual himself rewrote mike to be bisexual and in love w scott

like... him completely rewriting the campfire scene on his own into a tender moment between mike and scott, a confession scene, and adding lines like "you know, i could love someone without being paid. i love you and you don't pay me" was just so fucking meaningful??? honestly don't think i would've liked the movie as much as i did without the campfire scene... i might've even called it problematic tbh

before this moment that happens between the two, my own private idaho despite having a gay director + screenwriter, paints homosexuality almost like a curse. like people can only be victims of it, like there's no real love inside of it...

they never portray a gay couple being in love, there are only scenes where real gay street kids describe where they get abused and raped by men. mike's and scott's johns are sexually weird and deviant. the movie almost portrays being gay like a deviance? in a way. obviously i'm not saying that we shouldn't acknowledge common abuse stories in the gay street scene but you should also highlight the good parts of being gay and the campfire scene does that job

the campfire scene gets completely rewritten by river phoenix and just... portrays him not being abused. not being raped. not being in it for money or sex of any kind. he's just in love with his best friend and his best friend doesn't feel the same way. it shows a character being gay with no money in any way involved which was what the movie really needed. and i think river did a fantastic job writing the scene!!

but it's also what makes this movie really heartbreaking. mike never gets a happy ending.

mike is abused and his mother left him so he developed narcolepsy because he gets so stressed whenever something reminds him of her... it's implied in a way that he might be a product of incest (not 100% confirmed tho some ppl view it that way) and he's finally found someone who doesn't treat him like shit or abuse him in any way and genuinely supports him!!

idk how to feel abt scott as a character but he's definitely very caring and attached to mike. whenever mike gets a narcoleptic episode he makes sure to keep mike safe, he protects him from danger, he tries to help him find his mom, he does his best to understand his narcolepsy and help!

and even when he falls in love w scott... scott just. doesn't feel the same way. "two men can't love each other." scott has sex loudly with a woman knowing mike can hear it. scott also kisses that same girl in front of mike because he knows mike loves him yet can't have him. he leaves italy, leaves mike completely alone in the middle of nowhere in a country where he cannot speak the language and gets married to that same girl, and in the end mike is still left heartbroken by the man who he trusted and loved the most and the only person who ever fucking kept him safe.

scott favor was the only person who ever kept mike safe in any way. away from any danger and in the end he still got his heart broken into two by scott. not only is the campfire scene tragic but the scene where scott leaves mike in italy and mike is left to cry and punch his bed in frustration and watch him disappear is tragic. the scene where scott completely ignores mike sleeping on the street when not too long ago he would've been the one to shelther him, find him something warm to cover him, hold him while he's sleeping, is tragic. the double funeral scene is tragic.

mike waters as a character is tragic. his story is tragic. he deserved so much better

[asgardianthot]

Flesh And Bones - part 3

Soulmate AU

Series Masterlist

words: 2131

The night was as quiet as one could expect when a part of the team was in an overnight mission. The clock ticked and so their time moved forward, while the heroes at Avengers tower went to bed knowing the hour in which their roommates had to come back. That was the reason why some didn’t get a good night sleep in those situations; they feared they would wake up in the morning to bad news.

Bucky set his course to the kitchen to appease his grumbling stomach. He would probably end up eating someone else’s treat and getting yelled at for it, but his need for a midnight snack was worth it. Inside the common kitchen, he opened the fridge, the cold air hitting his arms where his short sleeves ended as he lurked for something good.

Before he could find any non-deserved food, the familiar tingle crawled under his skin. First on his shoulder, then on his stomach. He shut the fridge and took a step back, taking in the sensation.

He sighed and held himself on the counter.

“Fuck, not again.” He mumbled to himself.

All of a sudden, powerful pain on his stomach caused him to bend over. He pressed his hand against the spot, yet before he could adjust to the ache, another hit reached his back. A suffering moan escaped his mouth, and his legs failed, letting him fall to the tiled floor.

There wasn’t enough time to process what kind of hurting it was, what it meant; it wasn’t like before, when he could guess his soulmate had probably collided against a doorknob. This time, it was so unbearable and overwhelming, he didn’t get a single clue. Whenever he would try to stand up, he would feel more pain on his ribs, his cheek, his knees. Eventually, he also sensed it on his knuckles, but it wasn’t as bad.

Bucky tried to keep quiet, forcing himself to refrain from screaming. He groaned and breathed through his nose and open his mouth in agony before shutting it tight, pressing his lps together. He was more than grateful to the universe when the agony felt more distant, the aching diminished a little. Only then, he was able to weakly lift himself by reaching the counter and, with nauseas from the numbing pain, he stood in front of the sink. It was too pristine to puke on, but it rose across his esophagus until he was throwing up all over the silver sink, the suffering leaving his body, as it didn’t comprehend what had just happened.

His body didn’t, but Bucky did. Who could be near him, and gotten his ass beaten at that very moment? Who was in danger that very instant?

It was Sam. He knew it was.

The realization made him even dizzier, and with his trembling arms keeping him up, he threw up some more from the shock.

A voice broke into the room.

"Buck?" he heard Steve, loud and clear.

He turned around and fell to the floor, resting his head against the marble counter and later cleaning his face with the bottom hems of his shirt. He was panting, and sweating, and Steve examined him from the other end of the kitchen. The blonde eyebrows bent in a frown, concerned plastered all over his features.

"Hey, hey, you alright?" the Captain rushed to help his friend.

However, Bucky rejected his hand.

"Yeah.” He faked a weak smile and spoke airily, “Just... sick. Ate some bad donuts."

Steve stared at him for a few seconds, not convinced. Bucky didn’t look sick, he looked like he was in pain. But he knew he wouldn’t get the truth out just like that. Uncertain, the blonde placed his hands over his waist and stepped back to give Bucky some room.

"You sure?" he checked again.

Barnes felt the nauseas rising up his throat, but breathed them down.

"Yep."

That definitely didn’t change Steve’s mind. But he left him alone, knowing how stubborn Bucky could be sometimes, and simply nodded. He stuck around for mere seconds and when Bucky’s eyes darted to the floor, Rogers turned on his heels.

"Hey, uhm...” Barnes called before the man left, “anyone monitoring Wilson's comms?"

The one thing he could worry about right now, was to ensure Sam’s safety. He was so badly hurt, there had to be some sort of rescue. He would deal with the whole soulmate thing later.

"I think Romanoff's on it." Steve replied with a nod, "Why?"

The brunette looked up at him, then to the window. He couldn’t face the man within the eye and lie so much, but he didn’t feel like he had another option.

"He got an escape route?" he asked, trying not to sound suspicious.

"As usual.” The blonde frowned, “But why?"

Rogers wasn’t as dumb as the joked played him out to be. Bucky sounded far too suspicious; just like he would if he knew something about the mission, something no one else did. If that were the case, Steve needed to know.

"Nothing, I just... always think the worst possible outcome." Bucky lied.

-

The pain washed away after a couple of minutes, leaving a small remain of aching muscles and bones, but not bad enough to walk and sit. He went to bed and tried to sleep, barely catching a few hours of non-consecutive rest. In the morning, he found out Sam had been ambushed and badly injured. Natasha rescued him and had flown him back to the tower during the night, all bruised up and with gunshots inside him.

He had also broken a rib, which Bucky thought would be the hardest to heal. He could feel it when he sat on his bed first thing in the morning. All of that information was provided to him by Rhodey, whom he met in the elevator. Apparently, they had brought Sam in in a frenzy, every awake person running back and forth to get him to the nursing room. That was where Bucky was headed.

The glass doors opened, letting Bucky through to a very stable-looking Sam. Bruce was reapplying his bandages while the injured man sat on a high bed; he was shirtless, which allowed Barnes to admire every bruise and cut. Luckily, anything worse was covered in white gauze.

"Hey, peeper." Sam’s voice rang as he caught the soldier at the door.

Bucky took a few steps forward, "I heard you almost died last night." He exaggerated.

Sam smiled at the comment, and eyed his own body which was nowhere near having escaped a near-death experience. Just a hell of a beating. It only then hit Bucky how many Sam smiles he had wasted not appreciating them; the gap-toothed grin lit the entire room in less than a second.

"That's a good story for a legend." He nodded amusingly.

"He's fine.” Banner cut the joke, “Should be fully recovering in just weeks."

"Like a phoenix.” Sam raised his chin, still on the bit.

After receiving no witty reply, his eyes searched for Bucky. They were used to messing around like that, so it wasn’t common for the ex-spy to remain so silent. As a matter of fact, Sam noticed the man looked rather worried, which caused him some confusion. He didn’t think he had ever been stared at by Barnes with those kind of eyes. He shook off his own concern and decided to say something to ease Bucky.

“I'm too tough to get killed." He added like it was nothing, yet intending to get his co-worker to stop with those eyes.

Successfully, he got himself a half smile from Bucky’s part.

"Still, I know a thing or two about broken ribs, so, uhm... take it easy." Barnes hesitated.

Sam accepted the tip and went back to his usual bothering self. He nodded and when Bruce was done with the bandages, he stepped down the bed with a groan.

"Unlike you, I actually have a sense of self-preservation.” Sam raised an eyebrow, “I'll be alright."

Bucky was left to swallow hard and blink the shock away.

"Right." He sighed.

Sam was right. Bucky was known to be pretty bad at caring about himself, physically and emotionally. A man doesn’t go brainwashed and tortured for half a century without gaining some sequels. He sucked at healing his own wounds, because nobody healed those at Hydra. He failed to process his own emotions, for they had been electrocuted out of him. He pushed things down until he drowned them down his throat, nauseatingly.

But most importantly, he was so prone to hurt himself, never intentionally, but never minding too much either. If he could feel Sam’s pain, perhaps Sam already felt his. Probably not, but Bucky obviated when that would start occurring. The only thing he knew was that he needed to keep Sam in the dark about it. He had to be careful not to get hurt.

That night, he went down to the training gym, just like he did every night. The rest of the Avengers were usually making jokes about Bucky never training, but nobody knew he did it after midnight, after 2am sometimes, when his mind couldn’t sleep. When he needed to clear his head. He got the punching bag ready and began boxing it out, discharging his strength against it until he got lost in the movements.

In the comfort of his bed, Sam felt something. He stood up straight, carefully, in order to not lose focus on the sensation. He examined his hand, specifically his knuckles; for a few nights, he had been feeling an odd sense of tingling on them. He couldn’t ignore it anymore. He checked the digital clock on his nightstand, which read 1:55am.

“What the…?” the words left his mouth in awe.

He knew what this was. Somehow, he had the feeling it was someone else’s knuckles.

-

The following morning, Bucky sat at the couch as usual, his stomach satisfied with the breakfast meal he had just gulped down. Sam and Steve were still on the kitchen space, near the fridge, while Bucky watched nonsense television. Naturally, the two men thought Bucky never paid attention to their morning conversations. However the topic had the soldier’s ears as attentive as they’d ever been.

"So, I think I might... maybe... have a soulmate." Sam let out, uncertain.

Bucky’s muscles stiffened. Steve frowned and set down the bottle of orange juice he was currently holding.

"You mean right now? You felt something?"

Sam swallowed and nodded, "Something, yeah. It's not exactly- well, it's more-"

"Are you sure you're not overthinking it?” Rogers interrupted the illogical babbling whit his eyes squinting, “You know, after we talked about it?"

"No, man, I know what I felt." Sam shook his head.

Steve was suddenly more interested than shocked. His face turned into one of pure curiosity as he picked the bottle back and opened the cap.

"What was it?" he asked.

"Like... a tingle in my knuckles.” Wilson explained, his eyes lost in his difficulty of finding the right words, “But you know... like some slight pain. I've been feeling it every night."

He can feel me training, Bucky thought, and panicked. He could feel his flesh hand sweating; he pretended to keep his eyes on the television while he heard how Sam talked about him without even being aware of it.

"Your soulmate's out picking on fights every night?" Rogers mocked him.

"Dude."

"I'm sorry." The blonde laughed and took a sip of the orange juice; he licked his lips and darted back to seriousness, "What's it feel like? Someone else's pain?"

Sam looked down at his feet and reflected on it. It was so odd to admit to it, even more to describe it. Meanwhile, Bucky shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He wanted to rush out of there, he didn’t want to pry on that conversation. It wasn’t his right, and he didn’t want to think about it. He wished he could pretend he didn’t have a soulmate, but he knew that wasn’t possible, especially having breakfast three feet from each other.

"Exactly like that.” The Falcon breathed out, and then looked back up at his friend, “Like it's not mine."

A knot formed itself on Bucky’s throat, and he almost involuntarily cleared it. He regretted making that sound immediately, and nervously shifted in the leather seat. Both Steve and Sam turned to look at him.

“Go ahead, say I'm crazy.” Sam spat, getting ready for the comments he thought would come from Barnes, “I'm waiting."

"I didn't say shit." Bucky shot back, defensive.

The soldier stood up and stormed out of the room, leaving question marks all over the place and on his friends’ faces.

[portgas-d-ace-of-hearts]

Take Me Down (To Paradise) Chapter Two

Chapter Summary: In which Ace gets to punch someone and the group returns to the ship.

Notes:  Small trigger warning for a brief mention of sexual assault in conversation, nothing shown either explicitly or otherwise.

Violet eyes wide, Nym’s lips parted. She licked her dry lips and replied with the only words that came to mind. “I guess you won’t mind if I tag along with you, then?”

  …

“Tag along with us?” 

  Ace cringed inwardly. He could have hit himself when the only thing he could do was echo Nym’s words back to her. Then again, he felt numb. Somehow he’d found his second soulmate getting noodles and sake at a pub during a night at port. A soulmate who seemed to be in a bit of a bind, considering the reason that brought her to their table in the first place. Whoever that shady-ass stalker was, her sitting down between him and Marco had been enough to send him scurrying. The sudden surge of protectiveness he felt startled him, at once both familiar and foreign. He’d felt similar instincts with Marco, even when they’d only first gotten to know each other. 

  “Yes, tag along with you, ya know? Leave town together?” Seeing as they’d just been revealed as soulmates, he grudgingly gave her the rest of his udon, motioning at the nearest family member of the pub owner to bring two more bowls. Judging by how she wolfed down the rest of his cooling portion, she’d need more as much as he did. 

  “What, just like that? You don’t have a life here? What about your family?” As irrational as it made him feel, the longer he looked at her the more he wanted to touch her, if only to see if she were real. When Marco’s mark had revealed itself on his arm as the man held a dish of food out to him like a peace offering, he’d wanted to do the same—he had done, before long. Once soulmates were revealed to each other they were damn difficult to keep apart. 

    How could this be happening?

  Nym slurped up the last of the thick noodles and wiped her mouth on the back of her wrist. Her strange violet eyes alighted on him, and the inappropriately-timed thought of how many kisses fit between them reared its head. “Yes, ‘just like that’, and no, I don’t. My family doesn’t live here. I was just passing through.” Her nose wrinkled playfully. “I’m what they call a wayfarer.”

  Thatch leaned towards her with interest, though careful to keep his shins far out of her range. “Oh, so you’re just a traveler, then? You go where the wind takes you?”

  Nym propped her chin on her fist, her elbow resting on the table. “Exactly. Sometimes I travel with folks, and sometimes I travel alone. Since me and Ace here just found out that we’re soulmates and I’m not doing anything else, it stands to reason that I might see where the wind takes us when it blows us in the same direction.”

  Ace found that deeply amusing for some reason. A cheeky grin curled his lips. “A thirst for adventure and nothing holding you down to one location? You might as well be a pirate.”

  Nym eyed him curiously. “Is that an official invitation?”

  “Well, you did say you’re not doing anything else—”

  Thatch’s head thunked onto the table, his fist smacking against it emphatically. “Oh good god,” he moaned.  “Not again. Not more of this fucking soulmate flirting bullshit.”

  Nym flushed a rather fetching cherry red—in Ace’s opinion—and then in the next moment Thatch swore and bent down to rub at his shins. “Fucking hell do you kick hard for such a small woman!”

  Marco let loose a raucous bark of a laugh. “It’s what you deserve. Payback for all the times from before when you gave me and Ace shit.”

  “Fuck you, man, you two were un-fucking-bearable,” Thatch insisted as he continued rubbing furiously and muttering curses. 

  Nym looked between Ace and Marco with interest as two bowls of steaming udon were laid in front of her and Ace. “You two are already soulmates?” Ace watched as she connected the dots, then held still as she studied him. “So you have two soulmates, then, Ace.”

  Ace found himself gifting her an easy smile, voice soft and almost drawling. “Apparently I can’t help myself. I have to find double the trouble wherever I go.”

  Nym laughed, then sobered, clearly intrigued. “Does he have a second one as well?” 

  “He’s right here,” Marco chimed in then, taking the opportunity to steal a bite from Ace himself, “And the answer is yes.”

  She hummed. “Hmm. I wonder…”

  “What?” Ace’s brows creased in concern, trying to picture what might be bothering her. 

  She extended her opposite wrist in front of her on the table, baring a secondary, dormant soul-mark. “Is your other mark active or dormant?”

  Wordlessly Marco slowly offered his other wrist as well, revealing another dormant mark. “You’re not thinking—?”

  “One way to find out,” she murmured, pressing her wrist into his. Not being on either end of that match, Ace couldn’t feel the burn of activation, but he could observe as Nym’s mark appeared on Marco’s flesh the way it had on his own, mirrored against Marco’s Phoenix flashing into existence on her. 

  “You’ve got to be shitting me,” Thatch blurted, watching them with wide eyes. “Double mutual soulmates? A bonded set ?”

  Ace’s stomach twisted itself in knots. Outwardly he appeared smug, but inwardly the turmoil might suffocate him. How could he safely love his soulmates without hurting them? How could he be everything they needed without also being his father’s son? He felt, almost, a rising sense of panic, one that abated suddenly, and when he looked up from glaring into his udon he found Marco’s hand in his, and Nym’s on his wrist. As his soulmates they’d instinctually felt his distress and moved to comfort him.

  “It looks like now I have two reasons to leave,” Nym shrugged, sounding upbeat. 

  Marco chuckled, amused both by her demeanor and the expression evidently on Ace’s face. “Face it, Ace,” he teased him, “you’ll just have to get used to twice the love.”

  “Twice the annoyance, you mean,” Thatch muttered, dodging the elbow aimed his way by Marco. 

  Ace flipped off their blonde friend and dug into his new udon, unable to take his eyes off of Nym—or off of Marco, for that matter. Despite having eaten before she arrived, he still finished before her, sending his bowl away with coins to settle their tab. As soon as she finished eating and her bowl left the table as well, he stood, readjusting his hat. “Time to go. Do you have your things?” 

  His friend and two soulmates got to their feet. Nym picked up a small pack he hadn’t noticed before and nodded resolutely. “Yep.” She’d looked short before when she slid in next to him and changed his life irrevocably, but now standing next to her with Marco he could observe how truly tiny she looked next to them. Despite her wide hips and not being particularly thin, she seemed almost delicate in her features, elf-like in some way. The name Nymphadora certainly suited her, even if she found it distasteful. 

  “Let’s go then, babe.” 

  Her reaction to the endearment was lost in the murmur of the crowd around them.  Without conscious thought, Ace took her hand in his, twining their fingers together. When he looked over his shoulder as he led them toward the exit, he saw Marco holding her other hand, Thatch trailing behind them like a sulky duckling. He slipped outside with his ears pricked for danger. A good thing, as when they emerged onto the street they found the man from before lurking in the shadows nearby. 

  He made as if to grab at Nym, the motion aborted halfway through as he realized she had company with her. Before he could change tactics properly, Ace decked him with his free hand, sending him sprawling onto his back and out cold. He lightly stepped over him, tugging the others along with him. He noticed with no small sense of satisfaction that Marco had stepped on the man’s nose when passing over him. 

  “You’ll like the ship,” he told her conversationally as they walked through the streets hand in hand and abreast to Thatch. “It’s called the Moby Dick. ”

  “Is it now? Your captain must have a fondness for old novels,” she remarked. She didn’t seem at all fazed by him laying out her would-be attacker. In fact, she had a definite spring in her step as they made their back to the ship. 

  “Guess so,” Marco mused. “Pops has read a lot of books in his time.”

  “Pops?” 

  “Yeah, the Old Man,” Ace explained. “Whitebeard.” 

  “He treats us all as his sons,” Thatch added. 

  “Ah, I see.” Nym paused. “Does that mean—do you think—are there women onboard?”

  The three men slowed, Ace and Marco sharing one of their loaded glances that had more than once earned them gentle ribbing from the crew. Marco sounded as uncertain as Ace felt. “A few. As a general rule he doesn’t typically allow women combatants, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any in the crew.”

  Ace’s hand tightened on Nym’s, not willing to let her go for a second. “There’ve been exceptions. When he takes a crew under his command, he’ll usually give the old members a choice of joining him or starting over again. Banshee and Cornelia were some of my old crew that he allowed to stay.”

  Thatch continued their reassurances. “And he’s accepted a few exceptionally gifted women into his forces for other roles—trackers, spies, messengers, healers…”

  Nym seemed a bit upset. “So why does he have that rule, anyway?” 

  The docks came into view, an array of ships of varying shapes and sizes moored up and down the row. 

  “Probably to avoid conflict in the crew,” Thatch guessed. “To avoid fights over relationships. Or, ah, children on board.”

  “Or to protect them,” Marco offered. “I wouldn’t fancy being a woman captured by an enemy crew or the marines.”

  Nym made a disgusted noise. “Some of the crews allow rape?”

  “Some—not all, and not ours,” he hurried to reassure her. “Not any halfway decent crew, for that matter. Pirates don’t have many laws, but we’re strict about the ones we keep.”

  “He’ll make an exception for you.” Ace’s voice wavered, his confidence not absolute even to his own ears. The way he said the words, it was clear he wanted to believe them, but that even he couldn’t be sure. “He has to. You’re our soulmate.”

  “And I’m useful.”

  Ace and Marco shared another glance. “You don’t have to be useful, babe.” Ace squeezed her hand to offer what comfort he could muster. 

  “But I am,” Nym insisted. “Marco’s right about my family, about our haki I mean. I’m a Swan, so I’ve trained to use it. Plus, I speak a few different languages. I could serve as a ship translator.”

  Ace felt a small bloom of pride in his chest. He and Marco may not think she had to be useful, and he knew his first soulmate agreed with him on that, but she bloody well would be . The translation abilities alone would make her an incredible asset, but with training in how to properly wield haki, it made her all the more valuable. If only the Old Man would see it that way. 

  “And.” Her voice dropped to below a whisper, and Ace had to strain to hear her speak. “And I’ve eaten a Devil Fruit.”

  Well then . 

  The conversation cut short as the Moby Dick came into view. Ace pointed out which ship it was to Nym as they approached. She let out an awed, breathy chuckle. “It’s huge.”

  Firmly trying to steer his mind out of the gutter, he agreed. His hold on her hand tightened briefly before he disentangled their fingers so they could board. He turned to Nym and carefully tucked her long hair into the hood of her cloak, which he then drew until it shadowed her face. Less than five minutes later, they found themselves aboard. A few of the night sentries called out friendly greetings to their group as they passed. Ace, Marco, and Thatch returned them as politely as possible without stopping. They kept to the shadows until they reached the room Ace shared with Marco, then Thatch wished them luck and split off to turn in for the evening. They slipped inside with Marco shutting the door firmly behind them and latching it from the inside. 

  “You can put your things on my desk for now.” Ace pointed toward the far corner as he unstrapped his dagger and laid it on his nightstand. He sleepily removed his hat and necklace, a little drowsy from his interrupted nap. 

  Out tumbled Nym’s hair as she discarded her cloak, the night-black curls completely unruly. She draped it across the back of his chair and set her pack on top of his desk as suggested, shucked off her boots, then flopped onto their bed lazily, looking between the two of them expectantly. “So what’s the plan? I assume I can’t hide away inside of here forever.”

  Marco finally moved from where he’d been hovering by the door to stand in front of Ace’s shelves of belongings and souvenirs. “No, that’s true. All the same, you should stay here until we can speak to Pops about this.”

  “Right.” She sighed. “It’s going to be rather awkward if he says no to you two.”

  “He won’t.” Ace swallowed thickly. “He can’t.”

  “He can ,” Marco disagreed, “but he probably won’t. There’s no real reason to.”

  Ace sat on the edge of his bed with a sigh and leaned over to discard his boots as well. “It’s times like these I wish I was still captain of my own ship.”

  End notes: I'm fully aware that we aren't clear on what happens with Cornelia and Banshee, so I took liberties there with the wiggle room I had considering he did seem to adopt the entire crew of the Spade Pirates. That, and we have Whitey Bay to show that despite his rule, there were a few exceptions to the female combatants stance. I also took that statement at face value and assumed that many of the women who DID work for him did so under a different capacity. As for his reasons, it seems like folks can only speculate, so I added a few of my own. I've also, ah, put in a lot of ideas about Soulmates.

“You don’t mean that.”  Marco’s soft chastisement sounded slightly muffled, as he’d balanced against the wall and bent in half to get out of his sandals. 

  Ace sighed. “No, I don’t.” He allowed himself to fall bonelessly back onto his bed, turning his head to look at Nym. “You should take the bed. Marco and I will sleep on the floor.”

  Nym rolled onto her side to face him. “Why?”

  Ace blinked at her, perplexed. “Because you don’t really know us well.”

  “Fair, but I’m pretty sure I can take on both of you if I have to.” She reached out and hesitantly touched his hand. “Besides, I know you won’t hurt me. I can read both of you and you don’t have any…let’s say nefarious plans. Besides, soulmates can’t harm each other. Doing that would hurt us all.”

  Ah, yes. The fail-safe of being a bonded set, regardless of number. Injuries inflicted by one soulmate on the other would be mirrored on the offending party unless they were done in self-defense, and outright killing your soulmate would only end in one's own death. It did serve as a deterrent toward physically harming your match, though it also seemed rather inconvenient if your match were an evil prick you wanted to be rid of. Soulmates could also harmlessly share memories, emotions, and sensations with each other. Now that particular soulmate ability had various applications, many of which didn’t bear thinking of with the inappropriateness of the moment. 

  Ace couldn’t fight off the smirk that threatened to take over. His other soulmate had fire. “I don’t know that you can take both of us on at the same time, but you’re right, we can’t hurt you.” 

  “But you might still want time to acclimate.” Marco dropped down on Ace’s other side to avoid boxing in Nym and making her feel trapped. “You went from having no soulmate to two in less than an hour and now you’ve agreed to skip town with us. It’s all a bit much for anyone I would think.”

  Nym shrugged. “Maybe. If you were up for it we could always just talk and get to know each other a bit more, but I think you two want to rest.”

  “No kidding.” Ace yawned then got back up, snagging one of his pillows on the way. “We’ll just take the floor. We’ll straighten out the details after a few hours of rest. We’re not set to leave port for another day or so, so we have plenty of time to get to the Old Man before we cast off again.”

  Marco took another of the pillows and set up a makeshift bed next to Ace, pulling him close so that his soulmate’s warm back pressed into his chest. Nym gazed at them as they quickly fell asleep, their quiet breathing filling the room. Despite not knowing each other for long, the inexplicable tug she felt toward them didn’t fade. Soulmates often found themselves drawn to each other even before they touched and their marks activated, though not all met under such strange circumstances. Once their marks activated, an irrevocable link would form between them and there would be nothing and no one that would be able to keep them apart save their own efforts, as they would find a way to stay together. Separating them would be the height of cruelty. Soulmates felt an inborn desire to speak to each other, to touch and be touched by each other, to see and smell each other and be in relatively close proximity. They craved intimacy from each other, whether it be as simple as a kiss or running their fingers through their match’s hair. 

  As much as her two soulmates were strangers, as bizarre as their situation was and as much as she really did wish to know them more, she also felt a longing to join them where they cuddled on the floor, bury her hands in their soft hair and press her face into each of their necks. She fidgeted, trying to get comfortable and eventually falling into an uneasy sleep. 

  Surely things would work out with their captain.

    Surely . 

...

End Notes:

I'm fully aware that we aren't clear on what happens with Cornelia and Banshee, so I took liberties there with the wiggle room I had considering he did seem to adopt the entire crew of the Spade Pirates. That, and we have Whitey Bay to show that despite his rule, there were a few exceptions to the female combatants stance. I also took that statement at face value and assumed that many of the women who DID work for him did so under a different capacity. As for his reasons, it seems like folks can only speculate, so I added a few of my own. I've also, ah, put in a lot of ideas about Soulmates.

[emblem-333]

Rebooking WrestleMania 35

What stays the same:

Kofi beats Bryan

Whatever else I didn’t care enough about to mention.

Brock Lesnar retains vs Seth Rollins

Why: Is Brock a good champion? No. He works very few dates and his best in-ring days are long gone. But give me him over Rollins as a Babyface. Rollins is a fine wrestler, one of the best in the WWE. However, his microphone skills are nonexistent and his feuds subsequent winning the strap from Lesnar have either been uninspiring or downright pathetic.

Still, there was a groundswell of support from fans eager to see the Universal Championship around the waist of a full timer once more. The secondary WWE title has had many misadventures. It’s inaugural champion Finn Balor suffered a legitimate shoulder injury and relinquished the belt the day after winning it at SummerSlam. WWE held a fatal-4-way match on Raw a week later between Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, Big Cass, and Seth Rollins - the winner being Owens. He went on to hold the belt for nearly 200 days, but his reign came to a screeching halt when Goldberg returned and steamrolled him.

Since Owens ate a Goldberg spear, the belt spent nearly two-years around the waists PF part-timers. Frankly, I’ve forgotten it’s existed at points. To be honest, I was glad to see Rollins win initially for these reasons alone. Then came the night after ‘Mania, Rollins is in the middle of the ring out comes Triple H, his former rival who tried to derail his career... and they hug. THEY HUG. Instantly I get this feeling Rollins is a corporate backed champion packaged as a Babyface. While every WWE champion is a corporate champion at the very least give me the veneer Rollins isn’t a suck up behind the scenes by making him one during the show.

But the WWE is infatuated with themselves. They were so satisfied to have pulled off the angle and believed to have gotten Rollins over as a Babyface they couldn’t help but rub it in for all of us to see.

Lesnar, in hindsight, needed to remain champion. Rollins simply wasn’t the guy. But Vince McMahon isn’t going to put over someone like Samoa Joe- and let’s be honest, neither is Triple H or Stephenie. Whoever beats Lesnar has to be a creation of the WWE laboratory. If not Rollins, then there’s nobody on the Raw roster worth giving a look at.

If I was booking the WWE, I’d have Kurt Angle’s last match be against Lesnar and call it a night.

Sasha Banks and Bayley retain vs The IIconics, Nia Jax & Tamina, Beth Phoenix and Natalya

Why: The Women’s Tag Titles are the offspring of Bayley and Sasha’s constant lobbying. It is odd the women’s division does not have a tag championship in the first place. For all this talk of a “Women’s Revolution” and the idiotic elevation of “The Four Horsewomen” as if on par with “The Four Horseman,” the whole thing proves to be a farce despite the wrestlers being insanely talented and effective.

Heading into the eight women tag match the “Boss ‘n Hug Connection,” the inaugural champs had held the belts for 49 days. While their defense wasn’t something to write home about the whole point of their run was supposed to add legitimacy and mystic to the strap. Yeah, the IIconics are solid heels, but after winning the titles their reign didn’t last long either ending in 120 days before dropping them to Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross, who later lost it to the current champions Asuka and Kairi Sane after their heel turn. (Why are the tag titles primarily held by heels?)

Just let Bayley and Sasha keep the belts. Since ‘Mania, Bayley’s won Money in the Bank, cashing in on Charlotte Flair and is still the champion today. Holding the belt for 197 of the last 202 days. The interim period occurred when Flair beat Bayley at Hell in a Cell. On the following Smackdown, Bayley returned for her rematch with a new look and a new attitude. The lovable hugger with a back bone became a chicken shit heel over night. Instantly undercutting months of booking. While she did get a main event slot at pay-per-view at Survivor Series, she was treated as an afterthought by many inside and out of the company. The morning after Shayna Baszler made Bayley submit, the WWE twitter account reminded fans that Baszler didn’t beat “The Man” a.k.a the champion they actually care about. (https://twitter.com/wwe/status/1198805122681147392?s=21)

It’s a damn shame how Bayley’s been booked. A complete waste of her character and even from the standpoint of solely caring about making money, WWE circumvented an avenue of revenue by turning her heel. Bayley’s whole character is designed to appeal to young kids, girls in particular. Changing her to someone who makes them cry is a fun thing to do on paper, but in actual practice is awful.

Batista def. Triple H

Why: Triple H is 46. He sucks as a Babyface and is a fraud. He should retire. He does the same goddamn thing every year where he wears a suit, acts as an authority figure and then takes the suit off because things have gotten serious. This happens every year. It’s beyond annoying.

Bobby Lashley retains vs “The Demon” Finn Balor

Why: Poor Finn. Never able to find his footing on the main roster. Such a big star at NXT putting on clinics against Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens. Ironically, neither of them have been properly booked since their NXT days came to a close. WWE has a habit of restraining their talent. Balor fell prey to this and his run as Intercontinental Champion wasn’t relevant and later would lose it to fellow roamer of purgatory Shinsuke Nakamura.

I don’t see a reality where Balor as I.C champion works out. He was a lukewarm, forgetful player on the main roster. It’s good he’s back at NXT. They let their talent express themselves a little more than WWE. Best thing for him.

The Main Event:

The main event between Ronda, Becky and Flair was.. okay. Nothing special. I was happy for Becky. Initially booked to turn heel after SummerSlam in 2018, her promo the night after Flair stole her title made her a star overnight and plans changed to have her turn Babyface and keep Flair heel. Despite numerous attempts by WWE to make Lynch a heel fans simply weren’t allowing it just so Flair could win another title. That didn’t stop them from giving Flair titles, but at least it won’t be at Becky’s expense anymore.

Why did this culmination of months long storytelling feel so underwhelming in its conclusion? Simply put, it wasn’t a good story. Every participant was an absolute fool and the WWE doesn't remember how to book Babyfaces anymore. Becky failed at the Royal Rumble losing to Asuka clean. Then hijacks the No. 30 spot in the rumble when there were more deserving candidates available. What makes matters worse is Asuka would have the rug pulled out from under her a week before WrestleMania losing the belt to Flair. So why bother having her retain against Lynch and making things more complicated?

Following the rumble, Flair and Lynch battled for the right to go to WrestleMania. Despite being cleared to compete weeks before the PPV she still entered the ring on crutches and got the crap beaten out of her before Rousey inexplicably crashed the party, got Flair DQ'd and doubled the chances of her losing her title making the match a triple-threat.

The main event of WrestleMania didn’t need to be a triple-threat. It didn’t need Charlotte. And most certainly didn’t need to have both belts on the line. You had an actual fighter in Ronda Rousey and someone from the wrestling world who took an actual punch to the face, broke her nose and suffered a concussion so both participants had credibility entering.

In my eyes, the WWE could’ve done the following, dominate the headlines for their inclusivity, make everyone who needed to look good look good, and not marginalize Asuka in the process:

Becky Lynch def. Asuka for Smackdown Women’s Title at the Royal Rumble, Flair wins the rumble:

Asuka submits to the “Dis-Arm-Her” and Lynch is once again on top of the world after being unceremoniously knocked off by Nia Jax. Flair wins the rumble, and demands both belts are on the line to prove she’s the “Queen.” Both parties oblige and volià! There’s your WrestleMania main event done without unnecessary detours.

Or

Asuka retains vs Becky Lynch, faces Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville in a triple-threat for the title; Banks wins vs Rousey, Ronda is the one to enter No. 30 into the rumble and turning heel in the process.

Pushing Flair to the side here. She’s had enough moments in the spotlight and she’ll have tons more. Being omitted from me, WrestleMania isn’t the end or the world. This year belonged to Becky and Ronda. Let them have the spotlight.

I kind of think a Ronda heel turn would have worked if they paired her up with Paul Heyman. Would’ve made sense since she isn’t much of a talker and is from the ultimate fighting background as Lesnar. But that’s far too simple! And we can’t forget about The Queen. Heavens, no!

Sasha Banks wins vs Rousey; Flair wins the rumble. Lynch vs Rousey has no belt on the line. Banks vs Flair for ‘Mania:

Oooh, this is probably my worst take, but c’mon the Becky Two Belts story didn’t really lead to anything besides Bayley’s revival when a simple win over whoever was champion at the time would’ve done the trick.

Sasha Banks and Ronda had a very nice battle for the Raw Women’s Title. Perhaps the best match of Ronda’s one year stint in the WWE. If anyone doubts Banks’ in-ring capabilities, tell them to look at how she guides the green Rousey through the match. Booking Banks to win the title is a risky proposition. Ronda built a mystic of being unbeatable. A real fighter. Not a fake entertainer pumping ‘roids. Beating her essentially undos all of that. I guess Banks’ could have turned heel here and used a chair when the referee is unconscious and smashed it over Ronda’s head knocking her out of commission for a couple of weeks.

Anyways, Banks defends the title versus Flair. Asuka defends vs Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose; Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey have an old fashioned grudge match settled at ‘Mania. How’s that for inclusivity? Why aren’t I working for the WWE? Is it because my ideas suck and have no basis in reality? Probably.

[mostlymovieswithmax]

1. Logan (2017)

Spoiler warning? Probably.

At the time, this was one of those ‘once in a blue moon’ movies. It took a character we’d seen portrayed by the same actor for 17 years over a period of eight movies and gave us something we never knew we needed. James Mangold flipped the formula on us and delivered a film that didn’t need to promote a franchise or pander to a whole host of demographics so that they could get as many people in the cinema as possible. Those who worked on it looked at the people who had followed the X-Men movies, even those who were just kids when the first movie came out at the start of the millennium, and decided to treat the audience with dignity and respect, knowing at the very least, those who had grown up watching Hugh Jackman in this role from the beginning would be old enough to view a movie like this. They gave this iteration of the character a proper send-off before he was left to stagnate and fade. It was something that hadn’t really been done in the superhero genre before and I would argue, hasn’t been done since. They gave us Logan.

How do I explain that this is my favourite movie of all time? Yes it is well-made. Yes, it ticks a lot of the technical boxes I look for in movies. It is what it is because it stems from a franchise of films based on comic book superheroes. Without the highs of movies like X-Men: Days Of Future Past, or lows of movies like X-Men Origins: Wolverine (which I still kind of find fun to watch), would Logan exist today? Or, if the answer is yes, how different would it be if we took even one of those movies away? Everything happened in the order and time it did and as a result, this movie came into being. I doubt the connection I have to Logan would be as strong or even have developed in the first place if it didn’t have those previous entries to continue the character from. I remember going to see Logan in the cinema when it was released and at the time, I didn’t think all that much of it. Characters that I had grown to love over the years from when I was a child died in front of me and when they died, they died for good. No resurrections this time. And I knew that. But I sat, stone-faced, unmoved by what I was seeing and now, two years on from watching it initially and having seen it multiple times since, I have to ask myself… why? My most recent viewing had me bawling like a baby. Why was my earliest reaction to my now favourite movie so mild? When you think of grand climaxes to beloved characters, especially superheroes, it’s not uncommon to think a proper send-off is something akin to Avengers: Endgame. I’ve seen Wolverine built up over 17 years. He fought a samurai robot in The Wolverine; he went up against the Dark Phoenix in The Last Stand and had the skin torn away from his body repeatedly in an attempt to keep her from destroying everything; he stopped an apocalyptic extermination of mutants in Days Of Future Past. So logically, doesn’t he deserve a goodbye that measures up to those standards we’ve applied to him over the years? To put him in a situation that requires him to save the world? Is this the ending I wanted when I saw the movie for the first time? Logan is small-scale. It deals with a situation on an intrinsically human level. The only goal is to protect a child and get away from the bad guys, who serve as a last middle finger to a character who has gone through so much shit and who at this point, at almost 200 years old in the year 2029, just wants to buy a boat and live out the rest of his days in peace with his oldest and only remaining friend. Logan understands the scale it conveys and uses that to its advantage, grounding the character and the story as a whole in order to give it the emotional weight and resonance it needs to serve as not just a decent end for Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, but a notable, spectacular end for an iconic character in popular culture.

How original Logan is in terms of the story it tells and how it goes about certain elements is debatable, although I’m not entirely of the opinion that it’s even trying to be so unheard of in every department. Yes, I’ve never seen anything like this before in the confines of an existing character who, up until now has only been seen to operate under the restriction of what is appropriate to a viewer aged 12 or above. I’ve never seen this kind of story told in as bleak a fashion when it comes to comic book superhero movies. But no, this is not the first and only movie to tackle the themes it’s going for or the type of story it tells. We’ve all seen road trip movies; there are countless tragic hero stories and antagonists set on building armies. How many times have we seen a movie where the villain is just an evil version of the hero? This isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. Juxtaposing Logan (aka James Howlett/aka Wolverine) with X-24, a younger, stronger version of himself was a brilliant way to go. It speaks subconsciously to the characters’ fears and what he sees himself as. He is his own demon. This film takes a lot of inspiration from and pays homage to the type of stories that are told in old Westerns, specifically the 1953 film ‘Shane’, where a gunslinger hopes to settle down with a family but is forced into a battle between two separate parties. Mangold goes as far as to literally show a scene from Shane in Logan to highlight this and say that it’s not a wholly new concept for a movie, but wears its inspirations on its sleeve and even acts as a tribute.

The acting is superb, as if anyone needed to be reassured. Hugh Jackman gives maybe the best performance of his career in this. He gives it his all, as someone who clearly cares a lot about the character of Logan/Wolverine and manages to portray him in a way I never knew I needed. Patrick Stewart takes his iconic Professor X (someone we’ve known on the big screen just as long as Wolverine), who’s always been such a wise and collected authority figure, and twists him into this heart-breakingly haunted ghost of his former self, dipping in and out of sanity as he battles with the very human disease of dementia. Dafne Keen as Laura is exactly the fire this film needed to elevate itself past being just above average. A girl of few words but a presence that is felt so strongly. For a first feature and from someone so young, I’m amazed at how spot on the casting for this character was.

Violent and visceral; I now feel every emotional beat like a punch to the gut. The sound and cinematography are so well done and make for some heavy scenes that are meant to establish characters or make the audience feel horrible and upset. The first scene itself lets us know exactly where Logan is at in life and it’s genuinely one of the many highlights. The writing is pitch perfect; it is everything that I want and more and, if I’m in the right mood, has no problem reducing me to tears. The ever-memorable screenplay gives these characters a lot more depth than they had previously by honing in on what is explored in the previous movies. We always knew Logan was a pretty tragic character but never before have we seen the extent of how haunted he is. The sadness of it all comes from realising he has constantly been dealt a bad hand for nearly two centuries and is seldom given much of a break. Every time I revisit Logan I find something else to love about it. Possibly my one and only gripe is that the score could be better and really, as scores go, it’s still decent. With all the blood and action and misery and sorrow and blood (again) that is exhibited, I hang on to the small glimmer of hope that takes this movie to the end, in what is a heartbreaking finish but also an immensely satisfying one. I’m not sure I’ll ever tire of this. I can’t see myself one day feeling like I no longer get enough out of it to warrant watching it again. Logan brings a magnificent conclusion to a character I’ve followed for so long and I’m so thankful that Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine wasn’t left to collect dust until retiring in a most lacklustre fashion. This is everything I love about film.

[tyhjvg]

You

So you want me, to be the green eyed monster, honey no, you tried to break me in, tried to make me yours, it didn't work of course, why would I want a too faced coward, when I could have your brother instead, he's gorgeous, talented, pretty in and out, tastes delicious, he's an a class guy, brimming with brilliance.

Why would I want you? When I could have him? You're kissing your new boo, trying to make me hella jelly,

Boy,I can see you still want me, if you didn't I would have been gone already, you're trying to control me, still trying to own me, you're a bad liar. You say you feel nothing to me yet you still want me,my body.

You don't like the sound of my voice, you were so controlling, you still are, you think you deserve an apology, even after you used to me, after you abused me, treated me like an animal, played with my mind, built me up to break me down, time after time before I pressed the button called rewind, you think I should get over myself, I'm sorry if I abused you, would you forgive and forget or would you hate me, never to have a conversation with me, would you not want revenge, so stfu Mr I deserve an apology, you ain't going to get shit from me.

You messed me up badly, for a long time I hated myself, wondering why it happened to me? why anyone would do that to someone else?

Time after Time, you beat me black and blue, with the help of your little crew, you used me like a punching bag.

Now I'm looking down at you, I'm on my way to myself, I'm beautiful and I know it, I rose like a phoenix, rode off into the sunset, I'm fully aware that i did nothing wrong, that you were just a monster and so were your friends.

[hufflly-puffs]

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Chapter 1: Dudley Demented

Ah, book 5. The longest in the series and what I feel not the most popular of the series, mostly because of teenage angst!Harry. Because just here in chapter 1 we see a very angry Harry. But, I think he has every right to be angry. Everyone deals different with trauma and this is how Harry does, because it is the least painful. He feels trapped, isolated and ignored after everything he went through. Of course there is a reason why Dumbledore especially treats him this way, and a lot of it has to do with trying to protect Harry in every possible way. But I wrote in my chapter notes for book 4 that the moment at the graveyard when Cedric died Harry stopped being a child. Of course he is not an adult either, but he lost his innocence. And Harry’s anger, his frustration is born out of the feeling that everyone still treats him as a child, despite what he had to endure. And despite not having to face trauma the way Harry did I could recognize myself a lot with his anger, with his loneliness, with his need to break out.

This is the first book in the series that doesn’t feature a “previously in the Potter series”-segment. By now everyone should be familiar with the character and his story. Terms like “Muggle” or “Dementor” are no longer explained; they should be known by now.

And to nobody’s surprise Dudley became an even bigger bully and his parents more oblivious to their son’s character and behaviour.

“‘Get – off – me!’ Harry gasped. For a few seconds they struggled, Harry pulling at his uncle’s sausage-like fingers with his left hand, his right maintaining a firm grip on his raised wand; then, as the pain in the top of Harry’s head gave a particularly nasty throb, Uncle Vernon yelped and released Harry as though he had received an electric shock. Some invisible force seemed to have surged through his nephew, making him impossible to hold.” – I don’t remember if it was ever explained why Uncle Vernon could no longer continue to strangle his nephew. We later learn that the loud crack had been Mundugus Fletcher disapparating, so no other wizard was around to help Harry (as Mrs Figg is a Squib). Was it Harry’s own magic, that he had no longer control over? Was it simple impossible for Vernon to hurt his nephew or almost kill him because of the prophecy saying only one (Voldemort) has to power to kill Harry? We don’t know.

Also, Vernon states how unlikely it is a teenager would want to listen to the news, suspecting Harry is up to something. But teenagers and young adults are interested in the world, they are political, and they use their voices and their power to change something. Thankfully.

I really feel like this is the first time we get more of a feeling about Little Whining, with Harry mentioning the streets he passes by and the neighbours, who all live in the same kind of houses, driving the same kind of cars etc. But despite growing up here, despite walking these streets without really looking, because he knows them so well, Harry doesn’t belong there. The Dursleys of course made sure of that, but he also never had anyone there. No childhood friend, no neighbour who had been nice to him, despite maybe Mrs Figg. This has never been Harry’s home.

“In the meantime, he had nothing to look forward to but another restless, disturbed night, because even when he escaped the nightmares about Cedric he had unsettling dreams about long dark corridors, all finishing in dead ends and locked doors, which he supposed had something to do with the trapped feeling he had when he was awake.” – Dream Interpretation 101. And of course if Harry was a normal boy (and we are countlessly reminded that he is not) this would be indeed what this dream means. And on a meta level I feel this is a subversion of the old trope of giving dreams meaning, of dreams being metaphors for other things. Because as we later learn there is no deeper meaning to those dream but rather it represents Harry’s connection to Voldemort. He sees what Voldemort sees. Which is also a bit ironic: Harry is so desperate to know what Voldemort is doing, what he is planning, but he sees it every night in his dreams.

“Harry was not remotely afraid of his cousin any more but he still didn’t think that Dudley learning to punch harder and more accurately was cause for celebration. Neighbourhood children all around were terrified of him – even more terrified than they were of ‘that Potter boy’ who, they had been warned, was a hardened hooligan and attended St Brutus’s Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys.” – I wonder what the neighbours might think about the Dursleys. Both of their boys dangerous and violent – one (Dudley) oblivious to them, the other (Harry) because they spread that rumour. It probably made the neighbours wonder what kind of parents they actually are. And I wonder if some of the neighbours had been aware of the abuse Harry had to endure, if someone might had pitied Harry, if somebody had thought he was in danger.

Also book 5 is the birth of sass-master Harry. We see this especially in his conversation with Dudley, the way he continuously teases Dudley, knowing his cousin can’t hurt him. It’s a good look on Harry and the very least Dudley deserves for bullying Harry all those years.

“‘“Don’t kill Cedric! Don’t kill Cedric!” Who’s Cedric – your boyfriend?’” – Ah yes, implying someone is gay as an insult. And still I think this is the most queer text in the entire series (there is of course a lot of queer subtext, but when it comes to actual text… sadly nothing).

I love how the arrival of the Dementors is described – by the feelings they evoke. It takes some time before Harry sees them, before the word “Dementor” is even written down, but as a reader (just as Harry) you already know what is happening.

“Harry muttered frantically, his hands flying over the ground like spiders. ‘Where’s – wand – come on – lumos!’ He said the spell automatically, desperate for light to help him in his search – and to his disbelieving relief, light flared inches from his right hand – the wand-tip had ignited.” – I don’t think this counts exactly as wandless magic, but it is interesting that Harry didn’t need to hold the wand in his hand to cast the spell.

I love the Mrs Figg reveal. She is actually mentioned in book 4, at the end in the hospital scene, when Dumbledore tells Sirius to get the old gang together – including Arabella Figg. I wonder if between the release of book 4 and 5 some people had already speculated if Arabella Figg and Mrs Figg from book 1 are the same person, or if that would have been too obvious. But it is nice to know that at least someone had looked over Harry all those years before he went to Hogwarts.