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abyssalpriest · 1 year ago

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Notes: "Eldritch" Energy = Va'alaṣre 5/7/23

I asked Leviathan for a word in an off-plane language for the type of energy I've been calling Eldritch, detailed below (under "What is this energy:"), because I've been sick of the word Eldritch. He gave me some sounds and syllables but was insistent that however I interpret it is right - I asked him through a friend afterwards and he told me to make one up (though I was given a clue in the letters "al"), I also asked him over here again after that to give me letters from the NT we use for divination and he gave me the same sort of word bit-by-bit only off by three letters, which I think is closer to whatever word he had in mind, but he has insisted I only use my original version. More so he insisted that what matters is that I both make it my own and take what he gave. Detailed below is my notes on what each syllable mean, as well as identifying this energy, etc. "L: (italicised text)"= Denotes the text following it is from Leviathan "D:" = Me

L: 20230703

It genuinely does not matter what the original word is. I discussed Black Ink with you for a reason. I input something through my side of the veil and it has to gestate inside your head before being birthed... More so I'm asking you to do that. I'm asking you to let it blend with you, asking you to do that sort of uniting with my impulse and recreate it in whatever form the two of us create.

It's important because... Well, it just is.

A lot of what you'll need to know about this will come to you in time. This is one of your beloved Obsidian Mirrors, isn't it. You're gazing into a black pool and your reflection is there, partial, clarity affected by each ripple of your breath. Eventually you'll fall in, maybe you'll drown, maybe you won't (you won't), but eventually you'll learn to breathe - oh, what am I saying, you're a little egg that has been incubating in this energy for centuries. Anyways. This introduction is incomplete, isn't it? Teasingly so? Shame. You'll get over it.

20230704

D: Insert Leviathan insisting I go get those moon-shaped sickles in ESO, the quest headed by the NPC called Vastarie whose name I never remember, getting her mixed up with Valaste.

---

20230623 - 20230705

Take 1

Va'alaṣre (noun) ("the Eldritch" = "va'alasre") Va'alaṣric (adjective) ("The Eldritch energy, god, etc"= "the va'alaṣric energy, god, etc") VAhl-AHZH-re AH = as in father L = inwards, back of the throat, tongue curled upwards (not found in English) ZH = as in mirage, back of the throat Re = Rolled R, e is a mix between eh like feather and ah like father. Like a mix between the Japanese re and ra

What is this energy:

D: Endless, enscoping, formulaic, primordial, verdant, deep and dark, time-bound., Blackness but also every colour, quiet. The Day Sky as an opaque dreaming body, slow moving water almost ice, eyes, tendrils and tentacles, watching and churning and spiralling or more so orbiting.

L: The black. A specific type of energy tied to the Void, yes, but in the way the dawn is tied to the night. It's a sky-based energy, swathes of unblinking blue, indifference, waking consciousness, awareness. Thousands of eyes in the night sky. Hypnagogia, un-logic, unravelling... But all perfectly logical. It is the unsettling and the uncanny but always real. Really, it's the reality of the unnerving. It's the outermost layer of reality before the Void, the living extremophiles, it is alien by nature. Be careful though in understanding that it is not these things I am addressing, I am addressing the Va'alaṣric with these terms. Everything I have said can be assigned to everything else. Va'alaṣre is tied in-between my words, hung on to a Spider's web.

---

Va'al-:

Pronunciation: VIII of Wands R

Starts stronger, more like VA-al than VAL (hence the ' )

Meaning: IX of Swords

L: That which is. The space of dreaming, the space where reality descends so far and deep that it becomes indistinguishable from dreaming. This is a spectrum as all things, but covers the tiring to the drowsy to the hypnagogic to the stages of sleep... Remember, however, that these are states it invokes in consciousness. You say that it feels like people don't generally acknowledge this energy unless they're a part of it? (Song: A Darker Rebirth, by Flowers for Bodysnatchers) Likely because most people don't hover around these places. Isn't it rather busy on this plane, centre of all things, as if everyone were magnetically fleeing the outermost extremities of reality... V of Pentacles (as drawn for 're'), it is like a cathedral grand and enticing, but only to the Catholics. Va'alasre enticing to the Va'alaṣric. A house of God in the dark of night self-lit by inwards sources, alluring light shows of stained glass and rich brown pews. In the background: XX Judgement. Every place in existence is a translation of the same thing every other place is, the luring singing of God however... I find it calming, I find it alluring, I find it... Peaceful and significant to be in these places as the hum of something greater works within my brain and these places to merge into an experience similar to the devout Catholic in their cathedral. Hard and cold shell, succulent molusc within. To consume God's word as your own as it emanates in chaotic, slow-moving spiralling forms. Or, well, it's rather dark down here in the abyss. Am I eating God's words or am I eating those dreaming forms that fall into the greater depths as their consciousnesses give way and they become pattering expressers of God's impulses? To eat stars is to watch them undo themselves, to reverse their name and let them fall like meat off the bone of a lamb shank.

The cup should want to pour out but it clings on. It wants to stay housed within the self as this energy should come to rest yet it stays. The cohesive body of water in its position. The Page - you - shall learn over time to weild it, become king - (...)

D: Is this something about consciousness?

L: I think you're seeing consciousness too loosely. What's the difference between consciousness and matter when talking about energy? Not as much of a difference as you'd think.

D: I still really struggle with that, honestly

L: Of course you do. This plane is so dry. You know, where I'm from, the walls and you aren't very separate. Energy is like water where Mind is ice and Matter is steam.

D: Wait, wouldn't it be the opposite?

L: No. You'll get it eventually. You see Matter as too stable. I'm sorry, I don't think even on your plane that atoms whirring around as moving fluctuations on a field of Is is very stable. They can't even contain themselves. Consciousness on the other hand, oh dear, the Librarian. Don't touch his books or he'll have your hands.

---

-Aṣ-:

IX of Cups:

L: Source.

The brimming cups, absolutely. But it isn't just about having access to spring water, you need to know what you're doing with it. Va'alaṣre is a gateway and offering open to you now. You are tapped into it, it spills forth for you, into you, around you, wherever you need it. This is partly why I made you make your own name based on what I said: It's a key for you

D: So I'm presuming this is a Lemniscate thing. It's less that Consciousness and Energy are separate - less that Va'al and Aṣ are separate - and more so they're different sides of the spectrum?

L: Why would they even need to be separate?

D: Well, just because you laid them out as separate things, I think

L: Same word, though.

D: Why separate the meanings then?

L: Left and right eye. Not different visions.

D: So, like the Lemniscate?

L: No. Keep in mind what I've told you about Lemniscates and Eyes is based on contrasting the Lemnsicate and the Linga, to be puiblished I supposed. There's... Look. You can't decide what energy is once energy is expelled, energy has aready been impacted by Consciousness. You don't get to will it with programming, you can only direct it. There's making more energy and transmuting it, yes, so what I said isn't accurate but I need you to feel this is what I mean. We can't sit here talking about how to direct a water flow when you've never interacted with water before - fluid dynamics are a bitch of a thing - I may as well just show you. Stop trying to create what is already created and work with it.

---

-Re:

The Empress (R)

L: Knowledge of the swallowing, where this ends back up. Because it ends back up in the Void as all things do, but especially this. When you play with magnetic energies it returns there. I ask you to keep this in mind when you play with it. It's yours to play with but it will always tie back to the Void.

In a way we are boats on its waters, barely held afloat, magnetised to its mass.

The final key, the gateway back to the one who holds the keys.

Re: Key headed for the lock.

---

Three cards:

II of Swords

Left sword leads to: II of Pentacles

Right sword leads to: The Hanged Man

L: You have a choice to make. Aptly you also noticed that this is follows the Vaal-As-Re syllable formula. This is the active forces, and a mirror of yourself involved within it. Not as it, this is actionable.

Vaal: Balancing assertion and succumbing. This is a very heavy place like the bottom of the ocean is, in order to swim within the abyss you need to exert enough pressure on your surroundings to stay whole... But you don't want to stay whole. You want to be as Ahi is in the depths, swimming both literally and as a whole and also blurring at the edges, a hagfish in the water, an octopus and its slippery coating which allows it to glide unharmed. There's so much pressure in the depths of Creation and so the body must adapt. How will you adapt? When you recognise poles, the best thing to do is to recognise and remember that life is a funhouse of mirrors. When there are opposites, there is a mirror at play. Choose how you interact with it

Aṣ:

L: Waiting for you, energy at its source, waiting for you... Direct it. It is not conscious, you are. And the only things that brim within it as an Obsidian Mirror are your reflections. It will dance with you. Remember what Hermes said to you about the Mental Realm: Do not assign features to it? Assign features to this like a dancer assigns waves to the air.

Aṣ, reminds you of the word Mirage. There's a reason for that.

Re:

L: The personhood. The self as the boat's captain.

The Hanged Man you associate with your relationship to your Sky Spirit self, your existence as him dipping his little claws into this reality to see as humans see. That which is taken shall be returned, but oh, why not have fun with it in the meantime? Dance with the Black Mother. Go hunt for her and return what you find home.

---

Three doors:

Va'al = IX of Wands

Aṣ = V of Cups (R)

Re = The Hermit (R)

IX of Wands:

L: Paranoia, looming insanity. Unfortunately when you interact with the Obsidian Mirror and Va'alaṣre you will need to keep a foothold in existence no matter how tired you get.

V of Cups (R):

L: Use it, for God's sake use it. Stop staring at what might be and look into the damn mirror

The Hermit (R):

L: Your worst fear, interacting with people, driven to its extreme of working for someone. Sorry, but you are always working for the Void as Polarity does obsessively.

#channellings //#va'alasre //

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rintarous · 4 years ago

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bakugou katsuki + “You can do it.”

earlier this morning aizawa sensei has mentioned that there would be a special class later this afternoon and that all students should eat up to have some energy since it’s gonna be a busy day

and damn, was he right.

class b arrived at athletic field gamma with monoma in front blabbing his mouth away. you scooted closer to bakugou the moment you’ve heard his voice from a mile away.

“god, he’s here..” you muttered loud enough for bakugou to hear. bakugou chuckles and rests his elbow on top of your head. “don’t mind him”

thankfully though aizawa sensei managed to shut his ass up by using his binding cloth. “quiet you” aizawa says in his usual monotone voice. monoma squeaks and kendou drags him away

“anyway we’ve got a special guest today” vladimir, class b’s teacher announces. “so try not to make a fool out of yourselves” aizawa adds

bakugou immediately perks up at the mention of a new guest. he removes his arm from you and moves in front of the crowd. “FRESH MEAT?!” he yells over the reactions from your class.

scoffing at his reaction, you look around for the said guest til someone pokes their head behind vladmir and aizawa and lo and behold, it was shinsou.

“isn’t that the brainwashing kid from the sports fest?” kirishima leans over to you. “i think so” you hushed, eyeing shinsou from head to toe. he sure has changed a lot in a few months and to mention the thing around his neck that basically resembles aizawa’s binding cloth from earlier.

too bored and uninterested to listen to shinsou’s introduction, you dart your attention to the rest of class b. the unspoken rival of class a. you barely know the quirks of these people. the ones you actually know of are basically kendou’s and monoma’s (courtesy of bakugou)

“i think i like this dude already” kaminari laughs, slapping kirishima beside him. “he’s like todoroki before midoriya era” sero adds making you whip your head at their direction. “before what era?” you repeat, holding in your laughter.

your conversation is cut short when the two teachers start to explain the rules. this is a joint battle training between the two classes. class a and class b are pitted against each other in groups of 4. originally there are only 40 students in total but since shinsou is joining, there would be two groups, one in each class, to have him part of their group.

after the hefty discussion, everyone finally drew lots.

you eyed your card intently. the bolded number starring back at you. “this can’t be fucking serious” you think to yourself. your luck seems to be running out since it seems like you were up first.

“what number did you get?” bakugou speaks up from behind, startling you in the process. “jesus, you’re so jumpy today” he comments, peaking over your shoulder to look at your number.

“well fuck, you’re with shitty hair and sparky”

that kind of relieved your nerves a bit knowing you were on the same group with your closest friends but the unnerving feeling stays the same. maybe you should’ve scouted more during the sports fest and didn’t tend on bakugou’s burns like he said before. maybe if you just listened to him, you could’ve gotten some intel on the quirks of class b. maybe—

“hey” bakugou calls, now standing in front of you. he grabs your hand and squeezes it gently. “You can do it.” you looked up at him in suprise. still processing his encouragement. he really has changed ever since his fight with midoriya. he changed for the better and you couldn’t be more happy with that.

“make sure you carry those two dumbasses behind us” bakugou raises his voice which was aimed at his two best friends behind you who was busy forming a heart with their hands.

“hey that’s mean, dude!” “yeah! what kirishima said” you hear the two protest behind you making you smile. “and there’s the smile i wanted to see” bakugou teases, lightly punching your shoulder. “thanks katsuki”

vladmir announces that match one is about to begin. you turn to bakugou with a now determined and confident face.

“kick their annoying asses for me, yeah?” bakugou snickers, promptly giving you a peck on the forehead “i’ll see you on the other side alright shitty face? now go out there and show these extras what you got!”

ways i say i love you masterlist + first entry for ways i say i love you! reblogs and feedback are greatly appreciated

#rintarous one year anniv #ways i say i love you #bnha imagines #bnha x reader #mha imagines #mha x reader #bakugou x reader #bakugou imagines #bakugou katsuki x reader #bakugou katsuki imagines #my hero academia imagines #my hero academia x reader #boku no hero academia imagines #boku no hero academia x reader

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yusuke96universe · 3 years ago

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Turles and Lord Slug Team Up Pitch

Introduction

Hello guys, after watching MasakoX's What If Turles Turned Good parts 1 and 2 [which act more like an origin story for him within the frameworks of modern Dragon Ball similar to Super Broly] I thought I would share an old headcanon origin I had for another Dragon Ball Z movie Villain, Lord Slug and how it could make for an excellent part in this What If story that has captured my imagination. Also, it opens up a lot of potential avenues for ood DBZ storytelling.

I know he's considered one of the most uninteresting Villains in the franchise since he is essentially King Piccolo from space, but rushed in an hour long movie. Let's face it, a lot of DBZ villains aren't inherently interesting characters and usually are introduced as Pure Evil tropes

Trope Talk: Pure Evil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-XprjlATEo

Irrelevant backstory

very simple motivation

enthusiastic, zestful villainy

Pure self-confidence

Third -Act Breakdowns (where they are faced with what they truly fear and usually fail)

Afterward, they could be open to becoming a more nuanced character to explore as we've seen done time and again with cast of redeemed or evolved villains in Dragon Ball

A lot of the movie villains from the franchise would be more interesting if they weren't rushed or were expanded on and boy does Lord Slug bring a lot to the table if he is expanded on.

1) You could have Turles and Lord Slug form a dynamic duo that counterparts Goku and Piccolo. Turles is a trouble-making youth-filled underdog who has taken a shine to the crabby old man that is Slug. Turles could use a lot more modern methods to contrast Slug's far more traditional warmongering that he's developed over the centuries. (They did it a little in Xenoverse 2, but you could really expand upon it in a MasakoX styled What If) Plus, the Tree of Might likely has the ability to restore Lord Slug's youth since it canonically resurrected fossils, so Turles literally has the solution to Lord Slug's main problem plaguing him and is an open-minded businessman by nature. This hypothetical team-up of working together to gain more power, invade planets for their resources and overthrow the Universal order by killing Frieza before returning to enemies, acts as an inverse counterpart of Goku's and Piccolo's initial alliance against the Saiyans invading the Earth interfering with Piccolo's own conquest, but opened the doors for change in him and others.

2) Most likely these 2 would start off as enemies and have their forces face off against one another, but this struggle is a good thing in the long run because they could potentially provide each other, their own personal Third Act Breakdowns or at least teach each other recognize their own flaws and weaknesses to help each other grow as characters.

Lord Slug's backstory, retooled

Planet Slug

The most fun thing I found was that they gave Turles a proper origin story to build a character around, well I have a suggestion for a similar concept for Lord Slug that I think you guys could use in many different ways, but before that. Here are the facts. In the backstory I found in supplemental materials, it is stated by Guru that Lord Slug and other Evil Namekians could have possibly escaped the crisis on Namek and moved to far-flung planets in other parts of the Universe. One Super Namekian named himself after the Demon inhabited world he found himself on, known as Planet Slug. And judging from the movie, Planet Slug is most likely an icy or snow-covered planet since the Demons needed special suits to withstand the Earth's temperature.

By the way, I imagine that Planet Slug and its people could have a Mongolian theme. (I have a sketch I did for an alternate costume for Slug, but I don't remember how to post atm)

If say Lord Slug came to this planet and eventually took it over in the King Piccolo style, then I could see him having birthed a clan of Evil Namekian children to help him in this endeavor. So let's say there are about as many Namekians children as Guru or King Piccolo birthed, then they are likely different clans of Namekians on the Planet, including a Dragon Clan member capable of creating their own set of Dragon Balls. In this way, Planet Slug could act as an alternate substitute for Planet Namek, but one closely resembling how the team initially pictured Namek as a planet full of evil Piccolos, instead of the peace-loving farmers of Namek. Now, why would Slug be in space expanding his Empire and searching for Dragon Balls when his planet likely already has a set? In the movie, it's best not to think about it, but here is my idea.

Why Lord Slug is REALLY in Space

One of Lord Slug's offspring usurped him from the throne due to his old age and sickly body. So Slug was humiliatingly forced to flee his home or was looked down on as a non-threat banished him and his most loyal men off-world to live in shame and to never be seen again. So he is conquering other planets, partly because he is a refugee, but mostly because he is overcompensating for his lost and trying to help his ego by living in denial and reassuring that He is the Baddest Baddie who ever lived and terrorize/kill those weaker than him as he ever expands his empire, lamenting his old age and sickened body. He believes that if he was in his prime, he could take his throne back no problem and make them all pay for wronging him. Luckily, Slug doesn't need the Dragon Balls to regain his youth. If the Tree of Might's Fruit is capable of reviving fossils, it should be able to restore the Super Namekian to his former glory once again.

Turles's Crusher Corps vs Lord Slug's Army

A fun way they could introduce the factions to each other is as competition for a lush planet. Turles wants it for the Tree of Might, and Slug wants to freeze it for them for their conquest. They both are in each other's way, so they all fight it out. I think Slug has stronger minions, but Crusher Corps have better teamwork, and with Turles being in prime fighting condition, he would tip the scale in their favor much like Goku did in the movie.

At first, I thought Slug wouldn't be much of a match for Turles in his old and sickly state, a little trouble sure since he is the strongest, but that aged body wouldn't do him any favors. However, the first Google search result I got on Old Slug's Power level said he was at 79,000 so he's stronger than I first thought. (I thought he was around Nail's power level roughly in the 40,000) I also heard that Turles was around 19,000 but by the end of the movie was like 300,000. These power levels don't mean too much when reimagining the stories, just that Turles might have more of an uphill struggle. So, Turles would first have to eat some Fruit to win in a landslide and hopefully, the Terrafreezing process didn't ruin the Tree of Might's process.

Right before the killing blow, Old Slug might've mentioned something In desperation to save his own life. He could've brought up the Dragon Balls on his home Planet Slug/ Namek could grant any wish he wanted. This is just enough to stop Turles from following through with his attack, but it takes a little more coaxing for Slug to sell the legitimacy to Turles. A part of Turles thinks this might just be hogwash, but if this is anything like the Tree of Might, this could be a huge find. Another game-changer. He has his men take Slug with them as he checks in with the Heaters' database and finds there could be a kernel of truth to this tall tale. So Turles generously spares the old Slug's life for this useful tip which is met with some impatient ire.

If you hate being old so much, why don't you just use these Dragon Balls of yours to make yourself young again? -Turles

I would if I could, but... but I can't. I've been banished from my homeworld by my own children after they usurped me from my throne.-Slug

hahaha So you're just some washed-up old geezer trying to feel tough by throwing your power around at a bunch of weaklings. -Turles

Watch it! If I was in my prime, I wouldn't have ever let that rebellion get that far and even made short work of you and your men. If it weren't for that Fruit of yours, you'd be nothing. -Slug

WHAT WAS THAT. (composes himself) Interested in the Fruit are you, well I am not naive enough to let you ever sink your rotten teeth in one. At least, not for free. We, the Crusher Corps, are branched off of the Heaters' group who are known to deal in intelligence. If you have some more valuable information to pass on then, I could be convinced to trade off a leftover Fruit from our latest venture. Do you have anything else to offer me, old man?

(Slug’s low growling sounds are giving Turles just the biggest shit-eating grin on his face)

Slug could tell Planet Slug's coordinates, could act as their guide, or how to use their Dragon Balls, or even that they need a native speaker to use them and a password.

Turles throws him a Fruit as he is a businessman and honors his deals. This not only works in reviving the Elder Namekian, but the results are far better than expected by restoring Slug to his prime. Turles is both impressed and a little unnerved by this so he opens up a dialogue as he scans Lord Slug's new power. (he thought it would add a few decades back onto his old life since he seemed ancient, but it straight up made him young again) They discuss what had just happened and Turles's operation using the Tree of Might's Fruit to amass enough power for him and his men to kill Frieza and possibly overthrow him. Lord Slug in the meantime has been enjoying his youthful appearance and renewed vigor during the conversation, not looking Turles in the eye, but still expressing interest in this operation and compliments the plan. Turles offers a proposition to Lord Slug to join them on this endeavor if he helps them get those "Dragon Balls" he mentioned right before.

That's right. You're interested in the Dragon Balls, are you? Well, I am interested in that Tree of yours. It could keep someone young and strong forever, and this whole operation of yours is simply remarkable! -Slug

So you're in? -Turles

Remarkable enough for me to take it for myself! So I'll be doing just that! - Slug

Round 2 Super Namekian Rampages

The Super Namek overwhelms all of them, even Turles, after just eating a bunch of fruit, the gap is just too wide. He sadistically tortures them and strikes fear into their hearts. Turles isn't just put on the backfoot, he ends up on the brink of life and death. He needs to reach down deep, and something in him snaps, could be his Saiyan pride, could be becoming helpless and at someone else's mercy, could even be one of his men, that unbeknownst to himself, he had grown fond of perished, his regret for overly relying on outside gains to accomplish his ambitions. Don't know, don't care, but something doesn't sit right with Turles and this something acts as the catalyst for him to transform, but not into the traditional Super Saiyan we've all come to know. No, Turles goes into the False Super Saiyan state and overwhelms the Super Namek almost beat for beat like FSSJ Goku vs Slug from the movie, but this time, it lasts the duration of the fight. It's more of a SSJ Goku vs Frieza kind of fight with Turles's victory.

Turles diet of Tree of Might fruit has affected his body's genes and so when he transforms it's not the traditional SSJ form like everyone else, but the False Super Saiyan state that Goku used against Lord Slug. (The Saiyan loses their pupils and also uses SSJ's original color scheme with the flickering red and black hair and the orange skin with a lingering Aura effect) They could have a lot of fun with the benefits and drawbacks this form and its potential evolutions could have. False SSJ potentially falls into the theme of using Fruit as a shortcut to power vs earning the power legitimately or as a simple means to contrast with Goku.

Post Fight ~ Alliance?

Slug doesn't die though, or if he does, Turles is smart enough to revive him with the Tree of Might's extract in a similar way as the fossilized twins were. The reason is simple, Turles believes that Slug's knowledge of his people is going to be essential in the nearby future, and since he's shown whose boss by dominating the Super Namekian, they can now work together to overthrow stronger enemies like Frieza by using his Planet's Dragon Balls. The Crusher Corps gets a guide and an ally; Slug gets his revenge and the prospect of taking Frieza's empire for himself by joining this operation is too much for him to pass up. This is a temporary truce to defeat stronger opponents and gain power, but once that is over, they are going back to killing one another similar to how Goku and Piccolo formed an alliance against the Saiyans invading earth.

1) A Super Namekian could exploit their race's fusion ability through some method of Mind Control like in the original Broly movie. So Slug or his evil offspring could literally absorb one another or even someone as powerful as Nail or Piccolo if the influence is strong enough to join together. And Turles with the Heaters' resources might just be able to provide a means to provide Slug this, with some precautions of course.

2) Slug might have knowledge of Kai and Demon Realms considering he is both an older Namekian like Guru, and the fact that he Planet Slug is literally inhabited by Demons, a different breed of Demons, but still Demons nonetheless. In the games, the Tree of Might's Fruit had its effects amplified in the Demon Realm, but the same might be said if the Tree is planted on the World of the Supreme Kais or Beerus' planet. It's just a possible option for later down the line, but if there was ever a planet that could sustain that Tree and boosts its effects it would be one of these places.

This is it, I know MasakoX likes to do the space opera thing with multiple factions and also like to mix things up from the original story from time to time, so I thought Planet Slug would be an interesting means to do so and giving Turles a partner to bounce off of is typical Toriyama writing, could even open up new avenues to explore.

Am I expecting this to happen. Honestly, I have low expectations MasakoX and his team would do this and they got their own plans of inserting Turles into the main story likely connected to the character in the hood (who is probably Zamasu for some reason like in the Gero What If) or one of the Saiyans from Turles' team or even eager to get him into the main story with the Z-Cast, possibly trying to win Gohan to his side, but getting converted by him like what happened to Piccolo, but I don't mind. My expectations are low, but my hype is through the roof, and needed to share my fan theories with someone.

#dragon ball z #dbz #dragon ball #lord slug #turles #slug #tree of might #masakox #what if #dragon ball what if #false super saiyan #false ssj #super namekian #super namek

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human-enthusiast · 4 years ago

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Absurd Person #1 - Monkey D. Luffy (kid)

Let’s start with not only the main protagonist of One Piece but also the first character to give Luffy any sort of injury...

...his dumb, seven-year-old self...

*Disclaimer: I don’t own this image - screenshot from Episode of East Blue

The last time I wrote this, I forgot to hit save and my browser just reloaded the page and lost everything. After that I just went “I’m done” and rage quit Tumblr for the night (which I normally don’t do). That’s how my Sundays usually go😒🥴

Now Onward!

Basic Classifications

Real World Ethnicity/Nationality: Brazilian

Class: farm / country / lower class

Culture (the one he grew up around): Dawn Island - Sea-side village

Fishing community

Farming / Ranching community

Hard work ethic

Small and close community members; relatively friendly; little to non-existent conflict

Selective mix of being open towards strangers (especially with merchant vessels for better trading opportunities) and weariness towards those they expect to be harmful (likes Pirates; I’d imagine the people of Windmill Village were understandably unnerved with the Red-Haired Pirates first showing up).

Core values (personal to Luffy): pride, physical strength, adventures on and outside his home village,

Relation to authority: neutral - shifting slightly towards negative (no clear basis of opinion; can only go off on Luffy’s fascination with pirates as the main viewpoint)

(The added information feels a little scatter-shot but figured I give it a try based on little information from the manga panels and how it lines up with real-world similarities. Most information is based on logical speculation and could change with new information in later chapters.)

I know that the Romance Dawn arc consists of the chapters up until he meets Coby and Alvida (I think...), but the depiction of Luffy’s character in the first chapter seems different from when he is seventeen and setting out to sea. So, I’ll treat kid Luffy as a separate character for the first analysis.

First Impressions and Introduction

Now, I am an anime watcher, first and foremost, so my first impression of this character stems from the Anime. My introduction towards this ball of chaos was when he popped out of a barrel, that he put himself into after realizing that a whirlpool suddenly appeared (how he missed it? - It’s Luffy), and then inexplicably took a nap in. That was the absurd reason I was able to stick with One Piece in the first few arcs (until Baratie became one of the major reasons I stuck with it - I’ll explain why when we get there).

And since the first chapter was used for episode four in the anime, I was already somewhat familiar with how the story started and who Luffy was as a kid. However, reading the first chapter felt....different than what I would’ve expected. And because the anime cut out a few details from the chapter, there definitely are some things to take from kid Luffy at that point.

So my first impression was, as follows:

The kid is unhinged...That explains some things...

Complete wild child of a backwater village from Day 1.

LIKE-- The anime episode DID NOT explain how he got that scar and the guy didn’t bring it up ever. To be fair, that wasn’t a big focus because the anime didn’t make it a focus. Reading that part though did more for his character and a little of his upbringing, through speculation, making it a rather slow-building but also fascinating introduction into this series.

Just a bit of an add-on, but if the manga introduced Luffy in the same level of neutrality as what the Anime did, It may not have fully made it clear if Luffy was going to be the main protagonist. Then again, it’s a shounen manga, maybe it was rather obvious to everyone else. Regardless, his introduction served to

(1) Make his entrance memorable

(2) Establish his character that could either compare or set him apart from his teen self.

(3) Act as a sort of precursor towards the introduction of Luffy’s world and upbringing (which isn’t completely established until the last few arcs of Pre-Time Skip)

Personality

The best way I could describe Luffy at this point is a stereotypical kid...

Energetic, short-tempered, adventure-seeking, easily impressed, and ignorant...

That last description is actually something I brought up in a separate post about the “Fluid themes” of One Piece. Because I found that a small but overarching part in many (almost all) themes and world issues that One Piece reflects has some level of unawareness or apathy. Jimbe put it best during the Fishman Island Flashback when they found Koala (paraphrasing)

“They are afraid of us because they don’t know us.”

Know us referring to acknowledging them as people on the same level as humans.

Because of that and plenty of other instances from the East Blue, it can be a potential center for many characters who go up against or wish to explore the world and find that they are a frog in a well.

And that’s what kid Luffy represents. A rather aggressive frog in a well that wants out.

Granted, he is a seven-year-old, whose schooling has a closer equivalent to the 16th and 17th centuries of our world, living in what appears to be a farming community, so I’d imagine his education only focuses on at least the basic levels of reading/writing, mathematics, etc. A small, unexciting farming village probably has more concerns over their melon crops rather than what the world has going on. Adding in Luffy, you get a kid who dreams about being a pirate and adventuring outside the isolated village, making him avidly interested in a world he has no experience with. Or in a world he thinks is all fun and games.

That’s pretty standard for any child that has a mild and peaceful life. No doubt Shanks and his crew would tell him stories about their adventures. Not as a sort of attempt to make him a pirate, but because he was easily entertained by it, building up this expectation with stereotypical pirate personas. And whether he has his “destructive” tendencies before they became a fixture in Windmill Village, they definitely seemed to amp it up enough for Luffy to try and prove he was “man enough” to be a pirate at seven years old.

Then when you add in this idealistic expectation with the selfishness of a young child, it creates an opportunity to learn. Because, as any kid may go through, will find that their fantasy of the world won’t be what they expected, and will often react negatively. Luffy’s expectation of Shanks is that he is the strongest man worthy enough to be a pirate.

Now, Luffy’s view of a “real man” stems a lot from this stereotype of men solving their problems through fighting only. Which also embodies this rather damaging philosophy of never running away or backing down from a fight (which I refer to as stupid bravery - something that comes up in a certain other character).

The amazing thing about all the combined aspects of this kid is the ability to create a learning lesson for Luffy. Which can become a motivational factor in his pursuit as a pirate.

His easily impressed nature makes it known both when the Red-Haired Pirates talk positively about piracy adventures and when Shanks leaves the village. The difference between the moments can be showcased by the difference in determination and will to make an effort to achieve his dream. As he declared he wants to be King of The Pirates, he sets himself to work at it, rather than try and go with others.

How He Shapes the Story / World Around Them

I don’t know if anybody else made a similar connection (I wanna say someone DID but I can’t remember where) but in combination with Luffy’s general enthusiasm growing up hearing wild stories, his narrative reminds me so much of Don Quixote De La Mancha.

It’s been a while since I last read that story-- and by read I mean translate some paragraphs from Spanish to English during my Spanish I class in freshman year of high school. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Part I entails an old man who, after indulging himself with various stories of knights and valor, decides he wants to partake in his own adventures. Under various delusions and misadventures, his story becomes a rather well-known one.

Don Quixote was called the first “modern book”. That was something my Spanish teacher mentioned regarding its acknowledgment by the world and always stuck with me. It was one of the first stories of the early medieval period to focus on a regular man. Other stories before this tended to be about legends, gods, demigods-- individuals who often were referred to as legends because they were born into high status (often above humans). Either through original texts (often for religious purposes) and then through varying interpretations (such as the Arthurian Legends), these tales were a part of the status quo.

Kid Luffy is a person that reflects so much of the Don Quixote story (And not just because his village has windmills-- the most iconic scene about the knight’s story). He is that simple, normal boy that longs for his own adventures when there seemingly is already a well-talked-about story about someone who achieved infamy. In place of that is a man named Gold Roger whose execution we see in the manga’s opening. At this point, we don’t have much understanding about how it impacts the world as of yet, we just know it is setting up for something significant to the story.

Luffy becomes that “regular” person from a small-town with big expectations for a grand adventure.

That perspective can slowly build into the story by starting in a simple setting with a character going through one of the first dynamic changes in his life. Luffy’s experience with Shanks’s sacrifice sets a course in his own adventure. A story that trails into a rather bonkers adventure at the end of chapter 1.

His development is what shaped his world. It’s the way he learns when as it stems from the consequences of his actions. Especially ones where the smaller ones turn out to be very costly, making it a hard lesson that ingrains into the young kid. His actions created by his old ideologies sparked an intense reaction in the people around him. Especially Shanks, who felt he was worth losing an arm towards.

How The WORLD Shapes HIM

So, for the sake of the fact that kid Luffy’s “World” in Chapter 1 mostly consists of Windmill Village, I’m adding in Shank’s and his crew’s influence to extend and further give credence to his influence. Because, as of this point, Shanks represents a glimpse into the life of a pirate that Luffy strives for.

With Luffy being in a quiet environment all seven years of life, there is growth through basic schooling and healthy child development (theoretically since Makino seems to be the most likely one acting as his guardian), instead of doing things outside that norm. Now Shanks is the odd factor that creates new development into Luffy’s dreams and future ambitions.

The crew’s stories, charisma, and connection towards the kid actively (and probably unintentionally) created a positive expectation if he chose to pursue his dream. While that sounds inspiring, there were also negative aspects. Such as driving his ignorance and impatient nature to seek it out too early in his life.

Shanks then became a mediator. Luffy often has mixed feelings with Shanks as the man begets a level of encouragement while verbally making fun of Luffy for being a kid constantly. Despite that, it doesn’t completely deter Luffy’s ambitions. All it does is slowly drop his high expectations in Shanks after the first bar incident. This is again done by his childish outlook of physical strength and bravery equating to his ideal of a real man.

With Higama, Luffy learns about real-world dangers, and how bravery won’t always be enough to win battles. The same can be said for physical strength but at that moment it doesn’t apply to Luffy.

Shanks’ and the crew’s involvement helped Luffy’s views change. His expectations are fulfilled, which in turn reveal that he was wrong about them.

Finally, seeing Shanks’ sacrifice unfold drove Luffy into a pang of newfound guilt. By then, he was able to change one part of his world views from a childish fantasy into the beginnings of a mature way of thinking.

He gains some level of patience. Along with a set goal to work with. Attributes which are identifiable with Luffy in the chapters last few panels.

Patience = Luffy took time to train and learn to set sail at age seventeen.

Set goal = Be King of the Pirates

Add-Ons

When I say that kid Luffy, after Shanks’ sacrifice, gained a level of patience, it is meant as a deduction during that chapter. By no means am I insinuating that it became a permanent trait for his character. Because as of chapter 1, all of Luffy’s personality has yet to be revealed.

And this will apply to other posts for various characters. They may behave in ways during or in response to a particular event but it doesn’t necessarily equate to that becoming a whole personality trait. Calling Luffy patient, with having full acknowledgment of his personality during the bulk of One Piece, is completely off. But, there can and will be moments where Luffy will act patient when he deems it necessary.

This is a little hard to articulate but I hope it makes enough sense.

🏴‍☠️🐒

After-Notes

Here’s my first attempt at this analysis. It felt scattered even after editing everything. Breaking down characters sounds easy (and most times it is) but articulating and connecting things takes a lot of work.

Here's to hoping it gets easier with the next character. And maybe shorter paragraphs.

Up Next: Shanks (East Blue)

#OPA #One Piece #East Blue Saga #Romance Dawn Arc #Monkey D. Luffy #Chapter 1 #One Piece Characters #Worldbuilding #Analysis

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bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture · 4 years ago

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Horikoshi: This will probably not be super popular, but it’ll be fun!

Us: Oh, well that sounds nice!

Us, 290 chapters later: This Isn’t Fun Anymore Horikoshi

Horikoshi: :)

Anyways, welcome to the beginning of - hopefully - a long term and engaging project. I am basically aware of all of canon, and am up to date with the manga, but I haven’t actually read from the beginning of the series, and I’ve only watched the series up to the Deku v Todo fight in the sports festival. However, I’ve been curious as to how the manga portrays stuff that I’ve seen in anime gif form, and so I figured, hey, make this a project!

If you have questions or anything, the ask box is open for now. Meanwhile, I am going to head into the first chapter proper!

[No. 1 - Izuku Midoriya: Origin]

Wow, you’d almost think this kid would grow up to be a villain or something, with that kind of attitude, huh? No way that this kind of attitude would ever come to bite him in the ass and force him to reevaluate his entire character and kickstart his character development.

(Before you say anything, I like Katsuki as a character, but DAMN did he have to do a lot of growing up. I suppose when one is at the bottom, the only way to go is up… unless you have a pickaxe.)

One thing I actually noticed right away, and I dunno how much it’s used in other manga (seeing as I currently am not reading any other manga and the last ones I read were… a long while ago…) is the shape of the text boxes in order to convey emotion! It’s actually hella neat and a little detail I wouldn’t think about adding if I were in his position (not that I can draw all that well, but that’s not my point). You can practically hear the warbling in Izuku’s tone and the rougher edges in Katsuki’s!

(Also, question for the English sub while we’re at it, why the fuck does Katsuki sound like he’s a goddamned adult when he’s fourteen. What the fuck.)

Interesting little thing here, Katsuki not actually using his quirk here against Izuku; his hand is trailing smoke from his explosion, but it’s not a direct burn wound. Not that he should be doing this at all, but with the number of fics I see where Katsuki literally gives Izuku second or third degree burns, I think this is a reminder that canon Katsuki has some modicum of restraint, even this early.

Before I forget, hello winged kid who definitely has no plot significance whatsoever. No siree.

(If you are new to the manga/show and are reading this as among your first introductions to the fandom, first off, I am so sorry. Secondly, expect me to be… definitely making a lot of sarcastic quips to things in the future.)

Onto the second/third page, which is supposed to be a full spread, but is split up into two pages on the online reading site. RIP, but I will not complain about free access to the whole manga.

Lookit this green bean. I love him so much. I can’t wait for him to suffer.

Izuku: wait, what?

Anyways, a few things to note:

Who the fuck is this guy? I looked into the wiki but he apparently doesn’t warrant a page or even a mention as one of the background faces of the series, but look at that fucking claw, man! And those boots and jets! He’s very obviously themed after a baseball catcher, so I’m going to guess that he has some kind of quirk that deals with either drawing projectiles to him, or perhaps in throwing projectiles… in either case, it’d be something like Snipe’s quirk, so maybe this is his less howdy-happy sibling.

Oh right, the chapter. The other heroes we see on the scene in this two-page spread are Death Arms, Air Jet, and Kamui Woods.

Also, something I want to point out that I’m sure others have but just struck me while looking at this spread - multiple people are recording / taking pictures of this. I wonder if part of the reason for the villain industry to be as strong as it is is because the villains, even if they know they’ll lose, still get their own sort of fame in being in the news? That… might explain a lot about how there can be enough villains to even run an entire damn industry.

(Well, that and a lot of sociopolitical commentary on BNHA society, but we don’t need to get into that now. Maybe wait two hundred or so chapters first.)

Not gonna lie, I had to double take because I was like ‘wait, what is Ochako doing here?’ but then I realized it was just a random civilian; she doesn’t have those side bangs Ochako does. But now I almost wonder what sort of world we could have had, if they’d met a bit earlier.

Onto the fifth page (fourth is just a filler page, nothing on it), and we get treated to this gem:

Tag yourself I’m the guy who’s slackjawed because his kid is fucking glowing.

The first four examples of quirks shown in this flashback are the luminescence, telekinesis, ice, and that flame-headed(?) mutation. Of them, we actually see hints to the fact that quirks have drawbacks, as the girl with ice is drawn with the same frostbite backlash as Shouto, while the flame-headed kid is… well, I have no idea, but they do not look to be happy.

Also, I love the nod Hori does to the heroes of our era as silhouettes! This is just more evidence to me, along with the fact that the first quirked kid is born and presented in a modern hospital, that this series takes place sometime in the future. I… even calculated the years it could technically be, based on information we get in a few chapters, but I’ll save that for then.

Onto the sixth page! A nice shot of Kamui Woods getting into position, and man is that giant quirk unnerving.

What the fuck is with those feet, Hori. Those aren’t feet.

Next we see how the crowds are reacting, basically with no panic or concern. One guy is just casually letting his boss know he’ll be getting in late. And Backdraft! That is some serious water manipulation, but it seems like it has to be the water they’re in contact with? Also, is it just me or is that a portable pressure hose on their back?

And of course, Izuku being excited over hero stuff, as one does. He’s so babey faced, going back to current chapters after this is gonna be fucking wild.

Onto the seventh page, and here we are with the ‘you’re pure evil’ speech to someone who’s… just a robber. Seriously, dude? I get that you’re still fairly new to the scene (I think he might not be from a hero high school, but a late join program, but that’s another post), but like. You can’t just call random people ‘pure evil’ and correlate petty crime with like, actual mass murderers, or else people might start to see things in black and white and, you know, create the idea of ‘villainous people’ and so push even more innocents down the path of desperation and criminality.

Wait, sociopolitics later. Izuku being a hero fanboy now. Even able to utter Kamui’s attack call as he’s calling it out, with some seriously cool visual effects-

And on the eighth page, we have Mt. Lady crash the scene. Literally. She just fucking shows up outta nowhere and fucking leaps up and delivers a kick right to the villain’s chin, throwing him back through the train bridge wall and sending debris down to the ground below. Sure hope there weren’t civilians there!

Also, hello to that random guy on the roof watching this. I think in Smash they made that guy her manager or something.

I love how Izuku and the other guy are like ‘what the fuck’ while the press just shows up out of nowhere and is like. Hyperfocused on her. (I’ve heard some issues with the portrayal of media/reporters in the series, but since I have no experience with that sort of thing, I can’t say much on it.)

The last panel of this page shows that, fortunately, there were no civilians on that part of the street (even though it being rush hour and the huge crowds on the other side of the bridge should have suggested otherwise… but what do I know?)

With page nine, we get to see our first case of villain apprehension, which to note does not include any sort of quirk suppressors. Because those don’t exist. Otherwise Aizawa and the Eight Precepts’ erasure bullets would not be such huge deals to everyone. I mean yikes, though, the guy is fucking muzzled. And you can see the damage done by Mt. Lady in the background, both physical and emotional. Not to mention…

What the fuck is that face.

But yeah, this notes that performance in heroics determines not only what they’re paid by the government, but also how much fame they get. No way a system like this could backfire in any capacity, right? Right? (cough).

I love how Hori uses Izuku’s muttering habit as the border for the text bubble when the kid zones into his little world. Also, gigantification is noted to be a common and strong quirk, so we really should see more OCs with size altering quirks in fics in the future, you hear me? Honestly, with it being common, I would almost expect there to be entire buildings, or maybe even neighborhoods / blocks dedicated to catering to size shifters… wonder what those places look like.

Also aww, the guy saying good luck on the heroics dream to Izuku and Izuku just sparkling. What a cutie. Can’t wait for him to suffer. :D

Izuku: No seriously, what-

Anyways, I’m cutting off here since we then transition into the next ‘scene’ and this is a long chapter - 55 pages! Besides, this has already surpassed 1700 words, I don’t need to ramble on too long in one post.

Lemme know what you think, and I’ll be back with more soon!

#opening arcs #chapter 1 #readthrough #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #kamui woods #mt lady #1800 words and only nine pages #buckle in this is gonna be a long project folks

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watchathon · 4 years ago

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Avatar: The Last Airbender, Series Finale: Sozin’s Comet

In case you’re finding this post just by browsing the tags I’ve used for this post, this is the Watchathon, a blog where I’m hoping to watch an episode of a TV show every weekday, with a short blog post where I write down my thoughts as I watch. Each new thought starts with a hyphen and a bolded first word.

- Like so. Now that the introductions are over with, it’s time to break that one-episode-a-day rule and finish off Avatar: The Last Airbender with the climactic grand finale, Sozin’s Comet:

PART 1: THE PHOENIX KING

- Okay, so, Katara in the intro is still saying “He has a lot to learn before he’s ready to save anyone.” I could’ve sworn they removed that part by this point... Maybe that was just something for the DVD?

- I like that the “Previously on” segment is so long. It really emphasizes how much buildup there was to this. How much the Gaang has been through to get here.

- I gotta say, I was not expecting a beach party in this episode.

- Somehow, for reasons I can’t explain because I don’t understand them myself, this ambush from Zuko made the audio of Nicolas Cage saying “Surprise attack!” in Into the Spider-Verse play in my head.

- Zuko’s really lucky that he earned Katara’s forgiveness before this violent pop quiz, seeing as just a half season ago... “You take one step backwards... one slip up... give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang - and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I'll make sure your destiny ends right then and there. Permanently.”

- It never occurred to me that we didn’t get details on the war meeting before now.

- I’d bet hearing about this plan is the thing that tipped the scales and fully convinced Zuko to join the Gaang, and prevent the genocide of the Earth Kingdom.

- It’s so nice to see Zuko being welcomed into the group hugs. Especially when it’s Katara who invites him.

- I like that Zuko is teaching Aang to redirect lightning, the same way Iroh taught him.

- Even before it’s made explicit, you can tell that Aang’s uneasy about the idea of killing.

- Toph is just delighting in her role as Melon Lord, isn’t she?

- Someone out there has definitely written an AU fanfic where someone gets killed during this training and it’s Toph’s origin story as the malicious Melon Lord. If not, then I will write it myself, and it shall be the crackiest crack fic that ever cracked.

- Y’know what, I wish Toph could’ve actually gone on a life-changing field trip with Zuko too! Everyone else got one...

- This scene of Sokka climbing into Appa’s mouth is even more uncomfortable once you’ve... well, once you’ve grown up and... Okay, I tried to put it subtly, but I just can’t: Once you’ve been cursed with the knowledge of what vore is.

- Well, there’s a bait-and-switch if I’ve ever seen one: “Azula, you’re the new Fire Lord!” “=)” “But I am now the Phoenix King and still your superior who you will answer to.” “=O”

- Nice to see June and her Shirshu make a comeback.

- Does this mean Aang wasn’t running away on purpose? I honestly thought he was just going to that island to get some alone time, maybe meditate or contact the previous Avatars’ spirits.

PART 2: THE OLD MASTERS

- I’m not sure if this is something I forgot from June’s first appearance, or if it’s actually just never been brought up before, but I didn’t know her Shirshu had a name.

- It’s sweet that Zuko is seeking out Iroh’s help. Even if the method of finding him is, ah, well... unorthodox.

- Even Avatar Roku doesn’t know where Aang is. And here I thought it was some Avatar thing that had never been brought up before.

- It’s nice to see these people make a comeback. Bumi, Piandao, even Jeong Jeong and Master Pakku are here for the finale.

- I am surprised that we didn’t get an interaction between Toph and Bumi, though. The man Aang wanted to teach him Earthbending, the girl who ended up doing it... But I guess there’s only so much time, and I don’t think there’s any scenes that could be deleted to make room for it.

- It seems like Aang is just searching for confirmation of his beliefs, rather than actually seeking wisdom.

- I like that we get to see Bumi taking full advantage of the eclipse to take back Omashu from the Fire Nation, instead of just being told about it.

- It’s nice to see so many past Avatars beyond just Roku and Kyoshi, Avatars that we never heard of before, but now we hear their stories. But all of these past Avatars echo the same sentiment that Aang should kill Ozai, even an Air Nomad Avatar.

- What can I say about this scene of Zuko and Iroh reuniting? Forgive me for echoing a post I made on my main blog, but this is a scene that’s both sweet and sad.

Sad, because Zuko’s abuse at the hands of Fire Lord Ozai left him anxiously expecting furious punishment for crimes much less than what he did to Iroh. He can’t even comprehend the idea that Iroh would forgive him. His expression while apologizing to Iroh clearly shows he’s expecting the worst.

Sweet, because Iroh still loves Zuko like his own son, and doesn’t even need to forgive him because he never felt anger at Zuko’s betrayal: Only sadness and a worry that Zuko had lost his way, truly lost his honor. And Iroh is so clearly happy to see that Zuko has found his destiny, and joined the fight against the Fire Nation.

I could go on and on about this scene... It’s my absolute favorite scene in the whole series and it brings me to tears every single time I see it.

Gosh... it’s gonna be so awkward going back to the jokes and little mundane thoughts after this, isn’t it?

- Okay, I have officially given up on the idea of finding out what the heck this island is.

- I like the smile on Katara’s face, when she’s asked to team up with Zuko and fight Azula.

- It’s nice to know that Iroh will get the opportunity to run that tea shop, even if Zuko won’t be there to work with him.

- Okay, okay, so the island was actually a lion turtle. Frankly, I’ve still got a lot of questions. Even some new ones.

- It’s nice to see that the Netlix subtitles aren’t ALLCAPS anymore.

PART 3: INTO THE INFERNO

- Gotta hand it to the music, it can make even a scene of Azula making a fuss over a non-pitted cherry rather unnerving.

- Azula’s... Azula-ness has gone straight up to eleven with her newfound role. Hasn’t it? What with all the banishments, even banishing the entire Dai Li.

- Sokka, Suki and Toph are the real dream team.

- And we get a great final blind joke!

- I like that we get to see everyone doing their part in this final battle. All the members of the Gaang, even the White Lotus, get their moments to shine.

- The hallucination of Ursa shows that Azula, on some level, has an idea of what’s wrong with her. You can tell that they were thinking of a redemption arc for Azula come Book 4, though I am glad that didn’t happen.

- It’s chilling to see Ozai razing the forests of the Earth Kingdom like it’s nothing. And then to realize that this is what Aang will have to face.

- At first I wasn’t sure what Sokka’s plan was, but now that I see it in action, it’s really creative.

- I like the idea of a final one-on-one Zuko vs Azula duel(...a). It’s been a rivalry since Book 2, and it’s nice to finally see it get settled, even if I can’t imagine it’ll end up that easy: Otherwise, what would Katara do?

- It’s so cool to see Aang showing his prowess in all bending techniques, using them all in this final showdown.

- The background music during Zuko and Azula’s Agni Kai really sells it. It makes it sound almost tragic, and it is: two siblings pitted against each other, no choice but to fight to determine the future of the world.

- Azula might be slipping, but she’s still Azula, all too willing to cheat in what’s supposed to be a one-on-one duel.

PART 4: AVATAR AANG

- Netflix isn’t showing the intro for the individual parts, but I’ve gotta say... There’s no way that Katara’s still saying Aang’s “got a lot to learn before he’s ready to save anyone.” Right?

- I like that we get to see one last use of Metalbending from Toph in the finale.

- Dang, I hope this isn’t really the end for Sokka’s sword, or his boomerang. Especially when the sword was so cool, and one could say meaningful.

- I honestly wasn’t sure the Avatar State would ever be a factor again. But if there was ever a time, this is it. (ADDENDUM: This is probably the best time to clarify that I find and add the images at the start after writing the rest of the post.)

- And it’s so epic to see Aang bending all four elements at once.

- I like that Iroh got to burn down the Fire Nation flag.

- Since Zuko’s down for the count, I guess this means a battle between Katara and Azula, the latter powered up by Sozin’s Comet.

- To be honest, I could barely make out what Azula just said. “kjsdbksrbfkjvf family position to look after, kdcbkfh”?

- Katara may not be stronger than Sozin’s Comet-powered Azula, but she’s much more clever than Azula is right now as she loses her marbles.

- This is just the perfect kind of defeat for Azula. There’s no grace to it, no dignity, just writhing around, screaming and spewing fire as Zuko and Katara look on with pity.

- There’s probably a great practical reason someone could find for Spiritbending being a thing, but here’s why I’m glad it exists: Aang gets a happy ending. He gets to take down the Fire Lord, and hold true to his beliefs. If it weren’t for Spiritbending, if Aang killed Ozai, then he would be conflicted to the end.

And I don’t want that. I want Aang to get an unambiguously, undoubtedly happy ending, where the world is saved and that’s all there is to it.

Plus, Spiritbending is quite the spectacle.

- I’m guessing Sokka’s space sword and boomerang really are done for. But hey, there’s always headcanon. Maybe Sokka searched the forest and eventually found them.

- Weird to think that Ty Lee’s gonna be a Kyoshi Warrior.

- Again, I can’t believe Zukaang’s not the most popular Zuko ship in the fandom. Not a ship I’ll go to bat for, but it’s got all the hallmarks of a fan-preferred couple.

- It’s so nice to see Zuko’s coronation, and the official end to the war. It’s a happy ending for the whole world, the start of an era of peace.

- “Love and peace,” huh...? Now that’s funny to hear in the finale to this show, considering the next show I’m covering, come 2021...

- I like that we get to see one last confrontation between Zuko and Ozai. Even if Zuko’s question of where Ursa is doesn’t go anywhere (in the show, I know they touch on that in the comics), it’s nice to see the newly-crowned Fire Lord Zuko having evolved past a need for Ozai’s attention, or a fear of Ozai’s wrath.

- It’s nice to see the whole Gaang having fun at Iroh’s tea shop, in the end. And I stand corrected, this is where we get the final blind joke.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m lucky in that most of my childhood cartoons hold up as an adult. I watched Kim Possible, Phineas and Ferb, Code Lyoko, Courage the Cowardly Dog...

Still, there’s something special about Avatar: The Last Airbender. It had a unique aesthetic and world that no other show was quite like. It had a story that was like nothing I’d ever seen as a kid.

And it doesn’t just hold up, it’s even better.

When I was a kid, it was as simple as rooting for the good guys to win, and for the Firebenders to lose, except for Zuko once he turned good.

Now, as an adult (but mostly as someone with a DVD player/Netflix account so I’m not just watching whatever reruns I can catch) I can appreciate the character development, the arcs, the entire story.

I can appreciate how Aang grew from a little boy who does indeed have a lot to learn before he’s ready to save anyone, into a hero who could save the world.

I can appreciate how Zuko was an abuse victim who did what all abused children wish they could do and left his abuser.

I can appreciate... Gosh, Iroh’s entire character and dynamic with Zuko.

Some people say that Avatar “starts off as a kids show, then turns serious”, but I’d disagree. Avatar is a show where our heroes change, where they learn lessons, where they come of age and become the kind of heroes who can end a war that’s been going on for over a century.

As relieved as I am to be (mostly) done with these posts for the rest of the year, I am still oh-so-glad that I’ve rewatched Avatar yet again, and I know that I will be whenever I rewatch it in the future.

Now, with all that said... Farewell! Until the Christmas special, at least...

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nonbinary-octopus · 5 years ago

Text

A Very Unusual Visitor

I really love @kieraelieson’s Tiny Tenants AU, and the other day, I sent her an ask: you know what. I am filled with soft gt longing. I want to be tiny and friends with your Tiny Tenants Logan. I want him to hold me and fiddle gently with me and let me sleep in his pocket. Virgil’s got a good thing going on here!

This is a story about that. More or less.

Wordcount: 2.2 K

[More of my writing]

~~~~~

Logan sat down at his desk, intending to read. However, as he glanced over the wooden surface, his gaze fell on a small form. A borrower. And an unfamiliar one, too. Logan thought he knew all of the borrowers living in his house— Virgil, with whom he believed he could confidently say he was friends, and the much more timid Patton and Dee, and Dee’s young charges, the twins Roman and Remus, who were doing their best to be friends with Logan too, despite their guardian’s wishes to keep him away from them.

This borrower was not any of those. The easiest difference to recognize at a glance was that they had red hair, where the others had shades of brown and black. Yet, despite Logan never having even caught a glimpse of them before, here they were, sitting calmly on his desk, as if they were waiting for him.

“Um,” Logan said, surprised. “Hello?”

The little borrower grinned, looking up at him, and got to their feet. “Hello! You must be Logan, right?”

Logan nodded. Perhaps this borrower had just moved in? The others would have told them about Logan, and Virgil probably would have told them that he was trying his best to be the good kind of human, and wasn’t to be feared. But even so, Logan would never have expected a borrower to be so comfortable around him this quickly. Unless they had been around for some time, watching, and only just now came out to introduce theirself, after they’d felt reasonably sure that Logan was nonthreatening. But then why would they need confirmation on who he was? Unless it was just smalltalk to get the conversation going.

“I’m Hann,” the borrower continued, sticking their hand out at Logan. He recognized the gesture, of course, but had never shook hands with a borrower before. Logan lifted his own hand, trying to figure out how he was supposed to shake the hand of someone who could fit entirely in his hand with room to spare. The borrower didn’t even flinch, still looking up at him expectantly.

Gently, Logan pinched their hand between his thumb and the first knuckle of his pointer finger, lifted it minutely, lowered it again, and then let go, pulling his hand back.

“It is… nice to meet you, Hann,” Logan said. “If extremely unexpected.”

“Sorry,” Hann said, looking at their hand and flexing it. “I didn’t really bother to think of a more plausible introduction.” Softer, more to theirself, they murmured, “I guess I could retcon something…”

Suddenly, Logan’s mind started to fill with unfamiliar memories. A snapshot of this same borrower, soaked to the bones, and Logan’s own hands reaching down to lift them out of a puddle. Another, contrasting and completely detached, yet somehow equally real, of Virgil wrapping a white bandage around Hann’s ankle and scolding them, while both sat on Logan’s desk. A third, of a shivering redheaded borrower leaning against Logan’s steaming mug of coffee, as snow fell outside.

Logan shook his head sharply, pushing back his chair in alarm. “Stop, stop!”

The stream of false pasts abruptly ceased, and the ones already in his head faded.

“Sorry.”

“What…” Logan hesitated. “What just happened? Who are you?”

“It’s… kind of a long story.”

“I have time,” Logan insisted.

“Okay.” Hann paused for a bit. “I’m not actually a borrower. Well, right now I am, technically, but most of the time I’m not.”

“What are you, then?” Despite the incredibly unnerving experience he’d just had, Logan found himself feeling very curious. What kind of being had the power to do that? Up until recently, borrowers had been the stuff of myths; were other “fantasy” creatures real as well? Fairies, perhaps?

“I’m human.”

Wait. What?

“But more relevently, I’m an Author.”

“An author,” Logan repeated. Somehow the word didn’t quite sound the same when he said it.

Hann nodded. “At the moment, I’m your Author.”

Logan looked down at himself, then back at the borrower— the Author— standing on his desk. “I’m not sure I like the implications of that.”

“That’s… That’s fair.” Hann rubbed the back of their neck with a little chuckle. “Sorry. I promise, I didn’t come here intending to make you nervous.”

They’d succeeded anyway, Logan thought to himself. But, despite all that, he was still extremely curious. “What all does being an author entail? Can you control me, like… like a puppet?”

Hann wiggled a hand in the ‘sort of’ gesture. “Eh. Yes and no.”

That… wasn’t very comforting.

“I can control your environment, and to a certain extent, what happens, but living things are trickier. Mostly, I can put you in a setting, and watch as you navigate it.” Well, that didn’t sound too bad— “And if I don’t think it’s interesting enough, or I wanted it to go a different way, I can rewind time and give you a nudge in a different direction, and try it again.” Nevermind, still frightening.

“So I have free will unless you don’t like what I do,” Logan surmised.

“You could put it that way, yeah.” Hann shrugged. “But you’d be surprised how many times a story goes off the rails, way outside the original plan, and I just watch it go, because whatever new thing that’s happening is more interesting.”

“Hm.”

“Take right now, for example. I didn’t plan for the conversation to go here, but it did. I could rewind it, but it’s interesting, so I’ll probably leave it.”

Logan pursed his lips uncomfortably. He didn’t much like feeling like a mere source of entertainment, he found. “I don’t suppose it matters if I don’t want to be rewound?”

“Usually? No. But, this is a special case. Very meta, and you’re actually aware of me. I have a feeling you’d know if I rolled time back, unlike most fics. So… I’ll only make minor edits. Wording and flow, stuff like that.”

“Thanks,” Logan said. “I think.”

“Though I’ll probably roll it back if we get too angsty, too,” Hann mused. “This is supposed to be a fluff piece.”

Logan wasn’t sure he knew what those words meant. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know. That was an unusual occurrence.

“Did you make me?”

“Oh, no! Not at all! This isn’t even an original fanfic, it’s recursive!”

Logan opened his mouth to ask a question. Then he closed it again to try to figure out where to even start.

“Okay, so I’m willing to explain, but it might give you a bit of an existential crisis,” Hann warned. “Or a lot of one.”

Logan considered it. He sighed. “Tell me.”

Hann nodded. “Okay, so the original Logan belongs to a show called ‘Sanders Sides’. In short, it’s about this guy, Thomas Sanders, and he has the ability to imagine the parts of his personality as metaphysical beings in the room with him, and they have discussions about… well, an assortment of topics. Logan represents— primarily— Thomas’s intellect. Logic. He’s my favorite. Following so far?”

Logan nodded. “Mind if I take notes?”

“Go ahead.”

Logan pulled out a notepad and a pen, jotting down what they’d said so far. He’d have to go back and get notes on the whole Author thing too, but one thing at a time. When he’d gotten it down, he looked up again, and Hann continued.

“You are an alternate version of that Logan. This is what we call an ‘AU’ or ‘Alternate Universe’. Instead of being a portion of one man’s personality, you’re your own human.”

“I see,” Logan said, writing that down.

“The rest of the sides got turned into borrowers. That’s Virgil, Dee, the twins, and Patton.”

Logan nodded. Would it be too intrusive on their privacy to ask what his miniature housemates represented in the apparent ‘original universe’? Considering how much they preferred to keep to themselves, he thought it might be. Instead, he asked, “I live in an alternate universe? How did it come to be?”

Hann grinned. “My friend made it, based on the original universe!”

Logan nodded slowly. “Were the differences intentional?”

“Oh yeah, definitely. She’s been going through a long list of gt prompts, writing short stories for each, in various different AUs, and there’s a bunch here. The first one was when you and Virgil met.”

“‘Gee tea’?” Logan questioned, deciding to leave the mention of even more alternate universes for later.

“Giant and tiny,” Hann explained. “Anything with a major size difference, really. Some of ‘em have giants and humans interacting, some have humans and borrowers, or humans and fairies, or tiny merfolk, or whatever.”

“Do those all exist in your universe— the one you’re from, originally?” If so, Logan wasn’t entirely sure whether to be glad or sad he was here instead, where there were only borrowers.

The tiny Author drooped sadly. “No. Unfortunately. Just humans. No giants, no tinies.”

“Oh. My condolences.”

Hann shrugged. “It is what it is. And that’s what fiction is for, anyway.”

Logan didn’t read much fiction, but he nonetheless supposed that rang true. “So… you said earlier that you’re my author. How is that, if your friend was the one to create my universe?”

“Oh, I’m just borrowing you,” Hann said.

“‘Borrowing’ me,” Logan repeated.

“Just for a bit.”

“I think i would have liked to have been asked first,” Logan said, once again feeling uncomfortably like a plaything.

“Sorry.” Hann paused for a moment. “May I borrow you?”

“Am I allowed to say no?”

“Of course you are! I mean, I’d really rather you didn’t, but if you really don’t want me here, I’ll leave. I’ll even delete the whole story if you want.” They paused. “Though that might feel even weirder for you than me just rewriting a scene. I wonder if you’d even remember, though, once I did it?”

Before they could continue too far along that peculiar line of thought, Logan asked, “If I tell you to go, you won’t just back up to before and ‘nudge’ me toward the other answer, will you?”

Hann shook their head. “No, that seems unnecessarily cruel. If you want me to go, I’ll go. No tricks.”

Logan thought about it. The little redhead waited, looking around his desk. Finally, Logan said, “Alright. You may… borrow me a little bit longer.”

“Yay!” Hann cheered, throwing their hands up happily. “Thank you!”

Logan smiled. Terrifyingly powerful or not, they were kinda adorable. “Why did you want to borrow me in the first place, anyway?”

“Oh!” Hann grinned. “You know that thing you do with Virgil, where you hold him and play with him like a living stim toy? I want that.”

“You… you want me to fiddle with you?”

Hann nodded quickly. “Yes, please! I’ve always wanted to be manhandled by a well-meaning and gentle, but extremely curious giant, and then yesterday I read Kiera’s latest updates to your story, and one of them had you playing with Virgil, and another had you playing with the twins, and I just was filled with a soft but intense longing.”

“Well, alright.” Logan set his notes aside, bringing his hands instead over to the waiting borrower. They bounced excitedly on the balls of their feet.

Carefully, Logan wrapped his hand around them. Hann was smaller than Virgil, though not as small as the twins. They stilled, beaming up at him.

“You’re not even a little bit intimidated, are you,” Logan said with a chuckle, brushing his thumb across the top of their head.

“Oh, I am, but only in the good way,” Hann answered. “Like I said, I’ve seen how gentle and considerate you are. I know you won’t hurt me.”

They were right. Logan didn’t answer, just picked them up. He began to poke gently at them, similarly to how he would interact with Virgil. Hann giggled happily and offered no resistance. Logan pinched their tiny limbs between his fingers, rolled them around on his palm, rubbed his thumb against their back and their sides, and draped them across the back of his hand. Just as with Virgil, he found the activity to be quite pleasant. Hann, meanwhile, appeared to be enjoying it just as much, practically melting in his hands.

Finally, Logan stopped, holding the little author in cupped palms.

They lay, utterly relaxed, with their eyes partly closed, a smile on their lips.

“Was that… good?”

Hann nodded. “That was great!” they said, sitting up. “Thanks so much.”

Logan found himself grinning back. “You’re welcome.”

“I guess I probably ought to be getting out of your hair,” Hann said reluctantly, glancing off to the side. “Let you get back to what you were doing before.”

Logan hesitated. “Well,” he said. “I was intending to read. And if you’ve been, er, ‘watching’ me, you know that I enjoy fiddling with Virgil as I read, so…”

Hann perked up again. “Really?”

“As long as you don’t object to me not paying much attention to you,” Logan said.

“That’s fine!” Hann grinned happily up at him. “You’re doing me a favor, anyway. I’ll take whatever I can get.”

Logan smiled, shifted the tiny author to one hand, and with the other, pulled a thick book from his shelf.

#original #my writing #sanders sides #gt #sanders sides gt #my Sanders Sides writing #recursive fic #kieraelieson #a very meta fic #extremely self-indulgent

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motivatedtale-blog · 4 years ago

Text

About Motivatedtale

.:Contents:.

.:Author’s Note:.

.:Summary/Idea:.

.:Characters:.

Motive

Unmotivated

.:Stray Facts and Resources:.

FAQ

Rules

.:Inspiration:.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.:Author’s Note:.

Hey, so I've noticed this a long time ago but I’m just now confronting it since I got my computer fixed- it seems pretty impossible to reach the “About Motivatedtale” on mobile, even with the literal LINK to the page (I could only sort of access it through some loopholes in a browser- and the link just took me to my Tumblr instead), so I wanted to compile the information that’s in there into a post for any mobile users who may follow this blog. I’ve got more followers here than my art blog-- so even if there’s not much interaction each post, I think there’s at least a few people who might not have access to an about page here. Changes are very likely to be made and things will be added occasionally :)

.:Summary/Idea:.

“Have you ever wondered what happens to creations when a creator gives up?”

Motivatedtale is essentially an abandoned AU with no finished story or a plot. Which, ironically, not having a story is the story itself. It’s a tale about how the lack of motivation (along with other things like self doubt and lack of interest) in a Creator leaves a story unfinished, and with no reason to exist, no story, the AU is crumbling into nothingness, as it is being forgotten by the only one who knows about its existence- the Creator. However, there’s two characters in it that have to deal with that burden of having no ending or reasons to exist. And they’re completely aware of what’s going on.

At least, the first one that was created is aware, because they were made to be that way. They inform the only other character (Frisk/Motive) about all of this when they meet. They’re a Sans of course (which is sort of a self aware joke because a lot of people either start with the Sans of an AU when creating characters, subtly revolve around a Sans of an AU in a story, or the entire story literally and shamelessly revolves around a Sans. This is not an attack on anyone). This Sans goes by Unmotivated, and is quite bitter about existing. These characters have no finished story, no destiny, and no purpose. Being self aware of this can be a great burden on hope and happiness; ignorance is bliss, after all.

What the AU would’ve been if it was “completed” is unsure.

How the story ends is not fully decided or meant to be disclosed (for now), but even if this AU is finished or not, it is already technically complete. It symbolizes a project that is given up on; a project that is abandoned, and what would happen if the characters in these types of projects were conscious about this- if our ideas existed somewhere out there, somewhere where our decisions, intentional and unintentional, have a serious affect.

So, if this AU is abandoned, it’ll be quite ironic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.:Characters:.

Motive

Motive is the Frisk of this AU, and one of only two characters that are in this AU. Motive was created after Unmotivated, but the coloring of their design was given up on towards the very end. Their sweater is unfinished because the creator gave up on them due to being overwhelmed with empty and destructive thoughts, but the outline/shape is still there. The sleeve usually is never shaded/effected by light.

Motive is an optimist, and believes that their AU will one day be finished. They have the soul of motivation, which is outwardly visible and tied to the loose hanging strap of their overalls. They don’t have preferences in pronouns (though they/them is usually the default), and calling them by any pronoun is fine (she/he/they/it..it really doesn’t matter, honestly).

Motive acts impulsively a lot of times and does not think of the consequences of their actions…or, they do, but they choose to move forward with their actions anyways. Since optimism is one of their key traits and it’s exaggerated and simplified in their character and logic, it can result in some bad outcomes. The same goes for their impulsitivity. They’re not that serious natured, and act more like a child than a young adult (despite being 18). However, they do make a lot of (sometimes unnerving) jokes that could be considered uncomfortable, but they mean no harm. While Motive is quite intelligent and empathetic, they’re distracted quite easily and might say or do inappropriate things during certain situations.

Since Motive is technically a new character and was not fully developed by their Creator (backstory, powers, etc), their underdevelopment as a character is actually a big part of their development as a character.

(More is to be added later)

Unmotivated

The Sans of the AU, and the first ever character created (which again is poking fun of the idea that people usually start with the Sans of the AU for characters). Unmotivated is bitter and cynical towards his existence and his Creator, and is completely aware of the multiverse and AU Creators. A big fourth wall breaker. He’s apathetic, bored and often paints himself as emotionless and uncaring to hide any hurt/feelings of helplessness. He bottled them away a long time ago. At first, Unmotivated was hopeful about his AU, but he was alone for an unspecified but long amount of time in his AU, and was driven to toxicity and bitterness during that time. He’s seen his universe grow, halt, and then slowly deteriorate- he has seen new ideas come and go, and is helpless to stop the rampant decay of his universe- his home- his story. He’s overall a pretty lonely character.

When or why he got the nickname “Unmotivated” is unclear- but it’s definitely supposed to be a pun. He hates the name but finds it funny and ironic at the same time.

Unmotivated’s soul is held by a string that is woven into his rain coat. He considers this to be poor design choice but doesn’t really do anything to fix it. He often keeps his soul in his pocket for safe keeping. (More is to be added later)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.:Stray Facts:.

• The AU resets (sort of like an update) each time a new idea is added. This is how Unmotivated is generally aware of Motive when they’re created. • The “Creator” resembles anyone who has abandoned or given up on their projects or ideas. This isn’t meant to put people that do this in a negative light.

•The white of Motive’s sleeve isn’t meant to be shaded since it’s “incomplete.”

FAQ (most are from amino since not many people ask here)

- What was the AU supposed to originally be before it was abandoned?

This is undecided and left up for interpretation. However, based off of the design of the current characters, it can be safely assumed that the AU was supposed to be more lighthearted and cutesy. There are random bits and ideas spread throughout the AU that give glimpses to what it could’ve been.

- Can I draw fanart of these characters?

Of course! I’d be honored to receive fanart and would love to see it! Just please keep things appropriate if you do.

- Is Ink Sans or Core Frisk going to be in the comic?

No.

I’ve gotten asked this several times, and the answer is no. Doing this would completely ruin the theme and point I’m trying to get across with this comic. This story revolves around a Creator and their Creations, and there will be no other characters made by other people.

- Are Motive and Unmotivated shipped together?

NO.

It’s fine as a joke but please realize they aren’t. This isn’t an AU centered around romance and would distract from the goal of the comic if I had that. While I’m not anti-frans in any sense, I still don’t want it in my comic.

- How often do you plan on updating the comic?

Each page is published whenever I finish it nowadays due to stress of a schedule. I post them in bulks of 2-3 on amino and twitter, and whenever I finish the page on deviantart, instagram and here.

- Is the Creator a character?

Yes, and no. The Creator represents not only myself, but any artist that has struggles putting their creations out there due to insecurities or other causes. They’re more symbolic and fluent rather than a structured and identified character. Of course though, if there is any introduction of the Creator, I would have to give them some sort of design- and I do have general ideas of what they’d look like. However, they’re still supposed to represent a broader group of people than just myself.

- What does Unmotivated think about other AUs/Sanses?

Unmotivated has an apathetic mindset when it comes to AUs and other characters like him. He’s incredibly self aware and sees a much bigger picture. He knows characters are just pawns to their creator, and won’t get fazed by any story. Sort of like watching actors in a movie while constantly reminding yourself that they’re just actors. However, he is quite envious of anyone with a complete and happy storyline, since that’s something he lacks but yearns the most. That’s something he wish he had.

Keep in mind Unmotivated and Motive cannot interact or travel outside of their AU, and no one can interact with their AU except the editor/creator.

Rules

• Please do not publicly RP with these characters unless given permission. This might be changed after more of the comic is complete, but I do not want these character’s personalities to be strewn.

• Please do not draw or write NSFW with my characters– I am a minor, and a large part of my audience are also minors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.:Inspiration:.

Alright, this part is going to be a lot less formal and more personal. The idea for this AU came from my own self doubt and self destructive attitude as a creator. Doubting my own works and ideas has seriously held me back for a long time, and it STILL holds me back as I’m sure it has for many, MANY other creators like me. Musicians, artists, writers.. Almost all of us have that fear of trying out a new idea or making something you usually wouldn’t. Almost all of us have felt that crushing self doubt when you see someone better than you, and you tell yourself you’ll never be like them, your art will never be that great, you’ll never get that far…so on, so on.

So, while I was trying to come up with an idea for an AU (which I had actually been considering for well over a year), the thoughts crept in.

“no one will like this”

“there’s enough AU’s”

“you’re unoriginal”

“this is a waste of time”

“the fandom is dying”

“you have horrible character designs”

“AU’s are overrated”

“this doesn’t fit your audience”

“people will judge you”

“you never finish anything”

“this is stupid”

“your art isn’t good enough”

“you’re not good enough”

“someone probably already came up with this idea”

“no one cares about your idea”

“no one would bother with your art”

And ironically, all these thoughts gave me this idea.

Even so, these thoughts have still been nagging me every time I even try to work on this, and it’s been taking a lot of courage to take on the heap of anxiety I have over something so harmless. I didn’t join the Undertale fandom for over a year simply because I was afraid of being judged for my interests,, fun fact. Never thought I’d be able to make an AU. I’m still quite nervous posting art of anything that isn’t Mario related for some reason.

Putting all this to side though, I find the concept of what happens to unfinished and/or abandoned stories and projects interesting, especially if there’s an alternate reality that’s actually effected by your decisions. Kinda like you’re a god. I mean, imagine what it would be like if you had a creator and they just gave up on you, and you’re left with no purpose. Seems like it would suck, haha.

So that’s basically my AU, Motivatedtale. If you have any thoughts or questions, I’d love to hear them. Thanks for reading if you did!

#Motivatedtale #undertale au #comic #about page #alternate universe #information #motivatedtale comic #au #au comic #au sans #au frisk #motive #unmotivated

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contentforthecrystal · 5 years ago

Text

Living with the Skeksis

(Not my gif)(Requested by anonymous)

(If you would like more headcanons of a particular Skeksis then feel free to send them in! This took very long to make so I do hope you enjoy)

- Lets start things off with the fact that if you are living with the skeksis chances are you’re either their slave or have royal lineage that they can use to their advantage. But I do believe that there could be another more plausible option which is: royal pet.

- Since you’re human you would rightfully be considered an oddity in Thra and what do monarchs do with things no one else has seen before? Own them. You aren’t treated as an animal of course, not when you can speak, read and write, but they do think of you as a sort of source of entertainment and envy.

- You would be a bit like a servant but that’s just in their nature, anything that isn’t a skeksis is meant to be taking orders from them. You won’t be waiting on them hand and foot but if they ask you to do something, they expect you to do it.

** I’m going to stick with the “royal pet” idea for now. **

- You met the skeksis while exploring Thra. Their carriage had come up on the path right beside you and for a brief moment you had met eyes with SkekOk through the small window. You really thought nothing of it until mere moments later the carriage had quickly halted to a stop ahead of you.

- You hesitated but continued on your way, taking nervous glances at the carriage as you passed. The face of SkekOk was easily visible as he watched you through the window and you politely said good afternoon. The door of the carriage swung open causing you to practically jump out of your skin as SkekOks head poked out.

“YOU THERE!”

“...yes?”

“Pray tell, what may you be?”

- And after a brief but slightly uncomfortable few moments of questioning you were invited into the carriage and on your way to the palace to be shown off to the others. For your sake or more realistically to ensure you would come without any trouble SkekOk made it seem as though you were being graciously invited for a warm meal and place to stay for the night, not to be gawked at.

- Skeklach and SkekOk are not exactly the most comfortable traveling companions but the skeksis aren’t really comfortable companions in general so you have to get used to that. Although granted some skeksis are better then others when dealing with you and your presence.

- Regardless of the Skeksis manners and their unnerving luring of you into their carriage you arrived at the palace after about an hour of sitting, being questions, observed, and slightly poked at.

- There would be quite the commotion when SkekOk and Skeklach lead you into the dining hall to meet the other Skeksis. Undoubtedly there will be some screeches and gasps amongst other shocked and intrigued reactions when they first lay eyes on you. A few “what is that’s” and so on.

- Skekso demanded the meaning of “this” and your companions explained their idea being only slightly discreet about their motives. You remained where you stood, fidgeting as the Skeksis sat staring at you from their seats at the table. You began to regret your decision as you realized this was not an innocent and gracious invitation by the bird-like lords of Thra.

- Regardless of the uncomfortable introduction you were invited to dinner...well sort of. Podlings brought in a mini table and a seat and soon enough you were sat before the Skeksis with a plate of your own being watched like a circus act.

- The food is odd to say the least; slightly disgusting and a bit scarring at times but you do your best to pick at what seems edible and seem thankful for their generosity.

- After your meal you’re told that you can stay for just that night but the following morning you’re invited by the Skeksis to “enjoy a day in castle”. You spend your day being pulled from room to room by the Skeksis who are curious yet repulsed by you.

- After a few more nights spent as a guest you are invited to remain in the castle forever and while it is uncomfortable at times you still enjoy living with the odd creatures.

Skekso

- You’ll most likely spend the most time with him basically being his “pet” and entertaining him when the podlings fail to. You’re often going to be found at his side in the throne room mostly just being there to be gawked at by visitors and residents of the castle alike. It fills him with pride when he sees their awed faces knowing he “has” something they never will or have never seen before.

- From time to time you’ll be tasked with menial things like finding another skeksis and informing them of something or delivering something to them.

- He holds you at a higher regard then the podlings so he trusts you with more important tasks but really his trust isn’t worth a whole lot since he doesn’t believe the podlings capable of doing much besides cooking, cleaning and playing music.

- He gives you a great many gifts in an attempt to keep you pleased and ensure that you wish to stay with the Skeksis. He also believes that the gifts will gain him your favor and your loyalty should an issue arise within the castle. You are far more agile then they after all, you would be a good ally even if you are a mere “human”.

- Theres been times where hes awoke in a cold sweat, shivering as he’s wandered down the palace halls to your chambers. He woke you up quietly and taken you to see the darkness. He doesn’t say much as the two of you stand there he merely wants your company as he sits and watches the swirls of purple before him.

Skektek

- Skektek will undoubtedly experiment on you a little bit. Test pokes and prods, taking samples from here and there, moving your limbs and face around to examine you, etc. He wants to try to classify you/get a basic understanding of your species. He’s very curious as to what you are, where you came from and how you work.

- At times he feels sorry for you or the closest a Skeksis can be to being sorry. He’s not very fond of the other Skeksis himself so he can only imagine how you feel. He pities you, he truly does, so he’ll allow you to stay beside him in his secluded lab if you stay quiet and out of the way.

- He thinks it’s oddly amusing seeing you coo or attempt to play with his creatures. If you act kind and earn his trust he’ll allow you to take them out or help him to feed and take care of them.

- He won’t admit it but he enjoys your company and the help you provide when you can/when he asks you. It also makes him happy when you sit and listen to his explanations and watch him with interest while he works.

Skeksil

- Skeksil likes to play tricks on you. He thinks that manipulating you is fun and whenever he manages to scare you he’s overly proud. Although he does feel a slight twinge of guilt when you’re genuinely nice to him with no ulterior motive in sight. But if there isn’t a motive he’ll convince himself that there is one until he no longer feels bad for you.

- He acts sickly sweet at other times in attempts to gain your trust, gifts, sticking up for you or convincing the emperor to let you do something he originally didn’t allow you to do. If you aren’t stupid you’ll be suspicious and hesitant in trusting him.

- He’ll try to coerce you into helping him with his schemes and when you don’t agree he’ll try to persuade the emperor that you’re no good or blackmail you with false allegations. It rarely works but it does succeed in scaring you and making you wary of him.

- He quite likes your company even if he makes it so that you are uncomfortable in his presence. You’ll catch him lurking in the shadows and find that he seems to be everywhere you turn.

“Oh beloved pet, it seem that you have wandered far from side of emperor.”

Skekvar

- Skekvar likes to poke and prod like Skektek but not in the same way, theres nothing scientific about his methods nor his reasoning. His touching trials don’t last for a very long time especially if he finds what he’s looking for which is just how far he can go until you show visible pain.

- A curious scratch here, nip there, knock on the elbow, grip of the wrist and an additional hard squeeze; he wants to see how strong or rather how fragile you are. I would suggest faking pain a little before his tests begin to actually hurt so that when he’s being cruel he never hurts you too badly.

- He gets very annoyed when he sees Skeksil with you, whether it be because he doesn’t like Skeksil or because he doesn’t like the way his fellow Skeksis tries to manipulate you. He’s not afraid to bellow our threats and tear the two of you apart if he deems the Skeksis behavior “inappropriate”.

- You want to watch him train? He’d be glad to show off and get your applause. Want him to teach you? He’ll give you a few basic lessons, he doesn’t want you being able to hurt any of his people badly if you turn on them.

- He does have a slight soft spot for you which if of course uncharacteristic of Skeksis. He doesn’t like it but he can’t help it.

Skeklach

- First things first. Ew. Here’s to hoping you don’t have a weak stomach. Be sure to keep a tissue around in case you get dribbled on or sprayed with... yuck.

- Skeklach doesn’t try to be rude per say but they just can’t seem to help it. They’re crude and offensive and overall just plain mean. They view you as below them; as most of the Skeksis do, but she can never seem to bite her tongue when it would be wise to.

- Shes the collector so she definitely has quite a few treasures laying around. Perhaps she’d allow you to see them …if you did something for her first of course.

- It’s quite easy to earn her favor especially when you gift her something.

“Pretty~”

SkekOk

- SkekOk is most likely the most fond of you, believing you to “be his” more than any other Skeksis, he found you after all.

- He enjoys teasing you and attempting to joke about his fellow Skeksis more or less insulting them in attempts to make you feel closer to him.

- He enjoys correcting your grammar and using big words to see the impressed look on your face as he explains their meaning to you.

- He enjoys hugs although they make him a bit flustered and uncomfortable. He never quite gets used to them but he appreciates the reward after he’s done something kind for you (most likely in an attempt to get a hug from you).

Skekayuk

- Skekayuk is the gourmand of the Skeksis so hes more often than not found eating or drinking. He’d happily explain to you how you properly eat certain gourmet Skeksis dishes if for no other reason than to have the excuse to eat more in an attempt to “show you how it’s done”. If you like food, you’ll like him and he’ll like you.

- Hes honestly quite jovial, a bit crude but entertaining to be around. If/when you earn a place at the Skeksis table you might wish to sit near him which would make him puff up in pride (and make the others jealous).

- He’ll be the first to notice if somethings upset you, mostly because he’ll notice all the food left on your plate. Upon noticing he will; as nicely and quietly as a Skeksis can, ask what’s the matter while offering you some more ale in an attempt to lighten your spirits.

- Whenever new shipments of food arrive he’ll be the first to know and the first to eagerly tell you as he urges you to come with him to the kitchen.

Skekekt

- Oh, so the Skeksis have a new doll. How nice! You’ll be dressed up in the finest they can find, there’s no way they would allow you to sit around in such drab unskeksis-like clothing.

- He’s a Skeksis of culture: theater, music, art, fashion, whichever you enjoy he would love to speak to you about. You could have hour long conversations and never tire of his company.

Skekzok

- He often enlists your help to prepare and perform his rituals, he believes you’re more capable than the podlings when handling such intricate tasks.

- He enjoys dark jokes, if you have a dark sense of humor you’ll get along well and he’ll welcome you to join him wherever he goes. You’re a great source of entertainment for him.

#skeksis headcanons #skeksis #castle of the crystal #the dark crystal headcanon #the dark crystal age of resistance headcanon #the dark crystal headcanons #the dark crystal age of resistance #the dark crystal imagine #skektek #skekso #skeklach #skekkok #skekvar #skeksil #skekayuk #skekekt #skekzok

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vmheadquarters · 4 years ago

Text

We’re still playing our game of written hot potato! Dozens of your favorite authors are taking turns to tell a Veronica Mars mystery story. Each writer crafts their chapter and then “tosses” the story to the next person to continue the tale. No one knows what will happen, so expect the unexpected!

Follow the “vmhq presents” and “murder we wrote” tags for all the installments, or read the story as it develops on AO3. --Chapter Twenty-Six of MURDER, WE WROTE is written by @jeanie205. And stayed tuned next week for Ch.27 from @nevertothethird - tag, you’re it!

_____________________________________________________________

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX by @jeanie205

Business hadn’t exactly been booming at Mars Investigations lately, and even though she knew her dad was right, that the PI business, like almost everything else, was cyclical, Veronica still chafed under the inactivity.

She’d filled in her time the past few days with a flurry of office organization and some paperwork she’d been putting off for weeks, interspersed with a couple of bread-and-butter infidelity stakeouts. But either the unfaithful spouses had gotten stupider over the years, or Veronica had just gotten a lot better at sussing them out. Because while the pay had been good - great, in fact - it hadn’t taken her long to come up with the Money Shots.

So now she was at loose ends again. Even Mac had taken the day off after completing her update of the MI website, which she’d told Veronica was “a disaster.”

“They aren’t going to hire you if your site looks like it was designed in a high school IT class,” Mac had said, shaking her head.

For as much good as it’s done so far, Veronica thought, sitting alone in her office with nothing to do.

Her glance fell unconsciously to her bottom right-hand desk drawer. The deep one.

Well, maybe she didn't exactly have nothing to do.

There was a case of sorts, if she wanted to count guessing the ending of a whodunit written by the least likely mystery writer she could ever have imagined. An activity that Veronica had so far found not particularly entertaining. Mostly because the plot was already so convoluted that she doubted the eventual reveal could ever make much sense.

On the other hand, she’d become rather fond of Ruby Jetson, and knew they probably owed her for helping to exonerate Logan of murder. Besides which, she had promised.

With a guilty sigh, Veronica pulled open the drawer and hefted out a thick envelope.

Ruby had brought her the manuscript nearly a week earlier, eager to know if the story was good enough to “fool” the seasoned detective. Although she’d shown up without an appointment, Veronica had taken the time to read several chapters, Ruby smiling delightedly whenever she’d frowned in puzzlement.

“I knew it was a good mystery,” Ruby had boasted gleefully. “That even you wouldn’t be able to figure it out.”

By then, it had become apparent that Ruby expected her to read the whole damn book right then and there! Thank god Mac had soon caught on and poked her head in the office door, reminding Veronica about “her appointment.”

Ruby had looked disappointed when Veronica carefully re-stacked the loose manuscript pages and slipped them into the large envelope, stowing everything away in her bottom drawer.

“I’ll finish it soon,” she’d promised faithfully.

But she never had, although Ruby had called every day, looking for an update.

“Hurry up, Veronica,” she’d complained only the day before, the exasperation clear in her voice. “I need to send it to my publisher.”

Veronica had been surprised. Ruby already had a publisher?

As she slipped the manuscript out of the envelope, quickly flipping to the red post-it she’d left to hold her place, she fleetingly wondered who in hell might actually want to publish Ruby’s novel.

Picking up where she’d left off, Veronica noted the same peculiarity that had struck her the week before. Ruby’s chapters often varied so wildly in both style and format that it was almost like they’d been written by different people. She paused in her reading, considered for a moment if Ruby might have some kind of dual personality disorder. After all, the woman did have two names.

Or... maybe the answer was much simpler. Maybe Ruby had a collaborator, the same person, Veronica thought with growing certainty, who’d passed along all the personal information that Ruby could never have dug up, no matter how much “research” she’d done.

And that was another thing. Veronica’s annoyance rose as she came across yet another intimate-sounding encounter between book-Veronica and book-Logan. Ruby had promised her faithfully that the names in her roman a clef-slash-murder mystery would definitely be changed in the next draft. Veronica sure as hell hoped she followed through. Otherwise, the fledgling author was going to be bombarded with lawsuits. And Veronica Mars would be at the head of the line.

She sighed, turning back to the story just in time to find that... Ruby had killed herself off!

Or at least, she’d killed off Della Pugh.

Veronica’s eyes narrowed in surprise at this fictional turn of events. Was this some sort of symbolic “killing” of her original self so that her Ruby persona could thrive? She shook her head, finally deciding she was no better as a psychologist than she was a literary critic. She flipped quickly to the next chapter and soon wished she hadn’t. A delusional, Veronica-obsessed Duncan Kane was not exactly pleasant company.

Veronica was considering with wry amusement how the man himself might view his portrayal (should he ever see it) when she was startled by the ringing of a phone. Not the office land line but the cell phone that she had to dig out from the depths of her well-loved but totally inconvenient studded black leather bag.

She might not have even bothered had the sounds of the Perishers’ “Sway” not told her it was Logan calling. She’d assigned him that ringtone in a burst of nostalgia the same day she’d updated his photo from pukka beads to dress blues.

The fact that he was calling was in itself unnerving. If Logan wanted to communicate with her during the day, he almost always texted. So of course her mind went immediately to the worst-case scenario.

“Logan! Is everything okay? Is my dad...”

“Veronica!” Logan cut in on her abruptly. “Are you watching the news? Turn on the news!”

“Wh-what? You mean, like... CNN?”

“No. The local news. It’s a breaking story on a continuous loop.”

“Okay.” Mystified, she grabbed the remote from a drawer and powered up the wall TV that she hardly ever used.

And there was that creepy newscaster, the one who invariably reminded her of Vinnie Van Lowe.

“... a tragedy right here in Neptune last night when promising new writer Ruby Jetson was murdered in her own home.”

Veronica gasped. It couldn’t be!

“Veronica! You still there?”

“Yeah, Logan, I’m here. I can’t... I can’t believe it.”

“Believe it. And there’s more. Keep watching.”

Onscreen, the newscaster was just beginning the introduction of an “important witness” to the tragedy.

“We’re fortunate to have with us here in the studio the man who discovered the body of Ms. Jetson. Neptune’s very own school principal turned book publisher, Mr. Van Clemmons.”

Veronica nearly fell off her chair. Holy shit! Clemmons was Ruby’s publisher?

She quickly turned up the volume, desperate to hear every word.

“I understand you were about to publish Ms. Jetson’s first novel, Mr. Clemmons?” the Vinnie-clone asked in that fake tone of sympathetic interest that all newscasters somehow managed to perfect.

Clemmons nodded.

“That’s right. Of course, I’d known her as Della Pugh back when she was at Neptune High, but she’d made some changes in her life, and if she preferred to be Ruby Jetson, who was I to say she shouldn’t?”

Veronica rolled her eyes. Right, Van. You were always so forward-thinking.

“And the book?” the newscaster encouraged, refusing to be shifted off-topic by anything about the actual victim herself.

“Well, ah, Ruby came to me with the idea. Some kind of murder mystery. Very popular genre, of course. But the story was to be based on people she’d known in high school. I thought it sounded... promising. And she was just about to deliver the first draft. Said she’d finished it but was waiting for some feedback from a trusted friend.”

Veronica blinked. A trusted friend?

She wrenched her mind away from dwelling on the sheer... unexpectedness of Ruby regarding her as a friend, because Clemmons was still talking and she didn’t want to miss a word.

“Ruby kept delaying turning in the first draft, so I stopped by last night to see if I could... hurry her along.”

Clemmons paused briefly, and for the first time looked visibly shaken.

“And that’s when I... found her.”

The newscaster nodded slowly. “Not a pleasant experience.”

“No, indeed,” Clemmons agreed.

“And the book?” Vinnie’s doppelgänger was not to be thwarted.

Clemmons shook his head sadly. “I’m afraid that’s not going to happen after all. Only Ruby had copies of the manuscript, but there weren’t any in her apartment. And her laptop was missing, too.”

“The police...?”

“Didn’t find anything, either.”

“So the book won’t be published.”

Clemmons shrugged. “I can’t publish what I don’t have.”

The newscaster paused to make sure that viewers caught the significance of his next question.

“Do you think it’s possible that poor Ruby was killed because of something in that book?”

Clemmons hesitated. “I suppose it could be,” he said finally. “But I guess we’ll never know. If there ever was a manuscript, it’s gone forever.”

Veronica stared at the screen for long seconds before she muttered the words under her breath.

“No, Van. Not quite fucking gone.”

She switched off the television and picked up her phone. “You still there, Logan?”

“No, I’m here,” he said, appearing suddenly in the office doorway. “Thought maybe I should come by.”

She nodded, and as one their eyes fell on the loose pages still sitting in the middle of Veronica’s desk.

In seconds, she’d scooped them up and shoved them back into the envelope. But this time, the manuscript wasn’t crammed unceremoniously back into that deep bottom drawer. This time, Veronica opened their rarely-used safe and locked the thick envelope securely inside.

Veronica thought Logan must have sensed how shaken she suddenly felt because he was across the room like a shot, and in seconds she was wrapped in his arms.

“I’m sorry, Veronica,” Logan said softly, breathing the words into her hair.

“Yeah, me, too,” she murmured into his shoulder.

Then she took a deep breath and stepped back from Logan’s arms, determination stiffening her spine as she gazed up at him.

“Somebody killed Ruby over that damn book, Logan. And we’re gonna figure out who the hell did it.”

#veronica mars #veronica mars fanfic #vm fanfic #vmhq presents #murder we wrote #round robin

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wolfcrunch · 6 years ago

Text

Thoughts on Mirio Togata and a certain Quirk...

Y’all finally ready??? lets go

SPOILERS FOR ANYONE NOT HAVING READ THE OVERHAUL ARC

(also contains minor spoilers from other arcs? major at the very end for Overhaul arc)

time to,,,,, talk about why I, personally, don’t believe Mirio should be as deserving of OFA as everyone else thinks he is, why Sir Nighteye was in the wrong and everything about that.

Now I do want to,, say a few things first

yes, if you know me even a little bit you will know I am not the biggest fan of Mirio - he actually happens to be in my top 10 most disliked characters. HOWEVER I’m going to do my best to keep my thoughts neutral (to be fair, it was the fanbase that turned me off liking him)

the exact same thing goes for Sir Nighteye, but even worse - again, I won’t rag on him and I do understand why he acted the way he was, sorta

this post will honestly be a mess oof. but mostly I’m going to just dump all the thoughts I can; including how the timeline would change, characters personal feelings and such

THIS POST IS JUST MY OPINION THUS FAR! it might change when Season 4 of the anime airs, and I have extra time to go through the arc again. and of course, if you think Mirio does deserve OFA then thats perfectly fine too! everyone has their own opinions, I don’t expect this to change any minds.

Power-wise, Mirio is deserving - however, this is factoring his own quirk out of this

ALSO NOTE this post has no structure as I’ve said before so...oops?

Ok so to basically start this off; we see Mirio before he loses his quirk as a rather hardworking, bright and sunny student. And yes, first thoughts would be ‘he is the perfect choice’, and I see why people think so. His mastery of his own quirk is rather impressive; if anything, he might’ve been like All Might, able to master OFA much faster. Not to imagine how the quirk would mix with his own, and with future quirks.

But seeing the type of person Mirio is...someone who holds himself so proudly over how he controls his current quirk...I don’t think he would’ve accepted OFA to begin with. He’s already shown the instance of this in canon.

I understand the occurrence of this interaction wouldn’t be the same, but regardless it counts for how he might approach it all. He strikes me a lot like All Might; he’s already powerful enough with his quirk, he’s already got enough control - why would he need to accept this gift, regardless of the power it holds, or the sentiment?

He’s already standing in the ring.

Which also leads me to something All Might has said before, when confiding in Bakugou about why he chose Midoriya to be his successor of all people.

Again, I know the circumstances aren’t the exact same. But I feel like Mirio is the type of character who would prefer the quirk go to someone less fortunate, for he already has so much going for him.

Of course, I could be completely wrong. He might have accepted it, if for the sake of All Might and Sir Nighteye; but I would like to think he wouldn’t. Mirio also reminds me of Midoriya in that regard; caring for others over themselves.

This is also partially why I want to believe that Mirio wont get his quirk back. I feel like it would be so much better for his character to remain quirkless, and to become what Midoriya could’ve been if he had not gotten OFA. That would make his character arc really improve and be really good writing for him.

I’d also like to point out that whilst Mirio is very well much like All Might when it comes to personality and how he holds himself as a hero...one major thing brings them apart, this major part being something Midoriya excels in, and we’ve seen this is various instances.

Mirio...is hesitant.

He was hesitant when it came to their first meeting with Eri. Yes, he is a seasoned student, and knowing how dangerous Overhaul was - it was for the best that they let Eri go.

But you can’t always hesistate. Sometimes you have to jump in...and I feel like Mirio doesn’t have that drive, not like All Might and Midoriya. It was this exact same trait that caused All Might to choose. Midoriya leaped in to save Bakugou, consequences be dammed. I don’t think Mirio could do that.

And now...Sir Nighteye.

My distaste for Sir Nighteye is unique - and it might mostly stem from the fact that I am a Midoriya stan.

Now, I do understand why he was firstly portrayed as he was - bitter towards our protagonist. His character is a rather complex one; he starts off as a rude man but eventually we see why and how he came to be that way, and what shaped him - All Might’s future.

Anyone being faced with the death of the Symbol of Peace, the strongest hero, and having no way to change it would be unnerved. Sir Nighteye was scared, and his reaction is justified...in a way, considering he worked with All Might himself. The two were work partners, and it was this uncertain future that split them apart.

Sir Nighteye had every reason to grow apart from All Might, he only wanted to try protecting him. Being one of the only heroes who knew about One For All, he also wanted to make sure it was passed to the right successor, which is understandable.

But Sir Nighteye, I feel, approached the situation in the wrong way. We see that very clearly when Midoriya has to fight him in order to be accepted as his intern.

This scene just...rubs me the wrong way when it came to Sir Nighteye’s character. There were plenty of other ways he could’ve tried to deal with this.

He doesn’t have to accept Midoriya, no, but he should’ve put his bitter resentment aside. He only knows Midoriya as the kid who breaks his bones with his quirk. He doesn’t know how much Midoriya had to fight to control this quirk - and even then, he still can’t control it.

But also Midoriya’s expression when he finds out Mirio was ‘first in line’;

Midoriya still likely suffers from something akin to Impostor’s Syndrome - again, various hints have been placed throughout the manga/series itself. That’s not surprising.

Sir Nighteye’s dismissal of him wielding OFA was awful.

Sir Nighteye shouldn’t have a choice in the first place. That’s also what annoys me.

OFA is not his quirk...I don’t understand why he went and trained a successor for a quirk he can’t pass, for a quirk that isn’t his to decide. All Might isn’t the best teacher...but Sir Nighteye didn’t trust him, obviously. He didn’t trust the Symbol of Peace to be competent enough to find someone worthy.

That ‘someone worthy’ ended out being Midoriya. But Sir Nighteye still blatantly went ahead with this ‘great idea’.

Sir Nighteye as a character does improve - by the end of the Overhaul Arc, we know he has come to terms with Midoriya - has spoken about him, ect. But the fact he gets killed off right after still left the sour taste in my mouth of his first introduction.

Not to mention his quirk; I understand that Sir Nighteye was frightened by All Might’s death, but doesn’t his quirk allow him to show the future? They could’ve looked to see who All Might chose; and they could’ve risen that successor together.

All the hardship and bitterness could’ve easily been avoided.

And now, y’all, lets go through the current canon events and dissect how everything would’ve turned out if Mirio had gotten OFA instead;

(leaving off from the standpoint where Midoriya still saved Bakugou from the sludge villain, but was never offered OFA)

The Entrance Exam: Uraraka possibly would’ve been seriously worse off than in canon. We don’t know if the teachers would’ve stopped the robot in time for nothing serious to occur - since no one would be there to punch the robot.

Quirk Assessment Test: not terribly bad, but a student possibly would’ve been expelled - even several.

USJ: At the very least, Tsu and Mineta would be dead. Aizawa and All Might would also possibly be dead, and perhaps even other students. The League would’ve been much more successful, and the media would be even more down UA’s throats.

Sports Festival: Todoroki maybe wouldn’t have indulged to anyone about his backstory; he would’ve gone on to use only his ice. I don’t believe many of the other students who he’d consider ‘strong enough’ would try to encourage him like Midoriya did during their battle. It’d also be safe to say that because of this, he wouldn’t visit his mother afterwards.

Hero Killer: Stain: Due to Midoriya not interning with Gran Torino, and seeing as the events with Tensei would still occur, Tenya would still go after the villain with revenge. It’d likely that both he and Native would die by Stain since there is no Midoriya or Todoroki to intervene.

Final Exams: Nothing too terrible happens here - but its likely that Bakugou would be off worse.

Training Camp: Bakugou and Todoroki, perhaps even more students would’ve been kidnapped by the League. Kouta likely would’ve been killed by Muscular, and still would’ve hated heroes.

Kamino Ward: AFO vs All Might still occurs - but the outcome very well could’ve ended differently. The League might’ve gotten away with the students they kidnapped, and All Might might lose due to the fact he was holding back due to Bakugou in canon.

Provisional License Exam: Again, not that bad - some of the students might’ve not passed alongside Bakugou and Todoroki. If Toga still sneaks in, she either would’ve gotten no blood or the blood of someone else.

Overhaul/Internship Arc: Very possibly Eri might’ve never been saved. The prophecy with All Might not be twisted. Sir Nighteye still might die...and Mirio could’ve still, very likely, gotten shot. Where does that leave him? Probably without both his original quirk and One For All. The villains would win.

And that’s only if UA still remained open after earlier events. UA would be at the very real possibility of closing after the events of the USJ, allowing at least two students and possibly one or two teachers to die.

Midoriya, as a character, has made such an impact that the storyline would be vastly different. Several characters changed for the better because of his presence in the storyline with OFA. So many characters had the real chance of being badly hurt or killed if Midoriya hadn’t interfered in some way, shape or form.

He can’t interfere if he doesn’t have OFA.

Midoriya possess more of a hero’s ideals than Mirio when it comes to several,,, things in general. Mirio doesn’t really possess what Midoriya does, and would almost feel like an All Might copy.

Midoriya is truly working to make this quirk his own...Mirio would’ve had a better time, but we never would’ve seen the struggle our lovely green protagonist went through. The pain, the blood, the tears...Mirio wouldn’t have that - at least, not to the same extent.

And that is why Mirio doesn’t suit being the MC, or being the holder of OFA.

#bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #mirio togata #sir nighteye #all might #midoriya izuku #one for all #meta?#my thoughts are a mess sorry if this post isnt easy to read #lemillion #big three #queue

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mdelpin · 5 years ago

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Fairy Tail Big Bang Artist @selenba - (Art pending) AO3 | FF.Net

The Red Dragon

Summary: Natsu Dragneel is a unique child, the offspring of a red dragon and a human. While he presents as human most of the time, sometimes for short periods, Natsu finds himself in the body of a dragon.

One such afternoon he sneaks off in pursuit of a scent that seems to be inviting him to follow — leading him to Gray Fullbuster, a young boy whose whole life has recently been turned upside down by a red dragon.

A friendship between the two boys soon blossoms and a bond is forged that can't easily be broken. Faced with many obstacles, Natsu and Gray will have to fight to ensure their love is strong enough to surpass a hatred borne of tragedy.

Chapter 1

Natsu Dragneel walked around the main room of his cave trying to find something to entertain him. His father and uncle had been talking about magic for the last few hours, and they seemed to have completely forgotten about him. He sighed, as usual, there was not much to keep an eight-year-old boy entertained inside the vast space that he called home. He tried to practice his fire magic but soon lost interest. He pretended that a stick he had collected was a wooden sword and tried to fight his shadow, but he got overly excited and set his makeshift sword on fire instead. That happened a lot.

He had resigned himself to yet another lonely afternoon when he felt the significant discomfort of his body changing. In just a few minutes his body had transmogrified into that of a small red dragon. Natsu tested his wings and was able to lift himself up quite easily. Looking over to where the two large dragons were still talking, he determined that they were not paying the slightest attention to him. They wouldn't miss him if he stepped out for a little while. Natsu's eyes twinkled with excitement and the anticipation of getting into mischief.

He slipped out of the main room as quietly as he could and worked his way to the rear exit of the cave. It was positioned in a way that it kept their comings and goings away from any prying eyes from the nearby village.

He stood at the exit trying to decide which direction to explore. Natsu knew to stay away from the village, his father was determined to keep their existence a secret. But there were plenty of other directions he could go. His heart was racing, he'd never gone off on his own before, and it made him feel bold to do so now. He was going to go on an adventure, and no one could stop him!

He sniffed the air around him, hoping to catch the scent of an animal he could hunt. Instead, he found a smell that he couldn't remember ever having encountered before. It was a scent that was enticing, it called to him, and he immediately set off to explore it, without a thought as to whether it was wise to do so.

Flying was one of the things that Natsu loved best. Feeling the wind as it interacted with his body and soaring above the clouds. When he was in the air, he felt free. There was only one problem.

Natsu felt his body change back as he was flying higher than usual, saw the ground rush at him and panicked. He flailed his arms in the hopes that he could somehow affect his now different body. He fell faster and faster until there was nothing but green and brown in his field of vision.

He flailed his arms once more trying desperately to grab on to something before hitting the ground.

"OW," he screamed as branch after branch broke his fall until he was caught well and proper by the scarf that he usually wore around his neck.

Yeah, flying was great, but the only problem was he never knew how long he was going to remain in his dragon form. He struggled to get free but only managed to almost choke himself. How was he going to get out of this one?

o-o

Gray Fullbuster was also an eight-year-old boy. He'd suddenly found himself taking a journey on his own, everything he still possessed stuffed into a knapsack. He'd been walking around the woods that had bordered his village for the last few days, eating when he could.

He honestly couldn't remember much that had happened in the last few days, his mind still caught up in the immense loss he had suffered. He'd just kept walking, knowing that eventually he would either come to a village or die. At the moment he was okay with either.

Gray was startled out of his stupor by a rather loud crash, somewhere to the west of him. Part of him wanted to ignore the noise, but he couldn't. A noisy "OW" had captured his attention, and the voice had sounded quite young. After what he'd just been through, he couldn't just leave someone to their own devices if he could help. Besides, it's not like he had anywhere he had to be.

With a slightly annoyed grunt, he turned west and began his search. He looked all around hoping to see any evidence of the noise he'd heard, but nothing seemed to be amiss.

"Hey!"

Gray looked around once more but couldn't see anyone.

"I'm up here!" The voice called out again, and this time Gray was sure it belonged to a kid. He looked up and caught his breath, there was indeed a boy hanging on to a tree branch that had to be at least twenty feet up. How the hell was he supposed to get him down from there?

"Let go, I'll catch you." It was only after saying the words that Gray realized how incredibly stupid they were. If the boy did let go and Gray didn't catch him, he could easily break something and then he'd be in even more trouble. Even If Gray did somehow manage to catch him, they would both get hurt.

"I can't, I'm stuck." The boy took one hand off of the branch and pointed to his neck before returning it to its original position, and Gray could barely make out a piece of fabric that was caught in the branches. He could see the problem now. If the boy let go of the branch he was holding on to, he'd be hung by the scarf that was wrapped around both his neck and the tree branches.

Gray put his knapsack down and rummaged through its contents until he found what he was looking for, a utility knife he'd managed to rescue from the rubble that was all that was left of his village. He tucked it into the back of his pants and stared at the tree, trying to figure out a way to get up to the boy.

Gray found the lowest branch that he thought would be likely to support his weight and jumped up, trying to catch it with his hands. His fingers barely touched it the first time, but he was able to grasp it on his second try. He pulled himself up until both his elbows were on the branch, then he used them to hold his upper body as he swung his legs until he had hooked one on the branch and then managed to get himself into a sitting position. The boy was still pretty high above him.

Gray took a couple of deep breaths, and without looking down, he carefully climbed branch by branch until he was close enough to be able to get a good look at the boy he was trying to help. The boy looked to be about his age and Gray was immediately intrigued. He had pink hair, which Gray had never seen before, and bright green eyes that demanded his attention. Gray, however, was focused on the boy's mouth at the moment. Not only did he not seem scared, but he also seemed to be enjoying himself, if the fanged grin he was sporting was anything to go by.

"Hang on," Gray said as he tested the branch Natsu was on to make sure it could hold his weight. Once he felt sure it could, he climbed on and shimmied his way over. He grabbed hold of the scarf and took his knife out getting ready to tear it and free the boy.

"Wait! What are you doing?" The boy's grin was replaced by a look of panic."You can't tear it, that's the only thing I have of my mother!"

"Your mother died?" Gray asked carefully, his mother had died only a few days earlier and he still couldn't really talk about it.

"I never met her, she died when I was born, but that scarf was hers." The boy grabbed it protectively in one hand, looking at Gray with a bit of distrust. Gray flinched when he saw how precariously the boy was dangling while holding on with one hand.

"Well, how else do you expect me to get you down from there?" Gray grumbled, "If I promise I won't tear it, will you please hold on properly?"

The boy eyed him, staring into his eyes as if he could see into his very soul, it was a bit unnerving. He nodded slowly.

"I promise."

"Okay." The boy let go of the scarf and grabbed the branch again. "Do you think you can try something quick, my arms really hurt."

Gray looked for either of the loose ends of the scarf so that he could try to detangle it. If the boy had given him any other reason, he would have torn through the scarf anyway, but he understood what it felt like to have only one thing left of someone you loved. So Gray continued to look until the loose end was found, it had managed to knot itself around a branch. He detangled the scarf as best he could, at one point pulling so hard he almost choked the poor boy, but he was able to finally release him, and the scarf fell to the ground.

Then the boy did something unexpected, he let go of the branch, and as he fell, jets of fire appeared under his feet, slowing down his descent. He reached the ground, the grin returning. He looked quite satisfied with himself. Immediately picking up the scarf, he shook the dirt off and placed it around his neck once again.

Gray worked his way down the tree slowly, and when he made it all the way down, he immediately went over to the boy.

"How did you do that?"

"Magic." He grinned excitedly. "Don't you have it?"

Gray shook his head. "My name is Gray by the way." Gray extended his hand for the boy to shake but he only looked at it in confusion, as if he didn't know what was expected of him.

"Well?" Gray prodded when he had not received any response to his introduction. "What's your name?"

"Oh! My name is Natsu, nice to meet you!" He grinned at Gray and looked around while scratching his head. "Where am I?"

"I don't really know, I was just passing through when I heard you crash into the tree." Gray stopped for a moment puzzled. "How exactly did you end up in that tree, anyway?"

"I was flying, and then I fell," Natsu said matter-of-factly as if this was a normal occurrence for him. "At least the tree broke my fall." He chirped. He started sniffing Gray with interest, before moving on to the air around him, he looked puzzled.

"What are you doing?" Gray asked, he'd only just met him but every moment spent with Natsu only led to more questions.

"I'm trying to see if I can smell the way home but I can't. I guess I must have gone further than I thought." For the first time, he looked nervous, and Gray noticed he was fiddling with his scarf.

"It's okay, you can stay with me until you find your way home." Gray offered, and when he saw Natsu relax slightly, he added, "For now, it's getting late. We should find a place to set up camp for the night."

They walked in silence picking up sticks for kindling as they went. Gray had a lot of questions he wanted to ask, but he couldn't think of a way to ask them that wouldn't lead to him having to answer questions of his own. So he remained quiet even though his curiosity was so intense it felt like it had a will of its own.

Every once in a while, Natsu would start that strange sniffing, and his hands would once again go to his scarf. A few times Gray saw him burying his nose in it, trying to hide the small whine that was coming from his throat. It was oddly endearing, and for a reason he couldn't explain, Gray began to feel responsible for Natsu.

He was a bundle of energy, and also easily distracted. More than once Gray had to run after him when he took off to chase after a rabbit. He began to think that having Natsu with him was going to be more trouble than it was worth but then Natsu would turn to him with those green eyes and that toothy grin of his and Gray would feel a warmth in his chest that he hadn't felt since his village had been destroyed by that dragon. He knew it was worth the added inconvenience.

He found a nice clearing under a copse of trees and decided they would camp there for the night. They set the sticks they had collected in a pile and mixed some dry leaves in. Gray opened his knapsack and began to look for his flint to start a fire, but by the time he had found it, Natsu had already lit the fire using his magic. He was staring at the flames thoughtfully, and Gray thought he looked sad.

"What's the matter, Natsu?"

Natsu turned towards him with glistening eyes and admitted he'd never slept outside of his cave before. His cave? Gray wasn't sure what to say to that, but it made him feel closer to Natsu. Until a few days ago, it had been the same for him, he'd never slept outside his home.

Almost as if to lighten the mood, both their stomachs rumbled at the same time, and they laughed together.

"I guess we should hunt for some food." Gray smiled.

"Now can I chase rabbits?" Natsu asked with eagerness. He waited for Gray's response, and when he received a nod, he took off with incredible speed. To Gray's surprise, he soon returned with two fat rabbits and a satisfied smile. Maybe having him around wouldn't be so bad after all, it usually took Gray hours to hunt down anything.

Since Natsu caught their dinner, Gray got to work preparing it. They sat by the fire waiting for the food to cook and Gray shivered, still not used to being outside in the cold night air. Natsu watched him and quietly moved closer. Gray felt a pleasant warmth surround him like a cocoon.

"How are you so warm?" Gray wondered.

"It's just my magic." Natsu shrugged as if it wasn't important.

"Where do you live anyway?" Gray asked, curious as to where this strange boy had come from.

"I live in the mountains with my dad and uncle," Natsu replied. "We live near a village called Talos."

"Talos? I've never heard of it. " Their food was finally ready, and they ate in silence, content to sit near each other. Gray shared his water canteen with his new friend. He went to set up his bedroll and promptly realized he didn't have another.

Natsu looked at the bedroll with interest. "What's that?"

"It's where I sleep at night." Gray wondered what he should do and decided he didn't care if Natsu shared his bedroll with him. His parents had always taught him to share his things with others, and who knew, it might even help keep his nightmares at bay. "I don't have another, but you're welcome to share it if you want."

Natsu shrugged his shoulders and after attending to the call of nature crawled into the bedroll and instantly fell asleep. Gray did the same, he put out the fire and crawled into the bedroll as well. It was already warm thanks to Natsu's unusually high body temperature, and Gray felt content. He turned away from Natsu, their backs touching as they both slept.

o-o

When Natsu woke up, it took him a moment to remember where he was. Instead of his nice warm cave, he was inside some sort of fabric. Instead of being cuddled up against his father's massive body, there was a boy who looked to be about his age.

Natsu recalled the boy's name was Gray. Noticing that sometime during the night he must have snuggled up against Gray, Natsu carefully backed away, not wanting to make the other boy uncomfortable.

Gray was still asleep, and Natsu took this opportunity to get a good look at him. The only other human he'd ever met was Anna. She had taken care of him when he was younger, and she still came to visit him every week.

Recently she'd been trying to convince his father to let Natsu attend something called school with some other kids she took care of. He wasn't sure what it was all about, but he would like to meet other kids, especially if they were as fun as Gray. He hadn't set foot in Talos since the day he'd been born.

His father was against the idea because Natsu could not control his impulses very well on his own. Maybe this adventure would help prove to his father that he was wrong. He chose to forget that the only reason he was in this mess was that he hadn't heeded his father's warning in the first place and had flown further away from the mountain than ever before.

He needed to figure out how to get back home. He knew his father would not be able to find him quickly while he was in his human form but nothing smelled familiar, and his senses were weaker when he was like this.

He watched Gray sleep a bit longer and felt a warmth in his heart, unlike anything he'd ever felt before. When he'd sniffed him earlier, he'd recognized the scent that had enticed him to fly in this direction. Even though he was unsure of what it meant, Natsu had to admit that he felt strangely at home with him. Like he was where he was supposed to be. He felt a need to protect him too, even though so far it had been Gray who had done the protecting. Gray began to stir in his sleep, and Natsu decided to get up and explore their immediate surroundings for a source of water. He thought maybe they could have some fish for breakfast.

He found a tall tree and in a moment of uncharacteristic foresight, he took off his scarf. He hung it on a low branch and climbed as high as he dared. Holding on to the wide tree trunk, he looked in all directions until he spotted something that looked like it might be a river. He marked the course and climbed down, grabbing his scarf and wrapping it around his neck again.

He moved quickly and quietly, years of training from his father teaching him the stealth needed to move around undetected. It didn't take him very long to reach the river, and he waded in. He remained very still and watched the fish for a while before plunging in with his hands to catch them. Once he had one, he threw it over to the shore, fishing until he there was a large pile. Natsu liked to eat a lot and from what he had seen Gray was no slouch either.

With that out of the way, he got to the earnest business of having fun. He swam around, the water feeling very nice against his sweaty skin. He hoped Gray got there soon, Natsu had never had anyone to play with before, and he was excited. He splashed around and swum underwater looking for anything that might keep him entertained.

When Gray finally got there, Natsu was busy watching a turtle that was sunbathing on a log. He looked up, saw his friend and grinned. "Isn't it great?"

"You could have told me where you were going," Gray grumbled at him.

"I figured you'd find me eventually."

Gray waded into the water and swam over to Natsu. He looked at the turtle for a bit, and Natsu took the opportunity to sneak up behind him and splash him. Gray immediately retaliated, and it quickly escalated into a wrestling match. Both of them laughed and soon came up with other games to play. They swam, and Gray looked genuinely happy for the first time since Natsu had met him.

"I guess this counts as a bath?" Natsu grinned, and Gray laughed as he agreed with him.

Natsu got out of the river, every part of him dripping wet. He surrounded himself with his fire and dried off.

"What does it feel like to have magic?" Gray asked curiously. He had come out of the river as well, and he was shivering. He looked pretty miserable, so Natsu walked over to him.

"Warm? I don't know, I've always had it. How does it feel not to have it?" Natsu grinned at Gray.

"I see your point."

"Do you trust me?" Natsu asked him seriously as he once again covered himself in his fire. He waited for Gray to give him some sort of signal before continuing. When Gray nodded, Natsu wrapped his arms around his friend and extended his flames from his body to Gray's, being careful to keep the temperature at a tolerable level. Within a few minutes, Gray was dry, and Natsu released his fire and let go. He felt happy to have been able to do something for his new friend.

Natsu sat by the river bank, patting the space next to him. "I thought you might like some fish."

Gray looked around for a fishing rod of some kind but did not see any. How had he caught the fish?

"It's a nice change, how are you so good at catching food?" Gray asked as he watched Natsu grab some of the fish and cook them in his hands.

"My dad and uncle taught me. They wanted me to be able to take care of myself in case something happened to them." Natsu handed some of the fish to Gray and continued to cook some more for himself. "They taught me a lot of other stuff too."

"How did you end up here all by yourself anyway?" Natsu asked offhandedly, looking at Gray. He could smell a lot of pain in the boy sitting next to him, and he wanted to know more about him, the warmth in his heart already making demands.

"My village is gone," Gray replied simply and it didn't take much for Natsu to realize that there was a hell of a lot more to that story than Gray was letting on, but he also knew enough not to pry. "I'm trying to find my way to another one."

"Is there one this way?" Natsu asked, concerned that he might end up in a human village. Even though he was excited about the idea, he couldn't help but remember his father's warnings. If he changed back, that could spell trouble for him. He hoped he was able to find his way home before they reached the next village, but for all he knew they could be walking even further away from his cave.

Gray scratched his head. "I don't know, I couldn't find a map, but now that we've found this river we should be able to follow it to a village." He smiled at Natsu, trying to reassure him. "They might even know where Talos is, your father must be looking for you."

Natsu looked at Gray's smile curiously, wondering why it had such an effect on him. He laughed nervously. "He probably is at that, and I probably won't like what he has to say when he finds me."

Gray laughed at that, "Yeah, I got lost one time, and when my father found me he was not amused."

Natsu noticed that the smile quickly vanished and was replaced by the bittersweet smell of sadness. Natsu wanted to put his arm around Gray, but he wasn't sure how that gesture would be received.

"Did something happen to your parents?"

Gray ignored the question, standing up and getting his things together. "We should get going, we best make use of daylight."

Natsu let it go, it wasn't like he was disclosing all his secrets either. He walked next to Gray, and they followed the river in silence, each immersed in his own thoughts.

When it started to get dark, they set up camp again. Natsu once again went hunting, and Gray cooked the meat. Natsu told a few stories of his childhood, times he'd gotten in trouble with Anna. They settled into the bedroll and tried to fall asleep.

"Hey, Natsu?" Gray had turned on his side and looked at him.

"Hmm?" Natsu replied sleepily.

"Why doesn't your father want you to go to the village?" Gray asked, and there was something in his tone that confused Natsu, he wasn't sure what the real question was, but he knew there was more to it than just curiosity.

"He's worried that I might do something that might make them want to hurt me, I guess?"

"Hurt you? Why would anyone want to hurt you?" Gray stared at him, and Natsu could see him try to sort it out in his mind. "Is it because of your magic? Does he think you might lose control of it and burn the town down or something?"

Natsu laughed, "I suppose that might be part of it. I can be a bit reckless sometimes, and I don't always think things through."

"But if I lived in Talos, could I see you?" Gray asked, and Natsu finally got the question he'd been asking.

"If you lived in Talos, there's a field that I go to outside of town," Natsu told him seriously. "I could meet you there."

Natsu could almost see the tension working itself out of Gray's body. He decided to try something. I will always come when you need me. He thought the words as hard as he could, sending them through the bond that he could feel forming between them. He didn't understand what it was yet, but he could feel it solidifying the more time they spent together.

He contained his excitement when he felt Gray jump next to him. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know exactly, I was curious if I could." Natsu was thrilled, this felt important.

"Can you hear my thoughts?" Gray asked, looking intrigued.

"No, it's not like that. I can only send thoughts. You try it, think something really hard at me."

Natsu waited to hear his friends words in his head, but there was nothing. He was disappointed, but he tried not to show it.

Gray looked at him expectantly, but Natsu had to shake his head. Gray seemed as disappointed as Natsu felt. "It's okay."

Natsu looked up at the stars and wondered what his father was doing right now. Natsu knew he must be frantic. They'd never been apart for this long. As much fun as he was having with this boy he needed to get back home. He wondered if he could bring Gray home with him. Anna had said that not all humans hated dragons, that there were others like her, even in the village. He dared to hope, it would be nice to have a playmate. He wanted to believe that he could trust Gray with his secret. Natsu wondered if Gray would like riding him, it would be so fun to go exploring together. Flying together until Natsu could feel himself begin to transform and then explore and hunt and camp until he turned back again. Natsu fell asleep with a happy smile on his face, dreaming of what life would be like with Gray at his side. He wrapped his arms around Gray in his sleep. Gray did not push him away.

o-o

There was fire everywhere. People were screaming and running out of their houses. Gray could feel the heat and hear the roar of the flames as they burned through everything he'd ever known. His parents had grabbed their packed bags even as they ran out of the house. They had been planning on going camping for the first time the following morning and had already packed their supplies.

His parents didn't spare a look to the village that was crumbling around them, they ran with single-minded determination towards the woods. Gray was terrified by everything that was going on around him, he could see charred bodies everywhere he looked. Houses were collapsing, and still, he couldn't see what was causing it, and he thought that scared him most of all because no one was trying to put out the fires and there was a deafening roar in the sky. He was being pulled along behind his parents, they kept yelling at him to not look and just run.

He tried, he really did, but when confronted with the charred remain of his best friend's body, he started to scream. He could almost touch his parent's fear as they tried to pull him away, the woods looming ever closer.

He heard laughing, it was cruel and mocking, and suddenly there it was. The red dragon, covered in flames, hovered above him, his snout opening as he readied his breath attack-

"GRAY!" Gray could hear a voice calling to him from far away, but he was too caught in the dream, and as much as he hated the next part he wanted to see his parents for as long as he could.

"GRAY!" This time he heard the voice inside his dream, and he knew what it meant. Natsu, he was in his head. This time it felt less like a call and more like a command and no matter how much he wanted to fight it he was compelled to follow the voice back.

He opened his eyes and saw Natsu above him, shaking his shoulders slightly and calling to him. Gray wondered if he even knew he'd been in his mind again. Tears were streaming down both their faces and Gray shoved Natsu off him. He needed to sit up, to breathe. He didn't know what he needed, he just couldn't stop crying. Natsu sat behind him and put his arms around him in a tight embrace. Gray struggled against him but Natsu only held on tighter, and Gray relaxed against him slightly. His shoulders shook, and Natsu cried with him.

When he finally calmed down, he felt Natsu calm down as well, and he asked, "Why are you crying?"

"You woke me up with your screams, I was scared." Gray was satisfied with that answer until Natsu looked away, he got the feeling there was more to it than Natsu was letting on.

Who was this boy and how was he so connected to him? The feeling had only gotten stronger the more time they spent together. Gray stared at Natsu, but he wouldn't hold his gaze.

"What were you dreaming about?" Natsu finally asked.

"My village was attacked by a fire dragon a few days before you crashed into the tree. It destroyed the whole village and killed everyone, except for me." Gray told him, his words feeling cold and distant considering how the dream had burned through him. He'd felt the need to tell Natsu, feeling that he owed him something after what had just happened.

He was expecting Natsu to be sad or upset, what he wasn't expecting was the look of complete despair on Natsu's face.

o-o

Natsu awoke suddenly, his heart beating rapidly. The hairs on his body stood on end, but he was disoriented. It took him a second to hear the blood-curdling screams of the boy thrashing about next to him. Natsu was overwhelmed, there was so much pain in those screams, he could feel it inside him, and he began to cry even though he had no idea what was going on. The fledgling connection between them was already trying to communicate his mate's distress to him. For this boy was his mate, he could no longer deny what that bond was, and his instincts were screaming at him to do something.

"Gray," Natsu tried to shake him awake. He called his name again, louder this time.

He called out to Gray as loudly as he could, trying to break him out of the dream's spell but it did no good. He straddled him, holding on to Gray's flailing arms and screamed into Gray's mind as loudly as he could, calling him back until he saw Gray open his eyes. Even though they appeared blank at first, they soon focused on Natsu. Next thing he knew he was being shoved off Gray's body as the boy sat up, sobs wracking his body.

Natsu sat behind him and held him tight, not letting go even when Gray fought him, his instincts guiding him. Gray relaxed into the embrace and Natsu was thankful for he had no idea what to do or say.

Once Gray had calmed down somewhat, Natsu worked up the nerve to ask him what this was all about. "What were you dreaming about?"

"My village was attacked by a fire dragon a few days before you crashed into the tree. It destroyed the whole village and killed everyone there, except for me." Gray told him not realizing how his words were going to impact Natsu.

Natsu heard the words in his head, over and over yet they still made no sense. How could it be possible that a fire dragon could be capable of such a heinous act? Fire dragons were good, they were friends to the humans. His own father had made sure of that.

"Are you sure, it was a fire dragon?" Natsu asked, desperately seeking another explanation no matter how outlandish, even though he knew it was hopeless.

He was well aware that fire dragons were not easily confused. Their size, the color of their scales and their ability to breathe out fire made them among one of the more distinct types of dragons. If Gray had seen a fire dragon destroy his village, there was no other explanation.

A dragon like him had destroyed Gray's village, killed his family. Natsu felt like he couldn't breathe, his world was closing in on him, and for the first time in his life, he was ashamed of who he was.

At the same time, he was receiving a host of emotions from Gray, even though he looked impassive on the outside.

"It can't be, it just can't be." Natsu muttered to himself "We would never do anything like that, Igneel would never allow it."

"What do you mean by we?" Gray asked, and though his tone was curious, Natsu could feel the change in Gray through the bond. There was now suspicion mixed in with all the other emotions, and Natsu realized he'd been so busy showing off to his mate that he'd shown him too much. His fire magic, his hunting ability, his incredible body warmth. He had to make a choice.

"Gray," Natsu decided to be honest, maybe it wouldn't be that bad. Gray knew he would never hurt him, right? And just maybe it would help him realize that they were not all the same. He took a deep breath and revealed his secret. "I'm a fire dragon."

"No, you're not, " Gray yelled, "Is this some kind of joke to you?"

"I'm a dragon." When Gray's face turned angry, Natsu believed it was because Gray thought he was lying. "I'll show you." Natsu tried his hardest to change back, but nothing happened. His father claimed that someday he'd be able to change at will, but for now, it seemed to be more chance than anything. Even when he was in his dragon form, he never knew how long it would last.

"Stop playing." Gray was still clearly angry, and he pushed Natsu, hard. Natsu fell back and hit his head on a tree trunk. He felt the blood trickle down from his head and growled. He was afraid, and he tried to make himself look larger.

"I'm not playing, I really am a dragon." Natsu fought back the tears that were threatening to spill forth. He didn't like this side of Gray. "I can't change at will yet." His eyes pleaded with Gray to believe him, to calm down and go back to the way he'd been before, but Gray seemed to be possessed by something dark and ugly. He grabbed Natsu by the collar of his vest and pulled him up. He pulled back his fist and Natsu yelled, "Stop!"

Gray seemed to come out of whatever spell he'd been under. He looked at Natsu horrified and put his fist down, "I'm so sorry, I--"

Natsu never gave him a chance to finish what he was going to say. He ran away even as he heard Gray calling after him. He paid no attention to where he was going, his fear clouding his judgment. He was still having trouble believing that one of his kind could have done something so terrible.

He'd known some humans hated dragons, but he'd never expected Gray to be one of them. He was shocked to his core, and he wanted to scream, to cry because this couldn't be happening. Nasu had found his mate, and he hated everything Natsu was, and the worst part was that he couldn't blame him. What was he supposed to do? Where could he go? He was lost and even with magic, he was still weak when he was in this form. He had to get away.

Natsu ran into a giant wall of hellfire. He recognized it right away, and he'd never been so happy to see someone in his life."Uncle Atlas!"

"What's the matter, Natsu?" Atlas asked with concern, "Are you hurt?"

When Natsu wouldn't answer Atlas let him climb atop him and took off.

Natsu heard Gray's voice in his head repeating, I'm sorry, Natsu. Please come back over and over as if he was desperate for Natsu to believe him. He cried harder and thought about not answering, but his instincts would not allow it, so he replied the only thing he could think of.

I'll always come when you need me.

He held on to his uncle and managed to fall asleep for the flight home.

A/N: I finally got around to creating a cover for this story. The next update (Chapter 12) is scheduled for Saturday, July 20 and as it will be entered in Gratsu Bingo for the prompt Trust, I wanted to be able to post it in my usual format. I really love the way the cover came out! I think it’s the best one I’ve ever made.

#fairy tail #gratsu #ftlgbtales #fairy tail big bang 2018 #stingue #lyon x erza #dragon slayers #dragons #ftfanfics #trd #chapter 1 #my edits

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siarven · 6 years ago

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WIP (Re)Introduction: As Dreams Collide

✿ Epic Fantasy | Hope Punk | Steampunk(y Elements) ✿ first person present; five POV characters (2 main POVs) ✿ Camp NaNoWriMo Project, April 2019 ✿ Draft Three; originally known as Dreams and Shadows ✿ Book One of the Dream’s Shadow Trilogy

𝗪𝗜𝗣 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 | 𝗧𝗮𝗴 | 𝗣𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱

He knows he is dreaming because he always does—and he knows that she shouldn’t be part of his dream even before he sees her. “Who are you?” She’s sitting cross-legged on the ground, head tilted in a slightly unnerving fashion. A lazy smile lifts the corners of her mouth, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “Yes, indeed… a good question. But what you should be asking yourself instead is this: Why am I here?” She smiles. Her face is soft and round. Her eyes reflect the sky. He does not dare look away, even as he swallows. “Then… why are you here?” “Why, that is a good question!” She laughs. He shivers. “I am here because it’s beginning, dream-boy. And you are the pivot.” He turns away, looks over the endless rolling planes. It’s getting dark, the sky turning purple and pink and gold even though there’s no sun. A thousand small lights drift sleepily through the air, some close, some further away. Somehow they make him sad. “I don’t want to be”, he says. When he looks back at her she’s staring at him. Her eyes seem larger than before. He’s never been looked at like that. “You don’t get a choice”, she tells him, the playfulness vanishing from her voice. “Children never do.”

When Ben has a deadly accident, he along with his sister Ava and their Guardian cat get dragged into an ancient conflict that might not only change their lives forever, but also those of everyone else.

While AVA has to somehow keep the estranged members of her family together and figure out why she suddenly sees gods in her dreams, BEN “wakes” as a spirit two days later without remembering anything. Now he needs to figure out why he can’t remember the accident, why he’s not (yet) dead… and what a certain demon’s interests in him are. How do you escape a situation where every single way is terrible? Then there’s also ELINOR, their older sister, who was whisked away from home when she was four due to her aptitude for magic, and involuntarily trained to become an Asim (magic user). She’s seen her family only twice a year since then, except now she’s sent home by the most fearsome Asim to spy on her brother and her family, because while they want him to survive, so do the Asim. And Asim interest is never a good thing. And finally, there’s also KIYERA, a sixty-year old retired pirate queen… who somehow finds herself entwined in this whole mess as well because she was in that accident with Ben and finds herself drawn to the whole Nichols family drama. Maybe because everyone she ever loved is dead, and she can’t just stand by while another family ruins what she’s already lost?

There are also lots of feather-dragons, fuzzy-dragons.. and other fluffy things because I can’t just not have those.

As already mentioned, this is my Camp NaNoWriMo Project! It’s also Draft Three of what was originally called Dreams and Shadows before it dared to become a trilogy… so now that it’s a trilogy I have to figure out what subplots I need to introduce now and all that stuff :D That’s why Elinor now gets her very own subplot and it’s also why the Asim are more important from the beginning than they were before :D Thanks to everyone who helped me with their feedback <3 It was immensely helpful! The trilogy’s name is currently Dream’s Shadowbecause that’s still close enough to the original title and it looked pretty on the cover :P

Camp NaNo Progress this far:

Day 1 - written 4,831 | total 4,831 Day 2 - written 5,212 | total 10,043 / 60,000

[the version with pretty fonts is here...]

#dreamshadow #adc wip #in case you already saw it: yes that's becuase the pretty fonts showed up as boxes #on some other devices #so I decided to make a plain text version too #sigh #tumblr why are you like this #i guess i'll add the tag list to this version then? x_x

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ongshat · 5 years ago

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For a comprehensive list of most of my print work (not including magazine articles) see this list on Goodreads.

All my works dedicated to the memory of my dearly departed friends: The members of The Formless Ocean Group – Nina Graboi, Elizabeth Gips, Paddy Long, Betsy Herbert, and Robert Anton Wilson. Also to my departed friends: Dave, DW Cooper, Dr. Hyatt (Alan) and humdog.

PAST WORK

Beats In Time: A Literary Generation’s Legacy (Chapter 12 is my interview with Diane DiPrima) also to be included in Conversations with Diane di Prima to be published by the University Press of Mississippi, in 2021/22.

Transmedia: Who Invited the Lobsters Anyway?

Legend-Tripping Online: Supernatural Folklore and the Search for Ong’s Hat by Michael Kinsell – While clearly this is a book about my transmedia project it also includes a lot of things that I wrote as examples, so I include it here. Metamodernism, anyone?

Rebels and Devils: The Psychology of Liberation edited by Christopher S. Hyatt, Ph.D. introduced by S. Jason Black foreword by Nicholas Tharcher contributions by William S. Burroughs Joseph C. Lisiewski, Ph.D. Timothy Leary Ph.D., Robert Anton Wilson, Austin Osman Spare, Genesis P-Orridge, Aleister Crowley, Joseph Matheny, Peter J. Carroll, Israel Regardie, Jack Parsons, Phil Hine, Osho, and many others

Black Book Omega: CIRQUE APOKLYPSIS by Christopher S. Hyatt, Ph.D. Joseph Matheny, Nick Pell, Calvin Iwema, Wes Unruh, Antero Alli (more info here)

Contributor YouTube: An Insider’s Guide to Climbing the Charts (more info here)

Introduction to The Art of Memetics Aside: When I posted about this book on Greylodge, Seth Godin references the post as a good example of “How to write like a blogger“ This made me happy. 😉

Contributor/Editor:This is Not a Game: A Guide to Alternate Reality Gaming with Dave Szulborski (Excerpt here )I edited and contributed to : “This Is Not a Game” which was included in the annual Tween market report that went to marketing executives worldwide in the toy, gaming and youth market industries. Also, I appeared as myself/in character, in person, in the “Catching the Wish” ARG by Dave.

Third Realm (The Yellow King) Written and executed by me, produced in conjunction with Foolish People http://www.argn.com/2009/10/puzzles_for_the_apocalyps

4P2 My first foray into the True Crime arena. Formula: Just put up a single, spooky web page, that purports to be a recruitment drive for an organization whose actual existence is speculative at best and at worst is fiction presented as fact or paranoid, hysterical hand-waving in the interest of selling books and you will get all kinds of reactions. In all fairness, I think the theories mentioned read as good fantasy crime fiction and this was a conceptual attempt at that very thing. Apparently, it succeeded. The unnerving side of this was the equal amount of applications I received asking to join (Really? Join a group of underground serial killers? Really?) or outright death threats by people who really believe in such things. (Someone summed it up pretty well in this article from The Fenris Wolf)

the-fenriswolf-iss-no-4-pp-87-116 PDF Excerpt

El Centro & OMEGA This was a ARG/Transmedia style story with occult/horror/conspiracy elements, started in 2004 and ended in 2006. It utilized Web, print (booklet), radio, phone trees, theater and news wire services. [A version of the doughnut shop scene from this story was used in Amsterdam production of Terra: Extremitas by Foolish People.] This project was done in collaboration my late friend Dave Szulborski. There’s a LOOOOOONG story about this project. So long in fact that it will take up at least three chapters in an future book.

Contributor: What Would Bill Hicks Say with Ben Mack, Amelia the Great and Soft Skull Press (along with Jeff Danziger and Martyn Turner; writers Neal Pollack, Robert Newman, and A.L. Kennedy; and Thom Yorke of Radiohead and others…)

Contributor: 2004-2005 Exquisite Language project for the 2004 ELfest and collected in the Spring 2005 issue of of 2 Gyrlz Quarterly. NOW AVAILABLE AT POWELLS.COM

Introduction, afterward and editing for Poker Without Cards– First Edition. I orchestrated the first release campaign for this book, with the main character becoming “real”on the Internet for a while. After the first few months I turned it over to the author. (statement regarding this work here)

GALT’S ARK: The Black Symphony, First and Second Movements Produced by Cthulhu The Players: Joseph Matheny, Christopher S. Hyatt, Ph.D., Father Daniel Suders & Nicholas Tharcher Illustrated by S. Jason Black, Jonathan Sellers, Weirdpixie & MobiusFrame

THE BLACK BOOK Volume III, Part I

THE BLACK BOOK Volume III, Part II

(The Black Books are considered the workbooks for The Psychopath’s Bible, which I wrote an infamous jacket blurb for.)

The Incunabula: Ong’s Hat Project [ Reviews | Interviews, etc. | Wikipedia | History] This was a ARG/Transmedia style story started in 1988 and ended in 2001. It utilized zines, BBS, early Internet, Web, CD ROM, CD Audio, DVD, print (book, graphic novel and magazine), radio, phone trees, fax, and news wire services. I gained and leveraged exposure in both the mainstream and alternative media to distribute over 2 million copies of CD ROM, ebook and print versions of the story combined. Story elements from Ong’s Hat were also included in the EA Game, Majestic which unfortunately ended prematurely due to 9/11. It was the subject of a full 4 hour show on Coast to Coast AM, been the subject of an article on the Weekly World News and been covered on many radio shows world wide, books, newspapers, magazines, etc. Links to media here.

Description: “…a bizarre Internet phenomenon: an “immersive” online experience—part mystery, part game, part who knows what—known as both the Incunabula Papers and Ong’s Hat. The Incunabula Papers/Ong’s Hat was, or is, a “many-threaded, open-ended interactive narrative” that ”weds an alternate history of chaos science and consciousness studies to conspiracy theories, parallel dimensions, and claims that computer-mediated environments can serve as magical tools…. the documents provoked a widespread “immersive legend-trip” in the late 1990s. Via Web forums, participants investigated the documents—manifestos—which spun up descriptions of brilliant but suppressed discoveries relating to paths that certain scientists had forged into alternate realities. Soon, those haunted dimensions existed in the minds and fantasies of Ong’s Hat’s many participants. That was evident as they responded to the original postings by uploading their own—all manner of reflections and artifacts: personal anecdotes, audio recordings, and videos—to augment what became “a really immersive world, and it was vast”. – The Chronicle of Higher Education—-

“Ong’s Hat was more of an experiment in transmedia storytelling than what we would now consider to be an ARG but its DNA – the concept of telling a story across various platforms and new media- is evident in every alternate reality game that came after.” – Games Magazine 2013

Though Ong’s Hat may not have set out to be an ARG, the methods by which the author interacted with participants and used different platforms to build and spread its legend has been reflected in later games. –Know Your Meme

The Incunabula Papers are arguably the first immersive online legend complex that introduced readers to a host of content, including what religious historian Robert Ellwood has called the “alternative reality tradition. – Legend-Tripping Online: Supernatural Folklore and the Search for Ong’s Hat

As a companion piece to understanding some of the history of the transmedia work that centered around Ong”s Hat you may also want to read Legend-Tripping Online: Supernatural Folklore and the Search for Ong’s Hat, reviewed here.

The Incunabula Papers CDROM was recently included in the BNF (Bibliothèque nationale de France) digital art collection.

Game Over? (currently re-vamping this for re-release)…but if you just HAVE to have it now, someone is selling one for $900 over here. 😛

What Really Happened at Ong’s Hat?

The Incunabula Papers (CD ROM) Free ebook versions here

Incunabula: The Graphic Novel Free ebook version here

Why DVD? (B and N Digital Bestseller)

A booklet published in April-99

Over 100,000 in circulation to date

Available from booksellers nationwide in October reprinted by:

DVD Creation Magazine

Videography Magazine

(printed copy sent out with each issue – July,1999)

Video Systems magazine

and many others

Convergence 2000 (B and N Digital Bestseller) Free ebook version here

Covert Culture Sourcebook

Earth Dance 2000 (Video and DVD)

The Millennium Whole Earth Catalog

Transmedia Litany (with Genesis P’Orridge)

Thee psychick bible

esoterrorist (publisher)

My idea for an Exquisite Corpse jacket blurb using faxes. (WSB missed inclusion by a day). Used on Esoterrist

Banishing Ritual (cover) with Illusion of Safety (audio here)

The Last Book

Also contributed a few articles to Bob and Arlen Wilson’s Trajectories.

A write up I did about my old friend Rob Brezsny for disinfo.com

Interview that I did with with Beat poet and author Diane DiPrima

Nina Graboi Interview, bOING bOING, Number 8 (written under my nom de plume: Michael Kelly)

I’ve contributed articles to AlwaysOn and Adotas. I’ve contributed book, music, and movie reviews to Gnosis and Magical Blend in the past as well as the old Boing-Boing print magazine and Fringeware Review. Note, in the interest of full disclosure, I’d sometimes contribute more than one article or review to a single publication and to avoid the appearance of saturation, I’d use the pen name: Michael Kelly for some of the articles.

Writing For a comprehensive list of most of my print work (not including magazine articles) see this list on Goodreads…

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