#i'm NOT kidding about the spoilers. Do not look if somehow you managed to avoid massive plotpoints

[icharchivist]

Set up of the scene aside (i still hate those Specters), this is just lovely, and the fact Tifa is the one who chases them away makes me emo.

Like... man everytime Aerith is lost in some way, every single time, Tifa is there to reach out for her and hold her hand and guide her outside of it.

She is always promising Aerith that she will find a way for her to get out of it, and it's just. so lovely. They care for each others so much.

also major major MAJOR spoilers under the cut:

(from late OG stuff that weren't adapted in Rebirth yet and from the Movie in particular)

I think it's especially lovely because of how Tifa is set often as the guide in a spiritual sense in the story, and it's why her last name is "Lockhart", "Locked Heart". Where Aerith represents the Earth itself and the nature that keeps on living even after countless abuses, Tifa represents more this determination to carry on while wearing your heart on your sleeve, and more specifically, she's therefore the one who is often used in the OG to navigate the deepest problems in your heart.

more precisely, i'm thinking about when Cloud is completely vegetative again, after Aerith's death and after having had his mind totally broken by Sephiroth, and that because the Earth is destroying itself to invoke the Weapons to protect itself from the Meteor. In that bit, Cloud and Tifa gets to fall into another opening of the Earth and are brought in the lifestream inside of Cloud's repressed past, and it's Tifa who has to therefore walk him through his heart, literally, to help him out of it. All while also the implication is that it's Aerith, from the otherside, now that she is one with the lifestream, who is helping making the situation possible while putting Tifa in this position of a guide.

And I especially find it, so, so lovely, that because Tifa has this role as a guide in the depth of your heart, guided by the lifestream, Tifa is the one who can reach out to Aerith, she is the one who can promise her they'll find a path together, she's the one who is chasing the Specters away.

And it makes me think especially on how Tifa grieves Aerith by repeating multiple times everything she knew Aerith wanted out of life, that "she wanted to live, more than any of us", and the way to set up Tifa here as the person who wants to keep Aerith outside of those darkness? is so lovely to me in particular.

Finally it also makes me think of the movie. I cut it from the screenshot bc it was weird in the narrative, but Aerith mentions "follow the yellow flowers" and then yellow flowers breaks, and it reminded me how in Advent Children, when Tifa has this fight against Loz in Aerith's Church, she is always trying to keep him out of the flowers while the yellow petals keep floating around her, and the director for the movie said that it was an indication that Aerith was trying to protect her from the otherside.

And later in the movie when Aerith fixes everything and everyone rejoice, and Tifa is the only one (aside from Cloud) who feels Aerith's presence and goes "somehow, i knew you were here. Thank you."

Like.... There is this thing in the OG and in the movie that marks how Aerith has been protecting Tifa and how Tifa has been protecting Aerith, that Aerith helps Tifa being a guide through turmoils, and here we see it set up nicely with how it's Tifa who is constantly looking to get Aerith outside of this doomed path, she is the one who is constantly trying to find her, to keep her out of the lifestream influence, from her fate, just like Tifa is the one who especially resents how Aerith got her life robbed from her.

SO I MADE MYSELF PARTICULARLY EMO ABOUT IT.

Fuck the Specters, i fucking hate this added plotline, but using it to clearly showcase Tifa's role as the Guide, and showing how desperately she wants to keep Aerith away from her fate, how she is the one defying the odds for her?

Yeah it's getting to me. I'm in fucking shambles.

[creativeartgal]

Epic x Obey Me au spoilers

Since both obey me and epic ended this past month I wanted to ramble about this au I've been thinking about since I got into epic this past few months.

Ok so basically this started when I first heard the song Ruthlessness. I kinda knew about epic before this but this song was the first time I saved a song to my playlist. One day I was listening to it, and because I'm obsessed with obey me, I thought about what if this was Michael saying it to mc. And then I had a whole idea for a single self contained animatic that I never actually did cause im not confident enough to do it. (This idea was after season 2 of nb ended but before season 3) Basically it was Michael showing up cause he wants to kill the MC. Here Simeon takes the place of the cyclops but instead of him being blinded its him turning human and in this animatic this is how it would get revealed to everyone else. Then Michael would intimate MC but when it gets to the part "I mean you totally could have avoided this had you just killed my son" he would be looking to Lucifer or even shape shift to look like Lucifer in reference almost having to kill him with the knight dagger. And I didn't really have any really good idea on the rest of the song but had it put to the side in something I would eventually do. And after the thunder saga came out I finally gave in and decided to listen to the whole thing and became obsessed with it like I knew I would (my coworkers can prove this as I will just start signing whatever song from this that pops in my head that day)

While I was listening whenever Ruthlessness came up I would try to finish it up more and more and then I had a pretty decent idea on how it would go and then I was thinking it would be cool if I did a short thing with Monster where at the end during "then I'll become the monster..." Have my mc started showing a demon form and during "Penelope... and telemakus" sees Mammon and their kids and try to go to them but they fade away and the imagined demon form only for after the line "I'll become the monster" the demon form flashes briefly. Kinda also relevant but not fully I can totally see using Wouldn't You Like to be that part of season 1 og during the retreat when Solomon lends you magic to help make a pact with Asmo. It just fits his so well I'm so gonna do that eventually. Then at some point I had this idea for this Epic Au for Obey Me.

So in this Au is fully based on the songs except adding obey me characters in place of the epic ones. It can either start with Ruthlessness or that would be used as a flashback instead to explain how things got the way they are. Basically this is years after mc become a sorcerer. The world's are starting to get more open with each other and there are human and angels at rad for the Three Worlds Festival. MC is married and has kids with Mammon (granted this is cause I use my mc here but honestly the more I think about it, it makes more sense for it to be a Mc with Diavolo especially when considering the stuff that happens in Ithaca) everything is going well when Michael shows up with an army of Angels behind him (add in a unwilling Raphael for angst). Then the Ruthlessness idea but now demons angels and even humans are fighting in battle many of the main characters get injured but MC and Solomon somehow managed to help the others escape ala "all I have to do is open this bag" maybe a spell or a magical item I don't have all the kinks worked out yet. This is a start of a war between the three realms and MC and Solomon are basically forced to help fight for the Human realm even though MC wants to stay in the devildom with their family.

Then it would just go along the same as the musical, again I don't really have everything thing figured out. One other thing I wanna mention is that I can see Solomon taking the place of Athena it fits so well (maybe thirteen could be Hermes idk). Idk I just wanted to get this out there. If anyone wants to add to this or make your own au based on this pls do and either tag me or send me a link cause I would love to see it. I'm not the best at this kinda stuff but I know there are a lot of other people who could make something really good. I might still make those animatics eventually but I ain't making any promises lol

[mischievouslittlecreature]

OC Interview

Thank you for the tags, @evita-shelby, @justrainandcoffee, @peakyswritings, and @moral-terpitude! 🖤

Doing this for Lucy from my Love Me Where I'm Most Ruined series! I'm also answering these for up to where I have posted the series (just finished season 3) to avoid spoilers for the next couple parts.

Are you named after anyone?

No. My dad originally wanted to name me Josephine--some sort of Bible thing, I think--but my mum somehow managed to thankfully talk him into compromising and making that my middle name. She'd had her heart set on Lucy for if she ever had a daughter from the time she was a teenager.

When was the last time you cried?

Where we found out Charlie was safe from Hughes.

Do you have any kids?

Erm, well, it's complicated. None biologically. But we've--that is, me, Tommy, and Grace--all always considered Charlie to be just as mine as he is theirs, so technically, yes; one.

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

When the occasion calls for it.

What is the first thing you notice about people?

Hm. Probably their face. Especially the eyes. You can tell a lot about a person just by looking into their eyes for a few moments.

What is your eye color?

Dark green.

Any special talents?

I like wood whittling. Just these little figurines, you know. It's something to keep my hands busy while I think. They're nothing special, but Tommy always insists on displaying them around the house. And I've always been able to pick up new languages really fast.

Scary movies or happy endings?

Both! It just depends on what mood I'm in.

Where were you born?

Harborne, in Birmingham. In the little house that my parents owned before we moved to London when I was a teenager. My mum insisted on having my aunt Miri there to help her. Apparently just about tore my dad's head off when he suggested otherwise.

Do you have any pets?

I do! I have the horses that I co-own with Tommy: Sin, Wraith, and Mystery. We're talking about getting another soon. And we have our dog, Asher. He's a big black german shepherd who was trained as guard dog. Really he's a big softy, unless you were to try to hurt us, of course.

How tall are you?

4'10''

What was your favorite subject in school?

It's so hard to chose just one! I liked English a lot, and foreign languages courses. I really enjoyed some of the art classes, too, even thought I was a bit rubbish at some of them. I always had fun painting and designing things.

What is your dream job?

I would love be able to work more with horses. After my brother...died after he came back from the war, I'd had this idea in my head for awhile about using horses to help veterans from the war. Like equestrian therapy. I would still love to do something with that, at some point.

No Pressure Tags: @shelbydelrey, @cillmequick, @confidentandgood, @scaryscarecrows, @cassieuncaged

@lunarubra , @runnning-outof-time , @zablife , @call-sign-shark

[anotheruserwithnoname]

Some thoughts on Daredevil & Wolverine

On Sunday I went to a matinee screening of Daredevil & Wolverine - the first time I'd seen a film in a cinema since MEGAN back in early 2023. The tl;dr is that I loved it, and I had some general thoughts. By necessity I have to go full spoiler so here's the spoiler break (and if by chance you don't see a break, now's your warning to run away screaming in terror).

I wasn't a fan of the first Deadpool movie. I felt it was a bit pretentious and "R-rated for the sake of being R-rated" rather than telling a good story that happened to hit R (these were my initial thoughts and except for the R-rating part I felt similarly about the first Avatar). As a result I've never actually seen Deadpool 2 (or its PG-13 edit, Once Upon a Deadpool), but I liked Deadpool 3 a lot. It didn't feel pretentious and it had heart which i wasn't really expecting. It had somewhat of the same vibe as Free Guy, which is a good thing. (And just to complete a thought from earlier, I found myself greatly enjoying Avatar 2).

My only concern (though it isn't hurting the box office any) is in some respects the film hits on one of the biggest criticisms of the MCU and other franchises: it is NOT a jumping on point for anything. You need to have at least a passing familiarity with the past Deadpool films, the X-Men films, the MCU films, at least one of the TV series, AND several of the non-Disney/Sony franchises (Blade and the Affleck Daredevil/Elektra, the Fantastic Four films of the mid-2000s) in order to get some of the jokes and for some of the moments to resonate. There are two characters who play key roles in the final act of the film who have absolute no relevance to anyone who hasn't seen Deadpool 2 (like me) and the Loki TV series. The return of X-23 might have also meant a bit more had I seen the Logan movie, as opposed to Elektra and Blade's return, as I had.

BUT - all credit to the writers - while there is a level of "continuity lockout", it's not enough to damage the film. And when I did see a moment related to a film I knew (I somehow managed to avoid being spoiled about Chris Evans reprising Human Torch), it hit a bullseye.

I'm going to have to watch the film at least once more because a few references landed when I was thinking back on the film hours later (like Deadpool joking about getting a boner watching Gossip Girl, which wasn't a random pop culture reference - his wife, Blake Lively starred in it.)

Speaking of, I loved the way Ryan Reynolds had Blake and his kids play some of the Deadpool variants (though I was disappointed to learn Blake only did the voice of Lady Deadpool). Nathan Fillion is also in there somewhere, making this the 3rd time I think that he's done a cameo in an MCU film. Reading the cast credits is a must (yes, that IS Henry Cavill as a Wolverine. I wonder if he was ever considered for the part? He plays a somewhat super-powered Wolverine too. Super, get it? LOL)

Jennifer Garner was already over 50 when she reprised Elektra and looks amazing. She could do an Elektra film now (or an Alias revival) if she wanted to.

Hugh Jackman has aged well into the role of Wolverine. I hope we get to see another one with him (now paired with X-23, played by Dafne Keen, a rising star who I know from the His Dark Materials TV series in which she co-starred, coincidentally, with James McAvoy of X-Men fame).

Channing Tatum as Gambit was a real surprise. The point about him appearing is that film starring him as Gambit (an X-Men spinoff) was planned but cancelled, so he finally gets the chance. Although played mostly for laughs (and reminiscent of Tatum's cameo in Reynold's Free Guy), he kicks ass. If a Gambit movie isn't announced down the line I'll be surprised.

Similarly, Wesley Snipes makes a strong case (no disrespect intended to Mahershala Ali) for continuing to play Blade. He even says this in the movie!

It is no secret that recent Marvel movies have been controversial and not universally loved by a long shot. D&W does not shy away from this - which may make some people uncomfortable, but at the same time respect to Disney for allowing it. I'm surprised there was no dig at Star Wars' expense, though; I guess Disney only allowed the biting-the-hand humour to go so far.

There is a female counterpart to Charles Xavier in this film. Played by Emma Corrie, Cassandra Nova is one of the best villains the MCU has had for a while. Much like Sylvie, the female version of Loki in the TV series, I appreciated that they didn't just make Cassandra a copy of Charles but made her a unique character. I wasn't aware she originated in the comics until after I saw the film. Too bad they killed her off. Or did they?

Kudos for making D&W the first-ever MCU film to reference Saskatoon (though maybe not in the sense the city would like! LOL). There were a few other Canadian references in the movie - the CN Tower makes a notable cameo on The Void. Which, if you've ever been to Toronto ... (I'll leave that joke there LOL)

The dog. Nothing else need be said. Part of me hopes Ryan Reynolds saw her up for adoption and wrote the entire Dogpool subplot just to get her in the movie.

The closing credits, aside from having one of the best stingers of all time, also includes a retrospective video of the non-MCU movies with behind the scenes and interviews. It's in keeping with the fourth-wall-breaking concept of Deadpool and at the same time it's a touching tribute to the older films, including some that were under-appreciated by audiences at the time.

I do have one major criticism (and this is legit the only part of the movie I did NOT like): considering the film is in part a sequel to Loki, and the fact so many MCU characters are referenced, including a cameo (using manipulated stock footage) of Chris Hemsworth as Thor, it actually makes zero sense that the film did not have an appearance in some form by either Tom Hiddleston as Loki or by one of the other Loki variants (Sylvie, Richard Grant's version, or even a new one). Instead we have an appearance by one of the agents from the series and one name drop of the Loki TV series itself (which means Reynolds & Co. would have been aware of the Loki variants including the quite-popular Classic Loki played by Grant). Also, it's unclear if it takes place before or after the events of Loki the series. I think it was a lost opportunity (maybe there's a deleted scene). But as criticisms go, that's still pretty minor.

The gag reel on this is going to be glorious.

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

A Gaze From the Other Side of the River

Gacha Story (Kicho's POV)

Please don't read this if you aren't caught up with Kicho's route. Spoilers under the cut.

These translations are not intended as a replacement for the game. Please support Cybird by buying their stories. Expect grammatical errors.

Mai: “Kicho, are you having trouble sleeping lately?”

Kicho: “............”

Mai’s question slightly rattled me as she brought me a late breakfast.

Kicho: “Why do you think so?”

Mai: “Um. Just a feeling. You usually can tell just by looking at someone’s mood.”

Mai: “You’ve always had these dark circles under your eyes, but they’re getting even darker lately.”

Kicho: “I see. You sure are watching me a lot.”

(None of my subordinates who visited the room noticed it.)

Mai: “So, you’re really not sleeping well. Since when?”

Kicho: “About ten days ago.”

Mai: “I see. It’s rare to see you like this.”

Mai: “Even when you’re busy, you usually know how to manage it.”

Looking anxious, Mai placed the tray containing onigiri and tea on the table.

She prepared this meal for me, as I’ve been working so hard that I haven’t had time to eat recently.

I thank her briefly and quickly bring a handful of onigiri to my mouth.

(It’s really unusual.)

(Well. This time, it’s not just because I’m busy. There is another cause.)

(Lately, I’ve been一)

Mai: “But you can rest well tomorrow, can’t you?”

Mai: “I just heard from your subordinate that you can finish your work today.”

Kicho: "........."

Mai: "Huh? Kicho?"

The teacup fell out of my hand just as Mai was about to rush over to it.

(I feel dizzy.)

I closed my eyes, unable to pull myself back from my fading consciousness.

(This again.)

I opened my eyes and saw an empty plain.

(Is this dream gonna continue every day?)

(Is it weird that I understand that this is a dream?)

(Well, it doesn't matter. I guess "that thing" will come again today.)

As I turned around, feeling uncomfortable in the pouring rain, I saw something black, twice my height, like countless shadows swarming in clusters.

Kicho: "That thing is so persistent."

I avoided something that looked like a hand reaching toward me and started running.

This was the very cause of my continuous lack of sleep.

Kicho: "Guh..."

I stopped at the riverbank and scowled.

Even though it was a dream, I somehow felt the coldness of the rain and the suffocating sensation.

(Do I really have no choice but to run away just because I'm unarmed?)

(If I had a sword or a gun, it might make some difference.)

Since it was a dream, maybe I shouldn't have run away from it.

But my body moved on its own, desperately trying to escape the horrifying shadows.

*Rustling*

Kicho: "-----!"

(Did it find me?)

(There are only a few places I can hide here. I have to go into the woods right now.)

???: "...cho…"

(What is it?)

Suddenly, I heard a voice from the other side of the river.

The sound of rain drowned out the voice, but for some reason, I felt as if it was calling me.

(Should I head to that side?)

At that moment, for the first time, my legs started to move as I wished.

I managed to reach the other side of the river and then looked back.

(Is that...?)

On the other side of the river stood the black shadow that had been chasing me.

It was a figure of a kid staring at me, apparently unable to cross the river.

(Nohime? Why are you here?)

I was about to ask her a question when I saw her sharp, green eyes narrow as if to say something familiar.

(You're not Nohime?)

(You're一No, I'm...)

???: "Kicho."

Kicho: "........."

I woke up suddenly and found myself on the bed in my room with Mai peering into my face.

Mai: "Good, you're awake. I was worried because you were groaning the whole time."

Mai: "Did you have a nightmare?"

Kicho: "Yeah, a little."

Nodding, I wiped my sweating forehead with the back of my hand.

(It's hot. I guess I have a fever.)

Kicho: "I don't remember anything from this afternoon. I must have been asleep this whole time."

Mai: "Yes. You suddenly collapsed and have been unconscious since then."

Mai: "I had a doctor check on you earlier, and he said you have a cold."

Kicho: "I see."

Mai: "You usually have nightmares when you have a fever."

Mai: "Maybe that's why you had trouble sleeping these past few days."

Kicho: "I dunno. I didn't notice any symptoms."

Mai: "I see. Well, at any rate, you should rest today."

She smiled in relief and stroked my cheek.

Her hand was cool to the touch, not warm as usual.

I looked down and found a damp cloth that had apparently fallen off when I sat up.

(It's probably just a cold.)

(I just need to take some medicine, and I'll be fine in no time.)

(But...)

Swallowing down the words about to come out of my throat, I smiled back at her and laid my hand on hers, giving her cold hand some heat.

Kicho: "Thank you."

Mai: "Huh? I didn't do anything. The doctor made the diagnosis."

Kicho: "That's not true. Because of you, I was able to escape."

Mai: "Escape?"

She tilted her head curiously, but I said nothing more and put a little pressure on our overlapping hands, a feeling of love and happiness running through my burning body.

(That dream is what I used to experience as a kid.)

(Every day, I kept running away from something I couldn't even begin to beat.)

The past and the suffering never completely disappear.

I'm sure one day I'll be haunted by these kinds of dreams again.

(But I'm not the same person I was in the past.)

(The pain I once suffered was for this happiness.)

(I can truly believe that now.)

Kicho: "I want to kiss you, but I can't risk transferring my cold to you."

Mai: "Please don't mention it. I was trying to be patient and pretending to forget."

Mai furrowed her eyebrows, then blushed slightly.

Mai: "So, will you do it when you get better?"

Kicho: "Of course."

(I never thought she would ask me to do it.)

I was trying to hold back the feelings that were rising in me when...

Mai: "*cough* H-Huh?"

Kicho: "Do you have a cold?"

Mai: "No, I'm fine. It's just a cough."

Kicho: "If you keep talking like that, you'll end up like me."

Mai: "But right now, my priority is to take care of you一waah!"

I held her body close and laid her on the bed.

Mai: "K-Kicho..."

Kicho: "If I don't do this, you will move around endlessly."

Kicho: "You and I need to get some rest tonight."

Mai: "But一ah..."

I trapped her in my arms as she tried to escape.

Realizing she was no match for me, she shyly buried her face in my chest and shut her eyes.

(This should be fine.)

(If your priority is me, then my priority is you.)

Smiling, I closed my eyes, feeling the warmth of her lovely body, and then we both fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Fin.

Masterlist╏Full Love Bonus

[makerofmadness]

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON

Hi uh I just need a post to scream into about the final boss fight of Earthbound while I'm playing it so excuse me while I do this (under the cut because of spoilers of course) because somehow even knowing what I did know about Giygas wasn't enough to prepare me mentally for this:

WHY THE FUDGE DOES HE HAVE NESS'S FACE?????

WHY DOES HE HAVE NESS'S ROCKIN' MOVE TOO??????????? THAT'S NESS'S SIGNATURE WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET IT FROM WHAT THE FUDGE KIND OF CONNECTION IS THIS IMPLYING??????????????????

Pokey. Buddy. Why are you "discharging stinky gases." Are you farting.

THOUGH SERIOUSLY WHAT THE F-

THE HP SUCKER WON'T WORK :((((((

so I think Giygas is invincible or something so I'm just gonna beat the shzt out of Pokey.

I wanna consult my walkthrough but I'm also scared of spoilers :(

Ok I just went carefully and the strategy really is just "beat the shzt out of Pokey" so. Sorry kid.

why did you put a giant Ness sticker on Giygas though Pokester like tell me please. What was the point of the giant Ness face on the orb.

"DEVIL'S MACHINE????"

oh god here it comes

aaaaaand ok yeah I know what Giygas looks like already but. Jesus that's still a creepy design and. Is that breathing noises??-

"His own mind was destroyed by his incredible power. What an all-mighty idiot!" Pokey throwing shade huh-

HE'S GOING TO EAT US??????

OH GOD HELL WHAT

HE KILLED PAULA LIKE IMMEDIATELY????????? Good thing I saved those Lifenoodles.

"Poo could not turn into Giygas" that's probably a good thing actually

WHY IS HE CALLING FOR NESS

OH MY GOD. GIYGAS'S NEXT ATTACK SPECIFICALLY AVOIDED JEFF FOR SOME REASON. ON THE TURN I TELL JEFF TO SPY ON HIM-

Susceptible to Brainshock the one attack I basically never use. Nuts but Poo is at 69 PP it'd be really funny to keep him like that all fight-

welp what the heck time to try.

this turn he didn't even attack. He just calls for Ness again. What do you want????

ok I try to attack him and it actually does Damage but Paula starts crying and now Jeff and Poo are paralyzed what the fudge.

Finally, the perfect moment... *used Monkey Love* *it fails*

PSI Rockin' Omega fails the first time I use it ever. Frick.

GIYGAS DODGES. HOW????? HE'S LITERALLY THE ENTIRE SCREEN??????

Ok I know I'm being all silly but humor is genuinely just my go-to coping mechanism this is like. Genuinely horrifying.

STOP CALLING FOR NESS WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM HIM?????

well, guess it's time to go with actually doing the thing I remember hearing you're supposed to do in this fight: A hope and a prayer.

...except I have to revive Paula first 'cus she died again.

Ok so like. When my normal attacks did only 1HP at the start of the fight I thought that meant something but now I think it just means that Poo's offense really doesn't hold up against Giygas without his weapon but I didn't get his weapon 'Cus its drop is chance-based so. Yeah.

healing is becoming a pain why did I give everything to Paula

POKEY?????

DEAR GOD WHAT AM I LOOKING AT NOW

ok I prayed because I heard you needed to do that at some point and Pokey's dialogue here seemed to hint to that but. The dialogue. There's actually dialogue.

THE MR SATURNS????????

ok so the power of all those Mr Saturns praying at once managed to break this guy's defenses I guess and now the screen is trippy and wrong in a NEW way. Yippee-

WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU FEEL GOOD

THE RUNAWAY FIVE?????

GIYGAS WHAT DO YOU MEAN "FRIENDS?????"

oh hey it's Paula's dad.

I feel like this is what would happen if Void from Kirby had been an RPG fight instead of the usual Kirby style. Kirbbound AU when /j

why did I have to give Paula all the frickin' Brain Food Lunches now I need her to keep praying so I can't use them...

NESS LIFEUP OMEGA QUICKLY PAULA CAN'T DIE ON US SHE'S TOO IMPORTANT DAMMIT

Jeff get 'em (Jeff about to unleash a bazooka on an eldritch horror)

IS THAT TONY??????????? MAN I FORGOT ABOUT THAT KID WHERE'S HE BEEN THIS WHOLE TIME-

"A young woman in Dalaam woke from a dream in which Prince Poo died" so basically she dreamt about his Mu Training seriously what the fxck was that about-

GIYGAS WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO NESS LIKE YOU KNOW HIM OR SOMETHING

FRANK?????????

Ness is going to need. So much therapy after this. I mean all these kids will but especially Ness like Giygas keeps saying weird shzt to him directly.

Jeff keep firing the bazooka

NESS'S MOM

THAT DID OVER A THOUSAND DAMAGE-

WHAT THE FU-

HOW MUCH TRIPPIER IS THIS FIGHT GONNA GET???????

this whole time Jeff has been taking like. Laughably low damage from Giygas's attacks I'll admit. Idk why maybe I just equipped him with something good for this fight and didn't realize but he just took like 9 damage here or something.

though seriously WHAT THE FXCK

"Paula's call was absorbed by the darkness" THE FXCK???????

.

.

I...

I kept praying...?

Aaaaaand Pokey comes in to hint at a sequel I guess. Which. I heard he does actually appear in Mother 3 so I guess that's right-

ok I know my tone shift makes it seem like I'm taking this casually but this is really just me typing while my face is still stuck in the same expression from the shock. Hold on a second I need to process what just happened.

[dragons-hoard-of-fandoms]

Late to the party but making an entrance, Murder Drones Episode 5 is finally out so at long last I can stop with the memes (for now) and share my thoughts on Dragons Rising so far.

Okay, first things first, I'm gonna be 100% honest with y'all: I low-key do not care about any of the new characters. I know, I know, BURN THE HERETIC, I can't really explain it myself. Maybe I'm just too attached to the OGs or haven't gotten to know the newbies well enough yet, but so far all I'm seeing is Average Shonen-Esque Protagonist, Nya 2.0 Catgirl Edition, Cute and Easily Marketable Dog-That-Is-Not-A-Dog, The Only One With A Mildly Interesting Backstory, and a bunch of generic cookie-cutter villains. It's not gonna make me stop watching or anything, it's just that they could all randomly vanish by the next episode and never be brought up ever again and I'd be totally fine with it. Certainly wouldn't be the first time this franchise has completely dropped something out of nowhere and hoped no one would notice.

A'ight, got that out of the way, now to start nitpicking: I don't understand why they're pronouncing Riyu as "Rai-yu." I thought it would've been "Ree-yu," like the dude from Street Fighter, and I'm not gonna say it any other way. And why do they keep trying to convince us that Lloyd had to be trained for years when in reality he mastered Spinjitzu within, like, a month at most? I'm going to assume that either A) He's just blatantly lying to make Arin feel better, because there is literally zero chance that Season Two took place over the course of multiple years, or B) Lloyd himself has absolutely no concept of time and can't even remember that he's, like, an eighteen-year-old in the body of a twenty-three-year-old by this point.

BTW Lloyd please do not try to be like Wu, you of all people should know what being like Wu entails. You're already in the "training child soldiers" phase, you can not go further or else you are going to hit the "keeping way too many things to yourself" stage and you know what always happened when Wu didn't tell anybody jack squat until it was too late. Heck, there is still a very real possibility that the Merge wouldn't have happened in the first place if he'd just been like "hey so all the Realms might start trying to fuse together soon and as per usual you're the only ones with a chance at stopping it" instead of sticking to his "The Apocalypse™ is coming for like the seventh time and all I'm gonna do about it is be needlessly vague and cryptic for no real reason" schtick.

They should not have given Ras and Rapton such similar names, I'm going to inevitably mix them up. Also Rapton you will never be Iron Baron. I never thought I'd say anything positive about Iron Baron but I could actually tolerate him, whereas I just wanna see Rapton get run over by a bus. And not even in a cathartic "I want she-whose-name-we-do-not-speak-in-this-household to be brutally murdered onscreen in such a horrific and violent manner that it'd never be allowed anywhere if they weren't Legos" way, just in the most apathetic "please remove this character from existence" way you can imagine.

I'll give them this, tho, the show itself is gorgeous to look at, and the concept is pretty nifty. And while I may not be completely in love with Sora and Arin, I'm still glad they didn't go the braindead babymode easy route of making the "next gen" series revolve around the OG Ninja's kids (even if it is mostly because it completely avoids the possibility of being forced to endure the timeline where Lloyd actually thought getting with she-whose-name-we-do-not-speak-in-this-household was a good idea). I'm definitely gonna stay tuned for Part Two, even if I'm admittedly not the biggest fan of what we've got so far. Hopefully it's all uphill from here.

(More spoiler-y stuff under the cut)

Wow I can't believe they somehow managed to make a Cloud Kingdom character more punchable than Fenwick. The scrollworms are pretty cute, tho. Also, uh, Euthanasia or whatever your name was, Morro would like to know your location.

DING DONG, THE WU IS DEAD! BAGELS FOR EVERYONE!

So on the one hand it seems like we might be getting slightly more focus on Lloyd's dragon side this time around, but on the other hand we've already had multiple instances where it could've been brought up but just wasn't, which could mean that it's all just more of the same token Chosen One™ nonsense we're used to and this post got hit by Quanish's dodgeball of prophecy. (Seriously, surely at least one of the super-mega-ultra-powerful Source Dragons should've been like "Kid what is wrong with your blood," right?)

But, on the chance that the former is the case...

What if the Imperium finds out about it and decides the weird little Oni-dragon-human grandson of literal God is a far more valuable prize?

Also this is how we can still get Garmadon's dragon half to show up please I am begging on my hands and knees

[mesozoic-system]

Bakugou Katsuki is not as bad as he seems.

Okay, fine. That's a lie. Bakugou is a loud and obnoxious asshole with little to no character development and will snap at anyone who breathes on him the wrong way.

Now that that's out of the way, let's move on to why he's like that.

You all know what PTSD is, yeah? If not, it stands for "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder". It's something that causes panic attacks, unnecessary aggression, trust issues, nightmares, anxiety, depression, and more. People will develop it after a traumatic experience. It takes years of therapy to recover... actually, most people never recover from it.

Fun fact: Katsuki canonically has PTSD. It's confirmed, and you know what? After everything he's been through, it's not much of a surprise. He's been through one tragedy after another and never seems to get a break.

When we first met Bakugou Mitsuki (Katsuki's mother) in chapter #96, we instantly realized how aggressive she was. I mean come on! She talked smack right in front of him and his teachers- in front of All Might who she knew her son was very fond of. Katsuki may be irritable, but to have your own mother backhand you in front of your own role model is a little much.

Later on in chapter #165 during the Provisual License Exams, we get a little more information that only points towards more abuse- and this time it's not so verbal.

Most people paid no real attention nor gave it a second thought in these panels, but remember when Katsuki suggested to use violence against the kids? Of course, you'd look at it and wave it off as "normal Bakugou behavior", but what he says next took me by surprise:

That's right. He was raised that way.

Which means either Mitsuki or Masaru (or both) had struck him in some way multiple times as he was growing up, and I doubt it was Masaru.

"Spoiled" my ass. He might have a strong quirk, but people don't turn into little monsters just by being praised. It'll definely boost his confidence, but not dramatically. This could also explain his aggression toward Midoriya. He realized how helpless he was and had power over someone else for once. But that's just a theory.

Okay, let's fast forward a bit. He's finishing up his third year of Middle School and is preparing for the UA entrance exams. He's pushed away his childhood friend to follow his own dreams and tells him to jump off the roof.

Literally.

And then he walks out the door only to regret it much, much, muuuch later in the series- y'know. The "character development" I was talking about.

Next time we see him though, he gets what he deserves.

One panel he's tramping through an alley with his friends, and the next, he's being swallowed alive by the most perverted-looking slime monster I've ever laid my eyes on.

While Izuku's dreams are being crushed by his own hero, Katsuki is fighting for his life in the middle of town. He's struggling, but all he could do was look back at all the dozens of fearful eyes...

Right there. Right now. Look at him:

He's terrified. He's humiliated and afraid and hurt and despite all of the heroes that were there, none of them had even attempted to save him.

And this is where it really starts. This is where it all begins. Next thing we know, Izuku's running straight for him... The boy Katsuki's bullied almost all of his life is risking his own in order to save him.

You know the story from there; All Might trains Izuku to withhold his power, they get accepted into UA, and then comes the Sports Festival.

Katsuki's already made up his mind: he's gonna win. He's willing to give everything he has to show the country what he's made of, and this may be his only chance to make up for the mishap several months ago. And Monoma, being a professional at making things worse by opening his mouth, rubs salt in the wound.

It was pretty easy to predict Katsuki's reaction: pissed off and more than ready to prove him wrong. He does, but it cost him his "first place" during the Calvary Battle. But that's okay 'cuz it's not over yet!

Welcome to the next and last stage of the festival: The Battle Tournament, where all the kids get to beat the shit out of each other until only one remains.

Turns out, Katsuki does win. It was a foolproof plan: get Todoroki to go all out on him so he can make a final impression before the end of the day. But it was obvious that Shouto was still unsure of himself, so Katsuki did what he did best:

He had to piss him off.

But instead of getting angry and bursting into flames like he had planned, Shouto threw away the battle at the last second, and everything Katsuki had worked for with it.

No shit he's gonna be upset! He worked his ass off to get where he was, and the whole point was to leave himself a footprint! His entire life had been dedicated to that moment, and it faded away right in front of him.

Midnight put him to sleep and he woke up and threw a temper tantrum.

Now this is was UA did wrong:

Why would you do that?! They were all aware of what happened to him only a few months ago, he obviously hasn't properly recovered from it, and they restrain him in front of thousands of people. They cover his mouth and gag him, lock his hands in a tiny metal box and expect him not to go insane. Helloooo?! Wake up! He's just a kid!

Several months go by and now it's time for camp. Katsuki is tired. They all are. It's been a long day of training and training and training, and suddenly villains come out of nowhere, and nobody is prepared. And who shows up? The League of Villains, and they're after certain students...

Tokoyami escapes safely, but Katsuki isn't so lucky.

Just think about that for a second. When we see Shigaraki holding a picture of him, it's the one where UA tied him up. He knows what this child has gone through and he pities him. To be honest, I think the LoV treated him much better than anyone ever has (except maybe Kirishima). They're hesitant, but they treat him with kindness. They didn't just want him for his quirk. They saw what the heroes did to him and wanted to help him get the revenge he deserved.

But when All Might showed up (more like "burst through the wall like the Cool Aid man"), Katsuki is instantly teleported in the strangest way possible... and the most traumatizing.

He chokes out this weird slime-like substance that devours him within seconds. Thankfully it only last that long, but then again, the Sludge Incident, remember?

Yeah, bet that brings back some memories.

But what must have hurt him the most was All Might's downfall and early retirement. He said it himself:

After several chapters, he finally burst. He's been holding all the pain inside of him until it bubbled over and he couldn't take it anymore. So he went to the only person he could- the person he hated and yet trusted the most.

Maybe the Class 1A concert helped him in a way. It seemed like it brought him down and maybe even relaxed him a little. And something incredible happens. Something we haven't seen from him at all until now...

(From here, I'll try to keep it short to avoid as many manga spoilers as I can. That and I'm tired...)

He began to change; started to support Izuku... in his own twisted way, of course. As chapters went by, he started to open up little by little. He admitted what he had done to Izuku in middle school to All Might, which had brought him some peace of mind. It wasn't quite the apology we had hoped for, but I guess it'll do.

And during the war, he made the greatest sacrifice, finally unlocking his quirk's full potential. Despite being unable to move, he used his quirk to throw himself in front of Izuku without thinking, taking a blow to his stomach. To his stomach.

He was impaled.

Holy shit.

Last time someone had been impaled was Nighteye, and he died from his wounds.

But Katsuki somehow managed to survive... And woke up ready to beat Izuku's ass if he didn't wake up.

Anyway, that's all I have to say (so far). However, I'm excited for Season 5 of the anime series! Can't wait to see our new story animated! I mean, I've been watching the episodes as they come out, but still.

-Blightcon

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

Hello! If you don't mind me asking, are you planning on watching House of the Dragon? I'm personally unsure about it. I was cautiously optimistic about it since D&D are not involved, but the recent casting news have been ugh disappointing imo. What do you think?

Hey anon! Sorry to say I kind of mind you asking because my inbox is still closed (to everyone except my secret Santas, which is why the ask page is accessible at all), but then I realized it’s possible if you’re on the mobile app only, you haven’t seen said note in my askbox, or my FAQ, or anything of the sort. And with older metas of mine being reblogged recently, it’s possible you may be confused. (I hope you’re on mobile only and not just ignoring my requests.) So I wanted to inform you of that... but also, y’know, I kind of wanted to make a post about the HotD cast anyway? And this ask is as good a prompt as any... so, you’re lucky, but please don’t push your luck. ;)

So, straight up: I currently have no plans to watch House of the Dragon. HBO is not getting any of my goddamn money, I don’t trust like that. And hunting down illegal livestreaming sites is a pain in the ass and I regret ever doing it for GoT, as well as regretting getting drunk every weekend enough to dampen my senses to ever tolerate that show. Yeah it’s different showrunners and writers, I know. It’s still (mostly) the same executives at HBO and even if the pervert producer is gone (or is he?), you know they still just want to sell sex and violence and dragons to an audience that thinks fantasy is for geeks.

Also, considering that Fire & Blood’s story of Dance of the Dragons has very little actual narrative or dialogue, and the historical record is deliberately untrustworthy, that gives them pretty much full rein to do whatever they like with the story and characterization and words without even being slightly obliged to GRRM at all. Furthermore, since the story is wholly political with virtually none of the magical side of ASOIAF (excepting dragons), and honestly does not have much in the way of themes or depth that main ASOIAF or even D&E has, I think it will be very hard for an adaptation to show even those brief sparks of quality that used to make me wistful GoT couldn’t be that good all the time and eventually just made me frustrated and depressed. Note I do like the history and characters of the Dance despite myself, despite its many many many textual issues, but I don’t need to see an adaptation, I have a very visual imagination. I don’t watch a lot of television to begin with, I don’t see why I should start again with this.

However, I’m not going to avoid spoilers or discussion, and I’ll probably follow the show the tumblr way, through gifsets and video clips and people bitching on their blogs etc. If, somehow, by some miracle of good screenwriting and acting, the show manages to transcend its source material, I’m sure I will be informed. And then, if and only if then, I may try watching. (Without, of course, giving HBO any of my goddamn money.) We shall see.

(Though I certainly don’t know why anyone in Targ standom would ever watch a Dance adaptation considering almost every Targaryen and everyone else in the story is terrible except Helaena and the kids, and considering how the story ends, unless y’all are gluttons for punishment? (I do not comprehend hatewatching, sorry.) It’ll probably be fun at first to see the adventures of those “precious silver douchebags” (to borrow a friend’s tag), but eventually rocks fall, everyone dies, including the girlboss you know you’ll hope the story will be changed enough that she succeeds. Just letting you know now, she won’t.)

That said. I’ve been following the casting news and I think the hate/fear/wild screaming is entirely overblown. Yeah, I know, but wait, just listen. On Friday I officially welcomed @naomimakesart to the “favorite character is now played by an actor who looks nothing like most fanart and is mostly known for wildly different roles” club. I still remember that day in September 2009 when my brother texted me “yarp”... and that right there is the thing. Yeah. Rory McCann looks very little like most pre-GoT Sandor fanart... but many fans grew to love him anyway. (There are some who never did, of course. And yeah the character went off the rails by the end, but truly, who didn’t. Having seen his audition, having spoken to him and heard him wistfully talk about book scenes he loved, I’m convinced if Rory had only been given Sandor’s actual scenes and such, he would’ve killed it. Sigh. Deep, deep sigh.)

And Rory isn’t the only one. Neither of the actors for Jaime and Cersei were considered “beautiful” enough at first. I recall very clearly people bitching about Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (about his nose particularly?) because they had wanted Tarzan-era Travis Fimmel to be Jaime. (Seeing people bitch because current-Fimmel isn’t playing Daemon made me laugh out loud for both BEYONCE?! meme -type “why would you ever cast him omg he doesn’t fit my headcanon Daemon at all”, and amazing amounts of fandom flashbacks.) Lena Headey was “too square-jawed”, “too mean-looking” (since at the beginning you should never be able to guess she’s evil), “too dark-complected”, “too mannish”, not at all attractive enough. (Tricia Helfer was the most common “but I wanted” for Cersei, btw.) And of course “they don’t remotely look like twins, ugh!” Note, there’s receipts for all of this, none of it is made up. (Unfortunately.) Those two actors are just the ones whose casting wank I recall most clearly, particularly because oh how the turn tables.

Also. You know, there’s a post with Matt Smith and Mark Simonetti’s TWOIAF Daemon going around with shrieks of horror... and I’m finding it maddening in a “am I crazy? am I  the crazy one???” way, because Matt looks like the painting. Their features are not that dissimilar.

Same deepset eyes. Same cheekbones of doom. Same thin lips. Same protruding chin. Same high forehead. Same invsible eyebrows ffs. Matt has a squarer jaw, and a longer more rectangular face, and a wider nose, but considering that Daemon’s features are not described in the text, and this is the only official ASOIAF artwork that shows Daemon’s face straight on, I can for sure see why he was probably shortlisted to begin with. And that’s not even getting into to his role in The Crown, which I’ve heard is very well played with politics and palace intrigue... and if you doubt Smith can play seductive/roguish and/or evil (depending on how you LARP as a Westeros historian), or look good with long hair... well. I do not want to watch the movie, but this trailer is disturbingly enlightening.

And as for Rhaenyra... y’all know this show is starting at the beginning of the story, right? When she’s a teenager? Not a voluptuous MILF? Yeah, Emma D’Arcy doesn’t look like a Magali Villeneueve painting (though who does, good lord), but you know who she does look remarkably like? Harry Lloyd.

Same jawline. Same nose. Same thin lips. Same sharp cheekbones. Notably, same kind of sharp cheekbones and deep-set eyes as Matt Smith. HBO evidently has a concept of a “Targaryen look” that’s a little bit quirkier than supermodel-Greek statue-gods on earth, yeah, fine. But it’s consistent, and they look like family, and that-- that is good casting.

And yeah, in a few months to a year or so, you’ll see them in costume and wigs and makeup, you’ll see them in motion and speaking lines, and go Oh. That’s different. Never mind. And while people will make fanart of the show depictions of the characters and those will probalby get popular, they’ll also keep doing fanart of their pre-show headcanons, and those too will be popular. (God knows when I draw or visualize book!Sandor, Rory does not come to mind, lol.) Either way, there’s no reason to panic. We’ll live.

(Though will we live well? Got to wait on the writing and showrunning for that, alas.)

[thetwoguineabook]

I'm curious did you already have premonition of some sort that Victor is... the way he is before episode 10, or episode 10 really upturned your view Victor as a character? Since, you know, before ep 10, people assumed he was this manipulative character with ill intention lmao.

Well for one thing, I didn’t actually watch the show until the beginning of January, after it was over, so I was spoiled for a number of things and didn’t get caught up in the kind of silly speculation that always hangs around a show when people are watching it week by week. I managed somehow to avoid spoilers about the banquet, but I knew going in that they kissed, that they got engaged in ep 10, etc etc- I try to avoid shows that fuck around and gaybait me these days, so knowing that it was genuinely about a gay relationship was important to me.

But honestly, the basics of Victor’s character were obvious to me early on- in ep one he’s clearly very, very sad, and in ep two he’s clearly an overenthusiastic dweeb who is bad at flirting. And he carried on being those things as he also clearly fell head over heels for Yuuri.

I’ve read about the evil manipulative Victor theories and after they made me laugh (a lot), it kind of made me sad, because I feel like it’s an artefact of a lot of Western media, and specifically Western television, that people are so primed to expect nonsensical asspulls and to be betrayed by the clear narrative thread of whatever they’re watching/otherwise engaging in.

Yuri!!! On Ice is a story about overcoming your struggles through love- Yuuri’s constant battle against his feelings of shame and anxiety, Victor overcoming depression to want to skate again, Yuri’s desperation to succeed in his senior debut (which usually sees skaters take a big hit point-wise), and so many of the minor characters’ stories too. It’s a very simple, very powerful narrative, and the show bears it through straightforwardly to the end.

Plot twists are not inherently a good thing in stories. They’re not somehow innately interesting, and the later in a story you put it the more and more you need to do beforehand to foreshadow it. A good plot twist should have the viewer/reader going ‘holy shit, of course!’ not ‘what the fuck just happened?’ And a plot twist that dramatically alters the timbre of a story should happen early on- say, for example, you could have a set-up that looks like your protagonist is going to make a love confession to his childhood friend, but surprise! She’s happily married with three kids and he’s the gayest dude in town! But imagine if they’d pulled that in say, ep five, after teasing a bunch of romantic tension between Yuuri and Yuuko the whole time? It would have been stupid and annoying.

It honestly made me really sad to see the amount of people commenting on later chapters of Blackbird to say that they were worried about some horrible ending, because not only did I say metatextually that it was a story about love and hope and resilience and would have a happy ending, but tried to convey throughout the story that for all external forces caused them suffering, and for all their cultural and ideological differences made things difficult, love was an overwhelmingly positive force in Yuuri and Victor’s lives, that made them more and better, and that they were willing to take huge risks and make grave sacrifices for. ‘And then love got them killed horribly’ is not a good way for a story like that to end. It’s lazy and unsatisfying, and it makes me so sad that people so often expect stories to be dissatisfying, because it’s happened to them so frequently.