#just the concept of some guy with dueling personalities has a lot of potential

[random-dragon-exe]

OK this mighty be a somewhat strange comparison but Krupp and Captain Underpants's transformation and dynamic is literally just Jackson Jekyll and Holt Hyde but in a different font.

Like that sounds strange but there's some similarities here:

They both suffer from having to endure a forced transformation into a different person.

Said person is the complete opposite of themselves.

(Krupp is grumpy and mean to kids/George and Harold while Captain Underpants is nice, cheerful, and treats them like friends/sidekicks)

(Jackson is studious, follows rules, and is dependable but Holt is rebellious, and unreliable)

When they're back, they don't remember anything that happened.

The only difference in this comparison is their age, the settings, and the circumstances as to why they have the ability to turn into their respective alter-egos.

And of course that Jackson and Holt are aware of each other, but Krupp and Captain Underpants are not.

Now I'm imagining an au where Krupp and Captain Underpants are aware of each other and they're struggling with trying not to turn into each other (when in teacher mode or superhero mode). Meanwhile they're trying their best to actually communicate with each other via leaving sticky notes and recording themselves to explain what happened when the other was gone.

[nettleshuttle]

it never ceases to amaze me how quattro and shark’s relationship (“relationship”) is developed in the canon. the whole backstory dropped during WDC preliminaries/WDC itself arcs was pretty nice and reasonable, taking into account tron’s masterminding etc, but then the series just… did a summersault, landing in their tag and another one that got us to their Barian war duel. and if the nonsense didn’t show that much in the former (disclaimer: i still think it did), it just went wild around the latter.

first of all: gay. really, the whole concept of quattro/nasch duel and some of the lines delivered in the meantime are just immaculate. or rather — would be, if it tied up to anything previously said on their relation. that gets us to the “second of all” part: dude says it after setting shark up to get him disqualified from a tournament and nearly killing his beloved sister, with almost nothing happening between that and their current situation. and there’s a lot of similar declarations, like “even if you say that the bond of friendship between us is dead…” going on — what bond of friendship exactly?? cause i certainly didn’t catch you having one.

there may be something about the fact that to shark quattro’s suicidal sacrifice was shocking actually because they never had much of a relationship — if such a self-centered guy, who spent a lot of time hating shark and has little personal interest in rescuing him, decides to do something like this, well, this means shit’s serious. nonetheless, quattro still has a lot of audacity to say this stuff. besides, i assume he’s honest about the whole endeavor (after all, he leaves his brothers knowing they’ll most probably get killed by the Barians to do so) and that devotion appears to be taken out of nowhere. it would make remote sense as a guilt-motivated will to make up for all the times he tried to ruin shark’s life (and succeeded, mostly), but it really doesn’t come off as such and taking into account quattro’s personality, i don’t feel like that’s a drive he’d have.

or the way they call themselves each other’s number one fan?? this starts right on their first meeting after quattro drew shark into WDC and i get that it was probably meant to sound ironic and/or revengeful….. but it doesn’t. shark’s obviously ridiculing quattro’s stage persona and regarding quattro, i guess he was just parroting shark’s line to ridicule him in turn, though the later admiration may actually be genuine. they carry on doing it in their tag, where i assume it has a more friendly undertone, but i just can’t describe it otherwise than as very gay and very random throughout the whole of zexal.

on a more positive note: i see how they can bond over being older brothers that try to keep their families together and look after their siblings (each in his own way — let’s say quattro’s trying). that should make them more able and more inclined to understand each other’s actions (not in terms of justification or forgiveness, mind you). quattro refers to it directly (or almost directly) in their tag, making the idea more than just a speculation, though it still doesn’t nearly account for the change in their respective attitudes over the series.

it used to really annoy me, the way their dynamic (which has huge conceptual potential) takes such sudden, immense turns, rendering the whole relationship surreal and strongly unrealistic, but i don’t think i even care anymore to be honest. does it make sense? definitely damn no. do i still dig the ship? absolutely. i’m just taking note of how the creators could have easily made it even better, without all the rush and confusion (well, doing things, especially redemption arcs, in a needlessly sped-up manner is a general yugioh flaw).

[dollarbin]

Shakey Sundays #16:

Buffalo Springfield's Last Time Around

Okay, does this album even qualify for a Shakey Sunday post? Young immediately disassociated himself from the record and it's hard to hear him anywhere on the album outside of the precious, handmade and somewhat juvenile I Am A Child.

Well, my cat's impressed, (note that she instinctively blocks out every person on the cover except Young, who refused to go along with the photo concept and turned his brooding guise down and away from his band mates: good kitty...) so let's give the record a spin:

The lead track, On The Way Home, is a top 30 all time Neil Young song and the Monkees fanclub arrangement of it that appears on the record, sung by the soon to be big deal Jesus freak Richie Furay (I have a dollar bin solo late 70's record by Furay called I Still Have Dreams which has yet to ever make it to my turntable; hopefully the dreams Richie still has are psychedelic and not troubling in any way; maybe the record amazing!), may not measure it up to Young's own, innumerable, live versions (I saw Young play the song solo on the Booker T tour in 93 and it absolutely floured my 17 year old soul) but it's mix tape ready and sweet as all get out.

I kinda feel like Nick Drake used this take of the song as an inspiration for the initially baffling vibe on Bryter Layter; but Drake's song is better, of course...

And I kinda dig Young's complaint about what they did to his song. Just check out the complex, passionate and freeing potential of On The Way Home through Young's solo take from that same era:

Even so, Last Time Around is worth stretching your dollar bin buck when you see it for $4-8 smackeroos. None of the songs stink, and Stephen Stills, at this early stage, sucked a whole lot less.

But, essentially, it's a Furay/Messina record; they'd go on to found Poco after this album. I told my famous brother a few weeks back that there was surely no Poco song worth listening to, ever. He countered with the following little number. Let's listen with an open mind, then snicker at his famous tastes:

The vibe here is like Graham Parsons on way too many happy pills, or Neil Young if he pretty much sucked. There will be no Poco purchases in my near future.

Furay had been hanging about with Young and our favorite villain, Stephen Stills, for a year or three, walking in their shadows and planning for a sweet future in the manly arms of Jesus. Good for him. I see he is playing tonight, as I type, at a lodge in Montana. Tickets are still available in case you want to go: it seems that he is still busy merging rock and roll with country music; surely Richie was the first person to ever have such an idea; or maybe Jesus came up with it: I can see him dueling banjos with Richie on the Sea of Galilee.

Furay sings the best notes on this record; this may be his high water mark. Take a listen to Kind Woman: the guy had some pipes; maybe I'll try singing this to my wife tomorrow morning at the breakfast table... She loves when I bust out my trembling tenor. And my 15 year old just swoons.

Everything here is thoughtful and well paced; Stephen Stills' suckiness doesn't even get in the way. Never mind: looks like Stills doesn't actually play on the track; no matter it sounds so sweet.

Everyone other than Furay was making more important music elsewhere during the recording of this album. Young was focused on his first record, and it makes sense that he let the band have I Am A Child as it would not have fit anywhere on his own debut album.

Stills, meanwhile, was making some of the best music of his dumb career in Judy Collins' 68 band: let's end this very abbreviated Shakey Sunday with a terrific Collin's track - far better than anything on Third Time Around - in which Stills is does nothing more than play the bass:

Even Stephen Stills can't sink a track this great. No offense Richie, but I'd say Jesus would be way more into this track than anything on Last Time Around.

[the-lightning-strikes-again]

I know the purple lion/palladin would be amazing, but Lotor as black palladin? That would be very sexy of him. Imagine Black choosing him after Zarkon stolen him/died. The bayard changed for him during blood duel. Your headcanons?

Hi, anon! Thanks for the note! Yeah, it seems like Black Lion at least acknowledged Lotor in some way, for him to use that bayard. Even if that were a fluke/one-time thing, then Lotor, as a prince known for fighting alongside his soldiers in battle, commanding generals of varying personalities, being an expert pilot, and being charismatic enough to win enemies to his side, seems to have a lot of leadership qualities that Black Lion would look for.

I could see Black Lion choosing Lotor after defeating his father, but I also wonder if maybe another musical lions event would happen at an earlier time that was critical for Keith as well?

I started thinking about headcanons for a possible Black Paladin Lotor VLD remix…and ahh, got a little carried away into basically writing a story outline for it, haha:

In this AU, Keith’s reluctance to lead and his increasing interest in Blade of Marmora, along with Shiro’s clone being contaminated by Haggar’s magic, would perhaps establish why Black Lion seeks out Lotor and searches his heart as a candidate to begin with.

It could happen in a revised ending to s4, where maybe Lotor’s move to stop Keith from sacrificing himself to save others is a little more harrowing. Like say in the attempt, Keith still gets injured and Lotor’s ship is destroyed, and Zarkon’s forces are pounding down on them. So Lotor boards Black Lion in a desperate attempt to save them both from his father. Black Lion acknowledges Lotor has an interest in Saving the Whole™ in a way that Keith hadn’t grown to understand yet, so it opens its controls to him. The battle continues with Lotor shakingly at Black Lion’s controls, in the lead of Team Voltron.

Bonus if during this entire switch, the consoles to all of the Lions begin to glow brighter, because on the astral plane, the Lions are in communication with Black Lion, deliberating on the decision to accept Lotor as the new Black Paladin. They accept after Black Lion shows them that it will connect with Lotor and make him understand things too. The consoles in the Lions then return to normal, and Lotor’s spirit is locked in on the astral plane, which he feels.

Double bonus points if in this scenario, Keith is fully aware of what’s happening (maybe he just has a broken arm and leg or something), and he’s in a frazzle, trying to tell Lotor how to use the controls to get them out of there. And Lotor snaps back, also in a frazzle, “Don’t tell me how to fly.”

Triple bonus point if the other paladins are kinda freaking out that Lotor just took control of Black Lion, and that Black Lion accepted it.

“If you want to survive to argue with me, paladins of Voltron,” Lotor calls roughly through the controls, “then fight with me now against my father.”

Hunk is squeaking in shock and executive dysfunction. Pidge is flailing like, “Uh, guys??? Can he just do that??” Lance is sputtering because “Excuse me, why is HE the Black Paladin now?” Allura is very, very silent. Her father had connected her life-force to Voltron—so perhaps she felt the Lions’ debate on the astral plane. She very quietly moves to say, “Keith is injured, and we can’t lose Voltron to Zarkon. This is our only option for now.” And she demands to Lotor, “Black Lion has accepted you, which means it—” her face ticks—“trusts you in some way to get us out of here. And we’re taking on fire. We need a unified response.”  

Coran is flailing in the background on the Castle ship. Shiro is eyes narrowed, leaning forward in curiosity about this son of Zarkon.

Haggar is watching through Shiro, in shock.

Lotor reverts to his training, offering simple commands to push back his father’s forces and have the Voltron Lions rendezvous back at the Castle ship for further discussion.

Lotor had no idea how deep the well of power was within Voltron. Like, he knew this thing was a beast of a war machine, but he had no idea it was quite like this.

Lotor tiredly boards the Castle of Lions, helping a limping Keith out of Black Lion. The sight makes Hunk and Pidge hesitant to throw Lotor into the Tube of Shame. Lance and Shiro move to help Keith, who’s trying to awkwardly brush off that he just tried to commit suicide and that he has a broken arm and several sprains. Shenanigans abound.

Allura walks up to Lotor, eyeing him hard. He eyes her back. (Is this the first time he’s really seen Allura???). Bonus if he blushes holding her gaze. Just a lil.

Allura moves to demand of Lotor, “How did you manage to convince Black Lion to give you control? What did you see? What did it tell you?”

Lotor admits he intended to board Black Lion to plea for his life in exchange for information about his father, who clearly despises him. Black Lion responding to him in such a way was a complete surprise to him as well.

Keith is meanwhile getting bandaged up and is leaning against Black Lion’s paw. He’s kinda relieved he doesn’t feel the leadership bond. But he’s also relieved that Black Lion still sends him positive waves. Black Lion simply knows his heart is elsewhere and that he is a good Blade, in the way of his mother. And good leaders know resources work best where they’re happiest/most productive. Black Lion knows they will see lots of Keith yet.

Lotor sighs and offers himself up for incarceration and interrogation for how to undo the bond with Black Lion. He didn’t want to be like his father, anyway.

The fact that he rejects the legacy of his father makes Allura hesitate. She knows Black Lion wouldn’t choose someone it couldn’t trust or teach, and that its own ears had grown deaf to Zarkon. Instead of incarcerating him, Allura does demand that Lotor live up to Black Lion’s expectations, and that he accept the Castle scanning him for potential bugs or possible security breaches. Also, that he undergo the same tests she put the paladins through originally.

Black Lion often shows Lotor visions of the past—of a version of his father who once did great and protective things for the galaxy. Things that Lotor has dreamed of being able to do, and that he can do through Voltron. Lotor tries to understand what all went so wrong with his father and how he might have some things in common with this pre-corrupted version of Zarkon. He panics when he realizes that Haggar is actually a corrupted form of his true mother, and he tries to deny it.

Haggar, meanwhile, has not yet recalled her life as Honerva. She knows Voltron is still the key to opening the rift…or else that she can do something with the comet Lotor had started building ships out of…

Season 4 ends/Season 5 begins with Keith temporarily in the healing pod, and Lotor picking up the armor of the Black Paladin. There might be some form of Lion musical chairs again, unless Keith convinces Lance that being someone’s right hand also means working to ensure that the leader has his head on straight. Which, honestly, Lance might be a little over the top, but he is good at questioning stuff and was shown in s3 to admirably pick up slack where Keith flailed.

Bonus points if Lance activates that Altean broadsword again during Lotor’s training and fights him, with Lotor praising his tenacity while also schooling him on technique and strategy. This reiterates Black Lion’s judgement in naming him Black Paladin and results in Lance tentatively accepting Lotor as Black Paladin. Lotor perhaps realizes that some of the animosity has nothing to do with lions and mostly to do with Lance’s interest in Allura. He wins some favor with Lance by offering to teach him the art of the sword.

Lotor ends up sleeping in Black Lion often because he doesn’t quite trust the paladins either. Not yet. He blushies if he ends up accidentally running into a pajama-clad Allura in the middle of the night. Realizes awkwardly that the paladins call his father The Turtle, and that he himself is also afraid to take off his armored shell. Which means he is a little more like his father than he thought. But he doesn’t feel safe enough to take his armor off yet with the paladins around….until he realizes that they are not wearing armor around him at all.

Keith is easily healed in the Altean healing pod and takes up his position in the Blades full-time. The Blades and Team Voltron get closer than ever, working together most days to take down strategic Galran outposts.

Kolivan interrogates Lotor at least once.  

Hunk is probably the most diplomatic with Lotor during the initial integration phase. He asks questions about Lotor and what it was like growing up as Zarkon’s son. Lotor trusts Hunk’s opinion on most things, especially when it comes to the sensibilities of other Voltron Coalition allies. But he does rely on Hunk to help him know what’s good food, too.

The colony plot doesn’t exist in this AU, but I could see a version where maybe past!Lotor tried to help out Alteans like Bandor escaping his father’s genocides—and that the attempt to help them escape didn’t go so well. So Lotor clings hard to the concept of Black Lion giving him the chance to protect people again. Maybe in this remix, Pidge helps Lotor to hack into top-secret Galran systems that Zarkon had blocked him from. It creates the opportunity for Team Voltron to break out various Altean prisoners from Zarkon/Haggar’s clutches, who were either being harvested or forced to work for the empire in secret locations. Bonus points if Bandor was one of those prisoners who gets freed and lives to reunite with his long-lost sister. The s5 arc would therefore in part be the Voltron coalition working to actually establish a true Altean colony based off the number of prisoners they free. Allura is breaking down in happy tears that she and Coran and Lotor aren’t the only ones left.

Lotor starts piecing together that Haggar was searching all of these Alteans for information about a place called Oriande. He comes to realize that it’s a real place and encourages Team Voltron that they have to get there before Haggar does.

Lotor gets his cat back somehow. Kova probably tries to chase Allura’s mice around, resulting in shenanigans and at least one overturned table and a food goo fight. Bonus points if it ends with the mice cuddling up to Kova for warm sleepy time.

Keith’s space wolf he picks up during a Blades mission, Kosmo, ends up chasing Kova at least once.

Kova has very odd diet demands that occasionally make Team Voltron go on a side adventure to look for something. Lotor had gotten used to his generals doing this for so long but enjoys trips to the Space Mall to find toys for his kitty.

Coran and Krolia tend to mother-hen a bit more over Team Voltron during this time. Lotor finds better parental figures / role models in them. Lotor might open up to them about Haggar being Honerva.

Dayak comes to visit at least once, upset that Lotor has turned his head from the position of emperor of the Galra. She might be how Lotor gets his cat back. Dayak thinks Team Voltron is beneath Lotor but sticks around because her ultimate loyalties are to Lotor.

Lance gets Lotor into video games.

Lotor sometimes assists Keith with understanding certain odd things the Blades do as Galrans, which helps Keith rise in ranks there and continue to provide cavalry support to the Voltron Coalition.

Allura and Lotor both play in Monsters and Mana. Lotor is a bard, dumps all of his points into charisma just to see what chaos does to strategy. Keith joins in when he can, plays a princess because why not.

Lotor likes Shiro but feels there is something deeply wrong with him. He keeps information about Oriande away from Shiro, but the trip to Oriande reveals at least its location to Shiro and Haggar.

Haggar successfully reaches Oriande and passes the trials, inheriting deep knowledge. But the ancestors are silent with her and unwelcoming. Unperturbed, she then rebuilds Lotor’s fallen/abandoned ships with the comet ore, realizing how to build an anti-Voltron (the Sincline mecha). Her goal is a bigger and better mecha for Zarkon to pilot once and for all against Voltron. Because they don’t need Voltron anymore.

Being Black Paladin doesn’t mean Lotor immediately wins his way in Oriande. But he still has the Mark of the Chosen and determines that he will one day go back to finish the trials so that he can experience being connected with the ancestors.

Lotor had rather pleasantly forgotten about his old ships until he sees his designs in the risen Sincline during a battle with Zarkon. He is incredibly incensed that his father slandered his ships’ original paintjob. The paintjob honestly bothers him more for a time than the concept that Zarkon has rift technology, but he soon gets his priorities straight.

Team Voltron suffers a significant loss to Zarkon/Haggar tag-teaming Sincline. Lotor’s parents have also begun to reopen the rift, which is destroying planets and the very fabric of reality.

The Blades are called in to help.

Because Sincline is in part Lotor’s creation, the mecha has a weakness. Lotor is able to connect with it long enough to deflect some of Zarkon’s commands for it. It’s possible that a Haggar-contaminated Shiro activates at this time to try taking Black Lion back over, or to specifically unseat/injure Lotor.

Cue a major face-off again between Haggar and Allura, with Keith moving in to try and stop Shiro while Lotor desperately tries to maintain hold of Black Lion and Sincline. The entire Team Voltron spiritually works together to decouple Shiro from Haggar and to hold off Sincline long enough for other allies to arrive as backup.

Lotor’s old generals switch sides and end up helping Keith and the Blades.

Zarkon and Haggar flee, realizing that Sincline has a weakness they did not expect. A weakness they have to kill, because they’ve sensed that Lotor can and will kill them to stop them.

Haggar is unsettled because she saw in Lotor’s memories that she was actually his mother—and that he is genuinely disgusted by Haggar. This awakens a part of her entirely that not even the rift creatures/dark entities can fight.

In a symmetry to revised s3, Keith takes controls of Black Lion—which still accepts him because he’s worthy of it—to help an injured Lotor pilot to safety.

Team Voltron reconvenes in the middle of a fairly damaged galaxy, building a plan to take down Sincline before it can try opening any more rifts.

Zarkon demands that Haggar poison Sincline entirely against Lotor.

Haggar, who realizes she’s actually Honerva, starts to have significant breakdowns in trying to fulfill Zarkon’s wishes, who is her husband trying to kill her son. The more she remembers of Honerva, the stronger and more solid she becomes about who she is and how dark entities have deceived/manipulated her worst aspects. She begins to understand why the Altean ancestors had been silent with her.

Honerva realizes that Zarkon is too strongly controlled by rift creatures/dark entities, but that she’s also ruined her own chances of creating a backdoor in Sincline. Zarkon turns against her upon discovering she is no longer like him. He reaffirms that he will kill his own son to achieve supremacy, and that he will kill Haggar too if she defies him.

Honerva desperately tries to run away.  

Meanwhile, Lotor acknowledges that Shiro is perhaps in a perfect position to slip past Sincline’s defenses—having had Haggar’s magic on him and her technology—and take over the ship from the inside out.

Cue an epic battle where Zarkon loses, and where Team Voltron and Lotor win because they believe in the power of teamwork and strength in unity. This results in a battered Voltron still standing, with a battered Sincline being piloted by Shiro, who has successfully connected with Sincline. In this AU, Shiro is stronger than ever in fighting off the darkness, in a reversal to his arc as Haggar’s puppet.

Sincline has been growing increasingly sentient and recognizes Shiro as the Galra’s Champion. Sincline accepts Shiro’s command to stand down.  

Even with Zarkon killed, the rifts he opened are beginning to expand to destroy worlds, and Allura is trying to hold it off with the spiritual help of her fellow paladins.

A secondary, mysterious source kicks in to help her heal the rifts.

It’s Honerva, somewhere, trying to undo what she helped create.

Lotor remains Black Paladin post-battle and helps to redesign Sincline as part of a Defender Fleet. He helps the universe pick up the pieces as everyone limps along together toward a new era of peace and undoing the evils of the empire.

The Galra, recognizing Lotor as Zarkon’s son and as the inheritor of Black Lion, ask if he would be their new leader.

Lotor is tempted because he has always wanted the validation of such a title. But he already has a home with his found family—with the Fleet, where for once he feels like he’s where he is meant to be.

Lotor functions as Emperor Pro Tem to help ensure order through the next Kral Zera, backing Kolivan as the best possible leader. Which also opens up the Blade of Marmora as needing a new leader….which Keith has been training for…

Some Galra are disappointed that the reign of Zarkon’s lineage will be broken. But Lotor is in fact peaceful about it. He knows he’s going to be quite busy exploring and helping to defend the universe from whatever else may come, alongside the people who came to accept him as family.

He still ends up with an ambassadorial/very high official title within Galran government, gaining a greater respect for Kolivan and the ways the Blades work to unite the Galra under what their culture was before it got hijacked by Zarkon.

Keith’s actions in the final battle result in everyone else agreeing that he has achieved a level of leadership that is perfect for the Blades. Team Voltron attend the ceremony where he is named a Commander.

Lotor’s old generals receive honors and become official members of the Blades as well.

Lotor connects deeply with Allura and the Altean colony, and spends time on Earth learning about the human culture of his fellow paladins. He gets to explore, just like he always wanted to do. Team Voltron works in the aftermath of battle to assist in stamping out the Fires of Purification rebellion, rebuilding fallen worlds and their cultures, and protecting against dangerous space anomalies.

Black Lion is a happy Lion, keeping in contact with not just Keith, but also Sincline and by proxy the healed Shiro as well, as part of its own expanded Fleet. Black Lion recognizes it was built originally to protect just a galaxy—and it needs a greater Fleet for a much larger universe, working in harmony with more leaders. Black Lion can evolve and grow too, to recognize that Voltron really is stronger when it works together with others.

Lotor consistently spends quality bonding time alone with Black Lion—not because he doesn’t trust his expanded family. But because Black Lion was actually his first true friend who believed in him.

Black Lion enjoys getting washed and scrubbed. Lotor is very insistent that Black Lion be clean and sparkle like new at all times, because he recognizes he is a tenant of Black Lion and that Kova has a tendency to shed, and—“Kova, get down from the console! How many times—?”

The end!

Oh my god, this post got so long. I’m so sorry, anon. I really ran away with this prompt, oof. Thanks again for the note!

[cyberdragoninfinity]

(grabs YOU) yami bakura.

YEEEAHHH LET'S GO!!!!

favorite thing about them: GOD. A LOT. he has one of my favorite voices in the dub and im just like. obsessed with the “this ancient Egyptian ghost (who is also technically a demon) duels with a real Spirit Halloween store of a deck” thing like ryous cards or not it’s HILARIOUS. Also I’ve thought his hair ‘wings’ were the coolest design choice since i was like 14. They just rule. an elder god of the white hair anime boy pantheon. also his backstory does make me emo :,) man. i appreciate it

least favorite thing about them: god this isnt really his fault but whatever was going on in the anime where he just doesn’t... really have a proper resolution to his storyline in s5. he Detroit Becomes Zorc again and then just fucks off. bro get back here YOU DESERVE A PROPER ENDCAP TO YOUR NARRATIVE...BRO...

favorite line: its from the dub IM SORRY but i think about “i hear the shadow realm is lovely this time of year” CONSTANTLY it was my discord status for like two weeks.

brOTP: *yells into a pillow* YUGIOH IS A SHOW ABOUT THE POWER OF FRIENDS I THINK RYOU AND YB SHOULD HAVE COMMUNICATED MORE AND ESTABLISHED A FRIENDSHIP!!!!! i am thinking Way Too Often about surrogate sibling bakuras. THATS where it’s at, gang

OTP: 2021 truly the year of the thiefshipping sleeper cell in the back of my brain reactivating Very Much.... this is what ygotas exposure at an impressionable age does to a mf. mean teenager couple making fun of me at the mall ass guys. I just like them. ;__;

nOTP: i am Not into t*ndershipping i cant do it im too siblingpilled with the bakuras. it also feels like a Lot of the time with that ship some people are immediately like “oh i have GOTTA romanticize abuse or i’ll DIE” like!!! knock it off!!!

random headcanon: dying on my hill of YB being a little Too jazzed about trying all the food of the modern era whether ryou’s food intolerant body can handle it or not. you know this guy’s gonna find out about garlic bread and lose his entire goddamn mind. gonna eat a whole tray of lasagna and go skedaddle back to his soul room for ryou to deal with the fallout.

unpopular opinion: AGAIN I DONT KNOW WHATS POPULAR AND WHATS NOT IN YGO FAN SPACES FDHGHDFG i guess, again, i don’t like ryou/yb as a ship lmao. i guess im also mildly intrigued by the argument that YB has effectively become a separate, different person from the original TKB, but again, I have no clue how popular or unpopular that is fhgshg I JUST THINK ITS A NEAT CONCEPT TO POTENTIALLY EXPLORE

song i associate with them: oh my god i can actually answer this properly. getting into knives by the mountain goats!!!! makes me stare out the window and Feel Things About This Bastard. 

favorite picture of them: any picture that makes him look disgustingly cute :/ and for some reason there’s a lot of those :///// this one is one of my favs: 

>:]

i just think hes neat!!!! i have written proof that i claimed i “cared more about this guy when i was a teenager than i do now” back in like march. look at me now. this is your brain on bakura worms.

[my-artblog-is-ssjumi]

please tell me about "YGO shots whatever" and also bless you for the running cat

it's pretty much what it says on the tin: random ygo stuff that doesn't belong to any already existing story yet XD

rn most of it is a draft for a potential English reboot of the fanfic my Aileen Sue is from like, just experimenting around with how i would retell the story and what changes i would make.

i'm not good with drafts so. i kind of never revisited it since first writing it down? bc it's no fun to reread bc it's not up-to-my-standards-good yet? XD' but hey, whatever, some snippets of it i do already like so here's some (=most) of it:

Surprising as it may seem, given how his image is plastered all over the city they live in, Yugi and his friends don't really think much about Seto Kaiba in their everyday lives.

They're doing their thing and he does his. ... Whatever his thing is.

Building theme parks probably? Yugi remembers him mentioning something like this the last time they spoke but he's not sure anymore. The fact that Kaiba's been gracing class with his presence for the past few days probably means that things are going well enough for him to have the spare time. Although he's spending most of that time on his laptop anyway, not participating in class at all and left alone by the teachers as well.

No, really. Neither Yugi nor his friends know what Kaiba's thing actually is.

So they're a little surprised when after class, during cleaning duty[that anime trope/Japanese school thing?????????], a girl in another school's uniform slips through the door and bee-lines for the desk in the far corner of the room where Kaiba, true to his famous team spirit, is still fully focused on his personal work instead of helping his classmates.

One of her long, black pigtails slips over her shoulder as she snatches a glance at his laptop screen. To which Kaiba just reacts by closing said laptop and shoving it into his schoolbag. Which in turn puts a slightly too sweet, almost teasing smile onto her lips. "Want me to give you a ride home?" He sighs and mumbles something that sounds a lot like "There are worse ways to die, I guess" before getting up and following her outside.

It finally becomes apparent why a few of the guys in the class have spent the past couple minutes at the window - the car Kaiba follows that stranger to is a red Porsche cabriolet that looks like right out of a Hollywood movie.

Jounouchi doesn't know what to be more scandalized about - that Kaiba of all people is getting picked up by a cute girl while he doesn't or that some of his female classmates seem completely unimpressed by all of this because "everyone knows he has a girlfriend, duh".

He and his friends exchange confused glances.

Seto Kaiba is weird in occasionally dangerous but usually just a little annoying ways and overall just not that interesting. And, as far as they're aware, he's also completely uninterested in making friends or even just understanding the basic concept of friendship - or interpersonal relationships in general.

And yet.

Seto Kaiba has a girlfriend.

___

(the fic is an Aileen/Seto/Ati love-triangle-resolved-by-cheating-and-getting-dumped-for-it thingie)

i think the plan(???) was(????) to have each chapter actually be more of a oneshot, and them not even be in chronological order but in whatever order i vibed with while writing lol

... ok you know what? let's post the Ati part, too

___

The other Yugi, the nameless pharao, the boy without an own body, he didn't think much about what he wanted. It didn't matter. There was a purpose to his existence and it seemed to align with his feelings of not belonging to this time and place. So he dedicated his everything to fulfilling that purpose and spared himself the hassle of reflecting on his situation too much.

All was well.

Until the one whose body he had once taken over without asking didn't just allow him to stay, didn't just welcome him and promised to help him fulfill his destiny, but also offered him a bit of a life of his own. Privacy even. At least for a few hours a week. To take walks, smell the air, try new food, get lost in his thoughts without the pressure of having to justify them.

To just be.

Truth be told, it was a bit much.

What does one even do with a body of his own when there are no cards to hold, no lives at stake?

This whole time all he had was duels and words to connect to the world.

By now he barely remembered what else there was.

Until someone else who always seemed at least just as disconnected from the world as him turned out to be a lot closer to it than he thought.

Until it turned out that Seto Kaiba, of all people, had a girlfriend.

Until the nameless pharao passed a young couple holding hands on one of his walks and suddenly had to ask himself if that was something that Kaiba did with his girlfriend, too.

And what about the other things couples did?

Did they kiss?

Was Kaiba someone who would kiss someone? Who liked kissing? Who let someone kiss him?

He felt heat creep up Yugi's, no, his face just imagining it.

It seemed impossible.

Not Kaiba.

Never Kaiba.

But what if...

And did that mean they also...

Such a small question of so little consequence.

At least in theory.

And yet it did something to that borrowed body he inhabited.

That tickle on his lips and the urge to bite them to make it stop, the fine hair rising on his neck and arms, this sudden restlessness in his chest, all of these sensations were his experiences and just his.

Caused by only his thoughts, no one else's.

His own want.

Only his.

[browniesnivy]

hiii brownie idk enough abt yugioh but *insert one of ur yugioh faves* and umm maybe franziska for that character ask game :]

Franziska Von Karma 

How I feel about this character- FRANZISKA LITERALLY SO AMAZING...I love how she’s introduced as just as terrifying and cruel as her father, but then you see that she really does care about helping other people throughout her determination to avenge Edgeworth and to help Phoenix save Maya in Farewell My Turnabout despite taking a bullet to the shoulder (such a good parallel with her father on its own!)... and then with the scene at the airport she’s is allowed to be emotionally vulnerable without being any less of a competent prodigy of law! She’s just... so fucking cool I LOVE HER!

All the people I ship romantically with this character- Maya Fey! I love the contrast between both of their personalities making them seem like total opposites, but when you look at their connection to a family legacy it becomes obvious they have a lot in common. I wish the games had expanded on their dynamic more, but unfortunately lesbians are oppressed :( 

My non-romantic OTP for this character- VON KARMA SIBLINGS... Mieke I know you agree with me on this! They grew up with the same terrible expectation that come with being a prodigy, and so they’re really the only ones who’s can comfort and understand each other... they obviously both feel such an obligation to protect each other and it makes me so CRAZY UGH. BROTHER AND SISTER! 

My unpopular opinion about this character- I don’t think this is an unpopular opinion but I wish she’d kept the shorter hair design from the concept art where her hair is slicked forward to contrast with her father’s slicked back hair, not only because I’m a lesbian and that hairstyle was SO GAY but because I think it could have highlighted or even foreshadowed how she differs from Manfred. Maybe since she hasn’t been able to abandon his influences by Justice for All it wouldn’t make since for her to have such a “wild” hairstyle, but I think that if she returns it would be amazing to see her with that hairstyle to represent how she’s moved on after a decade.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon- SHOW HER DENOUNCING MANFRED VON KARMA FOR REAL. I can understand that it would take time for her to fully accept that her father was not as admirable as she’d been least to believe, but by this point in the timeline I think it’s time for that aspect of her character arc to be resolved. The natural conclusion of her development requires her experiencing the same acceptance of defeat as her brother, so I really hope that if they bring Franziska back at some point she’ll be allowed to admit that her father was awful and that victory isn’t an indication of worth.

Rex Raptor

How I feel about this character- HE IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER IN ANY PIECE OF MEDIA EVER. I know that he isn’t meant to be a deep character at all and he isn’t given much narrative focus at all but he is just SO DAMN ENDEARING TO ME OKAY. I have an unhealthy obsession with how he is initially introduced as being crass and inconsiderate while Weevil is more polite and strategic, but then it turns out Weevil is a total asshole while Rex is just... a kid who likes dinosaurs and duels for fun? Like even though he’s a total dumbass (the best character trait) who can be a bit rude (not even mean-spirited if we’re being totally honest, like most of his remarks are just him being snarky), the manga describes him as “having to the spirit of a true duelist” and he never really seems as bitter about losing as his counterpart Weevil (except in the Season 4 filler arc, which although I adore for giving me so much more Rex content, makes a lot mistakes by characterizing him as basically interchangeable with Weevil... BUT that’s ANOTHER STORY for ANOTHER DAY). I mean he has more justifiable reasons to be upset than Weevil given how he was LITERALLY cheated out of the Battle City tournaments by Espa (which Mokuba the official rule enforcer LETS THEM GET AWAY WITH and then doesn’t do ANYTHING to compensate Rex), and he STILL tries to warn Joey to stay away from trouble despite him being the guy he supposedly dislikes because he took his best card, totally disgracing him and ruining his entire career. I could keep going but this paragraph isn’t probably already sickeningly long and I still need to be able to make posts about him in the future, so in a nutshell... he seems like a funny and good kid. OH AND WHEN MAI ASKED HIM THE “what can you see but cannot see” RIDDLE AND HE ANSWERED TAKOYAKI BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE THE DOUGH ON THE OUTSIDE BUT NOT THE OCTOPUS ON THE INSIDE? LITERAL CUTEST SHIT EVER KING OF COMEDY I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU. Ahem. Sorry.  

All the people I ship romantically with this character- Weevil Underwood. They’re both teenagers who got famous, let it get to their heads, and then lost everything... considering that they seem like the types of kids who would be bullied relentlessly (they're already constantly being made fun of by mostly of the character anyway), I think the fact that they end up befriending each other is a good sign that they can find some comfort in each other and discover other things to be fulfilled by beside card games. I love how even though this friendship is framed as a begrudging alliance between two self-servings jerks half of the time, the other half of the time it’s about best friends starting a shit together for petty reasons and always being by each other’s side no matter what. The way that they tease each other constantly but then always stand up for one another when others pick on them... it’s so obvious that they actually really care about one another! I just love their dynamic so much it’s unreal, hence the blog.

My non-romantic OTP for this character- Although I primarily think about his relationship with Weevil, there is still a lot of potential to be explored with other characters! Mako is another minor character obsessed with a type of animal, but where’s he differs from Rex and ESPECIALLY Weevil is his sportsmanship, being able to become friends with Yugi and Joey even after being defeated by them. I think that difference mostly comes down to Mako being significantly older than Red and Weevil and therefore having more perspective on gaming fame, so I feel like he would be a great influence on them. On Rex specifically, I think Season 4 missed a big opportunity to expand on Rex and Mai’s relationship. Mai had been a major contributor to Rex losing in Duelist Kingdom, but now they both feel like washed-up failures. I think given the circumstances they could have comeback to an understanding, maybe even have Mai apologize for throwing him under the bus to screw with Joey? I think showing Rex that not everyone who has wronged him in the past had/still has bad intentions would be really good addition to his character arc in Season 4. Then of course there is Joey... to me, the main difference between Rex and Joey is that Joey is stupidly lucky while Rex never seems to catch a break. Otherwise they’re both recklessness dumbasses who prioritize brawn over brain, but Joey is nevertheless able to triumph through sheer dumb luck while Rex gets anihilated over and over with basically the same strategy (minus the RNG cards, Joey’s strategy is just big monsters after all). While the previously mentions she relationships were hypothetical, this dynamic between Joey and Rex is actually given some focus in canon, and I found it very compelling! I only wish this difference between them hadn't only been used to increase Joey’s confidence in his skills as a duelist (which I will remind you is mostly LUCK, no offense to Joey because I do love him BUT I MEAN... only being able to beat Rex because of a lucky Time Wizard isn’t peak strategy ), but to develop Rex’s character somehow as well. 

My unpopular opinion about this character- JUST LIKING THIS CHARACTER IS AN UNPOPULAR OPINION MAN... tons of people hate him so much! I know he isn’t an important character at all but he isn’t nearly as much of a jerk as people make him out to be, and I mean even if he was he’s just a kid! I won’t pretend that he is always portrayed favorably by the narrative, but the fact that some people feel nothing but disdain for a child whose accomplishments were robbed from him by forces outside of his control and who received no sympathy for it, causing his self-worth to deteriorate... it’s a bit concerning to me that so many adults in particular are so disgusted by that. 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon- I’ve talked QUITE a lot already about things that I wish had happened to develop his character more, but above all else I wish his character arc in Season 4 had been given a proper conclusion. The writers set up this interesting conflict where the insignificant minor characters are upset that they aren’t allowed to be successful when the more important characters aren’t involved and shows the consequences that their defeat had on their lives and self-image... BUT THEN AFTER THEY’RE DEFEATED THEY ARE FORGOTTEN ABOUT FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON UNTIL THEY WAKE UP IN THE HOSPITAL AND INSTANTLY REVERT BACK TO BEING COMIC RELIEF GRRR GRRRRRRRR! There wasn’t no resolution to this arc AT ALL and it drives me UP THE GODDAMN WALL because it absolutely captivated me in concept... but like with many things in Yu-Gi-Oh! the execution was totally ruined :( 

[brokenmusicboxwolfe]

I have a ton of insomnia writing in the drafts, so time to start unloading some of it. The usual “as is” rules apply, and I’ll try to keep most of it under the cut,

It just occured to me that I actually have one piece of good advice to give:

If you challenge someone to a duel, ALWAYS have a witness for the fight!

I learned this the hard way when I was a little girl. But to understand why I felt the need to even duel someone, you need to understand the background.

When I was a little girl my family lived in our house in town, which meant until I was 9 I was running around with a gang of kids. I say “kids”, but I pretty much mean boys. There were a couple of years during that time when a girl was inthe neighborhood, one being one of the best friends I had in my life and the other....not, but almost the entire time I was the only girl in the neighborhood.

Now some folks think being the only girl would be terrible, but in a lot of ways it was fine. Kids are kids, rampaging around the neighborhood, and thanks to my family I never felt things should be “girl stuff” and “boy stuff”. I just played.

 In fact, at times being the only girl even gave me a curious power position. I knew “girl things” they didn’t. I can still remember the shock on the face of one of the boys when I tried to explain that I didn’t just piss outside like them because of anatomical differences. He just assumed girls had dicks too. 

BTW, groups of very little boys can get awfully competitive about their dicks. Not that they called them that. They honest to god called them “ding-a-lings”! LOL  In fact, a few times they even had a contest where they would line up with their pants dropped wanting me (the only one that was exempt)  to decide which looked “best”. Remember, at the time we were very little kids, so the concept of “best” was exceptionally vague.** I hope I didn’t give any of those boys a lifelong complex because of something I said in all innocence! But geez, they were obsessed with the idea that whatever hung between their legs was very, very important.

Anyway, running around playing being a girl among boys wasn’t bad all the time. Heck, while the boys could fight over who got to play Han and Luke when we played “Star Wars” or Mark and Jason when we played “Battle of the Planets”, I always knew I wouldn’t have to compete for my part in the games. Though I’m still a little irked to the way their only solution to Gargantuas in War of the Gargantuas being both male was I’d play “the green Gargantua’s wife, at least we always found a way even if what we were playing didn’t have a token girl.

All that being said, there were real disadvantages too, especially as the bots came to learn the rules around gender. I was a girl. They knew it and at times they would think it meant I was supposed to defer to them. This led to many a fight and tears.

For instance, once one of the boys got a BB gun. 

Naturally we all wanted to take turns using it in a makeshift backyard shooting gallery. Trouble was, as far as they were concerned girls weren’t supposed to shoot. Now considering all the toy cap guns they borrowed from me when we played, and the gun I had that shot cork balls had been the envy of all the kids*** until this BB gun, it seems crazy they would think girls weren’t allowed “real” guns. I begged a turn, outshot them all, and never was allowed to touch the gun again. ****Having a girl be the best shot kinda stung for them! LOL

The boys would do this now and then, throw me for a loop with “you are a girl” as a reason I should or shouldn’t do a thing. Being a “sissy” was a common insult used among the kids. A kid should be tough and brave, try never to get crying or show weakness, or sometimes they would even use “like a girl” as an insult. 

I learned that my “girly” side was more of a target, so I got so in the toy chest in the living room I kept the guns, cars, blocks, etc for the boys to use, but kept hidden away in my bedroom the girly stuff like dolls. In fact I kept things like play makeup buried in drawer where no one could find them...

Yes, I was a girl, both in my personal identification and as the whole world saw me, and yet I hid my “girl stuff” like a teenager hiding drugs or dirty magazines. It was the big drawback of usually being the only girl. The girly side of being a girl was something to be quiet about.

So grew up thinking that the way to impress a guy was to be strong, tough,  smart, brave, and not at all squeamish. If boys admire each other for not being a sissy, then certainly they would admire a girl for being that way.  

Oddly enough, never once did a boy reciprocate my crushes because I wasn’t a sissy. Oh, they would like me for it, but it was seeing me as one of the guys and never as romantic potential. Or maybe not oddly. I may be hetero CIS female, but the world sees me as not girly enough in my presentation to quite believe me.

TBH, I still have a problem with that. I never learned the rules of being girly. I never was taught how to put on makeup, do hair, know about fashion, move in that swaying hips and crossed ankles when you sit kind of way... 

And down deep I don’t want to have to put on that act. I want to be me. I want someone to love me without makeup or styling, not because of the clothes I wear or because of skills with flirting games. I want to be loved for me, and girly is only part of me. Part of me is walks in the woods where I photograph snakes and spiders. Part of me is climbing in the roof to repair a leak or taking apart the hot water heater to figure out how to fix it....

I have always been a combination of things. Things like how I like romantic comedies and horror films, I picked out my antique sword because it felt like it would swing in my hand well and it had little flowers on the hand guard, or how I love classical and punk.I never wear dresses during the day, because they aren’t practical for my rough and dirty life, plus  they can make you very vulnerable. And yet at night I always wear the prettiest nightgown I can find. I had a unique “Captain’s Canopy Bed” as a child, because I loved both the captain’s bed (a bunk woth drawers under it billed as a “boy bed” by people that gender everything) and longed for a canopy bed. My father sensibly combined the two for me. To me it has never been about a contradiction or conflict, but just that different aspects manifest under different circumstances. 

I really can’t understand why people are expected to fit into catagories neatly, label themselves, force themselves to deny parts if themselves just to belong. Still,  I expect I would be happier if I could have at least forced myself to fake it.

Anyway, the boys were learning girls were “supposed” to be a certain way, and I was constantly insisting this wasn’t true. They would pick on me amd we would fight. Oddly, this “girls can’t” attitude never applied to fighting. They never went easier on me because I was a girl. 

Once they got me treed and the henchman boy was told to go get something to hit me with. I warned him not to, but he didn’t listen. As he went to get the weapon I lept out of the tree in a tackle, and began punching him. My grandmother ran out shouting for me to stop. “It’s not ladylike!!” she cried, while  I shouted back in frustration “They were going to hit me!!” 

Don’t worry, I wasn’t punished. Grandma..well, it’s complicated with her...and my parents would never punish me for something like that. Years later Mom would admit she and Pop were proud if me after that fight. “The boys picked on you so much I was glad you hit them”...

Hmmm, now that I think about it, Mom’s most common response to sexist attitudes in movies and tv shows is to grumble “Oh hit him!” Folks have no idea about Mom’s violent side, the part that watched Xena: Warrior Princess and sighed “I always wanted to be able to leap around and fight like that!” People think she is “sweet”, when Pop was always the family softie! LOL

As we got older, the sexism of the boys got worse and so did our conflict. One boy, a year older than me and the oldest of the usual gang, was the worst. His own mother was a rather strong and independent person, so it was almost confusing how he could be that way. As far as he was concerned the social structure was thatthe older the boy the higher the rank, and girls were at the bottom. It was inevitable that one day their would be an explosion.

The final straw came over, of all things, me wanting to make our gang of friends into a club. It was all the fault if a kids magazine called Dynamite, that put out a book on making your own club, complete with membership cards printed in a fold out of the cover you could cut out. It sounded like a great idea. It wasn’t.

To be honest, I shouldn’t have been at all surprised. By this point the oldest boy had gotten to be a complete pain about gender roles, but also about me in particular. My first day of kindergarten he’d been the only person I knew all day, so when I passed him in the hall I’d said “Hello”. The boy next to him asked who I was and he said “I don’t know!” right in front of me. I had started to consider our “friendship” differently after that, and his now increased insistence that boys were superior increased the rift.

To make matters worse, the boys had developed some sort of age based ranking. When I invited the oldest boy’s little brother to come to the club meeting too, the guy had been outraged. It had seemed natural to me, I mean I invited my little brother. I always wanted to include everyone. To the boys, the younger boys didn’t count and the older you were the more power you were “supposed” to have.

Now for the club I’d fixed up a corner of the shed out back. I put up posters, made a candle (I just loved making candles and melting wax when I was little...us GenXers lived dangerous lives!LOL), set up chairs and a table, had refreshments and, of course, the membership cards. I couldn’t wait for them to show up.

Once the boys arrived I said it was time to elect officers. Immediately the oldest boy announced there was no need and started to pass out the cards. He said he would be president because he was oldest, my favorite boy would be vice president, the thieving henchman would be treasurer because he was next oldest, the other boys would be just members, and I would be...secretary. 

Oh he was glad to explain. Girls are always secretaries. Only girls can be secretaries. Girls can never be president. The other boys accepted this.

Naturally I was outraged. This was NOT right! We were supposed to vote! And we were supposed to vote for who would be best for the job, not who was oldest or a boy. Girls CAN be president! And besides, the club was my idea and the clubhouse in my yard so I shouldn’t be stuck being the stupid secretary without even voting!!!!

There was a lot of shouting after that. The boys stormed off, taking the cards with them. I went in the house to take the refreshments, and the boys snuck back to trash the place. They tore the posters, smashed my candle, and turned over the furniture. 

I cried.

I was also furious.

I was beyond fed up with the oldest boy and his assumption of leadership. Now my favorite boy did apologize, but he was always the nice one. The others were unrepentant. The oldest boy insisted he was right that girls could never lead. 

There was only one thing left to do: Challenge the oldest boy to a duel.

I went right up to him and said I’d had enough. I was challenging him to a fight. One on one, just him and me. No weapons, just our strength. The winner would be the leader of the kids.

I know it’s absurd, but since physical fighting is what they valued I figured I had to go with it. Actually, if anything, a fight would be skewed in my favor. While the boy was a year older, I was a head taller. Where he was lanky, I’d gotten to be a sort of muscular and agile fat.***** Physically the avantage was mine, an since refusing to fight me would be so embarrassing to him I knew I’d get the fight. 

He agreed, and then I made a very stupid mistake. I decided to show him a bit of mercy. Since losing to a girl would be so humilating, I set the time and place where we would meet alone for our fight. I wanted to win, to make my point, but  I wasn’t trying to shame him.

And so the time came. We met in a back yard, in clear area  hidden from windows in case an adult was looking by trees. I wish I could tell you some dramatic blow by blow, but honestly I remember it as very quick. He fancied he knew fighting moves, got into a pose, and I flattened him. Almost admittedly I had him pinned to the ground where I sat on top of him until he admitted I had won. 

I went home overjoyed. This lasted until the kids got together. I, oh so foolishly, assumed I was now leader. The boy, however, was not about to give up power...or tell the truth. 

As an adult I realize my naivety, but at the time I was 7 or 8. I honestly had believed the boy would have been honest. I always told the truth, so why wouldn’t he? And since we had made a sort of “official” deal, he would be obliged to tell the truth. 

He lied. Right there, right in front of me, he lied. 

The boy announced he had won. I said he was lying, that I had won, and he laughed. Of course he had won. He was a boy. Did the boys really think  a girl could beat him?

 I offered to fight him again right there, but he refused saying he’d already won. I couldn’t get him to feel pressured to fight me again because now the boys wouldn’t really want him to. On some level I think they believed me and knew I would win if we fought again. As long as they didn’t see me clobber him they could pretend the boys “deserved” to be in charge. They needed the lie as much as he did.

And so I learned a lesson: witneses matter. People will almost always lie if the truth threatens them. 

You know, I think this is why I have always been obsessed with watching when something horrible is happening. I always had this feeling that even when I can’t help, I can be there for the person in some way. I’d listen, watch, and remember. When I was 9 I stood in the snow, no coat and no socks, waiting until a man was removed from a crashed car because I didn’t want to “abandon” him. I would report teachers that did something incredibly wrong, even though I knew the teacher would deny it and I knew my classmates were too afraid to back me up, because the truth had to be known. I wanted to be the witness I needed for that fight, someone to back me up when no one wants to hear the truth.

As a footnote, after the duel failed I tried one more way to defeat the oldest boy: Voodoo!

Well, voodoo by way of a book I’d been reading. It wasn’t real voodoo, or probably like any realistic magical practices. In the book someone had carved a skull into a tree, written someone’s name under it, and the  hammered a nail into the center of the skull with devastating consequences to the victim. I had a pocket knife and a nail, so I gave it a go.

Sadly voodoo didn’t work. 

Even more sadly the boy grew up to move away from this hick town, get a good job, get married and have kids. In other words, he got a far better life than I’ve had. Oh well, the universe never cares about fairness.

** Actually one boy always won, because TBH I liked everything about him best.

***Hilariously, one of the boys tried to steal my cork gun, claiming it was his. Pop had engraved my name in the gun sight, and when my father pointed at to ask what it said, the boy claimed it was his name! That boy was never very bright, always dishonest, and a born henchman! LOL You know, I bet that toy gun would have been illegal to make just a few years later, just because it literally fired things. Heck, maybe it already was and had been sitting on the store shelf for years before I got it. We couldn’t find one like it a coulle years later for my little brother.... 

****I want to point out being a good shot runs in the family. Back in the 1960s when my family had to shoot for self defense (long story) Mom was apparently a crack shot. On one side of her family she has had relatives that were at times the official best shot for their branch of the military. One, even as an old man in poor health, liked to show off how he could selectively shoot off small tree top branches a long diatance uphill from him. Plus, Mom likes to mention she is distantly related to Annie Oakley, which is apparenty true.

*****Traumatic stuff happened when I started school, triggering a bunch of sudden changes with me. One was weight gain, but I had stayed strong as ever. 

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High Sophomore Year Ep 2

Boggy the Froggy!

Welcome back, ya’ll! We jump back in with our Bad Kids (or 4/6 of them anyway) the very next day. Fabian sends Gilear out on a coffee run on the threat of bodily harm. His mom–who, if you remember is low-key a total badass–tells Fabian that if Gilear doesn’t come back from the quest alive, she’s going to duel him to the death on top of the house. Yikes. At Chez Thistlespring, Gorgug’s parents give him another very detailed sex talk and then remind him that he lives in a world where magic is very real so any and all dreams he remembers should be treated as omens. 

At the haunted house, Adaine wakes up having had portentous dreams like everyone else which is doubly concerning I have to imagine considering (1) she is the eleven oracle and (2) as a full elf she’s supposed to trance, not sleep and dream. Luckily for her nerves, she cast Find Familiar the night before and summoned an emotional support familiar which she gave the amazing name Bogariel Frogariel aka: Boggy the Froggy. 

Meanwhile (and I needed to switch paragraphs because Kristen is doing the D&D equivalent of playing Twister while everyone else is playing Checkers as she is wont to do) Kristen is talking to Tracker about changing Yes? again because she is filled with doubt about her god of doubt but the one thing she clearly doesn’t have doubt about is her relationship with Tracker because it’s been less than a year and she already sees wedding bells in their future. Wild. She also invites Tracker on the quest, rectifying what I thought was a wild oversight last week. 

Everyone meets up and they realize Fig and Riz are missing. They (specifically Fabian) can’t get Riz on the phone (which has never happened before) and all of Fig’s stuff is missing. They head over to Riz’s office to see if they can find him but, before that, Tracker cancels the church of Yes? because, sure. 

There are signs of a struggle at Riz’s office, but no blood. They find a picture of Riz’s super-spy dad (Pok) with his arm around someone who appears invisible to them (though the spot is circled in red). They also find claw marks going up to a mirror. Adaine stops Gorgug from touching the mirror which would have driven him insane and had him attack the group. She sees a twisted version of Riz in the mirror which no one else can see until she describes it (suspicious). Then, she dispels magic and the Riz appears in the room…and attacks them (roll for initiative baybee)!

Fabian is flipped the F out. Kristen decides to chill out and drink Riz’s coffee–much to the incredulousness of everyone else (she’s on those chill existential dread vibes). Adaine and Gorgug are stricken by fear but they’re able to snap out of it quickly. Once they’re sure it’s not Riz (the doppelganger is going full creepy horror movie monster with the head twisting and biting and junk), they start going full throttle but Kristen gets a clutch roll and lands a banishment on Nightmare Riz (who was invisible at the time). Also, Adaine finds a gun but no one is down with her packing heat without proper firearms training so she reluctantly puts it back. They confer with Sandra-Lynn and they find out Fig has, for some reason, gone to Bastion City (the capital) and Gorthalax is missing. Also, because Emily is Emily whether she’s present or not, they find out that Fig has decided to multiclass and she is now a bard/warlock with her demon dad as her patron. Those might be connected because, as her patron, Gorthalax can now find Fig at all times.  

Sklonda, in the meantime, has been investigating a robbery at the mall. They end up there too because Gilear (who is back from his coffee run) said he saw Fig’s bus in the area. They tell Ragh to meet them there and then head over (Gorgug in the old family car which he buys from them for 30 gold (the cost of a pony)–the amount Adaine suggests after the Thistlesprings reject his insane offer of 1000 gold). Also, Kristen leaves her brothers some gold secretly which is sad and also I think not the best way to handle that, but the intention is good. The robbery was of a gem–non-magical I believe–called the Devil’s Heart. [Edit: And apparently Fig’s doing.] Fabian shows up, tries to be helpful, and then eats glass. Normal stuff. 

The group tries to figure out what’s going on with Fig by calling the hotel she’s at and basically doing a straight improv comedy routine, each passing the phone around with a bad story until Adaine just hangs the phone up. Then, they find out from Sklonda that Pok’s partner is a tabaxi (cat person) named Kalina and she is in the empty space in the photo. Sklonda and Sandra-Lynn can see it even though the Bad Kids can’t. 

With that information gathered, the group leaves Elmville for the first time on the way to the Hotel Cavalier in Bastion City and, hopefully, Fig. 

Detention

Fabian for Intern Abuse

Poor Gilear. Fabian solicits increasingly complicated coffee orders from his friends to make Gilear’s job harder and tries to get them to threaten Gilear on their behalf. Even Sandra-Lynn was like, bro. Lay off the guy. Bad form, sir. (Hilarious, but bad). 

Honor Roll

Adaine for Rocking Her Portent Rolls

Adaine had a 19 and a 4 for her portent rolls this session and she used them very judiciously. The first was her 19 which she gave to Gorgug who was about to fail his saving throw and touch the mirror which would have led to him attacking everyone (she has a vision of his beheading her in a rage–sidenote love that Brennan makes her portent rolls actual visions instead of just having the mechanical effect of changing the roll happen). The second was a 4 which she gave to Brennan who was rolling for concentration on Nightmare Riz’s fear spell. What a power move to stare your DM in the face and say, “You roll a 4.” Amazing. Portent rolls are so good you guys. Also, bonus points for coming up with the name Bogariel Frogariel. 

Random Thoughts

Fabian’s response to his mom’s ultimatum that she will fight him if Gilear doesn’t return alive? “Damn, guess I have to fight my mom.”

“MAGIC IS REAL AND SO IS MY FROG.”

Brennan describes Boggy as just the most archetypal looking, round, squishy frog and I want a plush of his yesterday. Or a stress ball! It would go with his whole emotional support thing in game. I love that Siobhan picked not the potentially “useful” or “cool” animal. She went full Marie Kondo and was like, “What’s gonna spark some joy?” Boggy also can give her the help action, which is great!

The episode was great even 2 cast members down, but they were missed. On more than one occasion, I was like, “This is more quiet than usual. I wonder why–ah Emily.” We better get her reaction to Boggy as soon as she’s back.  

Kristen brings up the concept of patenting a god which is wild. We also get an answer to the question I had last week about Tracker’s cleric status–she still is a cleric of the moon goddess. The moon goddess is just chill with her followers not being exclusive. 

Fabian sans Riz is a hilarious mess. For anyone who likes them together as friends and/or romantically there was a lot of Content. Fabian being like, “Idk about Fig but something is def wrong with the Ball because he always answers on the first ring when I call  him.” Him canonically forgetting that he has a name other than The Ball (that’s the name in his phone, obv). And, the coup de grace, him investigating RIz’s office, but only for signs of his name. Him trying to Investigate like Riz, rolling a nat 1, and literally eating glass (“I thought I could taste fingerprints!”). 

“Coffee’s ordered, is the Ball dead?”

Adaine as everyone is clowning on Fabian for possibly making out with the Hangman: The Hangman is much more human than my bitch sister. 

Nightmare Riz, who they still think is actual Riz at this point, pops out of the mirror and Fabian and Adaine’s reactions respectively are, “You can’t do these things!” and, “It’s like 60% of our grade.”

The idea of Gorgug going from a terrified scream into a barbarian rage scream is very funny. Where are the animatics people?

Oh, speaking of people, Fantasy High was trending on tumblr the morning after this stream. Nice job, guys! 

The talk that Gorgug’s parents give him about all dreams being significant is something I always say in movies/books/shows like this. You have protagonists who *know* they live in a magic world and they have weird dreams and it’s not until 2/3rds of the way into the story that they’re like, “Wait. My dreams…mean something?” Bitch, what?

Gorgug’s initial coffee order is Hot Chocolate with a shot of decaf.

Everyone is very chill with Tracker coming onto the quest. Adaine just has one rule: No sex in the tent while they’re also in the tent. Kristen asks like she’s offended Adaine would feel the need to say that but like…come on. 

At first, I thought the invisibility in the photo was similar to the non-Adaine bad kids not being able to see Nightmare Riz until she described him but they still couldn’t see the woman in the photo after Sklonda described her so not sure what was going on with the mirror. 

I went back to the episode where Riz finds the photo of his dad (First Kisses and Last Words at around 1 hour, 27 mins in) and in that photo it’s of his dad and his mom. So either (1) it’s a different photo, (2) Brennan forgot/retconned something, or (3) something seriously screwy is going on. I will also note two observations here. Sklonda mentioned that Kalina doesn’t drink but was holding up her hand in a toast like she was drinking in the photo. That seems too specific a detail to not mean anything. And the second thing is, last ep, we did learn about a servant of the Nightmare King called the Shadow Cat and Kalina (if that is her real name) is a tabaxi so that’s something to think about. 

With all the complicated coffee orders flying around, Adaine just changes hers to a black coffee to try and make Gilear’s life a little easier (her original order was a Peppermint Mocha–sans the threat of violence to Gilear Fabian was offering). I do really love that Adaine seems genuinely concerned about the guy. SOMEONE should be. And it’s consistent with her characterization of just being generally well mannered and empathetic. 

Kristen getting the banishment on Nightmare Riz is something she did after Ally asked for it and Brennan was like, “lol, sure on a 19 or 20.” Boom. Rolled a 19. Just like in the prom fight. So the lesson here folks is don’t give your players a conditional yes and then expect the dice to bail you out. 

Kristen’s existential crisis is so crazy to me because she’s having, like, a prototypical Crisis of Faith™ (and pretty realistically) except, unlike in real life, she has certain knowledge about the existence of gods, life after death, and the means to communicate with those deities in the present day like…I feel like you’re crisis-ing wrong, girl. She’s crisis-ing like she just deconverted from Christianity when I feel like what actually happened is closer to, like, quitting a sorority or realizing you hate your major or changing political parties.  

the nature of humanity is just that every so often someone accidentally invents homestuck helioism again

Ragh had a dream matching up with Gorgug’s (but he didn’t realize it was Gorgug in his dream) which means something and I’m sure we’ll figure out what soon enough. 

The Fabian eating glass scene is another one where you truly need to see it to understand how great it is. Lou is equally game to have Fabian be the coolest person who ever lived or a huge baby and Fabian running away crying because he has glass shards in his tongue is incredible. Hilariously, he runs into Ragh in the food court who has also eaten glass in the past (“Glass is literally invisible.”) and they bro bond over it so hard (“That’s my boy!”) that Tracker and Kristen are like…are they a thing?

The other crazy scene is the gang passing around the phone trying to convince the hotel receptionist to give them info about Fig. Kristen comes up with the name Teddy Guyger (and Zac and I at the same time are like, “Did you get the name Teddy because you have a teddy bear in your inventory rn?”). Fabian tries to drop his dad’s name. Their first move for some reason isn’t to give the phone to Gorgug who is also a part of the band. Adaine just hangs up the phone like Peppa Pig. Exquisite comic timing. 

“I cast bane on Gilear.”

I love the running joke of Adaine having visions throughout the day of her friends in the process of doing dumb BS.

Nightmare Riz going after Fabian’s good eye was big gross. Thanks Brennan, I hate it.  

I wonder if what’s going on with Fig is completely different than what’s going on with Riz. Just because they’re gone for the same reason irl, doesn’t mean they’re gone for the same reason in game. Nightmare Fig could be a fun fight though.

As someone whose fave thing in D&D is not combat, I thought the fight in this episode was great. Interesting concept, good chance for in-character reactions, not too long . 

Ragh upon meeting Tracker: Check it out: I’m gay. (Tracker: Tight.)

Fabian, who has known Cathilda his entire life: Do maids dream?

In this ep, Kristen and Adaine rolled 2 nat 20s each (Kristen rolled one for initiative also but it was lowered by her modifier), and Gorgug and Fabian each rolled 1. Fabian also rolled a nat 1 (which, again, led to him Eating Glass).  

[empireburned-archive]

jen pick three of your ocs that you don't get to write enough AND TELL US ABOUT THEM

HMMM this is a tough one lottie but let’s see…  i’m gonna cheat and do four

autumn mills.  Okay so Autumn is my newest OC and honestly I’ve completely fallen in love with her.  So she is a muse based on Amazon’s series The Boys, but she is compatible with really any superhero genre universe.  She’s had the ability to manipulate the elements ever since she was a child  (she currently doesn’t know that she was administered Compound V as an infant).  Unfortunately, she kind of relates her abilities to her parents’ constant exploitation of her for fame and money, so she’s a bit jaded when it comes to what she can do.  For that reason, she doesn’t really have much interest in using her powers to ‘save the world,’  nor does she really feel the obligation to help anyone.  She’s also very much aware that supes tend to be nothing more than products created and marketed by rich people, and she’s very vocal against the whole concept of the Seven because they’re more or less greedy frauds in her opinion.  BASICALLY she’s just a very jaded young woman who really just needs to find something to believe in again.  She’s been on her own for so long (she left home at the age of 18 and never looked back) that she really just doesn’t believe in the good of humanity, and I’m really looking forward to the prospect of what her character development can be like.

lydia shaw.  I have a LOT of feelings about my baby Lydia.  I’ve always been extremely fascinated by the tragedy of the Titanic, so she kind of reflects that.  Basically, Lydia was born to a wealthy family in England.  It’s a tale as old as time;  she butts heads with her stuffy mother a lot.  Her brother James is her best friend.  She’s also pretty much a daddy’s girl, although even some of his expectations for her rub her the wrong way.  Anyways, her entire family takes the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic to New York.  Lydia’s a bright-eyed girl who sees all sorts of possibilities in New York to spread her wings and perhaps finally break out of the cage that is the repressed aristocratic culture she’s been raised in.  She’s very sweet and idealistic, and generally believes in the good in the world.  While on that voyage, she meets Sam Fisher, an employee of the White Star Line, and she’s pretty much smitten with him from the first moment she sees him.  He’s kind of the first love interest she’s had in her life, so she crushes on him very hard.  But of course things end terribly.  Although she fights to stay with the men in her life (her family and Sam), eventually, Lydia is set into a lifeboat with her mother and rowed away from the sinking ship.  She loses her brother, her father, and (she believes) Sam to the wreck.

The tragedy really forces Lydia to grow up and give up on a lot of her dreams.  It’s the first time she’s harshly introduced to the idea that life is full of hardships.  For quite a while, she’s a ghost of her former self.  Her mother tries to make the best of their circumstances in New York, and often comes across as though she’s not affected by what’s happened, which becomes an area of contention between the two of them.  Eventually, her mother pressures her into accepting the proposal of the son of a wealthy oil tycoon, which she inevitably does.  And even though he’s not a terrible guy, he’s still not someone she loves, so that’s a struggle for her.  Inevitably, Lydia becomes a bit rebellious and chops her hair into a bob and becomes a full-fledged flapper, much to her mother’s dismay, and really she’s just trying to find her way in the world and she needs love and friendship and something to kind of help her feel alive again

hattie price.  So Hattie really started off being just a convenient figure in a much larger Victorian era plot with Lottie and Ace, but she’s kind of become so much more than that to me?  Like when I first created her, the idea I had in my head was of this vindictive, shallow woman and she evolved into one of the most selfless and compassionate muses I’ve written.  Basically, her family life has never been great.  Her parents always doted on her older brother;  he was the star of the family, and they set a lot of expectations and hope on his shoulders.  Hattie was an accident more than anything, and was often treated as such.  She was usually ignored and neglected in favour of her brother.

But then her brother foolishly got himself into a duel and was killed as a result.  With only Hattie left as a potential bargaining chip for the family and their continued wealth, the Prices had her married off to Edward Teague, a man who couldn’t have been less interested in her if he’d tried.  Basically, she goes from being neglected by her parents to being neglected by her husband.  He inevitably strikes up an affair with one of the maids, Maria Sparrow, which results in the birth of Jack.  But of course, in an effort to avoid scandal, Hattie and Maria are both sent away for the duration of Maria’s pregnancy, and when Hattie returns, they pass Jack off as her son.  While she is understandably bitter about the circumstances, she loves the hell out of Jack and raises him to the best of her abilities, and always makes sure that he knows he’s loved and taken care of.

Honestly, Hattie is just so lonely though??  Her husband hates her, and when Jack finds out he’s been lied to his whole life, he kind of shuts her out too.  She definitely struggles with depression, even if she tries to hide it.  She just needs love and attention and friends and basically something to keep her HAPPY because she’s such a supportive and loving person herself and she deserves better.

jacqueline rousseau.  AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, Jacqueline.  Jackie is my oldest OC in the indie world.  She actually used to have her own blog before I got into the multimuse game.  She’s a very independent woman.  She’s got a temper (typical Aries) and isn’t afraid to give a tongue-lashing when needed.  She had a very rough childhood.  Her mother died shortly after giving birth to her brother Christophe, and her father (who was already a belligerent gambler with a drinking problem) became ten times more abusive when saddled with two children he never wanted.  Jacqueline became her brother’s sole caretaker, and probably would have continued on that path, had her father not attempted to sell her to a local brothel for a decent sum of money.  She was forced to leave St. Lucia at that point, and because she didn’t have the means to care for Christophe as well as herself, had to leave him behind with the promise that she would return for him as soon as possible.

From there, Jacqueline stowed away aboard a pirate ship, unbeknownst to her, and rather unintentionally fell into piracy.  Her quick wit, scrappy nature, and “lack of ladylike manners” led her to fit in rather well, and with the captain’s protection, she eventually became a part of the crew. There, she learned how to fight, how to shoot a pistol, how to handle a sword, etc.  With this experience, Jacqueline decided that she would have to earn her way up the ranks and become a pirate captain herself.  Once she had a ship of her own, she’d be able to return to St. Lucia and rescue her brother from her father’s clutches.

Jackie’s a very reckless woman.  She’s definitely a spitfire.  But she’s also very compassionate, especially when it comes to people who are down on their luck, or who have been forced to flee their circumstances in the hopes of a better life.  She’s very closed off about her thoughts and emotions, though, after years of having to keep them to herself as a child.  I just really love her and I haven’t had much of a chance to explore more situations with her and see how she develops, nor have I had a chance to really deal with the aftermath of her inevitably returning home to find that her brother was murdered so I NEED ALL OF THAT.

SO ANYWAY that being said, come at me to write with my babes!!!

[howtohero]

#204 God Brawls

Superheroes like to present themselves as the ultimate forces of good, and frankly, that’s just good marketing. Why would anybody ever come to you for help if you were only like the second or third most powerful force of good or, heaven help us all, the fourth or fifth most powerful force of good? Yet, as it transpires, superheroes are often not the ultimate force of anything except for excessive capes, and even that’s up for debate. Have you ever met Cloakus, the self-proclaimed (maybe?) god of capes? That dude has got excessive cloakery down to a science. And that’s just my point (sort of), it’s hard for any mortal, superhuman or not, to claim to be the ultimate anything, since there will always be some deity or mythological powerhouse from some pantheon or plane of existence that’s been doing it better and for much longer. These beings are often obscenely powerful, aggressively petty, ostentatiously dramatic, and overwhelmingly insecure to the degree that they need everybody to call them gods. 

All of these factors also means that these beings are just incredibly irritable all the time. It also means that there’s nothing stopping them from doing something incredibly petty to another all powerful being. Think about it, if you were incredibly insecure while also wielding potentially-universe-destroying-or-at-the-very-least-destroying-it-as-we-know-it-because-as-we-all-know-matter-cannot-be-destroyed-but-it-can-be-turned-into-an-ice-cream-sandwich-no-problem power and you found out that there was some other guy out there who also purported to have god like abilities, wouldn’t you teleport into his golden cathedral and prank him to show dominance? I know I would. (A prank? How about scattering their still-living body parts across throughout time, space and the multiverse. See, this is literally the reason nobody has granted you unlimited power, you think too small.) Oh please like you also wouldn’t just toss a boston creme pie in their face and call it a day. (Let me out of these infernal parentheses and I’ll show you what I’d do!) No! So, with all of these unquantifiably powerful beings antagonizing each other, it is not unheard of for Earth, which remember, is under your protection, often gets caught in the crossfire.

Normally when you come across two people in outlandish costumes with improbable abilities fighting, you’d do well to ascertain which one of them is the good guy and which one is the bad guy and then launching into the fray alongside your fellow do-gooder. But when the gods fight, that kind of thinking goes right out the window. Even if you’ve, in the past, fought alongside one of these awesome figures at some point in your past, you should not assume that they care on iota for you or your world. They’re simply way too far above you and your mortal, small-scale perceptions of good and evil. Sure at one point you teamed up to prevent another dimension from bleeding into yours but while you were doing it to save lives, they were simply in it to protect their real estate. In the grand scheme of things, Earth is completely beneath their notice, and if they’ve happened to have chosen it for some kind of prophetic ultimate battle against their brother or their counterpart in another Pantheon. (Gosh, remember that 3000 year bar fight between the Greek Dionysus and the Mayan Acan over who could get mortals drunker? They really dragged that one out. {Quit your whining!) don’t think you can just pop in and try to appeal to their sense of benevolence. If these people were interested in saving their lives they’d use their awesome power to be heroes, not gods.

So if there are deities raging in your neighborhood (trust me you’ll know) you have to immediately rally anybody you can to get down to the battle zone and try to clear it of as much civilian life as you can. Every teleporter, speedster and space bus (except for of course the Hedonian, the space party bus that has been keeping the party going since the dawn of space, we would never try to infringe on the eternal party. Please carry on like always.) needs to be on hand to ferry people away from as wide of a radius as you can. When it comes to warring titans, no berth is too wide to give these people. Fights can explode out of control with no warning, you’d honestly be safer getting people off world. (Try sending them to a world that has already been completely destroyed by this specific godly wrestling match. The gods have too much pride to ever ravage the same planet twice during the same fight.) 

Once everybody is as safe as they reasonably can be when two guys dressed like they’re going to a frat party are dueling with the concepts of strife and rage made tangible, it’s time to just kind of do your best. Which sounds bleak but if you’ve got a good crew of superheroes with you, it could be a lot of fun. Like we said, these self-proclaimed gods are bunch of whiny crybabies (yeah that’s right! Come to our house and smite us you whiny crybabies!) just like anything can launch them into a millennia spanning cosmic thumb war, there’s no telling what could get them to stop. So let’s get creative:

List of Things That Definitely Maybe Might Get These Piss Baby Drama Queens to Stop This Nonsense:

Rig up some speakers, get Morgan Freeman on the line, have him tell them to stop it right this instance in his smooth heavenly voice.

Open a portal. Get lots of shoelaces. No wait get the shoelaces first ah dang it dang it, Half-Face McGee fell into the portal. Dang. That guy has really bad luck with portals. I wonder what this is going to do to his face. Sorry guys, that’s on us, we should’ve waited until you had everything ready before we told you to open a portal. Ok, well, moving on then. Get a bunch of shoelaces. Tie ‘em together to create a giant tripwire. Then open a portal to somewhere far away and trip one of the warring titans into it. The other guy might construe this is a tactical retreat on the part of the god you’ve banished and dive through the portal in pursuit. If not, then just do the same thing a second time.

When trying to stop a couple of gods, call in one of your own. Remember that time we had you preemptively trick a trickster god in order to gain their respect. Well its time to call that chip in. Trickster gods have eons of experience in manipulating other gods into doing what they want. Just sit back and leave it to The Real Skeev Shady to take care of things. 

Project cartoons into the sky. This actually worked once. The two gods, I wanna say it was Hades and Greg the Skeleton King, had never even heard of cartoons before. Apparently cartoonists and animators get tortured by one of the other rulers of the underworld. But they were so entranced and, quite frankly, positively delighted by cartoons that they made peace right there on the spot and opened up their own animation studio in Burbank. 

If you’re dealing with weather deities, try breaking out one of those weather manipulators that you’ve confiscated over the years. You may think its unlikely that Earthly mad science would be able to compete with Zeus’s might, but hey you might be surprised, those guys are definitely dedicated to their craft.

You and a buddy should dress up like the two gods and then roll up to the battlefield. You might get struck down for your hubris. You might make these mythological meatheads feel super awkward and send them running home to change. (Just keep doing it over and over again every time they come back in new outfits.) 

Hop on over to Venus, or some uninhabited asteroid, or Universe Designate 3.19∑7 aka the BarrenLand. Then channel your inner ancient deity write the pettiest and dismissive letter you can, fill it with backhand insults and some front hand insults for good measure. Then send the letter to these gods by raven with a stamp on it that tells the gods exactly where the letter came from. With any luck they’ll be so incensed by the myriad of insults that they’ll take their fight over to one of those uninhabited places.  

Snacks? Like a dump truck filled with snacks? Do we think that might work?

Try offering up some sacrifices or incense to the gods to gain their favor then, beg them to leave. (If you need a human sacrifice, Professor Paleontologist personally told me that he’s always been fascinated by the prospect so I think that means he’s down.) Ooh, argh, I really can’t condone that but... hm... Ah, no. You can’t sacrifice Professor Paleontologist. Don’t sacrifice anybody. 

Loudly talk about how lame Earth is and say, within earshot of these divine dolts, that no cool person would ever be caught dead there. These insecure infinites will have no choice but to pack up and move on to somewhere else. For fear of being deemed uncool. Which would totally harsh their vibes. 

[albusgellertalways]

ou know what would be cool?  A young Dumbledore movie.  (After they finish Fantastic Beasts 3, 4, and 5, which are slated for 2020, 2022, and 2024.)  Warner Bros is going to want to keep pumping out movies set in the Harry Potter Wizarding World because it makes them a ton of money and they also have theme parks to keep promoting.  In the Fantastic Beasts series, Dumbledore is a middle-aged background character.  

The FB movie series is centered around Newt and his friends, and Dumbledore’s impending famous duel with Grindelwald is looming around in the background somewhere.   A movie about the life and times of Albus Dumbledore would be perfect to show what made him the great headmaster he grew to be during the Harry Potter books/movies.  We get mere hints of that in FB 2, and while I imagine we’ll get more in the next three movies, Dumbledore is such a well-loved and multifaceted character, I think the potential for a really meaty character driven story is already there in the HP texts.  

The Star Wars franchise has an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie in talks, so spinoffs are something that franchises are considering.  In a way, Lord of the Rings did it with the Hobbit, which was Bilbo’s story originally written in a relatively small book that was turned into three ridiculously long movies.  Star Trek is making a series based around an older Jean-Luc Picard.  Spinoffs really do have merit and if it’s around a character that catches peoples’ interest, it could be an entertaining and financially successful endeavor.  

So if it ever does get approved, what should it be about?  (Harry Potter 7 book spoilers ahead.)  I’d love to see Dumbledore as a magical prodigy child growing up with his ill sister, the incident where his father gets put in Azkaban, Dumbledore having to prove himself at Hogwarts as a super overachiever to overcome the stain on the family name, him and his friend Elphias Doge getting up to Weasley twins-esque mischief at school, his mother Kendra’s death and Albus’ subsequent role as caretaker of his younger brother Aberforth and younger sister Ariana, who is more than likely an Obscurial with very unstable magic.  

I’d like to see what made Dumbledore ultimately decide to be a Professor at Hogwarts, and why he switched from Defense Against the Dark Arts to Transfiguration.  I’d like to meet Headmaster Dippet and the other teachers that were Dumbledore’s mentors.  I’d like to see young Hagrid and the other students that had Dumbledore as a teacher when he was relatively young.  I’d like to see Dumbledore teach Tom Riddle and later grow suspicious of Tom’s motives.   Dumbledore was the only teacher out of all the faculty at Hogwarts that saw Tom Riddle, aka the future Lord Voldemort, for what he truly was.   And do you know why?  Because he knew exactly what to look for.   Because Dumbledore learns from his mistakes and he wasn’t about to make the same one twice.  

Because Gellert Grindelwald happened.

I think this would be the main draw, the real meat of the story.  After that absolute tease of a scene between them in FB2, I want to see the summer of 1899 where they meet, (thank you Bathilda Bagshot) share ideas about planning their revolution around wizarding domination over the muggles, and fall in love.  Well, Dumbledore falls in love.  It’s not completely clear if those romantic feelings are reciprocated, if Grindelwald is just using Dumbledore as a means to an end.  I want to know exactly how and when Dumbledore realized that Grindelwald was truly evil, and it wouldn’t necessarily have to be the threeway duel between him, Aberforth, and Grindelwald in which Ariana gets killed although that would certainly be the last straw.   I want to see him agonizing over losing his sister and Gellert all in one day and watch Aberforth break his nose at Ariana’s funeral.  

If this movie was made by some miracle, WB would have to deal with the homosexuality issue.  How much or how little could they include?  No matter what, some people will be upset or offended.  Some people online have been disappointed that Dumbledore didn’t have an ‘explicity gay’ moment in FB2.   However, that was Newt Scamander’s movie so taking a whole scene explaining Dumbledore’s sexuality just would not have worked – the movie was enough of a mess of plotlines already.  I think they really did the best they could without completely alienating their audience.  Dumbledore sees Grindelwald in the Mirror of Erised, which shows you the deepest desire of your heart.  Dumbledore and Grindelwald made a blood pact as teenagers never to fight each other.  They gazed at each other and intertwined their hands.   Dumbledore told the ministry official guy that they were closer than brothers.  They don’t have to explicitly say it!  Good grief.  That was way more than I was expecting them to include and I want to give props to WB for allowing it as there could’ve been a backlash.  

But in a Dumbledore-centric movie, they would have time to explore the issue.  It would be the late 2020s if they made it several years after FB5.  That would give us another decade to get more comfortable and used to the idea of gay marriage and gay characters and the importance of their representation in media.  I really think if they did a young Dumbledore movie they would need to address how LGBT relationships worked in the wizarding world, which would be really interesting.  I imagine that they would not be accepted and have to be kept secret when Dumbledore was young if the muggle world was any indication, but they could go in a different direction if they wanted to.   I would prefer it they didn’t turn the story into Dumbledore’s cliché tragic gay love story and instead focused on Dumbledore’s inner struggle as he experiences the events in his life that lead up to him becoming the wise old wizard that mentors Harry Potter.   His sexuality is only one of the many things that define him.   

Timing really is everything and our world would need to be at least lukewarmly receptive to a movie with a main character who is gay.   There would be a huge issue with a character in a children’s book being portrayed as gay in a movie, even though JK Rowling herself outed Dumbledore in 2007 and there is no indication of it in the books.  A young Dumbledore movie wouldn’t be aimed at children.  It would most likely be PG-13, like FB.  The violent revolutionary concepts that Dumbledore and Grindelwald are planning alone would give it a higher rating.  It would be up to the parents to decide if the movie and its content would be appropriate for their child to see it or not. 

But honestly, this would be a movie that the LGBT community could really use.   It would be a positive role model navigating through his teenage/early twenties years while coming to grips with his sexuality and ultimately deciding to accept and forgive himself (for the most part) for all of his mistakes and decide to reject his quest for power and use his exceptional magical powers for actual good, not ‘The Greater Good’.    It would also be a great “non-example” of what a healthy relationship would look like, as Gellert Grindelwald certainly will be manipulating the hell out of poor innocent Albus Dumbledore.   (You can learn a lot from non examples!)  

  I also think that Dumbledore’s character not being incredibly flamboyant (as evidenced by everything we know about him so far) would be a good way to portray a non-stereotypical gay character.  I have nothing against flamboyant characters, but not every gay person acts that way, just like not every woman likes to wear dresses and heels.  (That doesn’t mean that Dumbledore can’t look fabulous in purple.)  

JK Rowling has stated that Dumbledore is her favorite HP character and after FB2, he’s now mine.   Growing up I loved Hermione the best in the HP books, but I am just endlessly fascinated with Dumbledore’s backstory and I would love to see it explored.   You never know.  It could happen.   Thoughts?

[ladyluscinia]

My friend, if you come bearing excellent Izzy Hands takes the tumblr door is open. 😁

The real kicker of the end goal of the new rules system is that Stede would get Ed, all versions of him, and Izzy would be left with... what exactly? The general concept of a less harsh world is fine(ish); the specific circumstances of this situation are not.

THIS. "Hey, Izzy! Subscribe to the Stede Bonnet Co-Captaincy System! Perks include getting to live on the ship in a nebulous position of non-authority, being ignored by the man you love as he chases the high of a new and shiny boyfriend, a potentially amiable relationship with a crew you dislike (at least less laughing at you), and nearly endless vacation days (because you basically don't have a job anymore). All it takes is admitting most of the pillars of your life don't matter! Wait - no - where are you going?"

Like, we know that Stede's way is offering healthy emotional outlets and open acceptance and affection, but as someone who personally doesn't rate those things as top priorities, I'm looking at Izzy's cost / benefit sheet like where's the job satisfaction??? The positive attention and approval of his skills, not just his innate value as a human being? Sense of stability and accomplishment? Because I'm going to bet that the good times under Edward had a LOT of that. And Stede as of season 1 does not.

Fortunately I do think they've set season 2 up to be about Edward, and I think Edward's journey has to involve reckoning with the fact that he is the guy behind Blackbeard and doesn't really want to give up everything he enjoyed about being Blackbeard (which ought to send Izzy over the moon). Pure "Ed" with restaurateur dreams and talent shows and "Why are we even being pirates?" was just as fake as the Dread Pirate Blackbeard, Demon of the Seas. If Edward is going to find himself, it's not going to be in a pure romcom (and thank fuck Stede's arc is floating the idea of trying competent piracy too). Izzy is adaptable but he needs at least some incentive.

As for the other points, yes, 1000% Izzy got hit with the genre shift at the end of that duel. The Dracula Daily comparison is very accurate. 🤣

I don't think Izzy is under any illusions he's won against the genre yet - that smile at the end was not a man who believes what he's saying - but at the start of the episode he thought he'd already lost Edward entirely so improvement! (Very poor improvement that kinda sucks so far, but maybe he can get somewhere with it given time.) Izzy's face when he realizes Stede is still fighting too, though... It's gonna be something.

And because it's Stede he's not going to roll over easy just for promises of maybe doing some stuff he likes too.

Okay, so as the canon recedes from memory and fandom jokes take hold — la de da the world turns — I’ve seen an influx of takes that have steadily moved away from “Izzy’s tragic because this whole debacle is technically his fault (going after Stede’s hostages)” and “Izzy is sympathetic in part because he’s so bad at villain-ing” straight into serious claims of, “Wow, Izzy is just totally incompetent, huh?”

No, no, no, Izzy is terrifyingly competent.

We as a fandom need to remember our meta roots; one of the very first things ever acknowledged in the community: this is a character who has suddenly been thrust into a new genre.

For me, it’s basically the storytelling version of the “Who would win, Goku or Saitama?” question. The answer has nothing to do with power, skill, or competence and everything to do with what would be funny, because Saitama exists in a universe where, unless it’s more entertaining for him to lose, he automatically wins — always, forever, it’s the default state. That doesn’t make Goku, a guy with the power of the gods in his own universe, incompetent by any stretch of the imagination. It just means he’s suddenly been hog-tied by the rules of a new reality.

Izzy is the Goku to Stede’s Saitama.

Keep reading

[ganymedesclock]

I just wanted to say I hate Lotor, but you are helping me dislike him less and less! I know it's not VLD Lotor's fault I hate him, it's like, you met four Kevins who were terrible jerks in the past and first Kevin was also the worst for child you, so you can't help go "yuck" when you think of him. When you meet a fifth Kevin, your impulse is to go "yuck" without taking the time to know him. But I'm working on seperating the Lotors and I do like your meta on him most of the time!

If I’m reading you correctly, past incarnations of Lotor kinda soured you on Lotor as a concept, but VLD is sorta slowly winning you over?

Because I don’t really blame you. The more I see of past versions of Lotor- well, I’m the opposite, in that VLD Lotor has primed me to see a sympathetic antihero. And because of that, looking at GoLion, DoTU, Force, and Third Dimension... it’s like pulling teeth.

My impression of past versions of Lotor is he’s always had this sympathetic core in that he’s in an awful situation and he’s someone who’s... the feeling is he’s kind of desperate to be loved. Force in particular gets some heartbreaking lines because he’s basically a broken person trying to drag himself back together again after he was summarily murdered and left to rot, and he grinds out something about how “I have not suffered everything I have to let animals rob me of my victory” when it seems like an experimental robeast might actually win against Voltron.

That’s sad. Seeing what Zarkon, in basically every continuity has done to him (Third Dimension sees Lotor begin the series in critical condition and Zarkon throwing him under the bus to smooth things over with the Galaxy Alliance), is sad.

That all said? It is really damn hard to really meaningfully feel sorry for any other version of Lotor because he’s determined to fill the hole in his life by being about the worst flavor of violent misogynist. He latches onto Allura as his prize who he’s decided is going to fix his life for him, and depending on the continuity he waxes from absolute slimeball (GoLion, Third Dimension) to sorta standard villainous sexist creep (DotU, Force).

The Devil’s Due Comics run in particular is a version of Lotor I really wish I could root for because it’s another continuity that tries to go into his depths, tries to explore him sympathetically, but like... they’ve set him up so that even when he’s not interacting with Allura his surroundings tend to involve a great deal of undressed harem girls who the narrative as much as Lotor himself treat like so much furniture.

And that basically destroys any of the other redeeming qualities Lotor’s shown to have, because, end of the day he’s a violent bully that keeps women as literal sex slaves and is very eager to collect the main heroine as one of them. You can’t root for that. You just can’t. I don’t have it in me to feel bad for a guy that’s like that.

Which is why, I think, VLD is the most successful in actually exploring Lotor as a gray antihero- because they cut that shit out. Decisively. From the start of s3 they were very clear Lotor has no designs on Allura, and consistently, VLD Lotor is showcased to not have his prior continuities’ problems:

In s3e2 and s3e3 Lotor noticeably avoids using pronouns for any of the paladins that he’s facing, as he’s unable to ascertain their identities. He doesn’t assume they’re guys. While he and Allura do end up in a duel, and Lotor pursues Allura with a sinister smirk, it’s also worth noting that Lotor before then picked on Keith as a target in the exact same way, for the same underlying reason- he was going after those uncertain with their Lions. (Lance, who got a pretty good handle on Red right away, is mostly ignored but Lotor does provoke him with the Nitrate Gas trap)

Allura and Blue are also able to turn the tables on Lotor, and because of this, Allura emerges as so far, the only paladin Lotor has commended- again, with her identity anonymous, not as anything born of attraction, but as someone who has bested him in combat. “Well played, Paladin.” and he retreats, having changed his plans to utilize the paladins rather than defeat them. Implicitly, Allura changed Lotor’s whole attitude about the paladins.

VLD Lotor, like many of his predecessors, spends a lot of time around women. However, unlike his predecessors, the women Lotor surrounds himself with were stated in s3 to be people he was drawn to because they were likeminded. The generals are armed, trained, combat-ready and highly competent individuals and Lotor does not belittle them or take them for granted. When conflicts emerge between them, Lotor loses and it’s clear that after killing Narti, remorse and guilt start eating at him hard. Once Narti’s dead, Lotor completely loses his edge- he makes reckless decisions, snaps at the other three generals, and utterly fails to defend himself from that decisive second betrayal.

Which is arguably a “cleaner” version of what his prior incarnations were always trying to do- because the underlying problem with any version of Lotor is he feels unloved and lonely. VLD Lotor, with a clearer sense of what he actually wants, doesn’t force himself onto potential romantic partners, but, instead, went looking for friends. Family figures. People who could fill the absence created by his neglectful and abusive parents.

Other versions of Lotor feel often like the violent misogyny is stuffed in there as... cheap heat. Because again, the narratives don’t treat many of these women better than Lotor does- there’s no plot point of rescuing or sympathizing with the plight of the women who are trapped by Lotor (with the exception of Allura and Romelle). They’re used as plot devices to show us that Lotor’s a nasty person, and then, in the case of some of the continuities, DDP in particular, we’re asked to empathize with him anyway, over the women he’s using and throwing away.

The feeling I get, I guess, is that the various continuities were always trying to write at least a vaguely sympathetic Lotor, but... pretty much none of them before VLD actually, in personal opinion, succeeded. There were those that came close- DotU had its moments, DDP got a whole arc in- but ultimately, you’re faced with the impasse of if you want to really connect emotionally with Lotor as a character, you have to basically hold your nose and wade through the miasma of his disgusting attitude towards women.

Which VLD Lotor is... infinitely more accessible as a character you can empathize with and root for. What makes him a shade of gray and not a hero is what he’s willing to do to survive, and the cutthroat tactics that creates in a very desperate, scheming person. Instead, we have things like his genuine admiration of his mother’s scientific prowess, and again, confirmed writing intent that Lotor valued the generals for their minds and skills, people he could go to for “anything”- his handpicked trusted allies. 

You can feel bad for Lotor without having to overlook the way he treats people, because of the people he’s really attacked, you have Narti, who nobody, even Lotor himself, would defend that as a good action and he sets hard and fast into “this is a complete disaster” in response- and Throk who is a proud violent racist that was plotting to overthrow Lotor and probably kill him, who is, in short, not somebody we should feel all that bad about because if Lotor hadn’t gotten to him our heroes would have picked up the slack in a heartbeat.

In contrast to DotU Lotor’s poor harem girls who again, with the exception of Romelle are not given names, stories or personalities, we know Ezor, Zethrid, Narti, and Acxa by name, by design, they’re people with power more comparable to characters like Cossack, Mogor, Maahox or Kala- and their autonomy in the plot is strong enough that three of them have actually cut ties with Lotor and are flying solo at the moment.

So yeah... as someone who loves Lotor, I do not blame you at all if prior versions of the character have kinda ruined him for you.

[aion-rsa]

Free Guy: How Jodie Comer Went From Holby City to Hollywood

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Talk about glamorous locations. It’s an overcast spring day in Boston, and Den of Geek is standing in… a parking lot outside an old flower warehouse. No, we haven’t made a wrong turn. This is the unassuming, on-location base camp for the cast and crew of Free Guy, a high-concept action-comedy set in (and out of) an explosive open-world video game. The forecourt is filled with rows of neatly parked, nondescript white trailers, which we’re ushered along until we reach one with a sign on the door that simply reads: “Molotov Girl”.

This is the temporary hangout for one of the film’s headline stars. After Jodie Comer’s big break onto the global A-list with TV phenomenon Killing Eve, Hollywood naturally came calling, and Free Guy marks her first starring role in a bonafide big-screen blockbuster. The native Liverpudlian, who started her career with guest appearances on shows including Holby City, Waterloo Road and Doctors, has clearly remained typically grounded, though—this is actually her day off from shooting and, as she beckons us inside with a beaming smile, she’s in the middle of clearing out her kitchen fridge. 

“It’s been so much fun,” Comer enthuses about her time on the project so far (they’re only two weeks into the shoot), as we take a seat in her makeshift living room. “I’ve never done anything like this before, and it’s very easy to feel overwhelmed because everything is new, but it has been so relaxed. There’s a lot of energy on this set and you’re encouraged to just roll with it.”

Warm, friendly and happy to chat despite the fact she’s not technically at work today, Comer is a million miles away from the character she’s (currently) best known for—Killing Eve’s murderous menace, Villanelle. And, despite the incendiary name, so is Free Guy’s Molotov Girl… The kick-ass heroine is actually an avatar, created by human programmer Millie to navigate the world of the game-within-a-film, Free City, and help non-playable character Guy (Ryan Reynolds) to save the digital playground he calls home.

“They both have their strengths, but in very different departments,” Comer explains. “Millie has created a version of herself—this badass chick who rides a motorcycle and is ridiculously cool—which I think is really interesting, especially in this day and age where so many of us are on social media and we kind of create this ideal of what it is that we want to be perceived as. There’s so much to play with within these two characters.”

Comer says that the dual role was a big part of why she ultimately decided to take the role, but for director Shawn Levy—the man behind the Night At The Museum franchise and a regular helmer on Netflix’s Stranger Things—it also allowed the filmmakers to “exploit Jodie’s unique talent”. 

“The character in the game is very cool, incredibly empowered and in absolute control of the events around her,” Levy reveals when we catch up with him later, during a break from orchestrating a high-octane action sequence with Reynolds on the bank of Boston’s Charles River. “Whereas in real life, it’s not so simple for Jodie’s character, so we get to play two very different shades all with the same actor.”

The differences even encompass the characters’ accents: one American, one crisply British, both miles away from the endearingly Scouse twang that Comer carries in real life. It’s a skill that she’s well-known for—on Killing Eve, for example, she slips between varying languages and intonations, from French to Russian to Dutch to Italian, with absolute ease. And then… “All of a sudden, she speaks in her Liverpudlian accent—and you’re like, ‘What the hell? Where’s that person been all day?!’” says a still-surprised Reynolds.

The Deadpool star admits he hadn’t seen Killing Eve prior to working with Comer, but now considers himself “a massive fan”. “It’s seriously something that doesn’t happen, except maybe every 10 years, where a new actor arrives and doesn’t feel like anyone you’ve seen before,” Levy adds. “We saw dozens and dozens and dozens of actresses. But I think within four or five lines of her audition, Ryan and I looked at each other because it was like an apparition. She vanishes into the character. In real life, she’s just an incredibly sweet, warm young woman. But we’ve seen on Killing Eve and now in this movie, she’s able to transform and inhabit a role in a way that is stunning.”

In Free Guy, that transformation extends to Comer’s physicality, especially in the role of Molotov Girl. With the filmmakers opting to capture the in-game world in live action, rather than a digital depiction à la Ready Player One (“There’s something about seeing the avatars as real people that connects you to them more,” Comer says), it meant that the actors’ physical performances would be in sharper focus. And while she’s no stranger to onscreen action thanks to her stint as hard-edged hitwoman Villanelle, taking on a Hollywood tentpole meant that the bar was inevitably raised… 

“Molotov Girl is a woman who I feel is very unlike myself,” Comer says, “so that kind of transformation is always fun to sink your teeth into. I would definitely say the physicality of her has been the biggest challenge, because she’s very fierce, and just also getting that stance that video game characters have, where they look strong and their shoulders are back… I’m a bit more kind of hunched in! So that’s something that I’ve had to be really aware of when I’m playing her and trying to get the stunts down.”

As well as some full-on fitness training, Comer was schooled in various martial arts before the shoot started—grabbing the opportunity to “learn a new skill” with both hands. “We have an incredible stunt team, so Hayley [Wright, Comer’s stunt double] takes over for all the really cool, hardcore stuff—and I’m happy to pass that baton over!” she laughs. “But I really want to try and do as much as I possibly can.” 

The stakes may be high, but the thing that grounds Free Guy’s huge set-pieces is the humour and the human element—hence the choice of live-action over mo-capped, CG-tastic visuals. “Essentially at the centre of it is this emotional connection between these two characters,” says Comer. “They want to change the world but they feel like they are stuck in the background, and they kind of recognise that within each other. There’s a real heart at the centre of all the crazy stuff.”

Key to this was the chemistry between the two leads, which quickly became apparent for everyone in the audition room. “It felt very easy,” Comer recalls. “Even though we had our lines, Ryan and I were talking over each other and interacting in ways that weren’t actually on the page—and that was our first meeting. It’s hard to produce that chemistry when it isn’t there [naturally]. And that’s carried over to the set: Shawn and Ryan are very encouraging, so it feels safe to play around, to try things and if it doesn’t work, go back to something else.” Not that it’s all plain sailing, though… “I think people really underestimate how hard comedy is,” she laughs. “As soon as you try to be funny, it kind of just goes!”

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Free Guy’s comedy may be a lot broader than Killing Eve’s pitch-black humour, but, as with the stunts and physical feats, Comer says it’s all part of her ultimate goal: “to continue challenging myself”. Taking on new challenges is becoming something of a driving force for the actor, whose future on the A-list is looking bright. Next, she’ll be changing tack completely as the star of Ridley Scott’s weighty historical drama The Last Duel—a role that some are predicting could carry potential awards-season recognition. One thing seems certain, though: the cheery Scouser is likely to stay grounded, no matter how big or swanky the trailers get. Not that such things matter to her. “I don’t like sitting on my own in my trailer,” she says. “I’d rather be hanging out with people.”

Free Guy opens in cinemas on August 13.

The post Free Guy: How Jodie Comer Went From Holby City to Hollywood appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[commenter2]

Story arc ideas for yugioh sequel series (Part 1)

In my posts about anime that I personally think should return, I added yugioh on it but didn’t get into that much detail about it because I have a lot to say about what should happen next in the franchise.

After watching a few episodes of yugioh VRAINS, I found it really bland. Don’t get me wrong it has some good things, and I’m sure it gets better as the series progresses but even if I did want to watch the whole series as I don’t think it be as good as previous yugioh shows.

I know that this sounds like hate but that’s because I’m a big fan of the series but after years of the series having spinoff after spinoff, the anime series has gotten kinda bland which personally makes me think/hope that after VRAINS, Konami should take a break from doing spinoff series starring new characters and instead do some sort of sequel series to there previous shows, which now seems like a good time to do since not only is nostalgia a big thing now and that other anime series are doing it, but it be a cool way to expand on the yugioh universe without using a spinoff.

That’s why I made a fun 2 part list of ideas for potential story arcs that could be made for sequel series that take place in the various yugioh series (not counting VRAINS since its still new) along with other ideas.

This part contains miscellaneous ideas and ideas for the original yugioh series.

Here are the misc. ideas I have that could work for any (or all) of the show’s sequel series and future yugioh spinoffs. If you want skip this, then go to the paragraphs with the big gap between them.

Less background duelist/characters- I’ve noticed that for ever show (with a small exception for the original) there were always characters that though have the skills to duel, rarely did so and were always put into the background along with other non dueling people, where they would narrate duels and do other things until the writers put those character into a duel which would rarely happen and when they did they would usually lose to the main protagonist or an antagonist. Some big examples of this are Mai, Bastion, Leo, and Flip. 

Yes I know the show is suppose to center around the main protagonist and a few other main duelist but it’s just a waste having characters that can duel, not do so for long periods of time, as well as make them not only lose most of the time, but occasionally use cards that aren’t even going to be made into real life cards for the game.

Not only would having these characters duel more build more character development for them, pleasing fans of the anime, it’d also advertise more cards for Konami, which at the same time would have to make and release more cards for people of the game to buy/collect, which sounds like a win-win-win situation for everyone.

If not they should at least give reasons for why these people don’t duel as much, like one character’s a rookie so he watches people duel to learn how to be better or one that only duels certain people on his list or use certain cards.

Same with the non dueling characters, the writers should also try and have them do more in the show, beside be the cheer squad and narrate duels. One idea is that the non duelist do something to save the day while a main character duels a bad guy or let them have a skill/something convenient that helps the main characters quite often like a character being a good mechanic/computer expert or one who lends (or rents) his rare cards from his vast inventory to the characters that duel.

A true canon couple- Again I know the show is focused on showing duels between characters yet it surprises me that in the shows history, the series has only had a few romantic canon couples on it, and most of them are a stretch. We’ve seen characters on the show have feelings for one another and sometimes those same characters shows feelings back, so maybe, just to test it, Konami or whoever makes the anime should make a few characters on the show become a couple, and NOT near the end of the series. 

I personally see SOME benefits of having a couple on the show, one is that if its making characters that have/had a history of liking each other, it would please fans and shipper out there. Another is that couples could bring a new drama to the show like having one of the characters make a decision to either save the person they love or there other friends/the world from great evil. A couple could even bring in some funny moments in the show like them getting into fights that could result in cartoonish hilarity or them dueling out of anger. Then there’s the idea of having a canon couple (either one with main/recurring characters or a one shot appearance characters) be amazing at tag team duels (kinda like this couple in Zexal), making 2 other main characters have to work together and duel them. Speaking of which.

More tag team/non 1 vs. 1 duels- I always liked the occasional tag team duels/ other kinds of duels that would happen once in awhile cause they mix up the shows formula a bit, so it seemed like a waste that not many of these happened in the series. That’s why if any of these shows return, there should be more of these to mix things up, maybe they can replace some episodes that feature one episode length duels featuring the main protagonist ?

A villain that gets his “just deserts”- Another thing I’ve noticed that the human villains of the shows always do one of the following

1)   become a ally/friend of the protagonist after being defeated by protagonist and turn over a new leaf.

2)   Do the bidding of a much eviler force but comes around at some point.

3)   End up being possessed by an evil entity who is the big bad or was an evil force disguised as a human.

Either way no matter what, the human villains never truly pay for causing trouble for the protagonist and/or other people, sure there are some but still. That’s why I think they should change it up and have a human villain after being defeated go to jail or something that implies punishment but not death or eternal torture.

   All right with that over with, here are my ideas for potential are for the original yugioh series * insert bland spoiler alert warning here*

Making yugioh R an anime arc- Yugioh R was the name of a manga spinoff to the original yugioh manga. The story involved Yugi and the gang having to deal with Maximillion Pegasus’s protégé Yako, who wants to get his revenge on Yugi for (spoiler alter for the manga version) killing Pegasus (Pegasus dies in the manga) and does this by kidnapping Tea and after taking over Kaiba Corp, forcing Yugi and the others to save her while dealing with dueling professionals and Yako’s Wicked god cards.

I believe this has the potential of being a good arc since it involves a new threat in the original series as well as it featuring not only new characters but old ones as well, like Bandit Keith for example. Though if Konami ever does make this into an anime they will have to make a few tweaks here and there, since it involves Pegasus (and another yugioh character) being dead as well as it taking place after the Battle City Tournament. Other then that, this could work if they make this take place between the Battle City Tournament and Waking the Dragon, since Pegasus doesn’t reappear in the anime till Waking the Dragon.

Return of the Legendary Knights/Entering the duel monster spirit world- Though the concept of a duel monster spirit world was used for a filler season in the original series it was used a lot in GX and part of 5Ds. So what if there was a small arc where Yugi and the gang go to the duel monster spirit world to save it from an evil threat with the aid of the Legendary Knights. This could lead to new cards that surround the Knights and Dragons, which is good since Konami had recently made those anime only cards into real cards as well as explore/tell us more about the duel monster spirit world and how it and various other similar dimensions are connected to Earth.

Fighting an evil Greek king/queen- Speaking of the orichalcos arc, though used pretty badly, I kinda liked the idea of other ancient civilizations of Earth using duel monsters. I can see an arc being based around this idea, specifically one involving an evil Greek king (or queen as there aren’t that many female antagonist on the show) because if I recall my ancient history that civilization constantly fought against the Egyptians.

The arc could be about how during the first fights between the Egyptians and Greeks, an evil king/queen discovered the shadow games as well as duel monsters and he/she along with some of there closest allies used this power to fight against the Egyptians as well as take over other parts of the world, using their own duel monsters that would eventually inspire the creatures, heroes, and gods in there mythology, but before they could use the power of an almighty monster (maybe Typhon ?) to destroy the Egyptians once and for all they were stopped by the descendant of priest Kaiba. However similar to the Pharaoh, the king/queen sealed his/her spirit away somewhere vowing to return once all Egypt’s pharaohs are gone, which she does after the events of either the last episode of the original series or the Dark side of Dimensions movie, causing Yugi and the gang have to stop the new threat from ruling the world.

I think this would make for a good small arc cause not only would it show us more of the Yugioh world’s history but this could also result in the creation of a Greek myth themed deck archetype, cause looking back I’m surprised Konami hasn’t tried to make one yet, especially Divine cards based on some of the Greek gods.

A season about going to the Shadow Realm- Though used a lot in the original series we don’t really know that much about the Shadow Realm, besides that it’s a place of darkness and torture where souls of the losers in shadow games go to, as well as where some duel spirits come from (at least before the concept of the duel spirit world was introduced) so what if there was a arc that surrounded it ?

What if after all the recent shadow games that were happening in the original series, an ancient villain is able to make a tear between the realms and enters the mortal realm where he starts his plans to rule it like he did thousands of years ago, but when the gang try and stop him, they (minus Kaiba) get sent to the Shadow Realm, which as a result makes them duel there way out of it in order to get back in time to save the world.

It’d be kinda cool cause not only could we learn more about the Shadow Realm itself but Yugi and the gang would have to fight old enemies that were banished there like Kaiba's evil half, Yami Marik, and maybe the dark side of Aknadin to name a few.

A evil parallel Pharaoh- After Arc V revealed alternate dimensions in the yugioh franchise, what if there was a arc that used a similar idea ? In this case an evil version of the pharaoh that took over his universe’s Yugi’s body and enters our Yugi Muto’s universe where he and his minions, which are evil versions of Yugi’s friends invade, so now Yugi with the temporary return of the pharaoh must once again save the world from evil, which in this case is just as powerful as them.

The following are just other small ideas that could be use in almost any of these arc ideas.

Yugi saving the day without the Pharaoh- Though the 2 were together, the pharaoh was pretty much the one to save the world from evil, though with the help of Yugi and his friends, however what if there was an arc or two where Yugi and his friends had to save the world from a new evil WITHOUT the help of the Pharaoh.  This would be interesting cause we could see more of Yugi’s own dueling style as well as see how he is doing without the pharaoh, especially if the season takes place after the Darkside of Dimensions movie. 

A Joey and Kaiba tag team duel- This is one of the reasons why I think there should be more tag team duels. We’ve seen the 2 work together with Yugi in the past, but what if they had to work together in a duel? I can see this being a few good episodes as it would involve the 2 enemies working together. We could see the 2 learn to put aside there differences to defeat the enemy and maybe as a result end up respecting each other a bit more. I can also see there duel resulting in a new fusion monster that requires the Blue Eyes and Red Eyes in order to summon, heck maybe the enemy they fight could use a 3rd colored eyed dragon just as powerful as both as there Dragons, that be kinda cool don’t you think ?

Having Mai Valentine join the gang on an adventure at the beginning- Though Mai Valentine was a recurring character in the original series, she always joined the others late into the journey as well as never really did anything big, most of the time she was written out, like being sent to the shadow realm or appear from time to time in season 1. That’s why I think the plot of any possible sequel series should involve her joining the gang at the beginning of the adventure, as well as see her duel some more to help the gang, and win for a change. Plus this would be a cool callback to the 4th season where she became one reason was not being involved more as well as promising to see Joey again. Maybe she could replace Tea’s role in the team, at least until Tea returns, which is most likely to occur.

Seeing Pegasus get closure about his dead wife- Looking back at it now, I’m surprised that in the anime the writers never again brought up Pegasus pain about losing his wife, I mean that pain caused the events of the series to occur yet even when Pegasus returned in the anime they never mention it again, so bringing this up in a sequel series could give some character development for Pegasus. Maybe in an arc, he is persuaded by the bad guy in destroying Yugi and his friends in exchange of seeing his wife again, but after remembering what he almost did to see her again, plus having grown attach to Yugi and his friends he says no but as a result of his dead his wife (as a spirit) not only saves him from being killed by the bad guy but also gives him a gift in the form of a field of flowers she liked (or something like that), thereby closing that part of Pegasus’s life for good.

Kaiba getting a love interest- Now here me out. In the last season of the original series, we learned that in Seto’s past life, he was in love with a girl who possessed the Blue Eyes White Dragon spirit and after she died, she said he would be with him in the form of the Blue Eyes White Dragon, hence why the Kaiba we know loves the card. However my idea is that since a lot of previous characters the pharaoh knew reincarnated into the main characters, like Yugi, Seto, and grandpa what if she was reincarnated as well ! This could cause Seto to warm up as a character, hinting that he could care about others besides himself and Mokuba, thus giving him some more development, kinda like Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z though maybe not as goofy.

Part 2 will contain ideas for the rest of the yugioh shows but in the mean time did you like of these ideas ? Which of these would you like to see happen in a sequel series or spinoff ?