#like dont get me wrong hes killed a lot of people in pointless wars. hes not exactly heroic in a moral sense. but

[unnonexistence]

i ended up having very mixed feelings about Monstrous Regiment from a trans perspective (not surprising considering it was published in 2003) but also. Jackrum is an absolutely fascinating character

[empty-blog-for-lurking]

i dont know how to explain it but to me udad and hnoc are like opposites of each other. (Under read more, cause it is loooooonnnnng)

With udad the situation everyone is in is bonkers shit. The world they live in is absolutely shithole of a place that exploits everyone but the richest of the rich and the people there cant escape even after their death. Every single one of them is bitter and depressed and wronged and just wants to survive and they'll do anything to survive even if it meant killing the other one. All the natural part of that world is long dead and only thing exists is this cold dark metallic hellscape of a city that swallowed its own planet like a cancer. Almost all the songs are just how everyone was exploited, used, wronged, and discarded they were. Ulysses is a drunk fallen 'hero' completely guilt ridden by their role in Illium's fall. They had lost everyone and everything even before the album began. They spent so much of their throughout album getting their shit beat in. They, Heracles, and Orpheus go to Hades (Ashes) in hopes to be freed whether as a request, through theft, or through a deal. And Ashes all but set them all up to die for their own amusement (which btw very sexy of them <3 but that is besides the point). There seemed to be no hope for them.

And yet, despite everything the ending is so hopeful. We know that Ulysses would die, if it wasnt obvious from the title of the album itself it certainly becomes obvious when we learn how their world works. And yet they died a happier ending, they escaped the curse of their city and died reunited with their love. Ulysses died under an oak tree in a grassy fields, among nature which was thought to be dead since The City's takeover. Ulysses died being warmed by sunlight, a right denied to so many others like them. Ulysses died at dawn.

And then there is hnoc. Hnoc starts heroic. Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere take over Camelot from the corrupt Stone clan through their skills and teamwork. They turn it into a place of safety with all three of them incharge. Their lives are hard and filled with violence and hatred and fear and the world they live is harsh and unforgiving. But they still have each other, and they still care for the people around them. There is nature like scorpions and vultures despite it being a space station. The album has songs about love and being in love, about hope of peace, about power of faith. Everyone wants to survive and they are willing to work together to do it. Arthur is embittered by his "daughter's" death but still has his partners to keep him grounded and is ruler/sheriff of a powerful town with lots of knights working for him. What is more, the tragedy that hardened both Arthur and Gawain can be healed because the person they mourn isnt dead, he is Mordred and he is here to make amends. Arthur, Gawain, and Galahad go to Merlin (Brian) to seek aid, and he gives them advice that truly could have saved them, because Merlin really did wanted to save them and the entire station. There seemed to be hope for them.

And yet in the end it meant nothing. It was all for nothing. Alfred and Gawain did not listen to Brian's advice and ended up sealing theirs and everyone else's fate. Galahad did take Brian's advice and it destroyed him in a self sacrifice that ended up being for nothing. Mordred tried so hard for peace but at the end seeing the hatred and cruelty of his world hardened him to the core. Gawain's hatred turned peace talks into war and turned him into sawage barbaric monster he thought Saxons to be. Arthur's hardened core did not let him hope that his child could ever return to him and ended up not giving Mordred even a chance. What could have saved everyone Fort Gallfridian ended up turning into what destroyed Fort Gallfridian whether it be the GRAIL or Mordred. Almost all of them died a pointless avoidable death. And Arthur? Arthur lost everything. He lost his partners, he lost his chance to embrace his son, he lost his home, he lost his people. He may have survived but at the end he lost everything. High noon over Camelot. We didnt understand what it truly meant (all of them dying in the sun) until it was too late.

Ulysses shoots once, and it led to their happy ending. Gawain shoots once, and it led to everyone's tragedy. 3 shots all for Ulysses and it killed them. 3 shots for Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, and it hurt Arthur but never killed him. Ulysses was the only one who got to die under the sun, Arthur was the only one who didnt die in the sun.

[jhan-jy]

Dream SMP War; Thoughts

Well its finally time for me to write this, after collecting all the events in my head and finishing my classes. Let me just start of with congratulations to the creators for making an exciting and memorable story of a simple smp, especially Wilbur who might as well be the director of the roleplay.  I loved the direction and the way the smp was made to be a glorified roleplay center. The stories were in different categories of amazing, we got angst, comedy, filler episodes and more. Everyone had fun, even the viewers had fun with the journey in the smp. I love Wilbur and I hope he comes back after his well deserved break. Also for viewers to watch his streams even if its not smp related >:0 

TLDR: I LOVED ALL OF IT and I wouldn’t ask for more from the creators, but I’m just suggesting a better route for the story? Kinda like a divergence au?

Okay, am I done with the praise? Yes.

TW: Mentions of Abuse, Suicide, Bombing, Killing and Dying in general.

(PS. This is for the characters not the ccs, I know they chill)

Now heres some of the things I didn’t like about the finale. Don’t get me wrong, Schlatt’s death had a poetic ring to it, but it didn’t have any support to hold as emotionally impactful to the audience. For the most part, I love Schlatt’s acting! He really gave emotion when he had his last ramble before dying, thinking Fundy was still with him before realizing he also switched sides and he just, beats him up in rage.

I mean, Schlatt actually had a very convincing sob story of an elected tyrant who has no one left, drinking away his problems until he died of a miserable death. It made you feel bad for him, but only just for that one minute.

We know Schlatt’s character had always been a drinker, that was one of his traits.

We also see him being manipulative and straight up abusive, but you know what?

Even with all characteristics Schlatt had shown to the audience, I still don’t get his depressing state of defeat. Its opposite to someone who was able to make Tubbo decorate his funeral or how Schlatt was able to make Quackity stay before the divorce. 

Like come on- He just DRINKS?!!?? No plan at all? 

Gear was given to him, people were trying to protect him, literally he was being an idiot according to Dream. 

He could’ve had a better purpose on his final days before dying. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about Pogtopia being rigged with tnt. Schlatt could’ve hidden in Pogtopia while the battle begins outside, with troops looking for him.

He could’ve pushed the button to blow up Pogtopia.

HECK EVEN BETTER IDEA; Schlatt could have just stayed there until they come looking for him in Pogtopia, did his ramble about being left alone and all the shit to stall them. 

Notice how they didn’t immediately kill him? He could’ve taken advantage of that, as they get cooped up in Pogtopia, where a push of a button could detonate the tnt. SUICIDE BOMBING everyone near. No one kills him, he was miserable until the end but this time, he actually fucking did something.

We know Wilbur would’ve pushed the button to blow up Manburg anyway, he could still do it. Give a speech about forgetting the horrors of the past, finally gaining freedom or some shit. Everything would still go according to what happened in the stream, except Schlatt had purpose and closure. 

I’m sorry, I went on a ramble of what ifs and what could’ve happened for Schlatt because as good as a villain he is, his final moments were just anti-climatic in general, even with the poetic death.

Another thing I would like to include is that Schlatt didn’t die of a heart attack maybe? His drinking could’ve poisoned him or something, him being totally careless and drinking a potion of poison would be much better than a heart attack. 

Another thing:

No one questions the abuse Fundy gets from everybody, and thats another issue.People have little to no respect for Fundy. This guy grew up in L’manburg, the place his father built to protect him. Now its gone, blown to smithereens by his own father, who not only said he despised Fundy but also left without saying goodbye. His “fiance”, Dream, sided with the enemy and has almost no care for Fundy. Dream was the one to provide tnt to blow up Manburg. Keep in mind, Manburg wad supposed to blow up during the festival, where Fundy was still acting as a spy. Which means he would have died, his “fiance” would be the indirect cause of his death. And dont even get me started with the last Schaltt scene where he repeated smashes his bottle to Fundy, damaging him even with netherite armor. This man needs to feel happiness and warmth for once, or else he’s gonna become another antagonist in the story. (Which would actually be great tbh ^^)  Theres also Eret’s situation. He gained power and kingship through betraying L’manburg. That was his reward for betraying L’manburg guys.. now its been stripped away, leaving him with nothing at all. Pogtopians dont trust him a lot, they still see him as the first traitor. The Cain to the Abel in this story.  The betrayal he committed is now pointless and dull, he gained nothing in siding back with Pogtopia. His “friends” dont welcome him like they used to, and he knows why. Right now, he’s on a path to redemption. Eret just got recently given the redemption arc pass and is now trying to do good. I hope he succeeds in his endeavors. Other characters should be given their chance to shine. I feel like with Wilbur gone, people are gonna depend on Tommy and Tubbo for a new plot. And as much as I love them, more people should be given the spotlight. Remember the little Dreamon hunters thing? Ya that but with other people doing other plots! I feel like people need to be recognized outside the stereotype the viewers place on them. An idea would be having Niki Nihachu train with other people, Techno perhaps? Or maybe just chill times of building and redstone. Dont forget the draining the ocean thing, Im sure they’re gonna come back to that. I dont really have any other nitpick of how the story went. The only thing that bothered me was Schlatt’s death and how fast it went. Anyways- This is just my opinion! I still loved the war and the storyline! This is just me nitpicking on stuff- 

[msawesomegeek]

Avengers Infinity war/end game review

A/N: So quarantine happened, and I finally got around to watching movies again, now including giving the MCU one last chance. And spoiler alert... It didn’t truly deserve it. Also spoiler alert, and also this is two three hour reviews crammed into one, so it is gonna be a little while.

Also also, while I have seen most of the movies in the marvel cinematic universe, I have not seen Dr. strange, guardians 2, into dark world and Captain marvel. 

So let’s start off with Infinity war, it had some genuinely good moments. The only plot and character arc that was outright annoying was Bruce’s. It was good it had real character developments, and a lot of relationships that were great. I thought it was funny to the right extent, and serious when it needed to be. Honestly I could have done without a lot of scenes but I understood the fact that all characters needed some screen time to be fully developed. But like, did we honestly care that much about the romance with Vision and Wanda to need the scene before them being attacked more than just a quick establishment of them kissing?  I enjoyed the emotional scene genuinely, the Peter and Gamora scene was heart wrenching, and showed Thanos devotion to his goal. I had a little hard time believing he loved her enough to it being enough of a sacrifice, but it still worked. 

The big scale battle was kind of annoying but I will get into that later. 

The cinematography was fine, I enjoyed how colourful they allowed space to be, and that the lighting for the most part was not grey and gritty. 

There were a lot of plot holes in this movie, like why did Thanos forget all the crazy powers he had in the Gamora Peter scene and not use it in the battle later?  The problem with this is also that power differences is so weird, and non consistent. Like in the battle with Thanos, strange, Spidey and Tony, how do any of the three heroes have a chance against someone who can manipulate the rules of reality? Like Strange, maybe, but the two others? Not a chance! 

The stones themselves raise a lot of questions. Like if he can control time and space, why not bring Gamora back the second the gets the soul stone? Or go back to a time when the rule that you have to do that does not apply. And in End Game, why not just kill baby Thanos? Why doesn't he go back in time to make sure the avengers do not get in his way in the first place? 

The Loke death in the beginning felt so... Pointless? Seriously? Why has Loke been apart of anything in the MCU up until now? His arc has been pointless, and when he dies it is within the first 10 minutes, so it’s like: Oh, Loke is in this. And he is dead again. But because he has been “Dead” before, it does not resonate!  And that is a general annoyance I have with these two movies, the stakes are non-existent. We know which characters have movies coming up, so we know who is going to survive in the end and who doesn't. So when they die, it doesn't have any impact! 

So the movie is pretty good, it has some real emotional hits and some genuinely funny scenes, but it also leave you confused during some scenes. The thing I enjoyed the most about this movie, is the fact that Thanos won. The fact that the good guys lost, is amazing! Because after seeing them win challenge after challenge over 20 films, it was great to actually see our heroes lose, actually lose. 

Onto End Game, to say that this is the worse of the two is correct. The movie for a two parter movie does hold up as movies on their own, which is great considering how all other movies split into two parts are as stand alone movies.

The colour grading in this movie is just weird, and a lot of times, it is weird looking at and clear that it was shot on a green screen, and usually an unnecessary green screen, for my taste. This combined with lack of playing with colour in this movie, everything just visually seemed gray and boring. No shots were interesting, they never played with the pacing of anything, it was all just regular film making, which is okay, but honestly bland. Even the composition of the everyone avengers assemble shot is so messy it does not evoke the amazing comic book front page style it could have been.

End game has a lot of big problems, and I might go into more of a ranting terrortory than actual reviewing, and for that I am sorry. But it has a lot of problems. The character arcs are so rushed and you never get time to absorb anything emotionally or care about anything that is going on, because then we immediately cut to another character, and we have to be completely invested in them.  Thanos role in this movie was weird, while the first half of it was earned the rest of his part in the movie seemed forced. But what I think both movies got wrong about Thanos, is that they cut out death. Which is a shame, because a big part of his character and motivation is his love affair with mistress death. Hell they even put it in as an easter egg the first time we ever see Thanos! And his philosophy combined with his love and romance with death, would make sense, but they completely missed that opportunity. Which would also give more impact to him killing people more than just morals, and make him a more dimensional character. 

The three biggest problems this movie has is pacing, tone and character arcs. Along the same lines of infinity war, the pacing is a little better in the first movie, but all over the place in End game. And the problem is because the pacing is so quick and everything needs to progress so quickly, everything just seems so rushed, and everything that was supposed to be an obstacle was basically solved in a super easy barely an inconvenience kind of way. The problem with the pacing is also that it rushes the characters. Meaning every time something happens to any character, any tension and character development, hell even emotional impact that could have had is cut short to cut to another characters arc. And even if it is not like that, the harsh editing in the movie ensures that any emotion any scenes hold is immediately undercut by something. Like, wow Hawkeye has lost all sense of morals and Natascha can't talk sense into him, but his surface is beginning to crack, that is interesting, let’s immediately cut from that to Thor opening a beer! 

The only things that were actually given any kind of consideration to the pacing in this movie was when Scott came back, and the funeral scene, and maybe the fight scene in the end. Every thing else in this entire movie is so weirdly paced! Like, oh boy the stakes are high, I wonder if we will ever be able to figure out this time travel thing. 5 minutes later, Iron man comes out of a car and deus ex machina’s the entire thing. Like why? This should be a bigger issue?  Oh no, we lost the one infinity stone, but we don’t have enough Pim particles to travel back anymore times. Simple just travel back to world war two, steal them as you conveniently get into a heavily guarded area while remembering that the love of your life exists while also without much trouble steals and have a cathartic moment with your father who dont know its you, so you can conveniently get back. That whole sequence is pretty cool, but is undermined so many times by being resolved too quickly, making you wonder what the point of it being a conflict at all was?

Which brings me to its second biggest problem, tone. This movie unlike the first one that balanced things pretty amazingly, cannot decide whether it wants to be dramatic action or a comedy, and it ends up being neither. I cannot stress enough how much I hate the jokes in this movie! The jokes are good, hell they are funny (though the Thor got fat jokes needs to leave and never come back. (although that big Labowski reference can stay, but it is on thin f*cking ice.) The other movies had fun moments, this genuinely felt like I was watching a parody movie half of the time. Yes the jokes are funny, I laughed out loud at the america’s ass jokes, but that joke felt like a meme that was somehow left in the final cut.  The problem is, whereas the other movies, usually only used the comedy as a relief in certain scenes, it allowed other scenes to be genuinely emotional. It knew when it was appropriate to joke around. It did actually get it right a few times, the whole “hi peter” introduction between cap marvel and Spidey, was in character and genuinely appropriate to the situation, and funny, that scene worked. Where it did not work, was when Tony got back from space, part of that scene was amazing! It was a broken Tony confronting people he did not agree with about the fact that they lost and that he was traumatised and that he told them something like this could happen but they did not listen to him! And it just cuts in-between him being mad as hell and sad as he should be, to be cracking jokes two seconds later. And I hate that scene! Because it did not understand that it was not the time that it needed to break the tension it could have been an amazing and heartwrenching scene that eventually led to Tony giving up his super hero career and setting Tony and Steve on the path to forgiving each other. But no, it was constantly undercut by comedy. It was like they forgot that scenes were allowed to be emotional and not have any quick wit in it and still be good. The tone was just messy all the way through and seemed like I was watching two movies that had been mashed together into one. 

The last problem this movie has is character arcs. Besides the undercutting of the emotions of its character in order to make jokes. This movie also seemed to forget who these characters were. It has a problem that many films like it has had, which is too many characters in one film. Every character is never given proper time, we like them because we know them, but this movie does nothing to further their relationships or own growth. The time jump, screws a lot of things up. Like I did not mind but why give Hulk the power to control Hulk then? (His arc through the entire MCU) and not right as he grabbed the stones, him through them being given the knowledge that Hulk isn’t the disease but the cure. Why not make his arc matter to the plot?! (like it did in the first avengers which was though a pretty deus ex machina, solution still a development that coincided with the plot!) The whole Natascha, Hawkeye fight was good, it meant something and it reminded me of their fight in the first Avengers that showed how good friends they were. But the quick editing ruins Nats death so much. This plays into pacing as well, but we are never given any kind of time to be sad about Nats death. Yes she was a minor character, but she was a character we cared about. If they could only have spent a few more seconds at Hawkeye realising what is happening, and being sad about Nats sacrifice in the soul world, and then picking up the stone and being like, I will finish this for you Natascha. That was all the writers needed to do, it would take two minutes more, but it would have allowed her death to mean something more. Hell Coulsons death was given more screen time in the first avengers than someone we have spent so many movies seeing and caring about! 

I honestly wished that they had followed the comics version more, and in infinity wars, introduced Thanos, then wrapped up all the original avengers character arcs in that film. Let the snap happen and let Thanos also kill the original Avengers. Then let End Game be about the devastating loss, and the second squad (Black Panther, Scarlett, vision, Captain Marvel, Peter, Strange and part of Guardians & Ant-man) Struggle with their personal grief about losing their friends and mentors, finding the courage to band together and fight to go and defeat Thanos. I would have loved that so much more, mostly because it would give them a chance to lose and have these newer avengers actually mourn them all properly, while also being able to properly process it, and then decide to pick up their torch and finish what the original avengers started. But sadly we got this mess.

Also, I really need to rant about one particular thing in both movies, and honestly it has been a long time coming, but if I have to look at one more giant CGI henceman battle, I will walk out of the movie theatre! This is in both infinity war and End game! I do not care! I hate those big CGI lord of the ring type battles. Why? Because, yes it makes it all look grand, but it also make it look pointless. I don’t care about any of the people they are fighting I care about the villains and the heroes, characters I have spent time with. Why does Thanos send, wizard what's his face and other CGI dude in the first place? I do not care about his henchmen! I do not care about their meaningless fights with their meaningless goons. Why not instead of this giant battle in Wakanda and on the planet in End game ending battle, have all of our previously established villains, such as Loke, Hella, Thanos, that dude from guardians, whoever is the villain in captain marvel and doctor strange. Be the people they fight? Why not make it a few villains that we actually care about be the villains they are fighting, and instead of them punching random fools they could actually fight people who pose an actual challenge to them. Giving everything more meaning and not just, look how many CGI extras we can afford. It is not fun anymore! I have had it! Fight fewer but harder bad guys! That way the fight has some actual stakes and meaning! 

If you have made it this far, wow, impressive. I also imagine that it is very clear that I thought there was a lot of problems with these two movies. I will not say I hated them. They were not flaming piles of garbage like suicide squad, but they are also not anywhere near as good as the first guardians movie.  In the end, they were entertaining. Were they, I am willing to sit through these six hours ever again entertaining? Abso-f*cking-lutely not. 

I have before given up on the cinematic univers and come back to it and this was me actually hoping it would be great movies that everyone said they were, so I could get back into Marvel super hero movies, but sadly, they were visually pretty stale, tonally, pacing and characterly a mess, and not the finale to 22 films I had hoped for.

I give infinity war 8/10 stars

And End game 3/10 stars.

Send me a message if you agree, disagree or just wanna talk about movies (or have any recs for what I should see next) Until then

- Geek out.

[langst-wins]

the last thing i'm gonna say about voltron, unintentional queerbaiting, and major s8 plotholes, and then imma shut up and let y'all be free from my long bitch ass s8 posts so we can get back to regularly scheduled klance fanfics & fanarts

yes, they queerbaited us with shiro as rep. not in the sense that he wasn't queer but in the sense that they hyped us up for his relationship with adam, made us think we were gonna see an adashi reunion, and we ended up getting like 90 seconds top of LGBT content over the entire series.

no, I highly doubt they did it intentionally. yes, they did admit they fucked up and apologized several times. yes, I appreciate the apology and I understand that they're human beings and people make mistakes and overlook things sometimes. like they said, they never meant to make anyone feel baited. they really thought they were going to get a good response. lauren called voltron a "learning experience" in the open letter to the fandom after s7. I think she meant learning experience in general ofc but I think she also meant they've learned how to and how not to do LGBT rep in a show.

but I will absolutely be taking any promises of LGBT rep from lm and jds with a grain of salt. i will absolutely be watching their future works from afar and not getting myself too invested until the series ends and I can watch it as a whole while knowing what to expect.

I dont think they MEANT harm but y'all...they fucked up. they know it, and they apologized. it shows maturity that they apologized in that open letter after s7 and at the final nycc panel, and again, I appreciate that.

but I would rather they have not said anything about LGBT rep, ever, and just let gay shiro be a nice surprise. then, the minimal rep we received would have been wonderful and a nice warm surprise instead of a huge disappointment. it was only a disappointment because it didn't live up to the hype they made for it. and I know the hype was partially due to marketing they had no control over, but it was absolutely partially them, too.

they didn't promise LGBT content in LoK and canon korrassami ended up being a nice surprise even though it was minimal. that was how they SHOULD have done shiro's sexuality if they knew it was going to be a small thing. I would rather they have kept their lips zipped about LGBT, not announced gay shiro ahead of time, and just it be what it was when seasons 7 and 8 came out.

again, I dont think the bait was intentional, but it was bait all the same.

you are not crazy or too sensitive if your feelings are hurt/you feel baited by this show. you are not a shitty person if you just dont trust them right now. dont let people tell you otherwise. it's okay to take a step back from their work and wait to see how their next show plays out before you get involved.

i really do love voltron, even though s8 was confusing af, seasons 1-7 were LIT. I enjoy bits and pieces of s8 but mostly it was a let down. not only because of rep, just because a lot of things didn't make sense to me and a lot of the problem solving just felt way too convenient.

like I feel like every conflict in the plot was resolved way too easily and/or in ways that didnt make sense. and I feel like most of the characters' futures in the credits didnt really match up to those characters personalities. specifically lance, hunk, and keith.

lance staying on earth with his family, spreading allura's message to carry on her legacy? makes perfect sense, valid af. lance becoming a farmer? not so much. I feel like he would have been better suited as teaching classes as a pilot instructor at the garrison or smth similar. altean lance still gave me whiplash and left me confused af but he looks so damn 👌👌👀👀🙌🙌😭 with his cute ass altean marks that I'm just gonna let that one go for the sake of aesthetic.

hunk becoming a chef? not ooc necessarily but I feel like he would have been better suited as a diplomat. y'know. ambassador to earth sort of thing.

keith aiding in recovery efforts and being a humanitarian (...alien-itarian...? idk). okay let's be real we all knew this edgy boi has a soft ass heart. I think hes just mature enough now to let his walls come down and not be afraid of caring ig. which is sweet and nice and all. but I feel like he wouldnt...JUST be doing that. like he would still want the battle and the adrenaline and the badass mf fight sequences. that's kinda his Thing.

shiro marrying a rando? I would have preferred adam to not die and them end up getting back together once shiro returned to earth. i just feel like there was no reason to kill off adam? shiro has already suffered so much, what was the point? but i'm not gonna hate on curtis bc we dont know jackshit about him and for all we know he could be a bombass dude. shiro looked happy tho and it's better than him being forever alone so I can hesitantly accept that ig. but on one condition and one condition only: their ship name must be shirts. if their ship name is not shirts then I dont want it

allura's death was pointless. i havent seen anyone disagree with this one so far. her life was full of suffering and then she died. like can we all just agree she was done dirty and it was entirely unnecessary.

dont come @ me with "you just dont like s8 bc your ship wasnt canon"

that's not it at all.

they could have made this season so amazing and still not have made klance canon. they could have left me disappointed in no klance but still happy because the finale made my heart go dynamite BOOM. I could have ended the last episode with no canon klance and still been smiling because the plot was bitchin' and the characters were all alive and happy.

but they didnt, so I wasnt. it just...wasnt a good season. it had good aspects, yes, but as a whole? meh.

season 8 was poorly handled. it really was. it had so much potential to end with EVERY character having a positive ending and still have an actual satisfying conclusion to the war. I know they wanted to show how heavy and serious and heartbreaking the war actually was, but you can make an emotional, heavy finale without killing off a main character and leaving her main character love interest lonely and grieving. like im sorry killing allura and leaving lance sad and lonely was not necessary at all to the plot it just flat out wasnt. they did those characters dirty and they did allurance shippers even dirtier.

allurancers cheered seeing their ship canon then had it ripped out from under them and my heart honestly grieves worse for my allurance and allura stan fam than my klance fam. they did y'all so wrong and i'm sorry it had to go down like that.

sheith shippers got fucked over when all that development and relationship and growth culminated into basically nothing in the final season. like as a broganes stan even i was taken aback by the sudden radio silence between them so I cant imagine how let down actual sheith shippers feel.

us adashi shippers? obvious. adam's death was not necessary. and dont tell me it was to show the heaviness and realness of death in war because vld does NOT have a track record of dead characters staying dead. they could have at least gave us some mild development with shirts (lmfao im so sorry but shirts) and let us see more of curtis as a character. like...literally just two 60 second scenes would have been nice. they could have easily fit that in.

us klancers got fucked over by unnecessary parallels to canon ships. they could have made it a cute platonic friendship in s8 and let us enjoy it and proceed to enjoy fanon klance without all those blatant parallels to shay/hunk that just left us confused. and the parallels in earlier seasons. like why did you have to make so many parallels to romantic moments and romantic tropes if it was platonic. why did you have to go and do that. what was the point.

s8 could have ended in such a way that shippers of every ship in the fandom were satisfied with the finale because their faves were treated right and the plot was fire. it had so much potential in the first half and could have been so damn good.

it wasnt though. the entire thing was so confusing and nothing about it felt like vld. It feels like a spin off or a reboot. I dont like s8 as a whole and I doubt I ever will. it might grow on me in time but I'll never fully like it, y'know. everything about it felt so tilted and off and just wrong.

but it really just be like that sometimes ig.

[ravenaveira]

People that say Taka was the best team/friends for him is like saying a drug addicts friends who are also drug addicts are whats best for them simply because they went along with and encouraged their habit rather than trying to get them help and off a toxic lifestyle

Just because you have friends that support your bad habits doesnt mean their good friends and whats best for you

Friends who try to get you out of that toxic lifestyle to a better place where your clear-headed and healthy THOSE are real friends who want the best for you

I know this is a weird topic to touch on after the previous episode which I'm not downplaying because I thought it was wholesome, but the fact that people blatantly ignore how toxic and unhealthy Taka was for Sasuke AT THE TIME really just rubs me the wrong way

Do I think his relationship with Team 7 perfect? course not, but you can definitely see the difference between how TRUE friends behave and how enablers behave

Whenever Sasuke talked or thought about Team 7 he viewed them like family and precious bonds he had to cut in order to focus on and pursue revenge

Whenever Sasuke talked or thought about Taka he treated them as strictly subordinates, we never see him bothering to interact with them other than pursuing his goals and once they were no longer needed? he discarded and abandoned them without a second thought, he didnt even know Karin was an Uzumaki or that he even met her in the past which shows how little he cared about any of them on a personal level, the only one I can say Sasuke even remotely cared about to that degree is Jugo

None of them tried to empathize with Sasuke, none of them tried to talk to him about his struggles or problems and let him suffer alone, none of them cared for Sasuke to that point and if they did then they had one hell of a way of showing it

So my point? yes I think Sasuke cared somewhat about Taka in his own way and yes I think Taka cared for Sasuke as well I'm not saying they didnt, I'm just saying they didnt care enough

And it seems crazy to me that the same people who complain about the injustices done to Sasuke and his clan are the same one who support Taka and them supporting Sasuke and his crimes against pretty much everyone

Yes killing Danzo was a good thing but it was still a crime, Sasuke and Taka joined Akatsuki and tried to kidnap the 8 tails which was a crime against the Cloud village, Sasuke attacked the 5 kage summit and every single kage there making him an international criminal regardless if his goal was just Danzo it was still a risk of them getting involved, Sasuke just being a rogue ninja joining another rogue ninja is a crime, Sasuke attempting to kill all the 5 kage after the war would have been a crime

Yes some injustices can be resolved through violence but that is not the one and ONLY solution, Sasuke going rogue unfortunately even from a narrative standpoint yea it needed to happen for him to train with a Sanin etc but the only way to resolve Konoha’s injustice was to go through the right channels and expose to corruption that was in it, once Sasuke left and started committing crimes he lost the moral high ground and anything he said or did would easily be ignored and just thought of as another crazed Uchiha who deserved to die

You can argue yes but then Naruto and Kakashi could have said something once they found out but by that point it was like Temari said, it was FAR too late for Sasuke and even with the truth revealed how does that excuse his actions at the summit? against Bee? joining Akatsuki? killing Itachi and Danzo MIGHT have been able to be excused but the rest? there's no way that was getting overlooked even with the corruption exposed Sasuke was still just as much in the wrong now

I'm a huge Sasuke fan but even I can acknowledge that not every single one of his actions was 100% right and just, his actions towards the people who actually wronged him WERE in the right, but his actions in everything that didnt? yes he was in the wrong no ifs ands or buts about it

So for those who think Taka is so much better for Sasuke because they supported his criminal actions [except Jugo I believe he’d be fine either way] but not Team 7 who wanted Sasuke to stop his criminal actions and return to his senses and be in a healthy condition again, truly make me wonder if they actually care about Sasuke’s well being or just think everyone who isnt a yes man to everything Sasuke did somehow dont care about his feelings or the injustices done to him and just wanna change him

Yeah, change him for the BETTER not worse, if anything Taka tried to do the opposite of that but hey I guess being a bad influence is better than being a good one

And listen we can go back and forth all day about Sasuke's situation after the war because I agree wholeheartedly that thats bullshit, but realistically speaking the fact that some things about the Uchiha massacre are unresolved like those two elders even being allowed to breathe, realistically speaking what CAN you really do? the Uchihas are dead and the main man responsible is dead and Hiruzen who failed to stop it is also dead so what would exposing everything do at that point? everyone directly involved is DEAD so exposing it really is pointless even if only to clear Itachi’s name which I'm gonna say something alot of you wont like

But the Uchiha’s were not all innocent victims, atleast not the ones involved and planning the coup, yes they were treated unfairly but does that mean the best approach to fixing this is to overthrow the government? how does that make you look? your proving their suspicions of you right by attempting to be the threat they all think you are, that is NOT how you get your point across and demand justice for your clan by planning a coup that would result in many lives lost including your own

Does that mean do nothing? course not, but if you want their trust then you have to EARN it and if you want justice and equality then go on strike and refuse to serve them until their willing to talk and compromise, seriously the Uchiha was a HUGE asset to Konoha so them refusing to obey and offer their services definitely would have gotten their attention and force them to listen and find a compromise, if that didnt work they could have tried spreading the word to fellow citizens and gain their support as I'm pretty sure not EVERYONE in Konoha felt the same way towards them and would have joined their cause for equality

But no, they chose the path of violence and it resulted in their entire clan's downfall and they end up with NOTHING but a bad name, so what did they gain? absolutely nothing, so was it worth it? NO

So lets stop acting like Konoha’s the big bad villain that did nothing but wrong and the Uchiha’s were pure innocent souls that did nothing wrong to deserve what happened to them because Ima say it THEY DID and their downfall was entirely their own fault for their approach, was it right? of course not genocides never ok and just as the Uchihas could have found another method Konoha could have as well so they were both in the wrong not just one or the other

Itachi also isnt a saint for the same reason the Uchiha’s and Konoha isnt and thats choosing the wrong approach to resolving the problems, there were many other paths he could have chosen but he chose the worst ones every time so just clearing Itachi’s name because of his good intentions wouldnt be right because his methods were beyond fucked up on so many levels

So my point is Sasuke was a victim of both sides wrongdoings, Taka didnt help with that at all, Team 7 tried to empathize and tried to understand and console him and save him from himself, its just that Sasuke didnt let them and pushed them away and thats of no fault of theirs since they did try but mainly Sasuke and them being mostly in the dark about everything

Yet Taka knowing almost everything didnt even try to reach out to him or help him cope in any way, Karin you’d think would understand and get through to Sasuke the most, cared more about her lust for him and seeing his ‘smile’ than actually empathizing with him and helping him through the turmoil he was in, Suigetsu made it clear he was out for himself from the start and Jugo is just wholeheartedly loyal to Sasuke no matter what

The fact that in the end, Sasuke makes no attempt to visit them until he needs them for something speaks volumes of his attachment to them, I think Taka thinks more of Sasuke than Sasuke does of them

He didnt even say goodbye to them before he left for his redemption journey nor did he bring them along on his years-long mission which again speaks volumes

So all Im saying is, Taka being the best team for Sasuke and his true friends is complete bull because I have yet to see any argument or reasoning for this be anything other than he chose them and that they went along with everything he did without question

If you have a better reason for why you think this then please share with me I welcome it maybe you can change my mind, but as of right now all the arguments I see is bullshit or occasionally shipping based which isnt a legitimate reason btw, so if you can be civil then I'm all ears

Note: I didnt mention the other Kages because it should be obvious their ways were screwed up as well and ruined a lot of lives, however what does Sasuke’s idea of basically ruling as a dictator resolve? how does that fix and reform the system? Sasuke wont live forever so what happens when he dies? he cant be the enemy that unites everyone once he’s dead and gone it’ll return back to how things were and thus mission failed another Uchiha dies for nothing, Sasuke’s approach to the situation was just a temporary solution not a permanent one and one that wouldnt last long anyway so lets not pretend Sasuke had the best solution to the problem when in all honesty both his and Naruto’s solutions were flawed and it makes sense that they’d work together using both methods rather than one and compromise, again we can argue about Sasuke’s situation after the war all day but fact of the matter is just gotta accept this is what it is and move on, at least Sasuke achieved partially what he wanted which was a bright future for the next generation and the villages to be at peace with one another without the need of a common enemy anymore, are things completely resolved? no, but its progress, and 15 years is nowhere near enough time to fix decades worth of damage so its still a work in progress and will be for a long time

[the-desolated-quill]

Quill’s Swill - The Worst Of 2018

Congratulations dear reader. You survived 2018. And you know what that means. It’s time for another best of/worst of list. Welcome to Quill’s Swill 2018. A giant septic tank for the various shit the entertainment industry produced over the course of the year. The films, games, TV shows and various other media that got on my bad side. As always please bear in mind that this is only my subjective opinion (if you happen to like any of the things on this list, good for you. I’m glad someone did) and that obviously I haven’t seen everything 2018 has to offer for one reason or another. In other words, sorry that Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald isn’t on here. I’m sure it is as terrible as some have been suggesting. I just never got around to watching it.

Okay everyone. Grab your breathing masks and put on your rubber gloves. Let’s dive into this shit pile.

Hold The Sunset

The news that John Cleese would be returning to the world of BBC sitcoms was incredibly exciting, being a massive Fawlty Towers fan and all. Unfortunately Hold The Sunset was not quite what I had in mind. It’s one of those rare breed of situation comedies that chooses to offer no actual comedy. It’s not a sitcom. It’s a sit. Like Scrubs or The Big Bang Theory.

An elderly couple plan to elope abroad only for Alison Steadman’s son to barge in, having left his wife, and forcing them to put their plans on hold. Hence the title ‘Hold The Sunset.’ It’s like a cross between As Time Goes By and Sorry, but if all the humour and relatability were surgically removed by a deadpan mortician. The characters are weak, the plots are thin on the ground and the humour (hat little of it there is) feel incredibly dated. The middle aged mummy’s boy is something that hasn’t been funny since the 90s. It’s an utter waste of great talent and what hurts even more is that this tripe is actually getting a second series. I can only assume the people watching this are comatose. Either that or there’s an epidemic of people in Britain who have lost the remote.

Avengers: Infinity War

Yes this is one of the worst movies of 2018 and no I don’t regret saying that one little bit. Avengers: Infinity War was fucking terrible. Period. There were too many plots and characters going on, which made the film hard to follow (and what staggers me is that the so called ‘professional’ critics have condemned movies for having too many characters and plots before. Spider-Man 3, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Batman vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice and even Deadpool 2. But because this is an MCU movie, it gets a free pass. Fuck off). The characterisation was weak due to sheer number of characters they try to juggle, resulting in characters coming off as one dimensional caricatures of themselves and scenes where characters such as Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Star-Lord sound completely interchangeable. The villain, Thanos, is a stupidly and poorly written villain, but that’s hardly surprising considering what a shit job Marvel have done building him up over the course of these 20+ movies. And let’s not forget that pisstake ending. A bunch of prominent Marvel characters die and it’s all very, very sad... except all these characters just so happen to have sequels planned, which makes this ending fucking pointless and have less impact than a feather on a bouncy castle.

I don’t know which is more shocking. That Marvel and Disney think their audience are that stupid and gullible, or that their audience are actually validating their view. Fuck you Disney.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

I’ve always wanted a Harry Potter RPG, where you could customise your character, choose your house and actually live a full school life at Hogwarts. This year, Warner Bros and Jam City gave us just that.

That was a mistake.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is the epitome of everything that’s wrong with the mobile gaming market right now. The gameplay is boring and involving where you just tap images on a screen until a progress bar fills up. Wizard duels are little more than rock-paper-scissors challenges that require no kind of skill. Bonding with friends and caring for magical creatures just consist of pathetically simple pop quizzes and yet more boring tapping. Oh and of course you only get a certain amount of energy to complete these tedious tasks. If you run out of energy, you wait for it to fill up... or pay up for the privilege. So determined are they to extract your hard earned cash from your wallet, there’s actually a bit where Devil’s Snare strangles your eleven year old avatar and the game effectively tries to guilt trip you into paying micro-transactions to save them. It’s sleazy, gross and manipulative. Honestly, you’re better off just playing Candy Crush.

Agony

When the developers of this game said they wanted to give the player a trip through Hell, they had no idea how true that statement really was. Agony is dreadful on a number of levels. The design for Hell itself, while visually interesting at times, is often not very practical and gets quite dull and repetitive after a while. The stealth mechanics are a joke and the AI of your demonic enemies are pitiful. All of this alone would have been enough to put this game on the list, but then we also have the casual misogyny. Agony is a gorefest trying desperately to shock the player. We see men and woman get tortured, but it’s the women that often get the extreme end. The violence inflicted on them is often sexual in nature and the game seems to go out of its way to degrade and dehumanise women at every turn. The orgasmic cries of ‘pull it out’ quickly become a staple of the game’s experience as we see naked women raped, tortured and murdered, all for the purposes of ‘entertainment.’

I would call Agony sexist, but honestly that would be giving it too much credit. Agony is like a little child trying desperately to be all dark and edgy in a pathetic attempt to impress everyone around him, and we should treat it as such. Go to your room Agony. No ice cream for you.

Peter Rabbit

If you listen closely, you can hear the sound of Beatrix Potter rotating in her grave.

Yes we have yet another live action/CGI hybrid, but instead of something innocuous like the Smurfs or Alvin and the Chipmunks, Sony instead decides to adapt Peter Rabbit, with James Corden in the title role.

It’s about as bad as you’d expect.

Their attempts to modernise the story are painful to say the least with pop culture references, inappropriate adult humour and twerking rabbits. Plus rather than the gentle, but slightly mischievous character we got in the source material, here Peter is a sociopathic delinquent who seems to revel in making the farmer’s life a living hell. He’s unlikable and unwatchable as far as I’m concerned and the film doesn’t in anyway earn the emotional moments it tries so desperately to sell to the audience. And the worst part is it’s getting a sequel.

Wait. Do you hear that sound? That’s the sound of Beatrix Potter tearing out of the ground, ready to kill whatever idiot came up with this shit.

Fallout 76

I was excited for Fallout 76. A MMORPG where players band together to rebuild society after a nuclear apocalypse. Could have been great. Pity it wasn’t.

Fallout 76 is a dreadful game. Not only is it a buggy, glitchy mess that requires a constant online connection to play, which could result in you losing hours of progress if your WiFi went down, it’s also unbelievably tedious, and that’s because there’s nothing to do in the game. There’s no other characters to interact with, the various robots and computers you come across are really little more than quest givers, there’s no actual plot so to speak, and because of the sheer size of the world and the number of players allowed on a server, the chances of you actually meeting any actual players is remote. And let’s not forget all the behind the scenes drama. Bethesda falsely advertising Fallout themed canvas bags and players getting shitty nylon ones. Bethesda accidentally releasing the account information of various players trying to get a refund for said bag. Bethesda failing to program the year 2019 into the game code, meaning that the game’s nukes don’t work.

Maybe there’s a chance that Bethesda could pull a No Man’s Sky and fix everything over the coming years with various patches and DLCs, but the damage has already been done. It’s incredibly disappointing. The Elder Scrolls 6 is going to have be fucking incredible to win everyone back.

Mama Mia!: Here We Go Again

I can’t stand jukebox musicals anyway, but Mamma Mia was always one of the worst. Its boring, meandering story with its one note, obnoxious cast of characters screeching out ABBA songs like they’re at some drunken karaoke session at some poor sod’s hen party has always grated on my nerves. So imagine my delight when they announced we were getting a sequel. Ever wondered how Meryl Streep met her three lovers and founded her hotel? No? Well tough shit, we’re going to tell you anyway.

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again is basically just Mamma Mia again. The actors still can’t sing, the characters are still annoying and story is still boring and meandering, completely at the mercy of the chosen songs rather than the filmmakers using the songs to compliment the story (you know? Like proper musicals do?).

How can I resist you? Very easily as it turns out. Gimme, gimme, gimme a fucking gun so I can end my misery.

The Cloverfield Paradox

A lot of people were unhappy about the direction Cloverfield was going. They wanted a continuation of the found footage, kaiju movie from 2008, not an anthology series. I was personally all in favour. Partially because I thought the first Cloverfield was a tad overrated, but mostly because I thought it would be a great opportunity for more experimental film projects and could be a great launchpad for new writers and filmmakers. 10 Cloverfield Lane was a great start. Then The Cloverfield Paradox happened.

The Cloverfield Paradox is basically JJ Abrams trying to have his cake and eat it too. Maintaining the anthology format whilst connecting everything together in a ‘shared universe’ (yes, yet another shared universe). The result was a cliched, poorly edited and idiotic mess of a film that actually took away from the previous two films rather than added to them. Everyone hated it and, as a result, 2018′s Overlord, which was totes going to be part of the Cloververse, was made its own standalone film and Abrams double pinky promised to make a true sequel to the original Cloverfield. A complete and total disaster. No wonder it was a straight-to-Netflix film.

The Handmaid’s Tale - Season 2

This is probably going to be the most controversial entry on the list, but please hear me out because I’m not the only one who has a problem with this season.

I was reluctant to watch The Handmaid’s Tale simply because of how gruesome the original book was, but I forced myself to watch the first season and I thought it was pretty good. It remained faithful to the source material for the most part and included some nice additions that helped to expand the story and mythos. If it was just a one off mini-series, everything would have been fine. But then they made the same mistake as The Man In The High Castle and Under The Dome did where they commissioned another season and attempted to tell a story that goes beyond the book.

There’s a reason why the original story ended where it did. The Handmaid’s Tale isn’t meant to be an empowering story about women sticking it to the patriarchy. It’s a cautionary tale about how fragile our civil rights truly are and how easily they can be taken away from us. It’s designed to shock, not to satisfy. So seeing a handmaid blow herself up in a suicide bombing feels very incongruous and just a little bit silly. It would be like doing a TV adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984 where the first season followed the source material and then the second season turned Winston Smith into this heroic freedom fighter trying to overthrow Big Brother. It would represent a fundamental misunderstanding of what the book was about in the first place.

And then of course there’s the increased level of violence in Season 2, which many have complained about. In Season 1 and the original source material, the violence was justified. In Season 2, the motivation behind the violence has gone from ‘how can we effectively demonstrate how easily a fascist patriarchy can happen in the West?’ to ‘what brutal act can we inflict upon Ofglen to shock the audience this week?’ It’s purely for shock and nothing more. And with the showrunner (who I feel I should mention is a man) announcing that he has planned ten seasons of this, it seems that The Handmaid’s Tale is going to go even further with this depravity until it effectively becomes the equivalent of a Saw film.

The Handmaid’s Tale exists as a way of shining light on and critiquing misogyny in its most extreme form. Season 2 however demonstrates that there is a serious risk of it becoming the very thing it’s criticising in the first place.

The Predator

I love the Predator franchise, but The Predator is the worst.

People thought that this would be good because director Shane Black had actually starred in the first Predator movie back in 1987. Instead we got this bloated, confusing, obnoxious and insulting mess of a film that seems to go out of its way to ruin everything that makes Predator so good. There’s no tension. No suspense. No intrigue. Just a bunch of gore, explosions and shitty one liners from annoying and lifeless characters. They essentially took this big alien game hunter from outer space and turned him into a generic monster from a bad summer blockbuster. It no longer hunts for sport. It wants to take over the world and splice our DNA with theirs. But don’t worry, a rogue Predator doesn’t want to kill humans (even though he himself kills a bunch of humans), so he gives us a Predator Iron Man suit to set up a sequel that will probably never happen because this movie was a box office bomb and it fucking SUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKKEEEEEDDDD!!!

This film also has a very nasty streak towards those with disabilities. There’s a lot of jokes at the expense of a character with Tourette’s and it has an extremely ignorant and patronising view of autism, portraying the main character’s kid as being a super genius who can decipher the Predator language and even going so far as to say that he represents ‘the next stage of human evolution.’ Presumably the Predators want social communication difficulties because apparently it helps them hunt somehow.

What with Disney acquiring 20th Century Fox, the future of both the Alien and Predator franchises were very much in question. This film needed to be a success in order to make a case for Disney to keep making more of them. It wasn’t. Congratulations Shane Black. You might have just killed off this franchise for good. Thanks arsehole! :D

So those were my least favourite stories from 2018. Join me on Wednesday where we shall discuss something more positive. Yes, it’s awards season. Who shall win the coveted Quill Seal Of Approval? Watch this space...

Or don’t. It’s up to you. I don’t want to force you or anything. It’s a free country.

[hallowsnothorcruxes]

Gellert Grindelwald visits Britain for the first time in years. He watches Albus in hogsmeade with his students. He's a good teacher. Gellert regrets so much. Gellert finds Aberforth. They have a conversation. Aberforth, through his bitterness and resentment towards his brother confesses the following, 'you broke him, Gellert.'

Very delayed, but rather late than never, right? I’ll get through all the prompts at some point, pinky promise!

Britain was still as he remembered it: The weather was lousy and the people shallow. He almost regeretted turning up in Hogsmeade, when his feet sank a few inches into the snow that covered the ground and a snowball hit his head.

He glared at the young boy, who had thrown it and ran away as soon as he saw him. Gellert sighed, pulled up his hood and made his way towards the castle at the other end of the town. He doubted that many people would recognize him, but he rather avoided that risk. His name had spread around the world in a fearful whisper, but photographs were rare. So even though his name was well known, his face was not so much, but if someone did notice him near Britain’s most precious school, the whole situation would become much more difficult than he was in the mood to deal with.

He was halfway through the town, just stepping onto the main road, when he froze. In the middle of the street stood a small group of young children, happily trying to transfigure small piles of snow.

A chubby girl with red cheeks and a red and gold hat had just managed to form a snowman just by using her wand. “I did it, Professor Dumbledore! Look!”, she cried and the tall man, who had been talking to a boy with a green scarf, turned around and smiled proudly.

He went over and examined the snowman. “Very good, Ms Finklestein. Take 5 points for Gryffindor.”

Gellert crossed his arms, stepped back into the shadow of an old house and watched how Albus taught his students how to transfigure their piles of snow.

He considered them rather dumb, taking so long to get such an easy task done, but Albus was patient. He repeated himself again and again, encouraged them and praised them for even the smallest progress. And the children seemed to like him. They even seemed to have fun.

A strange feeling spread in his stomach and his chest. He was smart enough not to give in to it and just walk over, but in that moment he regretted the path he had chosen over the past years even more.

He didn’t cry himself to sleep, of course, he didn’t beg for forgiveness, he knew that was pointless in his case. He couldn’t undo what he had done, he couldn’t fix people, he couldn’t mend broken families.

He merely strived to distance himself from the past. He didn’t want to sacrifice more people - more children -, he saw no point in subjugating muggles anymore, when it would be enough to loosen some laws in the statue of secrecy, which was what really restricted them.

The muggles were dumb enough to be played and tricked, wizarding laws were what made them bow down. He had realised that.

And he had realised that what woke him up at night and followed him in his dreams were people he had attacked and tortured.

Naturally, he had ignored his psych’s warning signals for a long time, but the wound above his ribcage, which stemmed from a little girl blowing up (or rather the Obscurus inside her) during one of his attacks reminded him that it was about time he’d stopped.

The girl had been about 9 years old, he’d locked away her parents and tried to use her for war, but had underestimated her powers. She had been special right from the beginning. Blonde her and brown eyes, gifted at drawing. Adrienne.

While training her, his head had taken on the unnerving habit of mixing up her and Ariana more often than not. It had almost driven him crazy. And in the end the one coming after him had been her brother.

He could have easily killed the boy, but he had been seriously concerned about his mental health, so that he had let him get away with it.

It had all become too much. He realised he had done a lot of evil, but he couldn’t bring himself to regard it more closely than generally admitting he regretted it. There was no point in going insane over things he couldn’t amend.

*

He considered it unwise to break into the castle, so he tracked down Aberforth.

He waited until even the most shady one of his guests had left, before he entered the Hog’s Head, just as Aberforth wanted to close for the day.

Aberforth eyed him disapprovingly already, for entering that late, but as soon as he pushed the hood off his head, his eyes widened in fury.

He had never seen anyone round a table that fast and the next moment he was pinned to the wall and Aberforth was on the verge of strangling him.

He could’ve got rid of him with only a flick of his hand, but he decided to wait a little.

“Give me one reason, just one, why I shouldn’t kill you right now!”

“Because”, he said, his voice hoarse from the lack of air. “We both know I’d be faster.”

Aberforth’s hands closed around his throat more firmly before he let go.

“What do you want? No, wait, I don’t care! Get out now!”

“How’s Albus?”

“I don’t know and I dont care! GET OUT!”

He stayed, his face expressionless. Aberforth drew his wand. “I will try anyway.”

“You don’t know?” Gellert asked calmly, but closed his hand around his wand.

“He’s a pretentious idiot and since you broke him it’s only got worse!”

“I did what?”

“You broke him! He’s the king of manipulation, trust issues and secrecy complexes ever since your affair or whatever you want to call it! Ever since you killed our sister!”

“It was an accident! I did not kill her!”

“I DON’T CARE! It’s your fault and his! And now get out before I call the Aurors!”

*

He waited until the weekend, when Albus visited the Three Broomsticks with a corpulent teacher, whose cheeks were already reddened by alcohol before they entered the pub.

He sat down at the bar, kept his head low and waited for Albus’ friend to go to the bathroom. He downed his glass of firewhiskey and approched his table.

He sat down on the chair Albus’ friend had occupied and Albus looked up, his eyes widening suddenly.

“Don’t flip out now”, he said.

Albus’ body tensed, he sat up straight, but his face closed off. “I don’t. What do you want?”

“Talk to you.”

Albus was silent for a moment, then he asked: “They say you are too scared to come here.”

“They are stupid and as you see - wrong. I need to talk to you.”

“Why?”

“Because I have abandoned my plans, but they are still looking for me internationally and I don’t know what to do!”, he burst out, almost forgetting to keep his voice down.

“And I should help you?”

“Yes.”

Albus shook his head.

“Come on, Albus. You’re my only friend.”

“If we ever really were friends, that was a long time ago. I don’t see a reason why I should help you.”

“Because you’re Albus Dumbledore and everyone’s mocking you for giving out second chances as if it was candy. And because I regret and because I still consider you my friend.”

Albus pressed his lips together, looked around the pub once and leaned in then.

“Alright. I will help you. But there are conditions.”

“What do you want?”

“You will stop hiding. You will surrender yourself to the law enforcement. You will get a trial and you will accept your punishment.”

Gellert stared at him. “Are you insane? They will send me to Azkaban for life!”

“If you really regret - and only then I will help you - that is what you need to do.”

“Well, I won’t need your help anymore, if I get the Dementor’s kiss!”

“Surrender and I’ll try to keep you out of Azkaban.”

“You’ll try?”

“That’s the best I can offer you right now, Gellert.”

*

It took him a few days, but what choice did he have? He could try to find a country that didn’t shudder at his name and didn’t have an extradition treaty with any country that did shudder at his name. And he was not sure such a country existed. So Albus’ influence was his best hope of ever living freely again.

He surrendered to the British Aurors, but his trial was in front of the international confederation of wizards. Albus kept his promise and conviced the confederation not to send him to Azkaban. (“Britain was least affected, there is no reason he should be send to a British prison.”)

They send him to Hideghely, the austria-hungarian wizarding prison, which was guarded by goblins and dragons, but no Dementors. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison, surveillance and therapy afterwards.

“Will you visit me?”, he asked Albus, while he was prepared to be handed over to the hungarian wards.

“I will think about it”, said Albus, but the look on his face was much softer than it had been in the Three Broomsticks.

“So, no.”

“I said I will think about it.”

“‘I will think about it’ means no.”

“No, it means that I will think about it.” He put a hand on his shoulder. “But I am proud of you.”

*

It took a year for Albus to visit, but it was still earlier than he’d expected. It were only short visits at first. They talked about prison and Teaching and Transfiguration and Divination - nothing important.

He knew they had to talk about Ariana at some point, but the first year of irregular visits they stayed well away from that topic.

His third year in prison really got to him. He woke up from nightmares, the other prisoners hated him passionately and his mind went in circles of guilt and anger and despair. Everything seemed dark and blurry and he felt unable to get up.

“They say you refuse to eat,” Albus said upon entering his cell.

Gellert just lay on his bed and stared at the opposite wall.

Albus sat down next to him. “They also say, you don’t talk, you don’t get up, you don’t sleep well.” Albus gently rubbed his back. “I know that feeling.”

“I doubt it,” Gellert replied, his voice hoarse after a long time of silence.

“I was the same - after her death. Sometimes I felt like even breathing was too hard. I thought I didn’t deserve it, anyway.”

“It was not your fault.”

“Yes, it was.”

“It was mine.”

“We all fought, even Aberforth, but in the end, I was responsible for her. And I didn’t care for her the whole sumer and I didn’t protect her, when I should have. Everything else was an unfortunate accident.”

“I destroyed so many lives.”

Albus remained silent.

“And I am still so angry. I know I did wrong, but I still hate them all. Sometimes I want to break out and burn all of this down and move on with my plans, but the next moment I feel guilty and sorry and like there is no point in this.”

“You think you cannot be redeemed?”

“Did you hear what I just said?”

“Very well. Gellert, look at me.” He turned his head reluctantly. “I know you are mad at everything and everyone. I don’t know why and it will be a therapist’s task to dig into that, but the important thing is: Your feelings don’t define you. The way you choose to act is who you are. You chose to act upon that anger once, but it doesn’t mean that is who you are, because you decided not to act upon it once, too. Thinking and feeling all these horrible things doesn’t make you a bad person. And it doesn’t make you irredeemable.”

Gellert sat up. “You really think that, don’t you?”

“I have always believed it. That’s why I’m here, that’s why I try to help you. That’s why I’ve fallen in love with you despite knowing - deep down - about your struggles.”

“And that’s why they call you a fool.” He lay down again, this time with his head in Albus’ lap and Albus threaded his fingers through his hair.

[warrior-under-the-moonlight]

1 thru 65 :3c

ok fine here we go1. Historical role model? Uuuuuuuuuuh im gonna say Louis Pasteur2. Favorite underrated historical figure? i dont have one but im leaning with Simo Häyhä3. Funniest historical kerfuffle? EMU WAR4. Favorite conspiracy theory revolving around history? Finland5. Favorite political scandal to examine? anything australian politics cause what a fuckin mess6. Opinion on the presidential assassinations and their impact on America? fate is a huge thing7. Which time period would you like to live in? this one, but maybe mid to late medieval asia/europe6. Favorite historical fiction book? dont have one but anything from bernard cornwell is good. also narnia if you count fantasy8. Favorite tv show based on historical events, but not really faithful to real life? i dont watch a lot of tv??????? im just gonna say narnia again9. Favorite musical based on history? the only musical ive seen is High School Musical10. Favorite movie based on history? the new king arthur movie is p alright but arthur in the movie is a bit of a cunt11. Favorite biography? Martin L. King12. If you could prevent one tragedy, which would you choose? North Vietnam winning. it would be weird because i wont live in australia tho13. Fun fact? Koalas are getting endangered because females wont stop touching other females and getting chlamydia14. Favorite female monarch? that one chinese one15. Favorite war leader? idk lol16. Favorite controversial leader? idk lol17. Favorite feminist pioneer? not a lot of pioneers here in aus but im gonna say the ones on the first fleet18. Which president, in your opinion, was the best speaker? JFK. idk its prob his voice19. If you could travel back in time and kill anyone, who would it be? Mao Zedong20. Opinion on each of the founding fathers? not from the us of a so no opinion21. Which leader do you think would make the best spouse? u wot22. Most pointless war in your opinion? that one war where people fought for like a soup pot23. John Wilkes Booth: crazy or crazy with a cause? idk about him much so im staying neutral24. Why do you think Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK(and did he act alone)? i saw a video once and i think he worked with the cia

25. Opinion on assassins of leaders in general? bound to happen26. Do you think we’re going to repeat history because we haven’t learned from it? yes27. Have you ever been teased for being a history nerd? no28. Which historical figure do you think has been the most fictionalization and elevated to a godlike status nowadays? that one columbus guy. took all the credit29. Rant about your favorite topic. WHY IS SCIENCE GOTTA BE LIKE THAT30. Favorite kids/teens history books. Horrible Histories. thats all i remember31. How was your interest in history started? i started getting into history more when i got a 90 percent on my history exam, the highest in the grade32. Do you know a history professor? no33. How did you favorite history teacher structure his class? no34. Can you see yourself pursuing a career in history, or have you done so already? after i get my degree in med. science im getting into history35. Are you especially interested in the morbid bits of history? yeah depends tho36. Do you focus on the history of a single country? im mostly asian and european medieval/renaissance oriented so no37. Have you ever been known as the history person? starting to with my mod team cause of my interest in medieval life38. Least favorite president? not a president but Tony “I love Onions and reptiles. not a reptilian tho lol” Abbott39. Favorite president? Kevin “-sniffing- ive been wronged by my party!!!” Rudd40. Favorite history song? a few songs but i can say In the Hall of the Mountain King and Oui Oui Marie41. Best history project you’ve ever done. me getting the highest grade on my WW1 exam42. What do you think of countries erasing the worse aspects of their past(like America and Japanese Internment and pretty much everything to do with Native Americans)? i mean a lot of things happened with colonisation but apart from that, poor poland holy shit. and japan during ww243. Opinion on the Watergate Scandal? the only -gate scandal i know is gamergate smh. jk i dont know what that is44. Why do you love history? cause im good at it45. Candidate that you think should’ve been president(or leader of the country of your choice)? the one WHO BROUGHT US FIBRE OPTIC NBN AND NOT COPPER WIRES46. What do you think of the Mongols? died by angry weather. changed a lot in genetics and countries. 47. Favorite queen/king of England? i forgot what his number was but it was Charles something48. Fuck, marry, kill: Elizabeth the First, Bonnie Parker, and Teddy Roosevelt? idk elizabeth is ok, isnt bonnie that one payday heister and teddy is good49. Were they really the good old days? not really no50. Favorite army story from a relative or friend? never had one. never met my grandpa51. WWI: Necessary? tensions were high. sure countries poured in but man it got out of hand fast52. Capitalism, communism, or socialism? none. bring some -good- aspects from each and you got me53. Favorite old political film? idk any movies54. Favorite peacekeeper? Dalai Lama55. Is monarchy outdated? as a government yea. but as a way to keep culture alive no56. Opinion on Richard III? had to die for the end of the war of the roses57. What was the real cause of the Civil War of your country(if it had one)? independance. although id rather not be communist but there was no choice58. Favorite Chinese Dynasty? hmm im gonna say ming59. Genocide that should be known about but isn’t? Holodomor, and the armenian genocide60. Are you interested in cults and sects? no but my nationstates is61. Favorite ancient civilization? a few sinospheric ones, mostly china and vietnam62. Favorite leader of said ancient civilization? Qi Shi Huang Di63. Opinion on marriage as a political move? too much in the medieval times. outdated now. just give them game keys and theyll respect you64. Best history joke you’ve ever heard? a roman walks into a bar. the roman puts two fingers up and says “two beers please!”. instead he got five65. Opinion on the history taught in schools today? no bias pls

[huntsman-ash]

RWBY V7E1 Watch And Comment

AlIm going to leave this untagged and under a read-more so there is NO WAY anyone will be spoiled by this. This is more me commenting on the episode, to get it out of my head. 

First off; Atlas has hanger bays noted by Greek letters. Omega-12 for example. If theres a reference in that I don’t know but its interesting.

Weiss notes that Atlas’s forces are deployed “aggressively”. Which is weird considering they’re in a defensive holding pattern with dozens of dropships running combat air patrols. Perhaps she means aggressively as in “out there” as opposed to being in the background...

That being said Weiss makes the same assumption jump I made so them going to Mantle makes more sense

On Mantle...its as gritty as I imagined it would be, but at the same time, far more prosperous. Im okay with this change, but I had to throw out some old headcanons of mine. 

THAT BEING SAID the way it looks strikes me as a place with a lot of underground grey/black stuff. It looks like something out of Shadowrun.

Interestingly there’s a reason for the change and why I had to throw out my headcanons; you can see red-lit fan vents on many buildings, some emmiting steam. Possibly these are some kind of heating vents that keep the whole city from freezing, which is really cool. 

Also despite the presence of traffic lights I see no cars. 

Okay, even more Shadowrun; Ironwood talking to everyone on a giant fuckoff TV screen on the wall. And...hes got a pointless shoulder belt. Haha!

Damn, they missed a chance to have him punch his chest with his fist and say “Atlas Endures!” or something cool like that. 

I get the overall feeling Mantle got really cracked down on for some reason...also lot of people with cold weather gear on. I guess its not THAT warm there. 

Oh, and AKs patrolling the streets (headdesks) ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! YOU IDIOTS KNOW THEY DONT WORK!

And Winter’s now the face of Atlas. Somehow Im not shocked. 

NO SHIT THERES SOMETHING WRONG Weiss. NO. SHIT. 

Also if they set that ship down in Mantle five bucks says by the end of the day its just gonna be GONE. They’ll have stripped it CLEAN.

Oh, wait. We hear some guys in teh background go “It landed over there, lets go!” and we see Atlas troopers running for it. Huh. Guess they DO have human soldiers in the area. 

So according to the glowing news wall, we see something about an election, a journalist is dead (might be important later) and they’re commending on the embargo.  Also the sign is for someone named Hill. Looks like she’ll be important too.

Graffiti reading “show your teeth”. With an Ork symbol on it. Interesting.

Hover drones to keep track of people. Oh joy, going full authoratarian huh? Not subtle, RT. Not subtle.

Oh, theres a car. Convenient. 

Wait...”The kingdom had just lost the Great War”. I KNEW IT. I KNEW Mantle was technically the looser here. 

More trucks. Old school looking. Carrying Faunus dust miners covered in black greasy shit. Hmm. Also, not terribly subtle. 

Random angry exposition drunk guy is random, drunk, angry, and expositional...and properly disposed of in a trash can by Weiss. Thank you Miss Schnee, I appreciate that. 

Dude on the steps is probably Ash’s cousin or something. Hmm. More signs. Literally saying “Protect Mantle”.  Im calling it, this Hill person is the Mantle Resurgance leader and I think Im going to like her. 

Prostectic for a faunus. Hmm. Something tells me thats not standard... OH MY GOD HES HUEY FROM MGS MEETS DR. LIGHT WHAT THE FUCK

Something on the X-ray screens behind Maria. Looks like...full cybornetic implants of some kind? Superhumans? Spartans? Some kind of Grimm? Interesting.

Peitro. And hes got a whale on his shelf there. How clever. 

OH THANK GOD It looks like its not Schnee doing all the work. I can handle this cool old dude. 

Shoes that make you dance. 

Ironwoods gone paranoid. And no one commented on it then? Interesting. I guess Remnant doesnt have the best veterans health benefits...

I do love his “days since last nonsense” sign, still reading 0

Also a place called Atalal or something. Atlatl? Like the old throwing weapon? Perhaps a new city.

Convenient Grimm attack is convenient...also, daughter. I wonder who THAT COULD BE...

Gambol shroud is still broken I see. 

“Somehow that doesnt surprise me” No, I agree with you there Nora, when has ANYTHING defensive in Remnant ACTUALLY FUCKING WORKED?

Also shocker, the AKs are COMPLETELY WORTHLESS against Grimm. Who would have thought?!

I’ll just let the fight scene go for itself. Its great. Though I will note the AK rifles sound different now. Actual gun noises instead of the pew-pew of the plasma pistol from V3

Qrow punches a Grimm in the face and then kills it. FUCKING NICE.

Also is it just me or do these Grimm disintigrate WAY faster than they used too. I remember back in V1 and 2 they stcuk around for a bit, but the moment these guys take hits they’re just DUST. 

Green laser. WELL NOW WHO COULD THAT BE...

AND ITS...SEXY FEMALE MEGAMAN! Wait no its Penny. But upgraded. Dishwasher style.  Yaayyyyy. But...no assault robot. 

DAT ABSOLUTE TERRITORY ON HER LEG THO. GIRL SLAY IT

The little bow wiggle

ANNNDDDD RUBY’S DEAD. Thats it, shows over. Killed by flying robot ginger.

Her bow is also metal, which is adorable.  Ohhhh. So THATS where the Arena went. It flew all the way back to Atlas. Man that must have been something to see. 

Aww, shes protector of Mantle. Thats...actually kinda cute. 

“I must go, my people need me” SHE GONE

Oh, look, vents leaking heat into the air behind Maria. So Mantle DOES heat its air to keep it snow-free. 

Bolos. Really.

Please dont be specialists please dont be specialists please dont be specialists OH YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME

(Rages in lack of Tier 1 operator tacticool). Leaders a fucking douche looker too IMO. Really, a horseshoe? Oh. Wait. Hes got a clover on his shirt. I bet you anything hes the mirror opposite of Qrow.

Ace Ops? REALLY. This is the best Atlas has? I know they’re just Huntsman but LEGIT REALLY. REALLY. 

And they think th ey’re SOOOOOOO cool. Dude, Bravo Six could take your shit apart without even TRYING. Captain Price would stub his cigar out on your fuckin’ skullhole. 

And thats the episode. Next week!