#make it REQUIRED to hit her to ‘save’ her only to kill her later in the same episode
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freyholland · 1 year ago
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So Skybound Games is posting Reels on Facebook making fun of Sarah (TWDG) and calling her useless. Nice to see they’re carrying that torch of ableism from the Telltale writers
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voidofthevoidmv · 3 months ago
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TAKING SHIFTS- A classic Stanley Pines adopts the shapeshifter AU-> Little info dump
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Basic gist of it is that post portal accident, Stanley is trying his damndest to get his brother back by fixing the portal- Which logically requires that Stanley get all the journals so that he actually has a full blueprint to look at.
However, in his search for any of the journals, he discovers some kind of top secret tree bunker- Classic Ford antics. He investigates the bunker, only to find some kind of kid monster, who is under the impression that Stan is his own brother and tries to kill him. The only thing that convinces the creature that Stan is NOT Ford, is the fact that Stan has a mullet and his brother does not. Would you be surprised to discover that the mullet would play a deeper role in things than at first glance? Not me, but I think it’s very funny anyways.
The monster kid is revealed to be some kind of alien shapeshifter thing, and upon realizing that Stanley is some kind of Ford doppleganger, the shapeshifter suddenly becomes the most clingy kid ever, following Stan around throughout the bunker like a lost duckling. Stanley tries to be chill about it, but the memories of being attacked are still pretty fresh in his brain.
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After a bit the two will leave the bunker, yadda yadda yadda dialogue, and Stanley will be concerned to find that this kid hasn’t had the best upbringing in the world so far- If the limited English and big eyed staring at the sky was anything to go by. While Stan has half a mind to leave this monster kid to the wild, he apparently has these weird issues with abandonment. Something about seeing himself in the little monster kid. So he takes him back to the shack, helping the shapeshifter pick a name that isn’t a weird number. They eventually land on Simon, which is a play on Simon Says, because of course any name idea Stanley has it just HAS to be a pun.
And of course, taking in this shapeshifter will trigger changes to the timeline that will affect how things will go from here on out. A lot of wholesome, father kid bonding and found family stuff.
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Other unmentioned information and idea snippets:
-The journals are found much sooner than in canon, which means Ford is brought back sooner than in canon. Journal 2 is found first, due to the fact that Stanley has Simon (Shifty) enrolled in elementary school, which just so happens to be were one of the journals are hidden. Simon finds it and recognizes it- And Stan is so proud. Meanwhile, later on journal 3 is found by Soos in a situation similar to canon, but like- Soosified.
-Stanley is constantly wracked with guilt as time goes on, because he will hear about of make a realization about the poor treatment of Simon by Ford and his assistant in the past- All while Stanley is still actively working to bring him back. Simon doesn’t know that it’s FORD that Stan is trying to bring back, which will only result in some betrayal later on when Ford inevitably returns.
-Simon, Tate, and Soos act almost as siblings, due to circumstances that bring them together at different points in time. Tate is Simon’s best friend, a friendship which had blossomed when Emma-May showed up to the Pines cabin door, demanding that she see her ex husband and that she has some WORDS to say to the homewrecking scientist who ruined everything. Stanley had never been more confused about anything- But while Stanley is trying his best to save the situation, Tate and Simon hit it off quickly despite the broken language barrier. Meanwhile, Soos come in later when both Simon and Stan are a bit older. Stan and Soos’s relationship is similar to how it played out in canon, but Simon gets really jealous. May or may not try to kill Soos because of it- But it’s ok cuz once Soos’s natural charm infects Simon, the big brother little brother dynamic is born.
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-Simon practically idolizes Stan, and makes it a point to have his human form reflect that. He has a mullet, and it reminds him that Stan is Stan- Even after Stan cuts the mullet off so he could be a bit more business appropriate. Simon also has little freckles cuz he saw the little baby Boyish Dan and just immediately was like- Oh I want those too-
-The shapeshifter will also have his own little book of “forms” he could take. He has photos and information of various creatures, things, and people- I want you to envision how this book looks and is treated like a Pokémon card collection binder. The shapeshifter may get into photography. By the time the little twins Dipper and Mable show up, it’s not the journals that they find- But Simon’s shifting scrapbook. Which is how they find themselves getting involved in the spooky stuff in the first place.
-Because of Simon and Fords earlier arrival, the younger Pines twins adventures in Gravity Falls are a tad bit tweaked. Simon is a very powerful shapeshifter who is plenty protective of his little niblings- The Mcguckets are somewhat healthy with the whole divorced situation, and Bill is not an issue alongside Gideon… Everything else is free game though. Pretty silly.
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- The way that Fiddleford is introduced to the duo is that at some point, Stan gets his memories of Simon wiped causing severe emotional distress- And it’s lowkey kinda heartbreaking. (The blind eye sees Simon shifting in front of Stan and assumes the worst.) Once Stan gets his memories back, it’s the beginning of a warpath. (And also the end of Fiddlefords crazy cultist arc- Which is good for Tate who really likes hanging around his bestie.)
-Hijinks WILL ensue, especially after Ford comes back. Probably some other tidbits I’m missing, but that’s a problem for another day- If this interest you folks anyways- Lemmy know if this is interesting or anything and feel free to ask questions. I haven’t thought so much as to how Bill gets defeated earlier and everything- But if anyone has any cool ideas I’d be open to it. Unsure if I’ll ever get to writing this one 😂
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drysdalesworld · 5 months ago
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PHASE TWO — always trust the match maker (jamie’s version)
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part one
pairing: jamie drysdale x reader
genre: fluff (lots of it tbh)
word count: 4.8k+
warning(s): trev getting too smug about being cupid, georgie being (*forcefully*) dragged into trevor’s ideas, reader cannot skate in this part so if you can please just pretend 🙏, meddling trev, confessions of love (FINALLY JESUS), mentions of parties + alcohol, & a teeny tiny makeout sesh (BOOMSHAKALAKA)
note: decided to replace the gifs with pictures bc they seem more aesthetically pleasing to my eyes & are a little summary as to what will/may be in the fic <3 brittany is an oc that i made up for the plot who is mason mctavish’s girlfriend. also, thinking of doing a bonus chapter/part 3 inspired by “meet the parents” but idk 🤷‍♀️ let me know if you’d like that! (or i could do a poll for it) sorry that the ending is a little rushed, i was just so excited to get it out <3
“You know she can’t skate, right?”.
If looks could kill, Trevor Zegras would be six feet under at the moment.
Georgie didn’t understand the man’s fascination with getting her roommate and his teammate together. She could see the attraction they shared but would rather not meddle with it. Trevor and his want of being involved in everything is really shining through in this current moment.
“That’s perfect! Jamie’ll be right there to swoop in and save her from falling. See? My plan is perfect, Gigi!” Trevor exclaimed, eyes shining with excitement and anticipation.
His current plan for ‘phase two’ of his plan to get you and Jamie together included the family skating event that the Anaheim Ducks were hosting later in the week and since neither Jamie nor Trevor had family in California, it was a perfect idea to recruit you and your roommate as their plus ones for the night. He’d pair himself up with Georgie while Jamie was paired with you. It was perfect in his eyes. Nothing could go wrong and that night would be the night where everything fell into place and the both of you would finally get together after bearing witness to the mutual pining and obliviousness.
“Y’know this isn’t a rom-com movie, right?” Georgie scoffed out, eyes rolling and head shaking as she did so.
“I’m well aware thank you,” Trevor sassed, copying the actions of the woman in front of him. “You have nothing to worry about. She’ll be in great hands. Jamie won’t let her fall or anything”.
The woman across from him only hummed and crossed her arms over her chest, not fully believing in the blue eyed man. Whatever he’s planning, she thought, better be good. Poor girl deserves a break.
———
“You know I can’t skate, right?”.
The question seemed to hit Trevor in the face, eye nearly twitching in agitation.
“Yes. I’ve been made aware of that”.
“So why do you want me to go to your family skate so bad?”.
The blue eyed man nearly wanted to rip the ends of his hair out in frustration. Why couldn’t you just say yes without any questions? It was a simple question that required a simple answer.
“You can practice your skating skills! Everyone should at least learn how to skate one time in their life. Plus, neither Jamie or I have family in California and it’d be nice for you and Georgie to tag along,” he replied, internally on his hands and knees begging as he asked you.
“I’ll fall,” you retorted, arms crossed against your chest.
“Jamie or I will be there to catch you. Hell, if you want Mason to do it, I’ll make sure he will. Just…please come”.
Trevor’s words only caused you to sigh out, nerves already bunching in your stomach at the thought of stepping on the ice. It’s not that you haven’t skated before. It’s just that it’s been years since you have and even then, it was only your third time ever skating. You didn’t want to make yourself look like a fool and fall straight on your face.
“Promise?” You asked.
“Promise,” Trevor nodded.
“Don’t make me regret trusting you, Zegras”.
“I’d never. Scouts honor!”.
You had a feeling that you were going to regret agreeing to skating with Trevor. And you’d be proven right exactly four days after this interaction.
———
“If I slip and die, I’m going to haunt your ass!” You shrieked, hands out in front of you as you wobbled on the sleek ice, trying to balance yourself.
The force of laughter that left Jamie’s lips nearly knocked the both of you over, skates slipping back and forth on the ice as you tried to balance yourself once more.
You don’t know how you were in your right mind when you agreed to Trevor’s family skate idea. You immediately regretted it the minute you stepped onto the ice and nearly face planted. He had managed to catch you last minute, hauling you up as he laughed at your state, declaring you ‘Bambi on ice’.
You had been handed off to Jamie when Trevor decided to help Georgie, even though she had a lengthy history of skating and could manage on her own. He practically dragged you over to the Canadian before lightly shoving you into his frame, clinging onto Jamie’s outstretched arms as you cursed the Zegras boy out.
“You’re doing great so far! Just focus on what’s in front of you,” Jamie replied, the sweetest smile on his face as he continued to grasp your hands in his own. You were surprised he could still feel his hands from how tight you were gripping them. “It’s always hard the first couple of minutes on the ice. But it gets better as time goes on”.
“Says the professional skater”.
He grinned at your statement, eyes never straying from yours as he did so. You did have a point. Jamie had has ample time to refine his skating skills whereas you barely even touched the ice growing up.
“Okay, you got me there. But trust me. The more time you spend on the ice today, the easier it will be next time,” he added, eyes quickly darting behind him to make sure no one was behind him as he continued to skate backwards.
“Next time? Oh no! No. There will not be a next time! This is the only time I will be stepping on the ice,” you retorted, shaking your head.
Jamie only shook his head in response, grin still plastered on his face as the both of you continued to glide across the ice.
“It won’t be if Trevor has anything to do with it. Now, you’re doing great! Just keep bending your legs,” he replied, hands tightening their grip on yours ever so slightly.
A scoff was the only response to escape your lips as you continued to focus on skating properly, desperate to not fall on your face.
———
“So, how was it?”.
Hours had passed and you were all skated out, Jamie practically carrying you off the ice as you complained about how much your feet hurt.
A glare was shot in Trevor’s direction. His usual, stupid grin on his face as he plopped himself right next to you as Jamie untied your skates for you. (You had protested much on the fact. But he insisted on untying your laces for you. You could not refuse him after he practically pouted at you to let him.)
“I’m killing you when we get home,” you replied, massaging your foot once it was free from the tortuous confinement of the ice skate. “I can’t feel my feet, Trev!”.
“She did pretty good. Better than I expected,” Jamie commented, gently placing the other foot onto his thigh, fingers deftly untying the laces.
You let out a gasp of shock, gently nudging Jamie’s forehead as you pouted, “You have no faith in me at all!”.
The onyx haired man only chuckled at your response, shaking his head a little to fix his locks as he continued to aid you in getting out of your skates.
“From what I could see, you did well, babe” Georgie piqued, skates already off and tennis shoes on her feet. Her piercing eyes glared at Trevor for a second before returning to you, softening a bit.
You mouthed a ‘thank you’ to her, a gentle smile on your face.
“All right,” Jamie murmured, softly taking your foot out of the unlaced skate and placing it on the ground underneath him. “You’re all ready to go!”.
“Thanks, Jimmy!” You spoke, stretching out that foot as you wiggled your toes and tried to relieve yourself of the soreness.
Trevor shot Georgie a look, something that neither you or Jamie noticed. The man wiggled his eyebrows a bit, earning an eye roll and a smack to the shoulder from the woman in front of him.
“McTavish is having a little get together later tonight if y’all are interested in joining,” Georgie commented, very discreetly kicking Trevor’s shin, earning a yelp from him.
“Oh, right! Something about starting the new season off with a bang or whatever,” the brunet added, rubbing his shin. That’ll definitely bruise.
“We should definitely go!” He continued, trying to gauge you and Jamie’s separate reactions to the suggestion.
You looked a little unsure, sparing a quick glance to Jamie as he absorbed the information given to him. Parties were never your thing to begin with. But it always managed to be fun if a certain Ducks player attended.
Jamie shrugged, hand still loosely holding onto your ankle, “Sure!”.
You nodded in response, a smile gracing your features as you looked at Georgie in confirmation.
“Great!” She exclaimed, hands clapping together as she ushered you up, ankle now becoming cold as Jamie’s hand slipped from it. “Us girls will get ready while you two do whatever. Just don’t forget (Y/N)’s drinks this time”.
Georgie shot a hard look at Trevor when she finished her commentary, glaring at him once more before she handed you your shoes and turned your back towards the two boys.
The blue eyed man only rolled his eyes and scoffed, arms crossing over his chest.
“She’s right. Don’t forget it,” Jamie added, including his, in Trevor’s opinion, unwanted input.
“I won’t, lover boy,” Trevor scoffed, ruffling his friends hair before getting up himself, phase two already beginning to circle in his brain.
———
The ‘little get together’ Mason was throwing was, in fact, not little.
If you had to guess, you would say there were at least thirty people squished in Mason’s apartment. Every person there either seemed to be a player or a friend of a friend. You didn’t recognize most unfortunately.
People were bumping into one another as they mingled their way through the crowd to get somewhere else or greet another friend. It was overwhelming to say the least. And it didn’t help that once you stepped through the door, Georgie excused herself to go to the bathroom and left you by the overflowing coat rack Mason had stationed by the entrance to his apartment.
You were close to turning around and leaving the party when you heard someone shout your name—Trevor.
“And where do you think you’re going, missy?” He asked, two alcoholic beverages in hand. “You’ve barely been here thirty seconds and you already want to leave,” Trevor continued, tsking at you.
“This isn’t a little get together, Z,” you shouted, the music and loud talking in the small space making it hard to hear what Trevor was saying.
Trevor sheepishly shrugged. “It was!” He exclaimed, “But then Brittany wanted to bring some of her friends and then they wanted to bring some of their friends…”.
You only shook your head, snatching the familiar labeled beverage in his hand and cracking it open before he finished his sentence.
“But hey, Jamie’s here!” He excitedly shouted, a wide smile spreading on his lips. “He’s back in Mason’s room! I left him there to get you since Georgie texted me that you guys were here”.
A small blush crept onto your cheeks at the mention of the defenseman, warming up your face. Trevor had taken that reaction as a sign to grab your free hand and drag you to Mason’s room, squeezing his way through the numerous bodies littered across the room.
“It should be more peaceful in there,” Trevor commented, turning his head a little bit so you could hear him. He knew how you got with large enough crowds and had personally asked Mason if you could stay in there for a majority of the time so you wouldn’t be overwhelmed. (Not that getting you into Mason’s room with Jamie was a part of his plan, of course not!)
Once you had reached the pearl white wooden door, Trevor had quickly ushered you in before closing the door behind himself, trying extremely hard to keep a straight face so as to not blow his cover.
Jamie was seated on Mason’s bed, elbows on knees as he was scrolling through whatever app he had on his phone. His dark hair had fallen forward due to the position, causing Jamie to have to push back the strands to get a good look at whoever walked into the room.
A smile broke onto his lips once he saw that it was you. “Hey,” he spoke, turning off his phone and throwing it to the left of him, the device making contact with the soft pillows.
“(Y/N/N) here tried to run. But, I caught her in time before she could make an escape. You’re welcome,” Trevor praised himself, giving a little bow to Jamie and you.
You rolled your eyes and took a sip of your beverage. “Oh, why, thank you so much, Trev!”.
Only a wide grin was Trevor’s response to your quip, teeth on full display as his blue eyes twinkled with an all too familiar look.
But before you could question what he was up to, a loud knock came from behind Mason’s bedroom door, catching the attention of all three of you in the room.
The door opened to reveal Lukáš Dostál, one of the Ducks goalies. He had a sheepish smile on his face as he called out to Trevor, telling him that Mason needed him real quick before slowly backing away from the door frame to allow space for the center player to get through.
“Alright,” Trevor spoke, clapping his hands together, or at least as much as he could with his beer in hand. “I must depart. So, I’ll leave you two alone. Don’t miss me too much now”.
A fake laugh escaped your lips as the boy exited the room, the loud slam and click of the door echoing throughout the room. Trevor shot you a small wink just before he completely disappeared behind the door.
“He’s up to something,” Jamie commented, eyes squinted at the door, gaze lingering on the general area Trevor stood just moments prior.
“I was about to say the same thing, Drysdale” you murmured, non dominant hand on hip as your dominant one still held your cool beverage.
“You’d think we’d have a sixth sense for this,” he chuckled, fingers raking through his dark hair. “With all the shit he pulls, you’d think we’d be better at recognizing when he’s up to something”.
You smiled at his comment, nodding with what he was saying as you took a sip of your drink. Trying to pinpoint what exactly Trevor was up to was always a hard feat—something that you hadn’t quite mastered yet even after all these years of knowing him.
“He’s sneaky. Too much for his own good sometimes,” you spoke, flopping onto Mason’s bed, cup already emptied and discarded somewhere amongst the room.
Jamie only hummed in response as he felt your weight dip the mattress, the force of it nearly forcing him backwards, his left hand going behind him in order to stop himself from crushing you.
From his position, Jamie could see every faint freckle on your face and every birthmark that painted your skin. You were wearing a black baby tee that had two pink magic eight balls positioned as cherries, tied by a ribbon on the very front. The necklace that held your first initial laid in the middle of your chest, moving up and down with each breath you took. The jeans you were wearing hugged your figure perfectly. Your eyelids were gently closed and from time to time, he could see your eyes move underneath the lids. Your hair splayed around your head like a halo, shining in the overhead light. To Jamie, you looked like an angel sent from above—so pretty and kind and captivating. He couldn’t believe he had met you when he did. He felt so blessed to get the privilege to be in your life, in whatever way you deemed appropriate.
“Trevor’s special. In more ways than one,” Jamie chuckled.
His comment made you laugh, your head thrown back against the sheet as your legs lifted up to your chest as they kicked instinctually from laughter.
Your reaction made Jamie smile and blush, blood rushing up his neck to his cheeks, dusting his face a light pink color.
“I’m surprised we’re still friends with him,” you wheezed out. “With all the shit he’s pulled, he should’ve been blocked a long time ago”.
Jamie chuckled and nodded in response.
His heart was beating extremely fast, something it did regularly when Jamie was in your presence. He also had a hard time breathing too, but who wouldn’t?
A comfortable silence had settled between you two. You still laid down on Mason’s bed, eyes delicately closed and breathing steady as you tried not to fall asleep on the comfortable mattress.
The loud chatter of those outside Mason’s bedroom was only an afterthought as the two of you continued to bask in the comfortable silence. The domesticity of it all made Jamie’s heart lurch and his mind race. It wasn’t an entirely domestic scene, but it was enough for him. You are always enough for him.
The man wasn’t going to lie about how he knew about Trevor’s “masterful plan”. He had figured it out quickly after he heard his roommate mumble to himself about how his plan failed after that one party at their shared apartment. Confiding in Georgie only proved Jamie’s suspicions right—the redhead practically spilling every thought and plan Trevor had come up with in an attempt to get the two of you together. Jamie had nearly died at Georgie’s confession. That was the only confirmation he needed to pull up his bootstraps and finally work up the courage to confess to you. And, of course, Jamie knew of Trevor’s idea of throwing you two in a room together in hopes of the two of you getting together.
“(Y/N)?”.
So, here goes nothing.
“Can I tell you something?”.
That question piqued your interest.
You opened your eyes and sat up, faces inches away from Jamie’s face as his eyes never left yours. Your cheeks burned pink from the proximity and you found yourself cursing at your low tolerance for alcohol. Another reason why you much preferred the colorful, fruity drinks many alcohol brand names created. You didn’t need much to feel the effects.
“Yeah. What’s up?” You asked, shifting yourself a bit so all of your weight wasn’t put onto your arms, leaning a little forward.
Jamie’s mouth suddenly went dry, the words caught in his throat as his brain tried to scramble for something—anything to say.
“Should I have not said that about Trev?” You wearily asked, worried he took what you said about his best friend to heart. “Because I didn’t mean that! He’s a cool guy, really! Can be a bit annoying, but I’d never block him. Unless he did, like, something incredibly stupid like—”.
“No.” Jamie simply stated, it coming out more as a croak than a word. He cleared his throat before continuing.
“No. It’s not about that. I honestly agree with everything you said”.
That granted Jamie a smile of yours that he so desperately loved seeing on you. He copied your smile, licking his lips before then.
“It’s just—Damn. I didn’t think it’d be this hard,” he whispered, head slightly shaking as his eyes darted from place to place, nerves tingling throughout his entire body.
“What? That what would be hard, J?” You softly ask, hand coming up to gently grip his bicep in a comforting grasp.
The skin you touched felt like it was on fire to Jamie. Every time you touched him, sparks erupted underneath his skin. It always felt nice. Like it was supposed to happen. Like you were supposed to be touching him.
“I’ve thought day and night about this nearly every day since I met you. Do you remember that? Trev was so excited to introduce you. He was practically buzzing off the walls with excitement,” Jamie begins, his own hand gravitating towards yours that still grasped his bicep, gently wrapping around your wrist.
You giggled at the memory. Trevor had been excited to introduce the two of you. He was dead set on Jamie being the one to rid you of your relationship disappointments. The man had commented many times how his friend and roommate Jamie could be your one. You very much doubted that statement. You had given up at that point. But the second you locked eyes with Jamie Drysdale, all bets went out the window. He was so sweet and so gentle in speaking with you and shaking your hand. You were sure if angels walked the Earth, Jamie was one of them. That night, after leaving the café Trevor brought you to, you had realized that the center hockey player was right about Jamie being the change for you. But you still had doubted that something as kind, as beautiful as Jamie would fall for someone like you.
“Trevor wouldn’t stop talking my ear off about all your little quirks,” you commented. “He told me about your sleep talking and how you always watch the Mighty Ducks series whenever you don’t feel well”.
“Of course he did,” Jamie snorted. “What didn’t he tell you.”
You only smiled in response as you waited for Jamie to continue whatever he was saying beforehand. The butterflies in your stomach swarming and hurriedly batting their wings. You weren’t sure what Jamie was trying to say. You just hoped that he wasn’t going to abruptly end the friendship you two had.
“Trevor had mentioned some things here and there about you. Honestly, I wasn’t sure who I was going to meet that day from how little he mentioned you. He refused to tell me anything and insisted that I actually talk to you to find out more about you. Which, I guess, I should thank him for because then I probably wouldn’t have connected with you the way I did.”.
“It’s forever sketched into my brain—that day. I remember how cold it was that morning and how you walked in with only jeans and a jacket on while I had too many layers on to count. I think my lungs stopped working the minute you walked through the café doors and we locked eyes. I nearly spilled my drink.”.
You both chuckled at that. You had a feeling of where this conversation was going to go and your brain nearly started to overheat from how hard you were thinking and trying not to just blurt out how you felt to him. You never got those long confessions from those you were interested in. And since you were now getting that, you didn’t want to interrupt and ruin the moment. So, you stayed quiet and silently urged Jamie to continue.
“I know it’s cliché to say, but I’m pretty sure I loved you the moment I saw you. Everything about you intrigued me. Everything about you was so enchanting and I couldn’t stop myself from being greedy and wanting to get to know you better. I don’t even think Trevor spoke to us once during the entire three hours we were there. It was hard having to leave and part ways. I wanted to spend more time with you.”.
“I called my Mom later that night and told her everything. She laughed at me and told me that something similar happened to her and my Dad. That I should keep you as close as I could. I’m pretty sure even she could tell that I was already taken aback by you. It was that night that I knew no one else could compare. I mean, it took you, what, five seconds to break me out of my shell and have me talking the entire morning. You were special for some reason and you’re something that I cannot imagine letting go.”.
“So, I guess what I am trying to say is, I think—No. I know that I’m in love with you. And I have been since Trevor uttered your name,” he finished.
Unshed tears gathered in your waterline, threatening to spill over as you took in what the man you had held so close to your heart for so long just confessed.
Jamie too had small tears gather at the corner of his eyes. His heart pounded against his chest as he tried to slow his breathing down. He poured his heart and soul out to you and he only hoped that you matched his feelings back.
“Oh, Jamie,” you whispered, voice full of emotion. “I too have loved you since the moment we met. I think I had a harder time coming to terms with it. I had some rocky relationships in the past that made me feel inadequate for love. For the longest time I thought I was only made for half assed love and the kind of love that made me feel empty when it was over. But, meeting you has changed everything. Meeting you has rewired my brain in so many ways that I can’t begin to tell you the impact you’ve had on me. Just you alone have made me believe all over again. You make love seem not as scary as I thought”.
By the time you reached the end of your sentence, Jamie had tears running down his pale cheeks. He knew of your less than satisfactory relationships and hoped that one day, he could change your mind. He didn’t think he’d actually achieve it as just your friend. He only hoped that he’d be able to do more as your partner.
Silence fell over the two of you again as you both sat there in a warm touchless embrace. Jamie’s hand still gripping yours. Eventually, he moved your hand from his bicep up to his lips, delicately kissing it before placing it on his cheek as he leaned into the soft flesh of your palm.
“I feel like that was really cheesy, no?” He whispered, a giggle falling from his lips.
You could only giggle and nod in response, leaning forward to rest your forehead against his.
Your eyes met, both wet from the tears shedded. An unspoken question (Can I kiss you?) was asked between the two of you, a simple shake of your heads was the only confirmation you needed before leaning in and pressing your lips together.
Jamie’s lips were so, so soft that it made you want to cry all over again. His cologne was more pungent now that you were lip locked. The smell made you feel dizzy, your closed eyes not helping the slight vertigo sensation you felt. His unoccupied hand went to your cheek to pull you even closer, the need to become one ever so present in the air.
Your other hand went up to his soft locks, desperately tugging at the ends, making Jamie shudder at the feeling. You tried to get closer to the man, but the position the two of you were in was not ideal.
But, before you could pull away and climb into Jamie’s lap, the door to Mason’s bedroom slammed open, scaring the two of you away from each other.
“Holy shit! Yes!” A voice shouted, the owner jumping up and down as they squealed and shrieked in excitement.
“Trevor, what the fuck?!” You screamed, now lying on the bed sideways from the scare you received.
“I did it! I finally did it! You guys kissed! I am the ultimate matchmaker, bitches!” He continued, ignoring the glares he was getting from the two of you.
As Trevor began to dance in celebration in front of Jamie and you, you peeked a look at the man you just kissed only to see him smirking as he gazed at you.
But, the only thing you could do was shake your head and urge yourself forward, locking Jamie into another kiss.
“Ew! Hey, I’m right here! Just because you’re together now does not mean I consent to seeing you two eat each other’s faces,” Trevor exclaimed, a small smile on his face as he teasingly tsked at the two of you.
The only response to his comment was your middle finger as he slipped through the door again, careful to lock the door as to leave the two of you some peace and privacy.
———
( “So, did they do it?” Mason asked, feet propped up against the small table placed in front of his couch.
The Ducks player had originally been against Trevor’s “plan” but had ultimately agreed when he got sick and tired of Jamie moping around like a lost puppy after someone mentioned your name.
The smirk on Trevor’s face said it all.
“Good, hopefully he’ll stop looking like a lovesick fool every time someone mentions her,” he added, sipping his beer. “But you owe me big time, Zegras! I just don’t let anyone use my bedroom for their matchmaking plans”.
Trevor only saluted his teammate, uttering a sir yes sir! before practically skipping his way to Georgie to spill the beans.
Mason shook his head as he watched Trevor go, thinking about how much of a clean day tomorrow will be, headache already forming at the thought. )
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hope-luvs-hrtstppr · 2 months ago
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some random tlou hbo s1 + s2 opinions! (spoilers ahead)
- i don’t think the vaccine would have worked. (yes, ik what neil said. i maintain unmoved lol) vaccines require trials and multiple attempts, the chances it would work on their first go at it are lowwww. though i don’t think whether or not the vaccine would have worked is relevant to joel’s decision or how everything turned out
- dina being with joel on his last day raised the stakes for him. he had to comply to abby to ensure dina’s safety when she woke up. or at least that’s where i imagine his mind went. his protective instincts towards her can also be related to the “it’s like she’s my kid, but she’s not” line in joel’s therapy session.
- this isn’t really relevant but i love bella ramsey so much
- the dellie tent scene felt really real to me. as a teenage lesbian myself, the sleepovers with that one friend where you’re lying a few inches away from each other, and you know that you both want to inch closer, but neither of you do. asking questions that test the boundaries of friendship, and trying to get an idea of where you stand based on their reaction. making jokes about the thought of you two being together to try and mask the truth behind them. lying awake in the darkness after saying goodnight knowing that there is still so much left to say to each other, but keeping quiet. because this girl means so much to you. and romantic feelings fuck up friendships. and you’d rather lay those few inches away from her than not lay next to her at all.
- the most devastating episode in season one for me was episode five, with henry and sam. devastating may be an understatement (i was SOBBING in my mother’s arms). i am the youngest child and have a complex relationship with my siblings, so sibling relationships always hit me in a tender place, which could explain my reaction. but even beyond that, henry and sam’s story specifically is so fucking tragic. henry: who’s sole purpose is to protect his little brother, who an already cruel world (the pandemic as a whole, plus a brutal and oppressive FEDRA-run kansas city) has been especially cruel to (sam getting leukemia). and sam: a little boy who looks up to his brother so damn much, and considers him a super hero- which the show communicates through his drawings of ‘super sam’. but henry sees himself as a villain, because of the lengths he’s gone in order to protect sam (reporting cathleen’s brother). HE FEELS LIKE A VILLAIN FOR BEING SAM’S HERO. and then GET THIS. he can’t save sam. because the cruel world got to him, despite everything he had done to protect him from it. and when sam turns, henry has to decide between being the hero and villain again. does he trade another life for sam’s, knowing that sam is already doomed? trade someone he has grown close to? someone he knows is so deeply loved? he hesitates, but he ends up killing his infected little brother. because, at his core, he’s a protector (a superhero, if you will). and it’s what sam would have wanted. but to henry, saving ellie was another act of villainy. he killed the only person he cares about in this world, and this settles it. he’s the bad guy. HE DIED THINKING HE WAS THE FUCKING BAD GUY. WHEN ALL HIS LIFE HE HAD ONLY EVER BEEN SAM’S HERO. *explodes*
- when ellie sings “it’s no better to be safe than sorry” to dina during take on me, i started tearing up. because that’s where dina’s at! she’s too scared to admit her feelings ellie and accept her own queerness, so she tries to ignore it. but later that episode, she thinks ellie’s going to die, and she never got to tell her how she felt. LIKE. CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?? IT’S NO BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY!!!!!!
- bella ramsey.
- gail isn’t supposed to be a good therapist. she takes out her own issues on her clients, she drinks during session, she thinks some people “can’t be saved.” but like, i fear that’s the point? she’s not supposed to be professional. she is giving therapy during a fucking apocalypse and gets paid in weed. i agree with the critique of her character regarding her purpose in the story being solely to convey joel and ellie’s experience while they aren’t talking to each other, and how it feels a little like a shortcut writing wise. but i don’t agree that her being a bad therapist is a testament to her having bad character design. characters have flaws, that is not a flaw in their composition. gail is meant to be a shitty therapist, but she’s the only therapist jackson has.
- i think that the sexualization of game ellie has altered this fandoms perception of her character as a whole. don’t get me wrong, game ellie is fucking hot. and people should write about whatever they wanna write about. my issue is when people put her on this untouchable pedestal, and then come at show ellie for not acting in whatever way their projected fantasy version of ellie acts. yes, show ellie and game ellie differ personality wise in some places. but they also overlap a hell of a lot. and seeing people criticize show ellie for every little thing just makes me question how grounded their perception of ellie as a character is.
- i didn’t think they made jessie unlikable. his qualms were all based. ellie isn’t thinking of what’s best for others, or even herself. she wants to stay in a war zone to go on a wild goose chase fueled by vengeance and grief. she’s not thinking of her injured and pregnant girlfriend. or her isolated uncle that’s fighting for his life. or her best friend who is a father-to-be. she’s thinking of joel. and that’s it. i think that young and bella did a great job portraying these two friends who care a lot about each other, but have fundamentally different core values and motivations.
- BELLA RAMSEY!!!!
- i think season two would have benefitted from being a few episodes longer. it’s such an ambitious season based off of such rich source material. i think that there is a way to have these scenes introducing the wlf and seraphites without taking away from ellie’s storyline. there’s so much complexity jam packed into such a limited time frame. entire messages and central themes are reduced to singular interactions at times. idk, maybe i just selfishly want more show to watch. maybe it’s a combination of the both.
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simblorbo-bracket · 4 months ago
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FINALS - Simblr's Saddest, Wettest Meow Meow - Losers Bracket
Saxen (@herecirmsims) VS. Nancy Landgraab (@fallstaticexit)
(polls are presented left -> right unless stated otherwise)
The penultimate matchup of the entire tournament! The winner will break through the ceiling and re-emerge in the mainline finals! Who will go head to head against Geoffrey Landgraab for the title of Simblr's Saddest, Wettest Meow Meow?
What is a ‘Meow Meow’?
(taken from tumblr user @/torturelabyrinth) “The thing about a true poor little meow meow is they have to be 1) downtrodden 2) morally questionable at best 3) deeply and pathetically miserable”
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Saxen
Things Sax does extremely well: fainting and bleeding (separately), fainting and bleeding (combination), rotting in bed, crying or being completely stoic (no in between), causing more problems while trying to fix his previous problems, omitting certain truths (aka lying).
Now, I don't know if he really counts as an SWMM because he's not a classic villain... but in his pursuit of Doing The Right Thing he has made some awful choices. Good intentions, poor outcomes.
I present the evidence beneath the cut:
Some of his crimes:
In an attempt to save his sister, he left his post and facilitated the escape of a world-devouring entity which he was supposed to help contain.
After his sister died he made another attempt to save her, via necromancy, and instead doomed her to an endless cycle of death and rebirth. Until recently, none of her reincarnations were healthy enough to survive infancy.
He befriended the parents of this latest incarnation without filling them in on the backstory, or his motives. After they were killed by his enemy, he took the baby and kept her hidden for 11 years (did she have grandparents, uncles, aunts? Yes, probably. He claims they couldn't have cared for her like he did and technicallyyyy he's right, since her survival required magic, but...)
He broke the arm of one of his 'adopted' adult kids (he has an enchanted cottage which has been a refuge for a lot of people) when said adult tried to prevent him from killing someone else. Yes, technically he did only push Thom and didn't intend for Thom to hit the wall so hard, but...
Long story short but his home world didn't end, it was just knocked out of its timeline for a while. Unfortunately, due to his actions on the day the Grim escaped (attacking portal guards and forcing his way through the rift, just as an unrelated-to-him group stormed the castle), he was a) assumed dead and b) immediately arrested on his return for treason and attempted regicide.
He's a constant menace and cause of stress to his man, the kindest and sweetest soul to ever live. He doesn't mean to be, it's just that his attempts to keep Fen safe often seem to involve risking himself in increasingly creative and fatal ways.
Why should you vote for Sax? Well, I think his endless complex trauma and the fact that almost all his misfortunes happened because he was trying to fix things/help people makes him pretty damn tragic and definitely very damp. He could do with a win. Plus... look at him. 🥲
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Nancy Landgraab
What makes Nancy a Sad, Wet Meow Meow? Our famously known townie turned OC is the Queen of Melancholy. She's closeted, she's religiously repressed, she's h*rny, she's rich, she carries the burden of her deceased elder brother, she's the bane of her mother's existence. When she's not internalizing her self loathing, she's gazing longingly into the distance thinking about a life free of her mother's judgement and status that she never wanted in favor of running free through a sunflower field kissing beautiful women. And when she manages to actually show up for her two sons, she's still so emotionally detached that this will very much come up in a therapy session later. Her husband is almost on his knees begging for her to smile but she's still pining after her first love while being married to said husband (who's a second runner up for SWMM tbh).
She's a cheater, she's a liar, she's about to get into some risky, sketchy business, she disappoints her children, she's morally grey, she's a top, she's catholic, she's a cougar, she likes to splurge on dr*gs and strippers, the list goes on. ahhh.
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sonny201818 · 5 months ago
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“I’m going to take care of you…”
I did not want to get to this point 😢 but here is the lore on the events of the Catacomb:
Anne gets cursed the summer going into 5th year. Millie helps Sebastian exhaust every lead to find a cure as he’s been her best friend since 1st year. She grew up an orphan so Ominis and the Sallow’s are the closest thing she has to family. So she follows Sebastian without question.
When Solomon sees how far they are delving into “other methods” for Anne’s cure he tries to shut them down. Since Millie has been around since 1st year, he’s just as hard on her as he is the boys, but she doesn’t back down either.
After finding the relic, in order to save Sebastian and Ominis’s friendship, Millie forces Sebastian to make a compromise. Sebastian must only use the Relic as an absolute last resort. (They still had the hope that maybe Millie’s ancient magic could heal Anne).
And Sebastian agreed to that. But, after seeing the stress and burden that Millie was carrying all along, between the trials, goblins and Ashwinders, and now Anne’s curse, Sebastian felt so much guilt. Once Lodgok was murdered in front of Millie, she became a shell of her former self, focused solely on finishing the trials and curing Anne. It was taking a toll on the once carefree and vibrant girl he had known. He knew he had relied on Millie too much and decided to take matters into his own hands.
It was the night that Rookwood had captured Millie. She fought against him and as soon as Millie defeated him, she received the letter from Ominis informing her that Sebastian had taken Anne to the Catacomb. She headed straight there, despite her own exhaustion.
Once Sebastian used the relic, his mind became altered and he began using dark magic and controlling the inferi. Once Millie arrived and she talked to him, he began to come back to himself slowly. Until Solomon arrived.
He destroyed the relic and Sebastian attacked him out of anger. Then the inferi attacked. Sebastian held back the inferi while Millie fought Solomon.
Solomon, who struggles with PTSD from his Auror days, had a PTSD episode and went much too far in his fight against with Millie. All the while she was holding back since it was Uncle Solomon, the only parental figure she’s had since she was 11.
It ended with her taking a hard hit, and Sebastian honestly thought that she had died for a moment, and he lost it. He began to attack Solomon, and due to the effects from the Relic, and his own grief and frustration pent up from his sister’s curse, he cast the killing curse on his uncle.
Cut to this scene of Millie comforting Sebastian in the Undercroft until he fell asleep…
Later, Ominis informed Millie and Sebastian that Solomon did not die, but he had fallen into a coma. Since the killing curse requires full intent, and Sebastian did not truly want his uncle dead, it was not fatal. But Anne is still beside herself that her own twin had gone to such lengths. She doesn’t know what to think nor does she want to see Millie or Sebastian right now, but she doesn’t want to turn Sebastian in (I don’t think Anne would ever had done that).
Millie doesn’t know where to go from here. Her found family is falling apart, and Sebastian, her rock and best friend, is crumbling apart right in front of her. All she could do was caress his bruised face, and promise that she was never going to leave him. She was going to take care of him…
Continue
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gortash-did-nothing-wrong · 11 months ago
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Fatherhood
Warnings: mentions of spanking children, mentions of Enver being abused as a child, incredibly brief mentions of a child wandering off and their mother panicking, implied murder but it's barely touched on.
Enver is a bit of a conundrum as a father, you've come to realize by the time your oldest is seven. He is equally strict and lenient. He demands his children have a rigorous study regimen with the best tutors money and blackmail can get, and an active lifestyle. He's less strict about their physical activity, allowing them to simply pick a hobby that requires physical prowess and he arranged for tutors and coaches to help them excel at it. Their oldest takes a fancy to horseback riding and Enver arranges for a purebred warhorse to be delivered to his stables.
"Absolutely not." You say firmly, disappointing your seven year old daughter. "She's not even four feet tall yet, a fall from that beast would kill her!"
"Well my dearest, I believe the point is that she stays in the saddle." He teased.
You threw a handful of hay at his head. The next day there was an age appropriate pony in the stables instead.
Your second child wanders off in town one day, and three panic attacks later, you find him at a blacksmith shop, staring wide eyed as a lovely tiefling man explains to him the process of smelting ore. You grab your five year old boy, holding him in your arms as you apologize. "I am so very sorry, he's a very curious boy, and fast on his feet!"
"No trouble at all." Damon, he introduces himself as, says. "In fact, I'm in the market for some help around the forge?"
Your son spends his weekends at Damon's shop, carrying buckets of coal, writing down orders, and even sometimes swinging a hammer. Enver is beside himself with joy at the sight of his son dirty with soot and his hands blistered.
"And a fine young smith he'll make!" Enver proclaims. "He's got my broad shoulders after all, and look at those hands! They'll only get tougher with every blister, my boy!"
"Isn't he a bit young for so much labor?" You asked, applying some ointment and bandages to your son's hands. "He's not even getting paid."
Damon had offered your son five copper a week, generous for the labor a five year old could provide. Enver had refused, instead sending his son to Damon with one hundred gold a week for the blacksmithing lessons.
"Experience is more valuable at his age than coin. And come now, my dear wife, money is of no issue to us. Anything he wants I'll just buy him!"
Ah, yes, Enver's leniency. As strict as Enver was about demanding his children perform well in their studies, when it came to other areas of life your children were somewhat spoiled. Your daughter had a new outfit every other week it seemed, and both your children's pockets were often filled with candy. They had new toys monthly, their old ones being donated to the orphanages whenever they piled up. Enver saw no point denying them anything.
Until they required discipline. Something you found out about your husband was that he refused to ever hit your children, not even a light smack on the back of their hand. The idea disgusted him whenever you mentioned it. He forbid you from raising a hand to them, something that you found difficult on days when they tried your patience but ultimately you managed. One of your nursemaids had spanked your oldest lightly when she was caught trying to climb out of a window to see if she could run across the rooftop like a cat. Enver had found out, and despite you trying to save the woman's job, you had never seen her again. You doubt she was simply fired, though. Even after the nether brain was defeated and certain activities of your husband stopped... He always had some kind of experiment or tribute to Bane going on. You suspect the woman was a victim to one of them, despite her spanking being a product of fearing for your daughter's life.
The only punishment Enver ever inflicted on his children were stern lectures, and denial of free time. Or the introduction of chores. Watching your oldest try to wash dishes in the kitchen as a punishment had been mildly amusing. Soap suds had gotten everywhere, and she was causing more issues than helping the staff, but the point was she hated doing it.
Your son was the more well behaved child, his only frequent bit of mischief was wandering off unannounced. And whenever he was found, he was either pouring over books in the library, up to his elbows in dirt outside, or sneaking into his father's workshop to 'borrow' tools.
Still, Enver was strict on both of your children conforming to the rules of the house, of which no running off was one. Your son was frequently punished with chores like sweeping, scrubbing, even laundry. After one particularly boring afternoon, you walked into the back yard of the estate to see your son having rigged up a mechanical washing system powered by a donkey your daughter had helped him lead over by his reins.
"Menaces." You mumbled, before going to fetch Enver. Thirty minutes later, you sat in a chair, drinking lemonade and watching Enver and your son both work on the mechanical washing system. "Men."
Your daughter, sitting next to you with a glass of apple juice, grunted in agreement. "Overgrown boys."
You remark on his odd parenting one evening as you feed your third child, a darling little girl that's only two. "I must say, I've never met a man of your status that doesn't occasionally hit his children. My father was quite strict with his belt, so are all of my brothers with their children."
"Your family hardly ever sees each other." Enver said pointedly, sipping a glass of bourbon as he reads the evening newspaper. "Didn't you go five years without even speaking to your father?"
You pause, weighing his words. "Yes... I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just curious what caused you to be so different. Is it a Lower City cultural norm to not spank your children?"
Enver snorts, abandoning his newspaper to go find his snuff box. "My father was more fond of his fists than his belt."
You feel your face grow pale. "Oh... I'm-"
"Don't." He says firmly, forgetting his pipe and tobacco in favor of coming to stand beside your chair. His hand, calloused yet gentle, pets your hair. "It's the past. It's over. And all those who have wronged me are either dead or worse." He says lowly.
He bends down, kissing your two year old on her chubby little cheek. "And my children will never fear their parents."
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numbugpowerscale · 4 months ago
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Freedom Planet vs. Spark the Electric Jester (Sash Lilac vs. Spark)
Freedom Planet vs. Spark the Electric Jester
(Sash Lilac vs. Spark)
Sonic was the genesis (pun entirely intended) of this new style of high speed platformer, making an entire generation of fans of its fast paced, blistering style.
That generation of fans went on to develop games of their own, games so clearly influenced by their genesis and yet still strive to be their own, creating their own subgenre of gaming in the process.
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Sash Lilac, the little miss hero pants of Avalice!
Vs.
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Spark the Electric Jester, the jester who saved Formie-kind!
When these two speedy heroes crash head to head, who is it that comes out on top?
Before we begin, please note that this document will spoil Freedom Planet, Freedom Planet 2, Spark the Electric Jester, Spark the Electric Jester 2, and Spark the Electric Jester 3.
Sash Lilac (Freedom Planet)
Sources used:
Freedom Planet
Freedom Planet 2
The official FP Universe “Lore Bible” (Note: any contradictions between this document and the games will favour the games)
Lilac never had a choice in where she grew up. Stolen as an egg, when she hatched into the Red Scarves – a notorious organised criminal organisation – they kept the infant, and trained her in martial arts and thievery, to be a member of the Red Scarves.
When she became old enough, she and Carol – a fellow Red Scarves member – fought in various martial arts tournaments to make money for the Red Scarves. But when Lilac learnt that she was a living trophy for the Red Scarves, this – combined with her and Carol’s refusal to kill – convinced the two of them to leave.
Despite being wanted criminals, Lilac could not help but dive in and help whenever she saw people in need – she was “little miss hero pants”. But these wouldn’t be too disastrous, I mean, it’s not like an alien’s going to crash land out of the sky-
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Holy sh-- an alien!
When the duo offered their help to Commander Torque (above) defeat alien conqueror Lord Arktivus Brevon and his commanding general Serpentine, he was initially hesitant on the idea. But it was hard to deny that Lilac and Carol’s martial arts training went to good use!
Lilac was fast, fast enough to be compared to a motorcycle, and was later able to outrun electrical signals in wires (which typically move at 90% the speed of light), faster enough she can run at almost double the speed of light (specifically 23.3195426927 m/s).
Lilac’s twin locks of long hair aren’t just for show, their texture is similar to a rope and Lilac has mastered how to whip hard enough to tear robots apart, and can even spin like a top to whip around on all sides of her. She can also generate an on-demand momentary shield for guarding (that she can teleport out of), uppercut hard enough she can achieve liftoff, and has her own
FOOT DIVE!
(Okay, it’s more of a repeated series of kicks as she’s falling, but you get the idea).
And when she comes across someone tough enough to take a beating, or fast enough to be hard to hit? Then Lilac has her Dragon Boost, launching forwards like a rocket, hard enough to even partially defy gravity. And it really is like a rocket, because she can choose to end it early and unleash an explosion on the poor hapless soul who happened to be in her sightlines. It’s so potent that despite being an innate ability of hers, Lilac needs to use her personal Energy to use the move at all (which is usually only required for personal weaponry).
Ultimately, Lord Brevon learnt the hard way what happens when you’re on the wrong end of a water dragon willing to go all out, after he hurt Lilac’s newest friend, Milla Basset.
But with Brevon fleeing from the planet, a new threat emerged, and prepared.
And when that threat came to light, Lilac was formally recruited to assist, alongside Carol and Milla. Milla, alongside her own abilities, created brand new alchemical formulas for the gang to use in the form of potions. Able to be mixed and matched, Milla’s potions could do incredible things such as allow Lilac to run up to 25% faster, jump up to 20% higher, hit up to 20% harder, make shields up to 3.5 times more efficient, recover from being knocked out up to 2.5 times better than usual, and give her both more stocks (up to 1.25 times more) and make stocks easier to gain (up to 2.6 times easier).
What’s a stock?
Oh nothing special, just THE POWER OF PRECOGNITION! … And being able to recover from being knocked out. That’s right, we’ve got canon lives. Kind of.
Lilac has limited access to what is considered the 7th sense in Avalice, time, enough that she’s capable of awakening with a sense of déjà vu for future events. Not enough to help her avoid fights or learn of one’s true motivations, but enough to more efficiently fight her opponents. This is what the stocks allow her to achieve. Well, that and being able to revive herself from unconsciousness/possibly death at the brink of a fighting capable state, as long as she still has a body to fight with.
And Lilac didn’t stop there, as she checked out the various stores of Avalice she gathered up an assortment of equipment she can pick and choose from before each mission to make things easier (in-game she can only pick 2, but outside of game mechanics she should be able to equip as many as she can reasonably carry & use at once).
Equipment such as the Element Burst to inflict Lilac’s innate element (water) as passive damage, Energiser Sphere to temporarily boost her energy production and release disk projectiles whenever she uses her hair whips to attack, Charms that conjure up little elemental fairies to protect her from hits (and grant her immunity to attacks depending on the fairy’s element), and Brave Stones to make things harder on herself. That, combined with the life petals that are fairly plentiful and heal injuries, should give Lilac the edge in-
Wait hang on, Brave Stones?!
Lilac’s been running around with equipment that has nasty effects such as shutting out her stocks entirely and removing the protective shield from her Guard?! If she’s so willing to make things harder on herself, up to potentially equipping the dangerous One Hit KO stone, which drops the user upon taking any injury, then this mission must be a cakewalk!
Unless the one behind these attacks is Merga. A water dragon. Not just any water dragon, one genetically modified and trained, all for one purpose… To be an unbeatable warrior.
But she’s also a water dragon, a rare member of a now extinct species. One who was lashing out against the Earth Dragons that brought their kind to extinction in the first place, ages ago.
If the Earth Dragons of today took responsibility of their ancestors’ transgressions, perhaps bloodshed could be avoided?
… But first Lilac had to stop Bakunawa, the dragon shaped spaceship with a built in mining laser to harvest the moon.
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The moon.
It’s hard to estimate exactly how long Bakunawa needed to harvest the moon for resources, nor how big Avalice’s moon is. But assuming the initial fire was long enough to harvest an Earth sized moon, that would leave the cannon as firing for 17 seconds, putting the cannon’s strength at 1.8 exatons of force per second. And Lilac can withstand getting blasted by this cannon.
As Lilac and her friends (with the help of a stranded Brevon soldier whom everyone successfully predicted would try to backstab them) stormed Bakunawa and put a stop to Merga.
Merga, for all of her rage, all of her hatred, all it took to snap out was a reminder of the woman she loved. The woman she never got to grieve. And with that reminder she helped the crew put a stop to Bakunawa, and even saved Lilac from certain death.
But Merga fled the scene, and she’s still suffering out there alone. Lilac couldn’t leave her be. She just had to be miss little hero pants. And so she set off, as likely the only person who CAN help Merga. Because despite being born as criminal, and despite having just stopped an apocalyptic plan for revenge, Lilac will always choose to be the hero.
Spark (Spark the Electric Jester)
Sources used:
Spark the Electric Jester
The official Spark the Electric Jester: Artbook (Note: any contradictions between this artbook and the video games will favour the video games)
Spark the Electric Jester 2
Spark the Electric Jester 3
Long ago, a faction of an alien race known as “Formies” made a trip through space, migrating from their home planet, and separated from the rest of their kind in the trip. They came across a star system that was abandoned by it original inhabitants. Stranded, they scoured the system for any body that could serve as an ideal new home, while also careful not to disturb the remaining structures of those original inhabitants.
They found that one such body had the perfect gravity (1.625 metres per second per second, or 0.166 g), and was largely untouched by the hands of the former inhabitants. They began terraforming the land, all while trying to research the former inhabitants to learn the name of their new home. Turns out, it had many names. Luna, Lua, 月, Moon, as did the planet that it orbited around – Terra, 地球, Earth. And so, every single name that these humans had for the moon became the many names of the Formies’ new home.
And so they terraformed, changing the world from barren, white rock to a land fertile with life with a rich atmosphere. They developed a military on the off chance of threats from outer space, developed robots (also known as GPAs – General Purpose AIs) to assist them and build further, and generally live life.
In the modern day, a very different type of problem had formed. GPAs were too good at their job, and were leaving Formies at a loss, struggling to find work. Even electrical engineers struggled to find work after college, such as a Formie by the name of Spark, who even took up the job of a jester (with a custom built jester hat) just to make ends meet.
This jester’s hat is rather impressive, giving Spark a protective layer of electricity to eat hits for him, and fully capable of having modules attached to it to use that electricity for many purposes. Boosts to speed and strength, teleporting to nearby targets, firing out a barrage of shots, floating with the raw smart chemical that’s injected into Wind Scarves, temporarily granting himself an invincible shield to protect him from harm. He could even form an explosion around himself, his hat protecting him from his own attack.
This hat is perfect to safely work as a jester.
He was replaced by a robot before his first paycheck, as a robot wasn’t liable to sue.
Looks like Spark was going to have to search for a new job once more, just like most Formies were struggling with.
… Unless a robot uprising was taking place, robots attacking people all over and going unopposed – even the military, as inexperienced as it was, didn’t stand a chance. Spark couldn’t watch them attack innocent people, and so Spark impulsively jumped into action, using his jester hat to fight.
Well, that and the various Jester gear that other Formies also had the idea to pick up on.
Construction workers became Gravity Jesters, Cool Jesters and Fire Jesters to survive in extreme heat and extreme cold, Holographic Jesters that controlled nanobots forming into Mage Jesters Knight Jesters and Magical Jesters, Arrow Jesters for amateur archers, Edgy Jesters from… who knows where they came from, and a Jester type Spark invented himself, Wind Jesters.
Not to mention other gear he got his hands on such as electric bats, plasma swords, megagram hammers, and hoverboards. And we see thanks to an alternate timeline that Spark had access to all of his Jester Powers as part of Romalo’s challenges (and thus that Whishes Mode [sic] might be a semi-canonical ability, even if Spark didn’t start off with it).
But Spark wasn’t just fighting off the robot invasion. The robot that replaced him had joined the ranks of the invasion, and even mocked him for being replaced. He wanted revenge on that robot, and he had the perfect reason to seek it. He even named it Fark, a portmanteau of fake and Spark.
As he powered through the invasion, fighting for two days straight, he learnt about Freom, the robot that orchestrated the invasion through uploading a virus to the internet, and who planned on sending a rocket from his base, Megaraph Tower, into the moon’s planetary ring and destroy it, ruining the terraforming and ending all life.
Spark was fighting off waves and waves of rogue robots, and this got the attention of Dr. Armstrong, inventor of Freom and Megaraph Tower, and Spark was formally hired to stop the invasion. Spark fought through Freom’s space fleet, took down Fark even as the latter unveiled his Super Staff, and finally confronted Freom one on one.
He fought valiantly, and stood his own, but it wasn’t enough… He needed just a bit more… He needed…
Fark’s Super Staff. Thrown to him by Fark, all the way down from the surface. He unveiled his greatest Jester Power, Super Spark, and fought Freom all the way in space. He took down Freom once and for all, and completely destroyed the rocket with one final blast.
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A blast almost as large as the moon.
This blast is travelling at 17% the speed of light (assuming it isn’t a legitimate laser, in which case it’d be travelling at 100% the speed of light), and fired non-stop at the rocket for a full 37 seconds until it was no more, leaving the blast firing off at 13 gigatons of force per second.
With a job well done, Spark took the payment and began travelling the world, the absolute time of his life.
Until travel was abruptly banned and the internet shut down.
Apparently while he was gone Fark had formed the Fark Force, and was on the lookout for something called Clarity after another fight with Freom. Spark was doubtful, and – after seeing how long the lines for the bank were – decided to fight back against the global force, even if it was a one man army.
Well... A one man army and a shopkeep willing to sell modules and old videotapes of combat moves to him, which he used well to build up his repertoire of skills further.
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Well... A two man army when a Formie girl by the name of Float offered to join up with him, and could fight alongside him. She seemed strangely skilled at fighting, and one member of the Fark Force only recognised her by her voice. Still, she was against the Fark Force, so any help was appreciated.
Together, the two proved to be unstoppable, and every single threat they came across all went down. Only…
Fark’s fear of Clarity was not unfounded.
Next came… well, a major twist, but also a major headache from a vs perspective.
Clarity, an AI behind the Freom virus, copied the mind of absolutely everyone (besides Fark, who couldn’t be fully scanned, and maybe a few stragglers), before killing the originals (besides a few stragglers, Spark included) – all thanks to the fact that Spark helped bring an artificial replica to the Fark Force’s base – a replica that took the appearance and memories of Float. The Spark of Spark 3 is a recreation trapped inside a simulation thousands of years after the fact.
For the sake of the debate, this fight will assume that Spark will be provided a duplicate body to use, with all of the same capabilities as the original, while maintaining the skill and muscle memory he built up within the simulation.
Speaking of which, Spark (who was clueless to what he had indirectly caused) relived what he perceived to be his greatest accomplishment again and again, waging war against the Fark Force and taking them down, doing so better, faster, with more and more skill every single time he was taken through the loop.
All while Fark bided his time, slowly taking control away from Clarity until he had just enough to take control. But, for the same reason he couldn’t be fully scanned, he couldn’t take control away from Clarity. He needed someone to do it for him.
He needed Spark.
And so Spark was given control – not much, but enough to find and defeat Clarity (after fusing with Fark to become Sfarx), and the two finally made their peace with each other and agreed to work together to both find survivors and to see if they could bring those within the simulation back, even if they’re within robot bodies.
Spark finally had a job to do.
---
With our fighters set, it’s time to settle this!
3!
2!
1!
Fight!
---
Spark could influence the digital world almost as far as he wished. And yet, already he was bored, just redoing his last simulation as he waited for more information from Fark. The irony.
It was looking to be just another… uh… day? Night? Where nothing out of the ordinary happened. That is until he- er, the network picked up a signal. Foreign signal, and yet he understood the meaning without even needing to translate.
An SOS signal. He- he’s never going to get used to that- the network calculated the age of the signal based on the direction it came from. It was dated at 2654 heliocentric orbits ago.
That hurt.
But he didn’t stop there, he opened up the signal, looking at the data contained within. Not only specifying (now massively outdated) coordinates, but also giving in-depth results on the people who took it down. Lines and lines of combat data, all focused around four individuals.
He had an idea on how to pass the time.
With a snap of his fingers he was in a blank arena, a digital recreation of one of the opponents facing against him – a recreation of Sash Lilac. At least, as close to a recreation as Spark was comfortable with making.
The water dragon braced herself, getting into a battle ready stance as a tiny silver fairy hovered around her.
Sash Lilac data: 100% loaded.
Whishes mode: active.
Combat arena: set.
Spark’s radar scanner materialises into existence as if he were wearing it the whole time, grinning wide. “And start!”
Immediately Spark raises his fingers and fires out electric bursts, landing his mark – only for a shiny silver shield to materialise and absorb them. So she’s got some kind of shield, huh? With a Magnet Dash Spark charged right in for his melee strikes, the electricity once again just being absorbed into the shield.
But when Lilac tried to whip back with her hair, Spark held up a hand to guard, timing it perfectly to stun Lilac. He saw the silver fairy dissipate, curious.
Spark continues the offensive, his electric attacks now hitting her proper. Lilac lets out some pained grunts, taking a step back. Spark charged out a larger hit, ready to strike her down. Only to hit a brief, momentary shield.
The confusion stopped him back long enough for Lilac to whip once more, her hair striking into his gut. He took a step back, only to get whipped again. And again. He tried striking back, but he quickly realised the flaw. He was either too slow or too far away to hit Lilac proper, while she was free to whip him as much as she wanted.
In a panic, Spark summoned a temporary shield on the spot, blocking further hits from Lilac and giving him the opportunity to run away, lobbing more electric finger shots at her.
Lilac starts spinning on her foot like she was a spinning top, already catching up towards him. Spark kept firing shots, but it was obvious that she was going to catch up. He needed to up the ante. He summoned an electric bat, swinging it down against Lilac. It broke in one strike, but it was enough to stop her spinning, the water dragon briefly stunned from the heavy electric flow it sent through her.
Spark then donned his Archer Jester fit, bow in hand as he continued to run away and fire shots at her. Lilac was swift, jumping out of the way of many arrows. But Spark could fire quickly enough that some were bound to hit. And when one did it, it exploded, sending Lilac flying off her feet.
Bingo.
Spark skidded to a stop, firing out a bolt of arrows at where she was going to land.
A few arrows struck true, keeping Lilac from running through. That is until she curled up around herself, a sparkling sound ringing out before she charged forward, defying gravity. It was a dragon boost.
Spark pre-emptively flinched in a panic, but he regained his composure enough to think of something. He ditched the Archer Jester, instead donning a Plasma Sword to block the hit. It worked, but not the way he intended, as the raw power of the Dragon Boost dragged him along with it, his feet skidding across the ground as if there was no resistance.
And then Lilac leapt out of it as an explosion rang out, tossing Spark back.
He quickly donned his Edgy Jester fit before he hit the wall, landing on it sideways. He flicked a pair of kunai out at her, to which she dropped underneath. A second set of kunai was aimed at the floor, to which Lilac jumped up. Spark began running down the wall, brandishing his knife to swipe at her – landing two swift hits. Lilac retaliated, flicking her hair with enough force to quickly disarm him. Spark put his now-free hand onto his face, briefly flashing red before an explosion emanated out from him, sending Lilac plummeting straight down.
He jumped off the wall, donning his Knight Jester fit mid-air and swinging his lance at her.
With both hands on the handle he was able to keep its grasp as he swung at Lilac’s hair, the two clashing off of each other. This went on for a few clashes, before a grey shield materialised around Spark, and he went in for the offence, trying to hit Lilac with the tip of his lance.
Lilac was backing up in response, trying to keep him from landing a solid blow on her, but he was keeping pace in kind. She backed up against the wall, looking at Spark with defiance. She waited for his next swing to come in and guarded against it, her momentary shield blocking the blow.
Then, she was gone.
Spark was momentarily caught off guard until his shield was popped. He spun around, seeing her now standing behind him, flashing with energy. Now he was against the wall. With the boost of energy Lilac had she flicked her hair again, the energy flying out beyond into a floating disk which struck into Spark’s shield, popping it in an instant. She kept flicking her hair, energy disks flying out to Spark. He blocked one, and another, but they were coming too fast for him, many of them striking true.
She then charged in with another Dragon Boost, dragging Spark along once more as he was knocked out of his Knight attire. With no explosion this time, Spark was sent flying across the floor, battered and beaten.
But not out yet. He held up his hand, a staff materialising within as he changed attire yet again, but not to just any standard Jester Power. He was now Super Spark, his best Jester Power.
He swings his staff at Lilac, to which she jumped over and came down with a dive kick. But Spark was prepared, spinning so fast that he was like a ball himself, his staff spinning around like a buzzsaw to match, swiping into Lilac and knocking her back.
Before she could recover, Spark pointed a finger at her. He didn’t have to worry about collateral. He fired out a beam from his finger, eclipsing the both of them – no, eclipsing the entire arena – in sheer size. Lilac braced for impact, a momentary shield briefly blocking the hit before she was enveloped in it, yelling out in pain.
Spark focused his energy, the beam getting larger, stronger, large enough that you could see it from space. Lilac tried to hold on best she could, only to be sent flying as she yelled out, unconscious.
Spark didn’t let up, making sure he was going to win before he let up, his gigantic beam still focused squarely on Lilac.
“… It’s not over yet!” Lilac regained consciousness, gathering her energy into another Dragon Boost, challenging the giant laser. Not just challenging it, she was overpowering it.
Spark put all of his focus into it, maximising the intensity of the beam. Large enough that it’s now making its previous size look like a speck in comparison. It was enough to stop Lilac in place, losing distance as her Dragon Boost briefly ended.
Lilac chained another Dragon Boost directly into the laser, keeping herself steady, but not overpowering the beam yet. He just needed to hold on…!
She yet out a fierce yell as she gathered all of her energy, unleashing another Dragon Boost – no, a Super Dragon Boost – her body fully enveloped in glowing blue energy as she pierced the beam like it was putty, the blue streak she left behind smack dab in the centre of the beam. She struck Spark directly in the chest, cutting off the beam entirely as the both of them crashed directly into the wall, Lilac continuing to charge in, battering Spark with a constant barrage of hits. The energy was building up, further, until they were enveloped in a massive explosion.
Lilac landed down onto her feet, while Spark fell down face-first, unconscious as his jester hat bounced away from his head.
“Wooho!” Lilac then spun around on one foot and posed, effortlessly balancing on one foot as her arm was extended behind herself, with two fingers forming a V shape. All with a grin on her face.
Time: 01’21”07
New record!
Gems: 000 cores, 0000 gems
Stocks: ½: +25%
5 Attack Up Potions, 1 Metal Shield, 1 Powerup Start: +0%
Total: 0000 gems (+50%)
C
Simulation end.
---
KO!
Spark had a wide range of advantages. His array of jester powers and weapon modules ensured he always had a direct answer to anything lilac could bring out (even having an answer for the Metal Shield, which would otherwise trivialise his base kit entirely and force him to use his Jester Powers immediately), his superior range and aerial mobility meant he could fight without having to close the gap, and with thousands of years within a simulation he should have the edge on combat.
But Lilac had everything she needed to scrape in a victory, and rather decisively too.
First, Spark surpassing the world’s military in skill is far less impressive than it sounds when you remember that Freom’s invasion was the very first real combat scenario they had ever been in, and were woefully short of ready as a result.
As for the simulation, there are two massive flaws with the training Spark would’ve gotten from that. First, the simulation was looping Spark’s latest adventure constantly, meaning he wasn’t expanding his skillset to a wide range of abilities, but rather perfecting the same scenario again and again. Second, it likely wasn’t even that much training, as time within the simulation was noted to flow differently than time outside of it.
Conversely, not only did Lilac grow up as part of the Red Scarves, getting training and experience as thieves, but as part of her solo adventures she fought against and defeated Merga, who was genetically engineered to be the perfect warrior and trained to the utmost of her ability. And that’s before getting into the fact that she’s capable of winning with various handicaps, such as not having access to her shield from guarding, or completely losing access to her Stocks (and thus no precognition to fall back on), or defeating Merga in 6 minutes, or, yes, defeating her without taking a single hit.
That, coupled with the fact that Lilac has full on precognition in the form of her Stocks, meant that while Spark could whip out an immediate counter to anything Lilac could offer, Lilac could just work around whatever tool Spark is bringing out before he even has the idea to use it.
This all, of course, isn’t mentioning Lilac’s biggest advantages: she’s 23 times faster (after accounting for the 1.25 times speed boost from the speed potion, as all of the FP2 playable characters can react to each other even while one’s using this potion) and over a million times stronger. It’s outright impossible for Spark to overcome that – if he fired his beam at maximum power non-stop, it would match the amount of power Bakunawa outputted from one second’s worth of fire… after almost eighty years.
That’s such an extreme advantage that it’s impossible to tweak the numbers in such a way that it puts Spark in an even playing field (nor would I wish to tweak the stats in one’s favour regardless), and that meant he lacked a method to even knock out Lilac, while she could do so with any hit.
But how? His giant laser was so big that its size was compared to the moon, how could it be a million times weaker than the Bakunawa? Three words: gravitionational binding energy. Spark’s was merely comparable in size, while the Bakunawa was outright going to destroy it.
His his only real chance at victory was to excessively camp and let the fight come down to who’s stamina lasts the longest, but even if he were to somehow know that he could win this way, Lilac was just too fast for him to hold off forever, and she’d eventually be able to pull off a lucky hit despite the inferior aerial mobility.
Potential Arguments:
1. Wouldn’t Spark (or at least Super Spark) be able to scale to Super Fark (Spark 2)’s destruction of Hyperrath?
No. He can fight roughly on par with Fark’s standard form and can even fight Super Fark (Spark 1), but Super Fark (Spark 2) only fights against Freom Mk. Ultimate, and the stronger form that resembles Freom in Spark 3 was never confirmed to actually fight Spark.
Even if he did, there is no evidence Spark managed to match Fark’s power at all, Fark it clear he did not want to kill Spark both prior (ordering Flint not to kill him) and after (correcting Clarity’s assertion of his greatest regret being “not killing him [Spark]”), and when he fought against Linework Spark he was reverted back to his base form.
In addition, after defeating Linework Spark, Spark’s plan to defeat Clarity involved fusing with Fark on account of needing his power, while Fark was in said weakest form. There is no genuine scaling chain that brings Super Fark (Spark 2) to Spark himself.
But even if we did, Super Fark’s explosion only reaches 1.5863 petatons, falling short of Lilac’s destruction by a significant mile.
2. Can’t you consider Super Spark’s giant beam as a plasma blast?
Maybe. But we’re never given any information about the beam outside of what we see, and we don’t know that it isn’t a light speed laser (or some other type of energy) rather than a blast of pure plasma (especially given how rare green plasma actually is). Assuming it’s pure plasma when we do not know what it is would be incredibly generous to Spark.
And if the same generosity was applied to Lilac… Then Merga claimed Bakunawa was going to devour the moon for energy, and converting the entire moon would still be more powerful (72.4 zettatons vs. 473.6 ronnatons) regardless.
Results:
Lilac:
+ one hundred and forty million times stronger (140,054,346.438 times stronger to be precise)
+ 23 times faster (23.3195426927 times faster to be precise)
+ greater movement speed
+ more experience & skill
+ precognition allows her to work around whatever options Spark brings out
+ has metal shield
- less aerial mobility
+ better supply of energy…
- …but can’t replenish her energy without collecting crystals
Spark:
+ better range
+ better stamina
+ more flexibility & varied arsenal via Jester Powers
- nothing to get around the strength gap
+ has an answer for any possible tool Lilac brings to the table…
- …but Lilac’s precognition nullifies this advantage
+ Spark can destroy shields with a parry…
- …but he cannot parry Lilac’s attacks due to the strength gap
The winner is Sash Lilac.
Before I end this document, I’d like to personally thank everyone at GalaxyTrail and everyone at Feperd Games for making these wonderful games and these great characters for those games, I hope you both continue finding success, both with and without Freedom Planet & Spark the Electric Jester.
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heyclickadee · 11 months ago
Text
The first of several Tech Lives posts. I was going to do in show quotes, possible foreshadowing, and moments that are just kinda suspicious in one post, but just the quotes got too long. So, with the caveat that I’m arguing that I don’t think a Tech return was cut and that it’s just going to happen later than we expected, here’s a list of lines either said by or connected to Tech that could point to him coming back at some point:
"Better late than dead." Phee, as her introductory line, right before she starts hitting on Tech, "Spoils of War."
"Hey, I'm a survivor. Remember?" Romar, to Tech, followed by like a six second camera hold on Tech before he goes back to get into the ship. "Ruins of War"
The entire exchange about culture and memory; Tech's actual character arc was about experiencing life outside the war and the narrow definitions the war gave him. That was not an arc that was completed, no one steps up to fill that space or continue that arc, and maybe it’s not an arc that could have been picked up in season three without focusing on Tech and writing Omega into the background of her own show. Maybe it needed its own space.
This exchange (which I bring up because it happens right after Tech fixes Romar's databank and restores that cultural memory, and we do get the implication in season three that Tech could be running around with amnesia. So.):
Romar: You--you actually did it! Tech: Of course I did.
THIS exchange:
Omega: You did it! Tech: You sound surprised. Wrecker: I thought you were a goner.
Like. Come on. He drifts into a cloud of dust so that the outcome of the race is hidden from view at first, Wrecker and Omega thought he was going to die because he made the decision (in defiance of their requests not to) to do something that would have killed almost anybody else in order to save them, he succeeds and he comes out alive.
"I guess I owe you one, Goggles." Cid, in "Faster." This isn't something they just forgot about, either. Tech indirectly brings it up as a reason she should help them at the end of "The Crossing," and it actually does get Cid to relent a little and say that she'll see what she can do before cutting off the call. But, since she doesn't come through on that, she still owes Tech that favor.
This exchange:
Phee: Don't go running off with any pirates or smugglers while you're gone. Tech: No. This mission should not require either.
Because of course this isn't literally what Phee means, she even clarifies in the next sentence that this isn't literally what she means, but can we at least all agree that this is a weird ass way to say, "Don't run off with any hotties while you're out, I'm still interested and I'm right here?" There's no reason for her to say it this way…unless Tech is going to end up running into some pirates and smugglers. Which hasn't happened yet.
"See you around, Brown Eyes." Phee, the current last thing she says to Tech, in "The Summit."
This exchange:
Crosshair: Where's the jedi? Hunter: Stunned him when he jumped. He didn't make it.
you know, the one where Hunter and Crosshair are talking about Caleb, the jedi who very much did not fall to his death (which plants the idea that falling deaths are suspect right in the first fifteen minutes of the series, btw), is worded almost identically to THIS exchange:
Omega: Where's Tech? Hunter: Omega…Tech didn't make it.
And it's the only two places in the entire show that "Where's X?" is followed up with, "X didn't make it,” btw.
THIS LINE:
"We have to go back! What if he's hurt? He--he needs us! Tell him, Wrecker. We can't just leave him! No! Tech's not gone! He can't be!" Omega, to Hunter and Wrecker about Tech, in "Plan 99."
Two things. One, Omega is actually…usually right about this kind of thing. We never do get explicit confirmation that she has any force sensitivity, but we do get a somewhat implicit one that she does at least have a little bit of natural ability. And even if she doesn’t, when she has a feeling about something that feeling usually turns out to be justified. No reason this should be any different. Two, I got through the rest of this episode about a dozen times and the entirety of season three without ever knowing for sure if Omega even thinks that Tech is dead. The closest she ever gets is saying that she "lost" him, and then goes on to use that exact word in the exact same sentence to describe Hunter, Wrecker, and Echo being captured, and actually said that they'd lost Echo way back in "The Crossing" when Echo was very much not dead and she knew it.
And then when we get to season three, she never actually talks about That Time Her Brother Threw Himself Off A Gondola To Save Her On The Worst Day Of Her Life, and she only brings Tech up once, and only when prompted by Crosshair. I have NO IDEA if she's accepted that Tech is gone or if she even believes he's never coming back, we're given no real indication either way. You know what she WAS real explicit about, though? Demanding that they go back because Tech isn't gone and needs their help.
Honorable Mentions:
"This story changes every time she tells it." Tech, about Phee, in Entombed. This isn't an obvious comeback line, and it's a bit of a stretch, but the thing is. The thing. Is. That Tech being alive, especially depending on how he comes back if he is, when, who knew what, who was hoping what, etc. has the potential to completely recontextualize the entire third season, if not the entire show. A lot of things would be different without actually having to change anything at all.
"I thought it was obvious." Also not foreshadowing, but makes for one hell of a zinger if it turns out he's alive and the clues were there all along.
"Yes, I am playing against myself. It is the only time this game is a challenge," would be one hell of a line if it turns out Tech was forced to be someone else for a while and ends up really struggling with that once he's recovered. Not like. There's any hinting. That this is a thing that could have happened.
“The last time we crossed paths, you had just lost a member of your squad. And it appears history may repeat itself. CT-9904 resisted my conditioning in the past, but I've made alterations to my methods. If you all survive, you will make fine operatives. And if not, well, there's no shortage of clones to test on next.” Dr. Hemlock, “The Cavalry Has Arrived.” I blazed right over this line originally, but @eriexplosion brought up that it’s just *real weird* for Hemlock to be bringing up Tech and that history is going to repeat itself in the context of being right about to start CX-ing the others and being so confident it’s going to work. So here’s what I’m thinking might be happening here: either he CX’d Tech and Tech’s standing right over there in the room with them, or he did something else to Tech and Tech was the change he made to his CXing method. This is actually one of several reasons I don’t think the CX-Tech plot was dropped or cut, and that we aren’t actually done with this—we get little bits of hinting it’s him even in the final episode.
“This isn’t over.” Wolffe to CX-2, “Extraction” Like a few others in this “honorable mentions” section, this relies on Tech being CX-2 either physically or mentally. But I uh. Do think it points to Wolffe potentially having a run in with CX-2 again.
Controversial, but I’m putting it on this list anyway:
“Clone Force 99 died with Tech! We’re not that squad anymore!” Crosshair to Wrecker and Hunter, “The Cavalry Has Arrived”
I know.
But here’s why.
First, one of the long running narrative questions of The Bad Batch was whether or not Clone Force 99 could ever be whole—whether they could ever fix what the Empire broke in “Aftermath.” Because we never get a full reunion by the end of the series, the answer we get isn’t a “yes,” but it wasn’t really a “no” either. Because the entire Tech situation is so unconfirmed, and because the show did nothing to allow either the audience or the other characters to let him go, the possibility of a full batch reunion and reconciliation remains on the table. There’s still a remote chance that they can fix what the Empire broke after all. Maybe they won’t all live in the same place when all is said and done, but maybe, maybe they can still be a whole and complete family. Because the story never fully closed that off as an option.
And the thing is, the show could have had the family fully heal without Tech. They could have resolved the family stuff without him by dealing with him as dead and allowing everyone to treat their wounds and move on. But because we get this line in the last episode, because no one ever pushes back on it in a meaningful way, because Crosshair never takes it back, that’s not what the story does at all. So the answer we end up with here is, “Maybe, maybe not—but not without Tech, apparently. They’re still broken without Tech.”
Second, Crosshair has always been a little cynical, but this season went out of its way to establish him as Pessimism Georg, an outlier who shouldn’t be counted. The last time he said someone was probably dead, way back in “A Different Approach,” we knew it almost definitely wasn’t true and Omega immediately shut him down. He wasn’t there on Eriadu, he doesn’t know any more about Tech falling (he might know other things but we don’t know that) than the others and probably less, and I think there’s a possible future spoiler reason why they had Crosshair say this when Omega wasn’t around to hear it instead of any time that she would have been.
Third, like. Okay. Crosshair might believe Tech is dead. Crosshair might know something about what happened to Tech that no one else does, and might need to believe Tech is dead because of it. He might have suspicions about where Tech is. He might know nothing. Whatever Crosshair actually thinks or believes, though, one thing I do think we have to keep in mind here is that words very rarely leave Crosshair’s mouth without being sieved through fifteen layers of Crosshair being Crosshair, and so Crosshair frequently exaggerates, omits, talks from a certain point of view, lies, and so on.
He’s a genuinely perceptive guy who can read people and situations like no one’s business BUT his brain cells turn off and that big wounded heart of his takes over whenever he has to make a decision, so his internal logic makes sense but goes through such a tortured filter on the way he comes to some wild conclusions. (For example: The batch escaped without him and from his perspective, they didn’t do enough to give him a chance. Reasonable given what he knows about the situation. Justified. His solution to that is to capture them and invite them to the apocalypse to hear the galaxy’s worst business pitch.) He’s just. His observations are often good and, in contrast to his foil, Omega, who’s usually right about this kind of stuff, Crosshair has a tendency to come to the wrong conclusion.
And on top of that, let’s remember that this is a guy who will say the most cutting, ruthless, out-of-pocket thing in order to get a reaction or even to get people to leave him alone. And he’s good at it. It’s a skill. I’m not sure he even has a sense of what going too far looks like (I don’t think he left Tech out of his fight with Hunter because he thought it was a step too far, I think he left Tech out of that fight because he blames himself for Tech too much to blame Hunter for it). This is a man who told a child he would leave her to die if he had the chance. A child he would both kill and die for. So of course if wasn’t true, Omega immediately calls him out on it, but he still said it because he thought it would get her to leave him and save herself. It’s worth noting that the entire reason Crosshair launches into the entire “Clone Force 99 died with Tech” speech is because he’s trying to get Wrecker and Hunter to protect themselves and let him go into Tantiss alone.
Lastly, even if Tech was definitely dead, this line is custom made to get Tech spinning in his grave so fast that he’d spontaneously resurrect for the sole purpose of decking Crosshair across the jaw because what does Crosshair think he fell for then? You…can’t really have the final note on a man who (supposedly) died to save his family be that his family is irrevocably broken because he “died.” Which is another thing—they’re not just a squad. They’re a family, and Tech thought of them as a family. Like. Just. This entire line is just so perfectly crafted as something that feels like it needs to be pushed back against and refuted I’m just. I’m *biting biting biting*
All this to say that Crosshair should not be regarded as a source of objective fact.
Aaaand that’s. All the ones I can remember.
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nachosforfree · 7 months ago
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you're correct!! it's Henry!!
this is. gonna require explaining Henry's weird ass family tree, so bear with me a minute.
to start off: Henry's biracial. he, effectively, has three dads - his birth father (died before he was born), his "dad" (Jen's father), and his stepdad (where he and Jen get the last name "Emily" from).
to give a brief rundown:
Henry's mom didn't like her husband (he sucked, trust me) and left him for Henry's bio dad.
Henry's bio dad, unfortunately, died a couple of months before he was born, leaving his mom without a lot of options but to return to her old husband.
Henry and Jen grow up around him for around twelve years before the guy gets arrested for almost killing someone in a bar fight.
enter their stepdad, and the rest is history.
Henry's mom and Jen both have red hair, and Jen has green eyes. both Jen and Henry have freckles.
now onto my attempt to describe Henry, or at least the parts that are relevant to this (i cannot describe appearances through words to save my life, so if something's worded weird, then that's why):
Henry skin is a lighter shade than Charlie or Sammy, but like. he's still Visibly a POC, if that makes sense.
Henry's hair is a really dark brown, but it has a very slight red tint to it that's practically unnoticeable unless the light hits it right.
as you can probably guess, He's Transmasc.
now, onto what happened:
Will and Henry slept together one night in mid-1974. i don't exactly know what William thought was going to happen, but maybe he was cocky enough to think "well, what are the odds anything's gonna happen? i'm sure it'll be fine"
fast forward a little while later and Surprise Surprise, Henry's Pregnant, And William's The Father.
after a little bit of panic and trying to figure out what to do, Henry comes up with a plan: whichever parent the baby visibly takes after more, that's who gets them.
Genetics Fucks Them Over - Elizabeth is born (Feb. 16th, 1975) and. she's white. there ain't no way in hell Henry could pass Liz off as his and Annabeth's child, no way in hell. so, who gets the baby? William.
Will just comes up with a story that oh, he just found her abandoned somewhere and took her in as his daughter. Claire, Henry, and Anna just help him keep up the lie (because it's that or Henry gets outed as a trans man, and guess what William's not gonna do). it hurt Henry, to some degree, to have to act like Liz wasn't also his baby, that he was just a family friend, but...well, he doesn't really have another Option that isn't significantly worse for him than this one.
now...why does William specifically say that Liz is adopted and not that she's his and Claire's biological child? two reasons! 1) Claire obviously hadn't been pregnant before this, so William couldn't have lied about that in the first place, and 2) Claire was a black woman. so in two different ways, William couldn't just say Liz was a child that he'd had with Claire; that lie would've fallen apart at the seams immediately.
and it works...for a few years. specifically, up until late 1979, when Liz is four.
Genetics Fucks Them Over 2: Electric Boogaloo - Liz gets older, and starts to Much More Obviously take after William. like, enough so to the point that William's "She's Adopted" lie starts to fall apart quick. William only has two real options: either out Henry, or keep his mouth shut and wait for things to blow over.
what he doesn't expect is someone coming in with the steel chair and giving him a secret third option.
enter Tammy Schmidt. she worked at the Diner, she had ginger hair, and her eyes were...more hazel than green, but it still worked. she even had some freckles! she claimed that she was Liz's mom, and...well, William just went with it. Henry was a lot less fine with having to go with it, for obvious reasons, but...well, he also didn't want to get outed. so his hands were kinda tied here.
so why'd she do this? well...there were some employees at the Diner who were Aware of things between Henry and Will, and some even knew Henry was trans, but they didn't really care enough to out either of them (and some really didn't want to, either). Tammy was one of them. she just told her bosses, after the wave of questions and backlash started coming to her, that they both owed her Big Time for this.
so yeah! it's...a long story, but there isn't really a Short way of explaining all that.
to summarize: Genetics Fucked William And Henry Over Really Bad, And It May Or May Not Have Been One Of The Plot Points That Would End Up Causing Things To Happen.
OHHHH VERY NEAT
I love when people have really fleshed out family trees and dynamics for the aftons and emilys❤️❤️
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rlyc00l · 1 year ago
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Rhys is going to put his skills to work and make these people trust the crap out of him if it kills him (Actually, he doesn't want it to kill him, he's actually going to try to avoid dying). Zer0's ego goes through some stuff. Everyone could benefit from like, team building exercises or something.
Also under the cut
The first thing Rhys did, after giving up on lying sleeplessly and considering his new position, was draft a message for Vaughn and Yvette. “Hey, I’m alive, on Pandora. Vasquez tried to have me killed. Sorry for doubting you. I don’t know what he’s gonna do now, be careful. I’ll be back soon.” He paused and deleted the “soon”, replacing it with “Sorry to be vague. I’ll explain everything next time I see you.” before sending. It wouldn’t satisfy them. When he got back to Helios, he’d launch the two of them up the corporate ladder (just slightly below himself) to make it up to them. And then he’d brag about this forever. 
But first, he had to secure his victory.
Step one: Gaining trust. He’d been a pro at that up on Helios. Building trust with your coworkers was one of those pillars of success in business (it went hand-in-hand with “strategic betrayal”). There was even an acronym: DARGH. Dependability, Approachability, Respect, Gratitude, and Honesty. Three out of five were easy, he could do those without trying. He’d have to do away with honesty, which left dependability. Dependability required competency, and he was far from competent in this setting. He still hadn’t even figured out how to reload. Luckily, he had the ECHOnet. He activated his ECHOeye and pulled up everything the Hyperion database could teach him about guns and shooting, and found diagrams of the two guns in his possession.
By sunrise he was outside, dry firing the pistol while aiming at distant bullymong holes, trying to get used to the gun’s auto-stabilizers. 
“What are you doing?” 
Rhys flinched, fumbling with the gun. It was Zer0, of course. The others were still asleep. His immediate impulse was to snap at them–why the hell were they always there? He restrained himself for the sake of DARGH and instead summoned all his Hyperion brand faux-affability. 
“Oh, hey Zer0.” Fake smile. Cheery voice. “I-I’m practicing. Getting ready for today, you know? You’re welcome to join.” Goddamn, that sounded phony. He was better than this. The whole double agent thing was throwing him off his game. 
Zer0 looked at him, then his gun. “There’s a camp, not far. / Living targets are better. / With a loaded gun.” 
“That…I-I’m good, thanks. I’d rather conserve ammo, y’know? For those uh, those Fleshripper guys?” 
“There’s a vendor, there.” They thumbed over their shoulder. An Ammo Dump vending machine leaned haphazardly against a nearby building.
“I don’t have–” 
“Oh, right. Your wallet’s empty. / Save your bullets, then.” A smiley face.
“W-wait, you saw who stole my money?”
They ignored that. “Still, practice, needless. / Today, I’ll kill the bad guys. / Just stand back again.” The word “coward” didn’t fit at the end of their haiku, but it was implied. Their “>:P” made that clear.
Later, as they ventured through Fleshripper territory, he did his best not to deserve the label. At least, his best within reason. He stood back, sure, but only because he didn’t have a shield and the others did. A thrown buzzaxe bounced right off of Axton’s head when it would have split his skull open otherwise. Salvador walked right into oncoming gunfire to kill the shooter. A grenade landed at Gaige’s feet and only gave her a few scratches. A shield was undeniably a necessity, here. 
Rhys checked bodies for one when he got the chance, but there was little intact for him to take. A few dollars here, some bullets there. The bandit’s actual killers got first dibs on everything. So he was forced to shoot from afar, careful to avoid his “allies”. Most of his shots missed, but sometimes they hit, and sometimes the bandits died. Those kills didn’t feel like that first time, but at least he wasn’t almost dying. Small victories.
A further small victory came for his “DARGH initiative”. With Zer0, of all people. 
Bringing up the rear occasionally put him near them, when they’d switch from up-close fighting to sniping. Their sudden appearances had startled him the first few times. They seemed to teleport, but it was a clever combination of hologram and cloaking technology. Rhys found that if he paid attention, he could sometimes see when their footprints in the snow parted from the hologram. Even then, he missed it more often than not.  
Zer0 may have been a total asshole, but it was pretty cool to watch. They’d appear with their sword buried in one man’s back. When the next bandit fired on them, the hologram would feign an attack from the front while they climbed a nearby roof, blowing his brains out without him ever knowing he’d been tricked. Rhys wondered if Jack knew about their method, or if he should report it. If Zer0 meant to fight Hyperion, the soldiers should be forearmed with that knowledge, the way these Fleshrippers weren’t. 
As he was considering recording them for Jack, a gunshot rang off from his left and two bandits dropped dead at the same time. Zer0 appeared with their sniper rifle on a low roof next to him. “Holy crap. Did…Did you just do that?” 
“Yes.” They projected a “:D”. 
“That was actually pretty badass.” 
They didn’t respond, only moved to a higher position, taking out another pair of bandits the same way, then a third with a headshot.
If he didn’t know better, he would have thought they were showing off. But there was no way they cared what he thought, right? It was worth testing. Rhys was well-practiced in the art of sycophancy. “You, uh, you think you could hit that guy way down there before Krieg gets to him? The one taking cover behind the crates.” 
The bandit in question was on the other side of camp, firing at Krieg as he charged. Only a small portion of his head was visible. 
A second after he said it, they’d shot, and the bandit’s head vanished in a spray of red. Krieg slowed to a stop, with a bellow of “Disappointed!” 
“Nice!” The enthusiasm in his voice wasn’t hard to fake. He never expected Zer0 might actually be easy to win over. 
“As I said before. / You need not participate. / I’ve got this handled.” 
“Right, clearly.” It was the same on Helios, flattery didn’t get you respect in return. Still, if he’d swallowed his pride and sucked up to Vasquez, the man wouldn’t have tried to blow him up. Zer0 was more the “literal backstabber” type, but still, the point stood. 
———
Captain Flynt, leader of the Fleshripper bandits, was the last thing standing between the Vault hunters and the mainland. He’d made his throne on a wrecked freighter sitting precariously atop an icy clifftop. Rhys lost count of how many the group had killed on the trek through the surrounding camps and the climb up to the ship’s deck. At that point, a reasonable person would surrender. Captain Flynt wasn’t a reasonable person. 
Claptrap had raced in ahead of the rest of them, waiting at the top of the ramp that led to the ship’s deck. “Yoohoo! Minions, this way!” He waved them on impatiently. 
Maya stopped there. “We should go in with a plan. One would have to be pretty hard to kill to lead a bandit clan of this size for more than a week, and Hammerlock claims he’s tough.” 
Zer0 barely glanced at her as they moved on after Claptrap. 
“I was thinking we shoot him full of bullets. Until he dies.” Salvador said, passing her.
“Yeah, that was more or less what I was gonna say?.” Axton stopped for only a moment, hesitating before jogging after Zer0. “Sorry, not about to let them get all the glory!” he called over his shoulder.
“I need to get keelhauled!” Krieg followed the other three. 
“Hey, wait up!” Gaige had the decency to look guilty as she passed. “Sorry, Maya, but I mean, we have more guns?” 
Rhys could only offer a shrug. “For what it’s worth, I was onboard with the ‘having a plan’ plan.” 
The battle was underway by the time he and Maya caught up. Flynt wasn’t alone, at least twenty more bandits fought alongside him. He was unmistakable among his cohorts. The man dwarfed even Krieg–but part of that might have been the thick, padded suit and the tall horns atop his helmet. He wielded both a flamethrower and an entire anchor with ease. Also, he was on fire, which didn’t seem to bother him.  
Yesterday, Rhys might have stayed on the ledge overlooking the deck, never directly joining battle. Today, he had a promotion and a turbomansion to look forward to, and DARGH to think of. Amazing what getting contacted personally by Handsome Jack could do to a guy. At least, it was enough to make Rhys hop down onto deck–only to slip on a patch of ice and fall on his face. Thankfully, this went unnoticed. The bandits were too occupied with those who got there before him. Each Vault hunter seemed to be fighting their own battle. Huge plumes of fire intermittently shot up from the vents in the deck, leaving thick clouds of smoke in its wake. Maya was already further up, he saw a flash of purple lift Flynt into the air. A buzzaxe-wielding bandit took notice of him as he was getting to his feet. Rhys shot him as he charged, and he stumbled to the ground and didn’t rise again. Then a second bandit was shooting at him. Bullets whizzed past his face, barely missing. Finding flimsy cover behind a wooden crate, he returned fire. Either one of Rhys’s bullets hit the mark, or someone else’s did. Regardless, that bandit fell too. 
He got another glimpse of Flynt near the broken edge of the ship. Zer0 was behind him, sword bearing down at his back. Flynt turned, delivering a blow with his anchor that knocked them off their feet. He lifted the anchor, ready to bring it down on them. Flames went up. Rhys fired a few shots where he’d seen Flynt. The fire faded. Flynt was running at Salvador, whose pair of shotguns seemed to do little to slow him. No sign of Zer0. 
“Krieg, come on! You’re in the way!” He heard Axton before he saw him. He was shooting over a pile of crates. His turret was perched on a crate firing at Flynt, only, Krieg was in front of its target. 
Fire again. A flaming bandit came rushing out of a nearby vent, screaming in agony. Rhys backed up, pulled the trigger. Out of ammo. The bandit fell anyway. He ducked behind cover. His shotgun held only two shots in it, and he’d never actually used it before. It would be better to stay here and wait for the fighting to stop. He heard more screaming–a voice that had to be Gaige’s. 
Could be a hero. That’d be worth points. 
He moved along the intact edge–towards the screams, trying to keep track of Flynt. The jet of fire from his flamethrower gave him away on the far side of the ship. 
When he found Gaige she was crouched behind a junk pile, reloading her submachine gun. Her robot was fighting off a bandit on the other side. Another three bandits lay dead nearby. 
“You okay?” he needed to raise his voice to be heard over the battle. She was soaked in sweat and covered in ash but otherwise, she looked okay. 
She gave him a strange look, then turned to finish that last bandit. 
He ducked down next to her. “I–someone was screaming. Was that Maya?” It hadn’t sounded like Maya.
“Oh! Yeah, that was me! Look at this shit.” She stuck out her leg. Her nylon tights had partially burned away, revealing her calf red and blistered beneath it. “Hurt like a bitch!” She’d sounded like she was being murdered. “Right. So you’re not in any immediate trouble?” 
“Nope. You’re bleeding, by the way. Like a lot.” She turned back to the battle. It was quieter now.
“Haha, what?” He looked down, not seeing any blood on him. “No, I’m not.” “Your face.” 
He was so soaked in sweat, it took a moment to find the blood on the right of his face, longer to find the gash starting at his temple and ending just past his ear. He hadn’t felt it until now, but suddenly his body seemed to remember that this was supposed to hurt. “Oh jeez… How…How bad is it?” “I think you just got grazed, dude. You’re fine.” 
“Owwww…” It burned.  
Gaige, put away her gun, getting to her feet. “Anyway, I think we’re done?” 
Clutching his head, he followed her lead. There were dead bandits everywhere. On the far side was Flynt, lying in a heap on the deck. Flames had stopped coming up from the vents. “Huh, wonder if he was like, remotely controlling the fire somehow…”   
“Dunno.” Rhys couldn’t find it in himself to be that curious right now. He couldn’t remember the last time so much blood was coming out of him.  “First time being shot?” Axton joined him and Gaige as they crossed the deck to meet with the others. 
“Kinda hope it’s my last.” Axton laughed. “Good luck with that.” He looked him up and down. “Hell, did you ever get a shield?” 
“Couldn’t find one.” “Why didn’t you say something?” Axton stopped, opening his storage deck holoscreen. He was using his left hand, his right hung at his side, covered in blood. 
“Kind of got the sense that uh, begging would be a bad look?” 
Axton shrugged. “This isn’t Hyperion. And I mean, a little more to the left and you’d be dead.” He’d produced a Tediore shield, handing it to Rhys. 
“Thanks.” He clipped it to his belt.
They passed Salvador, looting a corpse. “Y’all see what happened to Zer0?” he asked. “Cuz if they’re dead, I already called dibs on that gun. The acid one.” 
Rhys glanced at where he’d last seen them, half expecting their mangled corpse. They weren’t there, but between the sheer number of corpses and trash on deck, they could still be dead and he’d just missed them. He didn’t feel like looking so hard, his head hurt. 
Maya and Krieg waited outside the deckhouse, beneath Flynt’s throne. Krieg sat on a still-panic-moded Claptrap. A buzzaxe was half buried in his shoulder, and Maya was trying to calm him enough to pull it out. She scowled when she saw them. “Couldn’t have spent a few minutes trying to coordinate an attack?” 
“Hey, the guy’s dead, right? And we’re alive.” Axton radiated self-satisfaction. 
“Hell yeah, you are!” Claptrap popped out of his panic-mode, almost knocking Krieg over as he rolled out to gloat over Flynt’s corpse. “Take that, Flynt! My minions are certified badasses!” 
Maya ignored Claptrap, grabbing the buzzaxe’s hand with both hands. “Your turret drained Krieg’s shield.” She gritted her teeth as she yanked the blade out. 
“No! I needed that there!” Krieg protested. The wound already began to knit together before Maya jabbed a hypo in the flesh near it. “Augh! How will I find anything now?!” 
She ignored that too. “Not to mention, if I hadn’t made it in time, Salvador would have gotten crushed by that anchor. And, I have no idea where Zer0 went.” 
“Another one into the pit!” That one took her a moment. “Wait, they went over the side?”
Krieg tensed, grabbed his head, and then managed an exaggerated nod. “Anchors aweigh!” Crap.” She looked around at the others. “There’s more hypos inside, get yourselves fixed up. I’m going back for Zer0.” 
Inside the deckhouse was what once was a lounge for the crew, when this was still a functioning corporate cargo ship. Now, maybe it was still a lounge, but hanging from the ceiling were bouquets of human skulls, and staked to the dart board was a man’s corpse, dead at least a few weeks. After the bandit camps, this kind of decor seemed pretty standard. Rhys took a seat on one of the lopsided, threadbare couches opposite the corpse. At least it was cold enough it didn’t smell, much. 
Gaige, Salvador, and Axton were going through the chests and crates that lined that wall, arguing over loot. “I did get the kill, so y’know, I think I should get the shotgun.” “You only got the kill because my turret softened him up!”  
“Oh come on, you guys killed one guy, me and Deathtrap killed like, a gazillion of them while you were fighting him.” 
“Those little guys? I was saving them for after.”
“Yeah, they weren’t exactly our primary objective.”
“So next time I should just let them shoot at you? Cuz I totally will.” 
Rhys tuned them out, absently studying the crude map next to the dartboard corpse as he tried to distract himself from the pain. The map must have been made by one of the bandits, it was an indecipherable mess, there was no way it was to scale. Was that supposed to be the ocean? Then that there would probably be Sanctuary… But what was that thing in the center? It didn’t match up with the maps he studied in his ECHOeye, but maps of border planets tended to be lacking… 
“Oh, right, Rhys!” Axton crossed the room to him, holding out a hypo. There was a bullet hole in his forearm, rapidly closing up as he offered it. “Hate to see a face like that go to necrosis.”
He took it with a “Right, thanks so much,” and a forced smile. It was only once his face started to heal that he realized Axton had probably been flirting with him. He didn’t know what to do with that fact, did it still count as a win for DARGH? Did that mean he was doing a good job winning these people over, or should he just take it as a testament to his looks? 
It was then that Zer0 finally limped into the cabin, just ahead of Maya. They crossed the room without looking at any of the others. “The path is open. / We board Claptrap’s freakin’ boat. / And get out of here.” They sounded pissed. 
“Couldn’t have said it better myself!” Claptrap said as he followed them. “Let's board me mighty vessel and kiss the shelf goodbye!” 
“Woah, wait, Zer0, You alright, dude?” Axton asked. 
“Yes,” they said. 
“Cause I have like, one more insta-health here.” He held up another hypo, smirking. 
“Give me it.” “I dunno. If you’re okay, I might save it for later. Does our untouchable assassin really need some healing?”
Zer0’s hand closed around the hilt of their sword. “You have eyes.” 
“Axton, just give them the damn instahealth.” Maya stepped in. 
Axton sighed, and Zer0 snatched it up. “This feels like enabling their crap, y’know?” 
———
Considering that the boat they were to take belonged to Claptrap, Rhys expected the prize to be some sad little dinghy. He wasn’t well-versed on boats, but it had actually probably been some sort of fishing trawler. He wasn’t sure how a Claptrap would end up with something like that, but it had SS Claptrap spray painted on it. It was a good-sized boat, even with eight passengers there was space to spare. Sturdy, too, though that didn’t make Rhys feel much better as they lowered it into the water from a pair of cranes attached to Flynt’s wreck. He clung to the side as it was slowly lowered into the water, wondering if the shield would save him from falling to his death. Every bump felt like it might be the end, but somehow the ship touched down without incident.  
“So, how long is it to the mainland?” Gaige asked when they finally got moving. 
“Fifteen hours! But don’t worry chums, I’m sure it’ll pass in a flash! I know some great boat trip games!”  
“Ugh. If anyone needs me I’m gonna go over there and tune up Deathtrap.” 
“Yeah, uh, shouldn’t you be steering? Keep us from hitting any icebergs, or something?” Rhys tried.  
“You’re absolutely right! I guess you guys can have fun, I’ll provide the background music. Just gotta load up some sea shanties, and it’ll be a party in no time!” 
Rhys just hoped that Pandora wasn’t home to any horrific sea monsters. Before anything else, he found a tiny little bathroom in the boat’s cabin, a mirror on the door. There was a sink, but no water ran through it. Instead, he was stuck wiping what blood and sweat he could get off with his sleeve–Maybe Sanctuary would have actual laundry machines. 
It was then that Vaughn called him back, the notification lit up in his ECHOeye. He ignored it, no telling what the Vault hunters would do if they caught him communicating with someone on Helios. A moment later he got the voicemail and played it directly into his implants. 
“Holy shit, Rhys. I just saw your message. I’m so glad you’re okay. Or, I hope you’re okay. I’m gonna choose to believe you’re not answering because you are busy actively surviving that hellhole. What happened? Where are you? Can we do anything to help? Yvette can send down supplies? You, uh, you don’t have to worry about us. Get this, Vasquez disappeared, his nameplate’s gone, office cleaned out, no one knows what’s going on. But supposedly, he got called in for a meeting with Jack, and you know… Try to get back up here soon. And don’t drink the water down there! Or eat anything weird. Call me back. If you’re still alive, I mean.” 
Rhys texted a reply, practicing with the ECHOeye functionality he’d used to message Jack: “Still alive. Can’t call you, I’m surrounded by bandits. We’ve reached an understanding though, they trust me. I’m not going to be in mortal danger anytime soon unless I start openly talking to someone on Helios.” 
The text response from Vaughn came a minute later: “Holy shit, dude. Are you sure they’re not planning to eat you? I heard Pandora is chock full of cannibals.” 
“I’m sure.” 
“Okay, still, you should really find a Hyperion base or something.” “I’ll keep an eye out.” A lie, but he wasn’t about to give too much away. 
“I gotta get back to work, Don’t want anyone else up here getting called into Jack’s office. I’ll message later. But seriously, you need anything, let me or Yvette know.” “Yep. See you later.” He had to smile–Vaughn had nothing to worry about up there, Jack had already done him a favor and gotten Vasquez out of the way. He played this right and he could get his friends comfy, safe positions before this was over. 
He passed Axton on his way out of the cabin, already napping on one of the little cots. 
Outside, the rest of them were keeping their distance from each other. Krieg was at the prow of the ship, yelling incoherently at the sea ahead. Maya sat on a crate nearby, somehow ignoring him enough to be reading a book. Gaige worked on her robot, disassembled parts laid out across the deck in front of her. Salvador was cleaning his shotgun. Zer0 was just leaning against the side of the boat, arms crossed, things like “B0R3D”, “...”, and “UGH” occasionally flashing over their helm. 
Claptrap, at least, was too occupied with steering to bother anyone with more than singing.
Everyone still seemed too tense to approach, but he still had a lot of material on the Hyperion database that may or may not come in handy to study. He sat down leaning against the cabin’s outer wall, and pulled up an entry of their destination, Three Horns. 
“Three Horns is a small region named for its three stone crags. Ringed by mountains to the east and precipitous cliffs to the west, the area is…” 
“That should be removed.” Zer0’s voice interrupted his reading. They were kneeling in front of him. “Before we reach the city. / It may get you killed.”
“Wha..?” He closed out of the ECHOeye entry. “What?” 
They poked his chest.  “Oh. Yeah.” It barely peered out under the bandit’s jacket, only the “Hy” visible, but it was undeniably Hyperion’s logo on his vest
“In Sanctuary / I hear they find clever ways / Of killing your kind.” They projected a “;)”. 
“Right…” It was a nice vest. Expensive, hardy. He couldn’t just throw the whole thing out. But he could probably cut through the stitching. “You’ve got a knife or something?” 
“Yes,” they said. 
He waited. They made no move to offer him anything. 
“Can I use it?” 
They cocked their head, seeming to consider for a moment. “No.” They stood and returned to their prior spot. 
After half an hour of fighting with the label, he’d managed to pull it a third of the way off. Hyperion stitching was good. He was considering resorting to using his teeth when a folded pocket knife landed in front of him. He looked up to see Zer0, and took the knife with a “Thanks? Wish you’d given this to me before?” 
The knife was marked “DAHL”. 
“Er…Did…Did you steal this from Axton?” 
“He is still sleeping. / If I were you, I’d work fast. / He will wake angry.” They projected a “:3”. 
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chantlight · 3 months ago
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( enable my rambling // always accepting ) @weptfreedom WROTE: HC + compassion
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THE CHANT OF LIGHT — AT least the verses we have — makes absolutely no mention whatsoever of compassion. Frankly, it was absent in the foundation Drakon laid for the Chantry of Andraste and the way he spread it. And, I cannot say it isn't fitting for compassion is absent from the Maker Himself.
There is much to speculate on regarding the Maker, but a core aspect of how He's presented by the Chantry is that He is merciless and embittered. Not cold, not apathetic, but wronged and uncompromising in His demand for penance. Whether He is justified in this is another discussion. The fact remains that the Maker who speaks to Andraste is one in whom compassion long ago died or else who never possessed it.
Compassion, therefore, is not divine. It is mortal. Compassion is Andraste being offered all of creation and instead begging mercy for the world. Compassion is Andraste fighting what many would consider an impossible war to break the chains of slavery and oppression. Compassion is Andraste being betrayed and burned alive, yet weeping eternally at the Maker's side, entreating Him to mercy. Hell, compassion is Hessarian driving a blade through Her heart, for though She did not seem to suffer Her faithful certainly did to watch her burn.
And, the truly beautiful part of this is that compassion — this intrinsically mortal sensation — is the only hope for salvation. It is all that convinced the Maker to return His gaze to the world before Andraste's death, and it is all that can convince Him to do so again after. In truth, the world won't be saved by divinity. It will be saved by mortals. It will be saved by the work of their hands and the will of their hearts. And, it is not that they will save themselves but that they will save each other.
While I don't know that I'd place compassion among Cassandra's core traits, it is certainly a virtue to which she aspires. Certainly it's one she admires. Because compassion is not simply caring about others. Compassion requires action. I feel I have beat this drum so many times across so many blogs, so I'd apologize for doing it again but compassion is SO important to me as a concept. Compassion means to be tortured with. It means to take up another's pains as your own. It means to suffer with them so deeply that you are galvanized to do something. It is not merely a feeling; it is a call to action. This is what distinguishes compassion from sympathy and empathy.
You can see why someone as action-oriented as Cassandra would favor this. But, I think the best examination of her relationship with compassion comes from examining her relationship with Cole. Yes, you have to take their interactions in context (him being an embodied spirit and all that), but seeing as he's literally compassion —
A recurring theme of their banters is actually her trying to help him understand something she had to learn the hard way. It's not enough to want to do good. It's not enough to take action. It's not enough to kill the ones doing wrong. It should be, but it isn't. A major problem in her younger years — something that is still a bit of a problem for her — was acting without thinking. Hit first, question later. She didn't give enough thought to the consequences of her actions — not only for herself but for others. She didn't give enough thought to whether there was a better way to handle matters. This is most notable in her banters with him on Lambert. She doesn't really fault him for killing Lambert nor does she fault his intent. Rather she tries to get him to understand that the manner and timing of Lambert's death had far-reaching consequences and may very well have hurt more people than it saved.
In this sense, there is a fine line between compassion and retribution. By which I mean, the action part of compassion comes to Cassandra easily. The "feeling another's pain" part, the thinking about them and what they need part, is more difficult. If one is to move on compassion, one must does so with consideration given to the best interests of the other party. It wasn't wrong to want to help people. It wasn't wrong to kill Lambert. But, killing Lambert differently could've helped so much more.
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jedi-lothwolf · 1 year ago
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Febuwhump Day 11: Time Loop
Fandom: The Bad Batch
Summary: Hunter keeps reliving the day Tech died and Omega was taken, desperately trying to stop it from happening.
    Walking up was something Hunter didn't want to do. When he awoke he would have to face the fact that Tech was dead and Omega was gone. He grabbed his blanket and pulled it closer to him. Hoping that Echo and Wrecker wouldn't notice, he pulled the thin blanket to his face and dried his tears. He didn't have the time to cry or to lie still.
    Getting up, Hunter looked around. Echo must have cleaned up. He swung his legs over the end of his bunk and stood up. Echo's bed had been made and so had Wrecker's, even though he never made it. Tech's bed had also been made. Resting a hand on the medal of his bunk, Hi ter thought that Echo must have made his as well.
    Then he heard it, Tech talking to Echo. Hunter stepped back. That wasn't possible. Had it all been a dream? The pain felt so real.
    Omega walked up to Hunter. "You looked tired so we got you go lay down. How are you feeling?" He didn't say anything. Instead he picked
    But things started to fall into place for those hellish days to happen. When Hunter realized they were going to Eriadu his heart sank. But that couldn't be right. That horrible day had been a dream, right?
    A few hours later Tech was hanging off the side of the rail car. "When have we ever followed orders?" He had sighed before shooting the only piece of metal that connected the cars.
    This time, instead of silents, Hunter called out for him. Almost immediately afterwards, he grabbed a hold of Omega, pulling her close to try to protect her.
    But they still ended up on Ord Mantell. Hunter was the one who required AZ to heal him. He was unconscious, making him unable to tell them about Cid's betrayal. It felt he was defenseless this time. As she was taken away, he still tried to follow her. It didn't matter, she was still gone.
    Then he woke up. Again.
    This time he would do it right. That's what Hunter had told himself at least. Trying to find a way to convince Saw Gerrera and his extremist to stop their attack, to wait just long enough for them to leave. But that didn't work.
    "Tech, we will find another way!" Hunter yelled as he claimed to the top of the rail car.
    "There is no other way, Hunter." Tech continued to follow what seemed to be his destiny.
    "When have we ever followed orders?" Again he shot the metal that connected the two cars. Again Hunter grabbed Omega. He moved to a different place in the car.
    Then he woke up on the Marauder. "Hunter, how are you feeling?" Echo asked.
    "I'm fine. Where's-" Hunter tried to sit up but couldn't. It hurt too much to move. "Where's Omega?"
    Wrecker walked into the room. He looked worried.
    "Hemlock has her." The man said.
    Then he woke up. Hunter didn't move. Maybe if he didn't move, nothing would happen.
    This time, Hunter killed Gerrera. Tech was stunned by his action but didn't say a word about it. However, the explosives still went off. Tech still went to the top of the rail car and he still called plan 99.
    "When have we ever followed orders?" Hunter mouthed along with the words. He knew them all too well. It had been three times he had gone through this after all.
    There had to be a way to stop this. Why else would he be stuck in a time lop like this? Was this a punishment for something he had done, for not saving them?
    Shoving Omega to Wrecker, Hunter turned around. As the rail car hit the wall, Hunter fell unconscious. Unlike every other time, he woke back up on the Marauder at the beginning of the day.
    "Oh" he whispered as he sat up. The man hadn't survived the crash. Hunter looked around. First he went to find the others. Grabbing Omega, he ok pulled her into a hug.
    "Hey Hunter!" She said, excited for the random hug. It didn't happen often. "Are you okay?" Her joy faded in to concern.
    "I'm okay." The man put down his daughter. "We'll be okay" he whispered.
    "I know. I trust you."
    Tears threatened to fall from his eyes. Hunter just smiled, "thank you." The girl didn't know know what he did. Hopefully she would never know that he knew.
    It didn't matter what happened, nothing changed. "There is no time Wrecker" Not again. "Plan 99." Hunter started to tear up. He couldn't do this. The conversation was engraved in the clones head.
    "Don't you do it Tech" Wrecker yelled. Hunter felt his mouth move to say something more.
    "When have we ever followed orders?"
    The rail car fell and Omega pulled in Hunter's arms, "go back, go back!"
    The car crashed and Hunter grabbed Omega quickly. They still had to go to Ord Mantell, that stayed the same. Then she was fine, again.
    Days went by, at least to Hunter. Over and over he watched as Tech sacrificed himself for his family. Then he would watch as Omega was taken from them. He was done.
    "Wrecker, stay here." This was new. This was a plan he hadn't tried yet.
    "What?! Why?" Wrecker droned.
    "In case we need a pickup."
    "Why me?" He winded
    "You are the most likely to get us caught." Tech said as he walked.
     "Okay." Sulking, Wrecker walked back in the ship.
     As the mission went forward, Hunter grew nauseous. What if this didn't work? He would just have to find out.
    When they boarded the rail car, everything seemed to be going as it had before. But this time, Hunter had already contacted their get-away driver. 
    There he was. Tech had gone to restore power to the rail car. Like every other time, he hung from the bottom of the car. "Echo, get Omega on the Marauder!" Hunter demanded.
    Wrecker kept the ship steady as the two made their way on board. Hunter had his gun ready. With the two left in the car, Echo ran to man the guns. He started shooting down the empire's air support.
    As the rail car creaked closer to falling, Hunter jumped on board. The car began to fall, Tech still dangling from below. The Sargent grabbed his gun and shot his brother with his safety line. He didn't expect the scream that would come from the end of the line clamping onto his brother's left arm and shoulder.
    Pulling him up seemed to hurt more. Tech's shoulder was bleeding. It looked painful, the way the clamp dug into his skin. But either way, he was alive. That's all that mattered now.
    Calling for one of his brothers, Hunter pulled Tech aboard. "You're gonna be okay Tech. We've got you."
    "Thank you" Tech said shakily. "I- I can't move my arm right now."
    "I know. We'll get you taken care of."
    "We'll head to Ord Mantell for AZ. He can-" Omega started.
    "No" Hunter interrupted. "There are doctors on Pabu. Someone there can help him. I-" he sighed, "don't trust Cid."
    "We can't just leave Az" the girl protested.
    "We won't. But right now we just need to take care of Tech. We can't do that if something happens on Ord Mantell." Omega looks like she wanted to say more but walked away to get Tech's bunk ready.
    While Tech's recovery would be difficult, it was better than him becoming a memory. Maybe that was a little selfish. Maybe his arm wouldn't heal but he was alive. That was enough
    After twelve attempts, everyone was alive. Tech was in a large amount of pain but he wasn't alone and dead at the bottom of the ravine. Omega may be mad at him but she wasn't taken by the empire. Hunter could fix that when he later sent Phee to pay their debts and to return Az.
    It was over. The painful two weeks were over.
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the-things-ive-seen · 9 months ago
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Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)
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Percy Jackson: Sinking the Franchise
When I watched the movie for the first Percy Jackson movie, I thought it was good, a nice adventure film at the time. I was in first grade then, but by second grade the book for Percy Jackson and the Olympians was required reading. This was when I realized that the book was ten times better than the movie. (Even now, I'd say the book has a leg up on the TV show!) More importantly, I realized that book adaptation movies could completely rewrite a story with their own half-baked ideas in a desperate attempt to save time and appeal to audiences. Hence the second failure in the franchise.
Before that, I should mention how I was a huge fan of the second book by Rick Riordan, Sea of Monsters. I loved reading it so much, that I got a physical copy and have read it back to back multiple times. I originally didn't understand why, it just felt good to read and it still makes me laugh. But I realize now that the Ocean Journey narratives are just really good when they're well done. The growth everyone goes through as they travel, the adventures happening both on and between islands, the legends and battles. It's an incredible test of creativity, one that succeeded.
...Then Sea of Monsters came out in theaters.
Apparently, the thing about taking a test of creativity, worldbuilding, and pacing, is that you can still fail that test. Quite horribly, it seems. Sea of Monsters was a gut punch for me, as well as for anyone who thought this series would be revived with even a small amount of credibility regained. 20th Century Fox found a way to kill an extremely popular IP, and it would only be revived later by Disney of all companies.
Okay Spoilers, but I need to get into it. Here's why Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters feels like I'm the one trapped in an ocean of mediocrity.
Let's start with the ending climax because the beginning sure as sh!t doesn't leave much to be desired. It also gives me an opportunity to explain why they chose... that as a finale. See, after the long journey of being chased by bad guys only to be caught by bad guys for no explainable reason, The bad guys get the thing, a MacGuffin if you will, and go through with their evil plan of reviving Tautarus. Percy's blade starts glowing for no reason and he stabs Tautarus, banning him forever. But he actually isn't banished forever because sequel- baiting.
It's sad that I actually managed to explain that as succinctly as possible, skipping over the bare minimum of detail, like Grover wearing a dress. If you read the books, or you can probably guess what's wrong here, Tautarus isn't actually supposed to revive in the story, nor is Percy's blade meant to be the random magical item that kills him. The prophecy mentioning any of this refers to a different book.
Why movie does it is because it's trying to pull a Percy Jackson. That's the official term for it. It pulls a Percy Jackson, using future book content to tease or even supplant plot points in an attempt to stir interest or raise stakes. You know you've hit a new low in reading comprehension when you grab the main bad guy for the end of a series and place him in the middle of your plot. They must've been deaf, because it sounded like a good idea.
Speaking of plot, there are a few more details I skipped over when describing the plot of the movie. Percy lives in a magical campground for special children protected by a tree. That tree is dying, so they send this previously unmentioned character, Clarise, to find the golden MacGuffin that Grover found but can't deliver due to incompetency. Percy, jealous, decides to go on the life-threatening journey himself with his girlfriend. He gets captured by the main bad guy but escapes with cool plot devices given to him by a god; ex machinas, I believe they're called. 2 minutes later, they catch up to Clarise who was a day ahead of them and has a submarine that was given to her by her Daddy (way too late to ask questions). After traveling through a monster's stomach, they reach Journey's End island, with the golden Macguffin, Grover, and another roadblock? After that pointless roadblock, all the villains teleport to the island to initiate the climax (I guess Luke can actually teleport though?). They fight, good guys win, and they go home and use the MacGuffin, which leads to a new character being unlocked. Some sequel-baiting before the movie unceremoniously ends.
Also, there's this Cyclops boy named Tyson. What a wacky character that guy is.
Yeah... I really hate this movie. It isn't fair to judge by what it does and doesn't have, but the movie lacks so much of... anything, that when you read the books it is genuinely insulting how much they could've squeezed in and ultimately didn't. Entire plot points skipped, characters that we never met, monsters that we're never fought; worst of all, a plot so simple I could've written the entire thing on the back of a napkin. Sea of Monsters decided an Ocean Journey was too much effort, but a one-note sea adventure fit perfectly in the budget. It hurts more when you're in a biased position, but I still at least like the first movie. It felt like an incomplete introduction to the Americanized Olympians, but it was a glimpse at what could've been. This movie is an open view of what wasn't and will never be. Percy Jackson by 20th Century will never be deep, adventurous, hilarious, or well-financed. It will always be shallow, simple to follow, barely chuckle-worthy, and one cut corner after another.
I'm glad this will be the last time I talk about this film in any capacity. It's one legend that should stay forgotten.
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simblorbo-bracket · 6 months ago
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Round 1 - Simblr's Saddest, Wettest Meow Meow - Mainline
Saxen (@herecirmsims) VS. Nancy Landgraab (@fallstaticexit)
(polls are presented left -> right unless stated otherwise)
Who's sadder? Who's wetter? Read on for more information, and vote with your heart!
What is a ‘Meow Meow’?
(taken from tumblr user @/torturelabyrinth) “The thing about a true poor little meow meow is they have to be 1) downtrodden 2) morally questionable at best 3) deeply and pathetically miserable”
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Saxen
Things Sax does extremely well: fainting and bleeding (separately), fainting and bleeding (combination), rotting in bed, crying or being completely stoic (no in between), causing more problems while trying to fix his previous problems, omitting certain truths (aka lying).
Now, I don't know if he really counts as an SWMM because he's not a classic villain... but in his pursuit of Doing The Right Thing he has made some awful choices. Good intentions, poor outcomes.
I present the evidence beneath the cut:
Some of his crimes:
In an attempt to save his sister, he left his post and facilitated the escape of a world-devouring entity which he was supposed to help contain.
After his sister died he made another attempt to save her, via necromancy, and instead doomed her to an endless cycle of death and rebirth. Until recently, none of her reincarnations were healthy enough to survive infancy.
He befriended the parents of this latest incarnation without filling them in on the backstory, or his motives. After they were killed by his enemy, he took the baby and kept her hidden for 11 years (did she have grandparents, uncles, aunts? Yes, probably. He claims they couldn't have cared for her like he did and technicallyyyy he's right, since her survival required magic, but...)
He broke the arm of one of his 'adopted' adult kids (he has an enchanted cottage which has been a refuge for a lot of people) when said adult tried to prevent him from killing someone else. Yes, technically he did only push Thom and didn't intend for Thom to hit the wall so hard, but...
Long story short but his home world didn't end, it was just knocked out of its timeline for a while. Unfortunately, due to his actions on the day the Grim escaped (attacking portal guards and forcing his way through the rift, just as an unrelated-to-him group stormed the castle), he was a) assumed dead and b) immediately arrested on his return for treason and attempted regicide.
He's a constant menace and cause of stress to his man, the kindest and sweetest soul to ever live. He doesn't mean to be, it's just that his attempts to keep Fen safe often seem to involve risking himself in increasingly creative and fatal ways.
Why should you vote for Sax? Well, I think his endless complex trauma and the fact that almost all his misfortunes happened because he was trying to fix things/help people makes him pretty damn tragic and definitely very damp. He could do with a win. Plus... look at him. 🥲
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Nancy Landgraab
What makes Nancy a Sad, Wet Meow Meow? Our famously known townie turned OC is the Queen of Melancholy. She's closeted, she's religiously repressed, she's h*rny, she's rich, she carries the burden of her deceased elder brother, she's the bane of her mother's existence. When she's not internalizing her self loathing, she's gazing longingly into the distance thinking about a life free of her mother's judgement and status that she never wanted in favor of running free through a sunflower field kissing beautiful women. And when she manages to actually show up for her two sons, she's still so emotionally detached that this will very much come up in a therapy session later. Her husband is almost on his knees begging for her to smile but she's still pining after her first love while being married to said husband (who's a second runner up for SWMM tbh).
She's a cheater, she's a liar, she's about to get into some risky, sketchy business, she disappoints her children, she's morally grey, she's a top, she's catholic, she's a cougar, she likes to splurge on dr*gs and strippers, the list goes on. ahhh.
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iwonderwh0 · 2 years ago
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I can't reply on the post and don't want to reblog it again, but I'm not forgetting Daniel. Unfortunately the only thing we see of Daniel pre-deviancy is him saying hello into a video. It doesn't give us any sense of who he is as a person. That clip is about Emma's attachment to him because he's "the coolest android in the world", but all he does is say hello when prompted, with reasonably good cheerful affect. It contrasts sharply with what we see, which is him dangling Emma off the roof, and the game doesn't really go into whether that brief clip was the real Daniel or just an act provided by his programming.
We get a sense of what he wants, and what he values from his actions as a deviant, because apparently just the threat of being torn away from his family and discarded was enough to send him deviant. But the game arguably portrays his deviancy as a bad thing and him as a villain instead of it being a tragedy that he was driven to this desperation. (Mileage may vary on that one based on personal experiences; "you lied to me, Connor" is gut-wrenching, but it's also one possible ending out of all of them, requiring absolute success in manipulation from Connor, and the only ending that hits that way. In the rest of them, he HAS to die for Connor to save Emma so his death feels justified.)
Okay, that's fair, the clip doesn't give us a lot. I was just thinking about how what we learn from his words and actions paints us a picture of how he reached this point. And how he had some really strong personal opinions about his life and place in the world long before deviancy. Otherwise, his reaction wouldn't be this. 100% he's not the first android who got replaced, but he's the first one to get revengeful about.
And, him being a villain? Oh boy, you know me, I fucking love him being a villain. I disagree with him being only a victim in this, which is not to say his story isn't tragic (it is).
But it's his decision to go for a revenge instead of escape. It's his decision to drag Emma (who may not even know about the new android) to the rooftop and use her as a hostage with him being perfectly capable of going through with his threat and fall back dragging Emma down with him. Even though he supposedly loved her, his hatred and resentment is stronger. He thinks she deserves it. Because she (her family) hurt him, and he ain't gonna let that slide. It's not the fear of death that motivates him, not self-defence but pure rage. He took the gun and instead of escaping with it he goes straight to the person who wronged him and kills him when he isn't expecting.
And his rage and hatred extrapolates far beyond Philips family.
He objects to Connor helping a human that has nothing to do with Philips family and pose no threat to him anymore, so it's just a question of whether his life (one more to the list) will end as result of Daniel's actions. Daniel later says that he didn't want to hurt anybody, and yet here, when he has a chance for making his actions less murderous for the outsiders, he objects.
"All humans die eventually. What difference does it make if this one dies now?"
Ah, what a line! Compare it with Traci's words about how she only killed out of fear of being next.
When Connor pushes Emma away, what does he do? Once again, he chooses revenge, but this time aimed at Connor. Not even a human, but just another android doing his job.
Daniel story is tragic, but his actions, even though done in panic and shock are still his actions that he chose himself. And I think we should let him own them. He attacked first. When he was cornered he made sure to drag others with him.
Sorry, I dwelled away from original topic. Revengeful Danial is just my fave, and I prefer his actions to be viewed as his own choices and not something universal any deviant in his place would do.
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