#merging a ship you like with a ship you don't like doesn't take away any problems you might have with the one ship

[voidlesscreator]

Core Fusion AU

The people that live in the Infinite Realms are able to fuse like gems in Steven Universe. Why you may ask? It's because their body is made up of ectoplasm that comes from their core, which is very similar to how a gem's form is made up of light and comes from their gem itself.

Fusions occur when two or more ghosts share a similar strong emotion or obsession, such as protection, love or hate. The fusion is a state where the occupants share thoughts and work together to operate a single body, so a lot of trust needs to be present or a singular goal in both minds.

Core Fusions also merge unique powers together to strengthen or link them together more.

Due to this, core fusions are typically seen as a way to show trust in any form or bond between ghosts, and as a way to strengthen forces and power.

Danny is probably able to fuse with ghosts and humans but was never told that it was possible for him bc he's half-human.

Now, this could work for both Dp x Dc and Dp x BNHA.

Dp x Dc

Danny can fuse with people who have been touched by death or have been dead and came back (like Jason).

The fusion would be a physical form that mixes both or more appearances while their cores (pseudo or not) appear as jewellery they wear as the fusion, which changes depending on the fusion.

Since I'm fixated on the dead on main ship right now, let's say that Jason is the one to core fuse with Danny first, and there can be an in depth backstory on how they meet and leads up to the core fusion, and it helps with the pit rage. Danny takes them to either Frostbite or Clockwork to figure out what is going on and they learn about core fusion and how it works.

-possible plot idea ahead-

In Gotham, Red Hood has been MIA for several months from both being a vigilante and a crime boas, and the rest of the batfam are freaking out about it; especially since a new crime boss has come into play going by "The Monarch" or "JD Fent" (The Monarch plays into Danny being either Ghost King or an adjacent role in the Infinite realms, and the JD Fent is a mix of their names bc I think it's cool :D).

Meanwhile, Jason and Danny have been chilling together using core fusion to keep away from the batfam and have been improving Crime Alley with Danny's inherited chaotic mad scientist gene being used to harness ectoplasm as a renewable energy since Gotham has a large quantity of it (bonus points if the ectoplasm can be re-filtered to be safely used again for power).

The GIW or another ghost could show up in Gotham to hunt down JD and the batfam accidentally get captured since a lot of them have died (I think??).

Cue a garnet-style reunion and a "stronger than you" scene before escaping and telling the rest of the batfam the truth.

Dp x BNHA

Similar to the other one, but quirks count as mini-cores and that's how people gain their powers. Quirkless people don't have cores and therefore don't have powers.

Danny could be able to fuse with the previous OFA users and just pull them out of Izuku or they could just fuse by Danny grabbing onto Izuku when using his quirk in a fight.

And I'm just imagining during one of the fights Danny grabs onto Izuku and a flash of light shoots out and once the light clears, Danny is gone and a person with three sets of arms with an appearance similar to Danny's and the other OFA users mixed into one before battling it out with the LOV.

Please let me know if anything doesn't seem like it works! And this prompt is free to use by anyone if they want to! :]

[scribblue]

"Expectations" A Naturaldisaster* Fic

[*Poly ship with Jay, Cole, Geo, and Nya.]

Jay struggles with self-identity and relationships after losing his memories in the merge, and some familiar faces have been trying to help him through it... but it's an unfamiliar one that finally gets through to him. 3,437 words | Rated T, some suggestive themes/references | Angst and Comfort

Read below, or on ao3!

✧《✩》✧

The boy in the photograph almost looked like him.

Closely cropped hair modeled the same ginger hue as his current mop of curls, and a youthful face bore traces of freckles not yet matured under the sun. The boy was hemmed in on both sides by faces Jay only partly recognized– younger versions of the people that claimed to know him before the Merge. Cole stood on his right, Nya his left, squeezing in tight with arms threaded through his elbows. Their bright smiles and casual displays of affection almost made all those outlandish stories about his past feel plausible. Almost.

The longer he stared at the photograph, the deeper his unease grew. It was like peering into an alternate timeline, or some washed-up magician's crystal ball; everything felt frustratingly familiar and terribly wrong at the same time, like a word lingering at the tip of his tongue and never finding its way past his lips. Here was a moment in time preserved in a frame, yet all of his memories were nothing but static. This memory didn't belong to him anymore. He couldn't be sure it ever did.

"You and Cole were real close."

The gravelled voice jolted him out of his thoughts. Jay turned towards it, mildly relieved to see the one person that didn't claim a long, complicated history with him. Geo lingered in the threshold to the bedroom, leaning against the doorframe. 

Jay frowned. "So I've heard."

Geo countered his frown with a soft smile. He shut the door quietly behind him, though there was little need for privacy; Cole was watching the little gremlins with Bonzle over at the Monastery, allowing Jay and Geo an evening alone at the junkyard. Not that Jay would have objected to Cole's involvement, of course, except perhaps in this very conversation. "He told me a lot about you," Geo said. "About the two of you. You and Nya, too."

Jay rolled his eyes and gave an irritated huff, making sure to amp up the theatrics. "Oh, great. And here I was thinking I'd finally met someone who doesn't have all these expectations of me." 

"Expectations?"

"Everyone thinks they know me better than I know me, but they don't," Jay said, letting the bitterness drip from each word like Venomari spit. "They all try to tell me how I felt, what I liked, and how I acted, as if it makes any difference now." He set the picture frame down on the dresser with a pointed clank, his gaze still fixed on it. His old self smiled back naively. "That version of me doesn't exist anymore."

He hadn't realized Geo moved closer until he felt a hand on his upper arm, gently refocusing his attention to a faint, saddened smile. "But he did exist once, didn't he?" 

Something twinged in his chest, a pang of everything he'd tried so hard to suppress; he put on a good show of not caring about his supposed past, but here he was longing for his companion's words to be true. Heat rose to his cheeks and yearning flared into annoyance, brightening Jay's red eyes in a flash. He jerked his arm away. "I don't know! How should I know? I have no memories of anything before the Merge."

"I know," Geo said gently. He gestured to the photograph with a nod of his head. "But they do. Cole and Nya knew you intimately– whether you believe that or not, that's their truth. It's natural they want to share that with you, Jay. Even if things are different now."

Jay crossed his arms and turned away, taking a few steps towards the bed. It was neatly made in anticipation for his arrival, a third pillow living between the usual two. He glared at it with practiced indifference. "I'm not the person they all think I am."

"Maybe...maybe not. But you are someone they want to know, aren't you?" 

"Only because they think I'm their ex."

Geo crossed the space between them with light-footed steps, as though approaching too quickly would scare him away like a bird rustled from the bushes. He placed a hand on his back and leaned forward to catch a glimpse of his face, which Jay angled away to avoid his probing eyes. "You're not my ex."

"No," Jay admitted. "I'm not." That much was undeniably true. With the other two, he at least felt a nagging ache of familiarity somewhere at the back of his fuzzy mind, and had visual proof to back up their claims of previous relationships. Geo, however, was a blank slate. A different kind of mystery to unravel, with a whole different set of complications. Jay finally met his gaze, and the adoration– or perhaps infatuation– he found there was as enabling as it was overwhelming. "...I'm just something new to tinker on, aren't I? A broken man to fuse back together?"

Geo's elven ears drooped. The adoring look morphed into that of a kicked puppy, and for a moment Jay almost regretted his words, though only briefly; sick satisfaction was quick to lock its jaws around his neck. As much as Geo seemed to enjoy “fixing” him, these days Jay got his kicks by ruining everyone he touched. 

“Of course not, Jay,” Geo said. He sounded so sincere. Maybe he even was. “What would ever give you that idea?”

Jay snorted. “Please. That’s like…your whole thing, isn’t it? Turning trash into 'treasure'?” He reached over to the nightstand, picking up a mini sculpture welded together with Geo’s fusion powers. It was a figure, seemingly of Cole, frozen in a heroic pose and sculpted of scrap materials. Bits of metal, bottle caps, rusty gears and coils. He waved it at Geo with a sneering smile before tossing it at him underhand. Geo scrambled to catch it. “I’m just your newest project.”

“You are not– and be careful with that, that was an anniversary present.” Geo fussed over the figure, ensuring all of the repurposed trash was in the proper place. When he seemed satisfied, he carefully set it back on its place of honor.

“See? You care more about your things than you do me. Why do you even still make stuff with that junk? You said you could live anywhere now, you could be out there making…literally anything else, with literally anything else. Why a junkyard?" Despite a judgemental tone, his curiosity was genuine– Jay couldn't imagine why anyone would willingly live in a place like this, much less rummage through other people's trash to use as materials. 

“...I like it," Geo said, his voice so quiet Jay nearly couldn’t hear it. He averted his gaze and began worrying the tassled hem of his vest. “This place was my home when I never had one of my own, and… I don’t know. I like giving lost things a purpose. Even if I’m not lost myself anymore.”

Giving lost things a purpose. The words struck a chord somewhere inside Jay, like the ringing of the gong he still felt resonate through his bones. He pushed the feeling deep down into the yawning pit in his stomach. “Oh yeah? What’s my purpose, then, oh great Purpose-Giver?”

Geo halted his nervous fidgeting. Slowly, he raised his gaze to study Jay's face, feathered brows knitting together over probing eyes. "Your purpose?"

"Since you're the expert."

His lips pursed into a taut line, broken only by his two protruding lower teeth. “Well...what do you want your purpose to be?”

Oh great, the cryptic wise-man routine. Jay groaned, throwing his head back in exaggerated exasperation. “Nevermind. I’m sorry I asked.”

“Jay, you know I can’t answer that for you. That’s something you have to discover for yourself.” 

Though delicately spoken, his words hit like bricks. He wasn’t wrong, and Jay knew that. He hated that he knew that. He’d been struggling to establish a new purpose since leaving the Administration, since being abandoned by his master, Ras; so far, he’d come no closer to achieving that. “Yeah. Sure. Whatever.”

Geo stepped closer, extending a hesitant hand to clasp one of Jay’s. Jay stared down at it blankly. “You aren’t alone," Geo said. "If there’s any way I can help you on that journey, I, and surely Cole and Nya, would happily—”

Jay gripped Geo's hand like a vice and yanked him close. Their chests collided, and the sudden motion elicited a yelp from Geo, quickly stifled into an insistent kiss. At first he didn't return it, but slowly his lips softened to accommodate Jay's; not quite the same level of energy, but Jay had no issues picking up the slack. This was his element...at least, it was lately. An electricity unlike any he wielded in a fight. His free hand grappled at Geo’s waist, attempting to pull him even closer as though fusion could merge their bodies into one. 

He nipped at Geo’s lips, eliciting small noises in response but otherwise minimal reciprocation. Jay let go of his hand and took him by both hips, blindly maneuvering him towards the bed until he felt Geo’s calves bump against the frame. Geo pulled away from the kiss and gasped for the air he'd been passionately deprived of. “Jay…”

Jay kicked an ankle out from under Geo and allowed the two of them to fall onto the mattress, to another surprised yelp from Geo. Jay landed on top of him and wasted no time to dive back into a kiss, propping himself up with one arm and grabbing at Geo’s cropped shirt with the other. Everything in Jay's head had melted away, leaving only this. Only the moment they shared. Nothing else mattered.

Nothing else mattered.

Nothing else mattered.

Geo broke the kiss once more by turning his face away from Jay's mouth, which began to travel along Geo’s jawline and neck instead. Roving fingers teased the hem of Geo's shirt, before being abruptly grabbed and held tight. “Jay,” Geo repeated, more forcefully this time. “Can you just— hold on a second?”

Hold on? Jay pushed himself upright to the best of his ability, just enough that he could get a good look at Geo’s face; his cheeks were flushed a dark reddish-purple, but rather than the usual blissful or flustered expression, he carried a troubled air that gave Jay additional pause. “...What?”

“Jay…I…this is…” Geo fumbled his words, seeming unable to land on any. He rubbed Jay’s fingers absently with his own. “I…I don’t know if I’m in the mood…for this…right now.”

Jay felt himself deflate under the crushing weight of returning reality. “What? Why? What do you mean?” he said, unable to keep the panic out of his voice.

“I just– it's nothing you did, and it's not that I don't enjoy it, but… maybe we could just...talk, tonight?"

Jay’s pulse quickened. A litany of unsavory thoughts spiraled in his brain, a tornado of self-loathing that had long since been percolating, just waiting for an excuse to gain momentum. He’d made Geo uncomfortable. How? This was supposed to be the fix. The smooth-over, the nonverbal apology for every passive-aggressive comment that spilled from his mouth that night. How had he managed to mess this up too? “Talk? That’s— no, I’m not good at talking. Please, I’m not— this is the only thing I’m good at,” he said, the words spilling from his mouth before he could stop them. “Please, Geo, this is the only thing I’m good at. Don’t take that away from me, I—” He caught himself mid-sentence, realization sinking in at Geo’s increasingly concerned expression. “...No. I’m sorry. It’s fine, actually. I don’t even care. That’s fine. No worries, I’ll just— I’m gonna go, then.”

He started to push himself to his feet, and Geo hurried to grasp his arms, pulling him back. “Jay,” Geo said, voice as firm as his grip. “Stay. It’s alright, you don’t have to leave.”

 “Yes I do. I can’t do all this…this…talking. All these emotions. I told you, I’m not good at it. I’m not good at it like you, I don’t— all I do is make people feel bad.”

“You’re not trying to.”

"Sometimes I am. Sometimes I enjoy it, too. I’m really, really good at making people feel bad, Geo. But this…this is the one time where I feel like I can make people feel good, and…” His chest tightened along with his throat, and his eyes stung with tears that threatened to form. He heaved a dry sob, like a breath caught in reverse. “If I’m not good at that, what am I? Just some asshole with amnesia? Geo, I don’t know who the fuck I am. I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t—” The floodgates burst, sending rivers of electrified tears streaming down his cheeks in a trail of static shocks. His shoulders shuddered as another sob overtook him. “I don’t know who I am.”

“Hey, hey now, it’s alright.” Geo reached up to swipe at Jay’s tears, jumping slightly at the static that crackled on his thumb. He shook it off, wholly undeterred. “Come on. Come here.” He shuffled himself further onto the bed and laid down on the pillows, beckoning Jay to join him with wide, open arms. 

Jay sniffled, staring at him for a long moment before he finally gave in— what more did he have to lose? His dignity was already long gone. He crawled over to him and flopped into Geo’s arms, head landing on his chest. Geo completed the gesture by wrapping his arms tightly around Jay’s upper body in turn. 

As soon he sunk into the embrace, the sobs increased in intensity, and the tears poured onto Geo’s shirt. Geo only held him tighter, a granted permission that Jay had never even given himself: to cry freely.

Neither of them spoke. Jay wouldn’t even think of attempting it in that state, lest he be reduced to even more of a blubbering mess; he’d admitted plenty already, and Geo didn’t seem to mind the lack of conversation. He merely hummed a comforting tune under his breath and rubbed gentle circles into Jay’s back. It was a strange sensation, to be cared for. Jay wasn’t sure he knew what to do with it. He didn’t understand how Geo offered it so easily, like it was second nature to him. But the embrace felt…nice, Jay supposed. 

He had no idea if he’d ever cried like this before. It certainly felt like a first. Had the old him sobbed on Nya or Cole’s chest? Did he cry over every little thing, or had it only happened when he reached a breaking point? Did he feel as ashamed of his tears then as he did now? Jay had no answers for any of those questions, and wasn’t sure if he truthfully wanted them. All he knew was that, be it a first or not, he was sobbing in Geo’s arms. And in some odd, twisted way, it felt good. 

He wasn’t sure how long he cried. It ebbed and flowed like a wave, building up to a crescendo just to crash and settle once more. Eventually, though, his tear ducts began to dry up, and the tightness in his chest began to ease. Geo wordlessly stretched an arm over to the nightstand to grab a tissue, which Jay gratefully accepted— he felt like he was drowning in his own facial fluids, and was eager to regain some composure. Geo just laid there, observing while Jay aggressively wiped his face, blew his nose, and tossed the balled-up tissue onto the floor. Jay let his head fall back on Geo’s chest. His neck felt weak. And Geo was warm. “Don’t tell Cole or Nya about this,” he mumbled.

“About what? You littering tissues on my floor?” Geo said, earning a slight amused huff.

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah. I won’t. But having emotions isn’t a crime, you know. I don’t think either of them would judge you for it.”

“They should. It’s gross. I hate it. Don’t tell them.”

Geo chuckled softly, the heave of his chest shaking Jay’s head. “I won’t, I won’t.” 

“Good.” He considered leaving it at that, but a dreaded seed of guilt began nagging at the back of his tired mind. He curled his arm around Geo’s torso and sniffed. “...Thanks.”

Geo craned his neck to place a gentle kiss on the top of his head, amidst his fluffy curls. Barely did it graze his scalp, but he felt it resonate down to his very core. “Any time.”

They laid there in silence for longer than Jay could keep track of, despite his attempts to keep time by the ticking wall clock and the beating of Geo’s heart. It thump-thumped a steady rhythm, as dependable as its carrier. Slowly, the internal lullaby lured him into a deep, inescapable slumber.

✧《✩》✧

Cole

Despite having their own room in the Monastery, neither Spitz nor Fritz would be deterred from sleeping in their ‘own beds’ that night. Cole certainly couldn’t deny them that, even though he was well aware they’d be sleeping in his arms before they even arrived—and they were. Or, at least Spitz was. Fritz was determined to walk regardless of his barely open eyes, guided like a sleepwalker by Cole’s hand. 

He didn’t blame the two of them for wanting to come back. While the monastery was like a home to him, the first to take him in after striking out on his own, the Finder’s residence was his home. His, Geo’s, Bonzle’s, Spitz and Fritz’s. Maybe it was once made from necessity, a lack of freedom…but it became a choice to stay. And it was a choice he was happy to keep making.

The house was quiet and dark when they walked in. Curious, he had expected at least a couple lights, or to hear some muted conversation. Everything felt so…still. Cole shifted Spitz on his hip. “Bonzle, can you take the kids to their room? I gotta check on the love birds.”

“Can do,” Bonzle said, reaching out to take Spitz from Cole with a soft grunt of effort. Cole transferred Fritz’s hand to hers and the three adoptive siblings made their way to the younger one’s bedroom. 

Cole smiled after them, and then turned his attention to the closed door across the hall. He approached cautiously and gave a small knock. “Jay, Geo? I’m home.” Without a response, he tried the doorknob—unlocked—and opened the door as quietly as he could muster.

It was dark in the bedroom, too. As Cole peered in, a strip of soft blue light illuminated the pair sleeping on the bed above the blankets, still fully clothed. Jay was laying somewhat on top of Geo, with his head resting on his chest and one of Geo’s arms draped loosely across his back. It was as heartwarming a sight as it was surprising to see Jay cuddled up on Geo the way he used to cuddle up on Cole. The way he denied ever doing before.

Geo peeked open an eye as the light hit him, sleepy confusion giving way to a smile when he noticed his partner standing in the doorway. He beckoned for him, and Cole was quick to comply, leaning down to give Geo a peck on the lips before gingerly climbing into bed. He moved slow and deliberately so as not to wake sleeping beauty, managing to position himself in a spooning position against Jay’s back with his head on the pillow next to Geo. He stacked his arm on top of the one that currently cradled Jay, enveloping him in a dual hug. 

Jay shifted and let out a muffled groan, and Cole froze, unsure if Jay would appreciate or allow the intrusion. It wasn’t long before he got his answer by way of Jay’s hand fumbling into theirs, weakly grasping at their wrists and pulling them tighter around his body. He stretched his legs, shimmied his shoulders, and let out a long, drawn-out sigh—content, or perhaps resigned— before settling back into sleep between the two of them.

Tension released from Cole’s shoulders, and he sighed happily in turn. Whether or not Jay would acknowledge this night ever again, much less allow it to be more than a fluke, Cole would appreciate every moment while he had it, this glimpse of his old jay resurfacing.

I know you’re in there, Jay, was the last thought that crossed Cole’s mind as rest began to claim him. And we’re right here.

[melishade]

Attack on Prime New Age Anthology: Reminiscing

Main Story

Return to that Sick Mind II

Return to that Sick Mind III

Return to that Sick Mind IV

The TFP Kids and the Survey Corps share memories about Optimus.

"You know," Jack began, "I don't think we've ever seen Optimus that expressive before."

Armin was lying down on the bed, looking up at the blank ceiling. He turned his head to face Jack, and the older gentleman was leaning against the space where the glass and wall merged.

"He got angry at you guys for coming out to fight," Jack explained, "The idea of Optimus panicking seems surreal. And then...the screaming over the comm. link system."

Armin sighed at that, knowing what Jack was referring to. The moments right after the power of the titans had ended.

"We know it's Optimus now, but...he just seems so different," Jack confessed.

"...How did Optimus use to act when he was leader of the Autobots?" Armin asked.

"Stoic, assured, never really wore his emotions out on his sleeves," Jack explained, "One time I asked him if he wanted to see something funny, but he just said 'no' so bluntly. It didn't mean he didn't care about us or anything. I think it was just a lot of responsibility."

"I did ask him one time if I could come to the Arctic with him and see snow," Rafael chimed in, tying away on his laptop, "He said no, but he promised he would bring me back a snowball. That didn't happen because we had a scraplet infestation, but I did get to see the Arctic later."

"We get snow on the island," Armin explained, "And we had to rent out a place for Optimus to stay in because he didn't want to use all the resources on the neutral ship or make the trips at all. We even made him a large blanket for him to use and keep warm."

"Really?" Rafael asked in surprise.

"Aw, that's sweet," Miko cooed, lying on her back perpendicular to her bed.

"Yeah, Optimus doesn't like winter time," Hanji snickered, knocking their knuckles against the floor to try and find a loose panel.

"Did he wear the blanket like a cape?" Miko asked.

"He did!" Hanji exclaimed with excitement.

"Damn it! I want pictures!" Miko shouted.

"I don't like winter, but Optimus made it just a little bit bearable," Sasha proclaimed, "He told us a lot of his battles on Earth, managed to draw in a whole crowd of people with his story telling."

"Gotta be a good speaker to be a good leader," Jack declared.

"Yeah, we also got into a snowball fight with him," Sasha added.

Miko shot up from the bed while Jack and Rafael snapped their heads at her.

"Optimus Prime? 'Primes don't party'? Was in a snowball fight?!" Miko screeched.

"I concede, some of it was my fault." Hanji raised their hand.

"How the hell do you get Optimus to participate in a snowball fight?!" Jack demanded.

"Well, they asked." Hanji pointed to Armin's cell next to them, "And the minute I phrased it as a 'training exercise', he started annihilating the 104th left and right."

"Sounds about right," Rafael commented.

"Did you know that he lost!" Sasha screeched in anger.

"HE LOST?!" They all screamed.

"Yeah, somehow Armin managed to get him in the back! Which I'm still pressed about!" Sasha shouted.

"Yeah, I guess I got lucky." Armin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Yeah, some luck! I want to join in on the snowball fight next time!" Miko declared.

"Miko, he's probably not-!"

"He's not escaping this!" Miko cut Rafael off.

"That's insane. Optimus never participated in any recreational activities. Now he's out here having snowball fights," Jack said in disbelief.

"Optimus was still quite reserved when we first met him," Hanji explained, "It did take a lot of talks and coaxing to really get him out of his shell."

"I mean, you guys did a pretty great job," Jack praised.

"I think part of it was that initially, Optimus was considered a threat among our people," Hanji explained.

"Really?" Miko deadpanned.

"Optimus is a giant, metal, titan and we thought humanity was extinct by man-eating titans. How do you think that'll make the population feel?" Hanji pressed their ear against the floor, "He wasn't exalted or worship as a Prime. He was feared. Then many of us started seeing him as an ally and equal. One of the big things Optimus did to gain Levi's trust was prepare the bodies of his former squad for a funeral."

"That's really thoughtful," Miko declared.

"It...definitely helped a lot of us with the grieving process," Hanji admitted.

"Wait, what do you mean worshipped?" Willy asked, awakened by the conversation at hand.

"According to Ratchet, being a Prime is the highest honor a Cybertronian can receive," Rafael explained, "It's like being ordained by god."

"...you're kidding, right?" Colt asked.

"He literally went down to the core of their planet, which has his god Primus, and he gave Optimus the Matrix," Rafael explained, "Not to mention all the cool stuff he can access with it."

"The Forge of Solus Prime, which made anything with a swing. It's broken now. The Star Saber. You guys saw it cut up the Colossal Titans," Miko listed, "Hey Jack, do you still have the Key to Vector Sigma?"

"The what?" Armin asked in confusion.

Jack dug into his pockets and pulled out a glowing rectangular metal sheet. "Managed to snag it before the rest of my clothes got taken from me."

"What does that do?" Onyankopon asked, exiting from the makeshift bathroom.

"We had to use it to download Optimus' memories when he got amnesia," Jack answered.

"Amnesia?!" Gabi sounded panicked, "When did Optimus get amnesia?!"

"There was a world ending event we had on Earth," Jack explained, "Optimus and the Autobots went to stop it, and Optimus had to use the Matrix in his chest to stop the event from happening and the Earth from getting destroyed. It caused his memories to get wiped and for him to revert back to Orion Pax."

"And then Buckethead kidnapped him," Miko seethed.

"Wow, Megatron, it just gets worse for you," Hanji muttered under their breath.

"Optimus gave me the key and told me it was for the groundbridge power supply," Jack explained, "I ended up going to Cybertron with Arcee to download his memories."

"Wow, Optimus lied to you and you didn't notice?" Hanji raised their head from the floor.

"Hey, things were pretty tense," Jack retorted.

"Optimus is a shit liar!" Hanji exclaimed.

"Look, he probably gave it to me and lied about it because he knew the others would try to stop him," Jack assumed, "Optimus...let me keep it after we got him back."

"...Optimus never let us keep any important relics," Hanji muttered.

"Didn't he start teaching you how to read their language?" Armin recalled.

"Whoa, you can read Cybertronian?" Rafael asked in surprise.

"The older language. The Golden Age Text." Hanji waved off.

"Still, that's impressive," Rafael praised.

"Thanks." Hanji rubbed the back of their head.

"...Hey how did Optimus handle the war being over?" Miko couldn't help but ask, "The Bots handled it differently, but Boss Bot was away from Cybertron."

"Yeah...Optimus was sad about it," Armin explained.

"Really?" Jack asked with concern.

"I think he was sad about the fact that he couldn't go back home," Armin explained, "The neutral ship was mainly used for spare parts. We couldn't use it for communications or transportation. Arcee and Wheeljack weren't there at the time, and Megatron said he got thrown through a spacebridge, so he didn't remember the way back. Optimus was stranded on another world, and...majority of that world hated him and wanted him gone."

Gabi felt her stomach drop at Armin's explanation, and she covered her mouth and curled up into a ball to hide her tears. Willy darted his eyes in guilt while Colt stared in pity.

"But that doesn't mean we didn't do something nice for him!" Hanji declared, "We scavenged for every single book on the walls and a few from Marley and got him a library to keep, since he used to be an archivist and all!"

"You guys made Optimus a library?" Jack couldn't help but smile.

"Why not?" Hanji smiled back, "We care about Optimus. He's our ally and friend."

Jack looked down at the key card and smiled. "Thanks."

"For what?" Armin asked.

"For watching out for Optimus and taking care of him," Jack elaborated, "Sounds like you guys really made Optimus happy."

"We tried our best." Hanji shrugged, "Although, can't say I've made it easier for him. One time, he told us about Halloween, and I threatened to wipe some information from the neutral ship if he didn't tell us more scary stories."

"He told you scary stories?!" Miko exclaimed.

"Yeah, and we made a betting pool on it!" Hanji cackled, "And then Buckethead ruined the whole thing with a Cybertronian horror story!"

"Who won the pot?!" Miko asked.

"Mikasa!" Hanji grinned, "She wouldn't crack until Megatron told his story! Oh, and he also told us about a holiday called 'Day of the Dead'-!"

"He told you about Dia de Los Muertos?" Rafael asked in surprise and excitement, "He still remembered what I told him?"

"We couldn't do a massive festival, but we did have a toast in the cemetery where our comrades were buried," Armin explained, "It was nice."

Rafael set his laptop down and stood up. "We we're done, I'm taking everyone to a proper festival! We'll make altars and we'll eat concha bread and dance!"

"What's concha bread?!" Sasha asked with excitement.

Jack watched with a small smile as the conversation continued. The spy felt something vibrate in his pocket and pulled out his phone. He opened his text messages and read the most recent one.

Inquire about Eren Jaeger.

Jack started typing back. They don't want to talk about him yet.

We looked into Megatron's mind with the cortical psychic patch.

Jack typed furiously. Whoa! What?!

We've learned information about Eren Jaeger, but Megatron has confessed that he has a negative bias towards him.

I thought the patch didn't alter memories.

We still need more information on Eren. There is information that is missing. We need a different perspective.

Jack sighed to himself before standing up. "Gotta go to the bathroom." He walked over to the back and opened the door to the makeshift bathroom. He locked the door and took a deep breath before texting Ultra Magnus once more.

What did you find?

Jack waited. He saw the bubbles, waiting for the message to be sent. Jack was confused when he got a video. He played the video and closed the lid of the toilet before sitting down on it.

“Wait! Eren, please! Please listen to me!” Jack heard Optimus' voice, “Don’t activate the Colossal Titans within the wall! I understand your fear of Marley and the rest of the humans on this world! But this is not the way to handle the situation! You have the titan power; you have weakened Marley! That alone should be enough!”

Jack took noticed of Eren, the same armored titan that showed up in the feed. He looked like he was nervous, hesitating.

 “This violence; this lust for vengeance will only lead to more destruction and devastation!” Optimus declared, “Listen to reason, Eren! Stand down now, and let us come with a better solution!”

Eren growled as he threatened to scream, but Optimus continued. “Listen to me, Eren! If you activate the rumbling, you will not only be destroying the entire world but the island as well! The people you wish to protect: Historia, Mikasa, Armin, the Survey Corps will be affected! Innocent humans, both Marleyan and Eldian who had nothing to do with attacks against the island, will be killed in the ensuing chaos! The entire world will be devastated, and the only ones that have survived will only see this action as a tasteless once! Creating a new world on mountains of bodies and rivers of blood is not justified! If you do this, you will only be seen as a monster, regardless of your motivation!”

“Eren, I know this isn’t the path that you want, and if you stand down now we can find another solution! This isn’t the path to peace! Think for one second about the weight of your actions! If you do this, you will cause humanity’s extinction! That will be with you for the rest of your life! Do you really wish to be the one?! Do you really wish to be the cause of the death and destruction of all of mankind?!”

Jack leaned forward as he saw Optimus take slow steps towards Eren.

“That’s enough, Eren,” Optimus whispered, holding out his servo, “Please, come home.”

Jack knew what came next. This guy made up his mind. He witnessed that decision, but he still grew ridged when he heard the titan speak. He didn't understand what he said because of the lack of lips, but it caused Optimus to scream his name and reach out for him. Jack covered his mouth in shock as something shot his head off, but then a centipede emerged from the spine and reconnected with the head. Jack had stopped the video once he saw the walls beginning to fall. He took deep and heavy breaths, trying to calm his nerves. He never felt so sick, and Jack was now left with one raging question in his mind.

How the hell does someone get pushed so far into believing that genocide is the only option?

(Okay, so for reference:

Halloween Anthology: Optimus tells scary stories from Earth to the Survey Corps in honor of the Halloween Spirit. Bonus: Dia de Los Muertos: Optimus and the Survey Corps honor the ones that they have lost. Winter Anthology:  Optimus and the Survey Corps navigate the every changing twists and turns of the weather as the seasons change from fall to spring.

Like these are canon to the AOP story. Just as a reminder.)

[littleladymab]

What is HOWL? 👀

This one also goes out to @strangeharpy who asked

For the WIP title game, I am curious about HOWL!

So HOWL is a sci-fi project in which I take a cast of characters I made up with no plot and then smush it together with my "space lesbeans" project that had a decent plot but not fully fleshed out cast.

It's also what I'm doing with Kerri as a fully separated from FTL character LOL so when I was writing notes for the gorls, I had to make sure I didn't make it too similar to what I plan on doing for HOWL.

HOWL, largely, is inspired by the fact that there was something in SW that was cool and creepy in concept and I thought it absolutely FAILED on the delivery. You got a cosmic horror beast of a creature that consumes the living force from people and turns them into husks and then DON'T make it scary? Fuck, what are you doing with your life?! Anyway I also like to call it "what if I made star wars gay and scary" project.

So anyway, I do have to better figure out how to merge the two projects together into one coherent project but there's going to be not!jedi and epic betrayal and political intrigue, and yeah some scary cosmic monsters that will eat the essence of you right out of your body.

Kerri (human what can do magic) hires Nelo (cyborg what stole someone's identity) to be a bodyguard and get her home, and somewhere along they way they run into Jack (human what can also do magic) and their crew (Casper, Yasmine, and Ursula, who are all different kinds of aliens) on their ship called HOWL. Jack has a REAL MESSY HISTORY with the antagonist (I've been calling him Daniel for Reasons(TM), and his co-conspirator Mateen), and you know, plot will ensue.

As a fun side note, on the pin board I made for HOWL I saved one (1) picture of Timothee Chalamet in error and my friend never let me live it down and now my WIP channel for this project in our group chat is also the "i'm going to wonkapost here, to torment you".

Here's a passage I had written from years ago, when they were separate projects and I was experimenting with Jack's voice!

"You weren't telling me the whole truth!" "What does it matter?" "It matters because if he asks you to leave with him again, you might say yes!" I open my mouth, but the denial doesn't come, and Casper growls as he draws away. "Were you in love with him?" Caspar asks, and the laugh that is startled out of me is raw and wild. "Jack! Were you?" "I don't know!" I repeat, as if saying it louder makes it any more true. Casper tosses his hands in the air, and there's a glitter of goldenrod petals in their wake. He's stressed, agitated, and it's my fault. "Bullshit you don't know." "I don't. I don't--" I scrub my hands over my face and try again. "Humans are… We are a tangled mess of emotions and feelings and thoughts. What one person thinks isn't the same meaning as what someone else thinks. Emotions and interpretations. It is so impossible to know what I felt with certainty. It was so long ago. I don't know. Maybe? Maybe I did. In my own way, maybe I did." "And now?" I think about it, try to understand how I felt when I saw him standing across the airlock from me. That smile of his that always meant trouble was just around the corner, but wouldn't it be something if we could stay one step ahead the whole time? "He tried to kill you," Casper says into the silence when I take too long to answer. "He almost did. It is a fucking miracle you lived." "I know." The vines twist and grow up his forearms and he doesn't even seem to notice. "And you would still go if he asks you to leave?" I don't answer, but he fills in the blank anyway.

[[Ask me about my WIPS!!]]

[the-ikran-man]

@recom-week Secret Prompt: Horror: Existential - Eldritch - Cosmic

Warning:

Some cursing

---

Log 1: Miles Quaritch

It's been at least 7 hours since I woke up in this ship. Stuck in that death trap they call a tank. I had to break it to get out, no matter how much I yelled, no one came to help me, cut myself up pretty badly.

I found some clothes, which is good, but I haven't seen anyone else yet, which is...not good.

I'll explore some more later on, or tomorrow, time is hard to gauge out here, it could have been a whole week for all I know.

---

Log 2: Miles Quaritch

Figured I'd map out the place, know where I am and everything. Found a working tablet, started using that. It's a temporary fix, I know, it'll run out of power at some point, but for now, it's the best I got.

---

Log 3: Miles Quaritch

Found something that could be considered food while I was mapping out more of the ship. Weird outer space crap I wouldn't even feed to a dog.

At least I got something to eat now, beggars can't be choosers. Especially right now. Who knows if I'll find anything else.

---

Log 6: Miles Quaritch

Fuck, I don't know when my luck really kicked in, but I found-

I found Wainfleet, I've never been so glad to see his ugly mug in my entire life. He was hidden away in this storage room, huddled up in the corner, shaking like a leaf.

He's been muttering about things in the walls ever since I found him. Don't know how long he's been here, hiding, but he must have woken up before me, if the state of the place is anything to go by.

Feels good to not be alone anymore though.

---

Log 9: Miles Quaritch

I'm a little bugged out about the things Lyle's been muttering about. Things in the walls. Too many eyes, too many teeth. That's real freaky, considering I haven't seen heads or tails of anything outside of us. Think his paranoia is getting to me.

I'm a little more cautious when I go out to map the final parts of the ship.

---

Log 12: Miles Quaritch

Lyle's started following me around. First time he's come out of his little hidey hole. He sticks too close, like a lost kid, his tail curled around some part of me at all times.

Really haven't seen him this freaked out before.

I found some more food, gave it to him, don't know when's the last time he's had anything resembling a meal. He struggles to get it down like he's forgotten how to eat.

---

Lyle doesn't get any better over the course of days. if anything he gets worse. Quaritch had a place he went to when he wasn't moving about the ship, but Lyle refused to go anywhere near it, shoving himself back into that storage room to hide.

"It's safe, it's safe, it's safe," he mutter when Quaritch tried to get answers out of him about it. He'd never explained beyond that.

He'd point out areas and things like something was going to leap out of them ready to attack, trembling like a baby deer.

---

"No..." Lyle whispers as he presses himself further against the wall, like if he tried hard enough he'd merge with it.

Quaritch is over in the doorway, braid in hand, having decided to take matters into his own hands.

"It's either this or you tell me what you've been seeing that got you ready to jump out the airlock."

Lyle cowered.

"Braid way it is then," Quaritch said, moving further into the room.

Lyle doesn't make it easy, letting out such a screech it makes Quaritch's ears go back, though doesn't really stop him.

They struggle in the space, Quaritch just trying to get Lyle to connect with him so he could just see whatever is going on in Lyle's head, so he could understand why he was freaking out so much.

Quaritch wins out in the end.

He doesn't like what he finds, what he sees, wht he feels.

---

Separating from Lyle is like trying to pull sandpaper off your arm, like attempting to swallow when your throat is dry and raw.

Lyle curls up in a ball, sobbing in broken notes as Quaritch pulls away, from him moving quickly away from him, his chest heaving, reaching and gripping the doorway with trembling hands as he tries to comprehend what he'd just experienced.

"You saw them too, you saw them too," he can just hear Lyle say-no, whimper, the other rocking jerkily back and forth.

Quaritch doesn't stay in there. He can't.

He flees from there, to the safety of his own space, finding a something solid to sit against.

He tries to tell himself that he was going to be fine. What he'd seen, what Lyle had- he hadn't seen anything right in front of his face, maybe Lyle was just messed up so bad being out here by himself, before Quaritch showed up and found him, that's he'd started to imagine things.

Yeah, that had to be, that's what it was.

That's all.

---

And then some time later, once he's managed to convince himself that he'd experienced through Lyle hadn't been real, when he's falling back into his sort of new routine, he hears them.

In the walls.

---- --- ---

A/N: Recom week has been so fun for us to participate in. We don't normally join in on these types of things, but we're really glad we did this time.

[head---ache]

how do you design your fankids? i wanna design a fankid for my favorite ship and you were the first person to come into my mind so...do you have any tips?

I'm not sure how to explain myself, but I'll try!!!!

My first couple of tips actually work with any character you would want to make, not just fankids. The first thing is to think of a personality! Doesn't have to be a super complicated one, to just start with one main personality trait is good enough, to base the first pass of the design off of that:] You can take in consideration shape language for this!! If you aren't familiar with it, a very shortened explanation is: triangles=dangerous, usually villains are very triangular, squares=serious, or generally stubborn characters, and circles=friendly, this is why you usually see main characters from kids media being very round:] You can see I did this with Lash and Destiny the most!!!

Since most of the canon Sonic characters have powers, surely their kids will too!! You can also take that into consideration for the design!! I don't usually do it too much, since it's a bit harder to show in a design, but I did do it with Destiny!! -again lol- It's just a good way to tell more of your character's story just by the way they look:]

Now specifically for fankids, I usually make two first passes, each one looks more like one parent than the other, and later I merge the things I like the most of those designs into a new one. This is how you get your character looking like both of their parents!! I usually try to make it obvious who the character's parents are, but with rare ships is a bit harder lol I still did it with Bria tho!! And Sparks as well.

I usually try to stay away from mixing the parent's colors into one??? Like, blonde dad and redhead mother isn't going to result in an orange haired kid, that isn't how genetics work lol But that's just personal preferrence!!! It also helps making the kid actually look like their child rather than a fusion.

Also, this isn't much of a tip, rather just one thing I like to keep in mind, that the kid can have their own personality, it doesn't need to be just like their parents' lol

And that's all that comes to my mind rn!! Hope it's helpful!! And I'm SOOO glad you want to try!!!

[asystemfromrussia]

"The curse of the mermaid" by Green Apelsin

"On her toes, during the dark night, her shadow creeps,

Avoiding a wedding, she won't return to her father's¹ house.

The cruel fate's fault it was that she, on a ship with the black flag,

Sneaked to the pirates, throwing a lonely gaze.

There's a girl on board! Disaster shall happen!

Her dress floats in circles, and it's best she accepts her fate,

There's a girl on board, so let me drown,

On a walk on the board, greet her, water!

Too late, dear (man)*, but don't be afraid,

Give yourself to the sea devil.

The body drowns, give it time,

I am your nightmare and the devil of sea waves.

The devil of sea waves...

The devil of sea waves...

Over the water lies an impassable fog,

The captain lost his way, driven by madness

He hears a soft and so painfully familiar voice

Incapable of resisting the beauty of her face

There's a girl overboard! It's impossible not to fall in love!²

The song's ringing caresses the ears, it's best he accepts his fate,

There's a girl overboard! He wants to drown!

The pirate's ready to give everything up to merge with her lips!

Too late, dear (man), but don't be afraid,

Give yourself to the sea devil.

The body drowns, give it time,

I am your nightmare and the devil of sea waves.

Her curse is the sweet taste of revenge,

Her tail is her torn dress.

She doesn't feel pity for the captain,³

The mermaid remembers the misery of death."

¹ "отчий" can be translated as "father's" or "the home that raised you/you grew up in"

* "dear" can be both feminine and masculine in Russian. In this context, it's masculine, meaning the mermaid is referring to the captain.

² Literal translation of this sentence says, "try not to fall in love," which in Russian means it's impossible not to.

³ Once again, the literal translation varies. I am either unaware, or there is just no accurate translation of that sentence. This author refers to the mermaid not feeling pity for sacrificing/taking his life.

Explanation: This song is made with Russian and Easter motives with a modern twist, telling a story of a girl who ran away from home and accidentally got on a pirate's ship. The captain of the ship killed her, and the girl turned into a mermaid tho came to take revenge on the captain and killed him by the end of the song.

Russian and Eastern folklore are incredibly sinister. It's rare that either gives mercy to their characters. As far as I'm aware, there's also not much distinction between mermaids and sirens in our folklore, as mermaids are Slavic-Eastern mythology/folklore, while sirens are Greek mythology. In Slavic culture, mermaids were believed to guard water sources, and they did not like people of any age. In some versions, they threw stones at them, in others tickled and drowned, and in others, seduced men to drown them.

-host

[tetrathewizard]

Hi there it's the Doctor! (No relation to Doctor Who lol) I just lost an rp partner who I was doing a lot of MHA AU rp with and I got a taste for it! I don't write a lot unfortunately, but I do my best. I can promise to write a few sentences per response

I have a ton of ideas I really want to try! Mostly I want to do AUs, maybe use a couple OCs I have? I can play most characters except for AFO, All Might, and Endeavor

Here's my ship list:

Shouto x Eijiro

Izuku x Katsuki (non abusive)

Tamaki x Mirio

Dabi x Hawks

Denki x Hitoshi

The AUs I really wanted to try were:

Spider Deku x Venom Kacchan

Spirited Away

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

Fantasy AU

It's where Izuku is the demon king and Katsuki is the hero. In this world human adventures can be revived endlessly by the Mana Tree so it's like a video game. But of course Izuku is in love with Katsuki and doesn't want to hurt him

Fantasy AU Villain Deku

I was thinking that we start off with Izuku being a normal village boy but runs into Tomura. They talk for a bit and later Tomura basically revives the demon king AFO in his village and everyone blames Izuku because he's the village scapegoat. He's treated very badly until he's pushed to the breaking point and Tomura or AFO comes to literally talk him away from a cliff

Alice in Wonderland

I had an idea where Izuku would fall down the rabbit hole as a kid. But once he's there the world naturally starts to force him to take on a role. Unfortunately since the King of Hearts has eyes on him...that means Izuku slowly starts to become the Prince of Hearts. His hair becomes white and his eyes will change to red. Once the transformation is complete he won't be able to return home. Izuku is trying to avoid the King of Hearts and find a way to go home while keeping his memories of the real world. A sequel would be him returning to Wonderland as an adult because his mother is dying and he could find a cure there but he faces similar perils and that his reality is starting to merge with Wonderland!

Lovecraftian Cult AU

Izuku Midoriya is a humble police officer in a small town. One night his long lost childhood friend, Katsuki Bakugou comes to him. Izuku is discovered to be the son of an Eldritch Abomination, the King in Yellow. Izuku is then taken to a commune where he is worshipped as a god like entity. Confused and frightened he tries to adjust to this new reality as his powers confirm that their faith is much more than the ravings of lunatics. At the same time he must perform his duties as a guardian of his followers and interact with surrounding cults in the area while the Cult of All for One plots the end of the world...

If any of this looks appealing please feel free to DM me! I know it's very Izuku heavy but that's just who I main as. I'm more than happy to play someone else as the main character. I'm willing to play as Izuku, Shouto, Hitoshi, Mirio, Keigo and others! If you want to add me on Discord, I'm Aria6516

[chaikachi]

When I say crumbs, I do mean crumbs. Not going to stop me from having a lil feast tho cause that's what fandom is all about. :3c

First one is right at the very beginning of the movie. Ruby is talking about who she is and recapping the events of the previous film. She starts by saying:

"Honestly, something wasn't quite right about our world either."

before the shot pans to this:

So of all the things that were noticeably different about Remnant in the first film, the one Ruby brings up as the example to demonstrate is Oscar not being himself.

Which we know was something she found very distressing!

These are the only times Oscar actually shows up in either movie, hence why I say crumbs. The rest will contain some plot spoilers so please tread with caution if you haven't seen the new one yet!

Some context: Ruby has regressed in this movie. She is being reckless and impatient, much like in the earlier volumes. Or a bit like Blake who wouldn't stop to take time & rest before throwing herself into danger. She doesn't seem to care about throwing her life away and isn't thinking before she acts.

There is a brief scene where Yang and The Flash talk about how trauma can negatively affect you. How it can linger and mess with your identity and your ability to feel safe, even after the danger has passed. And how your responses to it can worry the people that care about you...

This scene immediately transitions to Ruby, who is supposed to be resting, running over a dozen combat simulations in one of the Justice League's practice rooms. And the shot it pans to after that conversation about trauma, is her cutting down a carboard cutout that looks like this:

Which, um... I know I have shipping goggles on, but you can't tell me that doesn't look like Oscar??? Of all the NPC hair cuts and colours they could have gone with, this was the final design they chose? HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS.

And we know Ruby's actions are a result of recent trauma and her response to it because they address it about as directly as they could.

After Ruby and Clark finish their practice session, they sit down to have a chat about what's been going on with her. The structure is pretty similar to the Dojo Scene in V5, Ruby and a Farm Boy exchanging some of their worries with each other in a training room. But it's what Ruby says that specifically stands out to me as another RG parallel.

"Did you know I lost my mom when I was a kid? I don't know exactly what happened to her, I don't really remember her, I just have stories. And I keep trying to live up to those stories, but... I realize they don't matter anymore. Heroes fall. And I just want to get as much done as I possibly can before I do."

Which, if we compare to Oscar's resolve in V6, a direct response to the Dojo Scene in V5...

"I don't know how much longer I'm going to be... me. But I did some thinking, and I do know that I want to do everything I can to help with whatever time I have left."

WHICH IS JUST. WHAT ROSEGARDEN ALWAYS DOES. THE SAME THING, BUT SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT.

Both of them committed to the cause. Oscar, in spite of an imminent 'end' via the merge versus Ruby, who apparently took Torchwick's words from V3 to heart. Because she wants to be the hero, and playing that part means to "die like every huntsman in history". So she's just playing along, without any regard for her own safety, waiting for fate to be done with her because she doesn't think she has a chance of surviving, so she doesn't go out of her way to try.

Lastly, both in the comics and in the movies, Ruby's dynamic with Clark is quite a bit similar to her dynamic with Oscar. They're set up as leader parallels and have similar conversations, and Clark is another farm boy with a destiny. So take Ruby blushing as she jumps to hug him at the end of the movie as you will. Cause apparently RG Antis are mad about this being proof she's going to end up with Oscar LMAO

Some of the analyses I do on here are very serious, but seeing as this is a spin-off, non-canon movie, take all of this with a grain of salt. 🤭There are much stronger arguments towards RG in the 9 Volumes of the show itself, but as I mentioned at the beginning, that can't stop us from having a bit of fun with it. That being said, Rosegarden canon and #GreenlightVolume10 already!!!!

and if I tell you there are RG crumbs in the second JL movie...

[sweetlytempests]

in 2021 can we make an agreement to stop telling disappointed shippers to just multiship or polyship as a means to solve shipping disputes. if i don’t like A + B by themselves, why am I suddenly gonna like it because it’s A + B + C. “B has two hands!!!” yes to hold both of C’s hands, A doesn’t need to be up in here at all, stop it. 

[onewomancitadel]

"Jaune and Weiss don't really have much to say to each other and it doesn't carry the same romantic relief Blake and Yang do!" Literally like Jaune and Weiss have NOTHING stringing them together meaningfully to the point that it completely blindsides me how ANYONE in this fandom thinks that they have a real shot at being endgame... it's unfathomable. Like it's beyond my distaste even, it just DOESN'T make sense. What? What??! What are you talking about, FNDM??! Drives me up the WALL. What meaningful interaction have Jaune and Weiss had in recent volumes, and I mean like, an actual interpersonal one, not just "helping you limp away from our enemy who's trying to blow us off a bridge," which is just standard hero etiquette that any of the main cast would do for each other, uhhhh.... they went to the movies with Oscar once. They have such little development together in the show it simply doesn't make sense to me!!!! But also, It's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO boring! Bang-my-head-on-a-desk, open-a-whiskey, shoot-myself-dead BORING!! Emotional complexity? Sorry, we're fresh out! Whiteknight is like looking at the most eclectic assortment of characters you could pair and choosing the one duo that has the emotional texture of watching paint dry as your hill to die on. Sorry. I just really remembered how much this whole whiteknight truthing silliness puts a stick in my craw...

I want you to know that you made me giggle joyfully, so thank you, I really appreciate it and you unironically made my afternoon.

(Also sorry if this turns up in the White/knight tag, scroll on).

To be quite frank, it's honestly good to hear from someone else who sees it the same way I do. I sort of feel like I'm watching a different show. I've read so much serious analysis from other meta writers in the fandom that aren't shippers, but who take Jaune/Weiss as a foregone conclusion, and I'm like, what?

It makes me feel irrational, because ofc I'm just the silly shipper invested in Jaune/Cinder. I'm also not targeting any particular writer here, I just wonder if partly what's motivating it is like... cynicism? Or trying to appear reasonable - I don't ship this thing, but I can see it's canon, which legitimises my own ship?

I wondered if I came off that way about Ruby/Oscar since I'm not an active shipper, but to be quite honest, half the reason I post my sincere opinion that it's probably going to be canon is because I've seen competely benign RG fans get such a bad rap, and as a longtime Reylo I feel protective. I think the age discourse is nonsense, the bad wizard stuff - whilst worth discussing - also should acknowledge Oz and Oscar won't merge, and then like, well a lot of people try to say it's 'problematic' because wielding false concern to delegitimise a rival ship is pretty common nowadays.

On that note of Jaune helping Weiss to safety, honestly I think you could probably argue it's a red herring, that's why I mentioned Cinder being involved throughout that sequence and being jealous?????????????? is significant. I'd go so far to say that Jaune/Weiss isn't romantic but Cinder's jealous it might be. Lol!

In terms of blandness... yeah, I mean, even Ren/Nora which is arguably 'bland' gets its own complexity, and by the time V8 swung around I was a big fan of where it was going. Jaune and Weiss have no tension, they have no angst, they have no chemistry, they have no intersecting character arcs beyond Jaune's personal identity and the issues he wrestles with, Weiss' character arc is not set up for a romance with a character like him. To be quite frank, as the heiress of the Schnee family, I really doubt they would give her a romantic interest like Jaune to outshine the inheritance of her own name.

I also think Weiss might not even get a romance. Her possible romantic interest is fulfilled by her own Summoning, so her own family legacy. Whilst it might be arguable having children should be part of her character arc, the really overt themes of her own independence, and her own path, don't seem to indicate motherhood in her future. She wants to reform the name, and the harm and oppression her family has inflicted on the Faunus. In this case, it might even be argued she has a romance with Ilia, but that might read poorly to some.

So basically, Jaune/Weiss inserts Weiss into a really bad role. Diminishes her own family arc, makes her beholden to him, is boring, does nothing for their evolution. Wrestling with a hard decision - a mercy-kill - and telling Ruby, I can see that being a thing they go through considering Jaune and Weiss are two of Ruby's closest friends. But that's more of a Tai and Qrow thing, lol.

But yeah, I want to go so far to say that the 'nice guy waiting patiently for girl' is very gross, and Jaune/Weiss is just soooo bad. Ignore my Jaune/Cinder wishes - it's not good for Weiss. It puts Jaune into the wrong masculine role, too.

Like, the thing with Cinder, is that if you want to talk about all of this - someone needing saving (Weiss rescues herself! She's a Salem/Ozma in one) - the way it would happen with Jaune is a recontextualised Maiden and Knight romance.

Weiss rejects being a princess. Jaune and Weiss are not knight and princess. Cinder is the one who wants to be a Maiden. Cinder's the one who's never had any family, who had to take a name for herself, who's killed things. I don't think motherhood makes sense in Weiss' arc, but if it did in anybody's it would be Cinder's, for the regenerative aspect of it, the family. The thing with the Jaune/Cinder pairing, is that you get a recontextualised traditional gender dynamic and it's really good.

And their arcs have been related to each other. For so long.

Oh just looking at this makes me so happy. Oh! Oh!

But yeah, idk. Jaune/Weiss has no set-up. I've gone back and watched all of the scenes, the biggest thing it is is a red herring to the Jaune/Cinder romance that's soooo obvious in retrospect. It's like when Blake/Yang went canon in V6, suddenly I was like omg we weren't getting it wrong! It really was meant to be that intense!

From what I've read, taking Jaune/Weiss as canon fulfills pairing the spares, and ignores Cinder (and ignores Cindemption), and also ignores Jaune to some degree and Weiss too. It's what you assume if you don't want to think too hard and don't like the characters as much, and like, if you can recognise another ship that's not your own is canon, then yours is more likely, right?

Also I mean, Jaune helping Weiss is chivalry, but I don't think he's helping her with the intent of getting with her. That's sort of the beauty of their (few) interactions beyond Beacon, and to me a romance would kind of... ruin that. Like, if they turned around and said, 'Okay, good boy's waited enough, now the mean girl can finally notice you,' it would diminish his character, especially building up to Jaune helping Cinder.

Okay, the mean girl WILL notice you, but she is really really mean, and all bite, but it's alright, she was looking before you even were. *dreamy sigh*

Hope you are having a fab evening. (: Thank you for your ask, pure joy. <3

[marmota-b]

My own take is public Republic/Empire-backed leadership vs secret leadership backed by the clan heads in a traditional way (at first not all of them). The former being Bo-Katan (Republic backing) quickly followed by Saxon (Empire backing); the latter being where Shysa and his guerilla war comes in - his unification of Mandalore happens gradually in the background over the course of 20+ years of Empire rule, as he slowly proves himself as a leader who cares more about helping the people in occupied Mandalorian space and getting things done than the sort of faction politics and power plays that's been marring the Mandalorian political landscape probably ever since the Dral'han if not longer. In my version, he finally succeeds in really unifying everyone (or nearly everyone) and wins the homefront fight against the Empire shortly before Endor just like in Legends canon; you could do that part differently. I have my own take on how exactly that unification happened and how it can merge with the different canons, the details of which I won't share here because then you'd just be using the same story. 😅 But it boils down to - where in Disney canon Bo-Katan steps up again when Sabine gives her the Darksaber, in my version of events she (reluctantly) aknowledges Shysa instead, recognising that he has the chops that she lacks, and it's one of the main events that help establish him as the undisputed Mand'alor.

Another is that he actually wins the Darksaber in combat. He actually doesn't subscribe to the belief that it makes a Mand'alor - that's recent Death Watch propaganda - but, well, it happens in a similar way to Din, with Shysa fighting its current wielder for reasons, and he's not looking a gift horse in the mouth: if it helps him unify Mandalore and pacify the latent ultra-violent Death Watch tendencies some traditionalists have, he's going to use it. I'm ignoring The Mandalorian in my take because my AU is almost entirely Legends-inspired post-Endor. But I'm thinking if you're keeping that part of canon, this might be a good way for you to insert him into the story.

The simplest idea least AU to current canon that springs to mind is that everything goes more or less as it does in canon up till Season 2, Mandalorian purge included. And, ahem, sorry, the idea ran away with me so I came up with a pretty detailed bit here. 😀 You're welcome to any and all of it - I really don't need yet another fic idea.

Shysa, who at this point would still be a leader of a faction of Mando'ade who is now focusing on trying to find, support and connect all the scattered coverts, joins Din's party in his search for Grogu, and because he's an honourable good guy who cares more about people and doing the right thing than power, he actually goes looking for Grogu and runs into Gideon with Din, so where in canon it's Din who ends up with the Darksaber, here it's Shysa. Because he took on Gideon to make sure Din can get Grogu to safety, obviously. Unlike Din he knows about the Darksaber and makes a quip about it, and Gideon tries to goad and distract him with it, but it backfires because Shysa doesn't actually particularly care - see above about Death Watch propaganda - and so Gideon ends up distracting himself by monologuing at someone who just uses Gideon's focus on the Darksaber and himself to give Din time to get away with Grogu. (Which can at some point lead to some ponderings on what makes a good Mandalorian and a good Mand'alor, the Resol'nare, fighting to conquer versus fighting to protect, "children are the future".) Then Bo-Katan can be all like "I wanted Gideon and the Darksaber for myself to retake Mandalore, aaargh" and Fenn can be all "Now that I have this thing you think makes me Mand'alor, and you have this ship, can we go find more Mandalorians and figure out how best to rebuild a functioning society?" And Bo-Katan has to concede defeat, because everyone's going to rally behind Shysa now, and, well, he might have a point that there's no point in trying to retake Mandalore while everyone's scattered and struggling and divided, maybe they do need to take stock of their actual situation first. And maybe he reminds her of Satine a little, like an echo of what Satine might have been had she not given up on warrior traditions... Din is free to do as Din does, unencumbered by heirloom lightsabers and politics. And maybe Shysa, the current rightful wielder of the Darksaber, can then argue on his behalf with the Armourer, since he'd obviously go with Din to meet the Children of the Watch as part of his efforts to find and support all the survivors. 😁

Whatever happens next... is up to you. 🙂

Justice for Fenn Shysa!

Well, that may be too strong a wording, but, seriously, Fenn Shysa deserves a lot more respect than he seems to get these days. Turns out I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on the subject, but the thing is, they're based on canon. (Legends canon, but considering how little new Disney canon ended up giving us, that still is where most Mandalorian discourse is happening to begin with.)

Fic writers (at least on AO3) who are into Mandalorians seem to love, love, love Jaster Mereel. They seem to think Jaster Mereel would have fixed everything, if only he had lived. There is an image of Jaster Mereel people have built up, and which they love, and hold up as a metric of what a good Mandalorian and Mand'alor is like.

I love it myself, but. But. Most of it is pure fanon.

Fenn Shysa's accomplishments aren't. Fenn Shysa is canonically great. Where are all the Fenn Shysa fics?!

Fenn Shysa, who incidentally has a lot in common with Jaster, actually did fix everything.

And it's a very interesting comparison to make because the two actually do have a lot in common, on a superficial level. They're both Mand'alors who started out as policemen, and don't come from a big established clan. But it seems to me that they took very different lessons from their experiences, and as far as I can see Shysa comes out the better from the comparison. Mereel, heralded as the reformer, by all appearances (including what lessons Jango seems to have taken from him) still doubled down on certain hardwired Mandalorian stock responses. Shysa moved on from them. Shysa overcame the biggest Mandalorian shortcomings.

(As far as I can see, the only thing Jaster might canonically have over him is taking in a ward (did he ever actually adopt Jango?) when Shysa remained without any family. Considering the truly hard times Shysa lived in, considering he spent a good deal of his adult years as a guerrilla fighter desperately trying to save people from the Empire, I can't find it in myself to hold it against him.)

And it's also interesting for a Mandalorian fan inclined to draw never-stated conclusions to compare them just by how they present. To look at Jaster Mereel, and look at Fenn Shysa, and see one wearing the colour of justice, and the other the colour of duty. Neither is necessarily wrong, of course, but in-universe, it probably does say something about them. We first meet Jaster fighting a civil war, bent on eliminating his opponents; we first meet Shysa freeing enslaved people. Their reasons for fighting differ considerably. And so do the results of their actions.

And it's the actions where Shysa shines. Where it's Shysa who is the real reformer.

Fenn Shysa actually united Mandalore. If you draw conclusions from the shifting canons the exact same way you do with Jaster, Fenn Shysa actually managed to work with all the factions and gain their respect: the fact that he was an undisputed Mand'alor after the fall of the Empire is Legends canon, not just fandom speculation of what the situation was and could have been.

Based purely on actual established canon events, Fenn Shysa was just about the best Mand'alor ever. Not flawless, of course, but better than most Mandalorians, able to rise above their common failings that have kept dooming them all throughout their history. He did not hold grudges, he wasn't isolationist, he wasn't inseparably married to the idea of warrior glory, while still maintaining warrior honour and a certain sort of proud independence. But he was not too proud to ask the Rebel Alliance / New Republic for help when Mandalore was attacked and overwhelmed - and not too proud to work with them. He also forgave and helped his enemies when it turned out they may have had somewhat justifiable reasons for their attempts at conquest, and immediately offered them Mandalorian help in reclaiming their own home. (Isn't one of the biggest failings of the Mando'ade how much they hold grudges, dooming any attempts at fruitful collaboration through old blood feuds and petty disagreements?) And he worked with the nascent New Republic, yet without giving in an inch of Mandalorian independence. He united the things the various factions wanted: he was an honourable warrior upholding the Supercommando Codex, he achieved peace within the system and peace with the Republic, and he gave rabid traditionalist Mandalorians actual wars to fight in which Mandalorians could prove their mettle before the Galaxy - just not destructive wars of conquest. It's not like the GFFA is short on villainous factions to try and stop.

It's Tobbi Dala who touches on it out loud in the comics, not Shysa specifically, but he obviously echoes Shysa's ideals: Their highest purpose as warriors is to protect. That's what the Resol'nare say, nothing else. Shysa started out, in the Clone Wars, as more or less a mercenary, like Jaster, but I think, outside of situations when he did have to be pragmatic about things like making a living, he outgrew it into something even greater.

Fenn Shysa may not have written a neat manifesto, but I bet he actually lived it. He was the best Mand'alor Mandalore had had in ages. Fenn Shysa was exactly the Mand'alor the Mando'ade needed, when they most needed him. He revived their spirit and their purpose after centuries of strife and defeats.

More respect for Fenn Shysa, please. Much, much more.

(I guess the unquestioning love of Jaster at Shysa's expense is excellent proof of the truth of that one Mandalorian saying: "He who writes, remains." 🙄)

[primordialsquirrel]

Sunshine in the Night pt. 5

It wasn't often that Tokoyami encountered villains while out on a walk, especially on the rare breaks from school. It was almost ironic that he met more villains because of school than out of it. But it was Sunday night when he was thrown into a fight with several villains fresh from escaping a bank.

"Stay where you are and I will not have to resort to violence!" The Jet-Black hero in training shouts at the trio, Dark Shadow already covering him like an impenetrable armor.

The leader laughs, arms full of bags of cash. “You're scarin’ no one kid! Get outta the way if you don't want to get hurt!” From his skin, small missiles are launched in random directions, aimlessly exploding and causing havoc for the civilians around them.

Dark Shadows arms lengthen and catch the missiles headed toward the people still left in the area, crushing them into itself, not minding the explosion as it detonates in itself. It was nighttime, meaning Dark Shadow had plenty of strength to tank a few small explosions. Maybe it had Bakugou to thank for that.

Tokoyami runs at the leader, evading his missiles and weak kicks with his fluid agility. The criminal grunts and drops the money to free his arms, but he only leaves himself open as the young hero plants a well placed hit to his solar plexus, causing the villain to double over in pain.

With another hit, Tokoyami sends the leader into unconsciousness. Taking no chances, he uses his body weight to hold down the villain, his knee planted on the villains back while binding his arms in a tight hold.

“Shit!”

Tokoyami turns his attention to one of the three villains, his eyes narrowing with anger. The lackey’s fists were covered in blood, and there was no questioning where it came from.

Seeing the look on Tokoyami’s face the two lackeys merge into one, setting their sights on fleeing before any more heroes arrive. “Lets get out of here!” But as they merge and grow to a towering height, their body collides with the electrical post next to them, the wires tangling in their hair and around their neck. With a pained shriek, they flail their body and break the transmission lines, effectively sending the city into darkness.

.

He was calm.

Was.

A familiar thrum of power floods Tokoyami as Dark Shadow roars to life, gathering power from the darkness around them. It lifts the villain underneath their grasp and squeezes him in it's claws. The sound of bones grinding against each other would haunt Tokoyami forever.

“Dark Shadow- Stop this!” Tokoyami struggles to pull himself together as Dark Shadow engulfs him. He felt like he was drowning, and all he could hear were the terrified screams of the civilians he had been protecting.

Now they needed protection from him.

What kind of cruel irony was that?

He didn't know what was going on on the outside. He had no sense of time as he vaguely feels Dark Shadow lumber forward, doing who knows what. Muffled screams of fear were all that he could take count of.

It was his own personal hell being stuck inside Dark Shadow.

He felt monstrous.

Like a villain.

It was only when a flare was shot at Dark Shadow that he understood where the dark being was headed.

The familiar face of Hound Dog pierced through the dark, he could make out a flare gun in the counselors hand.

All he remembered next was how loud Dark Shadow screamed when the lights of U.A. shown upon them both, effectively sending the being reeling back into him. 

-   - -

It was silent the next day, and no one knew how to comfort their classmate. No hello’s got through to him, no invitations to lunch, no jokes or jabs even incited a chuckle. Nothing.

He looked haunted, and they knew if they didn't get through to him soon, he would be in an even worse state.

With hushed whispers, the students leave the classroom to go to lunch, leaving him alone as he stays still in his seat, his fists clenched and shaking.

But they didn't leave to escape him. No, they left to bring in a gentle reinforcement. You.

“Hey.”

Tokoyami opens his bloodshot eyes. Forcing himself to look at you, he couldn’t hide the tiredness he felt. He couldn't force himself to lie to you. But couldn't force himself to speak either.

You take a seat in front of him, sitting backwards in order to face him. The others had informed you of what happened. It was hard to imagine the normally chipper Dark Shadow to be so violent, to both Tokoyami and to a villain, but it only took a look at him to know they were not exaggerating.

“I want you to know, it's okay to be angry.”

Nothing.

“It's okay to feel angry and upset. To feel used- because I know that look. You told me about your training camp. When Dark Shadow got out of control. How you felt used, like your body wasn't your own. I understand.”

A twitch of a hand.

“But what happened wasn't your fault. You didn't cause damage to do damage. You stepped up to be a hero, and something out of your control happened. That doesn't make you a monster Yami.”

“I could have killed him.” His voice is strangled as it comes out, forced and choppy. He hisses. “I could have killed everyone there, and it would be my fault.”

You stay quiet, waiting for him to continue. But when he doesn't, you inhale and keep going, trying to find the center of what he was feeling.

“Do you see yourself as a monster?”

“Am I not one?” He looks at you intensely, eyes crazed with anguish. “Am I the cage, or am I the lion?”

There it was, the issue he had been burying since the night of the incident. You found it. His breaking point.

You reach out for his hands, using no force at all in order to open them to hold them in your own. Bloody crescents marred his palms where he had dug his nails into his flesh, but for now you ignored it.

Looking him in the eyes, you affirm to him. “You are no monster. You are a hero. You can choose what you want to be Yami, this doesn't control you.” You squeeze his hands and bring them close, hoping your warmth would warm his cold hands. It was as if his body was refusing him comfort. So you would do it for him.

“Forget about what could have been, and think of what can be. That's what is important. What you can do now.” Again you squeeze his hands. Vaguely, you feel him squeeze back. “You can train harder. You can prepare for blackouts and dark nights. You can do so much, Yami. But don't look at the things out of your control.”

A quivering exhale brings your attention to his face. He looked tired, but more at ease, if that made any sense. He squeezes your hands and brings them to his beak. He couldn't kiss, but the sentiment was there as he closes his eyes and breathes in slowly to steady himself.

“Thank you. For your words. And for being here.”

You smile and close your eyes, shuffling in closer and resting your head against his. “I told you, if I was going to be with you, I would be your anchor. You're a ship Romeo, and I’ll be here when you need to slow down and take it easy.” 

He opens his eyes and smiles at you. “I will remember that.”

You kiss his knuckles. “Good.”

Extra: 

“Im sorry! Im sorry!” Dark Shadow scrambles about, waving its arms as it wails, “Never meant to hurt!”

You pat the shadow’s head, an awkward smile on your lips. It had been apologizing profusely ever since you came to walk with Tokoyami after classes were over. “It’s okay, it’s something we have to practice but we know you didn’t mean to hurt anyone. Right Romeo?” You look at Tokoyami who was- meters away from you.

“Romeo?” You asks again, unsure of why he was so transfixed on the tree next to him.

He snaps his gaze to you, eyes full of wonder as he utters a simple phrase.

“This is an apple tree.”

You don’t know how to respond.

“How long have we been walking past this tree without me knowing?” He sounds affronted as he once again looks at the tree with admiring eyes. Even moreso than he looks at you.

Was it weird to be envious of a fruit tree?

You sigh and continue on your walk. So much for him being yours.

- - -

Tag List: @evierena , @aradias-crypt , @kisshuggay

[hermitcraftheadcanons]

To Do List:

What's up, my Herd of Nerds?

Anyway, as you can tell, tomorrow is AU Sunday. But, because it's one after a 'my input' one, it's a follower input AU day! Yay!

So, send me your AUs and I'll put all of em in a hat to pick one randomly. The winner is picked and posted and we'll all try and make headcanons about your AU.

Done:

Zombie Apocalypse AU :: (https://hermitcraftheadcanons.tumblr.com/post/618314308275863552/zombie-apocalypse-au-masterpost)

Pirate AU ::

Currently In The Raffle:

-Toy Story AU.

-Ever After High/Descendants/Vaguely 'nex gen priness' AU.

-Eldritch Horror AU :: Or if that's a bit too out there, a more normal Monster AU. I don't care, but in my heart, I know Cleo is some kind of eldritch horror. Zombie is far too easy.

-Eldritch Monster AU! Hermits are all Lovecraftian horrors who all individually decided that they wanted to pretend to be normal and are all trying to hide their otherworldliness. I also feel like Mumbo or X or someone as the one actually "normal" player on the server would work well. Most hermits don't know that everyone else isn't normal either, but some find out about friends maybe.

-Rabid Debate Club AU :: Random weird au idea where it's basic hs/uni au but like two of them try to start a debate club, then invite some friends just so there's enough people; cut to like two months later, it's all the hermits just fighting over whether or not pineapple should go on pizza or not lol it isn't very good i'm sorry but ya know rabid debate club AU.

-Animal/shapeshifting AU :: (Suggested Twice.) Every hermit can shapeshift into one token animal. (If it's something like "dog," they can only turn into one breed and color of dog, EXAMPLE: doc can shift into a black sable belgian malinois, but not anything else.)

-Wedding Planners AU :: Hermits work in various unrelated businesses such as a bakery, flower shop, etc., but see each other semi-often bc they're semi-often called upon to work together by another hermit's wedding planning business (obvs if you couldn't tell i know absolutely nothing abt wedding planning & businesses n shit lol but it's the /concept/ of it yannknow)

-Avatar: The Last Air Bender AU. (Suggested Thrice.)

-Fusion AU :: (Also suggested by Anon.) (Suggested Twice.) What if Hermits could fuse with each other? (Viva and Jumbo fused into MumboJumbo.)

-SCP AU :: The hermits have spooky powers and are kept locked up bc of it (or they have to keep the world safe from monsters and cursed objects!)

-RPG AU :: I feel like someone already thought of that but I am just wondering about it lately :p -🍋

-Adventure Time AU :: The hermits live in a post-apocalyptic world and the Lich (bad guy) is making everything decay. They need to gather all the gems (belt colours) to unlock the Enchiridion (a book) and have one wish each granted from Prismo (multiverse wish granting dude) before the Lich does. Only 4 elements can enter the multiverse: Slime (The Lich & Jevin), Redstone (Tango or Mumbo?), Ice (Stress), and Dirt (Grian, much to his dismay). Only the elementals can see the book. Grian's the protagonist with his sidekick Scar. He originally started collecting the belts because they were shiny but eventually decided to read the book and find out what they were for when Scar said he didn't see it. Doc, False, and Iskall are major obstacles because they don't believe the book exists.</p>

-Total Drama Island AU.

-Magical Girl AU :: Zedaph's the lead magical girl and rounds up a bunch of other magical girl hermits.

-Pokeman AU :: What are the Hermit's roles in this world? Who's the Champion, Elite Four. Are they scientists? Trainers? Do they compete in competitions, do they specialize in types? Who's everyone's starter? Has anyone encountered any legendaries?

-College AU

-High School AU

-Wizard101 AU :: I (🦊) recently got this AU idea and recently started going off somewhere with it in terms of writing, but, like, Hermitcraft meets Wizard101. Tons and tons of magical shenanigans, monster hunting, and idk what else.

-Magic AU

-My Hero Academia AU :: Headcanons can be about which hermits would have what quirks and occupations based on them.

-So I'm writing an AU where there's a second game of Demise but 5 years later. So far the first 2 hermits (Joe and Xisuma) have died, and their dead forms are cracked with an arrow in his chest (Xisuma) and cyborg (Joe). So since it's Saturday, I'm looking for what some skins would look for.

-City AU :: I mean this is really just a normal everyday AU.

-School AU.

-Terraria-Minecraft Fusion AU :: Who chooses what class? what events do each hermit prefer? how to they deal with the world infections? preferred biomes? Favourite NPCS? It has potentiallllll.

-70s/80s Teen Horror AU :: (like Stranger Things, Carreie, The Lost Boys, Halloween, etc.) -🦇

-Demi-God AU :: Sort of like percy jackson (everyone being the children of different gods from all different cultures.)

-Supernatural AU

-Marching Band AU :: Xisuma is the band major and all the show music is the remixes. I need to come up with some ideas for uniforms. Outfits and flags for the colorguard too.

-Different Eras AU :: (Suggested Twice.) All the hermits are from different time periods or eras. Like Wels is from the mediveal/dark era, Mumbo is from 1890-1920's, Iskall is from 2030, TFC is from 2020(?), Cleo is from 2130, etc!!! Like the mobs/animals became feused with humans, is when the mob players came from.

-Star Trek AU :: Like maybe they could be on one ship and each have different roles like engineers or doctors? I don’t know if this has been suggested but hope you enjoy! - 🐦

-House Mates AU :: ApartmentAU but scaled down?

-Atlantis AU :: (Could be merged with Mermaid AU???)

-Fighting Game AU :: Some influences would be Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Ultra Instinct, that kind of stuff.

-Time loop AU :: The hermits each have to deal with their own time loop.

(All those above in red are from our community's lovely Anons!)

-Superhero/superpower AU :: They each have a unique power/powerset that is in some way connected to their personality. (ie Mumbo *could* control electricity because of his love of redstone) Some Hermits may even choose to be "villains" and prank their other servermates. If you need power ideas, I've got a couple. (12u3ie)

-Daycare AU :: The recap peeps are the caretakers :P (-@tikauniverse.)

-Incredibly Long Cross Country Train Ride AU :: they all are in the same train car, telling stories of where they’re going, backstories.)

-Stuck In An Airport AU :: pretty similar to train au but they can be going diff places.

-Doctors AU :: they’re all doctors working at the same hospital.)

-Circus AU (Also suggested by an Anon.) (Suggested Twice.)

-Spy AU (Also suggested by @shadeswiftdraws.) (Suggested Twice.)

-Runaways AU :: The hermits are all teenagers who have run away from home, they all live on the streets until TFC takes them in. Head canons can be about backstories, living on the streets, or when they’re with TFC.

-Criminals and Police Officers AU

(-@lookitsspacekween)

-Dancer AU :: I mean, I already got a list kind of planned out, but headcanons for why specific styles are chosen would be appreciated! :) (usedtobelucythefallenangel)

-Broadway/Musicals Hermits AU :: The hermits are all casts of various musicals and when this newly-built theater opens up they all fight for which musical gets to play in it first (they have a riff-off maybe?) musicals mainly included are Hamilton, BMC, DEH, SiX, Beetlejuice, etc (feel free to add more!) (-@heyitsroby.)

-DnD AU (Also suggested by Anon.) (Suggested twice.)

-Mermaid AU :: In honor of the end of Mermay

-Space exploration AU :: There could be different ships, command centers, aliens.... Maybe someone could even get stranded/crash on a new planet? Who knows, could be fun.

-Paranormal/ghost hunter AU :: A couple Hermits could be the ghost hunters going to haunted locations to prove/disprove their hauntedness, others could be camera crew, owners of haunted buildings, or even the ghosts themselves.

-Camping/Vacation AU.

-Summer Cottage AU :: They all spend summers/weekends along the same shoreline and do different summer activities together. Outdoor fun and shenanigans!

-Space AU :: like star trek or similar.

-I would say evil clone au but I think that's pretty much the entire Hermitcraft tumblr right now lol. (Suggested twice.)

(-@shadeswiftdraws.)

-Magic AU :: Magic exists and all the hermits have powers. They can also summon a weapon but what that weapon is depends on the hermit. I'm thinking it'll take place in a sort-of Demise 2 in S7 with a big war. So far I've got: Grian - Cloning himself to his different personas (each has a different power). Xisuma - Making barriers, teleporting, and transforming into different mobs. Scar - Making mutant plants & boosting other hermits' attack & health. (-@datsaltyperson.)

-Demon AU :: Something enters the overworld and turns into a supernatural style-demon through Dimentional Distortion. Who gets posessed first, who goes crazy, and who actually kills it? Honestly I think that, if anything, Tango would know how to gank it, for obvious reasons. (-@fireflower-dusk.)

-High Street AU :: Everyone owns a different shop on the same street or some run a shop together (-@violets-arepurple.)

-Cat AU :: Either they're were always cats, or Hels turned everyone, including himself, into a cat, and they have to survive and overcome challenges in the Season 7 world. An example of a challenge would be Cub's a Sand Cat(the cats that always look like kittens no matter how old they are and live in deserts), and everyone's not sure if he can actually swim, so they have to find a way for him to get around without involving water. (-@scp10000.)

-How about a secret AU.. Every hermit has their big secrets and when Grian joined. He doesn't really know anything about those secrets even till season 7. Not many hermits talked to him in S6 anyway.. Mumbo was the closest to him so they would have regular chats For Iskall is mostly business related things Grian wants to know why so he set out on a quest to force the others to at least talk to him so he wouldn't be lonely. (-@babylightstudentbiscuit.)

-Hermit Family AU :: Xisuma is very busy dad but when he isnt busy the kids and younger hermits annoying the hell out of him. Grian once asked to use Xisuma's computer and crashed the whole thing trying to download illegal gamesites and get money off the internet. Mumbo and his trains run through the entire house and Xisuma trips on them daily. (-@gamerutx.)

-College AU!! But they are not students. THEY ARE THE TEACHERS (-@ivi-prism.)

Ones I planned to do anyway but Hermitblr Hivemind and all that:

Battle of The Bands AU: i believe u once mentioned a bands/ battle of the bands au... thats my jam... (Anon.)

[anemeraldknight]

About Duke Cadash, part 2

okay so I know that this is supposed to be like an ask thing from here! butI only have like 3 followers on here, I just finished my second playthrough of Inquisition and I really really wanna talk about my Inquisitor :’)) so we’re doing this

what is your inquisitor’s name & race? - Duke Cadash, surface dwarf

what is their sexual orientation? - bisexual <3

what do they look like? (add screenshots, drawings, descriptions!) - he's a freckly ginger and has bright blue eyes, a very well groomed beard (he at least tries to redo the braids every morning), undercut on on the left side of his head but otherwise longish hair, scarring underneath his right eye and between his brows; he's like muscular and thick at the same time, I don't know a good word for it? but yea :) he's prettyy

how did they feel about being called “the herald of andraste”? - he uses it to his advantage. he doesn't outright deny it to people he doesn't really trust, only those closest to him know his real stance on it. he just takes being called the Herald in stride, doesn't hate it but isn't the biggest fan either

what are their religious beliefs, if they have any? - believes in the Stone because his parents had been cast out from Orzammar and they passed on their beliefs to him as well. he's not super into it though, more like a casual believer.

what is their opinion on the mage/templar war? - supports the mages and even though he can get along with templars if necessary, he often calls them out for their prejudices and bullshit. he believes that the war was inevitable and kind of necessary as well because in his eyes big change usually comes by, sadly, using harsher tactics.

who is your inquisitor’s best friend? - he was suuper close with Blackwall in the beginning because their humor was pretty similar, he was one of the first people he recruited on his own, and they're both pretty close in terms of age as well. however, as Duke grew closer to Dorian, they became best friends instead (and then eventually lovers). I'd say his real best friend is either Cassandra or Solas? because even though he disagrees with both of them quite a lot, they still somehow manage to get on pretty well <33 and they both have been there from the very beginning of this entire journey!! so it makes sense :) also, Duke is suuuuuper loyal, so when he found out about Blackwall :)) he fucking flipped and completely shunned him and never again took him into his party.

who is their rival? - uhhh among the companions? I don't think he really has one...

who is their love interest, if they chose one? do you ship them with anyone else/non-romanceable options? - DORIAN!! <333

warrior, rogue, or mage? - rogue, archer

how do they feel about the dalish? - he feels for them and wants to support them and work together as much as possible. he can see that a lot of them seem arrogant and standoffish on the outside, but he gets why that is, so he just lets them be and tries to work with it.

how do they feel about the qun? - he does not like the qun, to him it seems like a cult. he can also see many similarities between it and the chantry so.

how do they feel about the chantry? - he doesn't like the chantry BUT he does not shun them out loud because he knows that having them support him makes him look good to those who believe in Andraste and such, but also he doesn't wanna take away hope from those who find it in him during such a difficult time (even though he doesn't believe he's chosen in any way)

which demon is most frightening to them? - definitely the nightmare. Duke doesn’t get rattled very easily but that whole thing managed to get underneath his skin. plus! he’s incredibly scared of spiders and the nightmare created to many of them to freak him out, so the entire fade thingy was very hard on my poor Master Cadash :((

did they choose the qun or the chargers in iron bull’s personal quest? why? - the chargers. he didn’t trust the whole thing from the beginning and basically went along with it because he wanted to support the Iron Bull and because he could feel that something fishy was going on. also, even before the whole thing Duke got along with Krem really well, because he has this habit of taking younger people under his wing (exhibit A: Cole) so that’s also what kinda happened with Krem. ALSO! another thing is that Duke id very much against sacrificing lives in order to get something, so even if he hadn’t cared about any of the chargers personally, it would’ve just went against everything he stood for.

when are they the happiest? - when he's exploring the wilderness with his party, probably picking elfroot or iron lol

how do they feel about the mark/the anchor? - it doesn’t really cause him very much pain so he sees it mostly as something  that’s just there and helps him deal with this whole mess.

upon first meeting cole, were they afraid of him? - not really? he could tell that he was different but Thedas is full of so much surreal and nonsensical shit that this kid who acts a bit outside of the established rules of the society didn't really faze him. when he first met Cole during the attack on Haven, his first reaction was that “why is this young kid out here??? get him to safety!!!!” but yknow in a way where he could still see that Cole was perfectly capable of pulling his own weight, Duke just worries.

did they use the templars or the mages to close the breach? - mages

what was their court approval like at the winter palace? did they have any fun at all? - the only things that Duke liked during the whole charade was seeing Josephine and Leliana enjoying the whole thing AND getting to dance with Dorian. he got 100 court approval but he hated that everybody kept shitting on him for being a dwarf etc. also dealing with Gaspard, Celene, and Breala was frecking frustrating.

someone is encroaching on their love interest. how do they respond? - idk how to answer this. he knows that Dorian can handle himself but if the situation requires his help then he will get supper angry and protective

what is their favourite weapon? - Duke’s Bayard!! :D this really great bow that he got made

are there any creatures in the wild that they refuse to/are reluctant to kill? why? - nugs because to him they look like a rabbit and an old wrinkly man merged into one. so yea, no. he also doesn’t like killing dragons. the only proper dragon he and his party ever killed was the big one in the hinterlands but Duke didn't feel right about it afterwards so he never went after another again

what is their opinion on blood magic? would they ever use it, if given the chance? - to him blood magic is just a type of magic really but I don't think he'd use it if he were able to

what is their favourite place within playable regions? - interestingly, the hinterlands. it's because he grew up in fereldan is used to that kind of nature

did they feel suspicious of dorian upon first meeting him, because of his tevinter heritage? - a bit, yes, but it quickly faded

as a whole, how do they feel about tevinter + the imperium? - he hates the whole slavery business that they've got going on over there but Dorian manages to convince him that the imperium could be changed so he has hope for it. he doesn't blindly hate every vint he meets.

did they encourage cullen to continue taking lyrium, or to stop? for what reasons? - to stop because even though he’s not very close to Cullen and he has his issues with him, he didn't want him to be dependent of lyrium in order to work to the best of his abilities. because Cullen is in charge of such a huge part of the Inquisition, he needs him to be dependable

does it bother them to sleep in tents when on the road with the inquisition? - nope! Duke loves tracking and yknow finding and looking for stuff out in the wilds so he’s used to that sort of thing since he grew up in a naturey place. he had to spend a lot of nights in similar situations while he was part of the Carta too

are they an optimist, a pessimist, or neutral? - i guess something between an optimist and a neutral? I guess you could call him an optimistic realist. he rarely veers towards pessimism

if varric wrote a book about your inquisitor, how would they feel about that? - he would actively encourage it because it would be fucking hilarious to read

do they get along with vivienne? - nope, he doesn’t even recruit her.

are they afraid of anything specifically? - spiders

what was their reaction to the destruction of haven?

how do they feel about “the game”? - a bunch of nugcrap

are they especially protective of certain inquisition members, even those capable of defending themselves? - even though he knows that all three of them can take care of themselves and he trusts them to do so, he still worries about them the most. Cole, Krem , and scout Harding.

do they like their skyhold pajamas? - he hates the pajamas. but the outfits that he usually wears look superrr fly so he doesn’t mind those one bit

are there any insults they find to be especially offensive? (i.e. “knife ear”/”rabbit” for elves, “oxmen” for qunari, ect.) - I am not sure what insults a dwarf would get in terms of specific words. the fact that people keep making comments about the Inquisitor surprisingly being a dwarf does annoy him though

if varric gave them a nickname, what would it be? - either cherry because of his red hair OR the Archduke :P

do they enjoy being the inquisitor? - yes!! at the beginning, he's more wary of it, which of course makes sense, but even then he's just ready to take on the role of the leader because no one else will do it and he does have the mark so it makes sense for him to do it. as time moves on he grows to really like it! he makes a great leader and he knows it.

[roswelldetails]

RNM 2x05 - I'll Stand By You

So just a little note from me, the person behind the season 2 detailing.  I am trying really really hard to keep emotion out of these posts...which is really really hard for me because I'm an inherently emotional person. I'm a glass case of emotion, ready to shatter at any given moment. (#dramatic)  But I want to be true to the intent of this blog and keep my feelings, biases, and, you know, shipping out of this blog.

It was really really hard to do with this episode. Because I straight up ugly cried for like, 45 of the 60 minutes. 😂

So I guess, the point is, I'm proud of myself and sticking to the details here. My regular blog is where I'm doing the emotional flip out thing! 😂

EPISODE SUMMARY:

ACCEPTING REALITY — The discovery of some complications with Max’s (Nathan Dean) pod forces Liz (Jeanine Mason), Michael (Michael Vlamis) and Isobel (Lily Cowles) to confront the possibility that they may not be able to save him. Elsewhere, Maria (Heather Hemmens) and Alex (Tyler Blackburn) make amends. Kimberly McCullough directed the episode written by Alanna Bennett & Jason Gavin (#205). Original airdate 4/13/2020. 

DETAILS:

Max/Isobel/Michael reunite at age 11 according to what Michael tells Alex in 1x10.  So that would make the opening of this episode set in 2002ish.

Michael tells Max and Isobel, "I remember you. I don't know you."

"After nobody adopted me for a year they just stuck me with the name of that trucker who found us."

"I didn't ask you for anything."

This is like the thesis statement of Michael's whole history with Max in the flashbacks.

"Don't pay more than you collect, kid. Passing credit back and forth is a good way to get stuck with somebody forever."

Rosa's art. 

What I can see says: "...what they all told me, but I didn't listen" and "Stand the shelter".

Rosa on her dreams

"I have not had any freaky dreams in weeks. Okay, Max is probably off haunting Isobel now that they're strong enough for their psychic twincest weirdness."

"How long has that been happening?"

"Um, I don't know. It's an old boom box."

"Rosa, have electrical appliances been malfunctioning around you?"

"I really thought it was just a side effect of the handprint."

"If being in the pod introduced a new protein into your system it could have altered your DNA too. You could be developing abilities."

"Liz, look. The handprint is changing.  It's smaller."

"It's fading."

"Tell me this is a good thing."

"I don't think so."

Michael and Liz theorizing on why the pod shorted out:

"The pod's got a charge. It's like a battery powering the preservation process. This one's gone dead."

"Did the generator blow the electromagnetic threshold?"

"I think a surge came from the pod itself. But that pod has lasted almost a century. It shouldn't glitch out."

"Okay, well, then, this one did."

"All right, stop. It doesn't matter why the pod is broken. It just is. So how long does Max have?"

"My theory is that being tethered to Rosa through the mark is what kept Max from going brain-dead, and in turn the stasis process is what kept the mark from fading. So he could be gone by tonight."

"Okay, well, we have three more pods. So let's just put him into another pod."

"No. He's just gonna do it again. I haven't told you everything. I didn't want to scare you. I didn't want to be the one that took the hope away."

"Talk now, Rosa. Right now."

"I was seeing Max in my nightmares months before I told you about it, and he was begging me to stop you. He said that he was in a lot of pain in there."

"That's Noah's pod. Noah told us it was broken. It wasn't keeping him in stasis. He could feel time passing. None of us thought of that."

"We've been doing everything we can to make Max stronger. He pulled his own plug."

Note...as far as we know Isobel was the only one who knew about Noah's pod being broken.  In 1x12 it was before Liz arrived at the house that he told them about the broken pod, so only Max and Isobel heard that part of the story.

Alex on his training. "NSA intelligence cryptology training".

Monitor screen in the secret lab:

Noah's heart is still too weak to transplant. Kyle says it needs at least eight more weeks

"I wrote a paper for a bioethics class on patients in vegetative states who feel pain. Sometimes it's all they feel."

As a non sciencey person, I was wondering if bioethics class was a real thing. Tonight I saw an interview on the news with a UC Berkeley bioethics professor on COVID. So yes, it's a thing.

Alex on Michael that summer post-Rosa's death:

Starting fights with jocks

Broke into the drugstore

Not going to UNM

Hasn't hung out with Max all summer

Got busted for stealing hubcaps (Kyle's hubcaps, we learn later) 

Became a walking bar fight

Was in jail when Alex left to enlist

Michael on Max in 2008:

"It's more than that. And it's less than that. We were friends when we were kids, but now Max reminds me of a bunch of stuff that I'd rather forget. The only thing that we have in common anymore is Isobel."

Max's yearbook had a pencil stuck in the page with Liz and Max's photo in it. (The one we first saw in 1x03).

"Biology Club. Max hated science. He was in that club for four years just to watch your sister chew on the end of her pencil."

Max's mindscape:

First just desert, clouds, and then lightning strikes (destructive energy?)

Liz's antennae -- they disappear from Isobel's hands

Rosa describes it as broken

Crashdown special is Max's favorite "Little Green Man milkshake".

The Crashdown counter is kind of merged with biology lab equipment. 

The juke box is there

The Crashdown booths

Jeep

Neon Crashdown sign

One of those claw drop game machines (from the Crashdown) but it's filled with baked good displays.

The yearbook

Later, everything else is gone except the one Crashdown booth, the Jeep, and the neon sign.

The distorted music they follow to find Max is the Cactus Groove song in the music list...just, messed around with. See @angsty-nerd's post here:

"I'm the hothead. You are the hero. It's always been that way."

"You stole the hubcaps off Kyle Valenti's graduation present. Both his parents are cops. Do you want to end up in jail tonight?". 

👀 Tonight, specifically. 

Michael seemed excited about the job at Foster's Ranch until he found out that Max set it up for him.  Max found out about it from his dad (only like the 2nd or 3rd mention of his dad in the series so far).

"When I got back in town I asked Max why you and your brilliant mind hadn't changed the world yet. He said you didn't care about the world enough to bother changing it. He believed you could."

Max and Isobel in the mindscape:

"You're okay. I could feel something was wrong with you.  Everything felt…"

"Cold. I know."

"You can't be here. It's finally ending.  I can feel it. But I don't know what happens if you're in my head when I die."

"So it's true? You want this?"

"I could feel my connection to the outside world getting stronger, so I snapped. I couldn't take it anymore. I released a surge. You have to let me go, Iz."

"I can't take it anymore."

"Okay."

"I am so sorry."

"I just want to memorize this."

"Okay. Okay.  I need you to tell Liz something."

"You can tell her yourself.  She and Kyle are prepping for surgery.  They're going to use the faulty heart. She just wants to talk to you before you die."

"No. No."

"You won't be suffering. They're just gonna bring you back and then let you go."

"No you have to stop this.  You cannot bring me back under any circumstances."

"Max? What is really going on?"

"I am dangerous.  Whatever Liz is bringing back is not me. It's just some broken shell."

Maria on her mom's computer 

"Her nurse said that for the two weeks before she went missing, when she wasn't trying to escape, she was talking to someone online."

The 21st birthday flashback

Isobel gets Michael to help move Max after getting drunk on tequila.  He passed out in front of the tattoo parlor. It's the same tattoo parlor Michael goes to at the end of the episode.

Max's weird drunken statement.

"The thing is, there has to be there. Okay? There's always three. Until the very end.  I'll show you...What it means is you should be here…'cause it's all broken without three. So we'll figure it out.  You'll find your way back."

👀 Until the very end. Interesting.

On Max becoming a deputy:

"You know he did the whole police academy thing because of you, right? He thinks you're gonna get into the kind of trouble you can't get out of if you don't know someone."

Back in the mindscape:

"I figured it all out. She, there's an energy to suffering, there's an energy to death, and when I heal people, I absorb that energy. So when I resurrected Rosa, I took in ten years of emptiness. So if you resurrect me, you will be bringing back an infection. Don't want… I don't want to come back as a monster. I don't want to hurt anyone that I care about."

"That's what this is about? We've been hurting, Max. We don't work without you."

"You will! You will. You are stronger now than when I died. All of you are. You, Michael, Liz, you will survive this. The three of you. No, you need to stop them, Iz. Now."

"Okay. I love you."

"You too." Isobel disappears.

Max is using pretty similar wording to his drunken rambles in the 21st birthday flashback

We don't see that Max is chained down until this next exchange with Rosa. Isobel didn't see that detail as far as we know.  Didn't hear the chains clanking when they stood and hugged. Only after Isobel left.

"I'm sorry this is happening."

"Isobel is lying. She is buying time.  You know she'll never let me go. But you can feel the darkness too, right? That's why you don't like being in my head. Because you know it's real."

"I didn't want that to be true, but yes."

"I know my sister and I know your sister and they'll never give up. So you have to be the one to stop this surgery, okay? Or I will destroy everything that we love. You have to stop them to save them. Now go.  Please, Rosa. Go."

Isobel explaining to Liz

"When he saved Rosa he absorbed all of that dark energy. He's gonna have to expel it."

"And he's afraid he's gonna kill someone when he does."

"Yeah. So we just need someone stronger than Max to take that hit...if he thinks he needs to protect us he obviously doesn't know how capable we are. Bring him back, Liz. I'll handle the rest."

"I get it now. It's gotta be the three of us."

"He would never pull his plug to end his own suffering. Unless he thought he was saving us from something. And I'm a little sick of his heroic martyr crap."

In case you missed it, Michael did not know that.  At the beginning of the hospital sequence Isobel is telling Liz what she learned in Max's mindscape and says that she hasn't been able to get ahold of Michael.  Michael figured it out on his own. He finally "got it".

The pacemaker:

Isobel with Max at the end… everything is gone except the Jeep. And Bright Eyes playing (the song he and Liz danced to on their first date back in 2008). And then his eyes close and Bright Eyes fades away.

“First thing I remember is the three of us. We woke up terrified and lost. But together. And then all of the sudden I was alone. I got real good at being alone. I had given up on people entirely. And then you found me again. Hell of hero move. You showed up just in time. When you are a kid who nobody loves, kindness is a currency. Friendship doesn’t means jack. Family just lies, and hurts, and leaves. I’ve only ever known love to be temporary. So yeah, I push people away. Every time someone threatens to care about me I test their love until they have to leave. Connection is conditional. Everybody eventually gives up on the guy who refuses to be rescued. But you were the only one who I couldn’t run off. You never believed me when I tried to be something I wasn’t. So this thing in your chest, it might give your heart a pretty solid kick every once in a while. Consider it payback. It’s my hero move, Max. If you wake up, you consider us even, okay? If you wake up, we can be a family.”

Good visual parallels during Michael's speech. Alex and Kyle drinking together during the "and then you found me again". Maria walking up on "the guy who refuses to be rescued"

Max is in the coma for three weeks.  Wakes up at the secret lab (instead of his house, which is where he was previously.  I'm guessing it was a planned wake up because he's no longer plugged into all of the IVs and whatnot.

"I begged you to understand."

"Max, it's gonna be fine."

"No… I told you to let me go. I can feel it inside me."

"It's...it's symmetry, okay? It's just energy for energy.  We can deal with that. Fight it, Max. This isn't you."

"I don't want to hurt you. I need to get out. I need to get away from you, from everyone."

"I can't let you do that."

Max shoves Isobel and runs. When he shoves her there's a slight ringing like the sound they use when the aliens use their powers.  Isobel follows and stops him with her powers.

"I made a promise that if you came back and you weren't Max, and you were actually going to hurt people that I would kill you. I figure, hey, you got to play God. Make life and death decisions all on your own. Well it's my turn now."

MUSIC:

1. Letters To Cleo "Here and Now"

2. Lady Antebellum "Love Don't Live Here"

3. Cactus Groove "Fallin"

4. James Talley "Big Thunder"

8. Ross Copperman "Stars Are On Your Side"

5. Lindsey Ray "Keep You Safe"

6. Tommee Profitt feat. Sam Tinnesz "With you Til The End"

7. Bright Eyes "First Day Of My Life"

The Cactus Groove song is the first song this season that I haven’t been able to find on Spotify… let me know if any of y’all had any luck with it!