#no or little connection to earth includes Star Wars to me. sorry but that is very vague and if it’s a long enough time ago it would

[rokishimizu4]

A goddess intervention, a goddess’s blessing

(Tomorrow is gonna be a sad day for me. It’s the anniversary of my Grandpa’s passing which is dubbed as ‘Rod’s Day’-it’s the stupidest thing ever and I hate it. So, sorry if this and Superman’s are not happy ones, but I’m still sick and still very feral)

Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, usually only prays to her mother for one of two things. One; she misses her and needs womanly advice. Two: She needs her mother’s divine guidance and blessings.

And after learning from Superman, and under the Lasso of Truth, that Luther funded, and many others also funded, a mysterious organization that was not only researching life on other planets, but stories on how life was created on Earth (From MANY mythologies and religious). She knew that she needed help.

She knows that she can never return to her people, nor her home, but she knows that she can still pray to her mother and hope to hear her words once again.

It takes a week of prayer and even a bit of John Constantine’s help, but she finally has a stable, if not weak, connection to her mother and begs for her guidance.

Unfortunately, the laws of the Universe and the rules of the Gods leave very little, or no room at all, for interventions, even if it is playing with the lives of others.

At least until John Constantine begins his own questions and prayers, and try as her and her mother might, he was not going to allow some rouge scientists play God on innocent lives.

He does allow Wonder Woman and her mother a few moments more of conversation, before he leaves to have his own questions answered by other forces unknown to Diana.

”My dear daughter, this is not a war that you can win with a leveled head. Even the most sane of men make sacrifices for fated futures.”

Diana leaves with more questions than answers, but she does her best to heed her mother’s advice as the hours pass with little word from Constantine or the Bat family.

Diana walks the rooftops of Gotham, looking at the stars and listen to the nightlife come and goes. She waits for a sign of danger, or a sign of approval, but none come to her.

She takes a seat on an empty apartment balcony, soon to be joined by Cat Woman, and stays quiet for a moment or two. Just remembering her past and what she had given up for her future. And wonders if her mother was right to sacrifice herself for Diana’s happiness.

“I can see the steam coming out of your ears hun.” Cat Woman teases, but Diana knows that she feels the pressure as well, before continuing, “What dog’s barking up your tree?”

”My mother gave me a warning, but I fear that I’m no closer to the answer than when I first prayed for her guidance.” Diana returns, allowing herself this moment of vulnerability which she has not shared with anyone but her first love.

“Well, I’m heading to Harley’s place later for a girl’s night, maybe clearing your head might get that hairball out of your throat.”

Cue Lightbulb over Diana’s head.

“Yes! She is the ones Gotham rouges turn to for their problems. Including the one that speaks in riddles and the fear scientist! Come! Let us be on our way!”

Cue a very Confused Cat Woman being eagerly dragged towards Harley’s apartment, with her giving Harley a quick heads up to bring her psychological thinking hat along with the booze and food.

[lovebecomeshim]

hello! your zutara posting today has finally motivated me to ask this question because I came to atla very late(last year, to be specific) and I Love It Very Much but am 1000% out of the loop as far as why what remains of fandom (at least that I've seen among my friends) is so very strongly zutara. I'm not opposed to it per se I just don't really know what has driven it to apparently be such a popular ship? can you help me understand and maybe convert me a little bit?

Hey!! Your ICON! :D I can try but I’m not sure how coherent I’ll be; however I AM sure someone a lot more competent will be willing to add to this. Either way, I’m glad you asked because my plan was to drag down as many people as possible with me.

*smacks the hood of zutara* this baby can fit so much mutual love and support!

This got so long, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how to put it under a cut on mobile and it already got deleted once so I’m scared to mess with it lol. Moving on.

I’m gonna start this with a disclaimer that im on mobile so formatting is tricky and I’m also really new to atla in that I only completed my first watch through in like 2019??? So some of my info is all just based on what I’ve picked up from Discourse 👀 so anyway the sparknotes version: zutara was wildly popular from the beginning. To the point where the atla crew internally disagreed on which ship should be endgame. (Ex. Bryke [showrunners] asked the writers to rewrite The Southern Raiders to make Zuko seem less ideal for Katara than Aang [which failed, depending on who you ask]; the animation team purposefully created a visual parrallel between Oma and Shu in the Cave of Two Lovers and Zuko and Katara in the catacombs under Ba Sing Se in the Crossroads of Destiny; etc.)

The ship was popular enough that Bryke actually chose to display zk fanart at a con for the sole purpose of mocking the fans, but that’s neither here nor there. The entire episode Ember Island Players, while a love letter to/parody of the whole show, was an opportunity to address zutara’s viability as a canon pairing (while, again, mocking zutaras for romanticizing that catacombs scene). Point is! It’s always been popular but with it not being endgame, there’s got to be something that’s given it staying power.

And that’s honestly got to do with three things: their dynamic, thematic cohesion, and potential.

(You know what... you know what, it’s four things. The fourth is they’re so aesthetically pleasing together and individually. Like, they’re just good looking people [specifically when they’re grown but they’re also cute kids] and that absolutely doesn’t hurt) (but it’s not the Point, it’s just nice to point out sometimes)

The dynamic is hard to get into without also looking at the canon pairings, but I think I can do that without unnecessary bashing. It’s just that part of the magic of zutara is really highlighted by what they give to each other that their other relationships don’t.

First off, it’s classic enemies to (would be) lovers. The absolute truest form of it. It’s not too different from how CS started out: a rogue antagonist with a job to do—but no personal vendetta against the future love interest—who is deeply and emotionally invested in his personal storyline (revenge/redemption) with little regard for how it effects other people after his entire life and genuine good nature are marred by suffering, and a fierce warrior girl with a strong moral compass and her own personal investment in stopping him (protect her family and save the world doing it). Obviously frustration and animosity grew between them by the nature of them being on opposing sides, but that just lends itself to the sweetness of their later reconciliation.

The thing is that while they’re wildly different on the surface (he’s a hot-headed prince of a fascist regime who is trying to capture the Avatar to please his father; she’s a nurturing daughter of the chief who is trying to protect and train the Avatar in order to topple his father’s throne) they find out that they have so much more in common both in their experiences and their personalities.

(What follows is an excessive use of the word “both” and I’m sorry about that)(I can edit it. I can do that. That IS an option............)

They both have an innate sense of justice that they are determined to see done (zuko, at the war meeting, sticking up for the Earth Kingdom kid when the guards torment his family, choosing not to steal from the pregnant couple despite his circumstances, abiding by his word to leave the SWT should Aang come willingly, etc.; katara, literally.... at any point). They both have pretty one-track minds at accomplishing certain goals once they’ve put their mind to it, regardless of a lack of support in that endeavor (it goes without saying I guess, but zuko’s entire hunt; katara’s determination to get the earth benders to fight back, her determination to absolutely destroy Pakku until he agrees to teach her, etc.). They both lost their mothers at young ages. Their worlds are war-torn and traumatizing to them both, if in different ways, but that ultimately forces them to grow up too quickly to be wholly independent individuals. They both have issues with their fathers (for WILDLY different reasons, but). They both hold extreme prejudices that they need to learn to overcome (which ties into thematic cohesion)(bit like Lizzie and Darcy in that way but magnified by a million). They’re both extremely emotional and empathetic—which can and often does result in loud outbursts. Katara’s a bit better adjusted and can temper her anger for longer than S1 Zuko can, but they both feel that anger deeply and have no compunctions expressing it (Katara is, usually, more justified, particularly in S1. Again, S1 Zuko is severely maladjusted but at the point when they could’ve feasibly become a couple, he’s so much better off with the way he carries himself). They both struggle with feelings of inferiority in their bending abilities when confronted with prodigal benders like Aang and Azula, but have the work ethic required to double down and become two of the most powerful benders in the three remaining nations. This is a little more minor but it is a parrallel that appeals to some shippers that they both have these alter egos in the Painted Lady (notably fire nation coded) and the Blue Spirit (water tribe coded) that are pretty different from who they are day-to-day and are useful in accomplishing a purpose that they as themselves cannot.

(I’m.... I just realized that this could potentially get very long. Should I have made a slide show with bullet points??????)

Anyway, similar. I know there’s more but there’s literally so much to love about zutara that I’ll drive myself a little crazy trying to compile all the ways they’re similar. (Just gonna say that at this exact moment I went back to add more similarities.... so okay then)

Once they’ve reconciled, we see how all of these things only lend themselves to a deeper intimacy together than they share with literally anyone else. There’s a steady partnership that positions them as the mom/dad of the gaang, while also providing the support necessary to allow the other to not have to carry so much responsibility. A lot of zutaras will point out how zuko is actually depicted doing the more domestic chores that are normally relegated to Katara once he joins the gaang, since the others in the group are two 12-year-olds and sokka. The one that sticks out the most is how he makes tea for the group and then serves them, while Katara is able to just relax with her friends around the fire. Fanon expands upon this a lot to Zuko helping with the laundry or the cooking or whatever else needs doing since he, as a once-refugee, is used to doing his own domestic tasks. Before Zuko joined, Katara was the one mothering everyone, sewing for them, cooking for them, etc. She’s always tending to the needs of the group, and that includes emotionally. She does the emotional labor for the gaang 99% of the time, but when she’s the one falling apart, she’s usually doing it alone and without the comfort that she normally provides for others. Until Zuko. And that’s before they’re even friends.

Which is WHY people romanticize the catacombs of Ba Sing Se so much. Katara is verbally attacking Zuko out of her own righteous anger but also her own prejudice when Zuko, surprisingly, chooses to be vulnerable with her. He’s been on a journey that’s opened his eyes a bit, but he’s never actively chosen to expose the rawest parts of his past to anyone. But for some reason he chooses to do that with Katara of all people. While she’s yelling at him. He sees her humanity, and for once can look past his prejudice and empathize with her. And this time, when she breaks down, she gets to be comforted. Katara normally talks about her mother when she’s trying to explain to someone else that she sees and understands they’re pain, as a form of comfort to them. Here, Zuko uses the exact same tactic. He sees her and he understands. And for zuko? He’s not being shut down. He’s allowed to articulate his pain regarding his mother without being ignored and made to internalize it, and he’s allowed to process how he feels about his scar out loud without being told that he deserved it. And then he lets her touch his scar, something we’ve seen him actively avoid before. He’s completely open to her and she’s completely open to him and all it took was one five minute conversation. She was about to use the little bit of Spirit water that she had, that she was saving for something Important, to heal the scar that still daily causes him pain just because they had, somehow, connected.

Plus there’s the whole parallel to the star-crossed lovers forbidden from one another, a war divides their people—

And then zuko messes up, he regresses, he gets what he wants and he HATES it. And the sense of justice he had as a child has been restored to him against his will and he can’t think of anything he wants to do more than the Right Thing, so he joins team avatar. Before he does that though, we get to see his relationship with Mai, which is where comparison really comes in. And what we see is Zuko, fresh off of his encounter with Katara in the catacombs, trying to be emotionally honest with Mai... and getting shut down and dismissed. Which is just how Mai is and it’s fine, but not for Zuko. Still, he keeps trying, and he keeps getting ignored or scoffed at or yelled at. Which is really a larger symbol for how he doesn’t fit in his old life anymore, but again that’s about thematic cohesion. He tries to articulate his anxieties about returning home, he tries to make romantic gestures, he tries to explain how morally conflicted he’s feeling—and Mai diverts to some kind of physical affection to shut him up and a parting comment that is pretty much always, in essence, “I don’t wanna talk about this.” So they don’t. On the other hand, once zuko and Katara are friends, we see him again emotionally distraught and caught up in his anxieties about facing Iroh, and it’s Katara who comes to him and listens to him and comforts and encourages him.

Similarly, we have Aang clamming up and getting uncomfortable whenever Katara shows any negative emotion, usually resulting in him making excuses or running away. Or, in the case of the Southern Raiders, lecturing her on how she needs to just let go of her anger about her mother’s murder. People have talked this episode to death and usually better than I ever could, so imma... keep it brief. There’s a serious disconnect between Aang and Katara in his ability to empathize with Katara and her needs that has her tamping down her vulnerability and amping up her anger. He tells her that he was able to forgive his people’s genocide and appa’s kidnapping (petnapping? Theft??), which is blatantly not true but also not an entirely equal parrallel to Katara’s situation, and continues making these little remarks throughout the episode. But it’s Zuko that Katara opens up to. It’s with him that she’s able to talk about the most traumatic day of her life, and it’s with him that she’s able to get the closure she needs, cementing their bond as friends and partners. This disagreement between Aang and Katara is then... never resolved. They just never bring it up and hear what the other is saying.

There’s a fic called The Portraits of Ember Island that has a line that so completely sums up the heart of the matter for why people love their dynamic. For context, zuko has woken up early to help Katara with the cooking and they spend the whole time just letting one another talk, and zuko stops to ask why she always just lets him talk. And so she stops to ask why he’s always helping, and it goes as follows:

There’s just... so much mutual support! Trust! Intimacy!! And it just continues like that from the Southern Raiders on, listening to each other, advising each other, watching each other’s backs! And then! Literally saving each other’s lives!! I will never be over the last Agni kai. Not ever. Zuko may have been willing to jump in front of lightning for anyone, but he actually did it for Katara. And in a show, that’s the thing that really matters. It’s a fulfilled trope usually exclusively applied to romantic pairings, and it ended up applying to Zuko and Katara. And then she ran out into the middle of a fight with tunnel vision just to get to him.

Also!! Also Zuko pushing Katara out of the way of the falling rocks at the Western Air Temple!! And Katara catching him as he fell from the war balloon that he fought Azula on!! Before they’re even getting along, they’re the ones reaching for each other. They come to this place of equal ground, as partners, who watch each other’s backs, call each other out but still listen attentively and understand, and provide the support that the other has been sorely lacking up until they knew each other (whether that be from lack of effort or lack of understanding from others, or an unwillingness to accept it for themselves).

Then, trailing along under the surface of this, we see the themes of the show totally embodied by Zuko and Katara as individuals and in their relationship to one another. There’s a YouTuber, sneezyreviews, who has a, like, 2-hour explanation on why she not only loves zutara but also believes that their endgame would’ve actually elevated the writing of atla to new levels particularly because of thematic cohesion and resolved character arcs. It’s the zutara dissertation I never knew I needed, and it’s funny and eloquent and effective, so I’m just going to sum up her section on thematic cohesion to the best of my abilities and then link it for whenever you have the time. And I HIGHLY recommend it, especially if you want a full understanding of what makes zutara so great and gives it such longevity.

Guru pathik has a line that goes something like this: separation is an illusion; things that seem different are just two parts of the same whole. Iroh also tells Zuko something similar: balance and strength are achieved when the different nations come together and influence one another and celebrate what makes them each unique. And this lesson is a massive central arc that both Zuko and Katara go through, moving past a black-and-white, good guys-vs-bad guys, us-vs-them mentality and into a greyer, more nuanced view of the world. Zuko sees the fire nation from an entirely new perspective and while he still loves and hopes for his nations future, he surrenders his blind loyalty to them in exchange for an unflinching loyalty to peace and love. Katara too had to come to terms with the fact that cruel people exist in the earth kingdom and water tribes, while some fire nation citizens are just regular, kind people who also need and deserve to have someone speak on their behalf. And this is honed in directly on how they view each other. They grow in their individual journeys to be open to the humanity in the other and then, once they’ve found that, they’re able to grow more in compassion for others in a beautiful feedback loop. And this is all matched in the symbolism repeatedly and intentionally associated with them in canon: sun and moon, fire and water, yin and yang, Oma and Shu who found love despite their warring nations. Their individual arcs are completed in each other and complement the themes of atla beautifully.

The canon pairs... just don’t. Which, again, is fine. But the very things that give atla longevity and popularity are anchored in zutara. Kat@ang doesn’t accomplish this. They’re... nice. Sweet. Especially when you erase a good portion of their interactions in S3. It could’ve been just a sweet love story. (Personally, the dynamic between toph and aang accomplish the same thing that zutara does, with complementary personalities that fulfill the theme of opposites blending in harmony) M@iko, on the other hand, is less sweet but I think wasn’t even supposed to last. Zuko’s relationship with Mai seems to represent his relationship with his old life as a whole. He can’t be emotionally vulnerable, he’s goaded into abusing his privileges, his agency and opinions aren’t respected. They just don’t have common ground with which to discuss anything that matters, so they don’t. As far as themes, the relationship doesn’t fit with atla. It’s zuko returning to and sticking with what is (on the surface) like him, what’s expected. Fire nation with fire nation. Fluid water bender with the flexible air bender. Like with like, separated from what is different and challenging and complementary.

And all of these things combined of course lead to the potential for the ship. I don’t know how familiar you are with the post-atla canon but... well, miss “I will never turn my back on people who need me”, miss “I don’t want to heal! I want to fight!” ends up living quietly in the SWT as a designated healer who turns a blind eye to the water tribe civil war happening right outside her front door. Which can be fine! People change! Some people just wanna stay inside. I just wanna stay inside! But the potential future for zutara is so much more satisfying, with Katara becoming the most unconventional Fire Lady the uppity old cads who are stuck on the old ways have ever seen. Fanon has her serving as a voice for the other nations within a kingdom at the point of its biggest political upheaval, as a confidante to Zuko who can actually help him while he’s trying to figure out how to move forward and make reparations. They have the opportunity, together, to accomplish what they both have set on their hearts to fight for: positive change that lends itself to harmony and balance. And the steambabies! A popular headcanon is that their firstborn daughter, the crown princess, is actually a waterbender, which causes such an uproar among the people who are adamantly clinging to the old ways. It’s just a future full of potential to be forces for good together, full of trust, intimacy, joy. The exact era of peace and love and balance that zuko announces that he intends to ring in with the start of his reign as Fire Lord is, again, magnified by the very personal zutara relationship. And we love to see it.

tl;dr zutara isn’t for everyone. Some people just don’t vibe with it. Some are nostalgic. Some love the canon they grew up with. Some have been disappointed for years. Some just see themselves in other characters and want their happiness instead. Whatever the reason, that’s fine. But for me, I love the way these two, from the moment they give each other a fair chance, are able to lower their walls and prejudices to see the other for the kindred spirits they are. They see each other’s humanity, and their response is to pour out love and support and compassion. I love that they’re a power couple in battle. I love the symbolism and, honestly, soulmatism that colors their every interaction. I love that they embody the whole storyline of atla in their relationship and how it develops, which is notably why their seasonal arcs always culminate in each finale with how they relate to one another. I love that zuko adopting a waterbending move is what actually saves his life and then katara’s. I love the chemistry! And I love the future they could’ve had, instead of the ones they were given.

So, in conclusion: I just think they’re neat and I hope you do too, at least a little bit. Even if it’s just respectfully from a disinterested distance cause you do you. And now here is the video I mentioned. I’m sorry this post got so long and then I gave you an even longer homework assignment, but I can’t recommend it enough. She says it all better than I can.

[otterskin]

Dumb Details From the Loki Trailer I noticed but then got too serious about

First - apparently it’s not a trailer, so I guess we’ll get ‘Trailer 1′ later? ‘Exclusive Clip’ hardly seems accurate, but hey, I’m not Disney’s marketing division. I wouldn’t live in a shoebox if I was.

Dumb detail no. 1:

Owen Wilson’s jacket is...weird. Look closely.

And another shot:

Yeah...his jacket has a ‘reversed collar’. It’s a cut-out rather than cloth folding on top. Huh. What a strange design choice. What could it mean?

I’ve no idea, but that I watched the trailer enough times to notice this should concern you.

Detail No. 2

In this scene, we see what we can presume to be President Loki’s ‘Throne’. Notice the candy-canes. This is a Santa Claus throne, presumably from some mall Santa. This whole place might be in a mall, judging by the stuff in it.

But the Loki in this shot is not President Loki. Notice that he’s wearing brown pants, a thin brown tie, and the beige shirt he’s seen wearing in other parts of the trailer after he's apparently joined the TVA. President Loki wears black pants, a green vest and a wide green tie with a golden clip that resembles Loki’s little chevron he always has (more on that later).

So it would seem that Loki might meet President Loki here. President Loki might even be addressing him at the end of the trailer. It’s possible that his minions turn on him because there’s two Lokis and they don’t know which is the ‘imposter’. 

Speaking of, there’s a minion with bicycle handlebars grafted to a football helmet here, likely meant to resemble Loki. I dig it. There’s also cans of food scattered among the rubbish here. Makes sense that food production is non-existent since everyone has resorted to wearing license plates and spoons. Love how tattered the whole aesthetic is.

This reminds me of the opening Michael Waldron’s script ‘Worst Guy of All Time’, which featured a similar post-apocalyptic setting after the ‘worst guy’ ruins everything and makes himself king of the ashes. That’s likely what’s happened here, but I hope that Loki isn’t anything like Logan Paul, who was the inspiration for that title character.

Ah, the mysterious female character watching a meteor shower WAY TOO CLOSE UP. But my eyes are drawn to one thing...

What is that oblong object with a shiny handle? Could it be...

A sword? I do love swords. Did you know there’s a bunch of pictures of me in the stock photos for ‘Fencing?’ That’s my cred for loving swords.

I suspect that this female character will be an amalgamation of Amora (shudder) and Sylvie and an alternate Loki of some kind. This sword is currently in her possession, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it or another timeline version of it becomes the Loki Show’s Loki′s weapon. 

Loki has lacked a ‘weapon of his own’ in the MCU for quite some time. I mean, yes, he has his little knives, but they are many and disposable and something he chose for himself, rather than the two legendary weapons wielded by Odin and Thor, Gungnir and Mjolnir. In fact, throughout his appearances, Loki has seemed to want such a thing of his own - he briefly had Gungnir, and then the Gungnir-like scepter, and even tried to lift Mjolnir.

One might ask why Odin would’ve overlooked such an obvious show of favouritism. Why give Thor a storied weapon and leave Loki empty-handed? Heck, even Hela had the Necroblade.

In Thor 1, we might’ve assumed that the Casket of Ancient Winters was perhaps intended one day to be given to Loki, as it is shown with Mjolnir in the Vault and thus connected to it and the children who would inherit it.  But in the comics, Odin did have another weapon of storied history put away for his second son: Gram the Sword.

It was locked for eons by Odin in a special vault which required five keys to be opened, and it was meant to be for Loki if he be worthy.[2] The five keys were infused by Odin with the powers of "journeys", "endurance", "secrets", "new beginnings", and "brotherhood", respectively.[3]

The sword, like everything else in comics, has a complicated history full of take-backs and twists, but let’s just leave it at ‘it’s a representation of Loki’s worthiness and belonging in the trifecta with Odin and Thor as a King of Asgard’. It gives him ‘equality’.

In the original mythology, it’s wielded by Sigurd to kill the dragon Fafnir, and the only relation it has to Loki is that Loki is partially responsible for Fafnir existing in the first place (my username is nod to this myth by the by. Sorry Ottär.) But hey, maybe that means we’re getting a dragon? The Fafnir would be very cool.

Or it could just be a bit of rebar in this mining quarry.

Then again...it appears somewhere else...

It’s easier to see in motion, but that’s a sword swinging on this person’s back.

So the hooded figure is this lady...shall we call her Amylkie? Does that mean she’s the antagonist of this show? Well...maybe, but I suspect the true antagonist is foreshadowed here  -

So, what’s going on here? A young girl (Young Amylkie? Some other TVA prisoner that the guard is watching over? An oracle, A Norn, or a kid who wandered off from the tour group in a basilica somewhere?) She’s giving Mobius M. Mobius a...piece of chocolate. Maybe he saw a Dementor, I dunno. I suspect it’ll be a MacGuffin of some kind later. He looks pretty concerned here, which contrasts with his ‘another day at the office’ blaséness when dealing with Loki. But of course this is the eye-catcher:

So, Norse Mythology. It’s been Christiannized. You can thank Snorri Sturluson for that, but you can google all about him later. Let’s just say that he made many Norse figures into equivalents for Christian ones. Baldur is Jesus, pure and a sacrificial lamb who dies for a greater good. And the devil is...Loki. Something the Marvel comics and the MCU have continued.

Here we have a devil, dressed in green and with a distinct shape on his chest:

Hmmm...wait...I know that weird horny shape...

Ah. I’d say that cinches it. This is meant to be Loki. If you look at the devil’s hair, it also resembles Loki’s, being shoulder-length and black.

So, what’s devil-Loki doing? Laying an egg? Trying out a foot massager? For a second I thought it was a moon, but we see the moon over his left shoulder, amongst the stars. Which means this is - probably the Earth.

...Dammit; I live there.

So Earth is barren and being devoured by flames, likely caused by this Loki sitting atop of it (in a throne, no less). Aw gee, things look pretty bad, don’t they?

But wait - what’s that? Under the Earth (and, possibly, under the earth)?

It’s a plant. A shoot, to be exact.

Back to Ragnarok for a second. Ragnarok isn’t the apocalypse (something we see a lot of in this trailer - all of it seems to be exploring the end of days). Ragnarok is the fire meant to wipe out the old and fertilize the ground for the new. And after the gods have died, what happens? Well, Baldur emerges from Hel, one of the only surviving gods (hmm, seems him dying worked out, didn’t it?). He’s joined by Líf and Lífþrasir, who are the new first man and woman, who’s names mean ‘Life’ and who are pictured, usually, with plants and new life. It is they who are tasked who growing a new Yggdrasil after the destruction of the old. The previous first man and woman are Ask and Embla, meaning Ash Tree and Vine/Elm tree, so there’s a theme there. 

So a new sprout, possibly a tree, growing out of the destruction of the old.

This fits with Loki’s role as understood in mythology. He checks the arrogance of the gods, including when they tried to achieve immortality (sorry, Baldur, nothing personal), and that keeps the gods at their best. After Loki is imprisoned, the gods become weak, unhelpful and foolish, and Yggdrasil starts to rot. Eventually Loki escapes and returns along with Surtur (who also resembles this figure) to burn it all to the ground. This is also referenced in Thor:Ragnarok, with Loki releasing Surtur in the Vault, a place of thematic importance to Loki and one that represents the hidden secrets and sins of Asgard). You could say Ragnarok continued into Infinity War, where Loki played an important part in aiding Thanos’ destruction, giving up the stone to protect his brother and essentially dooming the rest of the universe - but also ultimately leading to its salvation, even if, like Myth Loki, he wasn’t around to see it.

So, we see Amylkie literally start a fire in the trailer -

- in fact, this whole trailer is awash in flame -

It’s fire, fire everywhere and she’s setting them!

It’s possible Amylkie’s our big bad, but I think there’s a chance she’s either a red herring, or, much like how Loki ‘worked’ with Thanos in The Avengers, she is the pawn of a greater foe -

  - a Loki bent on destruction, for some reason or other. The TVA is obviously aware that this is the case, and it seems like they might be trying to ‘fight fire with fire’ by enlisting one Loki to combat another. The villain could be President Loki, since there's evidence of 2 Lokis in that scene - or maybe that's one of many Lokis, and the Big Bad Loki is being played by Hugh Grant as Old Loki. In any case, it would appear that Loki will be coming face-to-face with the worst versions of himself, and many of them. And, if I’m right about this scene:

...Loki will likely eventually discover that even his ‘good’ timeline ended in the destruction of his people and home, plus his own gruesome and torturous death. Although I think the TVA will keep that from him, and just show him the happy parts in an effort to inspire ‘good behaviour’. Until Loki inevitably discovers the rest of how that timeline played out and realize he’s been lied to. I don’t imagine he’ll take that very well...

Damn, even our ‘hero’ Loki is burning stuff down! Does this mean that Loki is doomed, always meant to be an avatar of death and toasty destruction?

Well...let’s go back to that stained glass.

Hmmm...wait...I know that weird horny shape...

And there’s something else...the bottom of the Earth is being lit up, and not by fire. Light appears to be coming off this little plant.

What colour is this plant again? That’s right, green. Green is the colour of new life and growth and change and...hang on, I’ve heard that before, too...

Hang on hang on HANG ON... let me have a look at the shape again.

That’s...a letter. An L? For Loki? Like in the title sequence?

Wait...no, a different letter. An older letter. After all, Loki is old Norse. How do you spell his name in that again?

ᛚᛟᚲ ᛁ -

And ENHANCE on that third letter!

This, my friends, is a Kenaz/Kaunaz, or what would become 'K' in our alphabet. It is also known as the 'Loki Rune' (and the Ulcer Rune, for some reason. I suspect Odin understands why). It’s used to spell his name, but is also used on his own to represent him. Heck, it's even his Superman 'S' in the comics:

Runes are more than letters - they are symbols for concepts. So what else does it mean?

Primarly, it means ‘torch’.

And also ‘knowledge’ (ken). As well as ‘growth, change, the search for truth, decay, arrogance, elitism, feminine, kinship and creativity.’

...Okay, that’s a lot, but you have to admit it fits.

More specifically, it means ‘Mastery of the Fire’. As in, someone who has learned to tame fire so that it is helpful, not harmful. To bring light and, symbolically, knowledge.

There’s another way Loki’s been associated with fire - in the Wagner Ring Cycle, Das Rheingold, the opera that inspired much the Thor films’ aesthetic and certainly their helmets, Loki is called ‘Loge’, which means ‘Fire’. He’s usually dressed to match, too -

Many trickster figures are associated with fire. They are usually called ‘Fire-bringers’ - See: Raven, Lucifer, Prometheus, etc. They are often complex figures with a foot in different worlds, but who nonetheless help mankind with the gift of ‘fire’ - although they usually pay for it, and tend to be self-destructive.

(Side note. Lucifer means light-bringer, which is what luciferase is named after. Because it glows. Which is helpful in labs. In case someone needed to know that.)

Moving from a destructive fire-starter to a fire-bringer seems like a great character arc for Loki to take, especially given his rehabilitation in pop culture, the comics, and even wider culture. Loki has gone from being seen as an evil, deviant, destructive character to one who’s seen as a patron of the arts and creativity, of stories rather than lies. Heck, some scholars of Norse Mythology even posit that he’s the closet thing to a protagonist Norse Mythology has, so I guess that backfired, Snorri!). Being dressed in green and with the sprout clearly also being stylized after his Kaunaz, there’s foreshadowing that he’ll be capable of growing good things even out of ashes.

So, to sum up: Being ‘Satan’ sounds pretty bad, but with a little letter re-arranging like we see in the title sequence, you can be...

...practically a saint. Maybe even a saviour.

Merry Christmas, everybody.

[aurora-daily]

AURORA’s Reddit Q&A (July 13th 2021)

Kmilalv: Hello aurora we love you, I'm @ aurora.s_love on instagram ✨✨🥰🥰🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️ Aurora: oh hellooo!!!! Exportmusic: Meep Aurora: meep < 3 Lisxnne: WELL HELLO AND THANKS FOR YOUR NEW SONG! 🙏🌟💕 Aurora: HELLO!! and thank you for being open to it 24681357900: Thank u for making music Aurora: thank you for inviting it into your heart Emergency-Club-7529: This is have some upper case , it's the real Aurora Aurora: yes!!! Helloooooo brunamombach: hello ✨🃏🧚🏻‍♂️🤘🍇🍄🧚🏻‍♀️ when are you coming do Brazil? so glad to see you here!!! Aurora: I think I will be coming to Brazil next year  I love being in Brazil because I feel like it awakens my heart and soul to be there !! Brunamombach: if you were going to an souless island, what book would you bring with you? 🧚🏻‍♂️🍇🍄🧚🏻‍♀️🤘🃏 kisses from Brazil Aurora: I would either take: "The name of the wind" and "a Wise mans fear" or the LOTR trilogy. Or the "Mistborn" trilogy. or "warbreaker" or "the good omens" or "the ocean at the end of the lane" or "Anne of Green gables" or "The alchemist" or just all the books in the world oh no I cant decide

all DanParis: Hey have some karma you cool bean 🤌🏼 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Aurora: thank you < 3 Ok-Estimate8468: Tell us something you can tell us about the second track on the Cure For Me vinyl, “Potion For Love”. I'm very curious...

Aurora: its the song I decided for the B-side of the vinyl, and I will probably release it digitally one day too. Its the sister song to "exist for love" but from the other perspective. where love does not fill you up, but love has left a big hole within you < / 3 Ok-Estimate8468: Did you get a lot of unfollows and hate from bad people due to Cure For Me? Aurora: I got a little hate from homophobes, and also abelist, and racist comments from people claiming there was nothing wrong with their mindset. BUT it does not bother me. and I will never stop speaking up about the things I find important. because.. what else would our meaning on this earth be? if that makes sense. Some people have attacked me personally, but sadly mostly its people defending their own hateful ways of being. I cant even imagine how it really is to be a victim of racism or violent homophobia, so I feel like the least I can do is to try the best I can to show support. and speak up. and be an ally.

So a bit more short - yes, and I really dont mind!!!! unfollow me if you find speaking about equality and the right to live, and love and be loved unsettling <3 thank you for this question! Ok-Estimate8468: How was the process of creating the studio version of Cure For Me? I heard your first acoustic performance and saw that it's much smoother than the studio, so I was curious to see how you managed to create another even more amazing version. Aurora: Me and Magnus just played around, and we really tried to go with our emotions, and to be playful and to not think too much about what was "AURORA" or what was even...pretty! we just laughed! and danced! and did what felt lovely to us.

I think this is why the making of this song is one of my favourite memories, and also I think that is why it sounds so playful! because it is!! it was like playing a game. and I did also play alot around with symbolics in both the lyrics and the way this song is produced. it all has a meaning you see... but of course I will let you figure that out yourself!!

Pingouiin_: What's your favourite mountain around bergen ? Aurora: mine is Løvstakken!! and Magnus loves Ullrikken!! but important to NEVER stop a Norwegian person walking on the mountain. just say. a quick hello and wander off your own mind. become at one with nature Whoamiandallthat: Thank you for existing, I love your art and you inspire me so much 💙 You are one of my favorite artists 😊 And just the other day I found out that you are just two years older than me, and so successful... I'm wondering how it was for you to become so popular, did you feel like people thought you needed a cure? I'm also in the sphere of arts - filmmaking; but I feel like my films are not good enough... I have a YouTube channel with some videos - if you ever see this comment I would like for you to check it out 😊 Aurora: Ive felt through my life like something was a little off, ive never resonated that much with the people or the "system" around me! it didn't bother me so much even though I. was teased a lot for it ( so again I was very lucky) but I never felt like I understood the world and my place in it. or how I. could fit in, in this worlds society and with other people ! and becoming "famous" which I dont really feel that I am, but I guess that I am a little "known" (meep) was very strange, and very hard to handle at first. as impressions affect me a lot, and noises and people etc. but with time I got better at handling all these impressions, and avoid getting a.. sensory overload! and I am so happy now, that I can look directly at strangers and actually listen to them, and understand them, and even love them I guess what I am trying to say, that ive now understood that this is the very thing that connected me to all of you. and now I see my place here on this earth. and I see all of you, and you give my life so much meaning!! Lets_Fight_Dragons: Firstly I wanted to say I recently discovered your music and I love everything about it. I have two questions, I hope that’s ok 1. How do you start writing songs because I’m trying to get into songwriting and I’m not sure how you write such amazing songs 2. What’s your favourite song you’ve released? Aurora: 1. well I dont really know. ( I am sorry!!) but I feel like it started really natural for me.. I. kind of just sat down with my piano.. and then I started playing around with the Keyes, and I figured out I could make an endless amount of melodies by simply pressing the keys in a different order!! remember finding this extremely magical (I was around 6 years old then) and after a while I started adding lyrics, and I just spent time looking into myself, trying to figure out. - what do I want to say? what do. I need to hear in a song? what do the world need to hear in a song? and etc. I always think about songwriting as storytelling. and I always start out by figuring out what story I want to tell, what matter I want to dress, or what pleases me, or annoys me with the world, or what emotion I need help dealing with!! and then I write a song!!! and if you feel like its difficult to come up with melodies, I would recommend finding a song you like, and learn the chords of it (or find an instrumental version. online) and then you make your own melodies on top of that! many of the songs of the world share the same chords, and often the melodies on top is the thing separating them. music belongs to all of us, and its clear that every song in the world comes from the same magical source. 2. I think its the seed. or couples creatures!! or infections of a different kind!! tiffnoir: Our dear AURORA, your b-side A Potion For Love is helping me a lot (broken heart since a few days ago). I wanted to ask (if I can haha) if would it be included at the upcoming album, or maybe a relaxing, vintage video for it? Thanks for helping all of us with your music ^_^ Aurora: thank you som much for letting this song into your heart  after writing exist for love, I figured that I should also make a sister-song that could belong for the ones with a broken heart as well  it will not be on the album, but for you I will try to put it on the deluxe version FedahpWithThisWurld: Hello, Aurora! I'm a neurodivergent person and I have always felt a lot of shame over being the way I am, like I'm not good enough. Your music makes me feel better and it makes me feel that being me is okay. Thank you for that.  I want to know how you manage to be so confident? Do you ever get nervous before a show? Aurora: hello!!!! I have had a lot of similar experiences with myself in this world too.. so I am very sad to hear you've lived your life with this feeling I think after a while I understood what makes me different also makes me special. and special is good. and if you think about it, special isn't even that different, because in one way or another we are all... unique. but of course, some people have had to fight their. way through life more than others.. making it less easy to learn how to love yourself. and accept yourself. I guess, now I've surrounded myself with good people who understand my quirks and sensitivities, people who give me time. and space to be me. I have also been lucky, because I have a family that have always encouraged me to be myself. and to love myself. and I guess that is why I am trying to convey to all of you now, because now we are like al little family. where being who you are - is cool. and you're cool. and were all cool. and I get nervous all the time, of all sorts of things! but I just accept that feeling as a part of being human. its uncomfortable yes, but I know at least it won't kill me! 3charmplease: What was it like recording for Frozen? Aurora: it was magical  and also slightly scary. but it felt safe and good calling at the mountains. and I feel warm thinking about it. especially now. cause my father just walked over to me with five little strawberries in his hand. he gave them all to me. and they were so small, and sweet. im currently sitting in my childhood home, right next to the very piano where I wrote "runaway" and so many other songs. Tiny-Sink-2397: Boom shake shake shake the room Aurora: that was actually during the recording process of Cure For Me! Tiny-Sink-2397: I thought it was!! Seemed like an epic party Aurora: YES Joelynxyzs: what's your favorite movie ? Aurora: Practical magic BUT ALSO THESE: The LOTR triology ALL GHIBLI MOVIES avatar once upon a time in Hollywood Hannah the perfume fantastic MR. fox Star Wars: a new hope rouge one isle of dogs the hunchback of Notre dame! the arrival stypop: If you were to get the chance to work on a sequel to another Disney movie, which one would you want it to be? Aurora: since Disney owns Lucas films I would love to be a part of the Star Wars universe  or to play either a magical fairy, witch mermaid, forest nymph, or a scary beast!! WE WO brisot: The masks in CFM remind me of theater plays, do you ever watch any and how much of an influence for you is the art of acting? Aurora: this era of my life is very influenced by the ancient times where theatre was all they had. no CGI or special effects etc. and I really wanted all these videos to feel very authentic, and down to earth! The shell in "exist for love" was handmade by someone, and I painted all the masks in "cure for me" myself! so I like it when it feels... human Clear-Champion-1833: i love you Aurora:

<3

Jicuhrabbitkim: How do you like your fried eggs cook!! I like it when its very crispy!! Aurora: as long as its from a local farm that has free healthy chickens that walk about freely and eat good food I like my eggs crispy too. GhostReaper3: Hi I have a question as well: How do you keep positive? Many people including myself find this difficult sometimes so it would be good to hear your technique or way of keeping upbeat and positive! Also, thank you for sharing your music with us! Aurora: I know what you mean, i've struggled with it myself at times. but I guess I tried separating in my mind what I can do something about, and what I cant? if that makes sense?? we are all just here on this planet. and though we all seem to be going though the same things we still feel so alone, in our thoughts and in our minds. And I've been very aware that with music, and with this fandom we can all finally connect, and see each other, and know that we are not alone! and if there is one thing I love, it is to dance a little after I've cried. I think its important to. shake these emotions out of our body. like animals do! and then I made CURE FOR ME. because I thought about all the warriors out there feeling. a little crazy... after isolation! or after being depressed! and being l rocked in with their families that might not accept them for who they are.. and I thought I needed to make a song for us all, that felt a little uplifting. and uniting. just so we know where not alone, and just so we know that we are worthy.. of everything! and that we are worthy of celebrating ourselves!! ALWAYS! aniri003: Were the dancers freestyling in the last part of the video Aurora: YES! I told them to put their freak game on. And they were amazing. L_pls_use_revive: Hei Aurora! Apart from inspiring me with your music for emotional people, I also dicovered my love for Norway and the Norwegian language through you - now studying it in my second year at university. Tusen, tusen takk! I want to visit soon when traveling is safe - So which place should I not miss out on? Have a great life! Aurora: I think the whole of Norway is worth visiting! there are so many beautiful places. and beautiful people! I would ofc. recommend Bergen! (haha!) but also places like Tromsø, Trondheim, Stavanger, lofted and The Geirangerfjord and the Northwest!!! HAHA KakSetoKaiba: How's the progress of the album that you've been preparing which will be released after your death? Aurora: its going well, I take one song for every chapter and I put it on my death album instead of the album I'm making  its going well. and im excited about it! maria_fernandez_: This is not a question but I just wanted to tell you that discovering you and your music has been the best thing that ever happened to me. What your music makes me feel cannot be described in words. I love you so much. Greetings from Spain!! Aurora: thank you!!! applepieaurora: Whats your favorite pie? 🐉 Aurora: apple pie  and blueberry pie!! Ok-Potato7244: Thanks for sharing your time ... a warrior here to welcome you...Have some tea...And i don't need a cure for disliking keeping animals in cages...Especially birds...💚... Aurora: thank you pekaraseva: what do you feel when you perform Ioadk or Adkoh for people? Aurora: I feel so full of emotion and love and despair I could almost explode  and its wonderful. I also feel insanely connected to the audience when I sing these songs.. I. think. its because they are such important pieces of my soul targaryenblood02: omg what do you think cure for me would smell like? 🐛 Aurora: like something Brazilian! like Asai! or caipirinha! or Brigadeiro!

sproutingephemeral: Hello Aurora, Thanks for your new song, I've gotten quite addicted to it😊 I have a question that might be a bit difficult to answer. I am a Warrior from the U.S. currently without a clue of where I should be and what I should be doing. I'm done with school, and in the process of moving to a new town with my parents. I'm applying for jobs, but I feel like I can't find my reason for being in a smaller area with not many people my age. I feel like my parents are trying to mold me into a certain person, which doesn't feel authentic to me. I probably should be making more of my own decisions at my age, but I'm a bit scared and confused, if what I think is deemed too unrealistic or out of line with their expectations for me (like a childhood dream?). I tried talking to them about it, to little success. Is there something inherently wrong with me? Or am I just being spoiled or lazy? I read about how you were initially opposed to starting your career until your mother convinced you to change your mind. How do you know whether or not to trust in your parents' plans for you? On a lighter note, do you prefer cookies that are more soft (chewy) or hard (crumbly)? I don't need a cure for...my autism, and tendency to talk regularly to my deceased cat at his grave (??)😿👼 Looking forward to seeing you in New York! Take care❤❤ Aurora: you should ALWAYS. only do what feels right for you. this world is very absurd, and people tend to think they know what is meaningful and what is important. but we all know, money and success isn't important beyond what you need to simply survive. this one life is yours. and you should be just who you want. and do what feels right for you. because its yours. its only yours. drink tea. work hard. be lazy. dance. be shy. laugh, cry. drink wine and eat good bread. be good. fight for something you care about. and either live for your work, or work a little and then just... live. get a garden, grow tomatoes, get a cat. or a dog. or a parrot. life can be so random, and it can be both so little, and so large at the same time. some days were meant to TAKE chances, and live. and sometimes were just meant to exist. and do nothing. you should never feel guilty for not "being enough" because you are enough. just who you are. just how you are. is enough. good luck on your strange journey my warrior, maybe our paths crosses and maybe they dont. but know, when you walk out of your door, that anything can happen! and the whole world is yours. Hippolyte_gray: is the name of the next album hidden in your previous songs ? Aurora: mayyyyyybeeeeeeeee rashadalt: what do you think about your fans who are racist/homophobic etc.? Aurora: I feel sorry for them. because I know I cant be easy l living a life so full of hate. and even spending your precious. time on this world bringing other people down. and I know how easy it is for people to be driven by fear, and how difficult. it can be to have an original meaning and stand up for what you really mean. so I dont judge them, or hate them,

but I do feel sorry for them. and I am also very disappointed in them. because its such a. waste of human potential to live your life in the paths of hatred.

but as long as we face hate with love, we will eventually win. when we show them. we are not the enemy, just people trying to make a better world, I think, and I hope that eventually we can all agree that being able to live, and being able to love is a human right. Brivera726: I noticed you said you would bring LOTR trilogy with you to an island- I’m reading them for the fourth time right now  I feel like if Galadriel sing songs it would sound like you! Anyway I really like your art so yah just keep doing u- love from PFC Rivera, USMC Aurora: this is then est thing ive ever read thank you Aurora: I am. sorry people, but my time here (for tonight) is up </3 but I will probably be back looking at your questions and thoughts because I did really. enjoy this. and I. love you all so. much.

[link]

[skepticalcatfrog]

Among The Stars Chapter 1

First Chapter Next Chapter Masterpost

Summary: Logan Watts is a famous scientist, known by almost everyone in the galaxy. His most famous invention is his friend and assistant, a healthcare android named Patton. When they are called to another planet for a meeting with the local ruler, they're expecting a completely normal trip. Little did they know, this trip would send them into a daring adventure to protect their galaxy and stop a war. Teamed up with unlikely friends, including a runaway gladiator and an infamous crime trio, Logan and Patton have to figure out how to make peace and save their universe (and beyond) from being destroyed.

Word count: 3,474

Pairings: (Eventual) Logicality, Prinxiety, and Demus

Author's Notes: New series! Yay! I've had this one in mind for a while, but I was waiting to finish my other one before I started a new thing. I wanted to go for something different, so since my last fic was fantasy-ish, this one is going to be sci-fi! Hope you all enjoy the first chapter of my new fic.

Logan sat in the control room of his ship, half-listening to the hologram in front of him. His space ship was one of the most impressive in the galaxy. It had enough rooms to host thousands of people at once. There was a lab taking up the entire third floor, containing the most up-to-date technology, some of which were Logan's own inventions. There were four small escape pods, just in case. The first floor was mostly storage. The fourth floor was an observation deck, where Logan would go to unwind. He loved stargazing a lot for someone who lived in space and saw stars pretty much all the time. And every room in the entire ship was always so clean that you could eat off of it, because Logan wouldn't settle for any less. Logan was snapped back to reality when he realized that he'd been completely zoned out, and the president of that one planet was still going on about whatever it was he was saying.

"But all of that aside, will you be able to make it to the meeting today?" The hologram asked, not even realizing that Logan hadn't been listening.

"Yes, I will, you've called three times in the past hour to remind me of it." Logan nodded.

"This meeting is not a joke, we have serious business to discuss." The president scowled. "Now, I have to go. You have one hour to get ready, then we will be expecting you."

"Alright, I understand." Logan raised two fingers to his temple and waited for an okay from the president before tapping it twice. The hologram disappeared. Logan pressed a button on the arm of his chair and a small holographic screen appeared in front of him. The screen displayed an image of his assistant, who was currently cleaning up the lab. "Patton?"

The gold android turned around upon hearing his name, smiling when he saw Logan.

"Hey Logan, what's up?" Patton's voice was almost always bright and joyful, and sounded almost human, but not entirely.

"The president called again. I'd like you to come to the meeting with me, so please get ready." Logan told him.

"Got it! How long do I have?" The android asked.

Logan pulled up another screen, which showed the time. "Around 45 minutes."

"Okay, that's good! See you in a bit!" Patton waved, and Logan closed both screens.

Logan got up and went to his room to change. The closet door had a screen on it as well, which listed different categories of clothing. When you selected a category, it would show you everything in your closet from that category. Eventually, Logan settled on an outfit. Dark blue pants with a black turtleneck, and a white lab coat that had blue designs around the hem, the cuffs of the sleeves, the shoulders, and the lapels. The finishing touches on the outfit were black boots, blue gloves, and a gray belt. He brushed his blue hair until it was neat enough, and finally he double tapped the side of his head and his glasses slid across his eyes. They weren't really traditional glasses, more like a blue hologram in the shape of a semicircle that only covered his eyes. He liked the ones he had more than traditional ones. There was no chance of anything blocking his sight. And the turtleneck was also there for a reason. On the planet Logan was from, everyone was very in tune with technology. So much so, in fact, that they often had circuitry somewhere on them. In Logan's case, it was on his neck and went up to his cheek. He wore turtlenecks when going to formal events to hide it, at least a little bit. The only part of the circuitry he couldn't cover was the part on his face. Luckily, it was only on the left side, so it wasn't a big deal.

Once Logan was satisfied with how he looked, he left his room in search of Patton. It wasn't very difficult, because since he was made of metal, he made a lot of noise when he walked.

"Hello, Patton." Logan offered his assistant a smile when he found him.

"Hi, I'm Patton. My name is an acronym, which stands for-" Patton turned around, but stopped talking when he saw Logan. "Oh, hi Logan. Sorry about that, I guess old programming dies hard." He laughed awkwardly. "I'm just not used to the ship being so empty."

"As am I. But for now, it's just you and I. Now, are you ready to go?" Logan asked.

"Yup!" Patton nodded. "I picked out the nicest thing from my closet, and made sure my joints won't creak."

"I noticed, with the clothes at least." Logan gestured to Patton's outfit. He was wearing brown pants and a yellow button-down shirt, with a gold jacket and matching bowtie. The jacket had brown elbow patches on the sleeves. Patton wasn't a perfect android, though. During the development of his programming, the part that controlled his vision had malfunctioned. But, on the bright side, he was the only android Logan had ever met who actually needed glasses to see. And unlike Logan, he preferred the more traditional type. Patton always seemed to have a strange connection to Earth, even though neither of them had ever been there.

"Well I'm glad you could tell!" Patton smiled. "So, are we ready to go?"

"I believe so, yes." Logan said. "I suppose we will have to take one of the escape pods, since we need to supply ourselves with a ride."

Patton agreed, and they walked down to the room where the smaller ships were kept. There were only two seats in each one, but there was more room behind the seats in case more than two people needed to use one of the pods. But in this case, it was only two of them. Logan sat in the driver's seat, and Patton sat next to him. The main ship stayed stationary most of the time, so they didn't have to worry about losing it. The circuitry on Logan's face began glowing, and the escape ship turned on. The wall opened up, and the ship lifted off the ground. The wall opened up to reveal the vast galaxy outside. Then they were on their way.

It took about half an hour for them to get there. They were shocked at first when the planet came into view, because it was actually really empty. On the entire planet, there was only one city. It was a pretty big city, but there was still only one. The rest of the planet was a barren, desert-like place. Luckily, that wasn't where they had to go. As they got closer to the city, they began to notice little details. There were smaller houses around the edge, but there were bigger houses closer to the middle. In the very center of the city, there was a tall skyscraper that had to be at least five times bigger than the largest house. Next to that, there was a circular building that looked like some sort of arena. There was a battle going on inside.

They landed their ship on the ground just down the street from the, near to a few other ships. Their ship stood out among the other ones, mostly because it was quite a bit smaller. Once they'd landed, they went inside the building. Logan entered first, because he was the one who'd been invited to the meeting. They walked up to a desk where a receptionist was sitting, typing on a screen that was hovering above the surface of the desk.

"Hello, we're here to speak with the president." Logan told her.

"Ah, Logan Watts! And I see you brought your assistant as well." The receptionist smiled. "Welcome, both of you. I believe you're looking for floor 96. There's an elevator near the back."

"Thank you." Logan began walking towards the elevator. Patton followed him, waving to the receptionist as they went.

They stepped into the elevator, which was a large glass tube with blue lights and a blue platform that would raise or lower itself depending on the destination. It was also voice activated, so you could go to the floor you needed just by saying it. Once Logan and Patton had reached the 96th floor, they began searching for the president's office. It wasn't very difficult, because the entire 96th floor was a giant hallway. There were various other rooms on either wall, leading to one big double door at the end. When they approached the door, it slid open to reveal the office. The president was sitting at the back of the room, with an expression that could easily be mistaken for kind on his face. Logan had only seen him in the form of a hologram, which wasn't usually in full color. So seeing him this way was slightly jarring. He was ghostly pale, with jet black hair. The defining feature of the species of aliens on this planet was patches of crystalline patterns spread around their bodies. Their locations and appearances were different on everyone, the only similarity being that they usually had the patterns around the outer corners of their eyes. Their eyes would be the same color as the crystals. For example, the president's were silver with traces of black every so often. He was wearing a gray suit with a black tie.

"Good afternoon. Sit." The president gestured to a chair that was placed in front of his desk. "I didn't know you would be bringing a guest, so he will have to stand."

Logan sat in the chair, and Patton stood next to him. He didn't mind standing, because since he was mechanical, his legs never got tired. But he would've appreciated at least a little acknowledgment.

"I thought this meeting would be more than just the two of us." Logan folded his arms on the table.

"No, this matter is too important for anyone else's ears. In fact, even the android shouldn't be here." The president said the word 'android' with a slight contempt in his voice. Logan didn't notice right away, but Patton sure did. "For all we know, he could be recording our conversation right now. How do you even know he's on our side?"

"Patton has been working with me for 10 years. If he was planning on turning against me, I think he would have revealed it sooner. And with all due respect, Mr. President, I'm frankly offended that you would even suggest such a thing." Logan narrowed his eyes. "Now, what is this 'our side' you speak of?"

"That brings us to today's topic, actually." The president said sharply, starting to get frustrated with Logan already. "There has been a war brewing between many planets in this solar system, including this one. I have gathered that you are one of the most talented scientists in the galaxy. And so, I have decided that I would like you to build and design weapons for my army."

"With no help?" Logan raised his eyebrows. He couldn't raise just one, even though he'd been practicing since he was little. "You do realize that I don't have a team, correct? The only ones who work on my inventions are me and Patton. So how exactly do you think we will be able to supply an entire army with advanced weapons before this very specific deadline you've given me?"

The president was boiling with rage.

"I invite you into my office, give you a place to sit, let your assistant stay in the room, and present you with the offer of a lifetime!" He shouted. "And this is the thanks I get?!"

"Yes." Logan deadpanned, standing up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, my friend and I will be going home."

"Good riddance!" The president called after them as they left. Then the doors shut behind them.

"I don't like him." Patton frowned, looking at Logan. "Please, please tell me you're not accepting his offer?"

"Of course I'm not." Logan scowled. "It is an absolutely outrageous demand. Not to mention what he thinks of you. There is no way in hell that I can trust someone who doesn't trust you."

Patton smiled. He appreciated Logan's consideration of his feelings. Androids were usually treated like they didn't have feelings, but Patton knew from experience that it wasn't true. He felt like an alien. Sometimes he even thought he was, until he saw himself. It was confusing sometimes. And it might've been weird, but he also felt like it distanced him from Logan. The fact that he wasn't technically alive made him feel isolated, even though there were only two of them. Logan didn't feel that way about him, but that didn't stop Patton from thinking he did.

They stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby of the building. The receptionist was still sitting at her desk. She smiled at them hopefully.

"So, how did it go up there?" She asked.

"Why don't you ask your president?" Logan scowled. The receptionist's smile dropped and it was replaced with a shocked expression. She was about to say something else, but Logan and Patton were out the door before she could.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to leave like that?" Patton said anxiously. "He's a powerful guy, Lo… he could destroy us. Figuratively and literally."

"We're going to be fine, Patton. All we need to do is get back to the main ship and leave. Chances are, he won't even be able to find us." Logan turned the corner to the street where their ship was parked. "We barely get visitors anymore anyway, let alone visitors who are trying to kill us."

"I know, I know. I just... have a bad feeling." Patton shivered even though it wasn't cold.

"Would you like to walk around the city for a while?" Logan offered. "We don't have anywhere else to be. Besides, perhaps seeing more of this place will help you let go of your nervousness."

"Yeah, maybe…" Patton sighed, already wondering how many weird looks he would get.

"Is something wrong?" Logan furrowed his brow in concern. "Aside from your anxiousness, I mean."

"Well… promise you won't laugh?" Patton asked.

"Of course." Logan nodded.

"I'm just worried about what people will think of me here." Patton frowned. "I haven't seen a single other android since we landed, not even a robot. I barely ever see anyone else like me anymore. It makes me feel kind of… obsolete."

"I could build a second android, if you'd like." Logan said.

"No, that would just feel like a copy of me." Patton shook his head. "I'd just really like to meet another android. Imagine how great that would be, huh?"

"Yes, it would be quite nice." Logan smiled.

"Maybe there's like, a planet full of androids!" Patton began to brighten up, gesturing wildly with his hands. "Like, they all banded together and decided to get away from everyone. Imagine what that would be like!"

"I can imagine it would be like traditional society. Slightly different, of course. Perhaps not as many fatal injuries while at work, since androids can be healed easily." Logan shrugged. "But otherwise I suppose it would be very similar."

"And just think about all the advancements in technology they could make!" Patton smiled, twirling around slowly as he walked. "We androids understand technology better than everyone else, lots of people don't think about that even though it's totally obvious. We're really good at working with machines, as you probably know at this point because of how long we've been working together. It's kind of like you with your thing, except a little different. With you, you have those circuits on your face, so machines and stuff listen to you. But with androids, we just kind of know how all the mechanics work already, so working with them comes easily."

"That's precisely why I enjoy having you as an assistant." Logan nodded. "You know more about technology than anyone else I know."

"Thanks." Patton's smile widened. "Should we head back to the escape pod? I'm feeling a lot better."

"If you'd like to, yes." Logan said. "I'd say we're about ten minutes away from it at this point."

"Okay." Patton looked like he was fighting to stay awake. "I'm glad this was all we had to do today, I'm really tired. I'm probably going to need to recharge for a while when we get home."

"Let me check your arm, we'll see how low your batteries are." Logan requested. Little known fact, Patton was run by modified batteries from a tv remote. Logan had them shipped from Earth when he had started building him. He just felt like they were reliable, and less prone to malfunctioning.

"Got it." Patton rolled up his sleeve and held out his right arm. Logan looked at the graph that was displayed there. It was a small rectangle that was usually filled with a green light, but the amount of color in it decreased depending on how full the batteries were. In the moment, it was almost empty, only about a sixth of the way full. The color had changed to red.

"Alright, I see what you were talking about." Logan said, letting go of Patton's arm. "I probably won't have any urgent problems for you to solve, so you'll be able to charge when we get home."

Patton nodded and they turned around, ready to go back to their ship. Just as Logan had estimated, it took about ten minutes to get back. The circuits on Logan's face began to glow, and the pod opened up. The engine started running, and it hovered into the air. That was just the first part in a consecutive line of catastrophes.

He heard the sound of a motor running behind him, but assumed it was just someone else's ship. It was, but not in the way he'd been expecting. And in a matter of seconds, Patton was gone.

"Patton!" Logan began chasing after the ship. 

It looked like a motorcycle. There were two people sitting on the main part, and someone else in the sidecar. Patton was sitting in the sidecar, strapped in with a seatbelt and something else that Logan couldn't quite see. He was clearly struggling, and trying to get out, but when the motorcycle lifted off the ground, they both knew Patton didn't stand a chance. It began to fly away, and in the blink of an eye, it was gone.

Logan bolted back to the escape pod. It was already started, and the door was open. If he could get to it, he might be able to reach Patton. And even if he didn't get to it in time, Patton was built with a tracker. He was prone to getting lost around the ship.

Logan was only a foot away from the pod. He could hear rapid footsteps from behind him, but didn't pay any attention to them. He should have though, because the next thing he knew he was being forcefully pushed out of the way of the pod. A blur of red passed by him. The blur jumped into the pod, and the door closed as the stranger sat down. They looked at the controls of it and muttered to themself, seemingly struggling to figure out how it worked. Logan began hitting the outside of the pod, something he never would have done otherwise.

"Hey! What makes you think you can do that?" Logan shouted at them. They didn't seem to notice him at all, but that didn't stop him from continuing to yell.

The stranger looked around frantically, becoming more startled as they saw something behind Logan. He turned around to see what it was, only to be faced with a pack of who appeared to be guards running towards them. As he was looking away, the stranger had finally gotten the pod to work. He only noticed because they let out a loud cheer. The pod lifted higher into the air, and Logan grabbed on to it, holding on as tightly as he could. But as the pod rose higher and higher, his grip weakened, and he fell to the ground. All he could do was watch as his only way out flew away. The guards had disappeared. Maybe they'd been after that ship thief for stealing someone else's ship as well.

Now, Logan was on a strange planet surrounded by strange people, with no Patton and no way home. He couldn't even think of anything smart to get him out of this situation. The only thought running through his mind was that life was positively, undoubtedly, trying to make him miserable. And in that moment, it was definitely succeeding.

Taglist: @idkwhyimhere0o0

[aion-rsa]

How The Mandalorian Gave Fans a Different Kind of Star Wars Story

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This Star Wars: The Mandalorian article contains spoilers.

Technically, Disney+’s The Mandalorian is part of the biggest franchise on earth. But it doesn’t always feel that way.

True, it’s a Star Wars property, and it rarely lets you forget that fact. The show is rife with references to the films and animated series that have come before it and it enjoys padding out existing lore in ways that only the most hardcore of fans will care about—or possibly even notice. (Did you remember there was a krayt dragon skeleton in A New Hope? Be honest.)

The Mandalorian isn’t a story that requires a tremendous amount of Star Wars knowledge to follow or enjoy. And that’s because its central tale is one that follows rules and patterns we’ve all seen before. A mix of tropes from classic spaghetti westerns and samurai adventures, the show offers a broad look at life on the edge of the galaxy that exists well beyond the world of Jedi Knights, Sith warriors, and space princesses. And its tale of a lone bounty hunter and the supercute Force-wielding toddler he is charged with protecting is proof positive that there is space for every kind of story in this franchise. (As well as every kind of fan.)

Stream your Star Wars favorites right here!

In a universe that has become increasingly dense and self-contained, The Mandalorian still manages to feel like a breath of fresh air. Sure, its second season finale includes a surprise appearance by Luke Skywalker, because no property in this universe can apparently escape that family and their seemingly never-ending daddy issues, but the Disney+ series doesn’t seem concerned with him as anything other than a vehicle to further the story of Din Djarin, a good man who is trying to do right – by his faith, by his people, by the tiny creature whose life has suddenly become intertwined with his own.

Though the eponymous Mandalorian has run across a bevy of characters that have made longtime fans shriek with delight (Boba Fett, Bo-Katan, Ahsoka Tano, Luke himself), and the series ties in rather neatly with other franchise properties like The Clone Wars and Rebels, it still understands that its greatest strengths stem from its smaller stakes, more realistic worldbuilding, and the emotional connection between two vastly different creatures.

The Mandalorian isn’t an epic adventure, a space opera about the future of the galaxy as we understand it, or a tragedy about a single family’s apparent inability to keep from making the same mistakes from one generation to the next. It’s a story that’s deliberately limited in its scope and modest in its ambitions and, at the end of the day, the show itself is all the stronger for these choices. 

In comparison to other Star Wars properties, The Mandalorian’s story is almost painfully straightforward, if perhaps a little bit darker in places than we’re maybe used to in this universe thus far. Set in the galaxy’s Outer Rim following the fall of the Galactic Empire, it generally deals with characters – including its own lead – who are not terribly complicated people. Their lives are simpler, rougher, and more focused on the everyday challenges of living than the Jedi and characters like them that populate the films. 

Even the Mandalorian himself is simultaneously an avatar and a real person, and we get to know him as much through his struggles as his successes. He is, after all, the most reluctant of saviors. Yet, as many lone warriors before him, he is also a man with a code, and he holds tight to it, even in the lawless outskirts of the galaxy. 

Occasionally Mando will have to rescue someone or must join forces with an uneasy partner in order to kill a monster or pull off a heist. But no matter how that particular adventure goes, by the end of the hour, he’s back on his path and moving toward his next goal. The show doesn’t really have “arcs” so much as stories that occasionally take place over an episode or two—see the transport of the Frog Lady back to her partner that begins in “The Passenger” and ends in the subsequent installment—and its most dramatic set pieces generally rely on Mando fighting something, ranging from a furious mudhorn to ravenous, gross ice spiders.

In the world of genre storytelling, serialized stories with twisty plots and puzzle-box mysteries are all the rage right now. Just look at shows like Westworld, a drama that—as much as I love it—spends much of its time tying itself into complex narrative knots it doesn’t really know how to get out of. So, a show like The Mandalorian, with its linear narrative, clear-eyed storytelling, and refreshingly basic plots suddenly feels like a revelation.

And maybe it is.

Read more

TV

The Mandalorian Season 3 Predictions: What to Expect

By John Saavedra

Books

What Star Wars: The High Republic Reveals About the Galaxy Before the Movies

By Megan Crouse

The fact is, there’s still real value in a simple story about a man doing his best, no matter what circumstances he finds himself in. Maybe we’ve forgotten that fact in a television landscape that’s conditioned us to always be looking for a trick or a surprise reveal, but The Mandalorian’s largely straightforward narrative proves that it doesn’t have to be that way. And the show is as satisfying as any series that requires complex fan theories to enjoy or in-depth explainers to fully understand. 

The explainers are nice, don’t get me wrong, but in all honesty, the show is doing just fine introducing existing canon characters like Ahsoka to new audiences on its own. You don’t need to have watched Rebels to enjoy her presence here, but if you have, the satisfaction is all the greater. Truly, we don’t give The Mandalorian enough credit for the delicate balance it strikes in the age old struggle between storytelling and fanservice. It’s a difficult thing, and the show walks a fine line both carefully and well.

Even the appearance of Luke, probably the ultimate moment in Star Wars pandering, exists not for its own sake so much as it does to advance the series’ main relationship – that between Din and young Grogu. (If you didn’t get a little emotional watching them say goodbye to one another, then you have no heart, I’m sorry.)  

There’s little of the narrative baggage that usually comes along with a Skywalker arriving on the scene here – it doesn’t appear that anyone else even knows who he is beyond the fact that he is a Jedi – and though he’s meant to teach Grogu the ways of the Force, there’s no real indication we’ll see Luke again. After all, he has to start off down the path that leads him to The Last Jedi, and Grogu will  undoubtedly return to his Mandalorian’s side at some point in the not too distant future. Disney knows where its money is, after all. And it’s not in Pedro Pascal merch, much as we all love him. 

The Mandalorian’s  first season occasionally drew criticism for what naysayers deemed a “flimsy” or “barely there” plot, but this underestimates the power inherent in the series’ simple framework. Not only is it an emotional balm for those of us who are, quite frankly, tired of hour-long installments that require a significant amount of work to understand, it actually serves an important narrative purpose. The slower pace and simpler story allow us to get to know Mando and his culture, and gives the Star Wars universe a chance to take a minute and breathe.

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The Skywalker films are so full of big, potentially galaxy ending stakes and consequences that we as viewers get little time to simply take the universe in on its own terms – let alone get to know the people that inhabit it. We’re usually too busy worrying about how it all ties back to the family at the story’s center or the Jedi they serve. 

The Mandalorian has shown us what the Star Wars world outside of all the Skywalker drama looks like – even though it briefly includes one of them – and it lets us take our time to gawk at its sketchy bars, enjoy its colorful characters, and travel through run-down desolate towns at a slower pace. It’s allowed us to invest in the emotional connection between a lonely man and a lost creature who may be the last of its kind. And quaint though all that might seem, it’s certainly turned out to be a journey worth taking.

The post How The Mandalorian Gave Fans a Different Kind of Star Wars Story appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Absorbing culture

Public advisory notice: - All those traveling to the Planet Earth are hereby warned to keep their visits short.  - Continued exposure to Human culture has known side effects of confusion, uneasiness,and head pain. - Keep all possessions close at hand at all times. - Humanity lacks a single language so if you do not speak them naturally have your translator set to the most popular languages which include: English,  Mandarin Chinese,  Spanish,  Hindustanti,  Arabic,  Malay, and Russian. - Be prepared for oddities possible misunderstandings.     ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mara read the public notice at the spaceport and laughed. Hefting her backpack, she walked past the sign and continued to the exit of the spaceport. All my friends are going to be so jealous, she thought as she passed by scores of alien tourists who had just arrived alongside here. “Mara, you’re so brave!” “Mara, i can’t believe you went to see those blood thirsty humans!” “Mara, I never knew you were so brave, please go out with me!” The visions of her friends all looking on at her when she came back from her trip in awe made he smile.  This would be her first time on Earth and her first time seeing humans up close. She had seen them before on news broadcasts back on her home world.They’d always be stories about some war they had just fought or some act of brutality they had committed against their enemies. The news had made them out to be technological barbarians that had carved out a pocket empire in the stars; making them a perfect place for Mara to visit.  She was not very popular back home and often passed over to go to parties. But when Mara saw the news that humanity had signed peace treaties with their warring neighbors which included open trade and travel. That was when lightning struck.  If she went to Earth for a vacation, people at home would see her as awesome and want to be with her. She did research and found that shuttles were now running between her world and the human’s capital planet called “Earth” which in the human tongue translated to “dirt”. She never got tired of hearing that. To prepare herself she got a translator unit and had it begin downloading the human languages while also taking some self defense classes. No war like human was going to get the drop on her and if they tried anything she’d snap them like a twig.  She reached the exit of the star port and took a deep breath. She felt her bag twitching against shoulder and looked to see what was causing it. Too her surprise it was her own hand grabbing the strap. It was shaking and fidgeting.  It was one thing to talk about doing something people consider dangerous with no fear, but now that Mara was on Earth about to meet what some called the most war like species in the universe, she felt the fear she had long suppressed begin creeping up again.  Thankfully sometimes the universe throws you a bone and makes the choice for you because the rest of the crowd of exiting tourists came up behind Mara as she was struggling with her dilemma and through sheer numbers.  The doors opened wide and she was carried outside, the blazing sun causing her to shield her eyes. When she opened them again she was standing face to face with a human. Mara couldn’t say a thing and just stood there frozen. From her research she could tell it was a male standing at roughly the same height as she was. “I know I know.” The human said with a hint of agitation in their voice. “Seeing a human for the first time, so scary. Yada yada yada. Can you please move? I need to catch my flight.” When she didn’t move, still trapped in shock, he just simply pushed passed her.  The push jolted her back into reality. She thought the human was about to attack her so she got ready to defend herself but before she could throw a punch but the human was already gone.  She turned around saw Earth for the first time. The area outside the star port was packed with not only aliens but also humans going in and out in so many different sizes, shapes, and colors. She could hear them and realized the warning wasn’t entirely wrong as there were several humans speaking different languages.  Reminded by it, Mara pulled out her translator unit. She wrapped the vocal unit around her throat and put on the ear pieces.  The sudden roar of a star ship taking off made her look up. As the smoke cleared she was taken aback by the sudden mountain looming over the star port. But there was something strange about it, it was moving in places. She looked closer and to her wonder it dawned on her that it wasn’t a mountain at all, it was a city.  A collection of buildings clustered together, towering into the sky like a titans hand reaching out to grasp the sun. Swarming around it were hundreds of ships and vehicles that looked like ants. Mara took a deep breath and realized that would be the best place to start her vacation and set off for the city.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mara had researched humans with what was available to her and everything said that humans lacked any sense of culture and were devoted to acquiring technology for war. From what Mara had seen after entering the city was that that statement was only half true. Humans were acquiring technology, but not for war.  As she walked through the choked streets she saw countless oddities that seemed so out of place in human culture. On one human she saw their hair braided techno tentacles of the Havara people which interwove themselves into different patterns every few minutes. Another human had shaved half of their hair on their head diagonally and had died the remaining half a mixtures of shades of purple and green that was found among the Bobako species. She was even amazed when she past a human whose arm wasn’t made of flesh, but composed of a series of cubes that as far as Mara knew were only used by the sentient machines of Lunar Hegemony. She saw the human approach a door and the cubes slid along themselves in perfect formation to grab hold of the handle and pull it open.  As she adventured deeper into the city she saw more and more mixing of cultures that she had never even dreamed of until she felt like the near madness of it all would over take her and she quickly left to find a hotel to stay the night.  After stumbling around the streets for some time she found herself in front of a hotel called “Gardens of  Versailles “. She was just about to open the door when it swung outwards and knocked her off her feet.  “On my gosh I’m so sorry!” She heard someone say as a hand reached out. Mara took it and hauled herself back to her feet before getting a good look at the speaker and falling back down again. Nestled on a series of mechanical spider legs in place of real ones was a human woman who now looked down at Mara even more puzzled. “Did you slip again?” the woman asked as she extended her arm again, though this time Mara backed away and rose to her feet on her own. The woman stared at Mara as she rose. “You alright?” Mara stared at the metal legs before realizing the human had asked spoken to her. She tapped her translator and it identified the language as English. “Could you say that again?” Mara asked trying out the translator for the first time. The woman smiled. “Ah, you must be new here. I asked if you were alright.” Mara nodded. She remembered humans found it disrespectful when those speaking to them did not look at their face, but she found her gaze drifting down to the metal spider legs.  “Impressive aren’t they?” The woman began moving her spider legs one at a time showing them off to Mara. “Indeed, most impressive.” “I got the idea when humans began trading with the Insectoid Hive. Those little buggers can really move around.”  Humans traded with the insects? Mara thought. The woman extended her hand again. “Forgive me, I’m Elizabeth.” “Mara.” She took Elizabeth’s hand and shook it. “So you cut off your own legs for the Inesctoids?” Elizabeth looked at her and laughed. “I never looked at it that way, but you could say so.”  The metal exoskeleton Elizabeth was wearing parted and opened up in the front. Mara saw that Elizabeth’s real legs were still attached to her but tucked away inside the frame. Elizabeth smacked her legs hard to Mara’s confusion. “See?” She asked Mara, but Mara did not understand the question. “My real legs don’t work. I’ve been paralyzed from the waist down my entire life.”  Understanding hit Mara and she realized her questions were rude. “I am so sorry. Please accept my apology for my rude question.” The exoskeleton sealed itself back up again. “Don’t be. It’s a natural question when you see something as scary as me.” She laughed and Mara felt like she could calm down some.  “But if there is technology to get new legs, why did you not get a pair that matched your old ones?” Elizabeth shrugged. “I never knew what it was like to use my legs so I guess I am somewhat detached from any connection to looking what I would be like if my legs did work.” She flexed her metallic legs. “But that’s not the only reason, I had another.” Mara looked at Elizabeth and saw wonder in her eyes and something more when she spoke of her new legs. When she spoke about them it was as if she had a glow around her, something that when looked upon infected you with its radiance and filled you with the same joy.    “But that’s enough about me, what brings you to Earth?” Mara laughed nervously. “Well, I wanted to impress my friends by visiting humanities home world all by myself. It’s not what I expected to see.” “Not as barbaric as the rest of the galaxy thinks are we?” Elizabeth said with a smirk. Mara nodded. “Well if it’ll help you you could take a picture of me attacking you with my robot legs and send it back to your friends.”  Mara backed away instantly at the mention of her attacking Mara. Elizabeth saw it and held up her hands. “Oh no, no, no. I wouldn’t really be attacking you! But they wouldn’t know that now would they?” Mara paused to consider it. It would make her look brave and cool. “That’s....actually not a bad idea.” “You’ll find Mara that we humans are chalk full of ideas.”  “I must ask you though,” Mara said as she waved her arms at the surrounding people and buildings, “I see many different species culture here but none that are specifically human. Do you not have your own or has it been erased as you opened to the galactic community?”  Elizabeth shrugged. “A bit of both you could say. Humans do have our own culture, but we also have what we like to call the “Mixing pot”. That means we take other cultures and add them to our own, mixing them in with our daily lives until we don’t see them as other cultures but ours as well.” “Doesn’t that upset you though?” Mara pressed. “That you rather have the styles of others rather than develop your own?” She pointed to Elizabeth’s legs. “You even chose the legs of another species rather than your own to make prosthetics for.” Elizabeth looked down at her spider legs and ran a hand over them. The polished steel catching the street light to make them almost appear glowing.  “For most of my life I had been confined to a wheelchair having either someone or myself pushing me from place to place. I watched others run and jump and climb mountains and swim across rivers all my life. All I wanted to do was join them. But then I would look down at my legs and feel sadness. But one day I remember seeing the Insectoid Hive on TV for the first time. They were coming back with the representative that had been sent to the Cosmic Federation. I remember how nimble they were, how their slender limbs could scale any surface with such ease and grace, how powerful they were that let them jump meters into the air on a whim. I knew then and there, that those were the legs for me, not my own legs. So when I stumbled across an Insectoid shop that had setup a here I came as fast as could to see there wears and low and behold they had this exoskeleton. It was designed to help rehabilitate Insectoids as they recovered from leg injuries but with a little modification I turned this bad boy into my personal chariot. Now I can do things like this!” Elizabeth leaped into the air several meters high before coming down with a thunderous crash. “And this!” She shouted as she began scaling the wall beside her as Mara watched from the ground below. “And even this!” She joyfully announced before letting go of the building and performing several flips, landing on a single mechanical leg in perfect balance.  “Humans are a odd bunch for sure Mara.” Elizabeth said while still standing on a single leg. Her others began moving on their own and striking poses. Mara snorted as Elizabeth began taking ever funnier poses. “You make it sound like you all are a pack of scavengers.”    “When we find something we like we adapt it to our own and it that sense it becomes our culture just as much as those who it originated from.” She lowered herself down to all of her legs. “I could show you a few places that would blow your mind if you wanted.” Mara looked on at Elizabeth’s radiant glow and smiled. “I think I’d like that.”

[yakumtsaki]

Alright you guys, sorry for the delay, I’ve had to restart this post 20 fucking times because my changes weren’t being saved in the draft and then I kept getting the ‘upload failed’ error. In case you don’t remember wtf is going on you might wanna re-read the last update (I certainly had to) which is apparently from JUNE 2018. Jfc I suck so hard. Now this was gonna be really long but tumblr wouldn’t post it so I’m breaking it up in 3 parts, part 2 to be posted tomorrow. For those that don’t feel like reading back, general recap of the last couple updates:

Jojo cheated on Wyatt with Max Flexor and my solution to that marital crisis was to adopt our first dog ever, a puppy hilariously named Maxx.

The puppy grew up to be an asshole and is constantly beating up the cats, who have turned into giant pussies (no pun intended) and are losing every fight to him despite the fact they’re named after Mortal Kombat characters. They’re a fucking disgrace to Alegra’s/Victor’s/Ronroneo’s memory and I haven’t settled on a cat heir yet because they both suck.

Jojo is perma miserable, I don’t even remember how much money away from his 100k LTW, and still not a werewolf despite my pathologically persistent attempts to make him friends with the wolf.

Fucking useless Wyatt didn’t get promoted while Komei was alive providing us with his 100 townie friends, we spent 20 updates befriending every rando that crossed our lot to secure his promotion, and then finally on the day he was supposed to become Captain Hero, Wyatt got, of course, fired and is now on track to take longer to complete his literal career based LTW than Komei took to get 6 pets on the top of their careers.

Absolutely everyone hates noogie addict Shajar, she got a Kylo Ren makeover, and we still don’t know what her sexual orientation is thanks to her ridiculous fitness/fatness turn ons and cleanliness turn off.

Golden child/10 nice points freakshow Cyneswith grew up, rolled romance with the most disturbing turn-ons/offs possible (grey hair/mechanical & charisma turn off) and the 20 simultaneous lovers LTW.

Wulf grew up into a kid, got an Amadeus makeover, is officially a Wyatt clone and the only member of this family I don’t completely hate yet.

Now I’d like to begin the first Union post in more than a year by requesting you do me a solid and lower your expectations for this thing as far down as humanly possible. Like really try to recreate the Jules Verne classic “Journey to the Center of the Earth” with your expectations here, because my brain is so fucking fried that there’s a 20% chance I randomly start citing sources at some point during this post. This grad school crap has seriously been the worst trade deal in the history of trade deals, maybe ever. And speaking of bad trade deals, let’s get this update rolling with the man, the myth, the legend, the husband who managed to make Komei look like a dreamboat in comparison..

..Wyatt fucking Union, née Monif. It’s been a long time, but I’m not gonna lie to you Wyatt, not nearly long enough. Looking good man, just one small question, where the fuck are your eyebrows?

-You àccidéntally deléted thém, imbécilé, et I cannôt exprèss my irritatiόn prόperly becausé I hàve non eyebrôws!

Did your selective French accent get thicker this past year or is it just me?

-It géts thickér whén je suis distrésséd, givé moi mon eyebrôws bàcc!!!

No can do, brother. Actually can do, but I think the Mona Lisa look is working for you, and more importantly I still hate you, so I’m just gonna hardcore ignore you for the rest of this post if that’s ok. Talk to me when you finally get promoted, aka never the way this shit is going.

-Non! NON! MON EYEBROWS!

It’s been lovely catching up.

Jojό I mean Jojo, goddammit Wyatt, is spending most of his time building robots in the mausoleum (sweet hipster band name alert)..

..giving financial advice in Shajar’s room (inb4 what’s the difference between the mausoleum and Shajar’s room)..

..building evil snowmen alone in the middle of the night, like all mentally healthy middle aged men with 3 kids are wont to do..

..and getting the piss harassed out of him by the cat ghosts in the bathroom (sweet hipster band name alert #2). How is this like the fourth time this happens in the exact same spot, will you just stop autonomously cleaning the bathroom after midnight? It’s obviously where the cats hang out, give it the fuck up already.

-I’m actively TRYING TO DIE you absolute moron, what does a guy have to do to get killed around here?

Yea can’t say that I blame you but not happening, you can commit suicide by Ghost Alegra after the kids fuck off to college, ok? I promise.

-Oh like you promised me being heir was a route worth pursuing??

Um obviously you too need to go back and re-read your own life story, because I spent the entirety of our “““cherished””” time together telling you heirship is a shitty gig at generation 2. And then to top it off you went and married Wyatt to ensure maximum shittiness, so there you go, fucking enjoy. God I am so sick of both of you losers and we’re only 5 pics in. Let’s check in with your spawn, I’m sure they can’t possibly be more annoying than their parents-

-oh right, I forgot, this is the generation with 10/10/9 active points where the party never stops. Cyneswith are you somehow twerking to classical music?

-How else am I gonna attract all those hot senior citizens per my grey hair turn on and 20 lovers LTW?

Ok great yea I see how this is gonna go, you’re trying to entice people into voting you for heir based on how torturous playing this fucked up LTW is gonna be for me, well forget it, my readers are intellectuals and completely above such petty entertainment. (istg mofos, don’t even think about it, i already did Komei’s 5 pets career shit, i will burn this place to the ground if you saddle me with Cyneswith banging the elderly for 30 years)

-No need to worry your stupid little head, I will beat Cyneswith for HEIR just like I beat her HAIR up daily! HAHA!

Shajar no offense but you’re a fucking war crime of a sim, nearly everyone who’s ever met you hates you including your parents, and the fact that you’re the alternative here is really not helping my situation in any way. Also how the fuck are you gonna be heir when the only thing you seem to be attracted to is giving noogies, you’re like one week away from college and I still don’t even know if you’re str8 or gay or bi or w/e the fuck you are. You have Jojo’s personality combined with..

..yes exactly, DANIEL’S SOCIAL ABILITIES. I mean I was joking with the whole ‘Shajar’s the spawn of Satan’ thing, but this combo of traits was clearly drawn up in Hell’s boardroom.

ANYWAY. It’s a snowy Sunday morning, and anyone who has been a teen knows what that means:

Time to go clubbing! Man I remember being like 15, waking up on a freezing Sunday morning and my mom making me a cup of hot chocolate before I drove off to the club. Those were the days.

-Uh, Shaj, when did you learn how to drive?

-Don’t be stupid, Cyneswith, people don’t need to ‘learn’ how to drive.

-They absolutely do, actually.

-Well what can I tell you, the dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.

-Here we are, safe and sound! Celebratory noogie!

-YOU RAN OVER 9 PEOPLE

-How many times to I have to explain this to you, Apartment Life townies are not people.

Can’t argue with that logic. Let’s just go in and find out what Shajar’s sexual orientation is once and for all so I can spend the rest of this update aggressively promoting Wulf’s candidacy.

Now I consider ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ one of the dumbest sayings there is, but even I have to concede that this particular picture truly is worth a thousand words. Quick poll, what is more horrifying, Shajar’s literal Joker face or Cyneswith, whom I’ve never seen read a book ever, autonomously pulling one out in the middle of the dance floor, in what I can only assume is an attempt to attract old perverts with the schoolgirl routine?

And I know what some of you are thinking, you’re like ‘bro, you’re just reaching to make a bad joke bro, Cyneswith is just a sweet nice introvert and not like other girls, she doesn’t feel comfortable in the club’, well to that let me reply with another picture that is worth a thousand words:

Yea that’s right, on the first minute of our first time out WE RUN INTO THAT ONE ELDER TOWNIE THAT HAS WRINKLE MAKE UP ON. GODDAMMIT CYNESWITH

Do you guys remember how Jojo was obsessed with Stephen Tinker as a teen? Are you seeing the connection here?? Those kids have literally inherited the worst possible traits from both their parents turned up to 11, it’s fucking unreal.  

Right after I get over Wrinkle’s presence I turn around and what do I see, those 2, who have never had a non-noogie physical interaction, autonomously doing the family kiss thing. I didn’t even catch it on time because I was loling irl, we came out here so these assholes can find age-appropriate partners, and instead they’re kissing each other. Seems about right with this family, and clearly Striped Scarf’s dumb ass ships it.

-They look so much alike, it’s meant to be!

Yes, and they even share the same last name! Talk about written in the stars.

Thankfully Abhijeet is here to save us from incest by perving on Cyneswith. GTFO ABHIJEET. Anyone like ‘bro townies just autonomously come to greet your sims on community lots regardless of age, stop calling them perverts’, see you in about 5 pics down.  

I try to have Shajar chat up Striped Scarf and suffice it to say Shaj ~stole her heart~ and presumably put it on this stick to wave around.

NO. CYNESWITH NO. I’m seriously having déjà vu of all the times I was like ‘NO. JOJO NO’, jfc.

Shajar is unsurprisingly exhibiting no interest in socializing with anyone around her, instead she’s trying every activity this terribly lit place has to offer, and she looks demented while doing it:

I’m feeling a primal urge to photoshop Darth Vader’s melted helmet on the bowling ball here, someone please remind me to do it for the heir vote photoshoot.

-HA. SUCK IT DENISE JACQUET

That’s Denise Jacquet?! I can’t tell who anyone is for shit anymore. The default replacements are a scourge upon premade brands, I’m getting rid of them pronto. Speaking of scourges, where the hell is your sister?

-Who cares?

I wanna say ‘me’ but we both know that’s a lie.

Oh ok, THERE SHE IS.

-So you see Cyneswith, just because something is technically ‘illegal’, doesn’t mean it’s morally wrong-

Yea yea fascinating stuff, now get out of the hot tub or I will fucking neuter you, I don’t know if a eunuch mod already exists for medieval games but I will make one if it doesn’t.

Here, Cyneswith, drink some water, have a nice G-rated convo with your sister about violins and stop pissing me off. 

-First of all this is straight vodka.

Great.

-Secondly Shajar is talking about Mozart’s coprophilia.

-I sure am.

Amazing. Well, I guess it’s at times like these when you need to look inside your heart and truly ask yourself, what did you expect from Jojo’s children.

ABHIJEET ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME DID YOU EVEN HEAR ME TALK ABOUT CASTRATION

-Ha, I went home and put on my most elderly-looking formal wear!

-I hate to see you go but I love to watch you leave Ab <3

CYNESWITH SHUT UP. I can’t believe you people are actually making me miss Gunther’s teenage whoring, at least he kept it age appropriate.

-Is some random lady pressing her breasts against my head?

She most certainly is, Shajar, because it is now crystal clear that this bowling alley doubles as the site of annual perv townie convention and we walked right into it-

-and it’s also clear we have serious issues and are enjoying ourselves. Shaj I legit don’t know what to tell you, this is the first time you get along with someone right away and it just had to be the adult with the bad haircut and the flasher’s trench coat???

-You’re damn right it did.

Alright then, I’m officially going to nope out of this situation, safe in the knowledge you’re a noogiesexual and nothing will actually happen with this freak, so I’ll focus on Cyneswith instead who is much more of a loose canon. 

Here Cyn, talk to this guy, who I’m 90% sure is the same guy your father rejected in favor of stalking Stephen Tinker when he was your age.

-Ohhhh, he’s dreamy!

Omg really?? Halleluj-

-oh never mind, you were of course referring to adult ass Brandon Lillard. I do like that our townies have recurring roles each generation, we should make rejecting Blondie a rite of passage in this family. We should also officially gtfo because this is happening:

-Um, now that I’m looking at you in harsher lighting, it’s gonna be a no from me dawg. 

Oh, thank the fucking lord.

-Let’s celebrate the fact we didn’t get hopelessly obsessed with any adults here by doing the traditional Dance of Normality!

-We beat Dad’s genes, we beat Dad’s genes!

-We’re normal!

Yes, and we’re definitely showing it. Can we please leave now so I can make sure I’ve uninstalled Inteenminator and turn off free will? 

-Nop! Venue change!

-Got-out-of-the-car celebratory noogie!

-Made-it-to-the-door celebratory noogie!

Shajar you unironically have a noogie addiction, I’m not kidding in the slightest, you need to see a doctor.

Great, great, not another teen in sight and to top it off Denise followed us here to ensure maximum elder presence. I feel comfortable officially declaring this day a complete waste of time.

God, the vintage pink dress and the pink alcohol combo is some straight up current era Taylor Swift nonsense. That’s it, we’re outta here, back home where no one is lurking, waiting to strike at us-

-SOPHIE NOOOOOOOOOOOO💔💔💔💔💔

-The Lord is my shepherd.

NO HE ISN’T EVERYONE KNOWS YOU CAN’T HERD CATS PLEASE DON’T DIE

-Nop, I’m over it. Goodbye heathens, it’s been nice, hope you don’t find your paradise. 

UGH SOPHIE, my beloved Westboro lunatic, the last gangsta generation 1 cat we had.. I can’t believe you’re gone and all I’m left with is stupid Goro and D’vorah who can’t even beat up the fucking dog. This is truly painful.

Yes, pets, I agree, Kaylynn is completely to blame for Sophie dying of old age. The time has now come to decide on a cat heir-

-and since Goro ran away like a little bitch after Sophie’s death despite the fact he didn’t even like her, he’s automatically disqualified and will be going off to live on Melody and Daniel’s farm once returned to us. Congratulations to D’vorah I guess, on being the least terrible of two terrible options. 

On the topic of terrible heir options, Cyn has non-stop wants to go on dates and have her first kiss and all that crap, and since our Sunday morning clubbing was a bust we invite over the matchmaker.

-Hello there young Union, I see your house has been upgraded since I was last here.

Oh right we haven’t required your services since Daniel was a teen and we lived in a trailer, well we are flush with cash now!

-Hopefully your payment reflects that.

It will!! Just please give us someone good, I can’t deal with single teen Cyn for one more second.

-Oh my, what a beautiful BLANK PIECE OF PAPER.

WHAT!? NO THAT’S 5K IT’S JUST A SNOW GLITCH 

-What do I look like to you, a money thawing service?

Does such a service.. exist??

-It does not, so I have to go home and use a hairdryer on this!

Just come inside and we’ll give you non-frozen money!

-No, no, you’ll get what you paid for..

-Have a magical time!

...

.........

......................

Lakshmi this was so fucking evil that I almost want to age you down and see if you and Shajar hit it off. 

-As if, the whole neighborhood knows what you did to Komei.

Helped him achieve his insane 6-pets-career LTW?

-Turned him into a servant while your sim was lounging around all day!

Oh yea I did do that. But Wyatt was also a townie and he does literally nothing, Jojo is the servant now!

-Only because Wyatt is too fucking stupid to do things! Word has gotten out, no townie will ever marry in this family again unless they’re brain dead, so it’s Wyatts only for you from now on, sister!

Well this has been a complete fucking disaster. It was great seeing you again, Lakshmi, thanks for the dream date with the adult farting machine, 5k well-spent.

Pretty sure it was you bro, and yes, how about we don’t do that again.

Wyatt has brought over Amanda from work! (Aka Victoria’s only friend and subsequent lesbian lover, who is really pretty and is definitely getting married in at some point, preferably after the brown hair genes have been weakened so we can go back to being gingers.)  

-Wow Shajar, your grandmother, God rest her soul, mentioned you were her favorite and now I can see why! Loving the Kylo Ren look!

-Is someone being genuinely nice to me?! What is happening?

-Yes, please stop being nice to her, Amanda, we don’t want her getting used to it.

Jojo istg.

-Cyneswith dear, tell Amanda all about how much money your grandmother left you so she can stop being nice to Shajar. 

-Soooo much money, Miss Amanda!

-Ah, what a polite child I’ve single-handedly raised.

-Now, Cyneswith, you really need to get back on the dating scene so you have ample time to find the perfect spouse and continue our line, since you’re clearly the only one of my children that is remotely heir material. 

-Dad, Shajar and Wulf are right next to you.

-Oh they are? I’m wearing my special contact lenses that make those disappointments invisible to me, but even better, they need to hear this. Shajar is a noogiesexual and thus incapable of reproduction, and Wulf is not even a Union, I mean have you seen that kid? Wyatt reproduced by himself like the amoeba he is. Now, your grandmother-

-YOU MENTIONED ME 3 TIMES AND HERE I AM

OH FUCK VICTORIA, deleting the default replacements gave you base game hair!!!!

-That’s the part you’re scared by, not my Beetlejuicesque entrance?

There’s literally nothing scarier than your ghost sporting this haircut for all eternity, I’m re-downloading that default immediately. 

-Oh mom, so good to see you! Let me just hug my beloved child, Shijer-

-Shajar, dad.

-SHAJAR, let me hug Shajar, like I do all the time. 

-I’m glad to see you’re not picking favorites among your children like I did, the way I treated David-

-Daniel, mom.

-DANIEL, is the one thing I’ve truly been regretting in the afterlife. That and not skinning Marisa Bendett alive when I had the chance. 

-Well, as you can see by Shajar’s totally normal and not at all shocked reaction to my hug, I am a wonderful, fair, and emotionally available father. 

(Bruh this freaked me out so much when it happened, I mean I KNOW it’s an animation glitch but I was convinced my sims had become sentient for a good while after)

-Is your grandmother’s ghost still on the premises?

-Yup. 

-When will this nightmare end, paying attention to you is the worst. 

-Ok she’s gone.

-FINALLY. Now it’s back to the crypt for you, and don’t you dare go complain to her urn!

-Ah, Stephen, Stephen, my life is crap and I can’t even🎵

And with the knowledge you have composed a theme song for Stephen Tinker, part 1 of the Union comeback update is concluded. Will Shajar’s sexual orientation reveal itself? Will Cyneswith find true love? Will Jojo become a werewolf? Will Wulf continue to be the only dignified member of this family? Will D’vorah have kittens? Will Wyatt do literally anything worth mentioning? Tune in for parts 2 & 3 to find out, unfollow button on the upper right corner for those who need it. 

[realchemistry]

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Let’s talk about this movie for a second.

Spoilers under the cut.

Look, I haven’t lived with this saga for ages and I’m not an expert at it at all. Having said this, I really enjoyed The Force Awakens, I thought it was a lovely way to bring the series back. The Last Jedi, however, seemed to be a step back from it. I was hoping The Rise... would get it back on track but it really didn’t.

Poe: He’s always been my favorite, and they even got to him. Like, the Latino guy is a drug dealer? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? I honestly couldn’t hate this more than I do. But they sure tried to make it worse by introducing this female character out of nowhere and make sure it was real clear that Poe’s not gay. Can you fucking stop being so stupid? I’m asking TPTB. Are they for real? Like, you finally try to tell Poe’s background story and you do it by making him a drug dealer who is interested in a woman? Who fucking came up with this shit?

And it’s not to say that Zorii isn’t an interesting character, because she is, in what little time she has, but the fact that they had to expand his story by going to all the wrong places... Ugh, heteronormativity is killing this world and all the creative minds are being shunned by it.

Finn: Please explain his story to me. I loved that he connected with the former stormtroopers, but other than that, all he did was be sidelined and just not important at all, and comic relief, and we didn’t get to know what he wanted to say to Rey. I know it was said it’s something about being Force sensitive, which, I don’t know what that means tho I can guess, but it definitely doesn’t read that way in the movie and it’s such a stupid thing to do. Again, Finn is apparently into Rey, so he’s also Not Gay. But he does nothing much in this movie and it’s all very annoying because he’s such a big part of it, or at least he should be. Guess the white guy has to be front and center, right?

Rey: What on earth were they thinking? Everything they built, everything they did, it basically fell apart. Or at least that’s how I felt. Let’s go to the point: there were two things that made her special to me. 

The first was that she was not a part of the Star Wars myth. I loved that, I loved that someone could be that powerful and important without her past being the key to it. And I kinda appreciated that about TLJ. How wrong was I! Turns out TLJ is even more useless because a lot of what was pointed at in it was actually bullshit. She’s not a scavenger, she’s a fucking Palpatine. Like, what even? The fact that old Palpatine’s alive and has been hiding... Honestly, it’s all ridiculous, I won’t waste more time on it.

The second was that she was the lead, and she was not there to be another Leia. I love Leia, but she had a lot of “love interest” (and, at worst, a desirable object) moments, and a romantic triangle of sorts brought some conflict between Han and Luke. I actually thought they were having Rey be the lead, not the female lead, you know? I actually thought they were not gonna go there with Kylo. And, somehow, somebody decided that was the way to go. Somebody actually sat down and thought that having Rey show interest in Kylo was a good idea. Like, what in the ever loving fuck? Why would she? The guy’s killed so many people, tortured her, her friends, just, UGH. Why, why, why?

Kylo: I hate him, I have hated him since he first showed up and I will continue to hate him. There’s no redeeming a dude who killed people and decimated whole planets. Explain the logic behind Luke being at fault for it, like, were the only choices Ben had to either become a supervillain or be good, and it all depended on Luke not trying to kill him? Give me a fucking break. I hate all that Kylo is, I hate everything he represents, and I hate that TPTB thought his redemption was a valid thing. I also hate that they had his own father, HAN SOLO, try to bring him to the light and he didn’t then, but he sees a pretty girl he’s sickeningly obsessed with, and only then he changes his mind? I’m sorry but, no, he’s not redeemable, he’s not deserving of any sympathy or of anything good at all. And to have this asshole who thinks his obsession is a good thing that should be reciprocated on the screen as a main character... what a fucking waste. And to have it actually be validated. I’m sick to my stomach thinking about it.

Other stuff: 

Is Oscar Isaac the prettiest man in the galaxy? Yes, yes, he is. He deserved so much better.

Rey and Poe interacting was a sight. Too bad it took ages for the trio to come together. I’m gonna pretend they’re all soulmates and live in denial cause that hug was the most precious thing in this whole saga.

I loved the whole, everyone’s here to help. I hated that they had Poe doubting they would show up. That’s not a Poe thing to think.

Why would they have Rose there, doing nothing? Like, explain.

I actually loved that she called herself Rey Skywalker, I just wish, if they had to have her background be something big, I really wish she’d been a Skywalker. 

People actually laughed at the (AWFUL) kiss and revival and death part. Cause it was FUCKING STUPID.

The whole Rey can’t kill Palpatine thing made no sense and she did kill him so what’s what? She couldn’t sense Chewie was alive in the first place? IDEK.

I love how the Resistance has so much inside info of how everything evil works, even after their spy is out of the picture.

RIP asshole!Hux - Domnhall is so good, tho, like, his delivery of “I’m the spy” was hilarious.

The queer representation was perhaps worse than in Marvel. And that was terrible... But the fact that TPTB tried to erase the possibility of FinnPoe and to make a thing out of the female main character and her abuser... The world we live in, I swear.

I understand it’s difficult to write Leia in, but it felt incomplete. She sorta apparated at Kylo, but it just... IDK, I’m just sad she’s gone and I don’t know what to think about the way in which they tried to include her using footage that wasn’t meant to be there.

IDK what else I can add so I’ll end it here for now.

[wetookanoath]

Hi Nina! I was reading your plots page and can you please tell me about The Last Starfighter? Thank you!

Sure. Here’s my Plots page, by the way. And also, last time I talked about this fic is here, and here is its tag. I changed several things of the plot and details, and to this day I have now written three chapters of the main fic so far, lmao.

So, it’s a sci-fi story in which Earth is basically a dead planet by now and humanity sent explorers and made colonies in space long ago. There’s wars between colonies they call factions, and at some point other beings were bothered and now are at war with humans, too.

Ryan is the son of one of the high ranks of the Legion, a militar space divition that fights for humans in Earth, Mars and the Moons. He always wanted to be a Fighter, which are the combat pilots that, uhm, pilot the Starfighter’s ships.

All Fighters team up with a Navigator with who they must be compatible, like in Pacific Rim. Their minds are connected, like the drift of said movie. Together, they are the Starfighters.

Ryan has an unique 49 % Fighter, 51 % Navigator score, which gives him a chance to be both, and he is ultimately assigned as a Navigator in spite his dreams.

He is kinda bitter about this, but eventually accepts it and decides he will get better until he reaches a higher score to be a Fighter.

Shane was part of a colony in Mars, was a tech and historian for a group of archeologists and historians that tried their best to preserve human history. People called them The Scavengers, and were very poor and constantly in danger.

He had a relationship with Andrew while in Mars, they grow up together alongside Ella, Adam, Keith and Kelsey D.

He was drafted to the Legion as a punishment for trying to escape the colonies when he heard his brother had been killed.

In the Legion, he reunites with Andrew who had enlisted two years prior. 

Shane has a perfect score of 50/50 and is one of the only three people ever who has gotten such. He can fight as both, so he has been both. The last time, he was Sara’s Navigator.

Because this is fiction and shippy, Shane and Ryan are put together as Fighter and Navigator.

Ryan believes Shane is not a good Fighter. He is way too calm about things and never attacks during practice, which makes him angry and his stats start to drop because his anger blinds him.

Soon he realizes Shane does it on purpose because once he has the enemy close by, he is super aggressive in his attacks. Ryan soon discovers he is actually kind of cold, and it makes him curious about Shane.

They will eventually become friends. And more.

There’s three arcs to the main fic, which is The Last Starfighter. Arc three went through some big changes, lmao. So,

Arc 1: Getting to know each other, backstories and the war.

Ryan gets assigned to Shane’s ship, who had just finished being Navigator for Sara. At first, they don’t like each other but eventully ebcome used to each other and slowly, become friends.

Shane and Andrew keep a tension that makes Ryan more and more curious about them, their life in Mars and why Shane, in spite of seeming so calm and Ryan being told he is the sweetest, has become so cold.

When there’s an unexpected attack and the encounter is won thanks to Ryan’s plan, they gain certain fame and become heroes to the Legion. This gets them closer, and one random night, they end in each other’s pants.

Sex complicates things, especially when Ryan realizes Shane has cought feelings.

Arc 2: War becomes worse, love confessions are made and someone dies.

Ryan is worried about his relationship with Shane, but is still attracted to him. He arrives to the conclusion that their sexual relationship should end, and before he can tell this to Shane, the man confesses love and Ryan rejects him gently.

Tension grows between them, his stats start dropping again for unknown reasons and he is assigned to change pilots when Captain hears what transpired between them. Ryan is then sent to Adam, making Andrew now go to Shane. And shit gets quickly strange.

However, a new attack happens after a legion of enemy ships were put down y the Legion outside their territory. Andrew is injured, which makes Ryan pilot with Shane.

When Shane realizes they have no chance to survive unless someone stays in the ships and blows it inside enemy’s own ship, Shane ejects Ryan and sacrifices himself for the Legion.

Shane is declared dead in action, made into an icon and poster boy for the cause Ryan no longer really believes in.

Arc 3: Comebacks, families and the last stand

Ryan has become an instructor, refusing to fight anymore. It’s been almost six years since Shane died and he has come into terms with his feelings, living in the tragedy of all the time he lost for not realizing earlier that he was in love with his friend.

War has become worse, The Moons’ colonies have found independency and there’s tension between factions and Mars again, rumores of aliances between factions and the enemy are everywhere.

And then, one day out of nowhere, a little ship arrives to the Legion’s standby Starfighter Academy where Ryan and Shane once lived, and where he is an instructor now, and from it, Shane and a woman with three children, included a baby boy, get out.

Shane claims to have been found in a wreckship in a small alien planet after the explotion, no memories and a terrible head injury that has left a scar that crossed the top side of his head, forhead and eyebrow on his right side. He was taken care of by a farmer’s family who decided to not tell him he was found with the Legion’s uniform for fear of the Taskmaster, a being that haunts down Legion rangers for God knows what reason. Eventually, he recovered his memories nine months previous to his arrive, but spend five years with the family with another name, another life, that lead him into marriaging the farmer’s daughter, single mom Kelsey I. who is now the mother of his child, baby boy Alex.

All he wants is to go home, have his marriage recognized on Earth and protection for his children. The Legion, considering him a returned home war hero, allowes this and offers him high life in the Legion’s colony if he accept a diplomatic charge with them. He does.

Eventually, he reunites with Ryan and the man realizes Shane is no longer the man he loved, but it’s also still him. He has to let go a second time, it hurts all the same.

But, as tension increses everywhere, Ryan starts noticing how strange Shane and his wife acts. It doesn’t help that one day, Shane starts pushing for them to get into a ship again, claiming his wife drifts perfectly with him. For a farmer’s daughter, Keley turns out to have an almost perfect score with 49/51 Navigator/Fighter score. 

Other things:

It ends up well, I promise.

A lot of character will die and no one we know is evil. That includes Kelsey I, and her made up children. And Shane.

Endgame will be shyan yes or yes.

There’s gonna be a lot more, but like, this is just in general.

Various tie-ins oneshots and twoshots have been planned.

I’m not sure I will ever get to write all this, lmao.

I grew up loving 80s sci-fi, Star Wars and mecha anime, I’m so sorry,

[annacwrites]

the wip list

Alright, gang. Buckle up. This is going to be a long one, and at this point I can’t even bring myself to be sorry about it. I meant to put this off but then I started thinking about it, so here we are (at 1:05 in the morning when I have to work at 8:30, what am I doing?). 

I’m going to break this down in a couple of ways—fanfiction vs. original fiction, fandom (if it’s a fanfic), series/universe (if it’s in one), and then the individual books themselves (if I have the ability to do that, because quite frankly, for some of these I don’t because I have no idea what the titles are or where I’m splitting the story yet).

Also, “WIP” is an incredibly broad term here. In some cases it means I’ve already written the whole thing but I plan to 100% rewrite it (and haven’t started yet). In some cases it means I’ve written half of the thing but haven’t finished yet. In some cases it means I have it all outlined but haven’t started writing yet. In some cases it means I haven’t really touched an outline on paper yet but I have it all worked out in my head. Take the “in progress” part of WIP with a grain of salt.

(Putting this whole thing under the cut because it is so freaking long. I apologize if the read-more doesn’t work on your dash. Idk what tumblr is doing.)  

Starting off easy—the fics:

Harry Potter: (JKR can fuck off with her transphobia and cultural appropriation and all the other stupid and fucked-up shit that she’s done/promoted but, as I said to my friends, she can pry my next-gen fanfics from my cold dead hands. Cursed Child is not canon in my life because I’ve never read it and I don’t care what nonsense she came up with.)

The “In Your Arms I’ll Stay” universe (Tedtoire/Scorose): 

The first fic in this universe is the first fic I ever finished. 110k words followed up by a ~137k word sequel. It is a disaster and a half but it’s also my baby and I fully intend to rewrite it one of these days. It is full of standard Tedtoire trope-y nonsense—best friends since childhood! two-year age gap! jealousy about other relationships! obliviousness!—and at 15 I thought it was a really good idea to try to turn it into a mystery too, which is a mistake that I have every intention of rectifying because it was unnecessary and I just didn’t know how to do drama and tension back then. 

Anyway. It will probably be two parts again when I rewrite it because one part per school year just works, yeah? We’re covering Vic’s fifth/Teddy’s seventh year and Vic’s sixth year/Teddy’s first year out of school over the course of these parts.

Within this universe we also have Heartbeat and Bone, which is a Scorose fic that I’ve written probably 75% of already but have no intention of actually finishing before I rewrite it. I want to get the stories in the right order so that I can get details straightened out, so Teddy and Victoire get the rewrites first and then I’ll be revisiting this fic. Also full of trope-y nonsense (and my continued acceptance of the headcanon that the Heads have their own dormitory at Hogwarts, because it’s just too much fun that way).  

some things were meant to be (Tedtoire):

Oh god, another fic with a cliché title taken from Can’t Help Falling In Love. I have zero regrets because it fits them perfectly.

This one is... half-done? I fully intend to finish it but I need to finish the outline first. It was my 2019 NaNoWriMo project and I am 100% just writing it for the lols (and because Teddy and Vic are like... my comfort ship where writing is concerned). I wanted to play with a different universe and change up their relationship and roles at school a bit, but once again... trope-y nonsense. It’s unavoidable with them. There is obliviousness everywhere. 

Star Wars: (it’s Reylo, okay? It’s Reylo. I don’t want to hear it about how the ship is ~so terrible.~ That is literally the furthest thing in the world from a hot take, you can’t say a single thing that I haven’t heard before, and I’m a grown adult and can do what I want. Bite me.)

looking for the map that leads me home (Reylo): 

Stole the title on this one from We Take Care of Our Own by Bruce Springsteen, because why the fuck not, right? 

To put it simply: musician AU. To put it a little less simply: he’s got a dead career, she wants to have even the slightest shot at one, Rose is the best, Poe’s a singing heartthrob, Finn is a love-struck goofball. You know, all that fun stuff. The entire thing is based on a playlist that I made and every chapter has a song that acts as its theme. I haven’t touched it since January 2018. I want to finish it eventually but it’s not really at the top of the priority list. 

There’s a few other fics from other fandoms that I’ve started and never finished but the odds of me touching them again are like... nonexistent, so I’m not including them here. I’ll update this post if anything changes on that front (but it probably won’t).

Now for the complicated part—the original fiction:

Maker’s Magic 

This is a trilogy (or at least, it’s supposed to be). This is also a rewrite of the first story I ever finished—the fantasy novel that I wrote for my first-ever Camp NaNoWriMo back in August of 2011, when I had literally no clue what I was doing at all and essentially stole the plot structure from The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and built my own story around it. This is not a good way to write a piece of fiction that you want to publish, kids, but it is a damn good way to get your feet wet when you’ve never really written before.

I am reworking this story entirely from scratch. The characters are... kind of the same as the original story. Kind of. Maybe. I’ve changed a few names and merged a few people together and scrapped some others and entirely shifted the backstory of pretty much everyone, but... they’re definitely still the same, right? 

Basically, at this point the plot is really only similar to The Obsidian Trilogy in that we’ve got a trilogy, we’ve got some elves, and it’s your standard good vs. evil fantasy story (in its own unique fashion, of course). I’m still working out the details of this rewrite, but this is kind of the Holy Grail of all of my writing projects and the one that I’m most concerned about getting right, so I’m anticipating that I’ll be in it for the long haul on this one. I’m hoping I might be able to get a draft of the first book done this year, but... we’ll see.

(I also don’t want to give too many details about this project, ‘cause it’s the one that I’d really like to maybe publish one day, so...)

The Willow Hill universe

This started as a single story plus a standalone sequel set in the same universe, conceptualized when I was fourteen and missing horseback riding terribly (so yes, it is a story for all those Weird Horse Girls™ out there). I wrote a good portion of it, then deleted it, then rewrote the entire thing, then deleted it again a few years ago because I was no longer satisfied with the writing quality (after hitting top 100 on the Teen Fiction list on Wattpad way back when, so... I didn’t do too badly as a 16-year-old, but the writing still sucked). I’ve been promising a rewrite to my Wattpad followers since 2016 or something like that (2014? Whenever the hell it was that I deleted it the second time) but haven’t delivered at all.

I now envision this universe as a duology plus the aforementioned standalone sequel, except it’s not entirely fair to call it a YA duology in that the first book is definitely YA, but the second is more romance-y?

I originally just revealed the main character’s endgame relationship in the epilogue of the story, but I love both her and her boyfriend and their relationship so much that I decided that I’m going to be self-indulgent and write the story of them actually falling in love with each other, so that’s book two (so really, you don’t actually have to read book two to understand anything, I’m just writing it because I want to and it’s also kind of a present to anyone who read the original story when they were also a teenager and is now an adult who wants to read other stuff). 

Book one is now about the teenage struggle of crushes and trying to figure out what it is that you actually want out of your life and what you value (I say “now” because it was definitely way more self-insert-y the first time I wrote it and it is decidedly not at this point). It’s also sort of a love letter to trainers who are amazing and the kind of person we should all be so lucky as to be coached by.

These characters are my comfort characters where original fiction is concerned since they’ve been bouncing around in my head for the last ten years or so, and I’m hoping I can get at least the first book rewritten in the next year-ish, partly because I’ve been promising it for so long, and partly because I just really enjoy this world and I want to get back to it again.

The Coffee Shop Chronicles

AKA, I lived in one coffee shop on my university campus for pretty much the entirety of my college experience and it was a very inspiring place to be, so this has less to do with coffee shop AUs and more to do with the fact that I met several of my favorite human beings on this earth over a vanilla chai latte and mutual sass with the baristas.

(One of said baristas is very near and dear to me and introduced me to another regular who is now a very good friend with the statement “You’re both sarcastic assholes. You’ll love each other.”) 

None of the characters in this universe are based on actual human beings whom I know, but I liked the idea of the campus coffee shop serving as this thing that tangentially connected all of these people to one another, much in the way that I am tangentially connected to god knows how many people via my barista friend. Essentially, the idea is that the stories in this universe are all standalone, but the characters sometimes cross paths with one another at Caffeinated, so it’s sort of... Easter-egg-y in terms of who pops up where in which story. 

Currently I only have two stories in this universe that are legitimately plotted out, but there is room for any number of spin-offs based on whichever characters show up in those stories (or don’t—that’s the fun of it being a coffee shop. The barista is the only reliable character). Those two stories are as follows:

Chance Encounters (title so totally subject to change, also stealing the terribly summary from the Wattpad draft that never saw the light of day):

For Bennett McGuire, things with guys just didn't seem to want to go her way. From the disasters that were her attempts at dating in high school to the problem that had been Elijah Becker, she hadn't exactly had the best luck. With all that in mind, it made perfect sense to swear off dating until she finished college—that is, it made sense until one frozen day in February when Gordon Evans walked into her life. After that, who was to say what would happen?

What’s Your Metaphor? (once again, enjoy the terrible summary from the Wattpad draft that never was. I am cringing reading it but also too tired to come up with anything better):

"What's the point?" 

It's a question asked widely, for all sorts of reasons, and it's one that April Hayes didn't know the answer to any better than anyone else. All she knew was that she had her plan, and she was going to stick to it, because it was the only thing that seemed to have any sort of logic to it in her life. The things she thought, the things she believed—well, they all fell before the plan, because she didn't have time to ask herself "What's the point?"

That is, she didn't have the time to know the answer—her answer—until one guy by the name of Drew Collier showed up and made her consider things that she had never even thought of before.

High Blood

Yinz can go read my WIP introduction post for this one. It’s a fantasy story. Just for the hell of it, here’s the summary from said WIP introduction post: 

At the age of seventeen, Thessaly of Averak had a choice—take the crown of her people and her place as her father’s heir, or set it aside to become one of the High Warriors, dedicated to protecting their people and the country that her long-dead ancestor Enred built after leading its citizens out of a long and bloody war. Amidst raids and famine at the borders, she gave up her crown to better serve the people that her family rules.

Ten years later, all is quiet. At least, all is quiet until Beca’s pendant is stolen by a thief who disappears into the night on the journey back from the summer palace, Tess gets herself stabbed, and the discovery is made that the rock-solid foundations of their family’s claim to the throne—and the peace that depends upon them—are laced with hairline fractures.

(I didn’t write anything to speak of for Camp NaNo July 2020 and actually wound up deleting my project for this on the NaNo site because my dad was hit by a car while cycling the Friday before the weekend when I was planning to write like... 30k words to catch up, so obviously I gave up on that plan (he is doing well now, thank you for asking). I’m hoping I’ll get around to this one eventually because this particular universe arguably has the most potential for having multiple stories set in it, fantasy-wise.)

Emerson’s Lights

Natalie Flynn has been best friends with Evan Acheson practically since birth. They've stuck together through thick and thin, from her braces in seventh grade to his jump to stardom as a singer-songwriter their freshman year of college. 

She’d do anything for him, but spending a week with him on tour involves a lot more than she bargained for, culminating in the turn of events that is Caleb Blake, lead singer and primary songwriter of opening act Emerson’s Lights, moving into her house for the better part of a month.

She always knew there would be complications being the best friend of a rock star, but this? This was one that she didn’t bet on.

(Aka, girl meets boy in a band trope. Yay.)

(NaNoWriMo 2020 project)

The famous musician story (this thing doesn’t have a title right now and I’m not even going to try)

Stupid, trope-y nonsense idea that I came up with for my own personal amusement and nothing else. I’ve written a few chapters of it but genuinely have no idea where this falls in the hierarchy of things that I want to get done. Long story short, she’s in grad school for history, he’s a famous musician in town recording for a new album, they meet in the library, she pretends she has no idea who he is, and shenanigans ensue.

And that is where I think I’m going to leave it. There’s four other stories that I can think of off the top of my head that I could theoretically add to this list, but they are legitimately just ideas right now so they can be added at a later date when they’ve manifested themselves a little more strongly. There’s also another quartet in the Willow Hill universe that I came up with in high school that could theoretically be added but I think I might just steal those character names and give them their own little world instead. We’ll see.

Basically, if you didn’t get the point from this list: I am working on a lot of things, and when I say I’m writing, it could mean literally anything on this list (or any of the other ideas that I have floating around). The stories/universe here are the most likely candidates for my time, depending on whether I’m doing a deep dive into my writing or just playing around with something fun, and hopefully (god, hopefully) I’ll be able to move one or two of these to a “completed works” list in the next year(ish). 

(Or at least, as complete as a draft ever gets before you start going in on it again.)

[dent-de-leon]

Hey Leo! Sorry for the random questions but do you recommend The Dragon Prince? Is it about the dragons or are they like background lore or something? Thanks!

Short answer: hell yeah,, it’s so much fun!! Give it a try if you love fantasy adventure stuff. Long answer: 

DRAGONS ARE MY FAVORITE THING EVER SO I WILL TELL YOU THAT I ABSOLUTELY CAME CAUSE I HEARD “DRAGON” AND “PRINCE” AND “DRAGON PRINCE” AND THAT SEEMED TO SUIT MY VERY SPECIFIC INTERESTS,,, there’s a lot of lore and they seem to be more or less the ruling forces of Xadia, the land of magic and elves. But they’re definitely not just a backdrop piece, they’re major players! Sadly we don’t get to see as much dragon action in the first season, but the entire focus of the main trio is to protect a dragon that’s a royal heir, the eponymous “Dragon Prince.” 

And so,, bit of a spoiler, but you DO get to actually meet the Dragon Prince in the series,, they hatch right before season 2 and become one of the traveling companions of the main trio. They’re the cutest little baby dragon!! Again, I’m sorry for the spoiler, but if I say like…there’s a dragon companion Eventually and you know that episode 1 introduces a dragon egg, like…it’s kinda hard to talk about without giving away, and DP certainly didn’t shy away from advertising Baby Dragon in all the promo stuff for season 2 so I figure you’ll run into it anyway. And we see glimpses of other dragons as the episodes go by, and they all exude this sense of absolute awe and power. So if you came for the dragons,, there will!! Be!! Dragons!! 

But what else is at the forefront–even more so than the dragons? One of my other favorite things in all of fantasy ever. ELVES,, and lots of them!! All elves–and indeed, all the magical creatures native to Xadia–are born with an innate connection to something called an arcanum, which is a kind of really cool elemental magic!! The writers of Dragon Prince are some of the people that splintered off from the Avatar series after Last Airbender (so they were uninvolved with Korra, but part of the original series). And you can definitely see that in the influence of a lot of the lore and world building. 

Each race of elves having their own affinity for a particular arcanum is definitely going to be reminescent of the whole bender thing. These arcanum are also known as “Primal Sources,” because they’re kind of this mystical, primordial energy that controls the natural forces of the universe. So you have: 

Moon Arcanum (Moonshadow Elves: value loyalty and their oaths above all else, honorable, mystical, withdrawn, spiritual, duplicitous, illusionists, assassins, conditioned to never show fear)

Sun (Sunfire Elves: masters of the forge, unparalleled craftsmanship in their weapon and armor smithing, destructive, nurturing, charismatic, passionate, can invoke either a “rage” based state to rampage with increased strength and speed, or harness their “light” in order to heal) 

Sky (Skywing Elves: Keen minded, clever, value their freedom and autonomy above all else, gifted with flight)

Earth (Earthblood Elves: Patient, steadfast, stubborn, introspective, inquisitive, very in-tune with the balance of the natural world, value harmony and discovery) 

Ocean (don’t know what these elves are called still,, rip,,, but: Peaceful, empathetic, deeply connected to others, forge intimate bonds, adaptable, versatile)

Star (Startouch Elves: very rare, elusive, have a vast concept of time and space as seen through the lens of infinite cosmos, gifted in divination, posses ancient magic and potential secrets of the universe) 

The main conflict of the show is actually between the humans and the elves. They used to all live together, but then humans betrayed the others through the creation of dark magic, a sort of “cheat” since humans aren’t born naturally connected to any of the Primal Sources. Since they’re cut off from the arcanum, they saw their only viable means of practicing magic as sacrificing other magical beings to draw from their life force. This can be anything from crushing bugs to ritual use of phoenix feathers, and even killing dragons. So that’s how you get the alleged “sixth arcanum,” Dark Magic. And honestly, lots of Magical Creatures weren’t a Big Fan of that. Humans eventually went to war with the elves and dragons, and!! Yes!! They lost. And got driven out of Xadia. 

Dragon Prince takes place sometime later, and is essentially about heightening tensions between humans and elves, and likely, the very inevitable impending war. There are numerous human kingdoms, each with their own politics, as well as everything we’ve yet to discover about the interrelationships between differing arcanum elves. The series features two human princes trying to navigate their role in society and expectations for the future alongside the emerging threat of war and disconcerting realization that Xadia isn’t quite as sinister as they thought. There’s also their new friend Rayla, a Moonshadow Elf and trained assassin–who has decided to grudgingly open up her heart, and maybe give humanity a chance (I love her). You also have the obligatory Dark Magic sorcerer with his own agenda and secrets. Not to mention his jock son and dark magic daughter, who are honestly both so quirky, endearing, complex, and can just steal the show. 

I also have to mention General Amaya!! She’s the general of one of the human kingdom armies, and she’s also mute. All her soldiers communicate with her in sign language (and it’s actually correctly animated ASL!!). Everything about the way this character was brought to life was so amazing and, not knowing anything about her beforehand, I was so pleasantly surprised by her strength, charm, chivalry–she’s amazing. And it’s clear that considerable research and effort went into representation here. 

Other reasons to watch include one of my personal favorites,, Hot Elves,, you’ve got both Runaan and Aaravos here and they’re all I can focus on whenever they’re onscreen. They both own my heart and soul and they’re 100% perfect I’m very thankful I can always look forward to them,, 

Unfortunately, I can talk about how much I like Dragon Prince all I want, but I also have to definitely mention there’s a relationship between two queer characters in a flashback of season 2, and they’re both killed off soon after their introduction. That left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I’ve seen people “compare” it to Voltron, try to claim it did things “better,” but that’s honestly all ridiculous. Not to mention, VLD’s LGBT rep was always meant to be Shiro, and he was still around, whereas TDP introduced two minor LGBT characters and then proceeded to kill off their only LGBT characters an episode later. This isn’t me trying to complain or start a fight or anything, but it’s a matter that raises valid concerns and was understandably upsetting for people, so I feel like it’s fair to warn anyone going into it.

As a whole, I do love TDP though. Really, the fun here is in the characters and charm of the series. It’s also really not a show that takes itself too seriously, which is kinda nice. A lot of people have said it was too childish for them, which I can understand, but the whole thing feels very storybook and endearing to me. There’s also certainly layers of nuance there, with political games, duplicitous motivations, usurping kings, self-sacrifice, betrayal, the grieving process, how far you’d go for someone you love–I think there’s definitely some substance to it. I’d recommend that most people at least give it a chance to see if it’s their thing. And if you do, I hope you enjoy it 

[somerandomwriter1234]

GMW Fanfic - Farkle and Smackle: The Best Friend Ever

Summary: In this tale, Farkle and Smackle find themselves looking back at their long friendship; from when they meet as young kids through their current young adult years. And it results in the two making an important realization of what they are to each other.

-Long ago in the past: a little boy named Farkle was walking onto the home plate of an outdoor kickball field wearing black sunglasses and a very large jersey shirt that went down to his feet. A ball was rolled towards him by another young boy. Farkle attempted to kick the ball but stepped on his giant jersey and fell down. Many boys that were around Farkle began to laugh including a very tall boy near him named Derrick.

Derrick: Man Minkus. That is such a stupid outfit you're wearing.

Farkle: But you said wearing this would make me look cool.

Derrick: Yeah, last week when it was cool. Now it's just stupid.

-Many of the boys began to laugh as Farkle stood up.

Farkle: Can I try kicking again?

Derrick: Naw. Get off the field. We don't need any stupid people out here.

-An upset Farkle walked away from the field. He then walked over to a bench where a little girl was sitting.

Farkle: Hi there. Hey. You go to Einstein Academy right? Smackle, right?

Smackle: Isadora Smackle actually. And yeah. I started there in kindergarten last year. And you're Farkle Minkus. We competed in that 4-6 year old science competition last year. Unless the aliens that abducted me last night altered my memories.

Farkle: Uh�� okay. Can I sit on this bench next to you? No one else wants me to hang out with them.

Smackle: Why not?

Farkle: Because I can't be cool like anyone. I try to dress up, and talk, and do all the stuff the cool kids do. But none of them like me.

Smackle: Well I think you're cool. I liked your science project you made for last year's competition. Of course don't expect too much praise from me since we are academic rivals. Ooo. Did you see my science project involving a lamp being powered by pink kittens from Taiwan?

Farkle: Um… I didn't. You know… you're a little strange.

Smackle: Yeah. That's why no one sits with me either. Are you gonna get up and leave me too now?

Farkle: No. I'm cool with hanging out with somebody who is a little bit strange.

Smackle: Would you still hang out with me if I was very strange?

Farkle: Smackle, you have the strangest mind in all of existence.

-In the present: an adult Farkle and Smackle were standing in front of a group of children in the before and after care auditorium.

Smackle: But it makes perfect sense that the seven dwarves Snow White met: were actually aliens from another planet.

Farkle: But the planet: FANBOY!?

Smackle: Well of course. All of those other names people have been told over the years were just their aliases. The seven dwarves' real names are: Trekkie, Whovian, Ringer, Potter Head, Tributes, and of course… Marvel and DC. With their supreme overlord back home of course being "King Star Wars".

Farkle: Why do you do this Smackle? Why?

Smackle: Not important. What is important is that we get back to the part of the story where the evil Queen locates the dwarves' hidden spaceship and proceeds to blow it apart.

Farkle: Ah! It's gonna blow!

-In the past: a young Farkle was standing near a computer that was shaking in the middle of an elementary school auditorium where a science fair was occurring. The computer then had a few sparks come out of it and then all of the lights in the building went off.

Farkle: Aww no.

-An older teacher stood up and spoke loudly to everyone.

Older Teacher: It's okay. Just a minor power surge. The custodian just told me that this has happened before and he'll have the power back up in no time. Just remember students: next time you're connecting twenty plugs through extension cords to one outlet… let a teacher know first.

-Farkle began to hang his head low as Derrick walked over to Farkle.

Derrick: Man Minkus. First you're pathetic at trying to be cool. Then you're pathetic at just trying to be stupid you.

-Farkle turned his head away from Derrick and then quickly went over to sit in a corner by himself. From nearby Smackle quickly rushed over to Farkle and sat next to him.

Smackle: Sorry your experiment didn't work.

Farkle: Ugg. I can't do anything right. I'm so stupid.

Smackle: You're not stupid Farkle. You're just really different. And sometimes it's hard to figure out how to be your best in your own way when you're the only one doing things your own way.

Farkle: Yeah… I guess you're right.

Smackle: Just be like me Farkle. Well… don't be just like me. Because then you'd have a chance of beating me in these science fair competitions from friendly rival. However you should do one thing I've learned. Stop trying to be cool and be exactly like other people, and instead just help others in your own way.

Farkle: Hmm. That's… actually good advice. You got any more?

Smackle: Yeah! Prince Charming actually knew who Snow White was because his body and mind had been combined with the Prince Charming of Earth 2 during the events of the Flashpoint Zero Crisis Hour on Infinite Realities event.

-In the present: an adult Farkle and Smackle were standing in front of a group of children in the before and after care auditorium.

Farkle: Where the heck did that all come from?

Smackle: Online wiki's. And you know they never lie.

Farkle: Smackle. We were seconds away from a simple fairy tale ending where the prince meets the princess and then they get married and live happily ever after. Why must you always change the endings of every story I try to tell with your own insane tales!?

Smackle: Well maybe your endings happened pre-Crisis. But they're not in continuity anymore.

Farkle: SMACKLE! WILL YOU JUST… I… I need to walk away and think for a bit.

-Farkle then began to walk towards the door to outside.

Smackle: Wait, Farkle! You're going home early!? You'll be right back soon, right?

-Farkle looked back at Smackle and called out to her very loudly.

Farkle: No Smackle. This time I'm gonna be gone for… quite a while.

-Farkle then walked out of the building. Smackle stood looking slightly shocked.

Smackle: Is… is he mad at me?

Farkle: Ugg. I am feeling so mad right now.

-In the past: in a large living room, a teenage Farkle was laying down on a couch. He had a pillow behind his head and a blanket covering most of his body. Farkle looked up at the ceiling as he had a very sick look on his face.

Farkle: I hate being sick…. especially today. Well… mom and dad are gone now. And here I am. Laying here all alone, feeling so sick and exhausted. What is someone like me in this condition supposed to do?

-Farkle's spoken thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a teenage Smackle walking into the living room with a plate and glass of water.

Smackle: What you're going to do is stay on the couch as I give you this medicine along with this glass of water.

-Farkle looked at Smackle with a very surprised look on his face.

Farkle: Smackle!? What are you doing here?

Smackle: I called earlier and your mom told me that you were gonna be here alone for five hours. Soon after that, I told her that I would love to help take care of you during that time. She seemed cool with it, and so now here I am.

Farkle: But… what about your exams?

Smackle: I'll just take them during the makeup day. Which you will as well.

Farkle: But I'm not getting any better right now. In fact, I may never be in school again if this fever of mine keeps getting worse.

Smackle: Believe me Farkle. You will be better by the time the makeup day comes.

Farkle: And what makes you so sure of yourself?

-Smackle then held the glass of water she was holding closer to Farkle's face.

Smackle: Because I've got water and medicine here. Now drink up!

Farkle: But I'm still feeling…

Smackle: Now!

-Farkle quickly swallowed the medicine and water that Smackle had given him.

Farkle: Gee. You didn't have to shove it down my throat.

-Smackle then held a plate with toast on it closer to Farkle's face.

Smackle: I've got toast. It's buttery. Now eat it!

-Farkle then quickly ate the toast. As Farkle swallowed the last of his food, Smackle sat in a chair next to Farkle. Farkle then cleared his throat and looked right at Smackle.

Farkle: Smackle. What is up with you right now!? You're shouting demands at me to eat food and drink water.

Smackle: Is it wrong to ask a friend to do something to make his life better?

Farkle: Well… no.

Smackle: Farkle, there are so many people in this world who know how to live a healthy and good lifestyle. Yet they shut their mouths so often and continue to allow other people around them to live their lives however they feel like. Well I'm not gonna be like that.

Farkle: Wow. That's pretty deep.

Smackle: Thank you.

Farkle: So… wanna check out what cartoons are on cable right now?

Smackle: Sounds cool.

-Farkle then grabbed a remote near him and turned on the TV. Farkle and Smackle then began to watch the TV. However as they watched, Farkle's eyes began to turn to look at Smackle. After a moment of looking at her, Farkle then spoke up.

Farkle: Smackle.

Smackle: Yeah?

Farkle: I'm glad I sat down next to that strange little girl I met on that bench all those years ago.

Smackle: Me too. By the way, if we can't find anything good to watch on TV, I can always read you my Star Wars fanfiction where my little ponies join the Jedi order.

Maya: Smackle, are you sure you're all right?

-In the present - in the before and after care auditorium: Smackle and her friend Maya, along with one of their students: Grace were all sitting at a table together.

Smackle: I know I tell stories different than him but… did I cross a line today?

Maya: Smackle, you were being yourself. If Farkle had a problem with you just being you, he would've walked away years ago.

Grace: Yeah. Besides, you're really fun Miss Smackle.

Smackle: Aww. Thanks Grace.

Maya: Hey Grace. Since you're the only student in here now, let's go outside where all of the other kids are.

Grace: Okay.

-Maya and Grace then got up and walked out of the room. Smackle remained where she was and sighed. Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door opening nearby. Smackle turned her head and saw Farkle walking back into the building towards her. Smackle then got up and walked over to Farkle. The two both stopped once they were right in front of the other.

Smackle: Farkle. Listen. I've been thinking and… I just wanna say I'm sorry that I changed the ending to that fairy tale story on you. I didn't think it would make you…

-Farkle then held a hand up for a quick moment and then spoke.

Farkle: No. I'm glad that you are always you Smackle. And I'm glad you wanted to change the end of that silly little fairy tale. Because we probably shouldn't tell these kids the story of a prince and princess that meet up and just super quickly fall in love. Because that's not how love works. It takes time to grow. And it takes time to recognize it.

Smackle: Farkle, what are you saying?

Farkle: I should never let some crazy… quirks in a person's personality keep me from seeing what's most important about them. Smackle… I've been unfair to you.

Smackle: Huh? How?

-Farkle then had his hands grab Smackle's as the two looked right at each other.

Farkle: I let my frustrations over the ridiculous crazy little things you do keep me from seeing what is most important about you. Which is that you are the kindest, most patient, and most loving person I know. Smackle, you're the best friend ever. And I don't wanna walk away from you like I did ever again. In fact… I want to do the complete opposite of that.

-Farkle then suddenly pulled out of his pocket a small box and then got down on one knee. Farkle then immediately opened the box showing inside was a diamond ring. Smackle's eyes got huge as she saw what was happening and then fell down onto her own knees as she kept looking right at Farkle.

Farkle: Isadora Smackle… will you marry me?

-Smackle remained still as she had a look of uncertainty on her face. She was completely quiet for several moments, and then finally… she spoke.

Smackle: You were wrong about just one thing. Farkle… you're the best friend ever. And I will.

Farkle: You will what?

Smackle: What you just asked. It's a yes. Yes, Farkle… I will marry you!

THE END

[tedlyanderson]

Annotations for Adventure Time: Beginning of the End issue 3!

Did you enjoy my annotations for issue one and issue two of this miniseries? If so, good news! (If not, shove off!) I have annotations for the third issue, right here waiting for your lovely eyes! Obviously, as with the previous posts, this will have great big massive spoilers for the issue, so take that into consideration. Please enjoy, my pals!

Pages 2&3: Okay, there’s a lot to unpack on these pages, haha. First and foremost is a reference to something other than Adventure Time for once: Jake’s monologue on these pages is a loose reference to one of the very best issues of classic Fantastic Four, number 51, “This Man ... This Monster!” In that issue, among other events, Reed Richards travels through the Negative Zone and muses to himself about the nature of reality:

There are cameos on these pages from a bunch of the “cosmic” things of the AT universe, including the Catalyst Comet, the Lich, a copy of the Enchiridion,  Glob Grob Gob Grod, the Finn Sword, and Prismo (in a rare 3-dimensional appearance). There’s also a herd of Time Lards with clocks on their bellies.

Also in this image, note the most minor and in-jokey reference in this entire series: the satellite on the middle-left with the word “FELIS” on it. In the episode “Fionna and Cake and Fionna,” someone asks Ice King where he gets the ideas for his Fionna and Cake stories, and he replies that they’re “beamed into [his] melon every night.” Later that episode, we see him sleeping as a pink laser zaps into his head, carrying images of Fionna and Cake. I chose to interpret this as a reference to one of my favorite authors, Philip K. Dick, who believed that he was receiving knowledge in the form of an information-rich pink laser beam from a satellite called VALIS. So this satellite, FELIS (get it? like cats?), is the source of the Fionna and Cake stories—in my version of the universe, anyway.

Page 4, panel 4: Chronologius Rex declares that he is the lord of Time, not meatloaf. Meatloaf has been established multiple times as Finn’s favorite food.

Page 5: And here we come to the crux of this issue: Finn’s possible futures. Issue 1 of this series was about Finn’s past, issue 2 was about his present, so naturally issue 3 is all about his futures. Obviously none of these should be taken as “canon;” I just came up with three possible paths Finn might take based on what we’ve seen him do throughout the series. I’ll explain my thinking after the third sequence.

All three of the futures are color-coded—the Candy Knight future is pink, obviously.

Page 6: I love Mari’s designs for Queen Bubblegum—the high ‘80s shoulders are great! My suggestion for Old Peppermint Butler was that he be smoother and shinier, as if he’s a candy that’s been sucked on for too long.

In panel 2, the “Dinner Kingdom” is kind of a half-reference to the Breakfast Kingdom in present Ooo.

And in panel 5, note old Finn’s Jake medallion.

Page 7, panel 4: I am not sorry for the “bunch” of banana soldiers joke.

Page 8, panel 1: Beards are indeed a factor in many of Finn’s futures: pretty much every time we’ve seen an older or artificially-aged Finn, he’s got a beard of some sort. I continue the trend in this issue.

Page 8, panel 5: This is a futuristic version of Founders’ Island, the main human settlement outside of Ooo, fixed up and fully repaired. The implication is that Finn not only returned to the human islands, he also helped fix the place up.

The color scheme for the Teacher Finn future is blue, connecting with the water and sky surrounding them.

Page 9, panel 2: I love Teacher Finn’s design so, so much, you guys. I described him as a lovable old professor, someone with his mother’s compassion and his father’s roguish charm, and Mari knocked it out of the park. Note his Jake hat.

Page 9, panel 3: “Homies help homies: always!” is the Adventure Time philosophy in a nutshell.

Page 9, panel 5: Note that Finn is still using his old, trusty sword Scarlett in this future. She’s even more nicked and battle-scarred, but I’m sure she’s still good in a fight.

Page 10, panel 2: Dodging eggs while fighting was part of Finn’s training from Rattleballs in his eponymous episode.

Page 10, panel 2: When it came to Finn’s human wife, I told Mari to make her look a little bit like a human version of Flame Princess. I figured Finn if has a type, it’s her!

Page 11: The third and final possible future is the Space Captain Finn future, which is green-themed for no particular reason. This future is based on the idea that Finn and his Candy Kingdom pals team up with the remaining humans to build a spaceship to take them away from Earth, which is about as likely as anything else in Adventure Time, haha.

Everything in this sequence is of course heavily inspired by Star Trek: the Next Generation, a show that I love and grew up watching. The Minerva A.I. is the ship’s computer, obviously, warning of “excessive sparks detected on bridge.” Jake is Finn’s right-hand-man, just like Riker was to Picard (and Finn even calls him “numero uno,” like Picard’s “number one”). Lady Rainicorn is the equivalent of counselor Troi, Fern is a bit like Data, and Jake’s skateboarding granddaughter Bronwyn is the hotshot kid pilot, like Wesley. Princess Bubblegum is the engineering chief—she always struck me as preferring the role of scientist rather than royalty, frankly—assisted by Frieda and BMO. Flame Princess, upgraded to Plasma Princess, powers the ship as a whole. And Finn himself sports a beard similar to Commander Riker’s—which is appropriate, as a future version of Finn was voiced by Riker’s actor, Jonathan Frakes!

When coming up with these futures, I thought about what the Finn we knew might be most drawn to doing, and boiled it down to three major options: fighting and defending (the Candy Knight future), teaching and training (the Teacher Finn future), or exploring and leading (Space Captain Finn). For what it’s worth, I don’t really have a preference, or any opinions on which future is most likely—one of the strengths of Adventure Time has always been finding ways to surprise its audience with something that makes total sense in retrospect. If Finn does have a “canonical” future, it’s probably something I would never have thought of, but which makes perfect sense.

Page 11, panel 4: Princess Bubblegum yet again mentions “zanoits,” which are maybe some kind of mysterious particle? It’s a funny word and deserves to be used more often.

Page 12, panel 1: I mentioned in my annotations for the previous issue that I felt bad making Susan revert to her simpler speech patterns, since by this point in the series she’s perfectly capable of using big words. I tried to make it up to her by making her the ship’s communications officer, who would use big words all the time.

Additionally, the “Tuffbone sector” is a reference to Meredith Gran’s Adventure Time miniseries, Marceline: Gone Adrift. In that series, Marceline explores space and meets other races, including the Tuffbones, dog-like alien critters.

Page 12, panel 2: Note that Shelby (the worm who lives in Jake’s viola) is wearing a bandolier similar to Worf’s. I was particularly proud of that idea, haha.

Page 12, panel 4: Jake’s exclamation of “Outrageous!” is a reference to another role by his voice actor, John DiMaggio: it’s the catchphrase of Aquaman, from the Batman: the Brave and the Bold series.

Page 16, panel 3: A “dead world” is another bit of unexplored Adventure Time lore: they’re apparently where people go when they die, but they’re not quite the afterlife as we think of it? Or it is, but there’s a lot of them, like at least fifty? Unclear.

Page 16, panel 4: I had to work in the title of the show somehow.

Page 17, panel 3: I wanted to make sure I referenced my favorite song from the show, “Everything Stays” by Rebecca Sugar, and this seemed like the perfect time to bring it up, as Jake discusses the inevitability of change.

Page 17, panel 4: When I described this panel in the script, I specifically mentioned the series Neon Genesis Evangelion, one of the weirder depictions of the end of the world you can find. I love the image of the enormous stone blocks sinking into an endless sea.

Page 18, panel 5: Chronologius’s epithet for Jake, “starchild,” references Jake’s actual origin as a half-alien creature. I checked the dates, and apparently I finished the script for this issue just a couple weeks after the episode “Jake the Starchild” aired, in which Jake’s parentage was fully revealed.

Pages 20-21: Finn’s final “confrontation” with Chronologius might feel a bit underwhelming—essentially, all he does is convince Chronologius to give them an opportunity to escape. There’s no big battle, no war of wits; it’s already been established that Chronologius is basically invulnerable, so it’s not like Finn could beat him in a fight. It’s not terribly exciting, but that’s kind of the point: over the course of this issue, Chronologius becomes more sympathetic to Finn and his plight, particularly after seeing all the good he did (and might have done) in the world. So it’s less about beating up some big bad dude, and more about convincing someone to act like a pal. In a way, Finn beats Chronologius by making him into a friend.

Would it have been better if the ending was more exciting, action-packed, crazy-style? Maybe! Looking back on it, I feel like I could have given Mari more chances to do cool art stuff—the first half of this issue has some pretty far-out sequences and nifty new things to draw, but the second half is basically three characters talking against a mostly boring background. Thematically I feel like it’s better to have Finn succeed by befriending the villain, rather than just punching his lights out, but it definitely doesn’t have the same visual impact. Overall, I’m still proud of it, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be improved.

That’s it for issue three! Join me next time for—issue four?!? Yes! This three-part miniseries is in fact a four-part miniseries, ending with Finn and Jake’s adventures through time! Look forward to it, my chums!

[fallen-gabrielle]

The MLP comics are fine (and so is the extended universe)

I will talk about the comics and the extended lore the rest of the medias provide us with more world building. For those who haven’t read the comics, there will be major spoilers, so read at your own risks. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!

Of course, there are Bronies who still consider the comics as non canon. Just like there are Bronies who consider the Equestria Girls as non canon. And same thing with the chapter books.

Others call all that the “extended universe”.

Me? I like Equestria Girls, I like the comics, and the chapter books too. OF COURSE THERE ARE INCONSISTENCIES (< that’s the main reason people don’t like the comics/chapter books/etc, which I think is stupid), the authors don’t have the time to check everything with the show, but they do their best (and especially vice-versa). The show writers don’t follow the comics (and the rest...) because they simply don’t have the time. The comic writers make sometimes references or even sequel to some episodes because they watch the show (show writers don’t read comics and chapter books).

So I consider the “extanded universe” as canon. I don’t care about plot holes, DC comics and Marvel comics have lots of those, and a ton of alternate universes too (reboots, earth-two shenanigans, etc). So why being so hard on the MLP comics ? I really don’t get it. If the reason the comics crush people’s headcanons, I’m sorry, but that’s a lame excuse.

I can understand that the whole “I can’t keep up with all of that” thing, but using it as an excuse for hating the comics (and others medias) is kinda dumb.

And because Hasbro said  “anything that is said in the cartoon, it is primairy canon above any others medias“ is the source of many arguments inside the fandom. That and if they use comic books characters in the show and no one read the thing before, viewers would be confused by what’s going on.

I still think the MLP lore is well developped with the addition of the comics.

Let’s make a recap for what we have in the MLP medias (except the toy line):

The show;

The comics;

The chapter books;

Equestria Girls franchise.

Now, let’s see what kind of comics we have :

The main serie (Friendship is Magic, ongoing)

The Micro serie (10 issues)

Friends Forever (38 issues, replaced Micro Serie)

FIENDship is Magic (5 issues, released at the same time of Friends Forever in April 2015)

Legends of Magic (12 issues, replaced Friends Forever)

Ponyville Mysteries, “sequel” to the eponymous chapter book serie (5 issues, replaced Legends of Magic)

Nightmare Knights (5 issues, replaced Ponyville Mysteries)

The movie prequel (4 issues, released before the movie)

Annuals (somehow ongoing, you may never know *shrugs*).

Now, the list of the chapter books :

The “main serie”, featuring one character;

The Equestria Girls ones (even tho most of them are just book version of the EG movies and specials);

The Princess Collection;

Ponyville Mysteries;

Beyond Equestria, books that features one of the main characters with characters from the Movie.

Yup, that’s a lot.

With all of this, it is certain that the lore of Friendship is Magic was expanded. But alternate worlds in the comics are not the first alternate worlds the franchise has.

There are alternate universes mentioned in the show.

Remember the season 5 finale? There are SIX different timelines :

Sombra war (King Sombra wins);

Everlasting Night (Nightmare Moon wins);

Changeling Invasion (Chrysalis wins);

Total Chaos (Discord wins);

Ultimate Destruction (Tirek wins);

Industrialization (Flim-Flam win).

Each being actually CANON. They are just not the timeline the show is following. That makes them ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, in a sense (just like Flashpoint).

I know that an universe and a timeline is not quite the same, but it still parallel worlds.

So why rejecting the alternate universe that appear in the comics? If we consider everything canon, we have :

1. The Main Equestria (pun not intended)

I’ll call it Equestria 1, from the show and which has 6 different timelines. In a way, the timelines still exist as parallel worlds. So if using the right magic/spell, it may be possible to visit the alt timelines. I’m not going to arg about it like in The Flash, because science isn’t really used in Friendship is Magic, so yeah, don’t start the science talk about alt timelines in a cartoon with magical horses.

2. The Equestria Girls world

From Equestria Girls duh where everyone looks like humans. Sunset Shimmer, who is from Equestria 1, stays there because Hasbro don’t want to mix her with the main show (fight me, this is the real reason why she’s not back to Equestria).

3. The Mirror-verse (comics)

I know that TECHNICALLY every alternate universes are “mirror-verses” because the portals to every alt worlds are mirrors, but I call this one Mirror-verse because every characters are the total opposite from Equestria 1. All the good guys are evil, and all the evil guys are good.

In Reflection (main serie, issue 17-20), the two alternate worlds became so “close” that the merge between them could have destroy them both. The King Sombra from this world stored all the evil of the Mirror-verse inside of him to restore the balance.

Also, this King Sombra is in love with Princess Celestia from Equestria 1. Mmmh... Maybe that’s why people don’t like the comics : their waifu is actually taken (well, not anymore after Reflection). We haven’t heard of this alternate universe since then.

4. The Shadow-verse (comics)

Alternate universe that appears in Legends of Magic and the Annual 2018 (that is a complement to Legends of Magic). This is also the world the serie Nightmare Knights is taking place (see more below).

This is also a personal fan-made name for this universe : this is the one where an alternate Pony of Shadows (aka alternate Stygian) is superpowerful. He defeated his version of Starswirl the Bearded. But as a real power hungry villain, he wanted more. He tried to corrupted the Celestia and the Luna from his world but his Starswirl stopped him from doing so.

But between this moment in the past and in the present day, Green Pony of Shadows (yes, that’s how I’ll call him, because he has green fire/shadows) contacted his counterpart through his dreams: apparently, he succeded to corrupt his Celestia (his Luna seemed to be too weak to resist corruption). So of course, Princess Luna and Stygian from Equestria 1 decided to rescue Celestia of Shadow-verse. But soon they realise that Green Pony of Shadows is not in charge in this universe anymore. It is Eris (Discord’s cousin) who rules the place with the staff of Sacanas (staff used by the Storm King in the Movie). We don’t know yet which world/universe Eris is from. I assume for now she’s from the Shadow-verse.

This is the plot of Nightmare Knights. We already saw easter eggs to previous villains (including Grogar). There is a King Sombra who looks like King Sombra from Mirror-verse. Is he the same Sombra who travel to Shadow-verse or is he the Sombra from Shadow-verse and he just looks like Sombra Mirror-verse post corruption ? I know this is just a reference, but there are TWO Rarities : Nightmare Rarity and Rarity corrupted by dark waters. So did they come from Shadow-verse or alternate worlds where one is corrupted by the Nightmare Forces and the other one by the dark waters ?

Also, what happened to Green Pony of Shadows ? Should I keep calling this the Shadow-verse since Eris is in charge now? I don’t know, we’ll see.

5. Unknown Atlernate universe (TCG)

Yes, even the trading card game proposes an alternate unviverse in which Solar Flare/Nightmare Star (a corrupted version of Celestia) rules her world with an iron hoof. An alternate universe so horrifying that Starswirl from Equestria 1 had to destroy the portal so that no one will know about it (also, he probably didn’t want to see Solar Flare coming in Equestria 1).

I personally prefer Solar Flare over Daybreaker. I really thought that Celestia’s evil counterpart would be it but noooooooo, Hasbro don’t know everything in their own merchandises. They are the one creating inconsistencies. 

The comics created a few controversies

1. Nightmare Forces controversy

The oldest question : which princess is the best ? Back then, we can only choose between Celestia and Luna. And of course, most people choose Luna for her tragic backstory.

In the second arc in the main serie (issues 5-8) Nightmare Rarity, the story is kinda the same as in episode 4, season 2 Luna eclipsed.

It’s about her acceptance of her past and stuff like that. What the comic brings and it’s what most Bronies are not happy with is the Nightmare Forces. So, according to the story, it would be an outside force that corrupts Princess Luna into Nightmare Moon. Yeah, no : using that excuse to glorified the character is lame. Making her a slave to something wasn’t well recieved within the fandom.

The arc is supposed to happen after the episode, that’s why it is a little confusing.

But the comic never stated WHERE the Nightmare Forces come from. And I think people have tendecies to forget who Luna is : an Alicorn. What’s the connection, you ask? Well in episode 13, season 5 Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?, Luna created the Tantabus, a creature for the sole purpose of punishing herself for her past mistakes. What IS the connection, you ask? SHE IS A FREAKING ALICORN, that means she has a magic more powerful than anypony in Equestria. If she was able to create the Tantabus out of guilt, it is possible she created the Nightmare Forces out of envy and anger. It’s like her magic and feelings created another personality, Nightmare Moon and when she was defeated by the Mane 6 and the Elements of Harmony, her evil personality and its magic (the Nightmare Forces) were simply rejected from her body/mind and went to the moon waiting to come back. That’s what happens in the comic. The Nightmare Forces took over Rarity because being a bearer of an Element, that makes the rest of them useless.

There is a rest of Luna’s magic in the Forces and they started to act as a whole new entity after their separation.

Of course, this is only a headcanon, but it is the best explaination I can come up with to keep the Nightmare Forces and Luna being the only responsible for her actions (instead of putting the blame on something exterior).

2. Deers controversy

In the show, there are deers who appear to be non sentient. They look like they are being enslaved by the ponies.

In The Root of the Problem (comic main serie, issue 27-28), the story introduce us to a race of sentient deers who lived in the Everfree Forest (they are kinda the elves of Equestria) with their king, Aspen, being the ruler of their civilisation. 

Since the show writers can’t add characters from the comics because it would confuse everyone, we will probably never see King Aspen in the show. Not everyone follows the comics, and not everone follows every comics.

3. Seaponies controversy

See this for more details.

I may be the only one to think about it, but I don’t care.

The Umbrum and the Pony of Shadows

I won’t hide it, King Sombra is my favorite villain of G4.

So much potential and awesome look. I was a little disapointed with his lack of screentime.

So of course I started to have headcanons about him. I learned to not go too far with them because when the canon backstory has to be revealed, it will crush my headcanons. So I waited a little to know more about King Sombra. And I was blessed with FIENDship is Magic issue 1 !

This issue tells us his origin story : he is from a tribe/kind of ponies made of shadow and darkness called the Umbrum/Umbra (I actually don’t know the plural), the shadow ponies. These ponies represent hate and fear, they are the perfect opposite of the Crystal ponies, them representing love and hope. There is a need of balance : day and night, light and darkness, fear and hope, love and hate.

Now, while I was super excited to read the arc Siege of the Crystal Empire (main serie, issue 34-37), I have to admit that despite the good premises, the writing and setting were UNFORTUNATELY lacking of quality. The so called villainous league of second rate antagonists that serves NOTHING to the story, Radiant Hope’s character (the worst Mary-Sue I have ever seen), the part where Cadance (the princess of LOVE, btw) was able to use HATE magic without getting a headache (while when Twilight did it, it was hurting a little) AND IT WAS NEVER TOUCHED UPON IN THE LAST ISSUE !!!! Just like King Sombra’s character in the season 3 premiere, a big disapointement because of the wasted potential...

Despite all that, the issue expands more about the shadow ponies (I’m trying to cope with what I can, ok?). We see their true form: 

Nightmare fuel

We know they attacked the Crystal Empire, leaving nothing but despair until Princess Amore created/found the Crystal Heart (Journal of the Two Sister) : the only weapon/artefact fueled with love and hope, the total opposite of what the Shadow ponies are, full of hate and fear. Since then, the Umbrum are trapped inside a prison, the Crystal Heart needs to be “refilled” with love every year (the purpose of the Crystal Fair) in order to keep the Empire safe and sounds from them.

A lot of stuff happened 1000 years ago, huh ? The Umbrum left nothing but DESPAIR. Keep that in mind, it’s going to be important.

The Umbrum were also mentioned in The Movie Prequel issue 4, they are well known outside of Equestria. I wanted to see this sign so bad in the Movie, because that meant the Umbrum were canon to the show, meaning the comics too. Alas, no such sign in the Movie :(

But that doesn’t explain where they come from, and you’re going to ask : “Okay, but what’s the connection with the Pony of Shadows? Because it is the title of this paragraph.”. I’m coming about it.

I think that the powers of Stygian, aka the Pony of Shadows, and the Umbrum magic ARE THE SAME/COME FROM THE SAME SOURCE.

Think about it. The Umbrum are the shadow ponies, and Stygian became the Pony of Shadows. Except the similar names, something hit me while watching Shadow Play, part 2 (episode 26, season 7) :

Pony of Shadows: [laughing maniacally] Welcome to the Well of Shade! When you turned your backs on me, I discovered this place. The darkness spoke to me of a power beyond any I could imagine, and I listened. The shadow and I became one. Soon, all of the realm will be the same. Then all ponies will feel the despair I did when you cast me out!

What if the Hollow Shades (the town where they are in this episode) was the home of the Umbrum ? They would have just travelled to the Crystal Empire for conquest or something like that (it failed, since they were trapped after they attacked), leaving the Hollow Shades empty. When Stygian was rejected by the Pillars, he was full of resentment : he tried to do something good but the Pillars thought he was just being jealous of their powers/status. So somehow, Stygian found the Well of Shade, and well, his quote says it all. It is possible that the place still had a few of the Umbrum magic and he was so resentful and full of hate for his former friends that he was able to channel the shadow ponies’ magic. It is even possible that the Umbrum looked more like Stygian in shadow form, and their famelic looking faces are just side effect of a curse/their fight against Princess Amore and the magic of the Crystal ponies. 

So if we consider the comics as canon, many things can be connected and explained more in detail than the show wants to tell us. The lore just got bigger and deeper.

And it would be a shame to just stick to one media just because it could crush your own fantasies. If you don’t have the time, it’s okay: if one day you are bored, I recommand to read the comics : it’s worth it.

I spend my whole night writing this thing.

[peeterparkr]

Promises. pt. 1 p.p.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED INFINITY WAR DON’T READ THIS

GO AND WATCH THE MOVIE

AND THEN READ THIS

I’VE WARNED YOU

part 1/ part 2 / part 3/  part 4

anon asked: I’m still sobbing after IW, are you taking requests? Would you write a Stark!reader x Peter in which she goes up with them (tony and peter) to space?

pairing: stark!reader x Peter Parker

word count: 4.2k

warnings: it’s INFINITY WAR SO SPOILERS, AND OKAY THIS WILL BE SAD, swearing, this is short but I need to process everything and this will be  series because I’m still deciding where exactly I will try to go with this, oh and it turned out to be shit so sorry. 

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tags: @spidergirlwanab @dracxnic-archangel @purepeterparker @dorisagent101 @hollandharrison @peters-vlogs @daughter-of-the-fandoms @fame-works-quicker  @starsholland

 If you looked ‘Stubborn’ up, the first thing that’d appear would be your picture. Your father said it was your middle name. Y/N Stubborn Stark. It had a ring to it.

But it wasn’t like you were the only one carrying that name, for you knew you had got your name singlehandedly from him, you would even erase his actual name just to make the perfect acronym for him: Anthony Stubborn Stark, better known to you as ASS.

You loved your father, though. Even if you had kept secrets from him, you wouldn’t doubt twice to save up his ass. It had come to you that whenever he was proud of you, it had rather become a rather pleasant outcome.

When you looked up to the sky from the compound, you knew your father would be near the rounded cosmic flying spaceship, it was landing in New York. Sure, Tony Stark had to be there. It wasn’t unknown to you that whenever problems were fired: your father would be up there, fighting chaos. Sometimes he was the chaos.

So as you saw the circle getting closer to the ground, a part of you wanted to fight down, finally prove your father you were as capable as he was to fight. You wouldn’t understand why he wouldn’t let you fight, after all, you had grown up with some of the Avengers and you had learned some technique by yourself. You were young, passionate and just as smart as he was, even smarter, you’d say.

“You are a teenager,” he would answer. So was Peter and Peter had a suit. Peter Parker. Your relationship with Parker had become an envious love-hate snapping from both of you. Unintentionally peeking with a bit of flirty, quirky and mellow encounters. A bit of tease, a bit of a flirt, and just, overall a dancing rollercoaster.

You were friends, friends who sometimes couldn’t stand each other, and friends who sometimes crossed a few lines. Yeah, you had a crush on him, and sometimes the teasing between each other led to an ‘almost kissing’ situation, but it would always end up in a roasting each other contest.

However, Peter faced the same struggle as you did every day, trying to convince your father that you were both more than he thought of you both.

Tony Stark gave you your own merit, and when it had come to the new nanotechnology he was developing,  you had helped him up building the new suits, deep inside you knew Tony knew about the features you had included for yourself. Tony was aware he couldn’t stop your eager excitement and your love for adventure and science, so as the years went by he turned a blind eye to make sure you had your fun.  

Even though your stomach was fighting to stay inside yourself, you toned it down, knowing that this was your chance to prove yourself, to finally convince your father you could be the one to help him. The opportunity had puffed, and you were bound to believe the audacity beneath wouldn’t fail you.

You snuck into his lab, and found the other nanosuit, you knew you’d be taking risks, but something about this didn’t feel right, a part of you knew you could lose him, and certainly, you didn’t want to be the one to blame if anything happened to your father. It was a sentiment you couldn’t fight off.

You suited up, as you flew your way to New York, adrenaline busting you up. Catastrophes had their own way to swallow you down, making every inch of you radiate with energy. But this time, you were scared, because as you were approaching, the air didn’t seem like another fight that someone could easily brush away.

“Hey, Friday, call Peter Parker,” you implored as you were approaching the city.

“Hey, aah, Hey y/n!” He answered as you heard him struggle, as you realized that he probably was already there. But you saw the flying spaceship going back into air.“I’m kinda busy right now…”

“You near the flying donut?” You asked him and he kept yelling. “Peter.”

“Yeee-yes, y/n, this is way-”

“Hey, I’m on my way, any heads up?” You asked.

“What in this world do you mean you’re in your way?” You heard your father’s voice as you whispered some cuss words.

“Mr. Stark… I’m… I’m going up, I could use a little help” Peter Parker was saying, and you felt your whole body tense up, shuddering.

“I meant I’m on my way,” you snapped. “Peter, what do you need-”

“Y/N! Go home,” Your dad ordered and you were cussing, trying to fly higher. He ordered to release something, but you weren’t truly listening as you were busting higher and higher, closer to the spaceship.

“Miss Stark your father has ordered me to send you home,” Friday answered.

“Ignore that, we’re closer to the spaceship than to the ground anyway,” you ordered and you watched how another suit was flying by. It was your father. You weren’t sure why you were following up the spaceship, but Tony was following so you thought you’d follow his path. A thing which wasn’t as smart, after you gave it a second thought.

“Y/N!” You heard Peter whisper.

“Peter?”

“Y/N get your ass back home!” Tony ordered and you were both flying to the circled spaceship. You focused and saw the red and blue glued to the center.

“Friday. Is that-?” you asked and the AI confirmed it. “Peter, don’t tell me you’re up there,” you begged, as you were seeing your father flying after the spaceship.

“He is, and he is running out of air,” the AI added as the suit was dragging you down. “Your dad ordered me to send you home.”  

“Friday, I want you to erase all of my father’s orders and send me up there or else we’re losing them both,” You ordered Friday as the suit powered up, and you saw Peter Parker, gripping for his life. “This is code red.” Friday got you and impulsed the suit higher.

“I’m...I’m running out of air,” Peter’s voice came like daggers to you, you weren’t aware of what was happening. Until it hit you, you were flying into space. This wasn’t how you had figured out you’d prove yourself. A capsule of sorts flew beside you, you managed to catch Peter as he had let go of the spaceship. You were seeing a knocked out Peter on your hands, but the capsule that had followed you up released and took Peter out of your grasp, and suited him up with the Iron Spider armor you and your father had designed for him. You suddenly felt a relief cover you up, as you landed beside Peter. He glanced at you and realized your suit was smaller, and with more golden assets than your father.

“This smells like a new car,” he said, still taking a glance at his own new suit. “Y/N, is that you?”

You besieged him and wrapped your arms around him, thanking every possible deity you could think of to keep him safe. He hugged you back.

“You could’ve died, asshole,” you said and he held you tighter.

“Okay, you could’ve both died so go home, now, Friday send them both lovebirds home,” Tony answered and both you and Peter were dragged back into the earth as a parachute opened up from Peter’s suit to bring you to the ground.

“Oh c’mon!” Peter complained as you gripped tighter to him.

“Cut the connection with my father, Friday,” you ordered and as you burned the parachute off, and flew back to the spaceship.

“You’re an idiot, Parker,” you said as you glanced at him.

“I missed you too, Stark,” he said as you both climbed up around the spaceship. “Thanks for -um, catching me.”

“I should’ve let you fall,” you joked and he didn’t answer straight away, so you felt guilt running through your veins. “Are you okay?” you asked him, concerned.

“We’re both headed to space and I stopped breathing for a bit, but yes, I’m okay,” he answered and cleared his throat. “What about you?”

“I’m fine,I really thought I could’ve lost you,” you said. “So, what’s up?” You asked him. “Illustrate me in all of this shit.”

“Okay, so, this hit up New York, Bruce Banner is back, there were two guys fighting us, we got rid of one, but the other one, he looked like Voldemort, managed to fly away with this wizard.”

“Wizard,” you repeated his word. “Wizard?”

“Yes, he’s got this cool cloak and he’s protecting this stone of sorts”

“So, we’re basically reviving the Harry Potter franchise, great,” you said as you were both looking for a door, and entered into the spaceship as quiet as possible, you both took a glance as you saw your father. “I have a bad feeling about this,” you said.

“That’s Star Wars, idiot, not Harry Potter but okay,” Peter teased and you could sense his smirk from down his mask.

“I’m not quoting anything, I actually-” You were interrupted.

“Mr. Stark is receiving a call from Ms. Potts, want me to connect you, too?” Friday asked.

“Oh, no, no, I’m already going to be grounded in my entire life for being up here,” you gushed.

“So, did you come up here to save me?” Peter asked teasingly.

“To save up the world, actually, dumbass,” you chided.

“You were scared of losing me,” he mocked with pride, and you took off your mask just so he could see you glaring at him, he just stared back.

“Okay, I feel stupid, I just winked at you, but the mask…” he cleared his throat and a small smile spread across your face as your own mask came back on, and you entered deeper into the spaceship, stopping as you saw the supposed wizard being held up in the air with what you thought it was needles surrounding him and pointing it up, as the Voldemort-faced alien was trying to get information out of him. “That’s Voldemort?” you asked Peter as he nodded, sticking to the ceiling. “What does he want this stone for?” You asked.

“I don’t know,” Peter answered. “Look, I really think your dad needs to know we’re here so he doesn’t blow this up,” confided Peter

“Miss, I’m losing my connect-” Friday shut down and you felt your shuddering body tell you this was way worse than you thought. Somehow this battle hadn’t even started but you felt like you were losing already. You got closer to Tony, as you watched as the iron man was looking up from another floor the wizard and as the red cape touched his shoulder. He pointed his hand at the cape.

“You’re really loyal, huh” Tony said.

“you first,” you demanded Peter in a whisper and he shot a web and slid down over to Tony.

“Speaking about loyalty, Mr. Stark,” he said.

Tony scowled, as he watched Peter take off his mask.

“I told you to go home,” Tony retorted.

“Yeah, dad about that,” you chipped in, your father watched as you took as well your mask.

“What in the world are you doing here, Y/N?” His voice indicated more fear than anger.

“Look, I just… being honest, Peter’s parachute got tangled up with this, and well, we were already here, and I don’t want you to face this alone.”

“Y/N, why would you do this? This is a one-way ticket, and I can't believe you stole a suit and risked your effing life for this.”

“You’re risking it too,” you complained. “I’m sorry but I can’t afford to lose you.”

“No, y/n, you’re being irrational-”

“You really think I didn’t give it a second thought?” You argued back, as Peter watched you both.“I’m here and I’ll do anything to impede any of you two dying,” your words were clear, and strong.

“And if you’re the one to die?” Tony scowled.

“I’m pretty sure neither of you would let me,” you snapped and Tony blinked, defeated.

“You had one job Parker,” Tony looked at him. “Stay close to the ground.”

“I’m sorry Mr. Stark but I can’t be friendly neighborhood Spiderman if there isn’t any neighborhood.”

That hit you right, but Tony scowled watching him.

“Look, I don’t know what I’m saying, and that made no sense, but y/n and I  really know what we’re doing, you got that.”

“No, you don’t, you’re two teenagers.”

“And you’re most likely suffering from senile dementia,” you snapped. And Tony, sighed, defeated.

“Well, if we’re doing this, then, any ideas?” You three stepped in front, kneeling down to see the wizard, and the alien.

“Let’s kill his Horcruxes,” you whispered to Peter, and he snorted back a laugh. Tony glared at you. “Sorry, I know, no times for jokes.”

“Okay, have you guys seen this really old movie-” Peter started and you got his idea right away.

“Alien,” you and Peter said at the unison and he smiled at you, nodding. Tony scowled and sighed.

“I can’t believe I’ll be stuck in space with two teenagers,” he muttered under his breath. You watched as the living cloak was standing between you all.

“Y/N Stark,” you offered your hand and the cloak rose aside to shake your hand and you smiled at. Peter tried copying your introducing moment but failed completely as the cape was quick to fly away from him.

“Okay,”  Peter sighed, and you chuckled patting him on the back.

You wrapped up the plan, and before you could count on it, you flew down.

“I think you should let him go, Voldemort,” You said as the alien turned around to see you.

“You’re not…”

“Oh, I know,” you laughed.

“You can’t save up your friend,” the alien’s words were like venom. Tony flew his way over to you, as you were both pointing your hand at him.

“Being honest, I don’t even know him,” you answered.

“And he’s not my friend, this is more like doing the political and correct thing, you know a kind of courtesy,” Tony followed you up.

“Even if there’s two of you, your suits won’t be able to defeat my power,” the alien smirked as he rose his right hand, ready to attack you both.

“Good thing we’re film nerds,” you said as you blasted a hole open the side-wall, as the alien was dislodged through it, but the Wizard was also pulled, so Peter was quick to shoot a web at him, and try to stop him from going into space. Peter was hanging from a web, and you saw how he was dragged into the hole. Your heart stops, but the suit is quick to pull up the mechanical arms, to help Peter.

“Damn, what are those?” he yelled and you were quick to fly down and help him with the Wizard as your father closed the gap in the spaceship. You both landed on the floor, leaving the Wizard to walk. Both Peter and you stayed behind.

“Who are you?” the wizard complained with a frown, as both you and Peter.

Your head showed and you watched the guy.

“Y/N Stark,” The wizard called you before you could even say it.

“I’m Peter by the way,” he walked up offering a hand, which was rejected by the wizard as he glared at him.

“Doctor Strange,” the wizard answered and you frowned.

“Oh, we’re using our made up names, then… I’m Spider-Man,” Peter puffed up his chest.

“What in this world are you doing here?” Doctor Strange glared at Tony. “You brought two teenagers? That was your plan.”

“We just saved you, you could say thank you,” you pointed out.

“You know, you should’ve disappeared when I told you to,” Tony crossed his arms. “Bet you’re regretting that now.”

The Doctor didn’t answer. “You can bring us down to earth, then?” He asked.

Now, it was your father’s time not to answer.

“No, this guy, Thanos, he’s been in my head for 6 years, ever since New York I’ve been thinking about him, he’s the one to send Loki, and I’m sorry, but there’s another infinity stone right there, and I’m sure, I prefer bringing the fight to him rather than have him destroy earth.”

You and Peter glanced at each other unsure of what was going on.

“You prefer risking your daughter,” Doctor Strange said, and Peter snuggled closer to you. “So you say you want to bring the battle to him?”

You felt cold. Thanos, you didn’t know anything about that name, but it felt like bad news.

“I say, let’s stop him before he comes to the world,” Tony said. “I’m not risking her, I know she can take care of herself.”

“Okay, so she’s your daughter,” Strange pointed at you. “And he is your… protege? Or are you his mentor?”

“No,” Peter scowled.

“Ah, so the young Stark brings her boyfriend,” Strange concluded and both Peter, Tony and you were quick to correct him.

“THEY ARE NOT DATING.”

“HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND.”

“I THINK WE ARE NOT EVEN FRIENDS.”

Strange rolled his eyes but then turned to Tony.

“I just want you to know, Stark, when it comes to the kid, your daughter, you or the stone, I won’t hesitate on saving the stone.”

The three of you stayed quiet.

“So we’re just… going into space?” You addled as you watched Tony walking over to Peter.

He patted him in on both shoulders, as a knight.

“Kid, you’re an Avenger now,” Tony said as Peter’s face lit up and smiled, he turned to you proud of himself and you stepped up to your father. You cleared your throat.

Tony raised an eyebrow at you.

“Oh, yeah,” he walked over to you, placing his hand on your shoulder and you closed your eyes smiling, you had waited all your life for this. “You’re grounded,” Tony said as he walked away.

You scowled and threw your hands up in the air, as Peter burst out laughing. You glared at him and hit him on his shoulder. He smirked as you were taking off the armor, slowly disappearing. He watched you impressed.

“That’s an amazing armor, too bad you’re not an Avenger,” he teased as you crossed your arms and walked away, watching the space. “Oh c’mon, don’t be mad.”

You weren’t mad, you were afraid and disappointed. You were terrified, and excited. You were confused and zoning out.

Tony and Strange were backing up, discussing something. Fear was read across your father’s face and you knew it was partly because you were here, but it definitely had everything else with that Thanos guy.

“Y/N,” Peter said standing next to you.

“Peter,” you frowned as you watched him.

“We are in space,” he stated as he looked out. It looked so beautiful, and so unexpectedly scary. The stars were amazing, everything that you had dreamed of. You nodded as you watched it.

“It’s beautiful,” you said as it was taking your breath away, Peter smiled and he turned to you.

“You know what else is beautiful?” He asked and you felt your stomach shrink, and your skin to flutter.

“What?” You asked him, not sure if you were ready to take a step up with Peter.

“Being an official Avenger,” he smirked as he laughed jumping off. You scowled and pushed him away. “Oh,” he wiped off a fake tear. “This is going to be fun.”

“Aren’t you scared?” you asked, turning to him, stepping over so you’d be inches apart. He gulped and looked down at you.

“No… this is fun,” he babbled. “I mean, we can do this, right?”

“I guess we can, but, we’re stuck in this flying donut with a stranger, whose name is actually Strange, my dad has that look and I’m not sure, we don’t even know what stone they’re talking about.”

“I think we should go ask,” you said and turned around.

“Hey, y/n, wait,” he took you by your arm and you looked up at Peter. “I know that we haven’t been on the best of terms lately, but, really, thank you for catching me.”

“Anytime,” you smiled, as you both made your way to Tony and Strange. “So who will we fight?”

“His name is Thanos,” Strange started watching you. “He is looking for the 6 infinity stones, he already has 2 of them, or that’s what we know, .”

“Infinity stones,” you raised an eyebrow.

“There are 6 of them, the power stone, the reality stone, the mind stone, the space stone, the soul stone and the time stone,” The doctor said pointing at his chest. “If he gets his hand on all of them, he will destroy half the universe. Already having two makes him the most powerful being in the galaxy.”

“And we are going to just go and fight him? Basically, hand him this stone?” You scowled. “Why don’t we just destroy it before he can even touch it? You know, let’s just toss it in space, or blow it up!”

Tony nodded and the Doctor rolled his eyes. “You can’t deny family.”

“But why? I mean, she’s right,” Peter intruded.

“We swore to protect it,” Strange hissed with venom and you and Peter scowled.

“Where are the other stones?” you asked.

“Vision has the mind stone,” your father exhorted. “I guess Banner will take care of that one.”

“Which ones does he have?” asked Peter as he reached over for your arm.

“Space and power stone,” Strange answered. Or maybe he could have more. Your hand reached for Peter and you squeezed him. His hand was as cold as yours as if you were just getting the whole scenario and fear was taking control of you.

“What’s the plan?” your voice came out deeper than expected.

“Now, can we just… the adults are talking here, please,” Tony said.

“But dad-”

“Yeah, I don’t want to speak to you right now, please, go and kiss Parker or whatever you guys do,” Tony said. “I need to figure out a way in which we can defeat him.”

You didn’t answer and felt how your blood was burning up in rage. You knew your father was angered at you, but not talking to you even when you were about to face probably the scariest and most dangerous thing that you could face was a risk you weren’t willing to take.

You were about to snap at him, but Peter placed his arms around you and pulled you away. Taking you back to the window like surface.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” he marveled.

“Peter,” you glanced up at him. “Promise me something.”

He glanced down at you.

“We will live, for each other, at least,” you strained.

“I promise.”

“Peter, you don’t understand,” you said. 

“No, I do.” 

“No, Peter, I really mean it, I… I really don’t know where we are going, and I’m stuck here with you.”

He chuckled and looked down. “I guess I am scared too.”

“We can’t let my father die, either,” you said. “I can’t lose him.”

He hugged you, tightly, and for the first time in your life, his hug wasn’t teasing it wasn’t anything near from your other hugs, it was a knowing hug.

“You won’t, I promise,” he assured you. But you knew Peter didn’t mean his promise, because there were certain promises you couldn’t take if you weren’t able to make them. This was one of them. “But promise me something then.”

You looked up letting him go.

“I won’t lose you either.”

You didn’t want to answer, you didn’t want promises you couldn’t keep. And you knew, that when it came to save Peter or your father, you had to take risks.

“Y/N, promise me,” he placed his hands on your shoulders and looked at you straight in the eye.

“I promise, Parker,” you alleged. “You worry about me?” You tried to tone down the conversation with a smirk.

“Oh, please, don’t,” he blushed as he looked away, letting you go. “I just want you alive so I can kill you myself.”

“Sounds like a plan,” you smirked.

“And we both know you worry more about me,” he asserted, as you laughed sarcastically.

“Please Parker, I couldn’t care less about you,” you snorted and he threw his head back with a sneaky grin.

He cleared his throat.

“Promise me we will live for each other,” he mocked you, pitching his voice higher. “I won’t lose you, either.”

“Come on, my voice doesn’t sound like that, my voice is even deeper than yours.”

“Is not!” He objected.

“You know, never mind, I want an alien to eat you up,” you joked, denying every feeling of fear that had you powering up.