#now they’re trying to conquer our fandom space

[deswhomst]

As a non-American person, I did partake in some jokes about the metric system when the ban was active but that was genuinely the extent of it and I was happy when the app came back for everyone in the US. I am sorry if a joke like that was hurtful too, though I really meant no disrespect. Moving on, the point of this post is to address the hate towards American fan-fiction writers in the Marauders fandom.

I was baffled when I heard that people went as far as naming fics to hate on just because they did not incorporate British slang. I did not see this content on my for you page at the time but I’ve been seeing people talk about it for the past few days and it’s so upsetting because the sense of entitlement is insane? At this point, it’s not even fandom etiquette as much as it’s about being a decent human being. Hating on someone who is creating free art and letting you enjoy it is so weird.

I am not British, either. English is not my first language. I learnt it at school but more importantly, I have consumed it through media, which is mostly American and this is true for a lot of people. So what if I say apartment instead of flat? If you can be as fluent in my native language as I am in English, I promise you that I will put more effort into calling you an arsehole instead of an asshole 🎀

[traincat]

I’ve been trying to piece together a few things from your Twitter and Tumblr posts alike and still can’t make heads or tales of things, so would you mind helping out a FF & spideytorch noob? 1) what is currently happening with Johnny in the comics? (I’ve fallen head over heels for this guy, largely all your doing) 2) when’s the last time he and Peter have interacted, canon wise? (And do you think upcoming interactions are likely?) 3) your thoughts on if they’ll have him come out in the near future? (has that ‘biggest change to the fantastic four’ teaser come to pass yet?) Love all your content, thank you!

I'd say no problem but then I started thinking about this current run again and got a headache. But yes, I can do that to save you from reading it, because it is very largely not good.

So I don't think it's unfair to just flat out say the current Fantastic Four run is not very good, largely due to writer Dan Slott's efforts. Slott was previously on Amazing Spider-Man for 10 years, to mixed opinions, but a large portion of Spider-Man fandom, myself included, blames him near singlehandedly for the decline in quality of Spider-Man books over those ten years. I will say, in the interest of fairness, that Slott as a writer has an incredible fondness for the Spider-Man/Human Torch relationship, and that a lot of the recent teamups and interactions between them have been written or co-written by him. So it's all not all negative here. But in general, I personally find Slott's more recent comics (the last seven-ish years especially) to be badly plotted out, messily characterized disasters that feature characters written with all the emotion of a cardboard cutout. That's me putting it nicely.

To explain this fully, you have to understand the position Fantastic Four comics were in from the years 2015 through 2018, both in the fictional 616 universe and in the real publishing world. Following the 2015 Secret Wars event (great if you want some Johnny angst in the background of your plot), the Fantastic Four were disbanded -- Reed, Sue, and their many biological and found family children were presumed dead but in reality were remaking the multiverse, unable, for a reason that was never clearly defined, to reach home. Ben and Johnny were left on Earth. They had an unspecified falling out, likely due to Reed and Sue's absence, and went their separate ways -- Ben joined the Guardians of the Galaxy and went to space. Johnny was featured on both Inhumans and Avengers books. What's notable about this period is that it's the first time since 1961 that there was no Fantastic Four book being published by Marvel. Now the real world reason behind this is both complicated and extremely petty: Marvel really wanted the Fantastic Four film rights. Marvel denied this explanation at the time, stating that the reason was sales motivated, but it was a thoroughly flimsy excuse and Jonathan Hickman, writer of 2015's Secret Wars and overseer of the current X-Men plot, gave an interview saying the decision was film rights motivated. This decision kept the Fantastic Four books off the shelves for three years, up until the Disney-Fox merger, which secured the X-Men and Fantastic Four rights for Disney's Marvel Studios. Marvel then announced that the Fantastic Four book would be returning. So that's a little bit of background as to the precarious place the Fantastic Four currently occupy in the Marvel universe -- it's worth noting that this year is their 60th anniversary, and Marvel has done very little for it. Compare this to the X-Men, whose film rights Marvel also obtained during the Disney-Fox merger, and whose books are currently dominating the publishing lineup. The Fantastic Four definitely occupy an unpopular position, one Marvel themselves is at least partially responsible for forcing them into.

But to move back into the actual content of the book -- the readjustment period Slott wrote reintroducing the Fantastic Four into the Marvel universe can be described as clumsy, at best. It's never fully explained why Reed, Sue, and the kids couldn't return to Earth, something that was explored in Chip Zdarsky's 2017 Marvel Two-in-One, which featured Ben, Johnny, and Doom on a multiversal roadtrip to try and find their family and which I on the whole recommend, despite it having an awkward ending due to being cut short by Slott's announced Fantastic Four main title.

(Marvel Two-in-One 2017 #4)

Instead, the Fantastic Four return to a Marvel universe a little different than how they left it, with the Baxter Building -- formerly the offices of Parker Industries, the company Doc Ock started in Peter's body during Superior Spider-Man that Peter inherited after his defeat and then lost spectacularly when he trashed his own company to fight nazis (good for him) -- occupied by a different fantastic foursome in a plot that goes nowhere and does nothing. This is somewhat emblematic of the early days of Slott's run -- he introduces ideas that fail to go anywhere, including Johnny's rekindled relationship with his other best friend and former college roommate, Wyatt Wingfoot, who he was seen being very cuddly with in the early issues.

(FF 2018 #1) A small group of Fantastic Four fans have argued for a while that if Marvel was to have Johnny come out, a relationship with Wyatt would feel very natural -- they're already close, with Wyatt being an important Fantastic Four supporting character since the '60s. I have some further analysis here on the conspiracy theory that Johnny and Wyatt were supposed to be in relationship at the beginning of this run but that that plot was, for whatever reason, nixed. I don't know that I entirely believe this theory, for the record -- but I do think the pieces line up remarkably well.

Anyway, that didn't/hasn't yet happened, obviously. Slott instead for the most part put Johnny on the back burner for the beginning of his run, up until the Spyre arc, which I have reason to believe is the main story he pitched that he credits with securing him the Fantastic Four title. The Spyre arc suggests that the Fantastic Four's failed space exploration during which they got their powers wasn't just to beat the commies to the moon, as Lee and Kirby envisioned (simpler days), but to reach a specific planet outside of our galaxy. When the team sets out to conquer this mission, they arrive at the planet, but are quickly captured. The planet, they find out, operates like a soulmate AU -- everyone has a fated person that they are matched to via a gold armband. Reed and Sue are soulmates (and Ben is confined to an underground subterranean with the other monsters, because this is a Fantastic Four comic) while it's discovered! Shocker! That Johnny is actually the soulmate of the one the planet's inhabitants, a winged woman named Sky, with the suggestion that this is both why Johnny's previous relationships have never worked and why he loves space exploration -- he was just trying to get to his Soulmate TM.

(FF 2018 #15) "What's going on here? Where are my clothes?" As you can see, this didn't start off super great, with Johnny being separated from his family, stripped naked, and put in Sky's bed with a soulmate armband slapped on him. Did I mention they're only removable if your soulmate takes it off for you? And that Sky has consistently refused despite Johnny asking her to? Yeah. It's bad. (I think it's important to note Johnny's long history as a victim of assault plays into this narrative, whether or not Slott is personally holding that in mind while writing, which I don't believe he is. cw in the linked post for discussions of sexual assault.) There's an additional issue here in that Slott has a history of problematic writing regarding women of color, featuring characters he's created to act as love interests being oversexualized, infantilized, villainized, or some mix of all three, with two examples of this phenomena being Cindy Moon and Lian Tang, both of whom he introduced in quick succession in Amazing Spider-Man. Slott certainly didn't have to write Sky as manipulative or controlling towards Johnny, but that's what he chose to do, and that factors into the bigger picture of unfortunate themes in his writing.

Sky returns to Earth with the Fantastic Four despite Johnny appearing unenthused about the idea and initially generally reluctant to interact with her. Apparently they went on a few dates after this and kind of made up. I don't know because I stopped reading for about ten issues in there but I feel confident I missed very little. It's hard to talk about the Sky plot without referencing Johnny's previous interactions with a character named Lyja, a Skrull whose relationship to Johnny I have a long breakdown of here. It's doubly hard, because Lyja actually showed back up in Fantastic Four during this plot. Lyja's modus operandi has remained consistent throughout almost all of her appearances, which I guess makes sense, because she literally has no storylines that do not involve her being obsessed with Johnny, and this recent story isn't any different: Lyja shows up, Lyja disguises herself as another woman in Johnny's life to get close to Johnny, Lyja gets caught and claims it was all fine because she did it for love. This time she disguised herself as Sky.

(FF 2018 #32) Not gonna lie, kind of proud of him for this one. That's one of my problems with Slott -- very occasionally, he busts out good moments, only to undermine them with the rest of his narrative.

In the same issue, Alicia Masters, the first woman Lyja impersonated in order to get close to Johnny, uses her supervillain stepfather's radioactive clay to control Lyja's mind and send her back to space, and I do think she utilized girl power when she did this. Johnny, left reeling after Lyja's latest attempts to trick him into a relationship, ends this issue by sleeping with Victorious, Dr. Doom's right hand woman.

I know she pegged him. I know it. This scene was a little controversial in Johnny fandom, because a lot of people viewed it as Johnny cheating on Sky and thought that that action was out of character for Johnny. I'm personally of a little different opinion, which is that regardless of whether or not you view Johnny and Sky in a committed enough relationship that Johnny's tryst would count as infidelity when all Johnny and Sky are bound by are magic plot soulmate bracelets, I think Lyja's involvement changes things significantly when it comes to Johnny's characterization. All of Johnny's "playboy" periods, if we can call them that, coincide directly with Lyja having been in and then left his life again, which I think makes a certain amount of sense -- it's Johnny trying to wrest control back after a situation where he had none. None of this is explicitly canon, I have to note, but sometimes in comics you have to do the work yourself. So I think this is a case of something being accidentally extremely in character that Slott accidentally stumbled into because he had these love triangles in mind, not because he put a lot of thought into it.

Speaking of love triangles! Johnny sleeping with Victorious gets more complicated when Dr. Doom announces his intent to marry Victorious -- not because he has any romantic interest in her (this engagement caused a lot of uproar in Fantastic Four because Victorious had been previously referred to as being like Doom's adopted daughter) but in order to install her as Latverian regent in his absence. I'm not going to lie, I love a political wedding. Victorious, for some reason, thinks Doom will be deeply upset that she slept with some closeted blond twink and the member of the Fantastic Four he views least as an enemy and more as an annoyance. Johnny, who Sky is currently not talking to because she "felt" him sleeping with Victorious through their magic plot soulmate bracelets, also feels nervous about Doom finding out about this, which I guess is slightly more valid. Anyway, for some completely ridiculous reason, Victorious decides the best time to tell Doom about this little indiscretion is when they're standing at the altar, which coincidentally the Fantastic Four are also standing at, because Doom asked Reed to be his best man in a not at all homoerotic little setup involving midnight swordfighting and Reed slipping Doom's emerald ring onto his own finger. Sorry to sidetrack into DoomReed territory here but it's just like. It's just a lot.

(FF 2018 #33) Also, Ben walked the bride down the aisle. :,) Look at his gigantic hand.

Anyway then Doom decides he's going to kill everyone in a completely reasonable and not at all overblown reaction to Johnny and Zora having what was most likely both disappointing for Zora and weepy for Johnny sex. And that brings us up to where Fantastic Four comics left us yesterday -- in answer to your "big change" question, that's most likely coming up in the next issue, so it hasn't come to pass yet.

Having gotten all that out of the way -- the last time Johnny and Peter interacted canon-wise was in the recent Empyre Fallout Fantastic Four, at the end of the Empyre event:

It was cute! Slott does right good interactions between them. This is possibly the Stockholm Syndrome talking. I don't know if more interactions are likely imminent -- the Empyre event was fairly recent. On the other hand, Slott does like writing interactions between them. So I'd give it about a 50/50 shot. I was skimming the letter page in the latest issue and someone wrote in asking if Peter was likely to appear in the pages of Fantastic Four again any time soon, so there is definitely a demand.

As for Johnny coming out -- I don't know. It's not a call I feel comfortable making at this moment, which I guess means I wouldn't bet money on it. I'd like to say yes, especially because I think Slott set up, whether that was his intention or more likely not, several good places in his run where Johnny could have come out. The beginning, when he's implied to be living with Wyatt again and where he and Wyatt are paralleled against Ben and Alicia. Ben's bachelor party, where Johnny laments not finding the right person -- specifically person and not woman -- and where Ben tells him to "be brave, Johnny Storm." And the soulmate planet plot, where I think could have had a very different and much better ending if Johnny had told Sky that she couldn't be his romantic soulmate, because he knows he wants to be with a man. But those are just places that I think would have made good opportunities for a coming out story. Instead, Johnny's been involved (dubiously) with three different women over the space of the last 10 issues, which is more heterosexuality at one time than he's been confronted with in the last 60 years. So my thoughts are still that it's going to happen eventually, but quite possibly not anytime soon.

Hope that helps! And that my incredibly long answer about what's currently going on with Johnny in comics sheds some light on things!

[randomfandomimagine]

Reunion (Cloud Strife x Reader)

Characters: Cloud Strife, Zack Fair, Tifa Lockhart (feat. Jessie, Biggs, Wedge and others)

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII

Tags: Reunions, crossdressing, angst with a happy ending

Warnings: Mentions of death, spoilers for Crisis Core

Word Count: 4k words

Requested by anon: could you do a ficlet with a fem! reader for a Platonic!Cloud? my idea is where the reader was in SOLDIER (disguised as a guy) and when Hojo found out they kicked you out (quite violently). You were really close with Cloud and Zack, but once you were gone they thought they killed you. In other words I just want an angsty sweet reunion when he finds you working for avalanche back at the Seventh Heaven. (Points if you’re close with Tifa too). Thank you! I love your work so much! Ur a blessing ♡ 

A/N: I have never beat the original FFVII and I’m not sure what happens in canon with Cloud’s memories, so I took some artistic liberties to write this. Hope you enjoy!! Please please please give this some love, I worked so hard on it!!

Cloud Strife x Female Reader

_

[ B/N: Boy Name ]

.

Many terrors haunted Cloud. There were too many things he had lost, too many people he missed and too many burdens he carried. However, no matter how much he tried to forget them all or how tangled his mind was, one seemed to stand out: you. He had befriended you during his SOLDIER days, an unlikely friend in a strange place.

He vividly remembered you: the way your eyes twinkled when you spotted him, your shy smile and your gentle expression, the playfulness in your voice when you teased him. He thought of you fondly, one of the few things in his past that weren’t tainted by evil. Even then, you had still turned into a bad memory. Your mere existence made him sad because of your early demise. You had only ever been kind and still your fate was cruel and undeserved. Your only crime had been lying, and even that he wouldn’t blame you for. Others, however, found that sin to be unforgivable and punished you for it. With a sentence of death.

“Cloud?” Tifa called his name, bringing him back to reality. “Still with me?”

“Uh… yeah” He straightened up, surprised upon realizing how crestfallen he had made himself with his own thoughts. “Lead the way”

“I’m excited” His friend smiled, leading him to the Seventh Heaven. “We finally get to meet our new member. Everyone has been so secretive about them”

“Why?” Cloud focused on trying to follow the conversation, even if his thoughts pulled him back to the past.

“They’re Avalanche’s secret weapon”

“Hm…”

Tifa, not really catching his disinterest, continued talking.

“Apparently they have some serious military training”

“Uh-huh…”

Her voice became a dull background noise as his thoughts drifted without remedy. Even if she kept speaking, he had stopped listening.

He had dreamt about you again last night, and his mind betrayed him by dwelling on your memory. Inevitably, he drifted off to past thoughts, to his SOLDIER days when everything seemed exciting. He felt insecure and unworthy, but he was willing to improve. He was prepared to work hard and make his way to 1st Class. Zack was constantly by his side, taking Cloud under his wing. You completed the trio, and he couldn’t help but to think back to when he met you.

A tall boy with dark hair and sky blue eyes stood in the training room, crossing his arms and watching how the new recruits finished their exercise. He noticed how one of them struggled more than the rest and was more than happy to give him a little hand.

“Hey, newbie” He walked over to a specific soldier who just then finished with the squats. “Need some help there?”

You shook your head, completely breathless after the exercise, and leaned back on your butt until you were sitting down. Joining SOLDIER had been your dream for a long time, wanting to become strong enough to be able to help people. You knew it wouldn’t be easy, just didn’t imagine it would be this hard and exhausting.

“Come on” He held his hand out for you to take. “We all need help sometimes”

With a sigh, you took his hand in yours and let him pull you up. Once you were standing on your feet, you leaned your hands on your knees. It was hard to catch your breath. Despite how athletic you were, this was on a whole new level.

When you dared to look up at the boy, you found him showing you a wide friendly grin. Beside him now was a blond guy, with kind blue eyes that went along with his meek expression.

“It’s okay” The blond muttered. “It takes a bit to get used to”

You nodded your head, managing a tired smile in appreciation. The other one observed you in a mixture between amusement and sympathy and patted your back.

“You did well for the first day” He told you. “What’s your name?”

“Uh…. B/N” You carefully watched his reaction, and your heart began racing in anticipation.

“B/N? Nice to meet you” Unaware of your nervousness upon introducing yourself, he offered you his hand. “I’m Zack, this is Cloud”

You shook his hand, and waved with the other one at his blond friend. He timidly reciprocated with a small wave.

“Tell you what, kid” Zack put his arm over your shoulders, and you tensed up. “I’ll keep an eye on you and help you out”

An irrational fear took over you, as it was the first time someone got so close to you. Even if you had managed to push your way into SOLDIER without arising any suspicions over yourself, you were afraid they would know. Your secret was far too important to air it out, and it could get you in trouble. Big trouble.

While you appreciated Zack’s offer, you feared his friendship too much. What if he found out who you really were? How would he react? Would he still be friendly if he knew? Would he give you in to the authorities to have you punished for daring to deceive everyone?

“Don’t overwhelm him….” Cloud bashfully defended you, definitely noticing your awkwardness.

“No worries, Cloudy” Zack brushed it off. “B/N here just needs to get out of his shell”

“We…” The other one added. “We can help you train if you want”

“That would be nice” You replied, purposefully making your voice deeper.

“That’s the spirit!” The dark-haired boy chuckled. “And relax, man, you’re so tense!”

You lowered your shoulders, which were almost up to your ears. Still, even if you were trying to act natural you couldn’t relax, you couldn’t stop being tense. Because what would happen if anyone at SOLDIER realized you were a girl?

-

You nervously tapped your foot against the ground. Although you had joined Avalanche a bit ago and were starting to get used to it, you still got jittery. Even after the mission was over, the nerves still conquered your stomach.

“I swear, Y/N!” Jessie tugged at your hand, making you look at her instead of that far off point that you were staring at without seeing it. “You’re gonna love him!”

“Am I?” You smiled at her, pretending not to be restless still.

That recent mission reminded you too much of SOLDIER. It was ironic that Shinra, the very thing you once were a part of and now were trying to escape, had become what you were fighting against, confronting it head-on. It seemed to haunt you even as you adamantly tried to bring it down. 

To make matters worse, Barret had announced to the group that they were calling their mercenary contact for the next mission. You hadn’t been with them long enough to have met him, because in those couple of days you had barely even grown accustomed to their company. 

Barret didn’t talk to you more than necessary, even if you could tell he was a big softie, especially when you saw him with his daughter Marlene. Biggs and Wedge had been kind and welcoming while still trying to give you some space. Jessie was the most outspoken, and clearly the one more determined to make you feel at home. It painfully reminded you of someone else whose personality was bubbly and extroverted that you had met in the past.

“For sure!” Her very voice snapped you out of your nervous thoughts again. “Cloud is the best, even if he likes to pretend like he’s a tough guy”

You tried not to wince at the mention of his name. How cruel was it that you ran into someone else called Cloud? A part of you had hoped it was the same Cloud you befriended in SOLDIER, but it just wasn’t possible. He must have become a SOLDIER, 1st Class like he wanted to. Who knew? You might even have fought him with Avalanche without realizing, unaware that his spiky blond hair and kind blue eyes were hidden under one of those helmets.

You shook your head. No. It just so happened that there was another Cloud in Midgard. It was too painful to get your hopes up for a sweet reunion… even if you had daydreamed about it countless times. Cloud and Zack had been so important to you… Fondly looking back at them, you hoped they were doing okay.

Zack’s laughter was contagious, and you couldn’t suppress a smile as you triumphantly stood up and towered over Cloud. Pouting a bit, he averted his gaze and didn’t move from the spot, sitting on the ground and leaning an elbow on his propped up knee.

“And the winner is… B/N!” Zack took your arm and lifted it up. “I knew you had it in you, kid”

Cloud still didn’t speak. His cheeks were a deep shade of pink, and you couldn’t tell if it was because of the squats you had beat him at or because of the embarrassment. Maybe both.

“Okay, Zack” You playfully pushed him off you, moving towards Cloud. “Stop torturing him”

“I’m not torturing anyone, he did great” Zack leaned down to pat his friend’s shoulder. “You just did better”

Even if you wouldn’t admit it out loud, a sense of pride bubbled in your chest. Boys were generally stronger than girls, but you had bested one of them after training hard for weeks on end. Still, you felt bad for Cloud and offered him a hand.

“No hard feelings?”

“Sure”

He smiled at you as you pulled him up, wobbling because of all his weight. Zack chuckled as he put his hands on your back to stabilize you.

“Who would have known a skinny guy like you would become such a good SOLDIER?”

The comment might have offended you when you first met him, but you knew Zack meant it as a compliment. After all, you would never forget the day you first met. You had felt helpless and not capable of making it in SOLDIER. You were shorter and smaller, but you didn’t let that stop you. Now you were stronger and resilient, even more so than some of the boys there.

The three of you gasped, startled, when the door to the training room suddenly swung open. In came Sephiroth, Hojo and Lazard, seemingly very angry and determined.

“No…” You uttered, with a nasty feeling in the pit of your stomach. What if…?

No, you had been very careful. It was impossible. You had disguised yourself to the point that not even Cloud and Zack discovered you despite being so close, despite spending so much time together. You had even found a way to avoid Hojo’s tests, knowing he would discover your identity if you got too close. They had no way of finding out… right?

“That’s her” Sephiroth pointed a finger at you, bearing no expression.

“Her?” Zack repeated, taking a step forward. “What’s going on?”

“B/N is an imposter!” Hojo accused, scowling at you. “She is a woman”

“What?” Your friend shook his head at them. “There must be a misunderstanding”

Terrified of what they might do, you took a few steps back. Cloud stood behind you, and you stepped right into him. His hands protectively fell on the small of your back, and when you looked up you found with his gentle blue eyes. They were so expressive. There was confusion in them, but also alarm and concern and fear all at once.

“Get her” Lazard said, and just then two soldiers appeared from behind him.

“No!” You screamed as they approached you. “Please!”

In your panic, you retreated more into Cloud and pressed yourself against his chest. You felt his fingers hold on to the fabric of your shirt.

“No, don’t touch him!” Zack insisted, helplessly watching as the soldiers reached you. “You’re making a mistake!”

You exclaimed as the soldiers reached you and took ahold of you. Cloud didn’t hesitate to hold on to you, tightly grabbing you by the arms.  The four of you struggled, but the soldiers were stronger.

“Stop that!” Zack begged them still, wincing at the sight of you.

Tears streamed down your face, knowing what awaited you if they took you. Now screaming, you were calling anyone for help. Cloud was your last hope as you tightly clung on to him, but they separated you from him.

“No!” He joined Zack in his attempts. “Stop it!”

“Lazard, please! I’m sure B/N isn’t-“ The brunette’s words were suddenly interrupted.

“Then what’s this?” Hojo showed them a picture, and everyone grew silent.

It was you in the photo, without a doubt. Before you cut your hair, before you hid your breasts and took all necessary precautions to pass as a boy. 

The chaos that had erupted in the room suddenly came to a halt, replaced by a heavy awed atmosphere to replace the previously frantic one.

“What…?” Cloud uttered, watching you in astonishment.

“You’re a girl…” Zack said as well, even though is voice was a mixture of sadness and understanding. 

“Don’t just stand there!” Hojo urged the soldiers, who came back to their senses.

“Take her” Lazard insisted when his subordinates turned to him for confirmation.

Shaking from head to toe, you let yourself be grabbed by them. Your mind was racing, frozen with the reminder of your friends faces. They weren’t angry, they didn’t feel betrayed. They were only surprised. You had been too scared to tell them, but now you realized you could have. How could you have doubted them?

“Wait…” Cloud stuttered as tears reached his eyes. “Wait, don’t… don’t hurt her!”

“Sephiroth…” Zack desperately called. “Sephiroth, do something! Don’t let them take her!”

The 1st Class Soldier didn’t say anything. He only turned around as you were dragged away from your friends. Sephiroth glanced down and faced his back to them.

You tensed up when you heard a cry full of rage, followed by Zack throwing himself to them. Cloud made to move, wanting to support his friend, but he was still too taken aback by the situation to act.

Obeying a gesture from Lazard, two more soldiers entered the room and intercepted Zack. He struggled against them, fighting to return by your side and save you.

“Don’t!” You pleaded, letting yourself use your natural voice for the first time in months. “Don’t do this, Zack”

“I don’t care if you’re a boy or a girl, I won’t let them-”

“Let me go” You shook your head, trying to put an end to his endeavor. “Don’t get hurt because of me”

You quickly glanced at Cloud behind him, noticing how his eyes were drowned in tears. He was still frozen in place, prey of an overwhelming shock and uncertainty. The sight made your own tears overflow, staining the track that the old ones left again.

“Take care…” You whispered to him, trying to memorize his face. A last comfort before you met your end.

Cloud parted his lips, but they only shook as no words left them. A tear rolled down his cheek, and it was too painful to keep looking at him. Glancing at Zack, you realized he was now just as heartbroken. He had given up, understood that it was impossible to fight for you.

Accepting your fate, you began moving. You exited the room and heard the door loudly closing behind you. A ruckus broke out inside it as Zack still fought against them. A second person had joined him in his outrage, and you sobbed knowing it was Cloud.

You walked directly behind Sephiroth, who walked beside Hojo and Lazard. As you were taken with them, Sephiroth’s long silver hair and his broad back was etched in your memory. It would be one of the last things you’d see. Just like the voices of your dear friends would be one of the last things you’d hear as they called out for you, by the fake name they knew you by but still begging for your life.

Even if you trusted them, you had been too afraid to completely expose yourself to them. What would have happened if you did? What would have happened if you told them you were a girl? A part of you had always known the answer: they would have protected you. Zack and Cloud cared about you, not because you were a boy or a girl or anything else… they cared about you because they were your friends... because you were their friend.

You hadn’t trusted them with your secret. You had been too afraid to tell them. And know they would have to live with your death.

-

Everything seemed oddly silent, as if the usual sounds had dimmed slightly. There was the murmur of voices inside the bar, but no loudness. Cloud’s boots seemed to echo as his feet moved over the wooden steps that led to the entrance. Even Tifa, who seemed so talkative, had grown quiet. Cloud brushed that feeling off, assuming it had more to do with his thoughtful mood. Everything was normal.

When he came in, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Barret played with Marlene, Biggs and Wedge talked and laughed, and Jessie was high-fiving someone she was talking to.

“Hello!” Tifa cheerfully greeted everyone, gathering their attention.

You looked up to find out who that mysterious merc was. The sun behind him shadowed his slim figure as well as the curvier one that accompanied him. Mildly curious, you kept your gaze glued to them as they walked in. Once the door closed behind them, your eyes grew used to the light and you could see them properly.

The woman was slightly familiar, but you didn’t pay mind to her as she walked behind the bar. It was the man who you were more interested in. When you took a good look at him, your heart skipped a beat.

That merc, that man allegedly called Cloud, walked in without noticing you. His eyes had fallen on you, but there was no recognition in them. Barret was telling the newcomer something, but you didn’t hear.

Surely, your mind was playing tricks on you, and that man looked more like Cloud to you than he actually did. Of course, it wasn’t him. It was an amazing coincidence that on top of the name he also had spiky blond hair, but that was the only similitude with your memory of Cloud. This man before you was cold and rough, nothing like the sweet, meek and shy boy you knew. His eyes were also greener than you remembered. Still, the more you stared at him, the more you realized… it was Cloud. Despite the change in his demeanor, in his eyes, in the way he carried himself, in his entire persona... it was Cloud, the one you knew years ago. The one whose face you had tried to memorize as you resigned yourself to your death.

Destiny was capricious. You had survived and you had escaped. He had too. And now you were together again. You both had followed similar paths.

“Y/N?” Biggs called you, gently shaking your shoulder. “You okay?”

“Yeah, you just got very pale” Wedge’s words seemed to alarm the rest as well.

Everyone turned to you, but you only had eyes for one of them. Your feet moved on their own as you approached Cloud with determination.

“What the hell?” He whispered, frowning as you directly went over to him.

“Cloud” You threw your arms around his neck, feeling too happy and relieved to see him to realize his reaction. “It’s so good to see you!”

“What’s going on?” He spoke up, his voice sounded annoyed as his arms lifted a little trying to avoid touching you. “Do I know you?”

“You…” Slowly pulling away, you stared into his eyes. “You don’t recognize me?”

Cloud hesitated, and so did you. His voice was so… deep, so irritated and so harsh. He really felt nothing like the boy you had known. What had happened? He changed so much…

Your vulnerable expression seemed to snap something in him, because his eyes suddenly grew wide. His mouth fell agape, staring at you as though you were a ghost.

“B/N?” He uttered, recognizing your features despite never having seen you as a girl. Except that one time in that picture, when he thought it would be the last. “You’re alive?”

“B/N, is that really you?” The woman who had walked in with him uttered from behind the bar. It finally clicked why she was so familiar. If that was indeed Cloud, that had to be…

“Tifa!” You ran to each other, colliding in a warm hug accompanied by breathless tearful chuckles.

Despite not being close, you had known Tifa through Cloud and Zack. She had always been kind and friendly and you were so glad to see her, comforted by her familiar face and warm demeanor.

“You look good as a girl” She joked, breaking away to take a good look at you.

“Thanks, I-“ You began to say, but were interrupted by a deep voice.

“B/N” Cloud said, staring at you as though you were the only person in the room. Despite the emotion in his eyes, his expression remained neutral. “That’s not your real name, is it?”

“No…” You whispered, suddenly feeling a lump in your throat. “It’s Y/N”

“Y/N…” He repeated, nodding his head in deep thought.

The temperature of the room seemed to fall drastically. Something in his tone was ice cold. The silence was absolute, only interrupted by the noise coming from the windows, a reminder that life went on outside of the bar.

“Um… you’ll explain everything later” Biggs muttered, standing next to the pinball machine. “Seems like you need a moment alone”

“Yup, leave you guys to it!” Jessie awkwardly said, sinking into the secret room. One by one, all of her friends followed until you were alone with Tifa and Cloud.

“We have a lot of catching up to do” Tifa sweetly smiled, returning behind the bar. “I’ll prepare some drinks”

You and Cloud stood before one another. His eyes never once left you, looking you up and down as though trying to make sure that you were actually there, that you were real and not one of his many dreams.

“Well…” You awkwardly said, needing to break that suffocating silence. “Where’s Zack?”

Cloud suddenly grimaced, groaning and clutching his head. Concerned, you were about to lean in and put a hand on his arm, but ultimately decided not to do it. You still weren’t sure he wasn’t mad at you. After all, you kept an important secret from him. You lied to him and pretended to be someone you were not. All of this was something you didn’t know he could forgive and you were too scared that he would push you away.

“B/N… I mean, Y/N?” Tifa called, and so you glanced at her. She only shook her head.

The air suddenly left your lungs as you understood what that somber gesture meant. A sob got caught in your throat at the realization. You had been lucky enough to reunite with Cloud, but you would never be able to see Zack again.

Turning back to the blond, you wondered the impact this had on him. After all, he and Zack had been very close and when you left, believing you were dead…

“Oh!” You gasped when a force suddenly made you stumble.

Confused, you paused to notice Cloud’s arms wrapped around you. They urgently pressed you against his chest. An invisible weight seemed to be lifted off your chest as you accepted and treasured his embrace with a sigh of relief.

“I’m glad you’re okay…” He whispered, and in his voice you recognized that softer tone you had been used to. The old Cloud seemed to be shining through the cracks as the new fake Cloud fell apart.

He was breathing heavily, squeezing you against him so tightly that he was hurting you. In spite of it all, you didn’t have the heart to complain. You almost couldn’t breathe, but it could have been because you were starting to sob.

“You too” You cried against his shoulder, now bawling your eyes out as you clung on to his shirt and he held you still.

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[bobasheebaby]

Wildflowers- Cordonian Ruby chapter 9

Pairing: Ruby Rys x Beau Larkin; Ellie Larkin (Nana); Olivia Nevrakis

Word count: 1,372

Warnings: mention of dead parents, mention of assassins

Summary: Ruby and Beau get married

A/N: This chapter took it out of me, I seriously need to stop setting myself up to write weddings ‘cause writing them is hell. (My muse thinks them up and then digs her heels in the sand as we try to write it.) Usually I��m done a day or two early and get a head start on next weeks chapter, this week that did not happen so I may have to take a week or two hiatus for me and my muse to bounce back and get back on track.

A/N2: A major thanks @sirbeepsalot for all your graping, prereading, editing, and pushing me. This would not be done without you and some crazy surge of inspiration. I love you boo! Thank you to my snippet reader @loveellamae who screamed appropriately.

Series warnings: character death, blood, surgical procedures done by non medical personnel, may go NSFW in the future. May contain gun violence, knife violence, threats, not sure how dark this will go. By requesting to be tagged you acknowledge you are at least 18 years of age.

Let me know if you want to be added or removed from the taglist.

Disclaimer: I own Ruby, Galen, Lovett, and Beau, I’m borrowing Bastien and Olivia from PB.

Olivia gazed at Ruby, a soft smile on her lips as she took in the young woman before her. Ruby was a vision in the simple white wedding dress and braided bun with delicate blue wildflowers tucked between the twists. Even the cowboy boots that had made Olivia roll her eyes looked absolutely perfect on the young bride.

It was hard to believe that this was the same child that Bastien had rescued twenty-one years prior. Back then she had thought herself weak for fleeing the country, now she knew she had made the correct choice for everyone.

“You look stunning Ruby, as beautiful as your mother on her wedding day.”

“Thanks Mama,” Ruby gave a soft smile, “was she as nervous when she married my father?”

“She didn’t have time to feel nervous, there had been a few attacks, there was one, well two on the day your parents married.

The first one was when we were getting dressed, your mother kicked ass, got dressed and went and married your father. Then in the middle of the reception your mother and I were abducted, we managed to free ourselves from our bonds, but that wasn’t the end of our fight.

Your father came to rescue your mother and together they were a force like no other. They fought back to back and won, then we all went back to the reception.

You have the same fire in you that both your parents had, I can see it in you during every tournament.

You will be victorious in taking down Bradshaw, you and Beau have the same connection your parents had. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that together you shall prevail.”

Ruby nodded, she’d long ago gotten used to her mama knowing exactly what was bothering her without asking. While she was still concerned about the fight to come she knew better than to argue with the woman who raised her.

“Now that we have that out of the way I have a gift for you. I wish I could give you one of your mother’s pieces of jewelry but we couldn’t risk returning to the palace to retrieve them. We didn’t know how long we would have to escape before Bradshaw started to look for you.” Olivia looked at the small box in her hands, “while it’s not your mother’s I did have her favorite earrings replicated for you.” She lifted the lid of the box revealing four small round rubies clustered around a tiny pearl. “Your mother’s were gold and sapphires, I thought these would suit you better. Your father gifted your mother many pearl pieces, so it felt more fitting than gold.”

Ruby looked at the earrings in awe, tears pricking at her eyes, “they’re beautiful Mama, thank you.”

- - -

Ruby gave her appearance one final cursory glance at the sound of a soft knock at the door, “come in.”

“Oh Ruby,” Ellie said with a gentle smile. “You look absolutely beautiful. Beau won’t be able to take his eyes off of you.”

“Thanks Nana,” Ruby blushed at the older woman’s words. “for everything — hosting, allowing us to use your space.”

“Don’t even mention it dear.”

Ruby shook her head; Nana would always welcome anyone into her home and family. What if I fail, never see them again? I’m taking Beau away from them … She turned away as tears welled in her eyes.

“What’s got you down today?”

Ruby quickly wiped at her eyes, thankful for the waterproof mascara. “I just don’t want to fail. I’m taking Beau away and —”

“Hush now, none of that.” Ellie soothed, hands clasping Ruby’s as she pulled her to sit by her side. “First, you are doing no such thing, I knew Beau would be the first to marry since the day he brought you here.

The way he looked at you, and you looked at him, I knew he’d follow you to the ends of the earth.

Second, you won’t fail,” Ellie raised her hand as Ruby went to speak, “you might not succeed in regaining your country, but that doesn’t mean you failed.”

She brushed at her lavender skirt, “take it from an old woman, failing is not even trying, not losing when you’ve done everything in your power to overcome obstacles.

Crown or no crown, your birth parents will be proud of you.”

Ruby gave a grateful smile, “I needed to hear that.”

“I’m sure your mother has already told you the same.”

“She has,” Ruby nodded, “I don’t know it just seems different hearing it from someone else.”

“Oh yes, it’s harder to believe a parent.” Ellie patted her hand. “Now, I think it’s about time for your father to walk you down to my Beau.”

- - -

From the second Bastien walked Ruby down the grassy aisle to Beau time went lightning fast.

As she tried to recall the ceremony she was met with flashes of colorful wildflowers lining the aisle, and tied to the wooden arch. Beau’s vows to her were the only part of the ceremony she could remember; his heartfelt words touching her deeply.

Ruby, I never thought I would meet the love of my life when I was only seventeen. You have always surprised me and kept me on my toes from the moment we met.

You are the perfect mix of sweetness and knock you on your ass. There isn’t one thing about you that I would ever want to change.

You are strong and fierce and love with your whole heart. Anyone who is loved by you knows just how special that is.

You are selfless and kind and take every pain those close to you feel as your own without a second thought. You are amazing and you take my breath away every day.

Who knows exactly what our future will look like, but I know that together we can conquer any adversary we may face.

If there had been any remaining doubt in her mind that Beau felt forced to leave behind the life he knew, his words pushed all uncertainty away.

- - -

Ruby smiled as she finally scanned over the barn turned reception space. She could see small details that showed how hard Mama Jo had worked to blend her and Beau into the wedding in only a month's time. The quickness of the wedding felt natural, after five years together there was no reason to have a long engagement. Mama Jo really does know best.

Twinkle lights in mason jars hung from the rafters, small centerpieces of wildflowers adorned each table, the most surprising touch was the pressed wildflowers on each name card, only her mother and father knew she saved each and every flower Beau gave her in that exact way. She wasn’t usually one to be so sentimental but she couldn’t bear to watch the flowers he brought her wither and wilt, so she took to preserving each one.

She quickly looked away before tears could sting at her eyes. Today was a celebration, the last time she and Beau would be able to see most of their friends and family for the foreseeable future.

She let out a laugh as she spotted Beau dancing like a fool with her younger brothers to a pop song she couldn’t quite place. While Beau and Lovett danced like nobody was watching she noticed that Galen was a little more reserved as always.

She quickly crossed the large barn to the dance ‘floor’, her boots thumping against the wooden floor with each step. “Come on Galen, let loose a little,” she grabbed his hand lifting over her head and giving herself a twirl, “it’s a party.”

“Only for you RuRu.”

Ruby stuck out her tongue, “you don’t get to call me that … but I’ll let it slide just this once.”

“Whatever you say Ru-by.”

Ruby shook her head, allowing herself to get lost in the music she was positive Lovett must have picked. Her sapphire eyes sparkled as she danced around with her brothers and husband.

She watched as her family, both old and new, the people she always had and those she just found enjoyed themselves. She couldn’t help but think, maybe everything would be okay.

Feedback fuels me, please like, comment reblog or send an ask. Feel free to scream, I promise I can take it.

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[masterweaverx]

She-Ra Sequel plot hooks

Well, just finished the last season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Now that was a trip! And, as always, my fanfic senses are tingling--but to respect the spoiler-sensitive followers, I will put my ideas for sequel/continuations below the Read More cutoff. Could be official, could be fandom, whatever.

You get therapy! And you get therapy! And who’s giving the therapy? Why Perfuma, who actually turns out to be really good at it.

Flash to whatever Hordak’s Hordlings were doing in season five, because they couldn’t have all just been serving Horde Prime. Also socialpolitical drama of attempting to incorporate formerly indoctrinated soldiers into etherian society. You know, for kids!

Madam Razz reveals more about just what the heck is up with her and/or She-Ra. Seriously, what’s going on with magic and all that?

It’s actually not going to be that easy for Adora et. all to just say “Okay go team, that was great, we’re going to pack our bags and bounce around space some more!” They’d have to pack their bags and convince people they could and Entraptra would keep sneaking on board Darla...

INTERSTELLAR ROAD TRIP WITH THE BEST FRIEND SQUAD! Every week, a new quirky planet inspired by some obscure eighties toy line!

Horde Prime is gone and the Clone Hive Mind is broken, but the clones are still fanatics across the galaxy with a bunch of powerful ships. So that could be a source of recurring opposition, especially if different groups act in different ways.

Constant flashes to Meanwhile Back On Etheria, where the people are getting up to some serious Shenanigans.

Are we sure Shadow Weaver died? Yes she was burned to a crisp, but she did use that Spell Of Consumption a while back. Maybe whatever dark force she contracted with to get that power now has her soul and she’s a servant in the army of Gloom Hand or whatever.

In which the Best Friend Squad find a group of people in SPAAAACE who need their help, and get heroic together.

On their journies, Glimmer finds *gasp* a way to access subdimensions that are cut off from the universe! Maybe they can find a way to save her mom! And of course Adora’s like ‘yeah let’s do this’ and Catra’s like ‘this is dangerous and stupid’ and Bow is like ‘I have PLOT TECH!’

The group find a planet with such strange names as Larry and Rachel and get weird looks when they introduce themselves as Catra and Glimmer.

Oh no! The Best Friend Squad have found a Planet Without Magic and, try as they might, they don’t know how to bring magic back to it! What will they do this week? How can they possibly achieve their goals of bettering the world without achieving their primary mission?

Plenty of fun awkward ‘oh yeah, we’re dating now’ Catradora and/or Glimmerbow moments. Also serious Catradora talks, that’s Priority.

Speaking of bringing back magic, there’s a new Interstellar Evil guy who wants magic and a space army of their own! Maybe it’s a Horde clone, or maybe it’s some brand new guy, but they don’t overpower our heroes so much as outwit them. Maybe they’re even a group of people?

“She-Ra? Never heard of you. What, you killed Horde Prime? Uh huh, sure, do you have proof? And what does this glowing ‘magic’ prove?”

Speaking of the clones, we’d probably see quite a few Hordaks (who are competent and want to conquer for whatever reason) and not-Hordaks (who are just so lost without their magnificent leader) and how the galaxy deals with them in different ways...

Magicat, show us your moves! Be the adorabloodthirsty team pet we all want you to be! And also be smarter then these twoleggers, please.

Adora keeps up with Etheria through her connection to Swift Wind. But SUDDENLY she can’t talk to Swift Wind anymore, oh no! It’s time for another ‘find yourself to find She-Ra’ quest, and you can just see the exasperation on Adora’s face. “I thought I was done with these!”

Also, a bunch of First One ruins, each one showing more about these enigmatic precursors and their obsession with Crystal Tech.

We discover that there’s more than one ‘She-Ra.’ Sure, there’s the She-Ra of Etheria, but water planet has a Sea-Ra, party planet has a Par-Tai, and planet of angsty backstories has an Edge-Lord. Awakening each world’s magic brings them back, and not all of them are nice.

Wacky cross-cultural kerfluffles with aliens! Also maybe somebody could actually point out that Etheria having so many races is kind of weird?

And of course the big one: Adora finds some reference to Grayskull and chases after it, maybe fending off attacks from some strange enemy, and she eventually discovers the lost First One colony of Eternia with the legendary He-Man (whose name Catra promptly mocks).

[the--sad--hatter]

Name Calling (15)

FANDOM - MARVEL MCU

PAIRING - BUCKY X READER (female reader, no physical descriptions)

WARNINGS - ALL OF THEM, SMUT, VIOLENCE ANGST

DESCRIPTION -  In which the ongoing and bloody war of words between you and Bucky turns in your favor when a disgruntled one night stand of his lets slip a secret when you run into her in the elevator… Now you have all the ammunition you need to destroy your enemy but you don’t plan on killing him quickly. Oh no, Bucky Barnes was going to suffer and you were going to enjoy every second. You just didn’t count on how much you would enjoy it.

MASTERLIST

Chapter Fifteen - Free As A Bird

Bucky woke up groggily, unsure of what was going on. It came back to him in flashes, her fighting him, driving a knife into his shoulder, his hand around her throat and then… His lips pressed against hers, her warm soft body pushed against him. She had drugged him. He had kissed her and she had drugged him.

So she could go after Docherty alone.

He frantically pulled himself to his feet and strode down into the basement. The prisoner was still there, still alive. Why hadn’t she taken him or at least killed him? He ripped the mans gag off and snarled at him.

“Where is she?”

“Where is who Soldat?”

“If you know who I am then you know what I am capable of. You know you will tell me what I need to know.” Bucky said, feeling his expression go cold and blank.

“I can not tell you what I don’t know. Docherty was very careful not to tell anyone exactly where he was.”

“Tell me what you told her.” Bucky demanded flatly.

“I told her what I was instructed to tell her should she ever ask. He knows her well, better than you ever could. He knew she would not risk bringing any of you to him.”

“Tell. Me. What. You. Told. Her.”

“She will find Docherty where he found her.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As soon as Steve answered the phone Bucky spoke.

“She’s gone Steve, she got the drop on me, knocked me out and went after Docherty alone.”

“Shit.”

Steve put the phone on loudspeaker with an apologetic look at Tony.

“Where is she going?” Steve asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Wait where is who going?” Tony asked with an expression that said he clearly knew exactly what they were talking about but was desperately hoping he was wrong.

“She spoke to the prisoner alone, can’t have been for more than a few minutes but it was enough for her to find out where Docherty was. I tried to stop her leaving but she drugged me, when I woke up she was gone.” Bucky admitted.

“What prisoner?” Sam demanded.

“Forgot to mention that part, sorry.” Natasha said.

“Not important. Did he tell you where she’s heading?” Tony demanded frantically.

“No, he...”

“Then make him tell you Barnes, all those years as a Hydra assassin should count for something.” Tony snapped.

“He doesn’t know where she is. He told her she would find Docherty where Docherty found her.”

“What? He didn’t find her, he made her.” Sam remarked quizzicaly.

“When she escaped the first time, he found her. That’s where he is.” Tony said and shot to his feet.

“What?”

“Beg your pardon?”

“The first time?”

“I’m afraid I do not understand.”

“It’s a long, frankly tragic story. Friday do a search for all the churches in a four hundred mile radius of the facility we found her. Look for fires in the church, 12 years ago.” Tony instructed.

“She has a head start on us but she doesn’t know exactly where she’s going, just the general direction.” Tony informed them.

“There’s something else, something the prisoner said to taunt me.” Bucky interjected.

“I know why Docherty went to Hydra, if not why they agreed. He wants to put her in the chair. If they wipe her memories, she’ll be gone. And Vernichtung will be all that’s left.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You trecked through the woods as quickly as you were able, which wasn’t that quickly seeing as you didn’t know exactly where you were going. It was somewhere in this vicinity, you were sure of that. You had to get to the Church, to Docherty before anyone discovered where you were.

They didn’t know Docherty the way you did. Reading reports on him couldn’t make them see the true depths of his depravity and if you could help it, they would never find out just how monstrous he really was.

Going after him alone was a risk and one that could backfire but it was necessary. You couldn’t take them with you into this fight, Bucky especially. Not when Hydra was also involved, not after that kiss. Your fingertips brushed your lips as you remembered it.

It had been your first kiss but you knew deep in your soul that a kiss wasn’t always so passionate, that it had been special. There was always anger and hatred between the two of you, even when he pressed his lips to yours but what you hadn’t ever realised was there was desire running just under the surface of that hatred, fuelling it.

Now you would be lucky if there was even space in Bucky’s heart to hate you. When you had taken that syringe you hadn’t wanted to use it. When you were fighting you had held back, hoping he would let you go or you could break free but then you knew it was your last resort. It had been one of the hardest things you had ever done, jabbing the needle into his thigh. He would never forgive you and you didn’t blame him, but at least he was safe and you were free to do what needed to be done.

The tree’s around you grew more and more familiar and you stopped, looking around. This place was burned into your memory, even the smell of the woods was triggering. It had been over a decade but the things that had happened in these woods had left a mark on your soul. You turned and walked in the right direction as your mind wandered back to the journey that had led you here.  

The buzzing from the electricity running through the bars of your cell had been your companion in this lonely room for as long as you could remember so the absence of the sound was immediately noticeable.  Your ears prickled as you listened intently for the curiously missing noise. The guards in the corridors were talking about something called ‘The Big Game’ and seemed unaware something was wrong.

Carefully so as not to alert the camera’s you stretched your leg out and hesitantly let your toe brush against to bars. Nothing. Adrenaline flooded through you. No electricity meant you could possibly try and break the door and make an escape. But you would have to be fast. If you were fast you could make it out before the guards had time to gather and stop you.

You counted to three under your breath and leapt into action. You grabbed the bars on the door and pulled with every ounce of strength you possessed. You felt like you were going to tear your arms from your sockets but you didn’t relent and your efforts paid off when the door gave way. You didn’t waste a second and ran, and kept running. You made your way through the facility without any hindrance until the main door.

There were six people there, all armed. They fired on sight, aiming for your limbs to incapacitate you but freedom was so close and you couldn’t stop now. You ignored the sharp sting of the bullets and ran, not for the door but the window. You didn’t slow down as you hurtled towards it and you ran through it with an almighty crash, landing on the broken glass outside.

There was air here, cool air. It was fresh and moving and blissful. A bubble of disbelieving laughter broke from your lips as a deafening klaxon sounded. You kept moving, heading for the trees. You didn’t take the time to marvel at them and pushed yourself forwards, away from that hell.

You ran, and ran, and ran. You pushed yourself harder than you thought possible, until the sounds of the pursuing guards was too far behind you to hear and then you kept running. You ran all through the day and through the night, even as you were awed by the sight of the moon that for the first time wasn’t hindered by a dirty pane of glass. It was well into the next day, when you had been slowed to a crawl that you finally stopped. Well, you collapsed.

You lay on the floor of the forest surrounding you, broken, bleeding, shot and exhausted but you had never been happier. You were free.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Friday had located the church and they all piled onto the jet. As soon as they were in the air Steve turned to Tony.

“Why didn’t you tell us she’d escaped once before?” Steve asked him.

“It wasn’t pertinent information.”

“It’s pertinent now, what else is in her files that you ‘redacted’?” Steve pressed.

“Do I know your whole life story? Or Nat’s? Hell for years we didn’t know Barton had a secret family and a farm.”

“That’s the point of a ‘secret’ family Stark, nobody was supposed to know.” Clint pointed out.

“Her whole life is documented in those files. I figured she deserved some privacy. If she wanted anyone to know then it should have been her choice.” Tony said.

“I believe it was a noble idea, however Miss Stark is not a normal young woman.” Vision said diplomatically.

“She deserves the chance to try and be one though Vis.” Wanda argued.

“Yes, exactly, thank you.” Tony said.

“Nobody is arguing that she doesn’t deserve privacy or normalcy, we’re asking if there’s anything else you haven’t told us that might be important.” Steve cut in.

“Captain, I have the UN on the line. You might want to take this.” Friday informed them.

Steve took the call with a stony expression. He hung up after a few short minutes.

“Hydra agents just took over a small town in Canada. They’re holding the townspeople hostage but haven’t made any demands.” He said.

“They are trying to divide and conquer us, split our focus.” Thor summarised.

“I’m going to get my kid.” Tony said without hesitation.

“Tony, maybe you shouldn’t. They’ll be expecting you to go to her.” Steve pointed out.

Tony rounded on him with a furious expression.

“Capsicle if you think I’m going to abandon her...”

“Of course not, but think about it logically. They’ll know we have to split up. Docherty will be expecting you to go to him, he won’t expect you to go to Canada.” Natasha reasoned.

“Good, because I’m not going to Canada. I’m going to go and annihilate him for everything he did to her. Besides, you’ll need the jet now. I can fly from here.”

“As can I my friend, allow me to go in your stead. You have my word I will keep your kin safe and deliver the villain to you so you may extract your revenge.” Thor offered.

“They won’t be expecting Thor, and Bucky is already en route. He’s not that far behind her.” Steve tried to convince Tony.

Tony had never had to make such a difficult decision.

“If Docherty is expecting you then he must be prepared for you. Perhaps your daughters best chance to win this fight isn’t with you by her side.” Vision reasoned.

Tony had an ego, that was common knowledge. What the team understood though, was that Tony would easily set it aside for someone he cared about.

“Fine, Thunderbuddy go get my kid. And tell her she’s grounded.” He conceded.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Church was close by, you could feel it. You slowed down as you drew nearer, you knew there would be some kind of trap and you couldn’t go rushing into it. You looked around carefully and despite all the pain that lay here for you, in the past and in the future you smiled. There was a bird in the tree above you and you watched as it spread it’s wings and flew away. Free.

“Eat your oatmeal child.” Sister Berta scolded you.

You ducked your head and did as she asked. The nuns had found you in the woods three months ago, bleeding out and carried you back to the small church deep in the heart of the forest. You had been frantic when you awoke, terrified you had been found but they had been calm and kind. They told you to leave if you wanted but urged you to stay until you were better.

You didn’t speak to them, you didn’t know what to say. They didn’t seem to mind, just went about their business and occasionally checked on you. You would pounce from rafter to rafter on the ceiling and watch as they knelt at the large wooden cross and talked to the man on it. They said it was called praying, that he was their lord and saviour. They asked you to join them sometimes and you did, even if you didn’t understand. They gave you The Bible and you dutifully read through it, not sure what it all meant.

They were nothing like the people where you had come from, they didn’t want to hurt you or make you hurt anyone else. They seemed perfectly content to let you be, sometimes looking at you in wonder when you leapt a tall tree or carried something heavy for them. You tried to repay their kindness as best you could, taking over as many chores as you were able.

There was one man there, only a few years older than you. He stayed out of your way most of the time, only smiling when he saw you and ‘blessing you’ whenever he could with an amused grin. He always wore a white collar and all the sisters called him Father, even the ones older than him. You didn’t think it so strange, you figured it was what normal must be like.

It was after you ate your oatmeal like Sister Berta had told you that you went outside into the woods, still marvelling that you could do that. A rustling in the brush caught your attention and you carefully crept over to it. There was a bird, tangled up in a vine. You felt The Father watching you from a distance as you carefully reached for it. He was harmless and you let him observe as you made soothing shushing noises to the frantic creature, untangling it from the vine. As soon as it was free it spread it’s wings and shook them, flying away.

You watched it go with a sense of pride, and hopefulness. A few seconds later you learned that freedom was just an illusion. A high pitched ringing noise assaulted your senses and you fell to you knees with a cry. When it finally eased you were surrounded.

Guards all around you were aiming their guns at you. And the sisters. They were standing there, cold impassioned looks on their faces, their own weapons aimed at you.

“Bring her to him.” The Father demanded.

When they grabbed you and dragged you to your feet you didn’t fight back. There was no point.

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The church, once a shining beacon of hope and freedom loomed before you now, a temple of despair. Had Tony found you before you had been to this place perhaps you would have trusted him sooner, instead of being so skittish and making it difficult for him. But that was what Docherty did, he took anything good in the world and broke it. People were playthings to him and humanity meant nothing if they weren’t suffering.

They threw you to the ground behind him, your tormentor, your keeper, your master. He gazed out at the scenic views of the woods with a serene expression.

“I have missed you Vernichtung, the facility has been empty without your screams.”

“Why did you do this?” You whispered brokenly.

“To teach you. Hope is not real, it is only a weapon you can use to destroy someone.”

“Why do you want to break me? Why are you doing this?”

“Because humanity is the greatest mistake ever made. People are vile creatures, a blight upon the earth. The only thing they can do without messing it up is hurt each other. Hurting them is my only goal and you are the weapon I choose. I could use a virus or a plague but that would be easy and not very poetic. You are a fitting choice, a monster with a human face. Just like they are. Only you are so much more destructive.”

“I won’t do it. You can’t make me.”

“Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But I will hurt you in worse ways than this Vernichtung. There is much pain in your future and you will break eventually. Between you and me though, I hope you last a while. I have so many ideas for how to make you suffer.”

And make you suffer he did, and until Tony you never dared to have hope again.

And now the time had come for you to make him suffer, to make him pay. The area was suspiciously devoid of life, silent as a tomb but he had to be here. He had to be.

“Perimeters clear.” Bucky called to you and you whirled around, pulling one of the guns you had taken from the safehouse from it’s holster.

He was standing quite a distance away from you and your breath caught in your chest at the sight of him.

“Seeing as you didn’t even bother to check.” He added as he strode towards you,

His face was devoid of any kind of emotion as he glanced around, his stance alert and prepared.

“Why, How are you here?” You demanded.

“Well after I woke up I phoned Tony. He figured out where you were.”

“Please tell me Tony isn’t here.” You begged.

“Tony isn’t here.”

“Bucky, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t care.”

There was a thud behind you and you turned, gun raised to see Thor.

“The temple and surrounding area appears to be empty.” He told Bucky.

“I am to inform you that you are grounded.” He said turning to you.

You sighed. This wasn’t going well at all.

“So he isn’t here?” Bucky asked.

“Someone is here.” You said.

You could hear them shuffling behind the alter in the Church. Carefully you crept over, rounding the pew with your gun aimed carefully and you frowned. There was a woman curled up on the floor, her head pressed to her knees. She was shaking.

“Who are you?” You asked harshly.

Her head jerked up at the sound of your voice and you gasped. Her eyes were running with blood, her face gaunt and sickly. She looked familiar, eerily so. Her eyes frantically darted around, blood streaming from them.

“He said she’d be here.” She rasped out, her voice sounding wet and you quickly garnered why as she coughed, blood spraying from her lips.

“He said who would be here?” You demanded.

“You need to leave, now.” Bucky said from behind you.

“She can’t, look at her. She’s dying.” You pointed out.

“No. YOU need to leave. I’m sorry but you do.” He said.

“No, it is best she stays for this.” Thor argued softly and you chanced a look behind you to them.

They both looked wrecked as they looked at the woman. Thor tried to approach her but she freaked, shuffling backwards.

“Do you know her?” You asked them.

“Look at her, little one. Really look at her.” Thor urged you.

You did. She was terrified so you took a risk and holstered the gun. You put your hands up and crouched down, slowly inching towards her.

“She’s supposed to be here, he said she was here” The woman frantically muttered.

“Who’s supposed to be here?” you pressed.

Her blood rimmed eyes shot towards yours and it finally clicked. Why she looked so familiar. Her face was the same one you saw in the mirror every day, only older.

“You’re supposed to be dead.” You breathed out in shock.

“He took my baby but he said I’d find her here.!”

“Oh my God. But you’re dead!”

Your mother wasn’t dead, she was in front of you, dying now. You fell forwards, grabbing her. The blood was running from her nose and eyes and you could hear it gathering in her lungs. She had been poisoned and you knew that if there was a cure you would never find it in time but logic had flown out the window the second you realised who she was.

“Help her.” You shakily begged the two men behind you.

Bucky was on his phone, shouting at someone and Thor was looking down at you sadly.

“Your eyes..” She whispered as the last of her strength left her and she fell forward against you.

You gathered her in your arms as you tried to think of something, anything that could save her.

“You have my eyes.” She muttered as her own began to flutter shut.

“No, no stay awake. Mom, it’s me I’m here. I’m here ok. It’s me. Stay. Please. Stay.”

“Please find my baby.” She asked weakly.

“Your name. What’s your name?” You asked desperately.

“Subject 74 – B/F.” She whispered.

And then she was gone. You heard the absence of her heartbeat as the life left her eyes and a cold numbness spread through you as you held your mother in your arms.

Docherty had lied in her records, he had kept her alive all these years so he could kill her now in the cruelest way possible. The message was clear, he still had ways to make you suffer.

You felt cool metal brush against your back and looked up at Bucky.

"She was my mother."

"I know."

"She's dead."

He sunk to his knees and tenderly brushed a tear from your face. You hadn't noticed you were crying.

"I'm so sorry." He said softly.

A sob ripped itself from your chest and you tried to contain it but it was too late. You broke apart as Bucky's arms circled around you.

And so in that little church that had once meant hope and now meant death you wept as Bucky held you.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I really hope you are still enjoying this, if not you can tell me. I’m thick skinned, I’ll understand. 

@nerdandproud-86 @harrison-shot-first@chook007@thejourneyneverendsx @thelostallycat@inquisitor-selvala@the-corruptor @iovher @kendrawr-kitkat@phoenix-whiskey-tears @the–real-wombat @buckitybarnes@fairislesheets@angieptt @meganjonezzzz

@dugan365 @fluffeh-kitty @memanda17@krystallynx@theonelittleone

@piscesbarnes @free-as-fishes@tarastudiesalot@captainamericasbeard

[ckret2]

King Ghidorah?

I got two of these asks lmao. I choose to believe it's two people who wanna know how I feel about Ghidorah rather than tumblr screwing up.

How I feel about this character

Listen, there's nothing cooler than a three-headed lightning*-breathing dragon from outer space. You've got the objectively best mythological creature ever—the dragon, which is the best because it's a lizard and/or snake, and also flies—and, on top of that, it's an ALIEN, and then you triple that. Best character concept. 10/10.

*Gravity beam shmavity beam. I know lightning when I see it.

And then, on top of that, they've got this wildly underexplored capacity for pure, undiluted angst, the likes of which most people would never think of applying to a character concept that seems tailor-made to be airbrushed on the side of a van—but there it is anyway. They might be pets that were deliberately abandoned in order to mutate them into monsters. Or they might be one-time would-be alien conquerors who were then conquered and mind-controlled by every wave of would-be alien conquerors to come since. Or they might just be the only aliens alone on a world where even the monsters have other monsters to hang out with. And there's nothing I love more than taking characters whose entire character concept is an answer to the question "what would be really really cool?" and then slathering them in emotional depth.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I came out of KOTM, looked at what fandom was doing with Ghidorah, went "mmm I'm not sure about this sticking-them-with-Rodan thing," and it took y'all all of five minutes to suck me into Rodorah anyway.

I'm determined to drag more folks into Ghidorah/Gigan with me, they have such wonderful potential to be horrid world-flattening alien sadists together, and also empathize over being extremely physically modified and mind-controlled.

While I'm intrigued, theoretically, by the potential of Godzilla/Ghidorah, I've yet to see anyone do it in a way that hits precisely what I'm looking for. ... Or, for that matter, even vaguely what I'm looking for. So I'll hold onto that one and maybe someday someone will make it Just Right.

I also ship the heads with each other due to the fact that Wouldn't That Be Messed Up. What if one head likes another but the other doesn't return the feelings. They've just gotta live with that knowledge and they can't get away from each other. What if you had a crush on someone and a mad scientist saw it and went "ah, these ones are compatible!" and stitched you together and you were stuck like that for the next million years. That's messed up right. That's super messed up.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

It's on my ship list, but Ghidorah & Gigan is also my top platonic pair for Ghidorah, for the same reasons.

But going with someone who isn't on the list! Okay quick partial movie summary for those of y'all that haven't seen 1991 Godzilla vs King Ghidorah: in Heisei, King Ghidorah is made by time-traveling humans from the future, including one named Emmy Kano who explains that dorats are genetically engineered pets with empathic abilities, and interacts with them the most before abandoning them in the past to be nuked into King Ghidorah. They fight Godzilla, Godzilla rips off Ichi and kills them, Emmy goes into the future to get their corpse a cyborg resurrection with a new middle head, and goes back to the past with Mecha King Ghidorah while serving as Mecha Ichi's pilot and commanding them as a whole. They die again defeating Godzilla but Emmy survives and goes home.

ALL THAT TO SAY: it's never stated, but I like to headcanon that the dorats were Emmy's pets—or at least that she was in charge of taking care of them until they could be mutated and they FELT like they were her pets; that they were broken-hearted when she abandoned them in the past; that they could sense Emmy nearby due to their Unexplained Empath Powers the first time they fought Godzilla; and that when they were brought back from the dead to find Their Owner Was Back and fighting alongside them they were overjoyed to see her again and do anything she wanted.

So, Emmy & Ghidorah, because the idea of these sweet tiny pets being turned into a big terrifying monster but at heart remaining sweet tiny pets around their owner enchants me. I do plan on writing a substitute-Emmy into my KOTM Ghidorah's backstory.

My unpopular opinion about this character

"hey didn't you sorta talk about this yesterday" yeah because while trying to answer this question i got distracted by an overlapping topic and had to go make a post about it in order to stop thinking about it

This is sort of an overall one about KOTM, but vaguely sticking to the parts of it applicable to Ghidorah:

So we've got all these titans that have been alive for like, five minutes. Ghidorah's been awake probably a sum total of four hours. Until now nobody even knew that he was from a different planet, so I mean, Monarch's got less than zero information on him. The only three things he's been observed doing so far are 1) trying to kick Godzilla's ass, 2) successfully kicking Rodan's ass, and 3) yelling so loud a dozen plus other titans wake up.

And then this dude whose defining character traits are "hating Godzilla and other titans in spite of the mounds of scientific evidence that they're great for the environment" and "deciding that he knows everything better than the actual experts in the room who have dedicated their lives to these subjects and pigheadedly shouting over them with his own just-walked-in-the-room ideas," he looks at this situation and "oh, this Ghidorah, he's definitely a rival alpha to Godzilla," he says, as if the "alpha dog" theory hasn't been thoroughly and painfully debunked in the very wolves he studies, and as if it makes sense for seventeen-odd different species who might never have been awake and alive during the same era until now to not only have identical alpha-based social hierarchies but also share a social hierarchy across species and predator/prey lines, and as if it makes sense for an alien animal who didn't evolve on Earth to have anything in common with the local animals, including an understanding of and agreement with their local hierarchical structures...

And we're just... as a fandom, we're really just collectively accepting everything Man Who Became A Drunk And Abandoned His Family Because He Doesn't Know How To Express Any Emotion But Anger says about this hyper-masculine social structure that he's projected onto these wildly inhuman species? As if what he says is the gospel truth? Everything that gets said about alphas and kings, we're just assuming that the titans—who again, are not human, and may have never communicated with humans—have the exact same mental constructs about "alpha dog" theory and monarchy that humans do? We're assuming animals have concepts of kingship identical to ours? We're assuming that the theories that these humans tossed out within the first few hours of seeing most of these species move for the first time are 100% correct, even though in real life we'd been observing wolves for literal millennia before we came up with "alpha dog" theory and then within a century figured out it was totally wrong? Really? That's what we're going with? Not questioning whether anything about the humans' assumptions might have been wrong?

Okay.

So anyway my interpretation of Ghidorah is a hypnotic siren who doesn't know or care about Earth leadership, solely wants to destroy Earth for funsies, and only has a rivalry with Godzilla because Godzilla doesn't want the planet that he is living on to be destroyed and happens to be the sole dude tough enough to beat Ghidorah up.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Mecha King Ghidorah Mecha King Ghidorah Mecha King Ghidorah.

But unlike other folks, I don't really want him to show up in Godzilla vs. Kong. I want that conflict to be the focus of the movie. Throw in MKG, and Godzilla and Kong's rivalry—whatever it's based on—has to get truncated to deal with this other threat, and MKG won't get a whole movie to shine as the primary villain. I'd like to save him for a future movie, where he can be billed as the primary threat rather than something that swoops in to interrupt someone else's movie.

[violetlunette]

Tropes/Cliches I Hate

So there are a lot of lists stating cliches people hate and this is another one. If you like these, that’s fine, I just get irked when I see them myself and want to rant a little. This isn’t a top ten list, just a list of things I dislike. There won’t be any romance tropes here as they deserve and have their own list. Also, most of these are story telling tropes, so just a heads up. Anyway, let me know what you personally think and tropes you hate and why. Oh, and SPOILERS! Before warned.

Tropes/Cliches I Hate

Too Much Drama/Unearned Drama: My most HATED trope. Don’t get me wrong; I like drama okay, but if it’s over loaded or feels like it was just thrown in for by the writers I get frustrated. Yes I know that writers do that to keep people interested, but can’t they make it feel natural or earned?

I liked “Finding Carter’s” drama; This is a story about a girl who discovers she was kidnapped as a toddler by the woman she called mother all her life and being reunited with her birth family. The drama makes sense and is earned by the whole family; (SPOILERS)

Carter’s whole world is turned upside down so her attitude, while mean at times is understandable.

Taylor has spent her whole life terrified of disappearing like her sister and has had her fear fed by her parents, so has lived a sheltered life.

Their mom lost a kid which has affected her marriage so she started to sleep with her partner and was even planning to leave, however when she found Carter she didn’t want to break her family again. Hell, even the drama with the villain is understandable as Carter and Taylor came from her eggs/she was a surrogate mom who was sleeping with the father at the time. You can see why she might think the twins were hers and that she had a right to take one. This is great drama and I would have loved it, but then they had to give the side characters the angstiest backstories they could which distracts from the family at times and felt unneeded.

And I know; that what drama are about. Angst central, I know, but that’s why I don’t watch a lot of drama. At the very least I want it to be earned an in character or story.

The fifth book of Harry Potter did this fairly well as all the drama came from the characters and their actions. Sirius died due to Harry’s impulsive actions and Dumbledore want to keep Harry in the dark to “protect him.” And the drama hits all the harder because it’s something that could happen in real life (minus the magic stuff.).

A bad example is Gilmore Girls where they force the character April in with a bunch of random drama just to keep Luke and Lorelei apart. There was a legitimate way to put off the wedding; have Luke be afraid of rushing things and feeling like he’s the one who has to make all the compromises and give up things and he runs away for awhile. Hell, they could have kept the plot line of her jumping into bed with Christopher because as terrible as that was it was still a very Lorelei thing to do. But the plot with April and everything after? UNNEEDED AND UNWANTED.

We’re not together, but I’m Pregnant/The Baby Plot: Okay, I love babies—when I don’t have to change them or be woken up at 3:00 in the morning. They’re soft, cute, adorable, and squishy! However in TV the baby is usually born to a “will they won’t they” couple as a way to force them together when the writers made the audience believe they were separating them or for drama. News flash writers; if the only way you can keep a couple together is to throw a baby in the mix, then just give up on the pair!

Babies are used for like one arc to cause drama, then are tossed to the side with maybe a passing mention so it’s like what’s the point?

It’s a cheap way to keep a couple together. A child should NOT be a plot deceive to keep a couple together or create drama. Ross and Rachel were the worse along with Belle and Rumple; Ross and Rachel had fallen into a slump and the audience were starting to move on and look at other options for them so the writers thought they could yank us back by revealing they had sex and Rachel was pregnant. All this led to was the same slapstick they went through when they were together before and they never worked through the issues they had before, mainly that they were jealous, possessive, and vindictive except now they had a BABY.

With the Rumbelle the writers couldn’t decide what the hell they wanted with Rumple (did they want him to be evil or a hero), but knew his actions were pushing Belle (and the fans) away. So what did they do? Threw a baby into the mix with a whole contrived plot that was just—what? I mean, it COULD have worked, but not the way the writers did it.

Writers, people; IT IS NEVER A CHILD’S JOB TO FIX A COUPLE. A baby is not a plot device they are people and deserve more respect than they get. If a couple can’t stay together by themselves, then a baby is not going to help. All it does is trap two people and why would want a couple that’s forced together that way?

“We’re trying to protect ya so we ain’t telling ya shit” and Bad communication skills: How many problems in stories could be solved if two people just sat down and talked instead of keeping secrets. Like “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” If Dumbledore had told Harry that Voldemort could get into his head and could hurt people Sirius might be alive. And in a couple? I don’t need to list an example. You’re already thinking of a moment where a couple got into a fight because they didn’t just sit down and talk.

That being said I do like this trope as a potential reason for a hero being ignorant of their past at the beginning of a series as I like the hero from a muggle world. At the very least I want the person keeping the secrets to be called out on it.

Insane maniac pixie girl: This a low one as there are some I like, however I feel this character is over done lately and honestly I can only take so much of the personality. They’re always so loud, screaming all the time, squeaky, and have no sense of personal space. I mean, I like Webby and Mabel, but even then I can only take so much squealing. (I dunno, maybe I have sensitive ears.)

I’m not dead!: Disney gets away with this because the brought backs happen towards the end of the film and isn’t done time and again in the same movie. Compare to the Dragon Ball series were death is like a mosquito bite. Why should I care if they get hurt or the world dies? Just wish them back and everything is fine! Seriously, is anyone who watches DBZ concerned when a character gets hurt or dies still? It’s a cheap trick that feels like a “ha! Fooled you!” moment.

High school drama / Skewd Priorities: Okay when I say high school drama I mean focusing on a school dance when the world is at stake or worrying about whether or not a boy likes you when a murder is on the loose, or focusing on school junk when we as the readers want tto focus on the fantasy elements. This is mostly in YA dealing with kids, so some of this is understandable, but even so it’s not fun to read and even teenagers hate being portrayed like this (at least the one or two I know). When I  was teenager I liked the prom and stuff for quiet moments in stories, but NOT when there was a villain loose or danger was coming. Whenever that popped up I was like, ‘bitch wtf is wrong with you! Who cares about a zit when you have super magical powers.’ When I read a fantasy I want to focus on the fantasy elements, not school! School is boring.

Too Easily Forgiven: Forgiveness is wonderful thing, however it should be earned and you know some things can’t and shouldn’t be forgiven. For me it’s murder. Now if it’s between two warriors in a fight that’s one thing, but hurting or killing innocent civilians? No. No, no. Or hey, what if a person has been horribly bullying you or making your life miserable? Do you have to forgive, fuck no. Now I’m not saying you should seek revenge, but I’d rather they just choose that they don’t want to be angry and anymore and decide to move on.

Forgiveness should be earned when they’ve truly hurt someone and even if they feel remorseful, characters still have the right to be angry when they’ve been hurt or had someone they love taken from them.

All humans /muggles are bastards / idiots: Yeah, humans are assholes. We get it. No one knows how bad humans are than other humans, but you know what? Humans have done amazing things to conquer natural selection and the fact that other humans is humanity’s greatest enemy shows just how powerful the human race is. And not everyone wants to blow up shit, some of us work VERY hard to help and save everything we can and the rest are just trying to live our lives without hurting anyone. We may not be top dog, but we’re not bottom of the barrel either. And why should other races get put on pedestal as the woobie race or holier than thou? That doesn’t make them more interesting it just makes them annoying. I see this trope in almost every fantasy, can’t we switch it up a little?

magical speciesism / the blood must remain pure: Ignoring the real life implications this trope’s just been over done. Can’t we turn this around and have it that cross breeding between a magical and a human is considered the norm or a good thing? Switch it up a bit?

Ron the death Eater and Draco in Leather pants: This annoying enough in the fandom where we like to exaggerate and things we like and dislike, but in the actual show it’s insulting to the character AND the fans. If there’s something wrong with the character then the writers should make an arc to improve them, not drag the character through the mud.

On the other end if a character is an asshole you can’t just make them a hero suddenly and expect the audience to buy it. The characters have to earn their redemption.

And those are ten tropes I hate. How about you guys? What’s your thoughts? Do you hate them or am I alone? And what do guys hate to see in stories?

[cosmiciaria]

World of Final Fantasy Review! (Spoiler free)

I know the game is pretty old by now. It was released in October, 2016, before Final Fantasy XV wrecked the fandom. I've always wanted to give it a shot, but the apparent light-hearted approach didn't suit me well – so I waited for a decent discount in PSN, and I finally managed to get it in my hands! Disclaimer: this is a review of the vanilla version of the game. Saw there's a big expansion adding quite a a lot of stuff, including gameplay mechanics, so… either way, the game is quite enjoyable as it is, I don't deem an expansion necessary in my case to make me like the game more.

So yes, this is a GUD game. Even GUDER than I'd thought it would be. Like REALLY. Real good.

I'm not explaining myself. You see, this game seems made for younger generations. It was the result of the 30th Square Enix Anniversary, and it's the cocktail boiling in the cauldron every Final Fantasy fan wanted to have. It's a crossover, it's the perfect fanfiction across all the universes we've learned to love and care in this franchise. It's a love letter to fans, and I want to stress this idea, because… this game is great, is awesome, is moving, but only if you're an FF fan.

I mean, you'll still enjoy it for what it is, but… there are a thousand nods and references to the previous FF games that you won't get if you at least are not familiar with their premises. I, for instance, haven't played many of the mainline FF, including I, II, V and XI. I knew about their characters and some of its most characteristic thingies (like Gilgamesh being from FFV), so I still could get some of the references, but it's not the same.

It's not the same, because, like I said, this game is a love letter to fans. And it shows.

But – wait, are those chibis? Is this a children's game? What are you talking about? I know it's hard to take chibis seriously, but hear me out – this game is more serious than it seems at first sight. I expected nothing but RPG tropes and I did get many of those, but DUDE (pun intended) did I had a great (TRAGIC) time with those twists and turns!

So we follow Lann, a fifteen year old ginger boy who goes to work at his usual café. He doesn't seem to notice the Pokémon – I mean, the Mirage on his head, a cute white little fox that seems to defy the laws of gravity by gripping to his hair. In the café, Lann meets Enna Kros, a mysterious woman who asks for a very sugary coffee. Minutes later, we meet our other protagonist, Reynn, Lann's twin sister, who crashes into the place to tell her brother that there's nobody anywhere. Lann is like, hey, there's this woman over here, but truth be told… the neighborhood is empty.

So this woman, Enna Kros, introduces herself and tells them that she's a goddess of some sort (her nature is, eh, well, never fully explained and that's fine). She reveals they are in a place called Nine Wood Hills, a land that looks like it's stuck in time and space. Lann and Reynn had forgotten what the hell they're doing there, or who their parents were, or anything, so Enna Kros gives them (or more like, reminds them of) the Prismariums: the ability to imprism Mirages, like the little fox I mentioned, and bend them to their will. The purpose, she says, is to catch as many Mirages as they can, across Grymoire, the world she's the goddess of, and collect memories about their past. Then the little fox is introduced as Tama, a very important Mirage that is going to accompany the twins for the rest of the journey.

Off they go to Grymoire, and this is where the crossover starts: here people are tiny (chibis) called Lilikins; Reynn and Lann remain normally proportioned (Jiants), but they can turn into Lilikins whenever they want. Jiants had disappeared from this world a hundred years prior, so the twins kind of attract everyone's attention. This only feeds the mystery that shrouds this pair.

Grymoire is full of towns, regions and dungeons. Across all these places, the twins will irremediably come across the chibis we all know and love: the FF characters. Their storylines are so well intertwined that you forget that they belong to an original game, for their personalities and backgrounds fit this story very well. We have a Bahamutian Federation who's conquering everything in its stride, except for a few kingdoms that still fight against it. The League of S, the resistance group, wants to recruit as many people as they can, and it's up to the twins to help this insurgence grow. But this is not everything: it seems that in the Federation there's a prophecy, a Crimson Prophecy, that foretells the arrival of two Jiants twins who are Mirage Keepers…

The story gets more and more complex, until it reaches a point where I couldn't believe my eyes. And this was a game for "children"! But I won't spoil it for you. Instead, let's talk about the gameplay first!

I said Pokémon earlier – It's the closest approximation and I'm not lying. If you wanna be the very best, you gotta catch 'em all. Mirages will appear as your ordinary enemies in dungeons, and every first time you encounter one, Enna Kros will give you a new prismarium to imprism them in it. But to do this, you first have to create a prismunity: a chance that leaves the Mirage vulnerable to the imprism. This prisminuty is quite easy to achieve in the early levels, but they get more and more difficult and specific to attain as you progress. Each Mirage has an ability tree to develop, in which you'll spend SP points, and most Mirages have also evolutions (is it Pokémon enough yet??) that you'll be unlocking once the requirements are met.

Catching Mirages is not everything, though. Mirages are actually useful: you can equip them. Since we don't have equipment or ability tree for the twins, the Mirages are our only source of power, so their stats and their abilities become our own when we fight. Each twin in Jiant form can 'stack' on their heads a Medium and Small size Mirage, and in Lilikin form, they can stack on a Large Mirage and still have one Small Mirage on their heads. The stack becomes your shield in battle, and at first it looks ridiculous, but once you understand how it works, you can create MAGIC out of its mechanics. Careful because the tower you form can topple and your Mirages can fall from your character's head in a quite funny animation.

Twins don't have ability trees, I said. Well, that's partially true. You see, in the ability trees of the Mirages, every now and then you can come across a Mirajewel: this is the equivalent of a skill card in the Persona franchise – meaning that you can equip that Mirajewel into Lann or Reynn as you please. The Mirajewel doesn't lock to just one character, you can switch it between the twins as you like. The slots for these Mirajewels take a while to unlock, though, and it's related to the twins's levels.

Battles are your good old friend turn base combat. And it's great. IT'S GREAT. Like really. They can STILL do this and it's still loved, I don't know why people say that turn base combat is outdated and old fashioned. It's pretty slow paced, but fear not, because there's an ACCELERATOR button that lets you fast forward battles. Isn't it convenient? In fact, everything in this game is so convenient it makes me wanna cry: you wanna leave the dungeon? No prob, just use this unlimited teleport stone; wanna change your Mirages for others? Never fear, you have a save point every half hour. You wanna fast travel to this place? Nine Wood Hills got it covered for you. You're not enjoying this minigame? You can skip it and still advance in the main story! You kinda not dig this new menu we created for this game? Try the old style FF menu and play like you did in the old FF titles!

Really. Everything is there for you, at your disposal. The option to choose how and when you play is available, and it's kind of heart-warming they did this. I just wish every new FF could work like this one, on terms of gameplay! This game is SO Final Fantasy that I wanna cry a river.

Alright! Too much gameplay. What about characters?

Lann and Reynn are just hilarious. Their interactions are natural and casual: they truly make us believe they're twin brother and sister who deeply care for each other. Each of them has their own quirks, like Lann being quite slow, always saying "dude!" and protecting his sister at all costs; and Reynn being determined, direct and fearless, but also hiding her nervousness behind blurting trivia into the void whenever things seem to get nasty. There's one particular funny scene in the game where Reynn is angry with a Cactuar and she wants to, basically, punch it to death, which she can't, because Cactuars have their agility skyrocketed to high heaven more or less, and her hysteria is so relatable that you want to get yourself inside the screen and pat her on the head.

On that note, voice actors for the main protagonists were a delight. I was kind of surprised to discover that the guy who voices Lann also voices Shiro from Voltron: I couldn't recognize my favorite gay spaceship leader anywhere in this upbeat character, but there were moments where Lann became serious and angry, and damn, did that Shirogane emerge! All the other FF characters that we know have their original actors returning –not only that, but also we hear some characters from the older FF games that had never ever had, in any other media, voices. I swear my control almost fell to the floor when I heard Vivi f*cking SPEAK.

The FF characters remain in their personalities and they're never out of character. They bring about a thousand references from their original games, that are not forced at all. The script is clever enough to blend these moments inside the main story in such a way that you never see them coming, and more than once I was at the verge of tears, specially with Tidus and Yuna who belong to, I may very well say it now, my favorite Final Fantasy game (Oh I never wrote a review for FFX, even though I played like six times). I won't tell you, just play the game and discover these scenes for yourself. They make the game ten times more loveable. There are also instances of 4th wall breaking so beware yourself for a good laughter. Read the Mirage's Manual, I fully recommend it.

The game has all the RPG tropes you can ask for: the mandatory ice, fire and water levels, the really really bad guy you can tell he's bad because of his demoniac appearance bad villain bad oh bad he's bad because reasons, treasure chests, chocobos, cactuars, tomberris, flans, malboro menaces and anything you can expect from an FF game. But this isn't a copycat of previous installments. Towards the second half the game shows its true colors and we're faced with an original story, with huge twists that left me open mouthed, and you forget about the first few hours of the game that seemed taken straight out of any other FF, because, you know it, honk's got real. (Oh, btw, Lann used 'honk' every time he should've used the f-word, it was so funny, once he says 'shut the honk up' I'm cryinggG)

On the music department, I just couldn't really get into it. There were some boss fights that caught my attention but that's all there is to it. Nine Wood Hills background music gets under your skin after a while of continually listening to it, and sometimes it plays during important sequences, so I guess it's the most memorable piece of music. On the other hand, we have remixes of all those FF's themes we liked so much that play during certain characters' arcs and they may bring more than one tear to players' eyes (I did NOT cry when Suteki Da Ne started playing I did NOT). Visuals are nice and all – you can tell it had less production than, let's say, FFXV, its contemporary companion in release dates, but damn, some places were vivid and realistic! And lighting and shadows were real enough! And who cares about an anime appearance or chibi characters when everything SHINES and the story is good either way!

This game made me for some reason ship Cloud with absolutely everyone? What the honk?

All in all, this is a Final Fantasy game in all its glory, and it shines bright in many aspects I believe it was done even better than most of the newest games in the mainline. I just wished it had a more 'independent' story, in the sense of what I first mentioned: that this is a game for fans, that the experience would be very different if you haven't played the majority of the FF titles (and even some spin offs!). Still, the main story holds up well and at the end of the day, the main characters are the twins, not Cloud or Squall.

I do have one or two tiny complaints: there are some FF titles vanished to oblivion in this vanilla version. Firion from FFII only appears in the expansion and Balthier from FFXII, although he is a free dlc, he's not part of the story and he doesn't even have a page in the people's compendium, his appearance being the only silent presence of that title in the game. Also there's something spoilerish I wasn't really fond of – I'm just gonna say, without revealing anything, that I don't like how certain character was handled. And no, I'm not speaking about the masked woman. Anyway, that's all I can complain about, actually.

I think credit must be given where credit is due. And this game is due a lot of credit. For its amazing gameplay, giving us a taste of what we've been asking for years, and for the good use of the Extrauniverse to weave this story for us. Interactions between characters are a delight because of how well written they are. And there's a lot of post game content so, here I go, the route to platinum!

If you enjoy FF, then you'll love this game.

[forest-of-stories]

“They Won’t Let You Remember”: Obsession Before Fandom

[This is another round of extremely personal spelunking into my own fannish past that I sometimes do on this and other platforms, including Dreamwidth, which is where I first posted it.  Content warning for digressions into Fannish Discourse, and also brains - mostly mine - conflating fiction and reality in sometimes unhealthy ways.]

Not long ago, my mom asked me on the phone if I was aware that a new Men in Black movie would be out later this year. I told her that I knew, and added, “If I see it with other humans, they might have to hear how the original was one of the root causes of my mind control feelings.” Not the root cause, I should emphasize: those feelings could have come from any number of sources, but that number is probably greater than “one.” We both knew why she had brought up this particular franchise. There is a file cabinet in my childhood bedroom that once contained many, many handwritten stories – some co-written with middle school classmates, though most of them weren’t – that featured the titular secret organization, the protectors of the Earth from the scum of the universe, as the bad guys. I wrote those in order to deal with the sharp turn that my already present Mind Control Feelings took when a silly science fiction comedy featuring giant space bugs encouraged me to root for characters who maintained the status quo by erasing memories from ordinary people – people like me – on a regular basis. Some of you might be asking, “Wait, you knew it was only a movie, right?” And my answer would be, “Yes, but…” Since time and emotional distance have both clarified and obscured my understanding of how I used to think and behave, here is the best (and probably most long-winded) way that I can answer that question for both myself and others: I was an imaginative and overwhelmingly anxious child. On the one hand, my imaginative side desperately wanted magic and aliens and Weird Stuff to be real, which I still don’t think was always a bad thing. On the other hand, during my preteen and teenage years, my anxiety (which wouldn’t be linked to a diagnosis until much later in my life) manifested as “what if?” scenarios that were at least as convincing as reality… even if they were based in speculative fiction. Even if I didn’t believe that they would happen, I spent a lot of time telling myself stories about what might happen if they did, or even just thinking, “What if this is how the world is supposed to work, even if I don’t like it or want it and you can’t make me?” So, although I knew the difference between fiction and reality by the age of twelve, knew that Men in Black was Only A Movie, my “what if?” reflex kicked in hard the more I recognized its world as being much closer enough to my own than my previous, limited encounters with memory erasure in fiction. According to the rules of that world, if the Weird Stuff were real, I wouldn’t even know, and, according to the text, shouldn’t know. “Wasn’t the next line of the theme song ‘They won’t let you remember’?” Older Sister asked, the last time we talked about it. Yes. Yes, it was. The immediacy is right there in the song’s refrain (which, by the way, is still an earworm and a half). At one point, Tommy Lee Jones’ veteran agent character insists that, while Earth is constantly under extraterrestrial threat, humans can only live our lives peacefully if we don’t know about it. (Keeping in mind that humans do a pretty solid job of threatening life on Earth ourselves, I feel like that statement is also linked to questions about the supposedly blissful ignorance of privilege, which go beyond the scope of this post, but are still worth mentioning.) Maybe I reacted so strongly to that bit of dialogue because I believed that it wasn’t true, or because I feared that it was. I’m pretty sure that it was the combination of that scene and its message, with my recurring issues around authority and self-control, and my growing self-awareness about my misbehaving brain, that set my anxious imagination spinning. I would guess that I was wondering something like, “What if the only way that I could have peace of mind was if somebody or something else edited my thoughts and memories without my knowledge or consent?” That idea scared me. It made me angry. And since I was not mature enough to have any filters or sense of other people’s boundaries, I talked – loudly and incoherently – to anybody who would listen, and quite a few people who wouldn’t, about how scared and angry it made me. A lot of the things that I said and did are now difficult for me to understand (one might almost say… alien), and I’m not sure whether they helped with my worries or just made them worse. I do know that this was neither the first nor the last work of fiction about which some of my loved ones told me to shut up because I was too obsessed, resulting in screaming fights, sneering mockery, and tears. I was also old enough, you see, to understand that I wasn’t responding to fiction in the same way that a lot of my peers were, and to, perhaps, start feeling like there was something wrong with me. Not that this was enough to shut me, in fact, up. But I did something else, too: I started to write the stories that I mentioned above. Some of my point-of-view characters were disillusioned agents, others were characters from other media that I enjoyed; the more sources I could pull from, and the more surreal I could make the mix, the happier I was. Still other POV characters were authorial avatars who started out as innocent bystanders and narrowly escaped having their memories wiped. (A few of those self-insert fantasies also involved my earliest fictional crush, who just happened to be an alien from a certain book series that I loved at the time. I quite happily imagined scenarios in which my very knowledge of his true nature was forbidden and yet our love conquered all in the end, but I never put any of those scenarios on paper. I kind of wish I had.) Some of the storylines fizzled out after a few chapters, while others ended with my protagonists riding off into the sunset with their minds, for the time being, safe. I should stress that even my writing wasn't necessarily integrated into my life in a healthy way: I scribbled during my classes (yes, I got caught at least once), I wrote scenarios that crossed the line from nonsensical into offensive (why so many “man in a dress” jokes, younger self? Why even one?), and I buttonholed friends and classmates as audiences and even collaborators despite their probably being much less interested than I was. Even though I was discovering a third option besides “shut up forever” and “shut up never,” it would take several more years, at least two more obsessions, and the discovery of online fandom (I only somewhat knew what “online” was in the late 1990s, and “fandom” was nowhere near my vocabulary) before I sorted out the appropriate time and place for each of those options. But I was on my way there, even if I didn’t know what “there” was. When I questioned and pulled apart an established narrative to turn the heroes into villains and shine a light on viewpoints that I thought the original creators had overlooked, I was writing fanfiction, whether I knew it or not. When I finally did find my way to fandom communities, it was thanks to the Harry Potter books, whose world-building also relies on what TV Tropes calls “The Masquerade.” (If you look up the page for that trope, guess whose quote is right at the top? Yeah.) Which led me to recognize it in certain versions of X-Men, and The Incredibles, and Torchwood and The Vampire Diaries and and and… The more I saw of organized efforts to conceal the existence of Weird Stuff from the Oblivious Masses, the more I understood that the audience was meant to feel like we were in on the secret, but I couldn’t stop sympathizing with the people who weren’t. I still dislike and distrust that trope to this day, even in works that I otherwise enjoy, and storylines involving memory erasure – consensual or not, narratively endorsed or not – still push both good and bad buttons, sometimes both at once. And I believe that my explorations of mind control in fiction, from the beginning until now, have partly been informed by questions like, “What if I couldn’t trust my own mind, and was asked to believe that this was for my own good and/or the good of society?” And, since it bears mentioning: I hope that nobody interprets this recollection as, “A storytelling device warped Nevanna’s understanding of reality, and therefore stories can reprogram people’s behaviors and problematic fiction should be eliminated!” First of all, I object to that kind of black-and-white thinking, as a librarian, a writer, and someone who tries to thoughtfully consume media. Secondly, it’s more accurate that the dysfunction in my own brain once warped my understanding of reality; that even then, I was still responsible for my own actions; and although I have a history of giving fictional constructs an unhealthy amount of power over my own life, I grew out of it. And even though I have mixed feelings about the debate over Problematic Fiction, and I certainly do not condone harassment and shaming – because I’ve been there and done that, on both sides – I try to maintain that it is not my place to stop people from having negative emotions about stories. Even if I don’t agree, even when their objections make me uncomfortable, I can disagree with what they’re saying or doing without invalidating what they might be feeling. And I try to be better at doing so, because I am the last person in the world to deny that stories spark powerful emotions and thoughts, that sometimes they go against the creators’ intentions. Part of becoming a responsible consumer of media and participant in fandom is learning to manage those emotions constructively and make space for other people’s feelings and needs. I used to be angry at my younger self for being unable or unwilling to do that. I’m not anymore. That said, one of the differences between preteen Nevanna and thirty-something Nevanna is that nobody has to hear me talk about mind control unless they want to. (Although I’m happy that a noticeable number of people usually seem to want to.) I never saw the original Men in Black in the movie theater. I think it took me several tries (much to Younger Sister’s frustration) to sit through it on home video, and the ghost of who I was back then, as much as if not more than the actual content, has kept me from revisiting the 1997 movie in the intervening years. If I wanted to watch it again, I think that I would want (and here I'll paraphrase a fantasy series, also about aliens, that more or less avoids the Masquerade altogether) to prepare myself emotionally. I still haven’t watched the sequels or had much interest in doing so, and I never posted any fanfiction set in that universe. It has occurred to me that I might end up writing fic for the 2019 reimagining, if I see it (it wouldn’t be the first time in the recent past that I revisited fictional worlds from my childhood in new and surprising ways). But if I do write anything – and maybe even if I don’t – I will continue to feel pity and compassion and gratitude for the twelve-year-old believer in Weird Stuff who heard, “They won’t let you remember,” and responded, “What if I did anyway?”

[thekrazykeke]

wRoNg (Release the Beast) Part II

Fandom(s): DCEU, Suicide Squad

Relationship(s): Joker x reader

Rating: Mature

Summary: What would you do out of love and self-preservation to protect your family? How far would you go to keep your secrets?

Warning(s):  Mind games and emotional manipulation. Mystic-y stuff.

Tagging: @ashmuck @alexisbagans143  @toxic-ink @kirsty-lou666 @coppercurlzz @snow-massacre  @suckerforsmilex @lovelylittlekittn @melaninharleyquinn @roneykuni @twilight-loveer @ms-clown-queen-of-crime @jokers-queen-of-hearts @keya168 @misspooh

Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three (Part I) Chapter Three (Part II)  Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six (Part I)

~

Chapter Six (Extended)

The maniac messiah, Destruction is his game. A beautiful liar, Love for him is pain. [He] punishes you with pleasure And pleasure[s] you with pain

The window wasn’t locked. Trying to get a handle on your bruised ego, half of you wondered if Bruce thought that you were so stupid that you wouldn’t attempt to run away, while the rational side of your brain sardonically pointed out that the man saw himself as a savior. 

Surely you would be happy to be free of the Joker?

The more you thought about it, the more muddled and confused your thoughts became until it all just sounded like flimsy excuses.

Bruce is the lesser evil, he's a socialite like yourself and although he was hiding behind the Batman guise to cloak the fact that he had some serious psychological issues, with the Joker, at least, you understood the rules; the basic code of conduct, to put it simply, ‘There are no rules!’

What kind of challenges and trials would Bruce try to make you complete in order to prove that you aren't a threat? What would happen if you couldn't make him understand that you are not the same as the other criminals that he fought on a nightly basis?  

No. They're both dangerous. 

Shimmying out of the windowpane, you clawed at the ground, dragging your body forward. Breathing in and out, you glanced around the manor’s wide open, expansive gardens, taking note of the cars parked in the driveway. Breathing in deeply and then exhaling, you started sprinting, at first being mindful of the flowers every a few steps, and then you just decided forget it and hoofed it, especially because the sprinklers turned on, causing you to yelp and run around in an irregular pattern, still managing to get sprayed by the time you reached the driveway. 

The thought to bust the windows of the bright, candy red sports car is at the forefront of your mind but when you pulled at the handle, mysteriously, it’s open. No alarms went off. Before the revelation that Bruce was the frickin’ Batman, you’d have written this happenstance off as coincidence, now you’re wondering whether this was a ploy or not.

Climbing into the driver’s seat, you rummage about in the glove compartment and underneath the seats until by a stroke of luck, you find the car keys. Inserting the key into the ignition, you turn it and the car purred as it came to life. Putting your foot on the gasp pedal, hands grip the steering wheel, you end up going backwards, knocking over a potted plant, and then the car jerked forward, swinging to the right hard, doing ‘doughnuts’ a bit, but after a moment of trial and error, you’re peeling down the driveway, headed straight for the fence. 

Heart pounding in your chest, you put your foot down hard on the gas, expecting to have to crash through the gate but the gate opened and you peeled out of the Wayne Mansion without fanfare, making a left and driving down the quiet streets. 

You’d been let go.

But to what end?

“Master Bruce, are you certain it is wise to let Lady Y/N leave the premises, especially with her affiliations to certain...individuals?” Alfred phrased his inquiry delicately, well aware that if he pushed too hard too fast, the other man would clam up.

“I’m letting her go for that reason exactly.” Bruce reached out and snagged a cookie off the tray that his butler sat down on the empty space next to him.

“Eh?” Hands free now, Alfred adjusted his glasses. “I beg your pardon? I don’t think I follow, young sir.” 

“Y/N can’t return home to her family. Although it’s very hush-hush and won’t be released to the public for months to come, as soon as she stepped foot out of her parents’ home, the protection that her last name brought her is gone,” Taking a bite of the treat, he chewed thoroughly before swallowing and grabbing another sweet, only this time a mini cupcake. “As she’s effectively disowned. So that leaves her with only two alternatives: to rely on the Joker or to rough it out on her own.” 

Alfred didn’t say anything. 

“It is my belief that she can break the cycle of her own volition. All it would take is to sign up for the closest women’s shelter and to wait on a bed to be available.” Using the teaspoon found on the side of the cup, he lifted the lid of the biggest container on the tray and plopped two cubes of sugar in the cup of Earl Gray, swirling the liquid around until sugar completely dissolved, then took a sip.

Clearing his throat, Alfred tilted his head to the side, “And if she decides to return to the Joker?” Bruce didn’t say anything but after so many years, the elderly fellow didn’t need a verbal answer or confirmation. 

“Ah, I see.” 

Bruce turned his attention to the Bat Cave’s computer, watching the red blip on the radar. He’d planted a tracker on Y/N during their fight and wanted to see what she got up to in the meantime. 

‘Don’t let me down, Y/N...’

“A-A-Achoo!” You sneezed. Parking the car carelessly, you slammed the door shut and walked into the store, ignoring the jingle of the bell as it signified an incoming customer.

“We’re closed.” The shop owner said in a bored tone, looking at her cellphone.

Cellphone...

“No, you’re not.” You say, reaching out and snagging the cellular device, ignoring her outraged cry. “I just need to borrow this for a sec, Priscilla.”

“That’s not cool, Y/N. Not cool at all. Btw, what the hell happened to you?”

Tuning her out, you dialed a number from memory. ‘Pick up, pick up, pick up.’ Cheering internally when the person picked up, you paused during your perusal of the wracks of clothing, snapping your fingers and pointed out the outfit that you wanted. “Can’t talk on this phone for long, but we were set up.” Pausing, you listened to what the person said on the other end. “It’s good that Romina made it back safely, I’m glad. I’m on my way to the club. Get everyone ready.” Again, you paused to listen to the person the other end. “Playing nice didn’t pan out. So we’re going for a different approach.” Snapping the phone shut, you deleted the contact information and call history, handing Priscilla her phone and accepting the outfit that she had so thoughtfully taken off the hook for you. 

“Everything okay?”

“Mind your own business, honey.” You raised your eyebrows and smiled. “I forgot my card so you can just bill my mother.” 

Something in your face warned the shop owner from prying any further and she just nodded. “I think you remember where the back changing room is. Holler if you need any help.” 

Getting dressed was a bit of a challenge, especially since you didn’t have adrenaline pumping through your veins, making you ignore the minor to mildly serious injuries you’d sustained after the one-sided altercation with the Bat. 

However, you told yourself to suck it up and now wasn’t the time to be a prissy girly girl, grateful that the new outfit didn’t squeeze or pinch in uncomfortable places and was professional enough to pull off the serious businesswoman look that you’re going for. 

What was even better is that you found the bug that Bruce had planted on you, so you left that in the trash with the old clothes.

Once you’re finished, you waved at Priscilla halfheartedly as she’s once again back on her phone, playing Candy Crush and you get back into sports car, peeling away from the curb and heading downtown where the Smile n Grin is located. 

It’s late evening by the time you reached the destination and you can already hear the music is loud and people are inside when you park the car, Leo opened the door and offered his arm, which you took.

“Two-Face flipped when he realized that you ain’t dead.” Jonny informed you, falling into step beside you. “Riddler is a no-show, but the guy’s a brainiac and hopelessly arrogant, these type of celebratory shows aren’t his thing.” 

“How many of Penguin’s and Two Face’s men are in there, what about civilians?”

“Ten each. Lots of civiies” At your raised eyebrows, Jonny shrugged. “You’re supposed to be captured or dead.”

You cock your head in a ‘fair enough’ gesture. “And how many of our guys?”

“Fifty.” As you and Jonny ascended the stone steps to the back entrance, you took note that the bouncer wasn’t wearing the get up like Two Face’s or Penguin’s men; he was one of Joker’s guys. “So, how you wanna do this...Boss?”

That’s right, you’re the Boss, right now. Which meant that you had the final say, the final word. What would Joker do, if he were here? ...Kill them all, obviously, or at the least, try. Torture and psychologically torment the civilians until the Bat showed up to stop him. Is that the type of message you wanted to send to the populace when this inevitably got out to the public? 

When your deeds circled throughout the criminal underworld? 

That you’re just as crazy as your husband?

“Divide and conquer.” You mutter. Jonny raised an eyebrow. “I want Penguin’s head mounted on my wall, Two-Face isn’t my priority right now, we’ll get him later. The civilians are distractions and unimportant. Do we have something that can smoke them out?”

And so, that’s what it was. Jonny spoke into the earpiece, informing the foot soldiers of their jobs. He handed you a few smoke grenades and you slipped them into the purse you’re carrying, nodding thankfully to the bouncer who opened the door, permitting you inside. 

Music was thumping, shaking and rattling the walls. 

People were dancing, laughing, chatting. 

It almost looked like another day in J’s club, except the King isn’t in his seat. Romina signaled, jerking her chin and you looked where she’d indicated, taking note of the fact that Two-Face had stood up and was leaving, Penguin was all alone. 

Now was the time.

Dropping the smoke bombs discreetly in a few key places, you continued unwaveringly towards your destination, which was the VIP area, ignoring how the civilians coughed and complained, running for the exit. There’s a bodyguard protecting the door, he holds a hand out in front of him, trying to tell you to stop but Romina came out of nowhere and hit him in the temple, catching him before he fell. 

Brushing the golden beads aside, you took a seat next to the tipsy, short male. 

“Hello, darling.” 

Blinking lazily, movements sluggish, Oswald reached for his gun but Leo put a heavy hand on his shoulder, jerking him backwards, tightening his hold as he made a motion to pull away. All of this which you deliberately ignored, instead grabbing a glass and a bottle of expensive alcohol, pouring a generous amount. 

“We can...work something...out...” Clearly he’d been drugged as his words are slurred and slow. Kudos to Two-Face for being so devious...yet also displaying why he couldn’t be trusted.

“I had plans to...” You quirk your fingers in air quotes, “‘Work something out’.” You shook your head. “But that’s...mm, we’re not going to be friends, darling, I’m sorry. You did the most unforgivable thing, and do you know what that is?”

He said nothing. Leo shook his shoulder, but you put a calming hand as he pulled out a gun. 

“No...no violence. Not yet. I want him completely sober, so that he can understand the magnitude of his actions. Playing nice with Batman,” You reached over and slapped his shoulder. “You sly dog, you.”

“I did...what I had to. You don’t know how this city really works!”

When Leo chose to slam his head against the table, this time, you didn’t stop him. “Actually, darling? I do. And honestly, I can understand why you did what you did. I’m actually a bit peeved that I didn’t think of it first.” Slapping your thigh, you leaned back and laughed. 

“Let me go and we can renegotiate. I won’t see this as an attack. I won’t come after you anymore, I swear!” He began to hyperventilate and Jonny handed you a gun, the weapon felt heavy in your hand. “Please! Don’t do this!”

“Fool me once, shame on you.” You took off the safety, used both hands to aim at where you wanted to shoot. “Fool me twice...”

BANG!

“Holy shit.” Leo whistled, hold loosening enough so that Cobblepot could wiggle around in agony, cussing up a storm; you’d shot him in the hand. “Holy fucking shit.” He laughed.

“I’m going to kill you for this! Rip you apart and scatter the pieces!” Oswald screamed, tears streaming down his cheeks from pain and humiliation. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with, I’ll kill you...I’ll kill you all!”

“Language, darling. I’m a lady.” You chastise Leo halfheartedly. Placing your glass down, you reached forward, snagging his tie and jerking his head forward so that he hit the table face-forward, hard. “I missed, but this time...”

BANG!

Dispassionately, you released the tie from your hand, holding the gun out for somebody to take after putting back on the safety. Romina took it, placing it in a bag with gloved hands. Jonny handed you a handkerchief and wiped at the blood splatter on your face.

Once that’s finished, you pick up your glass and raise it in a toast to Cobblepot’s corpse. “Thus, ends the reign of the Penguin.”

You should be appalled by your actions, or on the verge of a breakdown. Throwing up maybe, but just like when you’d killed Marissa, you felt nothing. Taking a life comparable to fixing the sheets on the bed in the morning, routine and easy. 

“We should be getting out of here.” Leo commented. “Do you guys hear that?”

“Hear what?” Romina asked, brows furrowed. 

“Cops. The cops are coming!!” The bouncer came rushing in, out of breath. “We gotta get out of here. Right now.”

“Then let’s go.” Grabbing the tie from around Cobblepot’s neck, you also grabbed the bottle of alcohol and glass. You didn’t complain when the rest of the motley crew started cleaning up, Leo grabbed your arm and everyone was hauling ass, not wanting to go to Blackgate or Arkham. 

Although you didn’t know it then, this is the day where the start of your legacy began, not just as the Joker’s Queen, or his woman, but you own path as his equal and his opposite.

Next morning, 11:35 A.M. Arkham Asylum

“My name’s Harleen. Doctor Harleen Quinzel. Miss Y/L/N, it’s to my understanding that you wished to get a glimpse at the inner workings of the Asylum?” The blonde, blue eyed woman in the starch white coat didn’t look like much at first glance and part of you wondered where your mother had the gall to hire someone so young to deal with these psychopaths but then again, maybe there was something to her that you were overlooking.

Clearing your throat her inquisitive look, you smiled. “Actually, Doctor Quinzel, I wanted to ask you to do a teensy-tiny favor for me.” 

Eyebrows raising, she pushed her glasses up more on the bridge of her nose as they’d slid down. “And what’s that?”

You smiled slowly. 

With a bit of coercion and subtle manipulation, you’d managed to get the good doctor to do what you wanted, but she wasn’t happy about it. Actually, you could almost say that she felt too...protective of this particular patient.

So she bore watching. 

“If isn’t my naughty girl.” J smiled in that familiar, completely insane way of his. “You came to see me? Talk about a sur-prise.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m not your anything.” There are cameras in here, so you had to be careful about what you said and did. “I wanted to see Gotham’s biggest headache in your natural habitat.” 

“Why don’t you come a little closer? I feel so disconnected with you sitting alllll the way over there.” There’s a daring tinge to Joker’s smile. Taunting.

“Do you think I’m scared of you?”

“Aren’t you?” 

Standing up from your seat, you walk around the table, stopping within arm’s distance of the King of Chaos. “See? I’m not s--”

J lunged at you, snapping his teeth and you jerked back, falling on your butt. The door burst open and guards rushed in, along with Quinzel who quickly pulled you out of the room. Pain seized throughout your body, almost like you’d been tazed and your legs went from out underneath you. 

“Y/N! Miss Y/L/N, are you okay?” Quinzel reached out, trying to calm you as your body locked up again, the veins sticking out on your neck prominently. “You must be having a seizure. God, why did this have to happen on my watch...” 

Joker’s eerie laughter echoed throughout the hall as the guards dragged him out the room. The two of you made eye contact and he winked, blood dribbling down his chin, a bruise forming near his eye. 

“The itsy-bitsy Batsy went up the waterspout, down came the Joker...”

“I...I’m fine.” Breathing in deep, you hugged the surprised blonde, “Thank you so much for protecting me, Doctor!” And you stealthily retrieved her keycard, slipping it underneath your shirt sleeve and mustering up tears that further distracted her as she helped you to your feet, trying to console you. Eventually, once you calmed down and were handed off to the guards, you switched the card’s position so that it’s in your purse. There was no trouble in going through the metal detector, thank goodness. 

Leo held the door open for you and you climbed inside the limo, glancing back at the gloomy building once more before Jonny pulled off after Leo got back in the car. 

Step one in getting J out of this place?

Success. 

[quiznakwaffles]

About Voltron’s S7 and its flawed writing

Have you ever thought « Wow, this is so amazing. The person who did that is incredible, I would have never thought of that. This is so clever ! » ? I've had. When I read FMA. When I read books written by Marguerite Yourcenar or poetry by a lot of talented people. When I read amazing fanfictions this fandom come up with.

You know when I've thought the opposite of that ? When I watched Voltron's season 7. I've rarely felt so disrespected as a viewer. I've rarely thought my intelligence had been so insulted, and I've watched Besson's Lucy. A lot of people have correctly wrote about the queerbaiting the show pulled at us. What was the point of introducing Adam and building up the hype around his relationship his Shiro it was to kill him for absolutely no acceptable reason ?

What I'm going to address isn't only the queerbaiting of the show, that a lot of people simply reduced as « being angry because ships weren't made canon ». If you really think that, maybe you should educate yourself on the matter of representation for the LGBT+ community. Who is a lot, lot larger than you think, but isn't in your mind because we're not represented anywhere. And when we're barely represented, it's for us to appear evil and/or die (or suffer endlessly). But yeah, continue thinking it's because ships weren't made canon.

What I'm going to address is the lazy and flawed writing in this season.

I've caught up with Voltron in July, and was pleasantly surprised about it. A lot of unresolved plot lines came to term in season 6, and the way it ended. It was so promising ! Paladins journeying through space, having so much time in their hands that they actually could deepen their bonds... It had so many opportunities for good content. So. Many. They were actual good moments, particularly with Hunk. And yet, I can think of a hundred ideas to give a much better content with these characters than it actually did.

What with bored and angsty Paladins in space when they could've been finding ways to keep themselves entertained and get to know each other better ? What about Romelle written as annoying when she hit it off so good with Hunk in the first episode and had a lot of potential as a comic character and strong ally to Allura (or potential love interest but that’s just me fantasying) ? Hunk had good character development about him, but even that could have been even better paced with little effort.

I see a lot of people saying “ It's a kid show, stop making it about yourself “ or "We were hyped by what we expected of it”. And of course we did, that’s what all fanbases around the world do because we’re smart being who like thinking about the plot and hoping for good content. And do you think kids are stupid ? Do you think kids don't care about relationships, friendships, conversations about feelings ? Hunk and Keith's discussion was so important, and I wish it was given more time, more consistency, and was done with other characters.

  Of course giant robots and beautifully animated intense fights in space are cool. But you know what else is ? Emotion awareness. Kids need it so bad. As we grow up, because of our misogynist society, we often see being vulnerable and talking about feelings as something feminine and shameful. Because it would be considered weak. Voltron may be a kid show, and it's for this exact reason it needs to show them how talking about your feelings and your identity, struggling about it but coming to terms with it by actually sharing about it with people around you is crucial.

But what is Voltron doing ? It's queerbaiting its fandom, killing LGBT+ characters for no purpose and making them at best invisible and at worst evil. It's portraying its own characters as unimportant, inconsistent and dumb.

  Keith and Lance have made steady progress in their relationship since season 3. But then suddenly, Keith is doubting Lance abilities when he was giving him leadership on the team before ? Keith is insulting Lance, saying he wouldn't want to be stuck up with Lance forever when they've been sharing their insecurities and trusting each other over leadership ? Have we seen the same show ?

What would it had cost them to make Keith say something like “ Lance has a family on Earth he wants to go back to so bad. And I've just reunited with mine so I guess I would want him to experiment this as well. “ Keith has grown for two years apart from them. He was supposed to be more matured, more in control about his feelings. What about those awful inconsistencies in his writing ? Making him say that wouldn't even had been a ship thing, it would just had been true and nice from him ! It would have created emotional value in the show ! What kept them to do that ?!

And Allura, oh my god ! She's such a strong and great woman, trusted with an infinite Altean's knowledge about alchemy but in season 7, she's reduced to being Lance's love interest ?! I wouldn't have minded their relationship, because it could be very sweet. But she's shown no romantic interest in the boy for the past six seasons. In season 7, they barely even talked, apart from the « Would you just shut up Lance ? ». Barely interacted on their own. And now, suddenly, they just say at each other to stay safe while blushing and really ?

Veronica, while she never saw Lance and Allura interact at all, said « I think the princess likes you back ». Like really ? You're pulling this hetero-normative trope of a third party watching a man and a woman they'd never seen interact before and judging they're in love ? This is so boring and forced. I've felt I was being talked to as if I was a kid when I watched this scene, like the show was screaming at me “ Look !! Allura never reciprocated Lance's feelings for six seasons and now, for absolutely no reason the show even bothered to tell you, she's suddenly returning them ! “ I felt like the sandwich guy from the meme. I am. I am the idiot sandwich who wouldn't understand hints about a developing relationship. I felt so embarrassed watching that whole season, wondering if the show was actually doubting my own thinking ability.

And now, my personal pet peeve. A strong woman being pictured as evil for no reason and then dying so she can atone for her sin. I couldn't even remember her name. She was the head of the Garrison. Adam was a sacrificial paw to show just how threatening Galra were (yeah, I couldn't deduce that by myself, not like they've been conquering the whole universe for ten thousand years. Silly me !) and how this woman was evil, having no second thoughts sacrificing people for absolutely. No. Purpose. We don't get a backstory or a single flashback. Once more, what would it had cost them to add something so we could have understood her reasons ? Or, more, what would it had cost them to not make her evil because she was a strong and smart woman ?

Am I the only one, as a 23 lesbian, feeling insulted by Voltron's trying to making me believe this experimented woman, head of the Garrison, just went on the enemy's territory and thought they would respect the bargain, not listening to experienced people ?! Why would this lady do such bad choices ? Am I supposed to believe she couldn't think of anything else ?! And of course, who's the nice ones trying to fix this lady's issues ? Nice guys obviously ! This mean lady made Sam Holt and that guy who spent years yelling at children and deprecating them as the nice ones !

And what about Shiro not getting closure? Neither on his relationship with Adam, neither by taking down Sendak himself, letting Keith get the spotlight (once again) and robbing him of this moment? What were the writers thinking?

And I’m not even talking about Zethrid and Ezor who were coded as romantic, unsure and supportive lesbians for a minute before swiping to evil and masochist lesbians. And I think I've already made a point about Romelle. I'm not mentioning Acxa because I didn't really thought when I watched her scenes with Keith that they were romantically coded. I think she's fond of him in a sibling way, and for once in this post, I'm not sure Voltron tried to made us think other way. But, hey, it's heterosexual so after all, no reasons for it not happening since, you know, it’s not LGBT+.

They had so much opportunities to make this show mark history. To make it meaningful, touching, ground breaking with amazing characters and sweet LGBT+ relationships developing with time. They had gold in their hands and just wasted it. That’s why I’m so sad and hurt. It could have been so great.

[goblinalchemist]

why do you think diamonds could be redeemed? it's not an attack just question

Oh God, okay. You guys want me to get deep on cartoon villains? I will.

First of all, I think this fandom has a problem with looking at the Gems the wrong way. You keep forgetting that the Gems are a completely different species than humans. They’re literally aliens. Sentient rocks living for thousands of years out there in space.Gems don’t eat, don’t sleep, don’t defecate etc. They exist to serve their purpose. They’re not born. They’re “made”. It’s like a production line of non-organic species, pretty much. If a Gem is defective and, therefore, can’t serve their original purpose, they’re disposed of. 

Diamonds are also Gems. They’re also made to serve their purpose. But their role is to lead. To rule and provide prosperity for their race, so that the Gems can live on for the next millennia. Kinda like bee or ant queen. They’re the biggest, the most powerful and the balance in their race depends on them.

For God knows how long, Gemkind have served their purpose pretty well. They managed to expand and colonise a huge part of the galaxy. They’ve created technology that greatly surpasses any known so far. They can literally accommodate to any environment.And then they end up on Earth. A new planet for a new and inexperienced Diamond. And they repeat the same process as literally every time they colonise a new planet - they arrive, they conquer and they rule. Natural inhabitants of the said planet end up either killed or placed in a “safe spot” for them to just… exist.Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Kinda like American history book.

But wait, there’s more.I see people blaming the PD for putting humans into a ZOO. So now take a step back and think. You say PD showed up on Earth - a natural habitat of the humans. She took away their space to expand her land. And then she put a handful of humans in captivity, to preserve them and to put them out for a public view for the entertainment. Hmmm… isn’t that… exactly what humankind does to animals?Just because we assume we’re superior to them and we believe their species can’t survive without our aid? And then we put them as an exhibit for families to enjoy looking at on a Sunday afternoon? 

If we follow that logic, we can pretty much guess Gems perceived humans in an animalistic way. And for a reason. Humans were strange, simple and barbaric when Gems first met them. Gems had thousands of years worth of mental development, while humans were cavemen - learning how to use fire, frolicking all day and wasting their time instead of building their empire.

Now, imagine (if you have to) that you’re a working adult, that provides for the family or has a lot of responsibilities to deal with. And then, one day, an animal shows up. Be it a cow, a chicken, a monkey - whatever you want. And the animals says “Dude, you gotta stop working. You gotta just try not doing anything. Get on your four legs, eat some grass, lie down under the sun, chase your tail or smth~ Just chill out.”

On one hand, it sounds like a charming offer. Who wouldn’t want to relax for a moment. But then you realize, that you can’t do it. You have responsibilities. A cow or a monkey can just chill. But you can’t. Because if you don’t work, you won’t have money for the necessities of life. How will you buy food? How will you pay your bills? How will you buy clothes? How will you survive just doing nothing?

Diamonds ruled the Gemkind for a long time. They never had anyone turning against them, so they believed everything is as it should be.Then, one of their own kind, suggested that they should stop working, stop providing for their family and just… act like the animals. Dance, laugh, eat, love etc.

This was unnatural. Unheard of. Of course they refused. So the one said Gem started a rebellion and broke the machine, that has been operating perfectly for millennia. For a random quirk, Rose Quartz brought chaos to everything Gems ever knew. Some of them followed her, some didn’t.

I am absolutely not saying that Diamonds are pure, innocent and beautiful. They are seen as tyrants for a reason. They are the representation of a ruler, that exists only for the leading their kind. They conquer. “Veni, vidi, vici” as said by our very own Julius Caesar himself.

But they’re also not the “Hitlers” as the SU crits are trying to make them. They CAN be redeemed. It requires a lot of work and time. It requires understanding from their side. It requires a lot of fixing. But it is possible.

Shattering the Diamonds is not a solution. It’s like taking out a big and important part of a machine - as someone nicely pointed out before. It would cause chaos and leave billions of Gems out there without a purpose. Without a voice to lead them. it would free some, but it would lead the others to madness.

[ohfreckle]

Fic: with bones unbuttoned (Malec; Explicit)

On AO3

As always I crash into a new fandom with an offering of what I do best: filthy porn.

This is my own take on what happens at the end of episode 20. Because I refuse to believe that a twenty-something-yo overachiever who likes to boss people around kisses his lover like a seventy-year-old grandma. Not when he's exploring his sexuality and has a hot-ass teacher with literally centuries of experience. Nope.

The door to the loft clangs shut loud enough to raise the dead, but Magnus couldn’t care less. He’s glad Alec had the mind to remember. 

Weak echoes in Magnus’s mind when Alec pulls him close again. Their mouths crash together in another kiss and Magnus moans into it, needy and desperate, lets his mouth go slack and opens up for the rough stroke of Alec’s tongue.

Magnus has lived with this truth for centuries, he didn’t need the Seelie queen to remind him. But he’s been never more aware of it than right now.

Weak, because he has no defense against Alec’s heat against him, the way his body curves into Alec’s, a perfect fit.

“I can’t be without you,” Alec rasps, his voice low and raw, barely more than a breath against Magnus’s lips. “When you said you couldn’t be with me—Magnus, I… I couldn’t bear to even think about that.” His mouth is sweet and rough over Magnus’s.

Weak, because the only thing that’s holding him up is Alec’s hands against his hips, strong and just tight enough to hurt, and fuck all, Magnus will be weak for all eternity if it means Alec won’t stop touching him like this.

“I’m glad you didn’t,” Magnus says, curling his hands into the back of Alec’s shirt and pushing against him. He needs to be closer, has to try at least because they’re already chest to chest, barely any space between them. Magnus can feel the muscles in Alec’s back shift with every breath, and by the angels, he can’t wait to get rid of these clothes and get his hands and mouth on that vast expanse of skin, but there are things that need to be said.

People often underestimate Alec because of his age. But it’s him who time and time conquered his fear and bared himself to Magnus, made himself vulnerable, even when Magnus couldn’t. Gave Magnus the most precious gift tonight, and damn it all, Magnus can’t live without him, either. After all these years he finally gets to have this, somebody who loves him, who’s strong enough and willing to fight for him, gives as much as he takes.

Magnus can’t remember the last time somebody offered that kind of strength. There’s always something somebody needs from him. With Alec he’s allowed to have needs, for once to let go. Be weak.

“I couldn’t—” Magnus starts, groaning when Alec tightens his hands on his hips, a little warning that Alec’s patience and Magnus’s time to get this right is quickly coming to an end. “I didn’t think I had the right to ask you to take me back,” he finally confesses on a rush of breath.

A small, private smile curls Alec’s lips, completely at odds with the heated urgency Magnus can feel thrumming through his body. “You need to start listening to me,” Alec says, brushing his lips against Magnus’s temple.

Magnus nods, his breath stuttering when Alec’s hands slide lower and settle on his ass. “I do listen,” Magnus says. He does, he’s just not used to people telling the truth. “We always find our way back to each other.” It’s not a plea or question. There’s no room for doubts anymore, just absolute belief. It seems there are some things Alec can teach him despite his youth.

Magnus rocks his hips, drawing a sharp hiss from Alec. He’s hard, the thick bulge of his cock pressing against Magnus’s stomach, sending the lust that’s been simmering just beneath Magnus’s skin into a churning wave of all-consuming want so hot he’s shaking with it.

“Alexander, I…”

Alec’s hands squeeze around him, slow and hard, his fingers digging into the meat of Magnus’s ass. It’s oddly grounding. “Magnus, stop talking! There’ll be enough time for that tomorrow.”

Alec’s eyes go from warm to hot without so much as a warning, something wild in his gaze, steel under it. It makes Magnus’s belly quake, his whole body rushing with heat. He leans up to bridge the slight distance between them and Alec is already there, meeting him half-way for a bruising kiss. For long moments it’s all lips and teeth and raw need before Alec draws back and takes a shuddering breath. He looks wrecked, that generous mouth wet and bruised red, and it’s impossible not to touch him. Magnus curls a hand around Alec’s jaw and kisses him again, turning it slow and sensual and filthy while he trails his other hand down Alec’s chest, pinching a nipple until Alec’s huffs out a harsh groan against his lips, and lower still.

Alec’s whole body goes rigid. He nips Magnus’s bottom lip and sucks on his tongue, hips straining against the fingers on his zipper, legs shifting wider, making room for Magnus’s hand between his legs. Magnus squeezes, slow and deliberate, curling his fingertips into Alec’s heavy sac. “Shit!” Alec jolts, breaking the kiss with a curse. “Again,” he demands breathlessly. This time Magnus squeezes harder, pulling a harsh Yeah, like that from Alec. Gods, he’s missed this, the heat and weight of Alec’s cock against his palm, the way Alec throws his head back and rides his pleasure with complete and utter abandon.

It’s been a privilege to teach him that. Alec is a man of dedication. Dedicated to the fight for good and to those he loves, to every new task presented to him, always striving to give his best and far beyond. Alec’s exploration of their mutual pleasure has been a delightful journey for both of them, that same dedication evident in every touch on Magnus’s body. Alec may still be figuring out the day-to-day aspects of their relationship, they both are, but this, here — Alec Lightwood was born to fuck.

Magnus’s knees hit the floor before he can even think about it. His fingers are shaking with anticipation, tugging on the zipper hard enough to draw a startled hiss from Alec. His mouth opens at the sight of Alec’s hard cock straining against his black briefs and Magnus shudders for air, pressing his face against the fabric, mouthing along the thick shaft until the fabric turns wet and salty against his lips. He groans and opens his mouth over the head, coaxing bursts of precome onto his tongue with slow, leisurely sucks. He’s distantly aware of his own cock leaking into his pants, the soft thud of Alec’s jacket and shirt hitting the floor, so lost in Alec’s scent and taste that he almost startles when strong fingers wind into his hair and pull his head back.

“Magnus, come on,” Alec urges, his voice a hoarse murmur. Fuck, he’s magnificent, all lean strength and corded muscle, his pupils completely blown with lust. Magnus looks up and drinks him in, a languid kind of pleasure trickling down his spine.

His.

“My pleasure,” Magnus breathes, giving in to the gentle pressure against his nape. He peels the waistband down and holds Alec’s cock steady, curls his tongue around the head, gets him sloppy and wet before he sucks him down to the root. Magnus loves sucking cock, loves the taste and the heavy weight of it on his tongue and the helpless arch and shudder of Alec’s thighs under his hands.

He almost misses it, notices it only when the need for breath forces him to pull off with a filthy pop: a stamina rune high on Alec’s groin. Magnus doesn’t need to see the stark black to know that it’s new, he’s mapped every single rune on Alec’s body with his mouth and hands. He’s sure that he would find a silvery scar of the very same rune on Alec’s biceps if he’d search for it.

“Why here?” he asks, tracing the intricate design with a finger.

“Thought I might need it.”

Magnus’s heart gives a distressing lurch. Alec, a virile young man with the libido to prove it, drew a stamina rune next to his cock right before he came to the bar to tell Magnus he couldn’t live without him.

“I, ah… wasn’t that a bit presumptuous?” he rasps, trying to make light of it. He doesn’t think he can hold it together if he lets his emotions get the better of him now.

“A guy can hope,” Alec says, nothing but a low murmur, heated and intimate.

It’s hot enough to melt Magnus’s bones. Just the thought of what Alec can do with that rune sends a rush of want through his body that leaves him ruined, throbbing with the need to be split open and fucked.

“Use it!”

The stele leaves a faint trace of redness around the edges. The rune is still hot when Magnus leans in and runs the flat of his tongue over it, a metallic tang clinging to the skin. It draws a full body shudder from Alec, so Magnus does it again, scraping his teeth over the newly marked skin.

“Come here,” Alec pants, pulling Magnus up from where he’s still kneeling and into a bruising kiss. “What do you want?”

“Fuck me,” Magnus says, wrapping his hand around Alec’s cock, teasing him with a slow twist of his wrist. “Get in me and give it to me until all I’ll ever remember is your name.”

Alec pulls in a shaky breath. He looks stunned, uncertain for a moment, but then something about him shifts and settles. His features sharpen, eyes glittering with hunger.

“Get on the bed, naked. Hands and knees.”

The order hits Magnus like a punch to the gut and sends his heart tripping. Alec showing authority, whether he’s barking orders at the Institute or tells Maryse to shut the fuck up, always gets him going, but he’s always been careful not let it show. Maybe not careful enough or Alec knows him better than he thought.

Magnus feels dizzy with this new discovery, but he makes it to the bedroom without incident. He’s beyond done with patience for today, so their clothes vanish with a flick of his wrist. The silken sheets are cool against his palms and knees, golden one moment, a deep red the next. Just fabulous, he hasn’t even been touched yet and already his control is slipping.

Alec’s weight dipping the mattress is a welcome distraction. A light tap against the inside of Magnus’s thigh comes as a gentle reminder to spread his legs. Magnus slides his knees wide and arches his back, making room for Alec to kneel between his legs. It puts him completely on display, ass spread and the hang of his cock heavy beneath, and he can tell from Alec’s sharp inhale that he likes the view.

“You’re gorgeous,” Alec murmurs, teeth scraping against Magnus’s nape. “Missed this.” A sharp pinch to his nipple. “Missed you.” Blunt fingernails scratching into the hair at the base of his cock.

Alec’s touch may lack the finesse of an experienced lover, but it shakes Magnus to the core. He tries to remember when he’s last been touched with such reverence, such raw, unbridled desire, and comes up empty-handed.

A bloom of heat starts between his shoulder blades and Magnus barely muffles the groan that tears out of him when Alec pushes firmly between his shoulders until his chest is flush against the mattress. Alec mouths down his spine, sucking kisses against every knob; a wet lick at the top of his ass and down between his cheeks, quick and teasing, and Magnus shivers with the familiar squeeze of anticipation in his belly for the wet heat of Alec’s mouth.

“Please,” he shudders out, his voice thick with need. Out of the corner of his eye he can see his black nail polish change to a dark red that matches the sheets.

“Please what?” Alec drags his thumb down the cleft of Magnus’s ass, deliberate and a little rough.

“Please…” Magnus shudders, “please lick me.”

Just saying it out loud makes Magnus’s gut clench. He loves getting his ass eaten, the decadent, filthy intimacy of it, can’t hold back a whine when Alec pulls him wide, strong fingers digging into the meat of his ass. First there’s a tiny lick right where Magnus’s needs it, but it’s there and gone in the blink of an eye and leaves Magnus’s hole clenching against nothing, quivering against nothing more than a gust of warm breath. No, nonono… He arches his spine to offer himself up, groaning with relief when Alec finally takes pity on him and licks a wide, wet stripe from his balls to the top of his crack.

“Yeah, let me hear you,” Alec rasps, sliding his tongue over the trembling clutch of Magnus’s hole. He teases him with light taps of his tongue, working him with just the tip.

Magnus trembles with the feeling of that soft wetness at his hole, slick and warm. It’s unbearable. Not enough, too much. “More… please…”

Alec just hums, trails his mouth lower and sucks a filthy, open-mouthed kiss against Magnus’s balls. Magnus whimpers out a sob as his whole body wrings tight in a harsh spasm of pleasure. Fuck, he could probably come like, he thinks, a little wild, and then he’s not thinking at all because everything turns blinding white when Alec licks his hole and sucks, a filthy, heated pulse of pressure that sends the fire in Magnus’s roaring, burns him up with another surge of shuddering, roiling need.

“I love doing this to you,” Alec pants against his hole, the words slurring together with arousal. “Love how much you love it.” He scrapes his teeth against the rim and Magnus shouts.

“You’re pretty here, too, so pink and wet.” Magnus isn’t sure whether he wants to laugh or cry that now of all times Alec decides to get wordy, but it doesn’t matter when Alec sucks hard kisses against his hole, gets him sloppy and wet before he fucks his tongue inside. Magnus lifts his ass into it, fucks himself on Alec’s mouth, begging with his whole body, breath hitching every time Alec’s tongue snags on muscle.

“Can you come like this?” Alec asks when he draws back for some much-needed air, his voice rough between sucked-in breaths. “I think I can. Come from licking you out.”

Fuck.

Magnus presses his cheek into the damp sheets and nods, squeezing his eyes shut until colorful bursts of light explode behind his eyelids. He can’t look, oh gods, not with the familiar, slick sounds of Alec working his cock, the slow dip of the mattress every time Alec rolls his hips into his fist, or it will all be over in a second. Magnus’s skin feels too tight, like it can’t possibly contain the amalgam of magic and need running rapid and hot through his body. Maybe he’s taught Alec too well. He very well might not survive this, immortal or not.

Alec’s right palm is wet against his ass when he leans in again, spreading him even wider with his thumbs pressed to either side of Magnus’s hole, opening him up enough for it to burn. Magnus wrenches the sheets in both hands when Alec’s tongue laps right into him, coaxing his hole loose and pliant, wringing pleasure from him with slick, searing strokes of his tongue that have Magnus’s back arching and his breath stuttering in his throat.

He’s moving, rolling his hips against Alec’s face. Everything in him burns, melting into a white-hot coil in his gut that winds tighter with every stab of Alec’s tongue, every little sound that Alec hums against his hole. Breathless, hungry groans, as if there’s no place he’d rather be than with his face pressed between the cheeks of Magnus’s ass.

It’s this thought that has Magnus choking on a ragged breath. He can’t take it, can’t do anything but screw his knees into the mattress and arch his back, crying out hoarse with desperation, and finally the hot coil of need in his gut snaps. His magic flares with a sharp crack and then he’s coming with a sob, streams of come spattering onto the sheets, his hole spasming around Alec’s tongue.

Alec licks him through it until Magnus can’t bear it, his hole raw and sensitive, and he has to twist away. He misses Alec’s mouth the second he collapses onto the sheets.

“Magnus, that was… fuckfuckfuck,” Alec swears, his voice nothing but a rasp. He’s fucking his own fist, the obscene sound of wet skin against skin drowning out even Magnus’s own harsh breathing. He comes with a hiss, the splash of his come slick and warm against the top of Magnus’s ass, the inside of his thighs. It’s filthy and Magnus loves it, the feeling being of marked, a bone-deep shiver shaking him when he feels the drag of Alec’s fingers slowly rubbing his come into his skin. Alec runs a hand between Magnus’s cheeks, fingers and palm rough against his hole, and all Magnus can do is lift his ass into it and pant his lust into the sheets.

“Want me to fuck you like this?” Alec murmurs.

Magnus feels Alec cock slide against balls, the blunt head pushing between his cheeks. Gods, he’s still half-hard, big and hot and perfect, bless that stamina rune, and Magnus wants him inside so bad he can taste it, the sharp stretch—

“Magnus? Love?”

There’s something Magnus wants to say but he can’t get the words out, his chest suddenly too tight with the need to see Alec’s face. Nobody has called him that in over a century. For so many years he’s been somebody else’s darling, baby or even sweetheart, but love… He struggles onto his back, kicking at the sheets and probably at Alec, who’s still kneeling between his legs, too, barely getting his wit together enough to clean the sheets with a weak flick of his wrist.

“There you are,” Alec says, lips stretched into a wide smile when their eyes finally meet. It takes Magnus’s a moment to grasp what he means. Of course, his cat eyes. Alec loves them. By the time they hit a horizontal surface or one of them drops to his knees the glamour usually comes off.

“What did you just call me?” Magnus blurts out, biting his lips the moment the words fly out of his mouth. It comes out all wrong, too tense, his throat tight with emotion.

“You don’t like it?” Alec asks. He looks way too smug and his eyes are crinkling at the corners, so it’s probably safe to say that Magnus’s feelings are splashed all over his face.

Magnus slips a hand behind his neck and pulls him down to crash their mouth together in a searing kiss, tongue slipping into Alec’s mouth to curl and lick and taste himself. “I love it,” he murmurs between slow kisses. “I want you to call me that, every single day.”

“I can do that,” Alec whispers into the hot air between them, licking along the seam of Magnus’s lips. Magnus opens for it, greedy, and Alec licks into his mouth like he’s starving. Magnus’s whole body is flaring up with how good it feels.

They crash back against the bed in a tangle of limbs and breathless moans. Alec is a long line of heat pressed against his side. Magnus can’t stop looking at him, lets his eyes roam that magnificent body, the wide span of Alec’s shoulders, his hard cock, and gods, Magnus just wants.

“Like this,” he pants, drawing Alec’s hand between his legs.

“Yeah.” Alec rubs his fingertips over Magnus’s hole, slow and hard, slipping one finger into him to the first knuckle. It burns, even with how wet and open Magnus feels. His rim is still sensitive and he can’t stop a hiss from slipping out.

“Too much?”

“Yes,” Magnus rasps, tongue darting out to wet his lips. “Don’t stop.” He doesn’t mind the good kind of hurt. They both don’t.

Alec bends to kiss him again and fucks him slowly, just that one finger sliding into him over and over. Magnus’s mouth goes slack, his eyes dipping shut. He shivers with another sharp surge of want in his belly, feels raw, stripped, stretched thin with need. He’s hard again, his cock throbbing with every slow suck of Alec’s mouth against his collarbone.

“More,” he breathes, curling one hand into the hair on Alec’s chest, fumbling for the lube with the other. Alec hums but doesn’t stop mouthing at his skin, just pulls his finger from Magnus’s hole long enough for Magnus to blindly slick his fingers.

He keeps asking for more in a breathless string of Alexander and please, interrupted only by an unhappy protest when Alec moves away. Alec settles down on his knees and Magnus’s thighs slide open around his hips. For a moment he forgets that hunger deep in his body and just stares at Alec looming large in the space between his knees. Gods, he’s beautiful, that powerful body slick with sweat, his lips red and swollen, his eyes—

His eyes are full of everything Magnus has ever dreamed of.

“Want you to come for me again,” Alec says. He fucks into Magnus with three fingers, curling sharply within him and rubbing firm and deep where he needs it, dragging his knuckles along the rim from the inside every time he pulls out.

Magnus’s whole world goes raw and hot. He’s dripping, his cock drooling against his belly and down his thighs with every stroke against his prostate. Throat hurting with the breathless sounds Alec wrenches out of him Magnus rolls his hips in tight circles, trying to make the pressure constant.

“Fuck, Alec, like that, please…,” Magnus pants. His magic is thrumming deep within him, so hard that he feels his entire body is pulsing with it. He’s almost there, just needs…oh gods, something, anything. He tugs on his hair, curls a hand around his cock only to have it knocked off by Alec’s hand. Alec looks as wrecked as Magnus feels, his eyes blown wide and fixed between Magnus’s legs, watching Magnus’s hole trying to pull him deeper.

“Just fuck me,” Magnus begs, every muscle in his body taut and trembling.

“I will, after you’ve come for me.” Alec shoots him a wicked grin and spreads his fingers, pushing deep and hard, humming along to the string of expletives Magnus grits out when Alec finally takes mercy and fists his cock. His hand is hot around Magnus’s cock, teasing Magnus’s slit with his thumb spreading the come that’s pooling it around in tight circles and then Magnus’s is shaking, his bones melting together as the waves of ecstasy roll over him.

“Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?” Alec asks, his voice strained as he pulls out of Magnus’s clutching body, leaving his hole pulsing open around nothing. All Magnus can do is sob out a shaky laugh, because if it’s anything like what Alec is doing to him, they’re both fucked to all eternity.

“Get in me, Alexander,” Magnus says instead. He slides his legs open in blatant invitation, languid with satisfaction so shortly after his mind-numbing orgasm. His arousal is burnt down to a simmer just below his skin for now, allowing him to fully appreciate the sight of Alec slicking his own cock with lingering touches, drawing the pleasure out.

“Greedy,” Alec says, leaning in and pressing Magnus’s thighs wide with his hips. He smirks down on Magnus, holding himself up with one straining arm next to Magnus’s head. It’s hot as hell, chasing away any coherent thought Magnus might have had left. “For you, always,” is all Magnus manages, brushing his fingers over the new rune on Alec’s hip.

He drags in a mouthful of air and relaxes, welcomes the heft of Alec’s cock pressing against his hole. Alec pushes hard and goes all the way in with a low groan, one slow, maddening slide, fucking that raw, hot burn deeper into than Magnus has ever felt before.

Magnus’s mouth falls open at the feel of it, at that heavy slide inside of him. Alec rides him with short sharp thrusts, right up in his gut where Magnus needs him, driving deep into him and fucking out an agonized moan. Magnus squeezes down on Alec’s cock shamelessly, loves feeling full to the brim, wants it to never end. Wants Alec, all the time.

“Fuck, Magnus, do that again,” Alec grits out, draws his hips back and then sinks in deep with a hiss when Magnus clenches down. It’s fast and messy and Magnus can’t stop touching, skittering his fingers over Alec’s chest and shoulders, clawing his nails down Alec’s back, leaving marks. Magnus pants at the hot surge of desperation prickling over his skin, squirming down onto Alec’s cock, the muscles of his splayed thighs trembling.

He’s only half hard, but he can already feel the pleasure pulling tight in his insides. He arches up against the slide of Alec’s cock, breaching him so wide he feels like he’s flying apart, yanks Alec down to taste the hard slide his tongue. Like this there’s barely any space between them, their mouths sliding together without finesse.

“Magnus… I can’t…” Alec grits out. His voice is wrecked, low and hoarse. He grinds deep and up against Magnus’s balls, rolls his hips in slow, deep curves. He’s completely lost in pleasure, his whole body straining with need. Magnus needs to feel him come.

“Do it,” Magnus trembles out, “in me.” Alec chokes out a tight noise, grinds down viciously and then he’s coming, his head thrown back with unrestrained pleasure as he soaks Magnus’s insides with warm spurts of come. Magnus’s cock jerks weakly at the friction burn of Alec’s lower body, the sudden slickness of his ass and the intimate jerk of Alec’s cock inside him enough to tip him over the edge again, hot and sudden and dry.

Alec slumps down on him with a shuddering sigh, spent and loose. He’s hot against Magnus’s chest, too heavy, mouthing a wet kiss into the hollow of Magnus’s throat. Magnus simply tilts his head back and slides a hand into his hair, pressing himself as close as he can, exhausted and skin-hungry.

“We should get cleaned up,” he says when he eventually catches his breath, but he doesn’t move, clinging to the feeling of Alec softening inside of him for a little longer. He’s filthy, spit and come running down his thighs, and he’ll have to heal them both or they’ll feel this fuck for days.

Alec hums and burrows closer, his breath already evening out. “In a minute, love.”

Something like this was never meant for Magnus, never his to keep, but damn it all to hell, he’ll move mountains and whole realms if he has to.

[wenamedthedogkylo]

So I started writing my own review of The Last Jedi on Rotten Tomatoes because I have a lot of thoughts on it, and I’m feeling pumped so why the hell not post it here, too.

It continues to shock me that so many movie-goers don't see the incredible story-telling that went into The Last Jedi, but after some thinking I think I understand the root of the vitriol. Star Wars is a big series—it goes without saying but deserves reiterating—and over its long life has acquired a very specific image which many fans cling to. It's a large-scale space opera, full of the struggle between good and evil, light and dark, and a plethora of other elevated themes which give it a heightened air. It sits atop a special pedestal for many fans, who don't particularly like when anything comes along which rocks that pedestal.

But TLJ has rocked it with some incredibly simple concepts which drive home powerful messages, and fans aren't having it. Which is a shame, because they're messages which are sorely needed today, and especially in this franchise. Spoilers ahead.

The first is the basic idea that Star Wars, its story, and its characters are for everyone. We've seen backlash to the changes following this concept already in the racists crawling out of the woodworks to slam John Boyega and his dark-skinned Stormtrooper Finn, and now spewing hate at actress Kelly Marie Tran and her character Rose Tico, the first visibly Asian character in SW. We saw it in the gatekeepers decrying the choice of Rey as the series' new Jedi character, throwing out terms like "Mary Sue" for her highly developed piloting abilities and her immense strength with the Force, yet missing the irony of not applying such labels to their heroes Anakin and Luke.

The idea that SW is for everyone feels threatening to the gatekeepers in the fandom, and so they lash out at TLJ for how much further it takes this notion than The Force Awakens did before it. Not just in introducing Rose, but in giving us a number of startling (and occasionally long overdue) firsts, like palpable visual evidence of General Leia Organa using the Force. Although it has been canon since the original trilogy that Leia is as Force-sensitive as her twin brother Luke, and the Expanded Universe has given us multiple stories in which Leia goes full Jedi, many fans balked at actually seeing the princess-turned-general use the Force to save her life. By the looks of it, the reasoning against this seems to be "it was out of character" or "unrealistic", an odd line of thinking given the amazing feats other Force-users have been able to accomplish. Why should Leia be any different, particularly when she's had 30 years in which to experiment with her abilities? We don't see those 30 years, so we don't really know how far she might have pushed learning to use the Force tangibly. There's nothing particularly unrealistic about it.

The other thing people don't seem to be agreeing with is TLJ's bold statement that the Force does not belong to the Jedi. Even after six movies, many fans still don't seem to be able to reckon with the notion that the Jedi and their counterpart, the Sith, were in many ways equally detrimental to the balance of the Force. The Sith took their passion and lust for power to extremes, while the Jedi's emotional detachment and adherence to faith in the Force proved too passive and constricting, resulting in their downfall. The new generation of characters and movies opens the path for the Force to truly be put into balance—no more Jedi, no more Sith, just people learning to use their abilities in harmony. But with our heroine Rey revealed to be refreshingly unrelated to anyone else in the series, many fans feel cheated by how open this leave the narrative. Unfortunate, considering that fresh characters and new stories are what keeps Star Wars afloat.

It bears mentioning, too, that opening SW up to all audiences in TLJ meant some particular story-telling devices and humor which fans felt landed flat. I, for one, enjoyed the humor which was injected into TLJ particularly because it chipped away at the lofty pedestal on which fans have ensconced the series. Star Wars is first and foremost about people in all their awkwardness and hilarity, and for those fans who say that humor has no place in SW, I would simply point back to this moment between Luke and Han on Tatooine in Return of the Jedi:

Han: "I think my eyes are getting better. Instead of a big dark blur, I see a big light blur." Luke: "There's nothing to see. I used to live here, you know." Han: "You're going to die here, you know. Convenient."

Finally, one of the most important messages of TLJ which fans are rejecting is one which was summarized best by the surprise appearance of Yoda in Force-ghost form. As Luke struggles to come to terms with his past mistakes and how they're shaping the future, Yoda gives him some sound advice: "The greatest teacher, failure is."

Failure is a thread which runs heavy throughout TLJ, and it's not something audiences are used to having to worry about so deeply. As a collective, and particularly where Star Wars is concerned, we expect that things are going to work out. More than that, we expect to be in the know on every little piece of narrative so that we can brace ourselves for potential failures and be ready to cheer when the heroes triumph.

But TLJ does not give us that omniscience, and for many, that's enough to be a movie ruiner instead of a game changer. From the start, we watch our new favorite flying ace Poe Dameron brush failure as his rash actions lead to the deaths of countless rebels. When he's held accountable, we feel for him, because his idea of success includes the option of going down in a blaze of glory. That's an ideal for him, and as audiences it's an idea we've been conditioned to applaud, even when reality shows that that is not always the best route. So we feel for Poe because we agree with him, but TLJ smacks us as sharply as Leia smacks Poe and reminds us that living to keep those you're fighting for safe is far more effective than dying a hero and being unable to protect them.

We see failure taken further still. We're fully on board with Poe and his mutiny as the story progresses, because Admiral Holdo and the narrative are holding their plans captive from Poe and us. We don't like being kept in the dark as an audience; we're conditioned to feel as though this means the one withholding plans is naturally in the wrong. So watching Poe's mutiny tank, learning that his plans and those of Finn and Rose have all been for naught, is a crushing blow. But most audiences appear to be taking this as a personal slight rather than as a learning moment. We should always be skeptical of authority figures, and blindly following orders is more often harmful than helpful, but as TLJ shows us here, there are also times when acting without all the facts or thought for the consequences can be just as deadly. It feels like a waste of time to some, watching Finn and Rose have an adventure in a space casino only to have it all be for nothing, but Yoda's words ring out true here too: failure is the most powerful teacher, and our heroes prove their mettle by bouncing back from said failures and giving their all to winning the day.

Finally, for those who took the greatest issue with Luke's character arc in TLJ, there is some comfort to be had in again looking back to the original trilogy. Luke Skywalker has always been a relatable hero because he's the boy from nowhere. He lead an unimportant life on Tatooine and dreamed of greater things. Suddenly, fortune (or the Force) brought him into the greater story of the galaxy, and it turned out that he was actually someone of great importance. As a good hero does, he rose to the occasion, but as any human person does, he met setbacks and struggled with doubt. Throughout the first trilogy, doubt was Luke's greatest enemy, particularly self-doubt. He seemed to have conquered it by the climax of RotJ, but remember that there are 30 years between then and TFA which we only have had glimpses of. Old insecurities don't die easily, and it's easy to see how they could have come crawling back to haunt Luke as hard as they did. A lone man trying to rebuild the entire Jedi Order on his own when he had only a partial training himself? That's a lot of pressure, even for someone who almost single-handedly took down the Galactic Empire, destroyed the Emperor, and redeemed his father. Under such pressure, it's hard to expect anyone, even a hero, to remain perfectly confident. So when confronted with the raw power of his nephew, how can we blame him for being terrified and reacting badly?

What is most important about Luke which is made clear in TLJ is that he is our hero not because of his weaknesses, but because he always overcomes them. He stops himself from killing his nephew in instinct, and although timing and fate still deliver a sad outcome, there's a lot to be said for his restraint and repulsion at his own doubts in Ben. After being in hiding for years, he steps in and saves the day on Crait to allow the Rebellion another chance at life, at carrying on the fight. And most of all, as sad as it is to watch him go, he becomes one with the Force at peace, having finally learned to reconcile his doubt with his faith, his insecurities with his sense of right and wrong. And it's all the more touching a moment for it.

All in all, The Last Jedi is a challenge which most viewers seem only to take at face value, rejecting the offered opportunity for expanding our idea of what heroes look like, how they behave, what they overcome, and what their stories look like. All these ideas are wrapped in an exciting Star Wars adventure which is full of the incredible visuals and battles we've come to expect, but without that expected feel-good pat on the head and assurance that everything will be alright just as it always has been. Because that's not the point of The Last Jedi. Everything will indeed be alright, but nothing is ever the same as it was before, and that's all for the better. Change is hard, but eventually, we learn to see how much better off we are for it. I am thrilled to see Star Wars take leaps and bounds into new directions and explore every corner of humanity and our potential. One can only hope that others will learn to see this progress for the good in it, as well.

[kingofthewilderwest]

Yo, so I've been avoiding your blog lately as I've been contemplating watching Voltron. You seem to know all about it and I was wondering if you would recommend? From what I've heard it's a great show, but I'm wondering if I can take the emotional heartbreak. Also, I'm like halfway through watching like 4 or 5 shoes at the moment so.. stress. Anyway would you recommend? Also thanks for answering if you do!

Hello hello there! I hope can help you decide on your watch list!

So, I personally consider Voltron: Legendary Defender THE best ongoing animated show out right now - hands down, no dispute. It’s headed by the people who worked on ATLA and Korra, and you can totally tell! The story has incredible characters, masterfully crafted short-term and long-term plot arcs, beautiful visuals, great humor, good treatment of in-depth concepts, powerful emotional content, a fuckton of smart foreshadowing, and more. Absolutely outstanding execution through and through. It means that I wholeheartedly recommend it, and have been consistently dragging a number of my url and irl friends down the fandom hole with me. Frankly if someone were to ask me a recommendation for any one show out there right now, I’d be lovingly shoving them Voltron every time. It has everything I could want in a good story.

But of course I do want to be sensitive to your concern about emotional heartbreak so… I’ll try to non-spoiler talk about how the show goes down emotionally so you can decide what’s best for you.

Voltron: Legendary Defender isn’t a show I’d call heartbreaking and sad, nor would it be a show that I call dark and painful. Of course, it’s an action show, and with that it does have a sense of dangerous stakes.

This means that Voltron is going to have good humorous content that will make you laugh very hard, but it’ll also have moments where you are tense, nervous at the edge of your seat. Personally I have gotten very gripped into the show - and as obsessed fans tend to do - I will find myself wanting to scream into pillows at certain moments because they’re that exciting and intense to me. I get VERY invested and emotional about the show. But it depends on how invested you get into shows. Depending on how invested you get in shows, there miiiiight be two or three instances you feel you’re going to have a heart attack because of some shocking and high-stakes action involving our main characters.

Emotional elements I feel are well-done. I feel a range of emotions watching VLD. Yes, yes, there are definitely some feelsy, angsty, or sad moments. We delve into the hearts of the characters, good and bad, and their lives aren’t happy-go-lucky. So there will be occasional moments of heartbreak. Particularly, there’s one powerful season 4 scene where I think most of us cried… that hurt like fuck. The writers make it up to us moments later… but that scene itself was dark and painful.

So heartbreak isn’t the overarching mood of Voltron. It’s really not. It’s got much more levity and fun action-adventure and exciting danger swirled into it. If you can get through The Legend of Korra or something, you’ll be just fine with VLD. How to Train Your Dragon 2 is more central in the heartbreak element given Stoick’s death being central to the plot… VLD doesn’t pull something like that. So it’s really not a heartbreak-central show at all. Full of feels and emotions, absolutely. Heartbreaking, no. 

If it helps to vaguely mention some of the content major and minor characters go through, we thus far have: a decent number of off-screen and on-screen secondary character deaths, main characters having close scrapes with death, a main character searching for alien-abducted family members who may or may not still be alive, a main character who sort of lost their family (we don’t know details) and has trust and abandonment issues, a main character with PTSD who got psychologically and a bit physically fucked up from being abducted and experimented on, gladiator matches, the enemy experimenting on and physically altering unwilling participants, on-screen mild torture scenes for secondary characters (like, zapping people), forced labor and poor treatment of conquered subjects, and characters willingly sacrificing or almost sacrificing their lives for the overall mission. The writers don’t necessarily shy away from this stuff, but it’s not like it’s intense or PG-13 or particularly dark or something either… and of course we’re also balancing this with ridiculous lighthearted shenanigans like characters playing video games, screwing around in space malls, milking cows (and flying on them?), putting on an ice skating show, playing space dodge ball, getting into a food fight, and competing for who makes the best laser sound effect.

So I explode in feels from the show. I want to scream about some of the close scrapes my precious babies have had. Granted, I’m someone who thrives in stories that give me painful feels, and I milk out all the pain I can get in story because it’s what I love, but I also find myself regularly laughing so hard from VLD my sides hurt. It’s your choice, but honestly, if I could recommend any show to anyone, I would definitely say Voltron: Legendary Defender.

P.S. No worries about avoiding blogs for the sake of avoiding spoilers and stuff - I get it! I’ve done it too, haha! XD XD XD If it helps, I do have everything very thoroughly tagged for people to blacklist and avoid on their desktop dash - just block #vld and you’ll see nothing about Voltron from me. :)

Hope this helps, friend! And if you end up watching the show, you’re always free to come laughing, screaming, or whatever to me! :D