#of course he can still be the hero! literally nothing in the world has ever proven otherwise!!!

[mummer]

barry being obsessed with going all YourFaveIsProblematic on 'great men' as a way to justify himself because if they could do bad things and still be regarded as great then so can he. he’s “doing” the “work” of “bettering himself” and berating sally for being drunk because it “sets a bad example” and hiding guns behind live laugh love decor. He’s literally putting on a wholesomecore front lol, he’s play acting as a ted lasso type and using lib therapy language which is indistinguishable from when he’s using evangelical language which is all utterly meaningless and he uses it as a violence. Ha ha ha

[crownedwithstars]

I was thinking of Beren and Lúthien and how their story is so much more interesting than they get credit for. I mean, on the surface it reads like a fairy tale but it also elevates the rest of the story, it uses common fairy tale tropes but turns them upside down, and the way we see the heroine asserting her agency in this story is so fascinating. I think the story of Beren and Lúthien provides much needed contrast for the rest of the Silm, and both become more poignant because of this contrast. 

The familiar fairy tale goes like this: there's a a poor but resourceful peasant, set with a difficult task (which is in fact designed to be impossible to complete), but thanks to some magical help he is successful, retrieves treasure, and as a reward he wins the king's daughter and lives happily ever after as a prince, gaining all the earthly glory one can have in this life. But in the Tale of Beren and Lúthien, the hero is a traumatised outlaw, the king's daughter IS the magical help, she is an active and equal participant in the quest for her own hand in marriage, the treasure may actually be cursed, the hero and heroine die, and the ultimate reward is not a social rise from rags to riches. Beren does not become a member of the power-wielding elite of Doriath and he and Lúthien are not promised that their second life will be happy or long. But just that chance is worth it, and by choosing it they actually change the course of history. Lúthien is offered all the bliss that is possible to have in Arda, if she will give up Beren, but she decides that the love she has for him is still more valuable. And that idea, of loving someone so much that your love shifts the world, is so compelling to me. 

And I love that the story of Beren and Lúthien is also a rendition of Orpheus and Eurydice, and that just as the world was created in the Music of the Ainur, so is Lúthien's song powerful enough to change what those original notes dictated. She changes it with hope and a song. That is so simple and yet so beautiful, in the way some of the best myths are. (Insane that this is essentially a love-letter to Edith Tolkien.)

There is this fascinating contrast between Beren and Lúthien: at the time of their first meeting, Beren has lost literally everything and his family is either dead or lost beyond retrieval. Stumbling across Lúthien, he is fresh from terrible ordeals and suffering. But Lúthien's life has been full of happiness and without care, and she has lived in a literal fairy kingdom as the most beautiful of all the Children of Ilúvatar. She could have her pick of any prince of Eldar. But here she comes across this mortal, who has nothing to give except for his love and even that only for a brief time, and she is willing to risk all she has for it. The gall and courage it takes to take such a chance! She chooses this man and her choice changes everything. 

And that is brilliant! Because Lúthien starts with so little power and agency, and she is constantly belittled or even abused by those with more power around her. She is treated as a pawn, her will is undermined and she is coerced and imprisoned to make her compliant. But Lúthien shows her determination and courage in holding fast to her choice even when it's just her and Beren against the world. In the end, she wins agency and freedom to determine her own tale. In her beginning Lúthien is a maid dancing in the woods; by the end she will have faced Satan and death itself, and changed the world forever. Truly, to call her story "Release from Bondage" is more than appropriate. How insane is this all from Beren's point of view? He has lost everything, he is an outlaw, and has nowhere to go. What is left of his family is scattered who knows where. He has nothing but the clothes on his back and nothing to give. But here is this immortal princess, and she will go to hell and back with him! She will cross the Sundering Sea to bid him farewell! She pleads with inexorable death and for her, an exception is made!  It's so on brand for Tolkien that these two achieve with their love, and precisely because they act out of love, something that others with armies behind their backs can't even imagine doing.

Yeah. It's such a good, hopeful, bittersweet tale.

[datesinredink]

Ranking the yandere rottmnt boys by how likely they are to kidnap their darling

Just a little crumb to keep myself from losing my mind while staring at google docs this late at night. Sorry if this is super bad, it's way later at night than I'm used to staying up and election night stressed me the hell out.

Donnie.

I have absolutely no doubts that he's going to at least try very very hard to kidnap you. And honestly, I doubt it would be too hard. He's a highly trained, mystic wielding, tech inventing, mutant ninja turtle. And on top of that, he's very fond of planning absolutely everything. And to finish it all off, I think it would be once in a blue moon that he actually treats his darling as an equal. He already thinks he's better than almost everyone, and when he gets obsessed, he has to make himself feel better about it somehow, so he decides to cope by thinking you need him instead of it being the other way around. As a result, he treats you a bit like a very glorified songbird, and songbirds.. well, aren't they usually put in cages anyway? You won't even care after a week or two of adjustment! (He will get upset if you aren't content with being kidnapped by then, by the way.)

2. Raph

The only reason Raph is behind Donnie on this list is because I think he would take longer to justify it to himself. He thinks you're fragile, that you need to be protected from the harsh world! I mean, he barely trusts his youngest brother, who is also a highly trained ninja, to do a simple mission on his own. How do you think he'll treat you after the obsession sets in properly? Not really as an equal, I'll tell you that. He's much nicer to you than Donnie would be, but he still doesn't respect you enough to let you handle yourself, even if that's not how he sees his behavior. At the same time though... isn't he supposed to be a hero? Do heroes kidnap their darlings? Or would this make him the dragon... In the end though, he'll decide that he's fine with being the dragon so long as he knows that the rest of the world won't be able to run their metaphorical (or maybe literal, depending on how unpopular you are in the area) pitchforks right through your heart.

3. Mikey

Mikey wouldn't just.. outright kidnap his darling, I think. I think it would start with a fun sleepover at the lair! Then he insists you stay just one more day! You're having so much fun, after all! Don't you wanna hang out with your best friend for a while longer? You agree, of course- him and his brothers have been nothing but nice to you ever since you met them, and their company is always a delight, so it's worth a shot, isn't it? Then suddenly, the weekend is over, and school's ready to chew you up again, so you do leave. Then it's finally the weekend again! You've heard of a fun game from your school friends, so you plan on trying it when you get home this afternoon- it's friday, after all- when you get a text from Mikey in the group chat with his brothers. He wants you to come over again- and, of course, you say "sure". Not like you can't just play the game on sunday, or when you go home saturday. The sleepover flies by, but you're a bit weary by the time you're pretty sure you're supposed to go home- but here's Mikey, and he's so sure that you promised you'd stay at the lair until sunday again! So, you give in. There's always next weekend, right...? I think you get the pattern, but eventually, he'll be keeping you at the lair 24/7, and you'll be rubbing at your weary eyes wondering how you got into this mess. Sometimes you can even see his brothers shoot you worried looks.

4. Leo

Leo would only kidnap his darling as a last resort, and I think it's because of two reasons. One, he's the brother who sees you closest to being an equal (Donnie and Raph constantly go against your personal autonomy and Mikey puts you on an extremely restricting pedestal), though to be fair, that's not a high bar to pass- and two he much prefers to have some sort of interesting conflict to be present because he finds it entertaining. His life is a weird, morally incorrect soap opera at this point, and he's the number one viewer. Kidnapping would only really happen with him if he thought you were either seriously leaving him (moving or getting into a serious relationship with someone else) or if the circumstances around him got too stressful and he needed something to cling to for any semblance of support outside his brothers (who, at that point, would probably also be super stressed). Think post movie, when the city is still recovering. Man, he was probably freaking out thinking that you might've died to the kraang.

[chaoticgoodthief]

Slay The Princess Ramble

Ok I have been having Thoughts about the Voice of the Contrarian and am not afraid to share them. Will start under read more link because this might get a little long.

Ok, one of the Main Things about the Contrarian is that he doesn't follow the narrative, and I accept this, but I cannot emphasize enough just how Different he is from the other voices.

Ok, let's start at the tip of the iceberg here. Change. Born as counterparts to the Shifting Mound's Princesses, it makes sense that the Voices remain static in their personalities. Broken is submissive. Cold is apathetic. Hunted is animalistic. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. But Contrarian actually changes over the course of The Stranger path. He sees what he's done to the Princess, recognises that it has hurt her, and just ... drops the jester act immediately. The only other Voice that really changes at all is Hero, and that's because he's literally always by your side. And that's not even getting to how you find him Strange Beginnings.

Strange Beginnings. Oh, do I have Feelings about this ending, but I'll focus on just the Contrarian (for now). Out of all the Voices, all the cabins, the Contrarian is the only Voice other than the Hero himself that can join you in the finale. Maybe it's because his change has made him closer to the Shifting Mound than any of the other potential voices. Maybe it's because inside of The Stranger's cabin was the first you saw, rather than the Princess'. Maybe it's something else altogether, I don't know. However, what I do know is that once again, he's changed. He's ... honestly more downtrodden than even the Moment of Clarity version of himself. Only making jokes when he notices Hero's concern, accepting the knife without a second thought, (even calling himself the worst part of the Long Quiet in the most recent update, I've heard). But that's still not the end of things.

I think what interests me the most about Contrarian, though, is his relationship with the princess. He. Does. Not. Have. One. She is a literal stranger to him. He is not the Stranger's true counterpart, not really. Nothing about him contradicts her, unlike how all the other Voices have been named after their actions relative to their Part I Princesses. Instead, he is the Contrarian because he contradicts the Narrator. I can not emphasise enough how wild that makes my brain go. Because it explains SO MUCH about why he's Different from the others. Long Quiet is a foil for the Shifting Mound, his Voices are foils for her Princesses. Everything about them is static, unchanging. Because they are a single being, spiralling further into itself with every decision you make, only ever changing if you refuse to follow the path set out for you. And then there's him, the reflection of an echo of a mortal. (If he was there in the Spectre route, would she see him as something Other as well, something that once belonged but has been fragmented off of its given path).

Gah I'm obsessed with him. I want to dissect him for science. I want to tear and rip and pull him apart until I can understand what mysteries still hide behind the facade he shows the world. What are you hiding, you smiling little freak of nature?

[descendant-of-truth]

Okay I waited to get this out there because I didn't want to be a bummer the second it released, but. The story in Shadow Generations was... kind of nothing. Which sucks, because it had literally everything going for it.

Shadow gets plunged into a white space where people and places from different points in time are unceremoniously dropped in due to the power of the Time Eater, and that means Black Doom is here to try to manipulate Shadow again. Shadow starts developing alien mutations that mess with his sense of identity and only make Black Doom stronger, but he's determined to use them to take him out for good.

At the same time, Maria and Gerald Robotnik are here, and of course the first thought on Shadow's mind when he discovers them is how he can find a way to save them from their original fates. So he's got two goals: defeat Black Doom, and save his family.

This setup is really good. It's immediately engaging for all sorts of reasons, from the surface-level "whoa cool alien powers!!" to the heartbreaking implications of Shadow being forced to say goodbye to Maria and Gerald again. (Because naturally, we've seen where the games go from here and we know the timeline isn't changed that drastically.)

And it's clear to see that the people involved in working on this game were passionate about it, too. The animation and cinematography is quite good, and while I have my critiques (I still don't think the character models are that great), so much effort was put into making Shadow the coolest guy ever, and I think it paid off. He's both very cool and shows a wider range of emotions than we've seen from him in a while, which is always a plus for me.

I mean, goodness knows that Shadow needed his character to be revisited and given respect after, what, over ten years? The step up that this is can't be overstated.

And yet.

The story itself is so empty.

Let's go in order:

The game opens with a narrated recap of Shadow's basic history in order to catch people up. I can't say it doesn't technically serve its purpose, but given the fact that the premise of the game is exploring Shadow's past, it's a little weird to spell it out at the start like this. If you're a newcomer to the series and don't know much about Shadow, wouldn't it be cooler to find this stuff out by progressing in the game?

It also leaves out crucial details that, while they could arguably bloat the scene, provide a lot of relevant context that a first-time viewer isn't privy to.

"At the last moment, Shadow remembered Maria's final wish... to protect her beloved planet and all who lived there."

The last moment of... what, exactly? What made him remember, what made him forget in the first place?

In order, these are the answers the scene doesn't give you:

The last moments before the ARK crashed into the Earth, which would've caused catastrophic damage.

Amy was the one who pleaded with Shadow to give everyone a chance, which echoed what Maria told him, triggering the full memory.

It's actually unclear if Shadow forgot what Maria said as a natural trauma response or because Gerald messed with his memories on purpose, but this would have been a great opportunity to clarify.

It also leaves out the fact that Shadow teamed up with Sonic to save the world after he tried to destroy it, so that's two connections with other characters he has that are completely left out in the recap. I know we're finally getting back to showcasing Rouge and Omega as his best friends, but he does hold respect for Sonic and Amy, too. Plus, his interactions with them in SA2 were so iconic, why leave them out?

Then again, I suppose Rouge and Omega aren't in this recap either... which is really weird, the more I think about it.

But even as it's describing the moment he chooses to be a hero, they don't show him in his super form alongside Sonic, he's just... what, on fire?? I don't know what that's supposed to be depicting, it just looks cool.

"Shadow didn't understand why Black Doom expected him to be the vanguard for his invasion of Earth."

A fine start, but shouldn't we have gotten a passing mention of Shadow's amnesia somewhere in here? He spent two whole games trying to remember who he was, and Black Doom's whole tactic was to exploit his desire for answers. That's important characterization for both Shadow and Black Doom that we're missing out on, here.

"Shadow the Hedgehog. The lone, dark warrior who judges the world by his own code."

This is maybe best addressed in a separate post, but. does anyone else find this description of Shadow kinda odd? "Lone warrior" I get, even with his friends he's not big on groups, but it's everything else.

Yeah, he judges the world by his own code, I guess, but his actions are all in service of following Maria's code. It's Sonic that lives solely by what he wants without much influence from others, not Shadow.

And what exactly makes Shadow a "dark" warrior? He's been explicitly characterized as someone who doesn't kill as recently as the prologue animation to this very game, where he goes out of his way to save a pilot when he doesn't need to. His entire life's purpose is protecting the world, and this doesn't involve killing or torturing people, so... what exactly is the dark part of his morality. Nothing about this recap has given me reason to believe he's anything but a heroic person with a traumatic past, and the subsequent game will only reinforce that.

I guess he did kill all the Black Arms, but that's not something the game ever treated as an immoral action. Shadow blows up Black Doom and the comet his people live on and all of our heroes cheer as he does it. It happens in the True Ending and everything, where Shadow's supposed to be proving himself as a hero for real, so that can't be the example of him being a Dark Warrior.

Is it because of how he treated Infinite, a character that this game doesn't acknowledge despite featuring a level from Forces? We'll never know. They just want you to accept the idea that he's Darker and Edgier than Sonic based on his surface-level demeanor alone, which... given that the objective of this game is to showcase Shadow's nuance, this is really out of place. Overall, not a great scene.

That said, the first real cutscene is pretty good, and it immediately showcases how unnecessary that recap was by showing how excited Maria was to meet Shadow for the first time. From that scene, we learn that Shadow was artificially made, that he's "the Ultimate Lifeform," that Maria was likely close to him, that this happened on some place called "the ARK" which is in space, etc. Why did we have a narrator tell us all of this a minute ago when we were just about to see it for ourselves?

I do have one nitpick, though - Shadow claims that he arrived at the ARK "an hour ago," and Rouge on the other end of the comm is already at Sonic's birthday party. Rouge only agreed to help Shadow get to the ARK if he would go to Sonic's birthday party afterwards, but how was Shadow supposed to have time to do anything up there if Sonic's party was that soon? I was under the impression from watching the prologue that Sonic's birthday was at least a week away, because how else would Rouge expect him to conduct a full investigation and potentially fight some huge battle before then?

Oh and the Time Eater shows up in two places at once (at Sonic's party and on the ARK), I feel like it would've made more sense to have it grab Shadow after it was done with everyone else. Now I'm gonna be forced to ask "why doesn't the Time Eater multiply" for the rest of the game. Whatever

Moving on, our first real sign of things to come is the fact that Omega does not have a proper speaking role despite showing up in the first cutscene. He's right there, conveniently next to Shadow, but as soon as you think they're going to talk to each other... you're dropped into the hub world. Speaking to Omega results in text bubble dialogue, wherein Shadow is mysteriously hit with Silent Protagonist Disease and we don't get to hear anything he says. Effectively, Omega just. talks at Shadow three times, saying nothing of interest. and it's completely optional.

I repeat: all of the dialogue from one of Shadow's best friends is OPTIONAL, and Shadow himself says nothing to him. Yeah, we're off to a great start.

(Omega even says that he's going to assist Shadow, and I just. I have to laugh. I'm so sorry Omega but in terms of physical actions, you're genuinely going to do less here than in Forces)

Shadow: "No. She's gone. I'm seeing things."

Pardon?? Seeing things??? I'm sorry but there is no way that Shadow can see and recognize Maria from that distance but not from ten feet away with her back turned. He's also never been implied to have super-vision, so the whole scene just doesn't make sense, and frankly adds nothing to the story.

Even if he doesn't mean literal sight, then 1) why did he phrase it like that, and 2) I kinda don't care. He doesn't need to be able to sense Maria's presence or whatever's going on here, because he's just as shocked when he actually sees Maria properly later. It builds suspense I suppose, but I feel like it would've been more impactful to discover that Maria was really here the same way Shadow does; in the cutscene where he saves her.

But before they can reunite, we've got the first proper cutscene with Black Doom:

Black Doom: "You defeated us, but the Black Arms live on. And this temporal anomaly has accelerated my plans to revive my forces and consume the world."

I'm gonna be real with you guys. I have no idea what he's talking about here.

The game makes zero attempt to really explain how the Black Arms "live on" despite Shadow blowing up their entire comet along with Black Doom himself, and going into the game, I kinda thought it was just... time displacement. Maria and Gerald are brought in from a time they were alive, so I thought it would be the same with Black Doom, but no - he revived himself before the Time Eater even got involved.

Which I'd be willing to accept if they gave me an explanation for it, but they didn't, and the whole foundation of the plot suffers for it.

Plus, what the heck does he mean that the temporal anomaly has "accelerated his plans to revive his forces"?? The Time Eater's powers don't... accelerate anything. At all. They pluck things out of time and freeze them in a void. How does that help Black Doom's plans whatsoever?

If the idea is that he's going to pluck his own forces out of time and bring them back that way, why not just say that? Why are they withholding such basic information from us? It doesn't create intrigue, and the story doesn't even treat it like there's a gap in our knowledge to begin with. I think it's genuinely supposed to be the whole explanation, and that's a problem because it explains very little.

Then you've got the Black Moon, and this thing annoys me to no end because guess what?? Despite gradually opening more eyes and cracking open every time you complete a level, it's never once explained what it is or what it's for. All it does is turn the white void into a red void and open a portal to Even More Radical Highway. Maybe I'm forgetting something from an optional piece of dialogue, but that only creates a different problem, which is that you should never lock basic understanding of the story behind optional dialogue.

Why does it have eyes? Is it a living creature or some weird bioweapon? It's oddly mechanical for a creation of the Black Arms; even their weaponry is organic, as this very game tells us through Omega, so what's its deal??

You'd think it would have something to do with time, considering the framing of this scene:

Shadow says "perhaps I can change their fate" and then looks to the Black Moon as though it may hold some relevance to this new plot thread, but. nope. it just takes you back to Radical Highway.

And hey, look at that, I was so busy complaining about the moon that I seamlessly transitioned into one of my biggest issues with the game: Shadow says this. and never follows up on it. EVER.

I'm not kidding, there's literally NO point in the game where we're shown Shadow trying to do ANYTHING to change Maria and Gerald's fates. There's no scene where he attempts to understand the void better, he never investigates anything, he makes exactly zero attempts to accomplish one of his main goals. of BRINGING HIS FAMILY BACK TO LIFE.

What is the point of them being here, then.

No, I'm serious, literally why are they here if we don't get to see Shadow try to save them?? By the time the final cutscene rolls around, they start fading away back to their own time, and suddenly Shadow's like

(WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED, YOU DID NOTHING TO PREVENT THIS OUTCOME)

But I'll talk more about Maria and Gerald later - for now, since we're on the topic of Shadow having odd reactions to things, how about those stages and bosses, huh?

Well guys, I'm pleased to announce that despite there being dialogue in some of the stages, absolutely none of it provides context to the locations Shadow visits or his thoughts on them! If you didn't play Heroes and have no idea that Bullet Station is where Shadow found a destroyed Shadow Android, kickstarting a new layer to his identity crisis, then congratulations, this choice of level will mean nothing to you.

And before anyone tries to be like "the Sonic Generations levels don't get commentary from Sonic on their significance to him, either," it's a problem there, too. But it's an even bigger problem here, because they went out of their way to choose levels that have real emotional significance to Shadow and then proceeded to do nothing with it.

Isn't this the game where we revisit Shadow's story up until this point? Would it have been so hard to drop a line of dialogue indicating that Shadow's not thrilled about returning to Bullet Station? Maybe add a brief cutscene where he finds the same broken android from before, and says something like "hmph, I can't believe I let that thing make me doubt myself for so long," thus demonstrating his growth?

Here's a fun fact: Shadow has zero cutscenes that happen inside of levels. This is something Sonic beats him at, by having one cutscene that takes place in a level (Chemical Plant). This should not have been a high bar to clear, but they fell short somehow, anyway.

(Space Colony ARK doesn't even use the Final Chase music. The Shadow game starts out with a song exclusive to Sonic rather than him. He actually has more ARK-related music than Sonic does and they still didn't use any of them. How did they mess that up)

This problem only gets worse when they start pulling in levels from Forces and Frontiers - games that this Shadow hasn't experienced yet and wasn't there for, respectively. Once again, on principle, this is a cool idea! Shadow getting a peek into what his and Sonic's futures have in store? The confusion over when these events take place, if they're even connected to him like the others have been? Great stuff

And hey, if he's going to Chaos Island, and we saw from the trailers that the volcano is exploding in Act 1, then maybe we could even see Super Sonic fighting Knight in the background in Act 2! The debris from their fight could even act as platforming challenges, can you imagine how cool that would be? What will Shadow think of the advanced tech on the island, or of seeing Sonic fight something so massive? Surely this is a great opportunity to elevate Frontiers even further--yeah of course they don't do that.

No Knight fight in the background, which is... fair enough, I guess, but then why bother with the volcano exploding? It only does that moments away from when Sonic is about to fight Knight. Yeah, it looks cool, but we didn't need it. The more egregious problem is still the fact that Shadow has no observable thoughts or opinions on being sent to unfamiliar terrain in the future, though.

The bosses all have dialogue, though, which is a step up on a technicality and little else. Most of the dialogue from Shadow is just him being a self-aggrandizing badass who doesn't see any of the bosses as threats - even Neo Metal Sonic, who he should really not be so confident in beating all by himself, considering that he. didn't do that before. It actually took eleven other people to defeat Neo Metal, including Super Sonic, but I guess he just doesn't care at this point.

If they wanted to, it would've been easy to make him overconfident on purpose due to his new Doom powers, make an arc out of it, but no. Shadow's just Like This now, apparently.

There's a similar power scaling issue in Sonic Generations too, where Sonic can somehow defeat Perfect Chaos without his super form, but the game had dropped location-specific cutscenes so long ago that it was hard to feel like it was even canon at a certain point. The game never cared about making sense or really being anything, but Shadow Generations doesn't get that excuse. The bosses having the most mid-gameplay dialogue tells us that they're Definitely Happening, and so I care more about them as a result.

Which takes us to the moment that I truly realized that this game had no interest in doing anything with its material: the Mephiles boss fight.

Shadow: "What's this? A seal of some sort?"

Okay real quick before I get into my big issues with this fight: I know it's a magic glowing artifact, but what about it actually looks like a seal, specifically? Does Shadow just have a sense for this kind of thing? I don't recall him ever demonstrating that ability before.

I feel like this line is just here to clarify what it is for people who don't know, but since Shadow also doesn't know, it's just kind of weird. I'm not even sure why he's in the Scepter to begin with, considering that Shadow's sealing attempt in this room was a failure, but whatever.

Of the three bosses in Shadow Generations that precede the final boss, Mephiles is the only one that can both speak and had a relevant dynamic with Shadow that would be interesting to revisit. The Biolizard is cool but doesn't have a personality, and Neo Metal had no real opinion on Shadow. (In Rivals 2, Shadow and Metal Sonic have a developing friendship, but this has unfortunately never been brought up again. If they did so here, it would only have been on Shadow's end, since Metal hadn't gotten to that point yet.)

But Mephiles? So much of his character revolves around Shadow. It was Shadow who sealed him away originally, and it was Shadow's form that he took when he broke free. He's the main antagonist of Shadow's story in 06, and even though his primary goal is rejoining with Iblis, he takes a vested interest in trying to manipulate Shadow over to his side by showing him the worst of what humans will do to him - not unlike Black Doom, honestly, though he was focused on Shadow's past instead.

Plus, it's been so long! We thought we would never get to see Mephiles again! What have you got for us, game?

Mephiles: "I will defeat you, then restore myself to the timeline." Shadow: "I don't know what you're talking about, but I will crush you all the same." Mephiles: "What? Did you forget about me AGAIN?"

*deep sigh*

Contradictory dialogue back-to-back. I see. Cool.

Mephiles should not be surprised that Shadow doesn't remember who he is, because he literally JUST SAID that his goal is to restore himself to the timeline. He KNOWS that he never existed, and therefore SHOULD KNOW that nobody he encounters will remember him. I'm convinced that he only reacted this way because the writers thought it would be funny, and that's it.

Even if it made sense, though, Mephiles isn't supposed to be funny. He's supposed to be ominous and threatening. For as much care that went into recreating this environment and his powers/body language from 06 (and I gotta say, this whole section looks extremely nice), none of that same care really seemed to go into his personality. He's just as drab as Neo Metal, occasionally repeating lines from 06 so that you know they played it and not much else.

The end of the fight features some absolutely unhinged dialogue from Shadow for no reason, though.

Mephiles: "No... I want... to exist...! Shadow: "There is no future for you. Ever."

Look, I get it, they've done nothing but fight this whole time . But Shadow has no personal beef with this guy. Even if they're going with the idea that Shadow wouldn't care to learn what Mephiles is rambling on about (kind of boring, and why wouldn't he be curious about why someone like this has it out for him), there's no reason to go so far as to say he'll never have a future. Is this the "dark" part of that "dark warrior" thing they were talking about in the beginning?? Kind of a random place for it to jump out of him, if so.

The kind of intensity coming from Shadow here would be justified if he remembered who Mephiles was, but he doesn't. As it stands, it gives off the impression that he didn't actually process a single thing Mephiles said about wanting to exist and restore himself to the timeline, and just said the first cool, edgy retort that came to mind. Which makes the sentence both less cool and even more out of character.

After this boss finished playing out, all I could feel was disappointment and a creeping sense of emptiness. If this was how the game was handling Mephiles, of all characters, if this was the extent of what they were willing to do with an idea... the rest of the game suddenly seemed much less exciting. I got to this point, realized how comparatively little of the game was left, and thought oh no.

Now, uh... where was I in the story, again?

Oh right, Shadow was about to go save Maria. I actually have no notes on that scene, it's pretty good and I liked that Maria was immediately thrown off by his aggressive fighting style and whatnot. It implies a lot about what Shadow used to be like without really showing or telling us, and that's pretty neat.

The following cutscene where Gerald explains how Shadow's growing powers only make Black Doom stronger in the process is also fine, there's nothing super specific for me to gripe about it in isolation.

And this good streak it has going is immediately interrupted by the worst, most nonsensical scene in the entire game.

Sonic: "I found you, Shadow!" Shadow: "The blue hedgehog... of all places..." Sonic: "You have something I need." Shadow: "You can wait until my business is finished." Sonic: "Yea sorry, but that Chaos Emerald and I have a date with a monster!" Shadow: "Well then, it'll be a date to die for."

This is. a really stilted conversation, no matter what way you look at it. On one hand, it's repurposed dialogue from two different scenes haphazardly mashed together, neither of which should represent their current dynamic anymore since they were both antagonistic at the time. And on the other, it just... completely lacks character from both of them. They're so unbelievably dry despite their attempts to sound quirky, it's actually impressive.

I have to ask - have the script writers not heard the incessant complaints from fans about there being too many references in modern Sonic dialogue?? Because this scene plays out like an actual parody of that trend, the kind I would expect to see on twitter or something. I initially saw the animation for this cutscene without audio due to leaks, and I thought it looked pretty cool because the animation was nicely done.

Boy, when I tell you I was stunned to discover that THIS was the actual, official dialogue. What happened here?? Why is this what Sonic cutscenes are turning into?? In a game that costs $50-$60??And people are saying it's the best Sonic game???

Somehow, the god-awful dialogue isn't even the only thing that's wrong with this scene, but I'll compile the rest in bullet points to speed it up a little.

Shadow suddenly shows up in Sonic's section of White Space, despite it not being visible from a distance and therefore giving no reason for Shadow to venture out that far

Sonic says he "found" Shadow as if he was looking for him, even though the only people Sonic has seen here other than his and Tails' past selves are people who were at his birthday party

Classic Sonic is neither seen nor mentioned despite the extremely fun potential of having him interact with Shadow

A purple portal conveniently shows up in front of Sonic and Shadow while they're talking for no reason

The boss fight with Sonic is just a cutscene (lame), and Shadow gets taken out completely by one solid bonk from Sonic (even lamer)

The fake Chaos Emerald switcheroo, while clever, is presented as if it was done deliberately when it was clearly a coincidence that it got knocked out of Shadow instead of the real one

(I guess this technically happens before the Mephiles fight so my faith in this game was already plummeting, but I was willing to tolerate this scene being bad because I could understand them not wanting to add too much to Sonic's side of things. They had completely free reign with Mephiles and still delivered nothing, which is why it really cemented itself in my head)

The one thing I really liked here was seeing Shadow almost use his Doom powers to defeat Sonic, deciding against it, and his hesitation being what lost him the match. Shadow refusing to fight Sonic on unequal terms is some really good characterization that I was happy to see.

Black Doom: "The promised time is nigh upon us, Shadow. Soon, you will be mine."

So did we ever learn what the "promised time" was, exactly? I've played every route of Shadow the Hedgehog (some more than once) and still can't remember. If he's referring to the time when Shadow awakens his full power then I guess it makes sense, but otherwise it's kind of an oxymoron considering that time doesn't exist in White Space.

Gerald: "He has grown a new body, and used the nebulous nature of time in White Space to accelerate his plans for revenge."

Shadow, buddy, your animation is positively kickin' right now but Gerald, I'm gonna need you to do literally anything other than just repeat the same lackluster explanation we got earlier as if that's going to make it any less confusing. What ABOUT the nebulous nature of time? Is time not largely just frozen here?? We're somehow around 3/4s into this story and I still have NO idea how anything works

Maria calms Shadow down from his frankly justified anger by holding his hand and talking about how she doesn't want him to be driven by darkness. They find a way to throw in the fact that apparently Maria named him "Shadow" because the presence of a shadow can show you where to find the light, and it's... nice? Very wholesome, but it feels awkwardly placed and I'm not sure anyone was seriously asking why he was named that. Like, of all the questions to spend this game's limited screentime answering, "why is he named Shadow" was probably not at the top of most people's lists.

And before you have a chance to think about it, we're already at the endgame.

Shadow: "I'm letting go of that destructive anger."

Wow, and in the very next scene after it was brought to your attention, too! You sure do grow fast, Shadow!

Okay, all jokes aside, there's not much I can say about the pacing in this game other than It's Rushed and Bad, but I think it's finally time to talk about Gerald and Maria.

Gerald first: He's mostly just here to give out exposition. His relationship with Shadow is much less focused on than Maria's, which I find to be really frustrating because I always had a lot of questions about how those two interacted. In SA2, we only know him as a grieving, hate-filled man who was heavily implied to have scientifically messed with Shadow's mind - not long after they had both just lost Maria - in order to make him inclined towards Gerald's revenge plan.

In Shadow's first game, we see a side to him from before then, when he really seemed to care for Shadow and we got some clarity on the purpose of the Eclipse Cannon and whatnot. But what were their average interactions like? Who was in charge of Shadow's training? If it was Gerald, did that ever create a sense of distance between them? Shadow never has warm, nostalgic flashbacks of him, so I assumed their relationship either wasn't as close or he has too many conflicting feelings now for those memories to be very comforting.

This game decides to lean into Gerald being a kind, supportive man, but regardless, Shadow's feelings should be a lot more complicated, no?

I'd imagine that, in a way, it's a relief to have this Gerald around again. It would make it easier to pretend that the man who used him in an attempt to destroy the world and go against everything Maria stood for was just... a fluke, or something.

But still, Shadow knows that he would do bad things to him if Maria died. It's already happened.

Dark Beginnings also suggested that either Shadow was there when he shot down by the firing squad (unlikely given the context), or he watched the recording that played at the end of SA2 enough to be able to see it in his dreams. Neither of those are good for his psyche, and would only add to the number of emotions he has to suppress whenever they interact. There is, of course, none of this nuance within the game itself, despite it being right there and ready to be worked with.

Then you've got Maria, and. hoo boy.

I take no real issue with any of Maria's traits that are on display. Her being a nice girl with boundless energy and goodwill does not make her boring, and I've always been fascinated by her character. So, I need you guys to understand that it's with a heavy heart that I must say that Maria is... barely a character in this game.

And like, she doesn't exactly have a history of being deep or complex. But we've also only ever seen her in Shadow's memories up until this point, and that means this game was a unique opportunity to flesh her out more.

When a character is as idealized by another as Maria is by Shadow, and we only see them through that lens, it's natural to assume that the depiction isn't completely accurate. I was never in doubt that Maria was kind and gentle, or that she was always there to help Shadow when she knew he was struggling, but I always wanted to know what she was like outside of that. What makes her angry? What was she like on a bad day, when she inevitably got frustrated at her lot in life? How did Shadow comfort her? What was her sense of humor like?

While we technically learn more things about Maria in this game, there's never a point where she acts differently from Shadow's vision of her. She's not really shown to have flaws, and she's only really there to be saved and offer emotional support. It's like... a textbook example of what you shouldn't be doing when writing a female character, having her be defined entirely by her relationship with the male lead and never speaking up or complaining about her own problems or feelings. They don't even make a point out of it, that Maria tempers herself to be "perfect" for other people or anything like that.

Why don't we get to see how she and Shadow would handle an argument or something like that? Especially this Shadow, who's all shaken up by everything? Wouldn't it be beneficial for both of their characters for Maria to be seen as herself, the way she was in life, rather than just the nicest moments she and Shadow had together?

I'm gonna make a comparison here that people aren't gonna like, but... I think Elise is honestly shown to be a more nuanced character than Maria is. And this is coming from someone who thinks that she was also mishandled in her game.

Similar to Maria, Elise is genuinely a deeply caring person, and lives mostly isolated with a condition of sorts that makes her life difficult. Her most important relationship is also with the male lead of her respective game, but she doesn't exist solely for his benefit. (Amusingly, Sonic actually seems to be there primarily to further her arc, so it's a bit of a role swap there.)

But we see more from Elise than just Being Nice all the time. We see her being resolute and bold in the face of danger, or disappointed when she has to go back to the castle. We watch her try her hardest not to cry and retain her strong, regal exterior when faced with overwhelming emotion.

We get to see her open up and laugh and become more confident, we watch as someone who's been forced to put her feelings aside for the convenience (and safety) of others her whole life finally break down and shout something selfish for once. And then we watch her ultimately choose to do the right thing, anyway. Her strength of character is shown to us by putting her in situations that challenge her, and the narrative never once shames her for being imperfect; it's actually encouraging her to be her real, flawed self.

Why does Maria not get this same treatment? Why don't we get cutscenes of her being excited about the new environment she's in, or frustrated that her symptoms are making it difficult to do anything here? When does she get to be selfish? Why can't she get upset at people treating her like she's frail, even if it technically "makes sense" for them to do so?

We're told, in Gerald's journal, that some of the people aboard the ARK doubted that Maria was really sick due to her symptoms not being clearly visible. Because it's his journal, we only get to hear his feelings on the matter, but in the full game, we never once get to know how it makes Maria feel, the person this is all about to begin with. They absolutely could have incorporated this into a cutscene somewhere, but they didn't.

Once again, I have to ask: what is the point of Maria and Gerald being in this game if this was how they were going to be written? Not only does Shadow fail to even attempt to save their lives, he doesn't even walk away from the experience with renewed understanding of who they were as people.

So what even happens in this story, then?? Every single aspect of it is dragged down constantly by the game's refusal to do anything with what it has:

Shadow revisits places from his past, but has nothing to say about them

Shadow visits places from the future, but has nothing to say about them

He has nothing relevant or interesting to say about any of the bosses

Mephiles trying to restore himself to the timeline is a plot point that exists solely within his boss fight and nowhere else

He doesn't struggle with any of the bosses, emotionally or physically, turning them into a boring power trip

He barely struggles with his Doom powers, the things that are supposed to be giving him an identity crisis

Sonic is not a playable boss fight and he also says nothing relevant or interesting

Classic Sonic doesn't even get a passing mention

The Team Dark friendship is supposed to be a highlight but Shadow never speaks to Omega, who also never shows up in cutscenes, and Rouge is just kinda there

Maria and Gerald never meet Rouge and Omega, or anybody else on-screen, despite it being extremely easy for them to run into each other

Shadow's relationships with Maria and Gerald are barely explored past their surface

Most importantly, Shadow is never shown making any sort of effort to save Maria and Gerald from their fates, despite it being one of his primary goals

...Oh yeah, I forgot to complain about how Shadow barely struggles with his Doom powers. I was gonna go on a whole spiel about how it would've been super easy to make into an arc and how it was wildly underutilized despite being a major selling point of the game, and the only real consistent conflict whenever Black Doom isn't on screen.

Well. Anyway. Once the White Space becomes Red Space (something that once again makes me question how far away Sonic's area is, to not be able to see this happening), Shadow magically gets over his "destructive anger" and goes to Radical Highway one last time for the epic final boss.

And it certainly is epic, I can't deny that. A massive technical improvement over the first fight against Devil Doom, and I'm not about to sit here and act like the wings aren't cool. But I can't say it feels very rewarding, since I never really understood what was going on and Shadow didn't really struggle that much to get to this point. Not to mention, he's still acting all high and mighty during boss fights, which makes it feel stale really quickly. Black Doom isn't really that interesting by himself, so Shadow kinda needed to carry that fight, but no, it's just more of the same.

One last point before I wrap this up:

Where was Emerl???

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a promo animation for a game should, in theory, provide you some idea as to what kind of things to expect in the game itself. While a lot of them take their share of creative liberties, I don't think they're in the habit of putting spotlight on entire characters who never appear in the game at all.

This is THE GAME where we bring back the people from Shadow's past that he's lost, and Emerl most certainly qualifies. He's from the more recent past, yes, but Shadow still cared about him and absolutely would have been affected by his death. There's no way that, had he been in the story, Shadow wouldn't have been determined to save him as well. But no, he's just there to be a cool lore detail in Gerald's journal.

Which means this is yet another depiction of Emerl where we refuse to acknowledge his personality. Do they seriously think Emerl is more interesting as an emotionless killing machine that Gerald researched in his spare time? Where's the fun-loving kid who mimicked everyone around him, splicing things he heard them say together to communicate and creating funny tonal whiplash? Where's the robot with the soul that Gerald gave him, that was nurtured by Sonic and his friends?

Not in this game, apparently! They went out of their way to canonize Battle and still managed to treat it with zero respect. Kind of impressive, really, and just another footnote in the trend of this game not actually caring to do anything with Shadow's past.

There are definitely moments in this game that I like, but that's kind of all they are: moments. The game's total cutscene runtime is around 30 minutes, and that means there's not enough time in any of them to get anything done. A scene that's good in isolation is tainted by the fact that it's all there is.

And it's just... so baffling to me. There are so, so many points in this game where you could have fit additional cutscenes in. We could have had one after each act, or at least after each level. Give us more cutscenes after activating things in the hub world or something. I mean, a game that claims to be this story-driven doesn't usually need an excuse to throw cutscenes at you, and they certainly didn't need to force each scene to be so unbelievably short.

If they really needed to downsize on cutscene length for some reason, then maybe they should have just made a less ambitious story. The game wants to do so many things at once, but it doesn't have the time to do any of those things justice. We could have gotten a short, sweet, well-done little story, but instead we get a story that easily needed at least two hours to tell crunched into a measly 30 minutes.

I mean, Dark Beginnings in its entirety is half the length of the full game. Think about that for a second.

This game's story was supposed to be something, man. It's getting so much praise for what feels to me like the bare bones structure of a story, and it's frustrating because I know this series can do better. The writer of this game can do better, and I know that because I've read his other Sonic material and it feels much more complete than this does.

I was genuinely looking forward to this game, is the thing. I really didn't think it would be this lackluster, because like I said at the beginning of this post, it had everything in the world going for it. But no matter how nice it feels to have a Shadow who isn't wildly out of character for once, that alone can't carry an entire story.

Shadow Generations is a mess of good ideas executed in the least interesting, most nothing way possible. Its only real saving grace is its animation, and the fact that Shadow generally feels like himself.

Except for when he's talking to Sonic. What the heck happened when he was talking to Sonic

[maxphilippa]

something something about self sacrifice and boundless love but i really would like to talk about how golden cheese cookie is so SO devoted to her people and how her GREED is for THEM.

i'm sorry but i don't think i've ever seen one of the ancients so miserable over their people until her story arc dropped. sure, pure vanilla suffered, but his people STILL EXISTED, and his kingdom as well, even if it was on certain conditions it flourished and the main focus was DE alongside Black Raisin's story. Hollyberry's worries were most focused on her family (though you can see her love for her kingdom and Dark Cacao was an idiot of sorts (who was still manipulated but even then cared for his kingdom), but nothing like Golden Cheese.

Which makes SENSE. And it kind of gets worse when Dark Cacao confirms that he heard the news of her precious kingdom being turned to dust, and how they haven't seen her in SO MUCH TIME, it's obvious that Golden Cheese Cookie isolated herself the moment she got back to what remained from her home.

Something I would like to mention is how people were treating her as a cretin with the little details we found on the art book since she was described as "greedy" and like an... dictator of sorts? (however i don't think this part has been translated correctly). But in reality she turned out to be one of the most heartbreakingand caring characters in CRK ever, and her conversation with Gingerbrave made it so much worse for her.

Something I would like to point out is how yes, Golden Cheese is greedy. But the execution of how she was greedy was PERFECT. Of course a tirant wouldn't be an legendary hero, unlike what others might have thought.

Golden Cheese's greed is focused on her people, her so beloved treasures.

She always wants more and more, she always fights for them, for everyone who she thinks of as dear. Because they're HER people and she wants her treasures to be shinning and safe. Her greed is translated to her infinite love for them. She isn'tone give up just yet. So that's why she FOUGHT for SO MANY YEARS to KEEP THAT DIGITAL WORLD OF HERS SAFE. So of course it hurts to let go. You ever think of it. She PUT THEM ALL ON A DIGITAL WORLD, ALL OF THEM ON A SARCOPHAGUS, JUST TO MAKE SURE THEY WERE THERE, AND DISCONNECTED HER SOUL FROM HER BODY JUST FOR THEM. BECAUSE THAT WAS HER LAST OPTION.

AND EVEN THEN SHE WAS WILLING TO LITERALLY COMMIT SUICIDE TO MAKE SURE THEIR MEMORIES WERE INTACT.

And so that's why her parallels with Gingerbrave hurt me SO SO much. Think about it.

Both Gingerbrave and Golden Cheese think highly of their people- about their worlds themselves. They're both greedy on that topic. However Gingerbrave's greed was bigger than GC's at one point- just before she finally got back with her soul jam that is. Because Gingerbrave wanted to protect the whole Earthbread. Because HIS FRIENDS and THE FRIENDS OF HIS FRIENDS were there.

And this is no surprise since the very start Gingerbrave seems to put some reason to the ancients. No matter how deep in theor own thoughts they are, he always says something that breaks them in one way or another.

They both lost their people and couldn't do anything about it. However, GC finally got to understand that getting help wasn't bad and that she had to let go from that reality. Just the same way GB did when he escaped the oven. They both have endured so much pain.

So when GC's self sacrifice tendency clashes with GB's [greedy desire to help]... it hurts for her.

They both want a happy kingdom.

But for that they're going to still keep on trying.

I love you, Golden Cheese Cookie. I'll pay you the cost of therapy.

[ramblingautisticman]

Why Is This Song In My Poolverine Playlist, A Series.

(I am extremely insane and make playlists for every ship/character/show I like, and yes, there is a reason each one is in there. I think of lil scenarios, situations, or straight up story ideas because of a song- so enjoy this series where I write them all down!)

(Part 1, Part 2)

Monster from Adventure Time

So, I honestly hadn't thought about this song in relation to Wade and Logan until @ohitsthemindstuffagain said about it, and now it's all I can picture when I hear it.

This is such a Wade and Logan coded song and it's insane.

"I know we'll never grow old together, cause you'll never grow old to me."

Wade knows Logan is slowly ageing, something he doesn't do, and one day, he will be alone again. One day, he will watch Logan get grey hair, his face gaining wrinkles, his muscles getting softer. He's okay with that. He's made his peace, but it still hurts. Still makes his heart ache to know that one day Logan will die of old age and he will still be here. Wade will still have the same young body he does now. His body will always be 40 years old- and Logan's will always be ageing.

"You're the pink in my cheeks, and I'm scared cause that means I'm a little bit soft."

Logan has softened since knowing Wade. He's become less gruff and angry over time. Wade jokes that he managed to domesticated The Wolverine, and what's funny about that is the fact it's true. Where Logan used to be rough and jaded, he was soft and caring. It scared him. Alot. He was so used to the anger and violence coursing through his body that now- with this love and affection slowly replacing it- he wasn't sure what to do. Wasn't sure how to function.

"We were messed up kids who taught ourselves how to live, and I'm still scared that I'm not good enough."

Wade had always survived- never just lived. Ever since he was a kid. His dad had been an abusive asshole- his mother a cold-hearted bitch- and so he had grown up teaching himself how to survive. How to hide bruises from school, how to make food without getting noticed, how to avoid getting screamed at if he didn't do well on a test. It was ingrained into him as a kid- that he wasn't good. He would never be good. He was a broken fuck up that would never amount to anything. It was something he had taken with him through the rest of his life- and it was something he couldn't help but reflect back on when him and Logan had begun dating. Logan was a hero- he had saved the world more times that Wade could count- and here he was, dating Wade. Dating the one guy he shouldn't. Logan deserved better. Alot better. Deserved literally anyone that wasn't Wade. Logan was so genuine with him though- sounded like he meant every word he said- that slowly, he was helping to break that childhood trauma. He was showing Wade that he was worth something, no matter what some asshole father had said. It was ironic, because Logan had gone through a similar experience as a child, but here he was- helping Wade like it was nothing. He supposed that after 200 years, you resolve some of your issues.

"I've always felt like a monster, long before I was big, but only seen as a monster, let's just say I'm used to it."

Logan had always been told he was a freak, an animal, a killer. Ever since he was young. It hurt- until he had heard it enough times that it was second nature. He started to believe what they said about him. Think about the fact he really was a killer and an animal, the way he slashed through people like it was nothing or the way he growled when he was angry, it was true- wasn't it? And then he met Wade, and Wade showed him praise for all of those things. He never once seemed scared of Logan- infact he seemed to like all of the things he hated about himself. Wade would gush over the claws, joke about him being a cat, shout him on as he took out the bad guys on a mission. It felt strange, being show affection for the things people showed him hatred for for so long, but here it was. The praise he had always wanted.

"Yeah, I'm used to that, but I could get used to this."

His time with Vanessa had been amazing. Wade really had loved her with all of his heart- and he really did think they would be together until the end of time- but life got in the way as it often did. He had accepted she moved on, and while it hurt, he was happy she was happy. That she was finally with someone who could treat her right and keep her safe. It had felt strange to feel that similar fluttery feeling towards someone else- but Logan had managed to slip into that gap in his life with such ease that Wade never even noticed until he found himself not thinking of Vanessa anymore- instead he thought of Logan. It took him awhile to get used to that- to realise he could feel these things for someone else- and he liked it. Love it infact. The way Logan made him feel was so much more different than Vanessa, and he liked that. Logan complelty understood him. Never judged him for his looks or about the way he acted- loved every part of him like it was the easiest thing ever- and Wade couldn't help but find that so much better than what he had with Vanessa.

And the rest of the song? I could make up SEVERAL scenarios or ideas about each lyric for both of them. It fits so well it hurts.

[hello-universe-lovers]

hey

if this doesn't bother you, can you please loredump about your stp voices

like, noooo I'm not here to steal ideas, why in the world would I ever do that

still, I am curious

bonus if you can talk about your ships

Honey, nothing is original anymore/hj

But I plan to have a whole ass au for my version of stp, which changes the voices and princesses. If you want to wait for that, you can stay tuned.

If not. I guess I can go more into my voice ships.

- Stubtunist: this started As a joke, but as I learned about myself: once a joke happens, it sticks. My version of Stubborn lives by KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid), is Aussie-coded and INCREDIBLY strong. A guy like him would make for easy target for Oppy to weasel into for that extra protection. But overtime, Oppy's attitude changed significantly. Think of it like your Smittunist, except Stubborn is aware he wasn't being genuine, at first. Once Oppy makes an effort to do better, he was one of the first to accept his apology and ended up being his hype man/trainer. My version of Oppy tends to let analytics take over his brain (so he can think who to side with on the fly), to which Stubborn will literally knock him out of it, and keep him on the "not-so-straight-but-good-enough" road. Hell, Stubborn being so open and readable reassured Oppy since he doesn't need to pretend or be afraid of him. If he's upset, he'd let him know.

- CheatBroken: My version of these 2 are different. For one, both are disabled due to the princesses (Fury and Wild, respectively), and they are also girls, so this is Sapphic as shit. Just 2 people with varying degree of "I'm done with the world" getting together to bitch and moan, until something akin to mutual affection forms. They can understand each other physically and mentally, and that makes it so they are the comfort pillow and wake up call both needed. Neither want their attitude to drag the other down, and can recognize the signs of a mental spiral to wake em out of it. There really isn't anything too deep with em, they just happened as a joke (this is a problem/j)

- HeroCold (and basically everyone tbh): oh...them. I don't hate them, mind you. But this is pure crack, from the outside perspective. My Cold shows signs of depression and does the bare minimum to keep himself alive (not that he needs to, but it's a pain to listen to Hero rant about his "health" so he keeps it up). His care for the others are as muted as canon Cold. The only difference is that he has slightly more sympathy. When Hero is stressed from making sure everyone is OK, he is there to offer coffee that he always has. He talks Paranoid out of his own fears, he gets Smitten to tone back on the love poems, he gets Stubborn to stop punching the Wall, and so on. The reason HeroCold is the main ship is bc they somehow became the "parents" of this dysfunctional family. But that's not saying a lot, as they themselves are complicated.

- Smittunist: you must be familiar with this one ;). But mine is slightly different. Mainly, the dynamic is reverse. Instead of Oppy being jealous of the Princess, it's Smitten that's jealous. His main princess of devotion is the Tower, someone who, while appreciative of his company, is incapable of reciprocating his romantic feelings. She sees him as a disciple or priest or whatever, not a "lover". Meanwhile, Oppy has a girlfriend in the Thorn (the princesses are all poly too, your honor), who they treat with tenderness, even if their personalities clash. Sometimes they fight, make out, or just casually exist around each other. But it's REAL, it's DOMESTIC, and by GOD, if Smitten's heart craved it. He of course, never admits it out loud. To be loved by his Goddess is more than enough, why should he be greedy and think about another woman's man's man woman?! Meanwhile, Oppy picked up thst Smitten is faking his emotions (takes one to know one, and all) and since he still has to rebuild bridges, he and Thorn are on their own in deciphering what's wrong with their resident love bird.

And that's all for now!! I have more dynamics in between voices, but these are the ones I thought the most about. If you are OK with more dispersed thoughts on other ships, I am willing to put em here. ContraHero for one is smth I would want an excuse to think more about ;)

[mania-sama]

If you don't mind me asking, who are your top 5 (or top 7) favorite (fictional) characters ever from any media? Why love them?

thanks so much for the ask!! i always love your questions <3

God, this is a hard one. Because I've consumed and fallen in love with so many pieces of media in my life, it's hard for me to tell who exactly my favorite characters are. The pool is just too big to choose from! But I'll try my best regardless!

Also an important note that as I grow older, this list could very well become out-dated very fast. Who knows what I will see or what medias I will consume that will alter my perception of reality?

In no particular order:

Bakugou Katsuki [My Hero Academia] -> THE OG. I REPEAT. THE OG ONLINE OBSESSION. My history with My Hero Academia goes way back on my online persona, when I was a wee lad and experiencing my first online hyperfixation (Warrior Cats not included). I had him as online nickname and profile picture on multiple accounts and instances. I look back and cringe on this era of my life, but I still will not stand for slander on this character. I obsessed over him because he is an incredibly well-written character, with faults, passions, interesting qualities, and an insane amount of character growth that, arguably, rivals Zuko. His character motivations still stand out to me to this day. I quit reading/watching BNHA around the war arc, like right when it finished and Midoriya fled the scene. No particular reason for quitting, I think; I just moved on from that part of my life. But, Bakugou will always stick with me just a little. AND YOU KNOW WHAT. I liked him when everyone else still hated him. I liked him before it was cool to like him. Shout out to 2020-2021 me for being an OG. I'm still a "Ground Zero" truther to this very day.

Percy Jackson [Percy Jackson and the Olympians] -> Anyone that has read the PJO and/or the following series will not be surprised to find him here. He's like Spiderman but better, which is saying a lot because I really, really like Spiderman. Percy Jackson is there for every kid who has ever felt out of place in this world; for every kid who has struggled in succeeding in any aspect of their life; for every kid who grew up in a household different from their peers; for every kid who behaves in ways that other people don't seem to understand. Spiderman was a character created to represent the reader of superhero comics: a teenage white boy. Of course, later iterations of Spiderman come to represent more individuals, but that is not who he was originally. Percy Jackson is a character that comes from a place of necessity. He is a character that represents the reader of PJO: a kid who doesn't quite fit in with the rest, for one reason or another. Percy is funny, ultra-overpowered, relatable, and still gets his happy ending. Nothing more to want in a character, really.

Robbie White | Axe Boy [Identity V] -> My hunter main for Identity V. I don't really know how to explain why I love him so much, and how he has become a character I get emotional over very fast. I seem to find one random character from a game and attach myself to them like a jellyfish. Not only is his backstory devastatingly heartbreaking, he is adorable in all of his animations, standby motions, emotes, etc.. He has carried me to many victories, and he will continue to carry me in every match I play. I literally forced myself to download IDV on my laptop and play a few matches just so I could get his Little Nightmares crossover skin. No matter how far he falls from meta, they can never make me hate you Robbie.

Kugisaki Nobara [Jujutsu Kaisen] -> I had a LOT of internal debate over this. I guess I can't confirm until I leave the fandom, but for right now, she's definitely one of my top favorite characters of all time. I'm considering writing an analysis on her because she is just so good. I have never seen a female character in a piece of media that isn't explicitly feminine embody femininity so well. It actually impresses me to a degree I cannot reasonably tell you. She's just perfect. Everything about her is everything that I want to be as a woman. She's comfortable in her own skin, confident not in a man-ish way, but in a distinctly feminine way. What gives that she wants to feel pretty and strong in a physical way? Who is saying that she can't have both? Not to mention that she's also extremely strategically smart. I love her. I really, really do. Sometimes, I imagine strangling Gege's avatar and it makes me very happy.

Oikawa Tooru [Haikyuu] -> I honest-to-God cannot believe he made it here. I tried so hard to find a character to replace him. I did not want him here out of SPITE. But here he is, somehow, and not replaced by Miles Morales (who, upon reflection, would only be here because I did not want Oikawa to be here. Miles didn't even make my honorable mentions. That is proof enough, I suppose, that Oikawa somehow deserves his spot). I've talked about it before, but I'll reiterate it here: Oikawa is a character that is very, very easy to toy around with. He is THE teenager, and THE adult. You can project pretty much any anxiety or worry onto him and it'll make sense because he's got so many self-worth issues it's laughable. I don't want to spend more time talking about him than he deserves. I am as disappointed as you are that he made this list.

Honorable Mentions:

Razor & Xiao [Genshin Impact] -> They would've made the list if I could've put one above the other for real. Silly whimsical attachment with immense appreciation for the character writing vs serious love for the writing and development of the character beyond words. Simply an impossible choice.

Akabane Karma [Assassination Classroom] -> He was my favorite character of all time at one point in history and is still the inspiration behind my Tiktok nickname (that I may change one day). Unfortunately, it's been a long time since I've watched the anime and I can't remember much of what drew me to Karma in the first place that isn't already achieved in other of my favorite characters. Still, I thought I'd honor him here.

[chainelunaire]

yandere tendencies

shigaraki

he has almost zero yandere tendencies. you can thank the photo of his grandma for this. deep inside, even though he no longer wants to be like a hero-hero, he still views himself as some kind of a heroic figure to those he cares about (read, the league, mostly). he’s almost a gentleman in that sense. he won’t pressure you into loving him out of the blue. he’s awkward with feelings of course, but he’s not that stupid. it’s like a game to him, where the main prize is you. he could cheat and use brute force, but like really why do that? no fun, you’re not an enemy, and also, it kinda throws off his image to you, don’t you think? he’s calculating everything, and he figures that scaring you might really be not useful in the long run. he’s the one who’s learning from his mistakes, so he longer is that impulsive brat from the very start of the story. and because of his strategic thinking, even his some really troublesome qualities, like possessiveness, impulsive and manipulating behaviour, could be overcome.

ways to deal with: basically, just don’t lie to him. he’ll be okay with anything you throw his way, he’s no stranger to harsh words. it’s his way to improve himself. if you learn about his heroic origins, do not ever, i repeat, ever, use that as the way to stop him from being violent. that’s the tricky part. he still views himself as a hero - to the league, to you, but in his very twisted way. you may get it all you want, but the rules are that you keep your mouth shut. he is violent. he’ll continue to be violent. he is a villain, the future king at the end of the day. if you don’t want to face his angry breakdown, know your place. he does not cross your boundaries (even for sometimes wrong reasons), your turn to do the same.

how hard to escape: he won’t even kiss you without your consent, so dont worry about your freedom. you’re not a hostage to him. you’re free to go wherever and whenever you want.

likeliness to survive: very high. do not betray him and you won’t die from his hands (literally).

rate: 4/10, not even a yandere in a full sense, let alone dangerous one.

toga

surprisingly, ranks the lowest on this list. she has the image of a cliche yandere, and this image has nothing in common with the real toga himiko. the only things she’s obsessed with are her own thoughts and ideas. she’s very observant and she is a realist. she clearly distinguishes between the reality and her own fantasies about other people. it might upset her very much (it usually does) but she’s still the molst self-aware from the gang, even though it might not look like it. but! because of how upset she can get, she might become dangerous to even close ones. she tries really hard to be in control, but she’s still very young and she only learns. she wants love, she wants to give and to recieve love. of course, with how lonely she feels, it might swing her mood drastically. because she’s not delusional, even when she wants to be. she’s too smart to be fooled by the false feelings. 

ways to deal with: well, if she’s in a bad mood, whining that no one loves her, you better either run or hug her. it’s just you do you situation. again, lies are highly not appreciated, she can see right through it, and even if you think you’ve fooled her, trust me you haven’t. with how she views the world, she’d learnt to be okay with being unloved. she desperately wants to be loved, so if you’ll love her for real, that would take her by surprise. and if not... nothing will really change. 

how hard to escape: she won’t hold you hostage.

likeliness to survive: high, but you need to be able to run fast, especially when she’s in a bad mood.

rate: 2/10, not a yandere.

dabi

you think with how cold and aloof he looks, he doesn’t care about anything, like he himself states? you’re not a fool, are you? don’t fall for his lies, it may cost you a life. so if it’s you he’s currently obsessed with, it’s really bad news for you.  when he sets a goal, it all goes tunnel vision to him. man’s held a grudge for more than 10 years, you really think he let’s go easily? whatever he thinks of, it possesses his mind, like it’s all already done. but, he still needs to build some courage. he’s not cruel or bloodthirsty by nature. he was raised in a heroic household, and it has a hold on him to this day. don’t mistake it, unlike shigaraki, he doesn’t see anything heroic in himself. quite the opposite, he fully recognizes he is a villain in any perspective. it may seem like he doesn’t have a moral compass, but he actually does. his moral standarts are very, very high. he just explicitely chooses to ignore it to fullfill his goals. he’s very self-aware and like any human being who recognizes that what he's doing is bad, he deals with self hatred. and because of it he has that negative nihilistic perspective, like if nothing matters anymore and i’m that evil being, why not be even more evil? it doesn’t matter anyway.

ways to deal with: he’s not cold, nor is he aloof. he’s very sensible and unstable, but, he’s still predictable. his mood swings are highly dependable on whether everything went according to his plans or not. his family is also a huge factor, because even if he himself states that he doesn’t care about them and wants to kill his small brother, well, he lies. he’s self-aware, yeah, it doesn’t mean he knows his own feelings very well. do that for him, he’ll actually be grateful, because it might lessen his self-hatred a bit. but sometimes it might anger him even more, because you may give him the reason to be a decent person, and he’s very aware he’s long past it. you can’t fix him, no one can fix him, and he doesn’t want to be fixed. he chose to be a bad, bad person, and it took years for him to seal the deal. but, however much he craves your attention, he has some boundaries. yes, he likes to play with you, and he enjoys his little manipulations and lies. but he’ll never rape you, or even kiss you without asking you first, if it’s not something you initiating. it’s just disgusting to him, and however morally corrupt he is, he’s not that low on morals bar. he doesn’t even really want to have sex with you, to begin with. he just wants his attention and fun, mainly being him gaslighting you. he doesn’t find your body necessarily attractive, because his mind doesn’t work like that. look at him, yours or even his own body are not his priorities. your mind is what he wants in his pleasure. to your advantage, he’s very bad at it, being manipulator. it’s against his blunt nature, so you better just play along. another thing is that you need to remind him carefully, that he has some greater goals (than you). you need to find them for him, so his focus changes from you and you only. best case scenario is when he finds something new (preferrably not another human) to be obsessed with. 

how hard to escape: well, you’ve never lived together to begin with, and it was his choice only. he really enjoys his alone time, but he has his eyes on you anyway. you can’t really leave anywhere without him knowing somehow. but, as stupid as it sounds, it might be very easy, actually, because he might just simply forget about you if there’s any next grand goal. that’s your chance to escape. stay on the low. the sad part is, he always finishes what he’d started, even if it takes years. and if he finds you again - because he will try to do that, no matter what - what he’ll do to you then?

likeliness to survive: 50/50. there’s a thing with him, that his self-hatred shows that he’s still capable of mercy. he might just let you go one day with no regrets, out of the blue, because he said so. but here’s another way; and he knows that killing you is bad. he knows it all. he might still choose to do it regardless.

rate: 7/10. impulsive, manipulative, shows zero remorse. he doesn’t even love you, he loves to play with you. protect your mind, don’t fall for his tricks, and maybe one day you’ll escape.

hawks

crème de la crème. charming, funny, friendly, polite and is a hero, a gentleman’s kit. he remembers everything you’ve ever said to him (mark that part), he’ll follow you home, he’ll bring you small gifts and snacks, the dates are memorable, he compliments you all the way. you both want to create a beautiful family. a fairytale personified. and like with all fairytales, there’s a twist: he’s delusional to a point he can’t distiguish his desires from reality. the thing is, in his world, when he’s a highly trained asassin, his desires are a reality, because he never really had any. he was an asset, a tool. and what he was told to do, he repeated to himself and then he did what was asked. so in his mind, what he thinks is what he does. and it’s okay, if you think similarly - at the beginning of your relationship it feels like a dream how in sync you are. he’s very careful with what he’s showing to you, and if you don;t dig deeper, it may stay this way for literal years. he’s in no rush, so all your connections he cuts one by one, thoughtfully and carefully. he’s everywhere you want him to be. and he always knows what exactly you want. it is, until one time he gets it wrong, and his reaction is anything but what you’ve expected from your always sweet and gentle partner.

ways to deal with: the effect of the uncanny valley is developing with more time that you spend with him. you see his strange looks, but you don’t know how to explain it, and he’s always so ready to tell you it’s just because of how beautiful you are! but you see how he looks at you, like you’re a lab rat in a glass box, and at first you think you’re just imagining things. he’s so ready to confirm your stupidity. he wants the best for you, and since he’s seen it all, he knows best. it’ll took a lot of time for you to unpack how sick he is, how many lives he’d ended because he decided what they did was wrong. he has no moral compass, actually, he’s like a parrot, repeating what he have heard from his supervisors. so he doesn’t really know what’s good and what’s bad, he’ll find an explanation for any atrocities he’d caused. he’ll do everything in his power for you to never find out, but even if you do, he won’t drop the act. he’ll still be gentle and soft with you, trying to convince you you got it all wrong. he has his ways: he’s still attractive to you, of course he is, with his gorgeous looks, and he knows that. he’ll definitely use sex as a distraction - another thing to be wary of. and it might work, because he never in his life harmed you physically. you may fall for it again and again and again, letting him put you on a shorter leash. maybe, it’s even better for you to stay as delusional as him? because if you keep your sanity and believe your own eyes, it might become unbearable to live with him under one roof. he won’t rape your body, but he’ll torture your mind and soul constantly. unlike dabi, he mastered his manipulation skills to a degree he manipulated himself into believing his own lies. you’re ruining you both’ perfect little life. like, what bothers you exactly? it doesn’t matter if he may kill people in cold blood, he never hurt you, did he? the main survival strategy is to play along. he lies a lot, and he likes his lies. he’ll be happy to hear yours. don’t let him in your head again, pretend you’re back to his ‘normal’. or he’ll destroy you like no one but him could.

how hard to escape: your chances to escape are none to zero. you see, you may live with him for years, not realizing how crazy he is, because of how good he is at hiding it. you may even have kids at this point (which makes situation far, far more difficult). he can and he will threat you with harming others, if you try to leave him, by yourself or with kids. he won’t hurt them, but your other relatives, friends? say bye to them: he won’t kill them (again, not necessary blood is not appreciated), but you’ll never heard from them again. if you have kids, he’ll keep them. if you somehow manage to escape, however long it takes, he will find you and bring back home. 

likeliness to survive: very low. he’ll probably break you in the end, that if he won’t die himself. his pressure on your mind is unimaginable. he’ll twist it in the ways only he can understand. the man has no morals, no goals, no friends, nothing but you. it can become physically impossible to live with him, while recognizing he’s like batshit crazy and he’s trying to make you like him. he won’t kill you, no matter how much you want him to. he won’t kill you no matter what you do, even if you stab him, no punishment for you other than staying with him like that, untill the day you or him finally die. and even if it’s him who dies - on a mission or from by your hand - you’ll never ever be the same.

rate: 10/10, The Madman.

[fashion-foxy]

Heyyyyy so you know how in modern Disney channel movies (Im specifically talking about the Zombies and Descendants franchises as those are movies ive seen but I do think some of these traits are in other disney channel movies like Highschool Musical) the bad guys are always loud flamboyant theater kids? And how the good guys are always good morally upstanding people who have either were raised in the American Dream(tm) (nuclear family, upper middle class, perfect grades everything's going great) or live in a poorer situation but are still good people who will eventually get the picture perfect American Dream(tm)?

Yeahhh I hate to say it but that's kinda based off the formula of classic (when i say classic i mean Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. Not Renaissance era) Disney Princess movies where you have the same villain and hero formula.

Now, why am I treating any of this as a bad thing? Well, that was probably based on how villains were deliberately given queer traits to seem more villainous. You see, back in when Snow White and other classics were being worked on there were codes in place to ban queerness from being shown on film because queer people are the devil and they're gonna corrupt you and your kids if you don't watch out! Or some other stupid homophobic shit like that. So, it being the 30s, naturally, people aren't too keen on the concept of gay people. So, what's an easy way to get people to immediately let your audience know just from looking at them that your villains are evil? Give them stereotypical queer traits, of course!

And it's the exact opposite with Disney heroes! Have princesses be traditionally feminine whatever that time periods version of being a 'good woman' is. Could range from being good at cleaning and never going against authority, and even if she eventually does, make it be in the nicest way possible. Or, have her be a strong and independent woman who doesn't need a man. But, you usually focus on the woman because she's the driving force who goes through all the terrible things, and the men shouldn't be all too present because she either doesn't need a knight in shining armour or he's only there to provide the American Dream Happily Ever After.

Another thing we see in classic is the movie must always return the status quo. We can change some things about the poor area but not change it too much. I.e. we can get rid of the border but not actually do anything to combat classism or help the poor people not be poor. If the our main character is rich they stay in on their side of the border in their rich area. If the main character is poor they get to be honorary rich person but they'll have a plot line where they're not like the other girls and are having a really hard time being rich. This will conclude with them saying something about how, "They're not rich they'll poor at heart!" Which means they'll gonna be rich and wear black and be a bit quirky.

So, in classic movies the heros have a very conservative/heteronormative view of the world and way of life. While the villians possess queer traits and our the ones trying to make any changes to the system. But the thing is, NOTHING has actually changed in these modern Disney channel movies! They still use the same formula! The only difference now is that they get to queer bait audiences now!

Here are some great videos about how the formula of Disney characters has changed over the years. If you want to hear more on this subject:

https://youtu.be/OkadXlv_eA0?si=Z_avjkQKIpxGRyvf

https://youtu.be/HYh4e9u5HuE?si=4eFwcBd-iI-PTq03

Sidenote:

This is also why I love eah so much. Literally subverts the very idea of Disney style fairytales in a brilliant way. I'll never get over the fact that it lost to descendants.

[rainbow-wolf120]

The RayClone Theory: Why It Could Be Possible

(Massive Spoilers for CLH below) Tw: Ab//se, Imprisonment, D3ath, Really Bad Pacing on My Part <3

With me thinking about this way too much, I’ve come up with a thought. Have you ever wondered why the CLH Rayman is so… different from his in-game persona?

No, it’s not because it's a remix. Think deeper. Examine them under a microscope.

It could be because… they’re not the same person.

Now, this may sound like another silly cartoon theory, but hear me out. I have… proof. Aka overanalyzing, but school taught me to do that.

So, what is the RayClone Theory? Well, to put it simple, the Rayman we see in the show isn't the ‘first’ Rayman. There’s been many in the past. Many, as in 5 or so. How? That’s what this post is for. So, let's go back to the beginning. Mushing both Rayman and CLH lore alike.

To make this simpler, we’re gonna establish a rule. Referring to all the Raymen in the show as ‘Rayman’ is very, very confusing. So I will make a list:

OG Rayman - Rayman CLH Rayman - Ramon Rayplacement - Fakeman

Get it? Got it? Good. Let’s start.

According to the Rayman lore, Rayman was created with one purpose in mind: To protect the Glade (or, in this case, Dimension X). He was created for one thing only. To protect. To be the ‘hero’.

In the games, he’s never failed before. He thrives and beats the bad guy. But remember, this isn’t the games. It’s a remix. A what-if. This leads into:

What if Rayman failed? What does he do then?

And not like, fails as in Rayman 2, fail as in royally fucked up. Fail as in, the closest one to him dies by ‘his hand’. No, not Globox, he was considered alive by Adi. But you know who he didn’t confirm?

Betilla the Fairy.

You could be thinking: “Duh, of course she wasn’t mentioned. He was being broad.”, but he mentioned Razorbeard. His ass wasn’t relevant since Rayman M. So why mention him, but not Rayman’s literal mom??

Because she's not alive. 

Eden (and America) has always been a resource hungry society. It’s human nature. In this timeline, society progresses much quicker than in the real world (flying cars in 1992). Progress needs resources. Have you ever noticed that Eden is barren of all plant life? It’s because Eden (or America) used it all for industrialization.

How does this relate to Rayman? You know how the Glade of Dreams is a lush forest? Resources from massive jungles to deep oceans to towering mountains? Imagine what a power-hungry company (or companies) would do if they discovered this.

*Insert How Bad Can I Be Here*

The creation of the Super-Scope must’ve been revolutionary. The ability to travel to other dimensions with one click of a trigger. Resources galore.

Sarah Fisher mentions in ep2 that the Golder Super-Scope was stolen from Eden’s labs. So, what’s stopping Eden from creating this material? Nothing. That’s what.

Eden, still a sorta underground company, creates this gun and finds Dimension X. Filled with lush resources ripe for the picking. The critters of the Glade don’t know their ‘bad guys’. They don’t look inherently bad. So they leave them be.

Rabbids. The little bunny fellas.

The Kaiju monsters in the show. How does that become a monster? It’s easy. Toxic chemicals. Not just any toxic chemicals, but Eden’s toxic chemicals from polluting the Glade.

I’m getting distracted, back to Rayman.

Kaiju Rabbids started popping around Dimension X. They started small and inefficient until they got bigger and bigger. Rayman took care of them, yes, but one day, he got absolutely bombarded by a hoard of Rabbids.

A massive war broke out between the citizens of the Dimension and the Rabbids. No one knows how it started because Eden left after it got all it needed.

Rayman, having ‘hero-ing’ literally coded into him, fights back. Others help, yes, but it’s mostly Rayman doing the fighting. 

This leads into Betilla, and how she died.

Rayman was getting jumped by Rabbids, so she came in to save him, risking her life as a result. Yes, her sacrifice did stun the Rabbids and cause them to flee into the depths of Dimension X, but Rayman feels like he’s one to blame.

No one really fully ‘died’ in the games. Sure, they got kidnapped, possessed, you name it. But no explicit deaths besides villains.

So, imagine what that does to a guy when his first, full on death witness was with his creator, his mother.

He doesn’t take it too well.

Yes. Rayman was a hero and drove out the Rabbids, but he didn’t save everybody. He couldn’t save his mom.

He failed.

Lost and confused, Rayman runs to find… something. He runs away, something he’s never done before. He never backed down from a fight. So why is he now?

Well, because he’s scared. Scared for his life and others.

Betilla saved him with her own life. She died because of him. Heroes are supposed to be giving the sacrifice. Not receiving it.

Rayman blames himself. If he’s out of the picture, then no one else would risk their life for his.

The art book says that they destroyed the dimension, but Globox, the Teensies, and even Razorbeard are alive, so the dimension can’t be unlivable. So what if this use of ‘dimension’ was less literal?

This may sound far-off, but Rayman’s “dimension” could be talking about Betilla. She created him, so she is his ‘dimension’.

This transition into Eden! Or, America currently.

Rayman goes into America looking for a fresh start. To find his purpose. He failed his original purpose (which was to be a hero and save everybody), so he blocked out everything that happened originally to start a fresh start.

Or, every immigration story ever. Leaving behind what you loved for a better start.

He needed a new purpose. And that purpose is to be an entertainer!

His origin in America is the same as the show. He goes to college, gets outcasted, and rises with Eden.

Things are different here than with Ramon. Rayman is… less constricted here.

Back when Eden was new (most likely had good intentions), they weren’t worried about Rayman finding the truth. There was no truth to find. So Rayman was allowed to explore, make friends, talk to people and hybrids below his social class.

One day, he met a hybrid journalist. One of the lower-income hybrids, but a very strong writer. Rayman admired their work, being a news reporter and all, and the two became really good friends, even with him getting them a job at Eden.

Then, the journalist goes snooping. Eden wasn’t as terrible as it is in the present day, but it still did bad things. The hybrid craves justice (like any other journalist) and stations a revolt. It affects Eden, but nothing major except getting the journalist put in jail.

Rayman finds out and goes to give his buddy a visit and to ask what happened. Rayman (still under the influence of Eden) explains that they shouldn’t have revolted and that Eden is great. The hybrid shows him the articles and photos (which were disapproved by Eden so they weren’t published) and explains their side of the story. Since the journalist was low-income, they experienced the biases and issues of Eden first hand.

Rayman obviously seeks the truth as well, promising that he could save the journalist. He goes to the Board of the Directors with the proof and articles, demanding an explanation. Not in a violent way like Ramon, but in a diplomatic manner.

(Keep in mind, Rayman has been questioning Eden in recent weeks from folks he’s talked with in his downtime)

Sound familiar? Of course it does. It happens in the show. Clones are still clones, y’know?

The Board, unsure on how to react with their poster boy finding their fucked up ways, tells Rayman that they’ll explain tomorrow.

Rayman, still trusting of the Board, agrees and waits it out. The next day, he awakens, chained in a dingy room.

Why? Well, the Board knew that Rayman’s act wouldn’t be as efficient if he knew what he was saying was bullshit. Think Disney’s Bolt. So what do they do?

Try out their latest technology, of course. And that was a cloning device.

Now, you can’t just clone Rayman. He’s an alien. Not an organic lifeform. So, how did Eden approach it?

Lums. Take bits of Rayman, combine it with various animals, and boom. Almost perfect Rayman clone.

Clones are never perfect. Each one has an imperfection, little or big. And the Lums is what gives Rayman his main form.

So, chain him to the basement so he’s always on hand. Duh.

Rayman stays in that basement for at least 10 years. Sad, alone, and going insane. He can’t die; he’s immortal. Eden goes through at least 4 or 5 different RayClones before landing on Ramon. I’ll go into Ramon in a bit.

When a RayClone is too imperfect or steps out of line, the Board sends one of the Niji 6 to eliminate them. This is shown by this line of dialogue:

“Taking care of”? What do they imply by that? Maybe it implies that they were sent to assassinate Rayman, or in this case, Ramon. 

So, RayClone bodies can’t exactly decompose. Yes, they can die and lose consciousness, but those Lums inside them don’t allow the body to rot. So what happened to those bodies? Leave them in the depths of Eden to rot.

Back to Rayman, one day, he manages to slip his hand loose from the chains and free him. This happens when Ramon is just made. The Board orders the Niji 6 to hunt and bring back Rayman. During his escape attempt, Rayman accidentally causes an explosion ‘killing him’.

We’re gonna pause his story and shift to Ramon.

Now, I wanna talk about his reaction to Red in ep3. Clones share the same memories as the original, but they don’t experience it the same. It’s like knowing something and actually being there.

The Rabbids attack, but Ramon isn’t really stressed about them attacking. Was he that faithful in the Niji 6? Or was it something else?

Was it because he doesn’t have that trauma about them?

When Red calls Ramon an “interdimensional alien scum," Ramon bursts? Why? Because he experienced it. He experienced being belittled and talked down by his colleagues at work. He knows how it feels, so he’s pissed.

If Rayman was in his place, Rayman would be fidgety and panicky about the Rabbids and brush over Red insulting him. If anything, Rayman would be thanking Red for stopping them. Yes, Rayman was talked down in college and his early days, but the Rabbids changed his life.

You could argue that it’s because he had his cry before the cameras were running, but he shows no sign of that. No voice cracks or eye twitches. And the fight just happened, which explains the presence of Red.

Going back in time for a moment-

Ramon was the latest RayClone and the last one with the ‘death’ of Rayman. This makes Eden super protective over him and his opinion on Eden. Other RayClones in the past were either too disfigured to seamlessly become Rayman, or found / was close to the truth. They need to keep Ramon pure.

How does one keep something pure and untouched? Isolated them, of course!

(Note the use of the word ‘illusory’ here)

This also explains the ‘Eden-generated’ scripts. Rayman wrote his own scripts. Rayman said his own opinion. Now, 10+ years later, Eden writes Ramon’s scripts. Ramon says Eden’s opinion.

If he was stripped of his freedom, then how would he be infected with the truth?

If he wasn’t needed anymore.

This is where Fakeman comes in. I think Fakeman is Raymesis, due to those yellow eye highlights you can see in a split second.

The Board wasn’t as faithful in Ramon as they were previously. He might’ve had some outbursts before ep3. They needed a backup. They can’t clone him, the clone would be to fucked up. They needed another Rayman.

Remember the Rabbid invasion in ep2 / 3? While the Niji 6 was dealing with the kaijus, guess who was snooping around the Glade for a Rayplacement?

Raymesis was kidnapped and forced to work for Eden if he liked it or not. They weren’t going to clone him yet, but to keep him in line, instead of acceptance (like they did with Rayman), they used threats.

This explains Fakeman’s uneasiness in ep6 with Retribution Day. That was his first big acting event, and the one Eden decided if he’s replacing Rayman on stage or in the basement.

Look at his face when it’s canceled. Bro looks scared shitless.

But Fakeman and his lore / personality is a whole ‘nother post.

Ramon follows the same path as Rayman. Seeing something unfair (Rayman’s friend getting arrested and Ramon losing his job), and doing something about it.

It’s that Ramon is filled with vengeance and anger because his whole life was a lie.

Rayman is filled with doubt and confusion because he just refound his purpose, and that was a lie.

Rayman’s whole journey throughout this is finding his purpose. His original purpose was to ‘save everybody’, and that failed. He went to America to find a purpose and did with Eden. In his character bio in the art book mentions this purpose line.

“Even happier that Eden gave him purpose”. Why? Because he lost his original purpose! He felt he was nothing before Eden gave him everything. He’s under the mindset that Eden gave him his meaning of life again.

They quite literally saved his life.

Anyway, what does Rayman do after his ‘death’? Have an identity crisis of course! He was locked up for over 10 years, his brain is scrambled eggs at this point!

He failed his purpose for Eden, so he resorts back to his original purpose: Be a Hero.

But, what about the Rayman on TV? Is he the real one?

Rayman’s mindset is that he was created to be a hero. Heroes are brave, speak the truth, and rise up against bad. What is the Rayman on TV doing?

He’s being brave, speaking the ‘truth’, and rising up against ‘bad’.

What’s the real Rayman doing?

He’s being a coward, secret about what he knows and saw, and hiding against the bad.

Heroes don’t do that. So Rayman must be a fake. He must be the RayClone. He’s the mistake. At least, that’s what he made himself think.

Now, I won’t get into my ideas for Season 2. If people want it, sure. I will. But for now, I’ll leave it at that. This is 2200+ words, and I’m grasping at the air at this point.

If you disagree? Great! If you don’t? Great! Tell me your own thoughts / theories then!

[karmavongrim]

Hero's Rise fanfic idea

Not much of an idea but an actual story about Danny's new life in the Pokémon world.

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Chapter 1

All anybody needs is a second chance

Why is the world so unfair? It wasn’t fair! All it took was just one simple mistake. A mistake that any teenager could’ve made and yet when he does it, the entire world is put in peril. A mistake that his family had to pay the ultimate price for.

These are the thoughts of an injured teen kneeling in a crater of his latest fight with the most terrifying foe he has ever met. That day had started like any other, a teen worrying about an important exam that could effect his future. He’d thought of even just winging the whole test since he never got enough time to study thanks to his secret hero duties keeping him occupied even at nighttime, if not for the test answers he had picked up from the ground that was accidentally left behind by his English teacher. If only he would’ve known that his decision to cheat would cause for the literal apocalypse to happen then he would have never even considered doing such a thing.

No, that wasn’t true, he knew that this would be the outcome yet he still did it thanks to his stupid teen impulses. The master and lord of time himself had warned him personally of this but he still didn’t listen. And now he has nothing.

The scrawny fourteen year old stares blackly at the hellish inferno that had consumed all the ones he cared about along with a fast food restaurant they had been held captive in by his evil future self. His glazed eyes turn to a silver thermos that now housed said monster. He can’t bring himself to care that his baggy t-shirt and jeans are in shreds, and covered in blood and dirt. Nothing mattered to him anymore.

In a distance the blaring sound of multiple sirens can be heard even through the sound of roaring fire around him. So lost in thoughts he’s that he didn’t notice the world around him going deathly still and quit, nor the wisp of gold air escaping past his pale split lips. Not until a familiar, deep voice gently calls out to him.

“Danny.”

Danny blinks for what feels like the first time in a good while as he’s trying to process what was said to him and by whom. He didn’t move from his spot on the ground when a blue-skinned ghost moves in front of him, his purple cloak flowing along. His form ever shifting between that of a child, an adult and an old man, never staying as one for long. Seeing the ghost he can’t stop tears from rolling down his face as he demands.

“Why didn’t you stop this Clockwork?”

When the ever age shifting ghost says nothing he becomes angry.

“You are the master of time aren’t you? Can’t you just turn back time and let me fix my mistake?”

Clockwork regards the distraught boy silently for a moment.

“I won’t nor can do that Daniel, for multitude of reasons. You also seem to have misunderstood some things regarding me. I do not rule over time, I manage it. My duty is to take care of it, not to bend it to my will and do whatever I please with it. If I were to meddle more than I already have the consequences could be catastrophic. This was the most optimal outcome.” He calmly explains. The ageless being truly wishes that it wouldn’t have come to this, but he had no other choice. He had his limits and rules in place for a reason. This of course doesn’t sit well with the boy.

“O-Optimal outcome? Optimal outcome!” He screams with his hoarse voice. Danny was absolutely livid hearing that. He lets go of the thermos shaped capture device and wobbly lifts himself up.

“You are saying all this like it’s nothing! Like we are nothing more then pieces on a game board that can be thrown away!” He screams more as he unsteadily lunges himself at the ancient ghost who does nothing to stop the weak assault.

“Why did they have to pay the price for my stupid decision? Just take me instead!” He begs but Clockwork’s unmoved, so Danny continues to throw punches, ignoring how heavy and in pain his arms feel.

“You are the master of time! Just turn back time and let me fix this!” He begs again and still only silence greets him, so he doesn’t stop.

“Please! If they are taken away from me I’ll have nothing left worth living for. If you can’t bring them back then take me as well!” Third time he begs and bargains, and again nothing.

Danny collapses on to the elder who wraps his gloved arms to keep him from falling while being careful with his clock staff. With no more rage, all that is left was absolute sorrow and misery belonging to an orphaned child.

“P-Please bring them back. Please. I-I beg you, I’ll do anything.” He tries to beg feebly one last time as he lifts his head to look into Clockwork’s solid red eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Was the resolute answer he gets that shattering any illusions of this all being just a messed up dream or a sick joke.

That’s it then, he’s lost everything and there’s nothing he can do about it. Maybe his parents were right about Danny Phantom being a monster, they weren’t that far from truth looking at the destruction that Dan had caused… It would be better for everybody if he were to just-

“Don’t.” Clockwork’s stern voice rouses him from his spiraling dark thoughts, who’s looking at him with equally stern gaze.

“Do not think that taking your own life would atone anything. You must keep on living Daniel, for your family’s sake at least if not yours. Stay alive so that their memories may live on as well with you. They would want that and you know this too deep inside.”

Even though his speech ends in softer note it still stings a lot. He’s the cause of all of this so it would be only fair that he pays the price as well. But there seemes to be no way fighting the powerful ghost of time on this, no matter how hard he tries. Danny slumps further into Clockwork’s firm embrace as if it would help him somehow to escape the cruel reality.

Clockwork would let the boy get his bearings but this isn’t the place nor time for it. He shifts his free hand to soothe the messy black mop of hair as he continues.

“Unfortunately I can’t let you stay here. The future only holds terrible things for all if you do.”

Danny squeezes his eyes shut as he grits his teeth; even if Clockwork didn’t say it outright he knows what he means. What is he suppose to do then? There’s no going back and fixing this, nor is he apparently allowed to end his own misery. The only thing he can think of is to ask the one who knows everything.

“…What should I do?”

Clockwork lifts his staff as he suggests.

“Come with me and you’ll find out.”

Danny doesn’t think too long since he has nothing else to do or place to go. If he stays then he would be just put in foster care or adoption since he’s still a minor, and would end up with Vlad one way or another. Once felt connection to this town seemed to have shatter into pieces when his loved ones perished. He has nothing left to keep him there, so at a complete loss he agrees.

“A-Alright.” He mutters and takes the offered hand.

At his consent they are both along with the thermos transported away with a single wave of a staff, never to been seen by that world ever again.

Danny only opens his eyes when the feeling of momentary weightlessness ceases and he’s gently pried off by the older ghost. He is led to a purple bed of what seem to be a guest room from lack of personal touches in it. Once he’s made comfortable Clockwork doesn’t waste time in explaining.

“Like I said before, you can’t stay here. But there’s another way. I happen to have acquaintances who would be willing to foster you, the only catch being that they live very far, far away.” Danny’s getting a sinking feeling about where this is going so he has to ask.

“How far exactly?”

Clockwork stops, seemingly to give the boy a second to prepare himself before answering.

“In another world, in another reality.” He tells him truthfully. This gets a reaction out of the teen.

“What! W-Why so far away? What about my-” He stops himself from finishing that sentence. Tears once again start to gather and fall with earnest. What about his family. They are gone for good and he wouldn’t be able to live in Amity Park without constantly being reminded of his failures. Clockwork places a firm hand on the skinny shoulder to draw his attention away from his spiraling thoughts again. He hates the soft look directed at him. He doesn’t deserve it.

“This is why you can’t stay and why I’m offering you this opportunity, to heal and give you a second change at life, to move on.”

Danny shook his head violently. No, he doesn’t deserve any of this.

“H-how can I just move on from this!? From them! There’s no way- It’s just not right!”

He doesn’t deserve help. He doesn’t want it! He can’t continue on with his life when the others lost theirs. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair.

“I didn’t say that you should forget about them, but to accept that this is the unfortunate reality. The pain never goes away, it merely becomes easier to deal with in due time if you let yourself heal by at least attempting to forgive yourself. What do you think your loved ones would say to you right now? Samantha, Tucker and Jasmine? Your parents? Would they want to see you in this state?”

Danny winces and glares hard at the elder. He has no business to use his family against him like that! But now that the idea’s been planted, he wasn’t able to think anything else. What would they say?

He can definitely see Jazz and Sam scolding him for being an idiot, for ever thinking that they’d blame him, that they knew what they were getting themselves into. Tucker would reassure him that he wouldn’t forget them even if he found a new meaning to his life. Hell, he would even offer some ridiculous ideas to try out in the new world, like pick up some alien girls. He liked to think that his parents would wish the best of luck and happiness, to show the world what Fentons are made of.

He let his tears fall freely. The last thing he wants to do was to dishonor the ones he loved the most. He won’t do it, he’ll make sure their memories would live on, brighter than ever. He doesn’t want to disappoint them no matter what, even if it still left a sour taste on his tongue. Was he really allowed to move on with out them?

Clockwork decides it would be a good time to leave the boy to mourn in peace, yet he can’t help but lament quietly as he floats out of the bedroom.

“Oh Daniel, you think that you still have to pay for what had happened. Those who have passed have no need for tears, you’ll only end up drowning yourself in them. I truly hope that this will help you find peace of mind someday.”

The Observants have always told him that he cares to much for the young halfa, and every time he denies them even though he knows that they are correct much to his dismay. He’s cared for the boy even before he was born. He can see all of time: past, present, and future. All of it’s endless twists and turns. And out of all of them he enjoyed Danny’s the most. The person who said that time doesn’t have favorites was a liar.

Clockwork glides through the finding halls and corridors of his clock tower till he arrives at his destination. His viewing room, filled with screens, mirrors and cogs that hold within images of old and new, as well as those yet to come to pass or never will. He moves deeper and deeper till he came to a simple silver mirror, so unassuming and hidden away from any unwanted eyes.

Lifting his staff he gently taps it’s surface. It ripples like a calm lake disturbed and white figure manifestes in it.

A white equine like creature accented with gold, radiated majesty and power. Emerald crusted ring of gold attached to its abdomen outshines any crown a king could wear. It’s red and green eyes seem to glow when it notices the time master who has contacted it. And with a mighty voice they spoke.

“Clockwork, it has been ages since we hast last spoken. How hast thou been, those Eyeballs still causing trouble for thee?”

Clockwork lets himself chuckle, trust his friend to take a stab at his ‘coworkers’ just to make him laugh. Not that he’s any better.

“Well met Arceus, my old friend. As nice as it would’ve been for me to have only called you for pleasantries, we’re here to discuss some business.”

He leans on his staff as his friend could only sigh.

“We had a feeling this was so. Thou rarely contact us for any reason other.” Arceus laments and bores a tired glare at the cloaked man who in turn shrugs rather unapologetically.

“What is’t, now that thou summon us?” He asks in almost bored tone.

“I’m calling for the old dept.”

Clockwork states simply. Or it would have sounded simple to anyone else, but Arceus stills as their eyes blow wide open before they narrow in suspicion.

“What hast thou gotten into for thou to arriveth and claim due.” They demand and watch when with a wave of a staff, a hand mirror appears on the other’s unoccupied hand. They lean in for a closer look as a visage of an adolescent boy with midnight black hair becomes visable. This was not what they had expected.

“We fail to understand what thou crave us to try, other than it most like hath to try with thy human child.” They inquire in hesitant interest. This was Clockwork they were dealing with and should never be underestimated.

“He’s a child who’s been dealt an unnecessarily cruel hand in both life and death. He just a moment ago witnessed the loss of his friend and loved ones in the hands of his ultimate enemy.” He tells this as he looks at the image.

“E’en if that is the case, why hie so far for this one single being? There are many others whom suffer the like fate as him, if not worse. Time favors none, doth it not?” Arceus keeps questioning. It doesn’t make sense since they’ve seen countless beings succumb to many fates both good, bad and horrid. What is so different about this one?

“This world holds nothing but sadness and pain for him. In another timeline things would have gone so much more differently and he would have had his happy ending, but this timeline is unfortunately not it. He will never truly recover if he stays here were everything reminds him of his ‘failure’; he’ll keep dwelling deeper in his misery till it drives him over the edge. A change of scenery is what he desperately needs, so I’m finally asking for the favor that you own me. My request is that you take this child and allow him to build a new life for himself in your world.”

They hear and see the clear care their old friend holds for the child but they needs to remind him of the weight of what he’s asking of them.

“This is no bawbling crave Clockwork.” They press.

Clockwork fiddles idle with the clock that is embedded on top of his trusty staff as he conversationally mentions.

“Just like it wasn’t a small act I committed back then for you.”

He lifts his red eyes back at them, challenging the other to try and back down. Arceus knows a losing battle when they see one, besides they do own him big time. There’s nothing else for him to do than continue onward in valiant defeat.

“What is the name of this child?” They ask as they turn back to look at their future charge. The victorious smugness emanating from the other side of the mirror nearly causes them to roll their eyes.

“His name is Daniel Fenton but goes by his moniker Danny or Phantom depending on his current form. A bright young lad when given the chance, even if his grades might have taken a plunge due to his hero work.” Clockwork informs them.

Arceus watches in keen interest as they’re shown many of the boy’s ventures through the small looking-glass. They can’t help but laugh when he realizes how Clockwork sounds like when he talks about the boy, causing said ghost to raise his brown at him.

“And hither we thought thee were suppose to be impartial to all’s… Regarding the favor, all preparations shall be done ‘i no time.” They both discreetly snorted at the pun.

“We are content to receive him whenever seen meetest.”

Clockwork’s shoulders slump ever so slightly as he gives a grateful smile, which quickly turns to his usual smirk.

“Excellent, I won’t be holding you any longer then. Besides I need to prepare young Daniel for his departure, as well as some ‘guests’ to entertain when they finally decide to arrive.” He purrs but before the call was ends Arceus gives a final warning to their old friend.

“We hope that this doth not end poorly. If it doth, thy shall bear the consequence.”

At this threat the ghost only laughs.

“No need for worry. Knowing my Daniel he will do more good then harm. But then again, I know everything.” And with that final farewell the mirror returns back to its unassuming state. Clockwork creates a duplicate of himself and sends him away while making his way back to Danny.

Arriving at the bedroom door he knocks out of courtesy on it before entering to see the poor boy lying face down on the bed. Softly floating to the bedside he tentatively begins to pet his grimy hair. Danny stirs slightly but made no move to get away or to stop the hand on his head. Instead he starts to hiccup and tries to smother his sobs on the duvet.

“I’ll never see them again.” He cries.

Clockwork continues his petting as he lets the boy release his emotions.

“They’re never coming back.” He cries more and all the elder can do at the moment was to offer comfort.

“I’m sorry.” He says as sincerely as he can. He would’ve felt regret over the whole situation if he didn’t know that this needed to happen. It still doesn’t stop his core from breaking a little when he hears him say in such a small voice.

“I don’t want to be alone.”

Lifting his hand from the dirty hair he moves to shift it away from the boy’s face to reveal pair of red puffy eyes looking at him in complete loss.

“You won’t be for long. Here, lets get you cleaned up a bit and you can go back to rest a little while longer.”

Not having energy to argue he’s helped up from the soft bed and into a Victorian style bathroom. Clockwork helps him all through out the whole process of undressing and bathing since Danny doesn’t want to do much of anything in his current state. Being gentle with all the injuries, he’s placed into a tub and washed till water comes out clean. Helping Danny up once again he ignores the grimy rags that were the boy’s old clothes laying on the floor as he moves them both back to the bedroom where a set of new identical looking garments rest on the bed along with a black and white duffel back with Phantom’s logo on it. Danny, who’s bundled up in light purple towel, shows only slight interest in the assorted items before going back to being docile dead weight. He doesn’t react much either to being once again manhandled and laid back down to rest on the soft mattress. His eyes already closing shut when he was being tucked in.

Clockwork takes a second to look at the now peaceful form slumbering away, he deems him well enough to be left alone for the time being. After shutting the lights and closing the bedroom door behind him, he leaves to continue his many tasks still left unfinished.

It takes a good while for Danny to wake up and when he does, he’s feeling completely sore and tired. He looks around to see the familiar room and tears began to fall again.

It wasn’t just a nightmare then. They were really gone forever now. His talk with Clockwork plays around in his head, about how he should keep on living. But he doesn’t think he deserves a new chance, not that he had been given any other choice. He was going to be dragged towards a “new life” kicking and screaming anyway so what’s the point in even trying to fight back. What was there to fight back for?

Rolling his head to its side he was faced with the duffel bag he vaguely remembers seeing before going to sleep. And since it has his logo on it he could only assume that it was meant for him. He rolls to his other side and tries to ignores it to best of his ability. Few moments pass as he tosses around in frustration before he lets his curiosity win.

“Whatever.” He sighs and moves to sit and drags the full bag in closer to him.

Hesitating for a second, he grips the pull tightly and opens it. He only sees a glimpse of what’s inside but it’s enough for his world to come to a complete stop again. His hands start to shake uncontrollably as he carefully, oh so carefully pushed the opening wider to see if his mind was playing tricks on him. Only when his trembling fingers caress the items revealed inside does he believe them to be real and there with him.

Inside are meticulously placed items belonging to all his lost loved ones. He reverently takes them all out and spreads them neatly in front of him.

His mom’s red goggles glisten along with his dad’s favorite fudge spoon which sit right next to a giant pair of black gloves also belonging to his dad. To the right is his sister’s well loved teddy bear nicknamed Bearbert Einstein, which thankfully hasn’t gained anymore tears. Even his little lab coat was still on. Next is Sam’s much sought-after combat boots she swore to wear when she’d grown enough to wear them properly and beside them are Tucker’s trusted PDA and signature red beret which he owned multiple of. There are even two of his own favorite items from his room; a red toy model rocket from his childhood and vintage collector’s poster of Apollo 13. All the other irrelevant items such as the Fenton thermos, wrist ray, Fenton phones, Boo-merang and Fenton rod, some extra clothes and a memory stick he left inside the bag.

He places both of his hands to his mouth as he tried fruitlessly stifle a sob. Clockwork must have gathered all of them for him, and he would be forever grateful for it.

He takes his dad’s oversized gloves and fastened them on his much smaller hands. Mom’s goggles now hanged around his neck as he situates Tucker’s beret backwards on his head, and after putting on Sam’s boots he gently lifts Mr. Bearbert to look into his one remaining little eye. Hugging the bear tightly, he curls into a ball and he manages to catch a whiff of a painfully familiar sweet scent. It still smells like Jazz’s cheap candy perfume. He no longer hold back on his cries as he’s surrounded by the only things he still has left of his shattered life.

He didn’t know how long he had cried before he felt a hand landing on his shoulder. He only looked up at the new arrival when then hand squeezed in lieu of trying to get his attention. It’s Clockwork who’s gazing down softly at him.

“I thought you might appreciate to have some mementos of them to take with you.” He explains. Danny can only nod in utmost thanks, not trusting his voice to work at the moment.

He can feel his eyes starting to moisten up again but no more tears are left for him to cry. The hand on his shoulder continues to sooth him as he gathers himself up to sit, still clutching on to his sister’s bear for support. He’s offered a napkin to dry of his now wet face.

“I suggest that you pack your bag back up; it is time to leave.” The ghost encourages him and moves to stand by the bed’s side.

“Already?” He asks and winces at how his voice comes out. Clockwork nods.

“Unfortunately. Now come, I’ll help you if you need me to.” He says and gestures at the bag. Danny didn’t want to put away the items just yet and seeing how he’s hesitating the ghost continues to reason.

“The road to you destination is a turbulent one, it will be much safer to put them away for the time being and you can always take them out afterwards.”

He thinks about it only a second before caving in; he doesn’t want to loose any more things dear to him just because of his stubbornness. Carefully, one by one he takes the precious items and puts them away to safety of his duffel before zipping it up. Clockwork opens the door and gestures for him to follow which he dutifully does along with his bag.

Their walk is silent for the most part, not that he minds too much, it leaves him time to look at all the cogs, clocks and other glowing green metallic structures that litter the place. Makes sense considering who the owner is.

It’s probably because of Clockworks own influence or because their destination was that close by that they arrived to their stop faster than he thought it would take, and to his surprise and dread the room they enter was the viewing room he and his friends had broken into. The guilt that immediately starts to twist his guts make him look down at the ground and keeping his eyes only on the end of his guider’s cloak. He’s so focused on not seeing anything on the screens and mirrors that he pumps into Clockwork when he stops them at the very end of the cluttered room. Finally daring to look up he sees in front of them on it’s lonesome, is a person sized clouded mirror with ornate frame hanging on the wall, with stone steps leading up to it.

Clockwork turns to him and speaks as he gestures it.

“This gateway will take you to your the new world which hopefully you’ll learn to love and call home one day. There are things in that world that are similar to ours, but also things that you’ve never even imagined. Don’t worry, your new caretakers will share more information with you once there.”

He places his hand on his back and guides the hesitant teen up the stairs to his uncertain future. He pauses in front of the mirror and now that he stands so close to it, he can see that the glass isn’t exactly clouded but seems to have actual moving clouds trapped on the other side of it. He thoughtfully looks at it then at Clockwork.

“Will I ever see you again?” He asks after a moment of hesitation. The elder tilts his head to the side as if thinking before smiling enigmatically.

“Only time will tell young Daniel.” He simply states which almost makes Danny snort, but his slightly better mood is snuffed out when a promising grin takes over his aging face.

“Good luck.”

With this he pushes the fumbling teen into the mirror who embraces for collision but is shocked when he passes through the glass and keeps on falling. He screams.

Clockwork watches impassively as his short time charge leaves this world and into a new one. He glances at nearby mirror to see Fenton Works blow up to smithereens, leaving nothing to the unscrupulous vultures that would have used this tragedy to their advantage. Someone must’ve forgotten to change the Ecto-Filtrator, how unfortunate.

He silently counts down till the door to his work room slams open and three very loud creatures whom have once again barged into his domain uninvited, decide to make tier unhappiness known.

“You must have thought it really funny to leave us in a time loop at your front door!”

His lips twitch minutely as he regards them dully.

“Who knows, and did you really need to take out your frustration on my poor door.”

The trio float closer, all of them wearing identical white robes and black collard cloaks decorated with gold. Their heads were nothing more then a giant eyeball with no necks. Middle one closes in and points its sharp-nailed finger at him as it narrows its one eye.

“Were not here to play games, Time Keeper. Were here because of that hybrid you seem to favor.”

He raises an eyebrow and tightens his hold on the staff. The being notices this and wisely moves back to stand with his peers. Satisfied he turnes to look back at the many screens that kept switching from view to view.

“You won’t have to worry about him. He’s long gone.” He provides, which certainly caught their interest.

“He is? For good?” Third one askes, sounding a bit too exited.

“And he won’t be a problem in the future?” Second one askes more apprehensively.

“Yes. I trust you are satisfied now.” He near spits at the unwanted company standing behind him. Dressed in fine robes they look more like noblemen than officials, which irks Clockwork to no end. So high and mighty, it made him want to defenestrate a good few of them if it weren’t for the fact that they were needed in this anarchist paradise of a dimention.

“Where did you send him anyway Clockwork?” Pries one of them. He merely shrugs in response.

“That is none of your concern since he won’t be coming back. Now, care to observe the door. And don’t let it hit you on your way out.” He motions carelessly behind him at the exit.

As they turn to leave with indignant huffs, they do not notice the mysterious smile stretching on the time ghost’s face.

[neonscandal]

So, fanfic ideas.... If JJK and BNHA characters were in No Power world, what would their job be if not become Jujutsu Sorcerer or Hero (in your opinion)? Why? Please pick your top 5 fav characters from each...

Ooooh la la, another fun one. High key, I love this question. If you end up writing anything, I'd love for you to PM me so I can read it (you can also share anonymously, whatever's clever)! Thanks for the ask, let me know your thoughts below 👇🏾

This is literally me perking up any time I get a new ask. 🥰

JUJUTSU KAISEN AU

Quite literally, all of these characters would be alive and thriving anywhere else.

Nobara Kugisaki - IG Model, easy. After not getting scouted in Tokyo like she'd always imagined, she decides to do it her mf'ing self. Her results... are lackluster. At first. But as frustration wins, she inadvertently starts letting the real her shine through (complete with bouts of scathing badassery during a live complaining about her lack of fame). People begin to find her incredibly relatable and she becomes like the Jennifer Lawrence of influencers. Never once do her travels take her close to Shibuya station.

Why: That "I-Know-I'm-The-Shit-Even-If-You-Don't" attitude has nothing to do with jujutsu. Nobara has an unwavering confidence and is delulu enough to make it happen, whatever It is for her.

Yuji Itadori - As a card carrying member of the occult club in high school, Yuji starts considering his prospects for higher education (Sasaki and Iguchi will continue to need someone to hide behind as they investigate the "supernatural"). Subsequently, he finally gives into coach's insistence to join a sports team provided it doesn't take time away from his club commitments and, of course, goes All Star in whatever sport he decides to take on. Subsequently, he gets a full ride + stipends to attend university as a college baseball player after chasing his passing interest in going to the "Summer Koshien". He happens to follow Kugisaki on Insta.

Why: Yuji's need to be needed would, in part, guide his steps. I think he'd want to be something cinema related, like a reviewer! But he'd always want to coddle the cowering forms of his peers even if they weren't particularly close. Sports is a means to an end, maybe he'll study cinematography or film theory in uni! But ultimately, he's still a kid who wants to help people.

Megumi Fushiguro - Sweet baby Megs has always had a penchant with animals. They find their way to him at parties, otherwise well behaved dogs pull against their leash to flock to him... even wild animals tend to be way too comfortable getting close. This charm he has over animals amuses him though he'd never admit it aloud (he's still just as sullen as ever). Subsequently, while he doesn't need the money, he helps out as a veterinarian technician while in high school and volunteers to walk dogs at the local humane society. He doesn't have social media but he occasionally gets posted with the animals on their SM pages when they have adoption events (which tend to be really well attended afterwards). He's posted exactly one video to YouTube to an account with no profile picture that urges idiots to stop giving baseballs to dogs and leaving them unattended as aggressive chewers may end up ingesting the innards which cause obstructions in their intestines. Yuji was the idiot in question that prompted the post. He did see the video.

Why: Megumi is gentle but more specifically to life forms that deserve it. I still think he'd break the face of anyone who breaks the golden rule of "don't hurt me [or anyone I love] and I won't hurt you [or anyone you love]" but that soft spot for vulnerable beings is still there.

Nanami Kento - Nanami Kento is still a salaryman but, without the outlet that being a sorcerer allowed him when he felt dispirited, he's forced to white knuckle it like the rest of us. That is, until he finds a cause that he can dedicate some of his time to. It starts when Haibara joins a community outreach program wherein he encourages Nanami to be a volunteer mentor. It starts out rather stiffly but, eventually, things kind of click together for him. He realizes the kid he's mentoring isn't a total delinquent and the kid realizes he's not being infantilized when Nanami just cares for his wellbeing. With this understanding, Nanami really feels like his impact is meaningful and he commits to taking on more responsibilities within the program both in a leadership role and in taking on more mentees. Ino was his first mentee, Yuji was his second (mandatory after being caught underage in a pachinko casino). He couldn't get rid of either of them after the fact.

Why: Nanami isn't so bored with being an office worker that jujutsu is the only alternative. He just wants to feel like his incredibly valuable time makes a difference. He needs a cause and Papamin deserves someone to look after (quite to his dismay).

Satoru Gojo - Satoru Gojo wants for not in any universe. Subsequently, he is just an eccentric rich guy who, in a very intentionally Jay Gatsby manner, frequently throws extremely lavish parties that are the talk of the town. They are as garrish as he is outlandish but men and women flock to them for a chance at getting a peak at the Gojo clan heir. In his youth, he'd gone to a small, private religious high school and still sends individual invitations to each of his old schoolmates with the hope that one of them in particular will come. Shoko attends every party with Utahime begrudgingly at her side. Nanami curtly replies with a written "decline" to every single invitation though Haibara is sometimes able to drag him out. Geto attends occasionally but he is quite blissfully unaware that these opulent parties are solely meant to captivate his attention. He's under the impression that whatever they had in high school is long gone. Nobara has, on occasion, tried to crash these parties but security usually bounces her because she's underage.

Why: In every universe, in every life, Satoru Gojo is a simp. Especially for the lone person he considers to be his equal. For all his money, for all his power, he is always left wanting [Suguru Geto].

My Hero Academia AU

Honestly, this gave me more of a hard time. Like, the kids are the same age as JJK but, they just seem... like kids. I can't tell if it's the depth of JJK's character development or their semi-obvious cursed techniques as they relates to employment but here's what I came up with.

Katsuki Bakugo - Katsuki Bakugo is effortlessly good at a lot of things in and out of the MHA universe. While he has a keen intellect fit for many professions, I think his obsessive-bordering-on-psychopathic dedication to be the strongest, the best is reminiscent of a dude bro bullying you into buying whey protein and lifting more. He would for sure be a personal trainer who would, begrudgingly, have a social media presence where he commodifies his otherwise flippant attitude and "beats people into being a less shitty version of themselves". He would also have a private, no face cooking account on tik tok for his curated but delicious meal planning. Midoriya, unknowingly, follows both online personalities. This does not escape Bakugo’s attention.

Why: Don't get me wrong, kid is will one day be the CEO of whatever company he wants (a lot of CEO's are also psychopathic) but, considering his age and current hobbies, he was born to call his followers extras while condescending to them about a proper workout and nutrition plan.

Izuku Midoriya - Izuku and his penchant for hyper informed rants about his special interest would see surprising success as a tiktoker. Bullies would always find something to pick on him for whether that be his absent dad, his socioeconomic background, his pitiful disposition… but even they’d be clued into and following along for his long form verbal essays on pop culture (only thing I could think of in lieu of hero culture, maybe sports would be better?). He’d cultivate a community of adoring fans turned friends and collaborate with other similarly obsessed fanatics. Bakugo would be hyperaware of his channel but act really passive when any of their old middle school classmates bring it up to talk about it.

Why: I feel like tiktok is absolutely the perfect environment where people can connect over their interests and, as an aficionado in whatever seems apropos for the AU, Midoriya’s innate charm over others would shine through and garner a following. Especially because we know he knows what he’s talking about. I’d be tuned in.

Shoto Todoroki - if Enji is still in the mix, he’s likely still going to be waging war against his own weakness (in whatever capacity) and, subsequently will be both insanely successful by other peoples’ standards and still incredibly toxic toward his children in this mission. Shoto will still bear the brunt of it but will temper it with willful rebellion. Oh, you want Shoto to take over the family investment portfolio? It’ll cost you. He will be somewhat mindful of his actions so people aren’t losing their livelihoods but he will be sinking tons of Enji’s personal money into stocks or company’s with unfavorable odds. A family owned cement company that was about to go under, paying to keep a radio station operable 24/7 with semi-hourly disparaging blind items about Enji Todoroki.. these are just a few of his dalliances. Shoto is an undercover day trader using his fathers slush fund as capital. He was absolutely a big part of what saved GameStop’s stock inexplicably. Turned him a pretty profit but he refuses to give Enji the satisfaction of knowing that he may have been right in steering him to stocks in the first place. Midoriya absolutely talked at length about the phenomenon that rejuvenated his favorite game store from his youth he used to frequent with an unnamed childhood friend. Bakugo saw the segment and, while secretly giddy, did not reach out. Did thank whatever invisible hand drove the nerd to mention it though.

Why: His nepo baby status will get him in to places where he actually wants to be, career wise, but Enji is still stonewalling him into his idea of Shoto’s life. Further, he would never want his unique legacy to be tainted with whatever grace his father’s name gives him. He has time and the means to figure out what he wants to do though. And access to so much therapy.

Shouta Aizawa - I honestly cannot see Aizawa as anything not expressly kid related. The care he has when he gets on their eye level to talk to them is top tier. TBH he rounds out the trifecta of mentors who unilaterally put kids above themselves with Nanami and, arguably, Gojo. If not a teacher, I’d say a loose cannon social worker. Earnestly, this man is willing to be in the shit of it if only to spare children who lack guidance, resources, proper decision making skills, etc. as a UA teacher. He wouldn’t be of the “quick to expel and dash dreams” type of loose cannon that his teacher persona allows. He’d be more like a Benson from Law & Order SVU type loose cannon where he’s probably bending some protocols to be a bit more domineering than he needs to be so adults know that any vulnerable kids under his charge are cared for because he’s super invested in his work and their wellbeing. Plus, the man can be a little deranged so he’s not afraid to make his subtle point more clear ✨ for people who don’t appear to be getting the message when it comes to his young stewards.

Why: If there is a society that unjustly does not protect children, then Shouta Aizawa will. I think my hope is that Shirakumo Oboro isn't a lesson in every universe.

Toshinori Yagi - This man is a politician. He runs on idyllic principles which are infectious across every demographic. He appears earnest and forthright and truly got into it for all the right reasons but the reality of politics is very different from the idea of them. He still thrives but feels more and more like he's failing his constituents, losing out to other politicians who are more corrupt, who curry favor from less than savory organizations to sway policies in their favor. He's disheartened but still believes in a future with peace and looks to the youth, his biggest support base, to take steps toward progress together which includes bolstering social programs. Aizawa thinks he's a bit of a sham until money starts hitting the programs that matter. Midoriya talks about Yagi's bold commitment to partnering with the youth on his channel frequently.

Why: It was this or a Gilderoy Lockhart-esque facade for a self-help book author. I see both as equally plausible. Selling a dream while falling apart internally? Same.

[the-priestess-of-dawn]

Actually though now I AM getting the urge to essaypost about the sacrifice ending because... it occurs to me that perhaps "For once, I'm glad you and I are the same." might be a more significant line than I ever realized... If the Chrom ending represents Robin fundamentally changing as a person, then the sacrifice ending represents them NOT changing... but Chrom is insistent in both endings that Robin will always belong with him and the Shepherds. In the sacrifice ending, Robin comes back from death because of the strength of their bonds... but what does that mean?

You know, if you look at Medeus's death quotes in Shadow Dragon and New Mystery...

“Nngh… Defeated again… by humans! Know this, Altean prince… That light which surrounds you is only a temporary respite. So long as the darkness in your hearts continues to sustain me… I cannot be… destroyed…… Rrraaahhh!!!”

“GWAH…! WHY……? WHY… HAVE I… BEEN DEFEATED… SO EASILY…? IS THIS… THE POWER… …OF NAGA'S… Binding Shield…? KNOW THIS, HUMANS… THIS LIGHT IS ONLY A BRIEF RESPITE… SO LONG AS EVIL LURKS WITHIN THE HEARTS OF MAN… SHOULD THIS ACCURSED SHIELD BE LOST, WE SHALL RISE FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELL… DO NOT… EVER FORGET…”

It seems to me that Medeus is saying that human hearts have the power to bring him back. I mean, yes, it could very easily be a metaphor. In fact, I think it largely IS figurative, but... The point is that this shit keeps happening because humans want it to happen, right? Like, Medeus was resurrected by GHARNEF; he basically just seized the opportunity this human gave him. Why wouldn't he expect it to happen again someday?

And Grima, of course, was revived by the Grimleal. We've got no word on whether Grima wanted their followers to do this after their original defeat (in fact, technically we do not not even know whether Grima consented to giving any humans their blood. It COULD be that they bestowed it on their followers as a show of favor. I also absolutely would not put it past the Grimleal to have collected Grima's spilled blood after the final battle with the First Exalt and used it for their own purposes... Especially because I do think that's most likely what Forneus did with Naga's blood to create Grima in the first place.). Regardless, Grima answered their followers' call and did exactly what they were asked to do.

And then we have Robin coming back. I think most of us presume that there was no specific revival ritual, but... still, fundamentally, isn't the same principle at play? The Shepherds called and they were answered. And Robin came back as Robin, Brandless and free from the power of the fell dragon, because that is who their loved ones asked for, and that is who Robin wanted to be, and I think in a world where magic exists then it makes perfect sense that a strong enough wish could literally manifest as a spell. (Tharja says in her supports with Ricken that "Curses are a kind of magic that gives life to dreams." so I'm inclined to think that this is very much how magic is intended to work.)

So the sacrifice ending becomes a twist on the cycle. Because the thing is, Robin chose destruction. Robin chose to use their power as Grima to bring about a final end—only in this world their conclusion is not that the world is unable to change and therefore must be destroyed, but that THEY are what cannot change and must be destroyed. "For once, I'm glad you and I are the same." They are embracing it. They are the fell dragon and they can't change but they can do the one thing they always do and destroy. This OUGHT to be a tragic ending where we're all left with the bitter feeling that nothing the hero OR the villain did ever truly mattered at all.

But we're challenging fate, right?

And the thing that Robin has that their future self did not is, of course, all the Shepherds reaching out for them. The original timeline Shepherds thought that Robin betrayed Chrom and then... presumably ran off to serve Grima or whatever (since nobody knows that Robin BECAME Grima). And so there was no one to beg Grima to come back and be with them. No shared wish strong enough to create a miracle. The tragedy played out straightforwardly.

But it was never inevitable. The tragedy didn't happen because there is something inherently wrong with Grima's being. Of course it didn't. They were not alone because they were unlovable but because Validar and the Grimleal had everything set up to ensure that Grima could not do anything but turn to them. ("These followers of Naga will spurn you now that they've learned what you are. Kill me, and you incur the wrath of the Grimleal as well… Would you truly choose to be so utterly alone?" Validar knew exactly what he was doing.)

So with the sacrifice ending... perhaps we're really saying that Robin never needed to change. That even if they never give up this perspective of theirs—that they're a no-good and repulsive being, that they're powerless to change anything, that all they can do is destroy—they're loved anyway, and there is room for them in the world no matter what.

[wellwells]

Finally you found him. As the most powerful sorceress in the world, you just used your reality-warping powers to find him. He not only stole some rare gem from a museum, but also apparently built himself a harem of obedient women. Since the police or government couldn't find him, you saw it as your duty to stop this asshole.

Your transformation into this overpowered sorceress came randomly to you, but you swore to always use it for the good. You could completely change literally everything about reality, making you the most popular woman on earth, rule it with unquestioned authority, you could do literally everything. But you don't do that. You have always had morals that prevented you from abusing that power.

Those morals now led you to this sleazy man, looking at you with a grin. You remain calm and professional and say

"Your time has come. Return the gem to the museum and free the women you have enslaved somehow. Nothing you did to them is above my power. I could turn you into dust, make you nice, or send you into some hell for eternity. You should tremble with fear and repentance. Be glad that I am giving you a chance right now."

The man smiles and says "You should have used your powers from the start then, bitch."

Before you can do anything, the man holds up the gem. It is red and shiny. You look at it and... stop.

"Can't move anymore, huh? Can't even talk or use your powers? I told you, you wasted your only chance."

You can't do anything but watch in silence.

"I never got it. You have infinite power! You could do absolutely anything you wish for! But of course, you're just a stupid bitch who doesn't know any better. Morals, morals, morals. You whore, you just wasted all this potential. I will not waste it, I promise you. Say that you will obey me and call me master."

Your eyes are still fixated on the most beautiful gem you've ever seen. You have absolutely no chance to resist it whatsoever. "I will obey you, master."

"Let's start with you. Use your powers to give yourself huge, fake looking tits. And change your clothes too, so I can see them."

"Yes, master." You can't resist at all. You use your reality-warping powers to change your body, adding barely any clothes to show off your melon-sized breasts.

"Great, my stupid slave. Now I guess I won't need that gem anymore. Use your powers to change your mind. Make yourself my loyal obedient slave. Erase all resistance, all morals, all thoughts. Erase your memories of ever being a hero, a sorceress or whatever else made you you. You will be my tool. Oh and also, forget your name, whatever it was. From now on, your name will be Cockslave. Do you understand?"

For a moment, you try your best to snap out of it, but his words immediately become your gospel. You use your powers to do exactly what master told you to do. You can feel your memories and personality slip out of your grasp. You lose the concept of what thinking for yourself actually means. What was my name? Cockslave, of course! I am Cockslave and I am just a tool... I am Cock...slave... and... I...

You stop thinking entirely. You are no human anymore.

Master puts away the gem. "Let's try if it worked. Cockslave, give me a titjob with your massive melons."

You obviously obey. He is your master and his word is your command.

You present master your massive tits and he puts his cock in between them. Obey master. Obey master. Obey master.

That is all that loops around in your brain.

He cums in a sticky explosion, getting his seed all over your tits, neck and face.

"This is your purpose, this is what you live for, serving my cock is your only personality."

Obviously what master said became true. That IS your entire personality. Serving his godly cock is everything. Every cell in your body works towards serving his cock.

He continues. "From now on, your only response to anything I'll say is 'I love masters godly cock.' That will be literally the only words left in your vocabulary. You don't know how to say any other words in any other order."

"I love masters godly cock." That's all words you know how to say. Fitting words.

"Now, let's make this world my own. Cockslave, change every human on earth except you and me. Make every human on earth a hot woman hungry for my godly cock."

You obey without question. There is nothing left for you to say but the obvious. "I love masters godly cock."

"You sure do."