#people point to the ‘how could you go camping with me?’ scene as an example of Devie being ‘toxic’ but I think that is such a bad take

[kingchad]

What’s your honest thoughts on Doug? Since he’s pretty hated.

Doug is my babygirl I legitimately am so depressed that the fandom turned on him.

Genuinely what I saw happen with my own eyes is that when D3 came out, people who hated Chad and Audrey very vocally for many years decided that they didn’t hate Chad and Audrey anymore (since Audrey became a #misunderstoodgirlboss and Chad basically got relegated to Harmless Comedy Relief Goon), so they turned their ire onto Doug for being like, a mediocre boyfriend character.

Also a lot of people hate him because they hate Devie because Evie is often read as a lesbian in fandom. I 100% support and get why lesbian Evie is so popular, I definitely think the text supports that reading of her, but I don’t know why Doug has to get dragged into the crossfire here. Can’t they just break up amicably?

But I like Doug!!!! I like him a lot. Firstly because I think he’s a hugely important character if you look at Descendants from the “oh, this is a series designed to teach little kids and especially little girls about empathy and self-worth” perspective (which is ultimately what the series is for). He’s the Chad foil, and he teaches kids that your partner should like you for your personality, and support and encourage you when you try new things. All Doug does in all 3 movies is be a supportive boyfriend and hype Evie up.

In terms of the way I engage with Descendants text and fanon, I think Doug is a really funny character and I enjoy writing him a lot. I like the background of him and Chad being former friends who had a falling out as Chad became more of an asshole, who maybe reconnect as the series progresses. I also love Doug’s dynamic with Evie (whether or not they’re together) and Carlos (under-utilized combination!).

I love Doug being hugely involved in student government and school clubs and ESPECIALLY being over the top #1 school band hypeman. I love Doug genuinely having no concerns about VKs being evil (because a lot of the fear is perpetuated by royal families who are nervous about potential power struggles but Doug is smarter than that and thus unbothered). I love Doug being like, a completely, totally normal guy in this over the top fantasy world. He’s near and dear to my heart.

[babyaiker]

I’m writing this at 5am but when @verdemoun “kieran duffy hyperfixation page” themself encourages you to talk about your now 5 month long obsession, you know you gotta,,, 

Mini break down of Kieran’s characterization in the Paying A Social Call mission, lets go

Before I get too far please know I genuinely have no beef with people who baby Kieran. He’s a fictional character and we’re all just having fun, I just really like analyzing the text ^^

In my last post where I talked about my favorite part of Kieran’s character, I briefly mentioned how the mission Paying a Social Call (the mission in chapter 2 where Kieran is freed) contains a lot of characterization for Kieran that a chunk of the fandom misses. It was when I was watching someone's random stream did I remember how much was getting left out. While I've seen plenty of people rant about Kieran's mischaracterization in the fandom, details from this mission were often left out of the discussions I personally saw. So while I really don't care WHO you interpret Kieran as, having an excuse to rant about the mission I could probably quote start to finish is fun.

Despite the circumstances Kieran finds himself in, he’s not a coward. He knows his worth and isn’t afraid to bite back at others for messing with him. The only reason he cowers and runs off is usually because he was physically hurt, threatened to be hurt, or knows the person he's talking to would gladly hurt him. We have evidence of him acting like this in maaany different ways through the hidden dialogue scenes in camp. His goddamn catchphrase “I ain’t no O’Driscoll” is an example in of itself, showing that he isn't just cowering and crying because of how he’s treated, he's actively fighting against it.

But now let’s actually get into Paying A Social Call, as the only thing Kieran does throughout the entire mission besides show the boys where Six Point Cabin is, is defend himself. 

The beginning of that quest is well… a beginning for sure. I’d probably be a mess too if I was starving and about to get my nuts ripped off. 

His whole “I ain’t no O’Driscoll” shtick only gets louder the second he’s untied. He’s as cooperative as he needs to be, but is gonna make sure everyone knows he isn’t happy about it. While there's a lot of snarky shit he can end up saying, the dialogue where he directly compares the Van Der Lindes to the O’Driscolls is something special. Like Jesus I would not be saying that shit in the predicament you're in right now! While you can still hear the unsureness in his voice, he’s not afraid to say it as it is. (I still find it interesting that even non Kieran fans will point back to that dialogue as foreshadowing and be like "aw shit the horseboy was right fellers")

Okok skipping ahead to the end cuz arughh there's a specific line said in the last scene that completely changed Kieran’s character for me. All I’ll say about the gunfight is that right before it, when John has his gun up against Kieran, while the camera pans to a group of O’Driscolls, you can see Kieran give Arthur a thumbs up when Arthur shushes him. It’s such a tiny detail but it amused me and my partner when we discovered it.

At the end of the mission, after Arthur realizes that Colm isn't there, he confronts Kieran at gunpoint, pretty much ready to kill him. Kieran of course acts like how we’d think he would,,, he promptly begs for his life. But once Arthur spares him and gives him the decency of running away, Kieran doesn't grovel back to him, begging to be taken back, he fuckin yells at him. He understandably points out that letting him go free is as good as killing him, as the rest of the O’Driscolls would likely have his head for this (didn’t like typing that). His very blunt, angry line of “So I’m one of YOU now!” genuinely made me rethink what I’d been assuming about him. It likely dawned on me while I was staring at the streamer’s “hose goat” cam, but just demanding a spot in the gang like that isn’t something a coward would do. He is incredibly firm in his “fuck you, you’re stuck with me now”.

Even his dialogue after is just more examples of him being very aware of his vicarious situation (Arthur: “Alright, but I’m warning you”, Kieran: “Oh, I know”) and being more than eager to start proving himself useful (Kieran: “See Arthur, I ain’t so bad!” ^^)

I genuinely think the whole “whiney useless baby” assumption comes from the fact we play as Arthur. Arthur VERY adamantly views Kieran this way, literally calling him a baby as a way of antagonizing him. And because most everyone loves Arthur, they’re bound to view Kieran the same way he does. Unreliable narrator kinda thing, though I'm not saying that's a bad thing in the slightest. And with the magic of RDR2’s actually good character writing, I can sit here for 700 words summarizing why Kieran’s actually kinda cool sometimes. 

So ya, I wouldn’t say Kieran’s a coward, but I’m also not gonna say he’s some crazy cool badass murderer outlaw. He’s a dude trying to survive who’s been kicked out of or lost every home he’s known. He’s still a silly guy I wanna lovingly snap over my knee like a twig. With the life he’s lived you can’t afford to be unable to stick up for yourself, he’s just smart enough to know when it’s time to lay low.

[cherlockgomes]

Uncle Rick: Beloved Children's Author Turned Capitalist Sellout

TW: Controversial opinion.

Discussing the show and the new Percy Jackson novel.

Welcome to my rant about the way the PJO universe is going. First of all- the show. Yes, a lot of people (not excluding me) were upset about the casting. I loved the picture I had in my head of Annabeth and Percy, Luke and Grover, etc. However, the arguments made on behalf of the casting- how they look isn't crucial to their story like how Hazel's might be, and how Rick Riordan assured us they were perfect for their roles because they fully embody them, made sense. I realized I was still wrapped up in the 5th-grade mindset that was clinging to the concept of a character that had nothing to do with their essence. Thus, I was convinced to approach the show with an open mind.

After watching all the interviews leading up to the show, I was convinced. These three fully embodied their characters. I could see Percy in Walker's sarcastic wit, Annabeth in Leah's demeanour, and Grover in Aryan's chemistry. My inner child was excited for a book to screen redemption of one of my favourite series.

It had the premise for a great show—a good cast, the author working closely, and what seemed to be a good set design. How miserably it failed. It was so...soulless. There's no other way to put it. It lacked depth and the magic that made the books so special. They rushed through the scenes, not giving the actors enough time to shine. I'd describe it as spreading their light too thin, making everything flat and one-dimensional.

Take the scene where Percy gets claimed, for example. In the books, it was this paramount moment where the entire camp, including people like Clarrise, were forced to bow down to him- showcasing how powerful he was. Even a person like Annabeth, who was supposed to hate any of Poseidon's descendants because of their parental fued had to bow, showing how the Olympian hierarchy forced you to show your respect. It was the moment Luke saw Percy's potential.

Now, in the show, this moment seemed to be brushed past. Yes, it was there, but as I mentioned, it lacked depth. Walker looked tiny when he was meant to tower over them.

This brings me to my other point. Recently, Riordan released a book called Percy Jackson and The Chalice of Gods. It was meant to show Percy, Annabeth and Grover as college students and their lives after the battle. But, like the show, it lacked that magic. Moreover, it felt like the characters were merely half-baked. Yes, their original characteristics were there, but it felt like they hadn't grown. They were meant to be in college, but it felt like they were just entering high school. Certain places felt redundant and average.

I couldn't help but feel disappointed by the show. What was meant to be a redemption felt like a broken promise. Conversely, the book felt like a cash grab playing on our nostalgia, disguised by a fun quest with the original three. It's only a step up from what Disney accomplishes with their live-action remakes. Not to mention, it feels very JK Rowling-coded.

Not cool.

[chaosnojutsu]

Who *Should* Have Died From The Konoha ~12 Instead Of The One Who Did

rules:

we’re assuming they die under the same circumstances as the other guy

each one listed would have a complete storyline and their death would further the immediate plot as well as the overall narrative

i’m not “just picking characters i don’t like”

i do not condone killing characters for the sake of shock value but am considering shock as a legitimate tool in generating impact of a character’s death

miss me with “[redacted]’s death was a tragic result of the shinobi system” because no it was not. if that were true you could sub out [redacted] for any other child soldier and get the exact same impact. we know exactly why they were chosen and it’s got an (insufficient) explanation irl and in-universe.

#3. Sai

Motivation: Friendship

First of all, imagine the shock value from killing one of THE Team Kakashi members.

Cool. Now imagine Naruto’s shock at Sai sacrificing himself for him.

Sai overanalyzes normal human interaction to the point of not understanding it. He reads books about how to befriend people. He still doesn’t understand it all the time but friendship is coming more naturally to him these days. What he does understand is that Naruto is the only chance of winning this war, and he’s down, and the enemy is aiming for him, and Hinata is trying to stop them but she’s on the ground, the spears are in the air and so is Sai, and Naruto is his friend.

He doesn’t need to think about it much deeper than that.

Now imagine Sasuke “What Does ‘Friend’ Mean To You” Uchiha witnessing this, witnessing Naruto’s reaction, and the further effects this may have on his character. After all, Sai was his replacement. If Naruto feels this strongly about losing someone who was decidedly not him but his friend and teammate nevertheless then… maybe.

#2. Rock Lee

Motivation: Youth

Regardless of *how* this one plays out, no one wants to watch the determined, precious, comedic relief die; no one who’s watched this far into the show wants Rock Lee specifically to die. Huge impact already. But we can make it super duper sad because he deserves a memorable death. I see it going one of two ways.

One: Hinata doesn’t even have the time to try to shield Naruto because Rock Lee is faster. Ten-Tails barely launches the attack and Lee’s already taken/attempted to counter the hit. Perhaps this is his eight gates moment. Similar to Sai, Rock Lee would cite the power of friendship in his dramatic death speech, but he also was just… doing his duty. Truly, if you’re in the “Neji was just another tragic child soldier” camp, Rock Lee is the prime example of what I mean when I say you could sub in any child soldier, which I know sounds paradoxical but stay with me. Rock Lee’s entire personality is training harder than anyone else to benefit a system that will ultimately result in his death. If you want to make a point about child soldiers and needless lives lost, Rock Lee is the one to kill.

Two: Rock Lee doesn’t shield Hinata. He shields Neji. But not necessarily on purpose. The scene plays out exactly as written up to the moment Neji activates his byakugan, and the next frame isn’t him falling to the ground, it’s Rock Lee. The usually-somewhat-reserved Neji is devastated, probably in tears, demanding to know why he would do something like this. Rock Lee coughs up a bit of blood. “I was faster than you.” Smile. “I finally beat you…” Serene eyes fall shut. “…rival.”

And now imagine Naruto’s reaction to losing Bushy Brow. Imagine him watching Gai be brought to his knees by a blow that didn’t physically touch him. Imagine Madara incorrectly perceiving that. The implications. The foreshadowing.

#1. Shino

Motivation: Legacy

I’m gonna be real, the writers were never gonna kill off Rock Lee like that, which is the biggest reason Shino has taken the crown as Most Worthy Of A Tragic Death in my book.

This dude has a connection to both Naruto and Hinata (making him equally as good a sacrifice as Neji if that’s the canon criteria). However, unlike most other (male) characters, Shino isn’t shown to have a particularly close friendship with Naruto. The one recurring joke around Shino is that he’s so irrelevant even Naruto can’t remember his name.

But he is good friends with Hinata. And he knows she’ll spend the rest of her life miserable if Naruto dies, and that if she dies right now she will never have gotten her life’s greatest wish.

So Shino goes out in a blaze of glory, and we’ll probably insert something about how Naruto has somehow secretly inspired him all along— or maybe something cynical about how he always wanted to be included by Naruto but never was unless Kiba or Hinata were around, so he’s sacrificed himself to maintain the livelihood of everyone else while not “losing” that friendship himself— and we of course get the touching moment with Hinata (oh just imagine the drama if Shino lay dying and told Hinata “Why did I protect you? It’s simple. The reason is… for the same reason you protected him.” and we find out that the huge secret crush of the show was not Hinata toward anyone, but Shino toward Hinata, never confessing because he knew it would be futile).

Good luck forgetting his name now, Naruto. Now no one will ever forget about Shino Aburame.

[nanowrimo]

5 Techniques to Help You Write Your Novel

Every writing project is unique, and the methods that help you draft one novel may not work for another. If you’re getting started on a brand new project this Camp, NaNo Guest Vee James has some suggestions for different techniques to help you explore your story. It took a few NaNos before I realized I was developing different techniques each time I sat down to the challenge. I think we all do this naturally, but it helps to step back and observe the process. If you’re strictly a pantster, you’ve been working on the story ideas in your head. If you’re a planner, you’ve set to paper the story concepts, characters, and an outline of what you are about to produce on paper. Some people take a hybrid approach to NaNo. Granted, the basics remain the same: butt in chair, accomplish the hourly/daily goal, and allow yourself to tell your story.

I discovered that each unique novel presented particular challenges, and I had to adapt my style and writing techniques in order to explore the story and keep the production happening. Some of these came from writing instructors and wonderful podcasters. Some came from “how to write” seminars and workshops. Others grew out of a feverish search for “more words.”

Here are five techniques I’ve found that helped me advance writing projects:

1. Research

It was a surprise to me to discover the concept of researching for fiction. I initially thought, “Just make something up.” But there are so many ways to broaden your approach. Plumb your memory, take a course in something related to the story, talk to an expert, and ask lots of questions. You could even become like the character in order to feel what they feel. If you’re writing a western, go ride a horse.

2. Write Scenes Out of Order

If you have a premise, you’ve already got scenes in your mind. Don’t wait until you get to chapter 18. Write that scene now. You can always revise it when you catch up to that point and it gives you something to develop toward. To expand on this technique, when you’ve written the scene, ask yourself, “What happened just before this?” or “What does this scene lead to?”

3. Put disparate characters together and have them have a conversation

Often, we write secondary characters who take a more subdued role in the plot. But what would happen if your protagonist’s best friend had a conversation with the main antagonist? Or if the antagonist’s agent of destruction came upon the protagonist’s love interest? In my experience, these conversations frequently produce more depth in your secondary characters and almost always it’s something you weren’t expecting.

4. Play with Genre Tropes

What have you chosen to write? Urban fiction? SciFi? Fantasy? You already know what your reader expects you to write, and what the plot ahead holds for them. How can you twist it? Sometimes the simplest thing you mentioned in chapter one can be the linchpin of a great plot twist.

5. Study Film

It’s no accident that some of the most astounding stories have been told through film. Quite simply, movie companies invest heavily in every aspect of their production and hire some of the best writers around. Yes, it’s a visual medium and has some advantages over prose. But the main lesson with movies is in the structure of the stories they tell. Here’s a good example: when I was writing a fairytale novel, I wanted to stay true to the classic story structure. One afternoon I was watching the comedy, Galaxy Quest, taking careful notes on the structure. I realized the story structure mapped very closely to what I was doing in the fairytale. It was comforting to see this, and it also gave me some ideas on how to approach the ending.

Most importantly: NaNoWriMo is a thrilling if exhaustive experience, and I urge you to immerse yourself in it completely. Write with utter abandon, delve deep for concepts that will give you the next 2000 words, and try new things like you’re a Mad Scientist in a hurry. We all know that what you end up with is a messy creation. But you will find you have given yourself a great gift.

Vee James is a cross-genre author who loves to write comedies, fairytales, and YA supernatural. He participated in NaNoWriMo for ten years in a row, writing over a half-million words, and it led to nine NaNo novels plus two more non-NaNos. Out of this work, he’s published four novels, with a fifth nearing completion. If interested, visit his site at www.veejames.com and leave a message. He loves to talk to writers of all kinds. Vee's photo by A. Roger Hammons Photo by Daniel Álvasd on Unsplash

[pianapplez]

Hello there 👋👀,

So I just found your blog and had a lot of fun scrolling through all the pjo show crit😂 I couldn't help but notice that one tag you left on a post where you said you had some beef with Annabeth's portrayal in the books 👀 Would you mind elaborating on that if you're comfortable with it🙈? Because I absolutely share that sentiment, but it's sooo veeeery rare that I see other people express anything like it... I've found that trying to be a part of the fandom can be pretty alienating most of the time, if you're not exactly the biggest most devoted Percabeth shipper...😅 And often any criticism leveled at Annabeth just gets you a smack with the "internalized-misogyny" hammer... it's even worse in the tv show now due to... obvious reasons...

Again just if you're comfortable with answering of course🙈 There is a reason I stayed on anon after all...😅😂

Really glad you asked because i finally get to ramble about this heheheh (going forward, know that i skimmed over The Last Olympian to have a clearer sense of what I meant because that's the book where Rick fumbles her character more than the others)

i'm gonna try to make as much sense as possible but short answer would be, she's underdeveloped. Long answer:

She really got on my nerves in the last two books, with the whole Rachel debacle and then the Battle of New York. I can't really remember a single moment in those books where she and Percy aren't bickering or having heated discussions, which really made me question their friendship status. Of course, it's not like friends can't fight and it obviously builds up the (romantic) tension between them, but it got unbearable at one point.

I understand she's a teenager in an incredibly stressful situation that didn't even get to have a normal upbringing- she grew up way too fast (run away at 7, head counselor at 12) while also not really maturing, which is not a problem for a character, if it is handled properly. Given the fact that I am writing this, Riordan did not.

On the surface, my biggest beef is that Annabeth is not exactly held accountable for her actions (ie. treating Rachel a bit like shit and going off on Percy for a bunch of stuff.) I know Percy is to blame a bit here: as far as we know, in TLO he basically cuts the greek world out of his life as much as he can as a coping mechanism. And while yes, he never apologizes either, he doesn't give her nearly half the hard time she gives him: always either giving him the cold shoulder (there must be at least one example of this in the entire series but i cant be bothered to look it up sorry) or starting an argument only to then storm off (see the "you're a coward, Percy Jackson!" scene, which is not the fairest example since she was confronting Percy about ignoring camp but also was a bit too harsh about it) (especially after finally reading the prophecy and being under the impression that he was absolutely going to die when he turned 16 lmao) or just straight up storming off (see, Annabeth reacting when Rachel shows up for the first time during the battle of new york). While most of these feel, at least to some degree, fairly justified given how the entire situation does an absolute number on her emotions, she comes off a bit brattish and like she's trying to rile Percy up, especially when it comes to Rachel, which in the context of a battle that could mean the destruction of the world.... Well, it reads as a bit childish to me, and i wouldn't exactly have that much of a problem with it if it was dealt with in some way (a two-way apology would be nice).

After that first impression, i realized that Annabeth is barely ever anything else other than a plot device (when relating to Luke) or a love interest (when relating to Percy). This might be because the books are on Percy's POV. Hell, on the third book he's even conflicted when Annabeth is considering joining the Hunters of Artemis, aka, when making a choice for herself would mean he loses her (which is fine and dandy but it feels like Percy is more upset about her choosing her own path rather than being sad about not seeing her as often); we really only get a few glimpses of her, as in, actually her when she's on her own.

Obviously it's impossible to talk about Annabeth without touching on percabeth, which also is, in my opinion, what hinders Annabeth's character the most. On paper they sound great. The guy whose fatal flaw is loyalty falls in love with a girl whose been let down by people over and over, and she decides to never give up on the boy whose always had people give up on him (can't find one of the million posts that talks about this right now but it always goes something like that) And yeah, the bickering is really well written! But that's literally as far as it ever goes: they don't ever seem to have fun together, because 8 times out of 10 the bickering ends up being passive aggressive, and mostly done by Annabeth. My biggest gripe about percabeth is that their friendship seems to be based off... shared trauma. Literally. Other than going on quests together we are given no examples of them hanging out, nor a reason why they would want to spend time together in the first place, not even a shared hobby. Yes, in the fourth book they had a movie "date" planned but of course they didn't even get to it, and surprise surprise, they had a minor discussion, and surprise surprise, Annabeth was passive aggressive again. It's hard to picture them having fun together when even the author doesn't write in any scenes in which they get along smoothly (and before you say anything, a scene in which they get along where neither of them is about to die, and they're not talking about previous adventures. Gets a bit hard then, doesn't it?) It's even harder to picture them as a couple when the moment she gets upset about something, she starts coming off as emotionally manipulative (see, again, literally any conversation with Rachel or about Rachel)

To be fair, the books are relatively short and don't allow many "filler" chapters, if you will; there's always something happening to keep the main plot or a minor plot point moving forward, but it's not like there is no room to develop the characters' relationships, especially when we're talking about the main char and what is essentially his endgame. As an example we have Percy and Clarisse, or Percy and Beckendorf. Their interactions are brief but still hold so much weight.

Worst of all, Annabeth could be one hell of a character; what's most interesting of all is how being a daughter of Athena she is still incredibly emotionally driven, which is displayed very clearly with her fatal flaw being pride: her telling the Sphynx that her questions were too easy was not smart nor strategic: it was completely impulsive. I seriously think she wasn't far from being the best character in the series had she been given more time.

I guess i have as much beef with Annabeth as i have with Rick for doing her dirty. I really could sum this up with: while her emotions are justified, she acts upon them quite poorly. And this is what i mean when i say she's underdeveloped, because it would've been nice to see her come to her senses a bit.

Would love to read anyone's opinions on her character though, feel free to comment, even (or especially) if you don't agree with me!

[nofomogirl]

Before the Beginning (part 1.4.)

Part 1.1. | Part 1.2. | Part 1.3. | Part 1.5. |

Part 2.1. | Part 2.2. | Part 2.3. | Part 2.4. |

Yes, hello, I have another scene I'd like to analyze.

It's the one in the Companion to Owls minisode, when Aziraphale and Crowley (and technically Job's kids in the form of three newts in a pot but I think we can ignore their presence) are in the basement waiting out the storm. They're relatively relaxed - the angel gorging on ox ribs and the demon enjoying his wine - and have a very interesting conversation.

Here's the whole thing:

A: Come on, you're a little bit on our side. C: Not even the littlest. A: Well, you're not on Hell's side. C: I go along with Hell as far as I can. A: So, whose side are you on? C: My side. A: Gosh. Well, that sounds... C: What? A: Lonely. C: Lonely? No, not lonely. Whose side are you on? A: God's, of course! C: Oh, really? The same God that wants me to whack the kids? A: Yes. But... C: Yeah... That's just how it started for me. See you in Hell.

What I want to address today isn't anything new, but it needs to be written. At least so that you knew where I stand. Anyway, it's no less exciting for being widely discussed already. I mean, is any of us tired of digging into the concept of sides? No, didn't think so. Having our boys talk about it, and so explicitly too, will never not be a treat and never not worth another meta.

So here I go: yes, I do believe Aziraphale is heavily misguided and confused about the whole thing, and it's the root of many issues in both seasons.

This whole exchange is a perfect example.

God had an argument with Satan about whether Job's faith was conditional. The man was exceptionally devoted but so far he experienced nothing but good fortune. But what if he didn't? What if he had to suffer the loss of everything he cared about?

They decided to find out.

Hell wanted Job to fail. To crack under all the misery and renounce God. Heaven... it's hard to tell really. I guess Heaven wanted Job to remain faithful so that God could win the bet but I think if he failed and needed to be punished it wouldn't be so terrible either.

What is crucial, however, is that both sides wanted the test to happen. They both wanted Job to suffer so they could see what happens.

Aziraphale knew it. But despite knowing it, despite all the facts staring him in the face, when Crowley had saved the lives of Job's goats and Job's children, it somehow led Aziraphale to the conclusion that the demon is still on Heaven's side. It really couldn't have been any plainer how skewed the angel's perception is because such deduction had never been more of a stretch than it was in that particular instance.

I believe there are two assumptions that Aziraphale clings to that cloud his judgment so much.

The first is something that many people in the fandom have pointed out already - Aziraphale conflates and confuses goodness, Heaven, and God. It's not a perfect equivalence, obviously, but the distinction is muddled.

The second assumption is that there are two opposite camps and everything that exists belongs to either one or the other. Yes, Aziraphale's thinking is extremely binary, and we should never forget about it. Sometimes it isn't just about good and evil for him; sometimes it's simply the inability to imagine third space.

When Aziraphale claims Crowley is a little bit on Heaven's side, we can see both assumptions at work.

#1: Crowley must be a little on Heaven's side because he had done something unquestionably good - he saved Job's goats and children - and being and doing good makes you affiliated with Heaven by default.

#2: Crowley must be a little on Heaven's side because he didn't do what Hell wanted - kill Job's goats and children - and opposing Hell is the same as endorsing Heaven.

The latter is also evident in Aziraphale's reaction to Crowley's denial - he points out Crowley is not on Hell's side as if it proved anything because in his mind it does - and confusion when Crowley tells him where he sees himself standing.

It doesn't help to see flaws in that logic that most of the time Aziraphale applies it to Crowley but not to himself. We may scoff at it but I actually find it understandable. Not logical, obviously, but easy to empathize with. Thinking that Crowley is still good and belongs with Heaven in some way is hardly a troubling thought. But contemplating the analogical idea that if Aziraphale himself doesn't do what Heaven wants then he might belong with Hell is downright terrifying.

It does come up at the end of the basement scene.

Crowley draws Aziraphale's attention to what the angel was avoiding - that God wanted Crowley to "whack the kids". Crowley wasn't defying Hell any more than Aziraphale was defying Heaven. When Aziraphale hesitates, seeing how perhaps doing what God wants and doing the right thing might not be the exact same thing here, Crowley points out this is how it started for him. That's exactly how you depart from Heaven, and if you depart from Heaven you end up in Hell.

We can see how it starts dawning on Aziraphale, and how he immediately pushes that extremely unpleasant thought away and goes back to his ox.

But he does face it in the end, in the heartwrenching finale of the episode. And what he's told? That nobody needs to know and nothing has to change. He is basically encouraged not to think about it. So he doesn't.

It's all too painful for either of them to discuss further so they leave it at that, allowing each other to fit what happened into their respective worldview, and make assumptions about each other.

There's much more in that scene but I'm going to bookmark it for a later date.

I hope to conclude part 1 in the next post. Wish me luck and inspiration!

[scarareg]

Percy Jackson and The Olympians Season 1 Review (2/3)

Part 1 • Part 3

What I dislike:

The action scenes are lacking. An example is Percy fighting Mrs Dodds: 1rst-Why did it happen in front of everyone? That makes not sense. Yes, the Mist hides stuff but if a woman attacks a teenager everyone will see it! 2nd- It was weirdly paced. Like one second Mrs Dodds was standing and the next she was dead. It took me a second to realize what happened. It was anticlimactic and Percy basically did nothing,he was just lucky Riptide opened up just in time to stop her. Another scene like that was the fight against Ares. To me it was "just fine" yet not epic. I feel it should be a little longer and I wish to see more of Ares using his battle tactics and powers, he is the God of War after all. Again, it is ok for what it is but it definitely could and should have been a bigger moment as a season finale, as Percy's moment to be a hero and prove himself, and as a demonstration of power level and difference between a mortal and a God! Also, it feels kinda insane that a guy with almost no training can defeat Ares so easy. That is a problem that stems from the lack of screen time at Camp in the first episodes,seeing Percy learning how to fight; sadly it backfired in the season finale. And you may say "well,these scenes include kids so is harder to make a bigger,more explosive,more incredible action scene than if they were adults" but it's possible. In House Of The Dragon a scene with five children fighting with only sand,a rock (that is not even used) and a dagger has way more tension than the God of War fighting our hero. The Minotaur scene was fine too. There are some changes like in the book Sally tried her best to distract it but because she is a normal human she could not do much, the whole taunting the Minotaur was Percy's stuff showing his bravery (I like the idea of Sally doing that to protect her baby tho,is cute) and Percy discovered in the process that he has inhuman agility and strength; so what they changed it's fine, my only complaint would be that the scene was super dark (all night scenes are) and it was hard to see what was going on,but I feel that at this point that is a Hollywood problem, so wathever

In the book,at the battle of Percy vs Ares,Kronos himself stops Ares from killing Perseus, but here it did not happen. That moment foreshadows Kronos interest in Percy because he wants to use him as a basel

Percy intelligence is heavily underused. In the books Percy constantly connects the dots and clues to figure out who people/monsters/Gods are; in addition to getting out of situations in creative and fun ways. Here there is none of that . An excellent example is the Lotus Casino. Book Percy figured out people there get trapped while he was talking with two boys who were not from this century. In the show Hermes just told him (which by the way,making Hermes own the place makes him an asshole who traps people for some reason, and as a Hermes fan it makes me angry).

While fighting Echidna, she do not have telekinesis powers or something, Percy is being chased by her chihuahua/Chimaera and he, of his own free will, decides to jump to the water showing his bravery and how willing he is to believe his dad has his back, and he is damn right! His father helped him and he learned that he can breathe underwater. All of these if missing

Percy did not speak even once with horses,that was the whole purpose of the Zebra,which also didn't appear in an episode titled "We Take A Zebra To Vegas"

The school acting like Percy is the son of Satan himself and that the best is for Sally to teach him from home. All of this because Percy drawing something so horrible,so despicable,so wicked ...a Pegasus(?) Like WTF! that the stupidest stuff I have ever seen. A kid drawing a Pegasus is not a sign of alarm,is a sign of being a kid, you fucking morons! Its imagination and creativity,and that's it,you are supposed to work with children,how can you be scared of that?! And if a kid is wondering around in the school's rooftop,that's on the school not the child. You supposed to be taking care of him,what is a kid doing there? That's your fault for being irresponsible!

They leaving Crusty free and happy,knowing he is a serial killer,wtf! All that scene was really weird in general. Percy just walked into the store without explaining how and when they found that place, how they know the Underworld is there, and they already knew everything about the store and Crusty,it felt unnatural and unearn. And in the book Crusty doesn't guard the doors to the Underworld,because why the Gods would leave that job to a guy like that? That's Charon's job

Lotus Casino (refering to the inside, the outside is really cool) was kinda boring, and they were trapped there and not go intentionally. It is tempting for children, that is why there are games for them to play. There is a waterslide, an indoor bungee jumping bridge, hundred of videogames. Here almost everything is just gambling and I know it is a casino but in the book is cooler. And there is VR games too, and that's it.

Charon, in both the books and any myth ever,would let you pass if you give him coins,so why did they change that and make him have control over Cerberus? Is a strange decision

The Underworld is supposed to have this kinda silly elements that subvert your expectations of it,like Charon loving suits, there are lines of new people(souls) arriving, and this fun banner that reads "Judgement For Elysium And Eternal Damnation. Welcome, Newly Deceased!" , Percy mentioned he could see Sisyphus at the distance. In the show we don't see the freaking River Styx! No Elysium and seeing Percy deciding that there is where he wants to be once he dies, I think that shows his character. No Persephone's Garden with her pomegranate trees. And the Fields of Asphodel (also known as Asphodel Meadows) are not a forest,are....well,meadows; I know,shocking, kinda hard to figure that out. By the way,that is another strange change because Rick knows what Asphodel looks like,that is why he represented them as an never ending field with the "largest concert crowd" with no electricity and no noise. Ah,also, missed opportunity for a Hazel easter egg

Hades is so TERRIBLE that I almost cried! Disney, we are talking about the King of the Underworld! Do you have idea what kind of creatures live there and they'll respect and fear him? In the books is important that he resents (hardcore) his family. His children inherit that as a fatal flaw. The reason is he had two children with momma di Angelo and he loved them dearly but Zeus wanted to kill them, and finally killed her, Hades only could save the children. Add insult to injury when his 2 brothers had children and received no repercussions for it. It is the reason he did not join the war against his father until the last second (thanks Nico!) . He also feel he got the worst job and he neither lives nor is allowed freely visit the cool, bright Olympus. All of it made him a cold person. Show Hades does not feel like he went through all of that, and if he did, it is like he did not care much. The writers are taking away his complexity and now he is a joke, a boring one.

Zeus was bad too but in a different way. He is just meh, did not make me feel anything in particular. I think it may be because when I imagine Zeus I picture him as a guy with beard, kinda like Santa Claus lmao and Lance Reddick (may he rest in peace,love him) looks nothing like him, so it was hard for me to believe he was Zeus. Maybe is just a me problem to be honest. Also, they made him kinda dumb because when Percy told him his dad is planing a war, he is just like "yeah I know, but right now is more important to fight your dad Poseidon" and that is extremely stupid,to be honest

[koalas-koalas-everywhere]

Do you wanna hear what I think is my most unpopular PJO opinion? (don't get me wrong, I have some that would get me on lists, but this one is likely the one that would get the least traction):

Generally, demigods like quests.

(Insert booing noises here.)

Let me make my arguments:

We've all taken Annabeth's statement that campers train for the opportunity to fight monsters like the Minotaur to be a sign of how naive and headstrong she is. And... it is, but where did we get the impression that she was also the only one who thought like that?

Luke

Ironically enough, Luke's the biggest proof there is for my theory. Let's see how Luke talks about his quest.

Let’s just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn’t allowed any more quests.

Two things jump out here. While it's possible that "Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests" refers to putting his foot down and not allowing the gods to demand any, given Annabeth's attitude (and the likelihood of that holding much water with the gods), it's even more likely that it's the campers who aren't allowed to go. Luke certainly believes that he ruined things for the others by causing the ban.

Then, at the forest with Percy:

I trained, and trained, and trained. I never got to be a normal teenager, out there in the real world. Then they threw me one quest, and when I came back, it was like, ‘Okay, ride’s over. Have a nice life.’ “The heck with laurel wreaths,” Luke said. “I’m not going to end up like those dusty trophies in the Big House attic.”

Let me remind you that Luke is 19 here. There's no way Chiron and Mr. D could be holding him against his will at Camp the way they were, for example, with Annabeth and Percy at the beginning of the book. Annabeth also says that other counselors were in college, lending credence to the fact that, especially when they were older, they were free to come and go.

This is not Luke saying that he doesn't want to be stuck at camp. He's saying he doesn't want to end up on the shelf.

“You’re wrong. [Kronos] showed me that my talents are being wasted. You know what my quest was two years ago, Percy? My father, Hermes, wanted me to steal a golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides and return it to Olympus. After all the training I’d done, that was the best he could think up.”

“Where’s the glory in repeating what others have done? All the gods know how to do is replay their past. My heart wasn’t in it. The dragon in the garden gave me this”—he pointed angrily at his scar—“and when I came back, all I got was pity.

His complaint with the quest? It was not "my dad used me as a tool" or "he put me in danger" — it was "the one he chose showed that I'm an afterthought to him". It was "he gave me no glory or recognition".

Also, "After all the training I’d done, that was the best he could think up"? Sounds a lot like quests weren't so much errand runs as rewards or shows of recognition by the gods.

But that's not the only interesting thing to happen in that conversation!

Percy

After a while Luke said, “You miss being on a quest?” “With monsters attacking me every three feet? Are you kidding?” Luke raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I miss it,” I admitted. “You?”

Mister "I never wanted to be a half-blood" himself! (Almost as if characters are meant to change throughout a story... huh.) And let's remember this is Luke he's talking to — the only person he revealed his prophecy to. He has a history of trusting him over anyone else. There's nothing in this scene that points to him being anything but honest.

Putting aside Percy's hero complex that will have him harassing the Oracle so it will give him a quest because he's unable to stand by the sideline as his friends are in danger, how other people have pointed out that Percy was the one to propose and sometimes even force himself into most of his quests — I never saw anyone mention his admission that he liked them, at least the first one. Now, of course, it's undeniable that he does eventually get tired of it, but... to what extent, really? In TLO, he says he's ready to kick back and enjoy himself, but that's in reference to the Great Prophecy. It doesn't have both capitalization and the word great in it for nothing.

Then in Staff of Hermes:

If he was delivering a message in person from the gods, it was bad news. If he wanted something from me, it was also bad news. But seeing as he’d just saved me from explaining myself to Annabeth, I was too relieved to care.

Sure, he doesn't want a quest, but it's still preferable to a difficult conversation with his girlfriend. It's only when they really start to pile up and interfere seriously with his normal life (by, say, making him miss most of a year) that he puts his foot down.

But his is ultimately an unusual case, because others aren't as affected by their own quests.

"Except for how they're risking their lives!" you say, but...

How dangerous are normal quests?

Because all signs point to Percy's being an outlier. For starters, as a powerful child of the Big Three, he attracts more monsters than your regular demigod, and that's without taking into account the gods who hate him for it.

Then there's the fact that Kronos's rise has stirred up monster activity

“I saw a lot out there in the world, Percy,” Luke said. “Didn’t you feel it — the darkness gathering, the monsters growing stronger? Didn’t you realize how useless it all is?"

As well as brought older, stronger monsters out of the woodwork.

"The stirring of monsters." Dr. Thorn smiled evilly. "The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years..."

Not to mention that most of Percy's quests that we've seen involved jumping straight into a scheme by an ancient, powerful titan by the moniker "the Crooked One".

Compare them to The Stolen Chariot. That was... fun, all in all. An afternoon visit to the zoo. Got him out of class early. What if that's the standard for a quest?

However, the biggest argument for quests being usually pretty simple is, once again, Luke. Let's go back to that first quote.

Let’s just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn’t allowed any more quests.

So, quests were more or less normal two years before TLT, before they were forbidden, like the chariot races, because it was judged unacceptably dangerous. So, it could be that Luke's was the last in a recent string of injuries (possible — he said himself that already the world was becoming "darker" by the time of his quest) and/or it was considered to be bad enough in itself to justify ending quests entirely. Whatever the explanation, for all the "yeah, we make a shroud whenever someone goes on a quest" rituals, Luke's injury had to have been grisly by their standards.

Like. Not to diminish it, but. It's a scar across the face. It doesn't even seem to have affected his eyesight.

Everything points to...

That your average camper, before Kronos, would have either volunteered or been selected by the gods (probably their parent) to go on quests as recognition of their skills and a chance to earn glory. OH, and don't forget a chance to be a hero. That's important. After all, you don't wanna end up in the Fields of Asphodel because your life was too boring, do you?

TL; DR: The attitude towards quests and even probably the experience surrounding them are much different than we treat them in fandom.

[starrycrystals]

Here are some personal takeaways and analysis after watching episodes 1 & 2 of Disney's Percy Jackson series. I've made a previous post discussing the series here.

------SPOILERS for EPISODES 1&2 of Disney's PERCY JACKSON--------

First of all, the acting was bad and seemed restrictive and expressionless BUT that's probably because the director decided to take this approach (which I hate)

Actors I've liked so far are: Grover's, Clarisse's, Annabeth's (although we've hardly seen her so far) and of course Jason Mantzoukas. That's right not Walker, which is just disappointing. I've seen him in other projects and he does an alright job, this just confirms my suspicion that the actors are not bad they just have to work with a bad script and direction. Even Mantzoukas' acting seemed restrained at some points, truly a shame.

The pacing is bad and the editing between scenes seems a little choppy.

Some camera angles are so wide and static that they took me out of the story even in emotional scenes.

All of these choices (and some involving the writing which I'm gonna get to in a second) I feel like didn't allow me to connect with most of the characters and especially the show's protagonist Percy, which is a blaring sign that sth went wrong along the process of making this series.

Percy:

He's such a lovable character that he's had multiple book series written with him in the leading role. Even though he often fills the role of the "chosen one", he exhibits traits of cleverness and battlefield knowledge both of which are intuitive to him but also grow as the books progress.

However, in the show it feels like EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. he gets a chance to prove this it gets swept away from him and makes him seem like the overplayed Mary Sue character where everything is happening around him, every piece of information is handed TO HIM instead of him figuring it out.

Even the fight with the Minotaur (which could be used to show his inate fighting instincts and bravery) felt a little off to me when I realized that the horn is removed simply because of.. idek some kind of godly strength?? It seems very Superman-esque and you just threw away the chance to show his ability with a sword even with no prior training.

And this keeps happening, people keep handing him information and giving him chances to escape camp even (!) when he very well could have tried to gather information or leave camp himself. Even the quest is handed to him, all vital information included™ by Chiron of all people (Side note: if the Oracle doesn't play a major role in the series I might just quit the show all together)

Sally Jackson & Gabe:

I feel like they shifted the characters and their dynamic a bit. Gabe doesn't seem as abusive as in the books and Sally seems to be able to stand up to him with literally no consequence from him, he just caves and lets them go. This might have something to do with the series being Disney-fied but I'm curious how this will play out and reflect as the audience witnesses Gabe's ultimate fate. Overall it seems like a pointless change that might reflect more poorly on Sally as a character.

Grover:

Grover's portrayal is actually one of the enjoyable parts of the show for me but it gets ruined when I think of some scenes they gave him. First his "betrayal" of Percy is just sad to watch when you're used to seeing them as a BFF always-by-your-side duo, especially when it happens in the very first episode of the series that introduces these characters. So far we haven't seen any consequence for this betrayal either.

This seems to be a pattern so far for the series, characters do things and in return get no consequences even if they're "bad" decisions. Another example is when Grover interrupts Dionysus' and Chiron's meeting with Percy and immediately disobeys Dionysus orders by presenting Percy with even more information regarding his mother. To my shock and displeasure this AGAIN has had no consequences brought on Grover. Interrupting two very important people, one of which a god and disobeying their orders in the same breath should have SOME consequence, no? Dionysus even gives Grover a look of genuine disappointment and pity but literally nothing else happens.

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

Now, I haven't watched episode 3 and the rest of the series hasn't aired as of yet. Therefore some of these things might change or develop.

Overall the series so far has left me disappointed and ultimately baffled at the lack of entertaining value it provided me. I felt like I sat down to watch some pretty scenery and graphics for almost two hours with no emotions involved whatsoever. It just wasn't ψυχαγωγικό for me.

[tennessoui]

✨✨✨✨🫱Care to share🫲✨✨✨✨

The message was sent to you because someone loved your writing and stories. ❤️

▪️What are your writing suggestions for newcomers, or what would you have liked to know when you first started?

▪️How do you write different personalities and perspectives? Could you explain how you came up with the manner you written your favorite or any character?

▪️What do you do when you have writer's block?

▪️How do you come up with new ideas and develop them?

▪️Any messages for your readers or fellow writers?

You are welcome to answer if you have the time and desire, or you can simply respond to the questions that come to mind.

💐Thank you for your work as a writer and as a member of this fandom!💐

hello and thank you!! i can try to answer these questions, but i don't think anything i have to say is particularly revolutionary or interesting so be warned i'm not going to be helpful haha

▪️What are your writing suggestions for newcomers, or what would you have liked to know when you first started?

it's really really ok to like your idea more than others!! when i first started writing fic, i would come up with an idea and share it and people would say 'that's great what if it went like this instead?' and that was fun and i think i have a lot of aus that have been influenced by posting on tumblr/talking with people here, but at a certain point i had to just learn for myself that it was ok to say 'yeah that would be fun too but i also really like my idea the way i wrote it, and that's what im going to focus on'. that probably sounds really obvious lol but it also took me like. a solid year to learn and feel comfortable saying.

not that your ideas will necessarily be better than someone else's or that "better" is a good matrix for creativity. but if you're writing fanfic, you're doing it in your free time for no cost. it should be something you absolutely are in love with and it's really ok to fall in love with your idea/your fic and not change it no matter what other people suggest

▪️How do you write different personalities and perspectives? Could you explain how you came up with the manner you written your favorite or any character?

i change my characters up a lot between fics/aus and give them different personalities each time, but i do try to keep some traits recognizable so they still feel like obi-wan and anakin. for obi-wan, for example, i picture him as having some innate qualities that i put on a sliding scale. bitchiness (i.e. sarcasm, irritation at the situation, capacity to insult, anger) and manipulation are my main two for him. then depending on the fic and the characterization, i adjust my bitchiness and manipulation scales: pbatmb obi-wan is both extremely bitchy and extremely manipulative. 10s across the board. stacy's mom au obi-wan is low on the manipulation scale (even though he's trying SO hard) but medium on the bitchiness scale. infinite sadness is probably also one of the scales come to think of it.

▪️What do you do when you have writer's block?

i go outside!! i go for a walk or a run away from screens where i can just tease out the idea i want to write and work over it with no distractions

also and i cannot overemphasize how much i love these but writing warm ups!!! do writing warm ups!!! i collect prompts that i write out before i start a major project (which i define as something going on ao3) which helps getting the words flowing and helps prevent writer's block for me. if you don't want to do prompts from a list, pick a fic that you already have and just write a scene for it that will not go into the fic. like, the characters going camping or waking up in the morning or discovering there's no more coffee. something short, 500 words, 1k words, whatever. it really, really, really helps me

▪️How do you come up with new ideas and develop them?

lol two ways. i write about things that happen in my life and tweak them a bit ("fixer-upper" was written after i toured an apartment with my friend and she liked the place but hated the stove/appliances; "tripping over my words trying to give you my name" was written because people always tell me to tie my shoelaces) OR i throw words around like darts at a board until i have a solid idea. usually this involves taking an idea that i feel has been done or feels pretty straightforward and thinking about how i can put a twist on it to make it feel like mine (i.e. sith obi-wan, but what if we make him x, y, and z too)

and tumblr asks help a lot because people really can flush out an au so fast by just asking open-ended questions like 'where's shmi? how does qui-gon react to this? when do they get together?' that make me think more about the story and how i imagine the characters!

▪️Any messages for your readers or fellow writers?

thank you for reading what i write, that's really amazing and i'm glad you do!! i think i've grown so much in the past few years as a writer and it's because this fandom has become such a safe space for me to experiment with my writing style and story-telling.

and thank you for writing if no one's told you that recently - you deserve to hear it every day! ✨

[bellatrixnightshade]

"You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" Rafal Song Analysis (with some other mentions too)

My Rhian "Like a Villain" one here.

Song:

Also, this will involve Lord of the Flies references here and there, so a slight spoiler warning?

To the song:

Show me how to lie, you're getting better all the time And turning all against the one is an art that's hard to teach Another clever word sets off an unsuspecting herd And as you step back into line, a mob jumps to their feet

I imagine this as Rafal remembering when he was still alive, just watching everything unfold. I believe this may refer to Jack's influence over the boys of the island in the book. But in Rhian's case, he is a liar by stealing identity and teaming up with Marialena, the liar. And I think he lied in Fall to escape prison after Midas chose Rafal. Rhian turns people against the One, and I have always viewed him as the charismatic speaker who doesn't even need a script. When Rhian speaks to people, it's dangerous because somehow, they will follow. I don't see Rafal as having the same exact talent, and I have headcanonned him as someone who needs to practice speeches like everyone else in order for it to be decent. Rhian also turns people against Rafal, the herd being the trio and the other students in the main series, by pretending to be him. The mob could be his armies of trained soldiers or zombies or a mob against him. Against Rafal. But mostly I imagine the armies he got after the Kingdom Council meeting.

Now dance, fucker, dance, man, he never had a chance And no one even knew it was really only you And now you steal away Take him out today Nice work you did You're gonna go far, kid

This could be Rafal being killed, though he did have a chance, technically. It could be Peter Pan killing Timon, and Rafal assuming it was Rhian, with war breaking out because of his assumption. In Lord of the Flies, they kill Simon and start behaving like barbaric tribes. The Great War was led by three children/teenagers, in a way, because even with a life centuries long, the twins had teenage hormones and way of thinking. As the adults were weak, passive, and not leaders, this happened. I was also thinking of Rhian killing that soldier with his breath, and that guy didn't have a chance. Rhian shrugged it off and basically went all like "this is an example of what'll happen if you try that shit again. Got that?" But Rafal as a ghost tells Rhian bitterly that he'll go far with his violence, dishonesty, and manipulation. The "kid" part could be the way he has always viewed Rhian.

With a thousand lies and a good disguise Hit 'em right between the eyes Hit 'em right between the eyes When you walk away, nothing more to say See the lightning in your eyes See 'em running for their lives

Again, Rafal sees Rhian as the liar and using his face as the "good disguise." Now Rhian is a killer and he becomes someone people fear, starting from the army camp when Rafal was still living. When Rafal is dead, people fear Rhian through the false Rafal he acts as. Perhaps Rhian's callousness runs even deeper than Rafal's ever has. Because Rafal would never have lied the amount of times Rhian did or have worn his face. Rhian is more emotional and sensitive, which gives him an advantage. He now has a method to destroy someone to their core. He is the most dangerous because he never appeared to be. He should be feared most because of how his nature is. "Good disguise" can also be when Rhian started it by lying to Marialena by acting as Rafal to her when he spied on Midas and Rafal. This ties into my last paragraph. Also, I wanted to mention even Rhian's trap about the moth thing and how he pried and picked at Rafal to the point where even he was unsettled. Rafal is clever yes, but can we mention Rhian??? He is like the orca that is the true apex. He kills and scares off the sharks.

Slowly out of line, and drifting closer in your sight So play it out, I'm wide awake, it's a scene about me There's something in your way and now someone is gonna pay And if you can't get what you want, well, it's all because of me

This may be Rafal as a spirit looking upon his dead body and Rhian being so nonchalant about it. In fact, Rhian's attitude towards Rafal's death matches the previous lines of the song! Rhian is certainly out of line, and Rafal is that one thing in his way. After what Rafal said to him, Rhian makes him pay for sure. He thinks that he not being School Master is all due to Rafal being alive and taking that from him. Demoting him. Allowing him to die. Rafal will see himself as the victim here, which is what the lines sound like.

Now dance, fucker, dance, man, I never had a chance And no one even knew, it was really only you And now you'll lead the way Show the light of day Nice work you did You're gonna go far, kid

Nobody knew it was really Rhian-- main series included! And since these lines switched to first person, it could be Rafal saying he clearly had no chance to meet the students in the main series, or to show them who "Rafal" really was. He never had a chance to live a Good life because Rhian took that away. Rhian is now the one who will "lead the way/show the light of day." At least, he thinks he can, with the attitude that permeates the last chapter of Fall. The last two lines could be Rafal begrudgingly praising Rhian's work as a villain where even he himself as the sadist was outdone. Maybe Rafal also tells Rhian he'll go further than Rafal when it comes to villainy and evil.

With a thousand lies and a good disguise Hit 'em right between the eyes Hit 'em right between the eyes When you walk away, nothing more to say See the lightning in your eyes See 'em running for their lives Clever alibis, Lord of the Flies Hit 'em right between the eyes Hit 'em right between the eyes When you walk away, nothing more to say See the lightning in your eyes See 'em running for their lives

I suppose this part does confirm the Lord of the Flies references! But I imagine Rhian fooled the staff who existed immediately after the war into believing there was no murder. It was just that the Storian killed him! (I think it actually implies it in the book.)

[strqyr]

I don't disagree with the mystery angle, but as a hypothetical (because I can't deicide which I like better), what do you think of having the mystery as is in show (ie. we know who, don't know what), then building that into who can be trusted? Like, going into mistral and atlas, yes we know who the big bads are now, but who are the pawns this time? Is that person just scared and caged because of Beacon, or because they're working for Salem? Having the audience losing trust alongside the mains

i think this was pretty much what they did with in V7. iirc the writers said the volume's theme would be "trust", which got the audience suspecting just about, well. any one of the new characters we were introduced to, and even some of the old ones; i vividly remember one of the big things after 7.2 being whether ironwood hugging qrow was genuine or if he did that to place a tiny microphone or something like that on his cape lol

and ya know, it was fun time! every new character could have been a double agent, or somehow compromised—watts is in mantle with near full control of its systems, who's to say he couldn't be listening in and scouring through video footage to find something, anything to help with their task?—so who do you trust?

of course, that lack of trust became the main issue between the Good Guys™, there were no surprises in terms of characters working for salem, but still, it worked well, and it kept people on their toes.

in contrast, they gave lionheart working for salem pretty much immediately, which is like. 50/50 for me because on one hand, building up those trust issues, not just in the characters but for the audience as well, already from the mistral arc would have been great... but there were no other characters to suspect besides lionheart, so the difference is hardly there.

but yeah, the "who is working for salem and who is not?" is absolutely an angle i've been thinking about a lot lately; mostly in a sense whether it would work or not if salem—and thus the rest of her followers—would not have been revealed when they were; that if emerald's illusion had been the first time the audience "sees" salem, where most of the information we get of her is from what other characters say about her, then the lost fable, and only then we see salem in present day during 'so that's how it is'. that way tyrian, hazel, and watts would be brand new characters with yet unknown alliances, with some revealing their standing earlier like tyrian, while for watts and hazel it would take a little bit more time.

like, taking watts as an example: he's just some guy who spends time with lionheart. maybe he passes by team rnjr at some point, has a short interaction with them, all cordial and so, because they'd be less likely to recognize him as someone who's supposed to be, ya know. dead. the main point is, everything seems normal about him; there's really no reason to suspect him as someone working for this salem everyone is talking about... and then he shows up with cinder at the branwen tribe's camp and uh-oh, who can you really trust? how deep does salem's network of followers actually go?

of course, these are choices were you win some, you lose some. it all comes down to what you want to focus on; keep salem and her followers hidden for a little bit longer, and you potentially lose the time spend building salem and cinder's dynamic—though this could be changed by simply not revealing salem's other followers while keeping the scenes with just salem and cinder around—but gain the extra layer of mystery and the build-up to "who can you actually trust?"

...rambling aside, yeah, not revealing the kingdom specific pawns immediately upfront could be a fun route to take, absolutely.

[wolfepirat3]

Magnificent Seven 1998

This, is not going to be a structured post by any means.

I am about to spew so much shit out your mind will be left reeling because you have no fucking clue about what im trying to say

But, im about to talk about my intense love for this show.

Its going to entail a lot of jumping around between thoughts and ideas because i dont know where to begin when it comes to me talking about this show and how much i care about it.

If we are going to start somewhere, it has to be the friendships

I love how almost all of the seven have a closer friendship to one out of all the rest of them. Examples being vin and chris, buck and jd, and josiah and nathan.

Unfortunately ezra doesnt have that, but i do love when the fandom makes him have good friendships with the rest in their own ways (i have a huge bias towards ezra & vin, ezra & jd, and ezra & buck friendship fr)

Vin and chris were literally destined to be bffs, i think it comes with being named Chris and vin because this is one of the few things actually retained from the 1960 version of mag 7 and i really do love the connection the characters have. Especially with how they basically communicate with little looks and gestures and dont even really need a full out conversation to be close with one another.

Buck and jd actually make me go crazy and i want to cry everytime i think about them because the friendship chemistry they have is insane. Their banter and how theres literally at least one scene of them hanging out together in ever episode makes me so happy. Literally found family brothers of im being honest.

I dont have as much to say about josiah and nathan (though i do love them very much), but i like how their friendship is established as already existing during the pilot because it adds a nice difference to the fast forming friendships of the other two pairs. I also like how im season twos premiere that when the seven split up, they still went together to the seminole camp to continue their lives. Its just really nice to have a strong, established friendship that holds up through the series.

Okay so now i want to talk ezra (hes literally my favorite and hes also literally me idc)

Ezra is such an interesting character because he doesnt have that bond between him and another one of the seven like the others do. Yeah he hangs out with all of them but you cant really point to one specific character and say 'yeah, thats his bff'

Out of the seven hes the one who has the least amount of reason to remain in the town (also for my sake im just going to call it by the fandom name through here on out- four corners- because its a fitting name and the town doesnt cut it for me) unlike the rest. Everyone all wants to protect four corners, but getting into specifics:

Chris has mary and billy he wants to look after

Vin has a place to call home that he doesnt have to run from due to being wanted (even though that gets resolved in sins of the past)

Nathan has people he can take care of and heal

Josiah can repent and do something good

JD can make a life for himself in the west and prove himself

And Buck can try (and fail) to get ladies (and of course look after JD)

But ezra? The most he had was wanting to buy his saloon, but thats ruined by maude (and i have so much to say about ezra and hers relationship)

Well i guess the most prominent reason he had to stay was when judge travis made him stay for 30 days so he could get out of being arrested. But then by the time the days were over he decided to stay (which shocked everyone including himself)

I believe that subconsciously, he realizes that four corners and being with the seven is where he belongs and that this is the right path in life for him.

I also like how his relationship with other characters grow throughout the show and how he (slightly) improves as a person. Also also how you can see that he isnt completely self absorbed from the get go

examples:

Literally the pilot episode where, admittedly, he does try to run. BUT he ends up coming back in the end to help everyone out because he knows its the right thing to do

In serpents when yes, hes trying to steal all the money. BUT he realizes that someones trying to kill mary and literally puts his life on the line to save her?? Like yeah hes selfish and hedonistic, but he does do the right thing eventually

Like in working girls when he was giving the ladies lessons. He did do it for money reasons, but he was also trying to make sure that theyd be able to get onto their feet and have good lives. He also didnt have to do drag to distract the people at wickestown, but he does because he knows that itd most likely succeed in the end.

And now, onto his mother.

If theres one thing i want to get straight, its the fact that i HATE when people demonize maude and try to make her out to be a horrifically malicious woman that hates ezra and only manipulates him for selfish reasons.

Yes, she sucks a good deal of the time and does actively make life hell when shes running a con, but shes also doing what she knows will keep her afloat in life.

She did drop ezra off at familys places when she went off to do cons ezra couldn't, which did contribute to her bad parenting because it really isnt fair to do that to anyone. But i think some people need to realize that she was a single mother that had to provide for a child and was just trying to do it in a way that she knew best.

Her tactics are manipulative at times and she has done things during the course of the show that shit on everything ezra was working for (namely: ruining his one dream of owning a saloon by almost immediately buying it out after he spent so long saving up money) and most of time its because she wants to 'teach him a lesson' but we cant hate on her for being a shittier person than she actually is.

Its extremely clear that she cares for ezra and loves him and its also very clear that ezra loves her back because he still puts up with her everytime she comes through four corners.

Okay ezra rant over i think

Now i kind of just want to talk about fandom and headcanons and those kinds of things

Now im not an active participant in the fandom (mostly because its very small and very dead and idk where to find other fans), but i do read a lot of fics from 20 years ago and ive picked up on a lot of things that they did back then that ive come to love very much.

If theres one thing i love it's ezra centric fics, especially ones that include the seven comingore to understand his philosophy about things and realizing that what he does is how he shows he cares, something bad happening that involves a misunderstanding of some sort that leads to an arduous process of realization and forgiveness, and also i do love just good friendship and teamwork

I also like all the AUs that people have come up with (such as the ATF one, i was wary of it at first but i think its so cool how well thought out everything is). Also how they share ideas and ocs and theres always a thanks and acknowledgment towards the people who created the ideas. (Like when i first started getting into the fics i thought Chaucer and Four Corners were canon names, but i was so shocked when i found out that someone came up with it and everyone agreed that theyre really good names and went with them)

Finally, for now, i want to cover some of my headcanons for the guys cuz im a little silly like that and i have way too many thoughts bouncing around in my cranium

Buck with heterochromia

I thought of this one when i was trying to do a drawing of the seven and i found out his eyes were blue and not brown like i thought. Instead of conforming because im too cool for that, i decided to just go with blue and brown

Ezra probably knows most of the main romance languages (specifically french, spanish, and italian)

It just feels like something he wouldve learned either by maude making him or something hed do on his own for con reasons

Vin is more blond than he is in canon

If im being completely honest and genuine, for the first probably six months after getting onto the show i couldve and wouldve sworn that vin was blond. Then i was getting pictures of the characters when o realized that hes actually a brunette??? So anyways my thought process for the blond thing is that its kind of bleached by the sun considering he spends a lot of time outside and especially due to his upbringing

JD has a little scar through his eyebrow because he was fooling around and got cut there

Another thing that came up when i was drawing a few years back. I just thought it looked cool but its something that happened as a complete accident that jd thinks looks cool, but when someone asks how it happened he gets really embarrassed because he was doing something stupid

Post series, Nathan and Ezra actually talk shit out and find common ground so they arent so pissy with each other

I just want them to be friends tbh, like genuinely theyd be the kind of friends that hate each others guts but would do absolutely anything to anyone if something bad happened to the other one

Character ages are another headcanon i have. Last year i wanted to see how old the actors were during the filming of the show compared to how old i thought the characters were and i was a little surprised at some if im being honest. Anyways heres my headcanon ages

Chris - 37

Buck - 39

Vin - 31 (which actually coincides with how old eric close was so i did pretty good in this matter)

Ezra - 29

Nathan - 30

Josiah - 49

JD - 21 (though i have seen some people say hes meant to be 18/19? Idk I just know hes meant to be young)

Okay i think thats completely it for now. I said so much but i dont actually know how much makes sense

Thanks anyways! Plz watch the show if you havent i promise is so worth it!!!!

Have a good day, until next time

[justagalwhowrites]

Ok so I have a couple of asks because I'm curious or more like nosy. Feel free to skip if it's to much.

1. What does your writing process look like? Do you outline everything or just make it up as you go? Do you write in order or write scenes as they come to you and fit them together later?

2. If you could give one piece of advice for everyone reading to live by what would it be?

3. If you could could visit anywhere in the world where would it be?

4. Is there a particular genre, topic, trope or Fandom you haven't written but would like to?

BESTIE!! HI!!!!

I love these omfg

I loosely outline everything and I write in order. I lay out the story chapter by chapter but only like (for example in Yearling): Chapter 1 - Bambi boyfriend turns, cut to future, Joel finds her. Things often take longer than I planned (see chapters 16-17 of Lavender that was supposed to be just one chapter and then became 2) or I might feel like a plot point didn't accomplish what I wanted in character development and need to add another element to get the character to where I want them to be. I'm not a slave to the outline but it definitely is the basis of my work!

Ooo I don't know if I'm the best person to give advice lol but one that I think is good for people who enjoy fic is: There is no such thing as a guilty pleasure. If it brings you pleasure and doesn't hurt anyone, don't feel guilty about it. Life is too short to be ashamed about what you enjoy! Love the things and people you love fully and whole heartedly and you'll be a lot happier for it.

AHHH such a good question! My favorite place to visit is probably Paris. My dream life allows me the freedom to go to Paris for a few months a year so I can do things like sit at a cafe or a garden and write and watch the people go by. But I'd love to explore someplace new! Southeast Asia would be amazing to visit. I have a friend who LOVES Vietnam so that's been on my list for a while and Indonesia looks incredible. I'd also love to check out Australia, Morocco, Scotland and Brazil. I also think it would be incredible to visit Antarctica at some point though that's lower on the list. I love to get a taste of other cultures when I travel (I do a lot of nature stuff close to home, we camp and hike a fair bit) so I focus on that more.

I want to write a superhero story at some point! I'm a casual Marvel fan and I like Batman well enough from DC but I don't really feel like a part of any superhero fandom (except maybe Watchmen?) But I love the idea of 1) a hero who is always surrounded by other superpowered people dealing with the mortal fragility of someone they love or 2) someone who is used to being the strongest in the room suddenly being outclassed. I love how inhuman things (like superpowers or the infected in TLOU) allow us to explore the depth of our humanity, it opens the door for so many amazing stories and I want to tap into that!

Thank you for asking, Bestie!!

Love you!!!!

[bowlerhatwearer]

Silent Judgement in Evergreen Forest

TW: Murder, TW: Blood, TW: Death, TW: Violence; TW: Alcohol ; TW: Guns

Characters: Ian Snapshot, Unknown Lieutenant General, Unknown Assistant, Several Army officials.

Originally written: 12th September 2022

~~

„Evergreen Forest so deep and dark you will never be seen

Evergreen Forest were they all go, never hear their screams“

Or something like that, he honestly could not remember, how that poem was going, or was it a lullaby?

It no longer mattered.

What however did, was he was stuck here, in this bunker, in the forest that was mentioned in the lines he thought about, he was in here, with twenty-two other people.

All of them war veterans, military personnel with different rank and name, members or the brass, Corporals, Sergeants, Lieutenants, Majors, Colonels etc. etc.

With him, sitting here, with them in the dining room of this block of concrete, eating their meal, except for him and he hated every moment of it.

Of course he knew them all, personally and by name, but that did not mean he had to like them.

Drinking and eating, socialising as if there were no problems, boasting about accomplishments none of those around him ever did or talking about medals they didn’t deserve to wear.

He was not participating in this gourmet orgy as his “colleagues” did as they had done in the last few days, all of them having lower ranks than his.

Scratching his wounded ear, the general let out a snort, wondering for exactly how long things would continue to go like this.

The reasons all of them were here was simple, the government had gotten information that all of their lives were in danger, someone was out there to get them, he did not know why exactly, but given all the blood they had on their hands, he had lost sight of the enemies they had made over the many years he had served in the army.

At this point, he honestly didn’t care, he had figured out something, the others did not, and if they were too dense to notice the signs, than that was one them.

While he was fighting at the front with his soldiers, the rest in this room sat with their lazy behinds in their tents, smoking and drinking as they barked orders to their subordinates who died in the heat of battle, while they waited safe and secure behind the lines, and hoping they would get another pad on the back by the state with words of praise and honour.

Oh he loathed all of them, he was not a person who exaggerated, however in this case he could say without any doubt, that he, in this room, was the only one, who earned his rank truthfully, and his body was proof for that. He was the only one he cared about.

Well, except maybe for his assistant who for minutes now had tried to peel an orange for him, as he had ordered, yet, their progress was, sobering.

Rolling his eyes he let out a sigh, he was getting too old for all of this nonsense.

„Just, just give it to me already.“

He could feel how the anxious cheetah flinched for a moment, before handing the fruit to him, instead of using a knife, he held the fruit in his hand, as he used his very own teeth to cut into the skin of the orange, before pressing it against his chest, peeling the orange in hand.

„S-Sorry General Sir.“

„Eh, it could be worse.“

For example, being in this place any minute longer, he was wondering when the moment came he would start to suffer from lockdown fatigue.

Looking up he observed the cheetah again, his personal aide-de-camp

Was the army nowadays so desperate that they were taking anyone now?

He knew, that his assistant had the heart on the right place, but darn were they an anxious wreck, they were loyal of course, perhaps a bit oblivious but was it so hard to get competent help these days?

The sound of something, rolling caught his and, as he noticed, his assistants attention, it was not difficult to take a guess, what was happening and who entered the scene.

A short black-footed cat, wearing formal-wear that made him shine out from the military personnel, he looked as tense as his aide-de-camp and had his eyes were half closed.

One their second day they all got here, he introduced himself to them, as their personal waiter, for their stay in the bunker, bringing them their meals each day, but also, offering other luxury goods, like tobacco or alcohol.

The before mentioned was being wheeled in a metal cart, its surface covered with a white table cloth that reached nearly to the floor, with only an inch or two of air between the ground and the fabric.

Whiskey, brandy, gin, absinth, wine etc. etc. everything a bunch of war veterans could wish for, together with two boxes of cigars being on the cart as the cat waiter wheeled it in with what appeared to be, great effort.

The general could hear how all the others, with their ranks cheered when they saw what was brought in the midst of them eating their dinner, only he, his assistant and the waiter remained silent.

Firstly of course, he was approached by the waiter, but, he swiftly declined, he was not in the mood of drinking or smoking, he wanted to be out of this stuffy, and in his view rather small room, that was cramped with chairs and a large table, that was all in his view an obstacle for someone to walk, or run.

Not that this was something he thought about of course, he just wanted to be gone.

Looking a the black-footed cat, he saw how the small waiter walked to the person, with the next highest rank beside of him, the colonel.

A tall figure, with countless of honours and medals on his uniform, laughing about some anecdote from his life of the military he had just told, which the general wondered if it really happened as he had told it, noticing the presence of the waiter, he grinned giving him praise before telling him what sort of drink he wanted from the cat.

He wanted to leave, and he was going to do that now.

Silently he ordered the cheetah to the door of the conference room, which, obviously they had no need for, giving that they were just waiting it out until the government would give them, their ok for them to leave.

But he wanted to be alone, or, as alone as that was possible with his aide-de-camp moving with him as they approached the door.

An angry shout caused the general to turn his head, as he was searching trough his jacket for his personal identification card

From what he could see, was, that the shaky and tense waiter, had accidentality spilled a bit of the alcoholic beverage he filled in the whiskey glass of the colonel, on the table.

Reasons enough for the colonel to throw an angry fit because, yes, he had to show one last time his potency, searching for any excuse to yell at someone who had a lower rank, or none at all so he could display how great, strong and mighty he believed to be.

Yeah, he would really not miss the Colonel when he would die.

Which was going to happen soon anyway.

Moving his head again, looking at the door as he was opening it with his ID, it was a sturdy and well reinforced door, but of course he knew, that it couldn’t stop anything in the end or prevent the unstoppable.

As he looked up he breathed out before addressing the cheetah.

“Lets go in this room, these idiots have not noticed a single thing yet.”

Before his feline assistant could ask him what he meant with that, he was interrupted by a loud voice that went trough the whole room. Everyone was silent and no one moved.

“Care to enlighten us, what you mean general?”

Oh him thinking out loud always caused some trouble, but well, he didn’t care, especially not right now or that it involved the Colonel.

Giving his assistant an order with a hand sign, he turned around to look at them all, but especially at the colonel, as their views were focused on him.

“You really want to tell me that you and the others have not seen it yet, colonel?”

“Seen what? A ghost or a phantom perhaps?-”

With a grin, he took emptied the glass with the alcoholic drink in one gulp, putting it down with a loud “thump” sound, as he exhaled satisfied, causing him, the general to roll his eyes, before the colonel continued with confidence to talk, at the same moment as he was eating a piece of the rest of the rare steak that was on his plate.

“-we have been here safe and sound for the last two weeks. Face it general, I think that at this point, it can be said what we all are thinking in this room. The danger, of an assassination of us, was merely a false alarm, a rumour out of proportion from reality-”

Letting out a deep laugh, he could see how the colonel did not care that some of the steaks sauce, was dropping on his uniform or on the floor, neither did anyone else, the only person moving was just the waiter, who appeared, calmer, having placed his hands casually on the cart, as the black-footed cat gave a soft grin, and observed the general with curiosity with his half closed eyes.

“-but I welcome this situation. In this last fourteen days we have gotten excellent service without having to lift a finger, having been supplied trough the tax payers money.”

This time the whole table of war veterans was laughing, his assistant gave him a look, with the general noticing that he was feeling unwell, he did not had to worry any longer.

He ordered his aide-de-camp to go in the room before him, moving the last few feet into the room himself, before, thanks to his assistant, turning around again, facing the group of people he had no respect for, one last time.

“For two weeks, we have been in this location indeed, a place the government has brought us discreetly for our own safety. In two weeks you have enough time to figure out were our defence it the weakest, and finding a place to take out everyone at once.”

Either way really, oblivious to what he had just said, or having not listened at all to him, the Colonel put another piece of steak into his mouth, as he turned to the general.

“Pah, and were should that position be you old oaf? And were do you think the assassin would be?”

Ignoring the childish insult, he didn’t grin as he prepared his answer, he wanted to tell it to them as straight and plainly as possible.

“Why, this very room were you are all sitting of course, and they are here in plain sight.”

It had gone quiet, but before anyone else could have said anything, he continued.

“Let me all ask you something. In a bunker only we should know about, why would there be a waiter in formal clothing?”

They all were now looking at the black footed cat who for the first time was opening his eyes.

He, the general was already closing the door to the conference room with his plastic identification card, as he saw in the gap that became smaller every moment, as the cat had pulled a gun from under the cart.

One second lieutenant and a sergeant major who sat in front of the waiter were their first victims, getting shot into the back of their heads, before they could have reacted.

For a moment he could hear the shouts and screams of alarm, then the door was finally closed.

Of course, he and his assistant still could hear the fight going on, as the general moved away from the door by himself.

Several guns were being fired at once, obviously they all were armed for their own safety, but, the general had a feeling, it was not going to help his “colleagues” at all.

More of the weapons fell silent, and so did the muffled shouts and screams of the army officials, who all were murdered behind the door.

He was not afraid of whatever would happen now, at least he would die not with the rest and his body would be found in a separate room.

Looking up, he glanced for the first time at his aide-de-camp after the massacre started.

Oh they were not doing well, even if they tried to remain collected, he could see how their chest was rising, the poor fella was going to have a stroke any second now if he was not calming down.

“Listen...they are here for me, not you, don’t do anything provoking and you will get out of here just fine, do you understand?”

Despite him squeezing his assistants hand with his for reassurance, it appeared that the cheetah was too much in shock, to having heard anything he had just said to them, they were just breathing desperately for more air.

As the sounds of the army personnel getting slaughtered grew more quiet, he allowed himself to linger in his thoughts for a moment, before the inevitable would happen.

Once again, he thought about, what exactly the reason could be for this assassination. But no matter what, he could not think of a specific one.

But well, over his career certainly something must have happened, that involved the others who were, so he assumed by now, dead.

After all, he did not loose one eye, hand, leg and ear for nothing.

Hearing a “click” sound, he focused on the door , which as slowly as it had closed, opened again.

Preparing himself, he focused on it, but not immediately on the waiter who turned out to be a killer, instead of what was behind him.

A battlefield in one room, with motionless bodies of twenty war veterans, the grey concrete floor, soaking in a film of blood that continued to spread, with their guns now useless, soaking in the body liquids of their users.

On the table he could see the Colonel, his mouth wide open, as if in his last moments he was screaming, or in shock, being in disbelieve of what was happening, and that he would pay with his own life, instead of taking one of the many as he did in the past.

There was no sympathy he felt for him, or the other who laid there dead

His focus was shifted again, now to the one who he had suspected for some time now, but did not say anything because, well, he, the general saw no reason to do so.

No longer did he smile or was tense and his eyes were still open, in his left hand he held his gun while in the other he held a bundle of dog tags, that were coated with fresh blood, that continued to drip on the floor. His focus was only on one person now, him.

Yet before a word could be exchanged or another action happen between the two, someone else took the imitative, taking their gun and pointing it at the assailant as they let out a roar.

“No you idiot, don’t!”

Not a single shot was fired at first, too fast in zigzag did the in blood soaked cat move, dropping their besmirched gun on the table, he grabbed the cheetahs arm that held the gun who frantically pulled the trigger, the bullets either way hitting the ceiling, wall, floor or table, but not one of them, sooner than expected by the general, the gun was empty.

Letting go of his arm, instead the cat balled his hands to fists and before the aide-de-camp could react, already had one of them in their stomach, and the other punching him in his face, causing him to fall on the ground.

“Enough! It’s me you want, leave them alone, they are too young...to be your target.”

Looking his words were now directed to his assistant.

“And you, don’t move, or else he will kill you.”

For a moment he felt how there was an expression of concern, and worry on his usually stoic face, seeing the cheetah coiling themselves on the ground, the blows were strong, but, nothing was broken and they would live and be alright.

His focus shifted to the attacker, who like him had his focus now on his opponent.

Placing his hand on his lab, he gave him unmistakably the sign that he would not fight back.

“Before you end me, let me ask one thing, who send you?”

There was a short “heh” coming from the cats mouth, before their lips start to move.

“No one, this is entirely, personal.”

The black-footed cats voice, sounded so calm and collected, and not out of breath or exhausted despite the fact, that he had just killed twenty people, and incapacitated one.

“Then do it for what you have come for, at least, I don’t die in the same room with those other bastards.”

He did expect that the killer would grab his gun now, but instead they approached him, with the in blood painted dog-tags still in his hands.

“Oh believe me, killing a Lieutenant General would certainly be a performance, but you were not there, when my whole existence was taken from me, you were in the field hospital, recovering from your latest injury, and besides I am aiming for a higher target anyway.”

As the cat moved closer, they reached his hands in his directions, grabbing him at his armpits as he was lifted up from his wheelchair.

“However, I require some information, that I believe of all of them, only you can give me.”

The attackers tone shifted and was more serious as their hands squeezed him more firmly.

“Where is your superior?”

More intense got the pressure, and it started to feel uncomfortable.

“Were is the general?”

Now it began to feel painful, but he did not stop pressing against his body.

“Were is Samuel Cottontail!?”

Showing his fangs, the lieutenant general felt the hate the cat must have had for the person he mentioned, however, or perhaps especially because of his own pain, he grinned.

“You want him? He has left the army ages ago, no one knows his current whereabouts.”

His attackers eyes burned as if they were ready to kill a thousand people to get answers, and he knew, that if he was going to talk quickly, this really would be his end now.

“Ho-however there are rumours, that he went to the desert, and there are also some detractors, who say that he joined for some reason the enemy...the Wrath.”

From one moment to another, the fruit bat fell back into his wheelchair letting out a surprised gasp.

“That was all the information I needed.”

He wondered, if he and his assistant were going to die now, that the small attacker has anything he needed, but when he picked up his gun, not looking at him or the cheetah and leaving, he knew, they were going to live.

Groaning came from the floor, as his aide-de-camp slowly stood up again, touching their face and then holding their stomach, fortunately it did not look as if they were seriously injured, besides a few bruises of course.

But, it was exactly his lack of injuries, that caused the cheetah to attempt going after the assistant, trying to grab for his empty gun again.

Raising his hand, he ordered the aide-de-camp to stop.

“Don’t, it’s not worth it...what’s done is done.”

They looked at him in disbelieve, that he wanted them to just, let them go, a person who had just murdered twenty high ranking army personal, but, that’s exactly what he intended, however, the cheetah’s expression changed, and although they were not happy about it, nodded and remained by his side.

“S-so, what are we going to do now General Sir?”

It was clear that the whole mess, had taken its toll on his aide-de-camp, and deep down he felt sorry for what they got roped into. And he was not interested that they would get into any more trouble.

“It’s for the best if we leave. Soon enough the government and the army will catch wind about this, and needing scapegoats will put the blame on the two who survived this mess. Something neither you or I deserve. So we better get out of here and lay low for a while.”

Silently his cheetah assistant began to push his wheelchair, which the lieutenant general did not object to, he was feeling very tired about everything that had happened in a few minutes.

Whatever was going to happens now, it was now on Cottontail.

The fruit bat knew his superior would be up for a very unpleasant surprise.

For the person targeting him, who killed twenty people all by himself, was fuelled by one devotion.

Revenge.