#rather than the same old love triangle pissing match

[lassieposting]

Actually. Also. While I'm SABposting.

The whole "Dark & Dangerous Morally-Questionable Immortal vs Safe But Bland Childhood Friend love triangle? Is boring. It's been done to death in every single YA series ever written.

But. Y'all know what could've been super refreshing and highkey entertaining?

Kirigan and Mal getting along.

Like. Mal is supposed to be a promising young soldier anyway, and when they meet, he's just succeeded in hunting down a folkloric magical creature that nobody has caught in hundreds of years. And then he has the sheer brass balls to withhold said creature's location to try and negotiate with someone who outranks him to an almost inconceivable degree.

This is. Probably not a smart career move, because noblemen are petty and prone to pissing contests, and Kirigan could make Mal's life very unpleasant. But it is brave, and Kirigan has been a soldier long enough to both a) spot untapped potential and b) respect bravery when he sees it.

(It's interesting to me that Mal often forgets to salute/call his superior officers 'sir' in the First Army scenes, but he absolutely remembers his manners with Kirigan. He needs this guy to like him, so he can see his bestie.)

And getting on each other's good side would actually benefit both of them - which Kirigan especially would know - being however many centuries old and with strategy as his fucking job.

On Mal's side - he's kind of languishing in mediocrity because he's an orphan with no contacts to give him a foot in the door to promotion. When he applies to transfer to better units where he'd learn new skills or have more opportunities to distinguish himself in the eyes of his superiors, he's shunted aside and overlooked in favour of someone whose father knows the king, because fatcats all look out for each other. But if he applied for the same transfer with a recommendation from the Black General, his potential new CO would take him far more seriously as an option. He certainly wouldn't suffer for having an affluent, influential man at the top of the military totem pole keeping an interested eye on his career.

On Kirigan's side - having Mal around, even infrequently, will settle Alina and make her feel more at home, and she'll know he pulled strings for Mal to boot. He's been intercepting their letters, because Alina writing all about the daily goings-on in the Little Palace is a fucking security risk, and she's understandably angry with him for it, but if Mal has a reason to come by the Little Palace now and then, to report to him on something or other, she can see him in person and won't need to write letters that could so easily fall into the wrong hands. And - well, at some point, Mal will owe him so much that he'll have to be loyal. Because betraying him would cost Mal everything. He's patient. He can wait.

Except. Mal turns out to be likeable, in the salt-of-the-earth sort of way Kirigan sometimes misses from when he was a serving soldier himself, all those centuries ago, and he is full of fun facts about Alina and amusing (for Kirigan, Alina would say embarrassing) anecdotes about shit she got up to as a child. He's gotten used to the intrigue and the backstabbing and the plotting that goes on at court, but there's none of that with Mal, because the boy is a shit liar and has no guile whatsoever. It's refreshing. And Mal has grown up being schooled about battles that Kirigan fought in or masterminded, and he has Questions that at some point he gets to actually ask, and for a minute while they're conversing Kirigan sort of stops being this terrifying Grisha freak of nature in his mind and is just. Another old soldier, like most of the COs he's ever had, telling war stories, and there's common ground, between them.

And like Alina is aware that they've formed a tentative truce for her sake and she is very pleased that they have, and then one day Aleksander makes a comment about how "the boy isn't a complete imbecile, I suppose" and she starts to think he might even like Mal, in his own prickly way,

And then she walks into a room during a fete and sees them talking, and that's lovely because they both look actually interested in the conversation! And she's smiling at them, right up until Mal starts flapping his elbows around and pulling comically horrified faces and she just knows he's telling Kirigan about the first time she ever rode a horse, when the damn thing spooked and took off with her at top speed and dumped her in the - yes, there he goes, pretending to pick pondweed out of the hair he doesn't have - lake. And Kirigan creases up and almost chokes on a mouthful of wine and saints, he's such a horse girl he'll be bringing this up forever and. Yeah she is going to have to murder the pair of them because she will never hear the end of this otherwise

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #234: The Witch’s Tale!

August, 1983

“Seasons of the Witch!”

If Wanda offers you a free Halloween mask, politely tell her no thanks.

A lot going on in this cover. Because this is one of those issues that summarizes a character’s continuity because wikipedia doesn’t exist yet and back issues aren’t super easy to get. 

Last time: There was an Avengers/Fantastic Four sorta crossover where Annihilus tried to blow up the universe. The primary fallout of that is that Vision walked into a null-field and then collapsed. He’s basically in a robot-coma recovering.

This time: the Avengers bring Vision home in a tube.

It looks like the kind of coffin you shoot into space but it’s not. It’s just a life-support capsule that looks like a space coffin.

Now though it sucks that Vision is in a robot coma, this does mean that he and Wanda are back involved with the book again. We briefly checked in with them during the Trial of Yellowjacket arc.

But we’ve been pretty short of Scarlet Witch and Vision since #211 when they left the team to try to have a go at a regular life. I’ll summarize in brief how that’s been at the appropriate time. Point being, that’s twenty some issues with a very low amount of my second favorite comic couple.

She-Hulk and Thor carry the capsule into the basement of Avengers Mansion because that’s where their medical center is. The basement. Of course. Why wouldn’t you put your medical center in the basement. Best place for it.

Wanda thanks Wasp for inviting her (and Vision) to stay at the Mansion when they could have stayed at the Baxter Building.

Wasp: “Nonsense! That place was left in a mess by Annihilus! Besides, the Avengers take care of their own!”

(Tangentially, the Avengers have always been more of a family to Wanda than anyone else aside from Django and Marya Maximoff who raised her and Pietro. The Avengers are Wanda’s family basically.)

Also, it’s not said anywhere but I feel like probably Reed Richards never did do that procedure that was supposed to help Vision recover more quickly as distracted as he was by Franklin’s injuries.

While Wanda hovers (metaphorically) around Vision’s tube, Wasp reflects on how hard this is hitting her.

Wasp: “She and the Vision were such a strange match, but they’ve been so devoted to each other their marriage worked -- !”

Oof, that bold hurts, Jan.

Wanda asks for some time alone with her husband so the Avengers leave the basement level medical center, all thinking thoughts as often happens.

Wasp feels guilty because she’s the one that called Wanda and Vision into action but justifies that they were needed. Even though they didn’t really accomplish much.... Kinda makes it worse.

Captain America asks Thor off to have a private chat.

Captain Marvel laments that they couldn’t destroy the field before Vision was injured. And Starfox muses about the sensitivity he senses from Captain Marvel.

Kinda wondering if Stern is trying to set up a love triangle between Starfox, Captain Marvel, and She-Hulk.

Speaking of She-Hulk.

She-Hulk: Any of us could’ve wound up in a tube... or on a slab. But that’s the risk we have to take!

A very typically She-Hulk of this era kind of thought. She’s very direct.

Wasp calls a rain-check on apartment hunting. Which is what she and She-Hulk were doing before the whole invisible dome thing.

And She-Hulk finds other ways to occupy her time.

She-Hulk: “Hey, Starfox! You have any plans for tonight?”

Starfox: “Well, I’d considered checking out the local sights, but if you have a better offer -- !”

She-Hulk: “Spaceman, I can show you some things you won’t believe!”

She’s very direct.

Over at Captain America and Thor’s private conversation, Captain America catches Thor up on the happenings re: Iron Man, i.e. Tony Stark.

Cap(tain America): “It’s Iron Man, Thor... the Wasp and I paid him a visit to find out why he’d resigned from the Avengers. I... don’t quite know how to say this, but... Tony Stark hasn’t just left the Avengers! He’s given up his identity as Iron Man... turned his armor over to another man!”

Thor: “Eh? ‘Tis most passing strange!”

Cap: “That’s not the only thing that’s ‘most passing strange!’ When we talked to him, Stark was so drunk, I’m surprised he was able to stand up! And when I suggested that he’d had too much to drink, he ordered Jan and me out of his apartment!”

Turns out that off-panel at some point, Tony confided his problems with alcoholism to Thor.

Another example of the close relationship that Thor and Iron Man used to have and lamentably don’t seem to have anymore.

Cap even says that Thor has known Tony longer than the rest of the Avengers. While Wasp has been on the team just as long as Thor has, yeah, Thor has known the man in Iron Man longer.

So Cap asks Thor to try to talk to Tony because maybe he could get through to him.

Thor: “I could try, Captain! But if he rejected your advice, while under the influence, I fear for my ability to do better!”

Cap: “What about your mortal identity? Maybe if you approached him as Dr. Don Blake... man to man...”

Thor: “Mayhap. I shall give this thought.”

Thor then hammer-whirl flies off, leaving Cap to think about whether there’s anything additional that he could do, maybe in Iron Man #172, which was on sale at the same time.

Since this issue is otherwise going to be a lot of recapping Scarlet Witch’s entire life, why not pop into another book briefly for some additional content?

I’m the boss and I’ll allow it.

So over in Iron Man in general and issue #172 specifically, Tony Stark is on hard times. We know about the alcoholism and Rhodey taking over as Iron Man. But a man called Obadiah Stane is also attempting an incredibly hostile takeover of Stark International. He’s bought up all the company’s debt (and it has a lot), he has a bunch of civil suits pending against the company, and he’s secretly been the architect behind Tony Stark’s imploding life. That and Tony himself. Takes two to implode.

The last hope Stark Int. has is a writ that will force Stane to back off for a week or two. It’s not a lot but it’ll be some breathing room. Only problem is that it needs Tony Stark’s notarized signature before 5 PM and they kinda lost track of him after he broke into a museum to put on some knight armor and had to be bailed out of jail.

Rhodey decides to call Captain America for help and that’s how we get the asterisk indicating that you should check out Iron Man #172.

Cap does find Tony but unfortunately, Tony slips away in the confusion when an old Iron Man foe called Firebrand (unfortunately not a gargoyle) sets the hotel on fire because he’s just incredibly pissed off at the idea of Tony Stark.

Cap’s less-nice confrontation with Tony about his drinking is decent drama (but possibly not the right tactic to take) though so have some of that.

Anyway. Back to Avengers.

Meanwhile, over on Long Island and at the Cross Technological Enterprises building, industrial espionage gets aggressive as some men in jumpsuits and balaclavas climb the building to sneak in.

One of them is worried because that Avenger guy Hawkeye is in charge of security but the boss is like pssh Hawkeye is a chump with a broken leg.

Then Hawkeye arrives on a hover scooter because insulting Hawkeye probably just summons him to prove you wrong. He has that kind of contrarian energy at times.

He shoots all of their guns out of their hands and pins them to the wall with arrows all before they can really do anything.

His leg may be broken but his arms aren’t. And those are the limbs that do archery.

Sure, his style is slightly harshed by having only one swashbuckler boot on but that still doesn’t stop him from shooting arrows.

A woman and a photographer show up instantly to take pictures of Hawkeye’s cool victory. Apparently the woman is Sheila Danning and she says that she’s in charge of PR for Cross Technological Enterprises.

People showing up to take pictures of how cool he is makes Hawkeye feel very appreciated so he happily poses for some pictures with the captured intruders.

I feel like this is going to end up related to the Hawkeye solo miniseries that’s published around this time. The events of the miniseries cost Hawkeye his hearing but gain him a wife. So we’ll call it a net positive for Clint.

I’ll possibly summarize the relevant parts of the series when it becomes relevant to Avengers, which I’m sure it will.

Several hours later, back over at Avengers Mansion, She-Hulk wakes up after a night with Starfox.

So let’s discuss a thing.

In a later She-Hulk series, the moral iffyness of Starfox’s ability to shoot pleasure at people’s brains and make them become infatuated with him is explored. In a legal sense. As in, Starfox gets put on trial for sexual assault and accused of using his powers to seduce people.

The question is raised whether he had ever used his powers to seduce She-Hulk in regards to them getting together like this in Avengers. And when he won’t give her a straight answer, she beats the shit out of him.

Eventually, the case goes all the way up to the Living Tribunal, the cosmic judge of all realities because of course there’s one of those, and a mind probe proves that Starfox did not use his abilities to influence She-Hulk’s decision to have sex with him.

They’re both just horny people.

Anyway, Starfox and She-Hulk get on first name non-codename basis with each other. Then Starfox takes off to go explore New York, but he and She-Hulk do make plans to get together again in the evening.

She-Hulk’s post-implied-coitus giddiness is rained on when she learns that Wanda hasn’t slept at all and has spent the whole night at Vision’s side.

So now its time for She-Hulk brand very direct friendship.

She tells Jarvis to go make breakfast and she’ll deal with Wanda.

As we saw in and about the Trial of Yellowjacket, She-Hulk doesn’t really beat around the bush.

So when Wanda says she’d rather stay at Vision’s side rather than get breakfast, She-Hulk grabs her and tries to physically drag her towards self-care.

She-Hulk: “Look, watching your hubby won’t make him get well any faster. You’re coming with me! You’ll feel a lot better with a little breakfast in you!”

It doesn’t go over well.

Wanda blasts She-Hulk away and now Jen and Wanda are angry at each other and Wasp arrived just in time to play baffled mediator.

She-Hulk: “I hope you have a good dentist, Red!”

Wasp: “Jennifer!”

She-Hulk: “She started it, Wasp! I was just showing her some hospitality, and she sent me flying with her crummy hex bolts!”

Scarlet Witch: “What?! You physically pull me from my husband’s side, and you call that hospitality?!?”

Wasp: “Girls, girls! We’re all friends here! I know how upset you must be, Wanda, but you mustn't let worry get the better of you! I think we all need a spot of breakfast! Please join me, Wanda. The She-Hulk will relieve you at watching over the Vision... we all will!”

She-Hulk: “That’s what I was trying to tell her!”

Jen’s heart was in the right place but she lacks much in the way of tact?

Anyway, Wasp and Wanda set up in the library and Jarvis brings breakfast pastries to them, though Wanda refuses any.

Free breakfast aggros Captain Marvel and now she’s here too. That and She-Hulk trying to make up through a proxy.

Captain Marvel: “A little bird told me that you were serving your continental special, and I just couldn’t stay away!”

Wasp: “A little bird, C.M.?”

Captain Marvel, whispering: “Well, a big bird! She-Hulk radioed me that the Scarlet Witch was still a little down, and suggested that I might be of help, cheering her up!”

You have a good heart, Jen-Hulk.

Also, Monica just beams right in through the library window as a sunbeam before forming back into her human shape. And that’s delightful. But would be startling. Jarvis is startled. He’s seen it all but all keeps expanding.

Monica and Wanda briefly bond over both speaking French when Monica praises that Jarvis’ pastries rival the best of the French Quarter. Jan is a bit lost because she doesn’t know any French but Monica and Wanda were just very excited because they don’t get to French very often. The language.

AND with the ice broken, Monica smoothly shifts topics over to asking Wanda about herself.

Captain Marvel: “You know, there’s so much I’d like to ask you. I’ve read all about you in the files, of course -- but they’re so impersonal. You’ve led such a fascinating life.”

Scarlet Witch: “Fascinating? I suppose... but I was too young to appreciate some of the more fantastic moments.”

AND THEN WANDA LEGIT, NO FURTHER PROMPTING, STARTS NARRATING HER WHOLE LIFE STARTING FROM BIRTH.

DAMN WANDA, exposition under pressure?

So Wanda tells Monica about how she was born in WUNDAGORE, a Balkan mountain in Transia with a super-advanced city built on it. The High Evolutionary was making furries for reasons which escape me but it explains why a cow-woman answered the door when Magda, supposedly Wanda’s mom although that has changed, came knocking on the door.

She was double pregnant and on the run from a husband who had developed terrible problems and an attitude problem.

The cow-woman Bova, invited Magda into the city and helped deliver her children Pietro and Wanda. And then Magda walked off into the snow to die, pulling a Padme-on-purpose-but-years-ahead-of-time by dying just after having twins.

Her thought process was that Mystery Husband would come looking for her but if he found her frozen in the snow, he wouldn’t find out that she’d had children? I dunno, this logic is a bit spurious.

I’m glad that Wanda’s current in the year 2021 real mom isn’t someone who walked off into the snow to die because it seemed like a good idea.

Showing what an awful idea this was, Magda left Wanda and Pietro in the care of Bova who had no idea what to do with two babies. So she took the matter to the High Evolutionary who also didn’t want to deal with it and decided to dump the babies on a childless Roma couple.

High Evolutionary: ‘DOES ANYBODY WANT SOME BABIES?’

Except the comic doesn’t say Roma, they say the g-slur. I don’t think Marvel ever stops doing that. Its a weird case where the portrayal is overall sympathetic but tinged with stereotypes and using a slur.

Shape up, Marvel.

I also notice that Wanda’s recap leaves out Fake Dad Robert Frank, the Whizzer.

The first time Wanda’s parentage was Totally Revealed For Real, it was revealed that not only Magda but Robert and Madeline Joyce Frank were hanging around Wundagore waiting to give birth.

I’ve already been into it before but originally it was just the Franks kids but the Whizzer whizzed off in grief when he learned his wife died in childbirth. Then when someone got it into their head to retcon otherwise, Magda was at Wundagore and gave birth to twins and then the High Evolutionary had Bova try to give the kids to Robert but he ran off in his grief so shrugged and passed them off to Django and Marya Maximoff AKA the real parents even if not biological.

To editorialize, the Maximoffs actually raised Wanda and Pietro so no matter what, I’ll always consider them the twins’ real parents.

Anyway, the Franks aren’t part of this retelling. Which is funny because for a while Wanda thought the Whizzer was their dad and treated him like one and now she’s dumped him like raw meat for ease of retelling. Tsk tsk.

So, Wanda and Pietro lived a good life and “better parents could hardly have been found.” Then when adolescence happened, Pietro suddenly could run really fast and Wanda “discovered that strange, unpredictable things would happen if I was in a certain frame of mind and gestured in a particular way.”

That’s a pretty specific mutant power. And she relates that she kept causing accidents by gesturing in the particular way while in a certain frame of mind, it’s like, Wanda, don’t gesture that way? Get mittens or tie your fingers together. Its not hard.

Your powers are so specific!

Stereotypes happen and an angry mob burns down the Maximoffs’ camp.

Pietro ran Wanda to safety and the shock was so great that they got AMNESIA.

Marya, I think, died but Django survived and went a little mad with grief, assuming he lost his wife and kids.

For a couple years, Wanda and Pietro just kicked it around Eastern Europe, Pietro using his superspeed to catch game. Things were going okay but not great up until the time that Wanda wandered into a village and made the fuck-things-up gesture and whoops fucked things up.

I’m telling you, Wanda, mittens.

Anyway, she set a house on fire, WITH HER MIND, and now there’s an angry mob after her assuming that she’s a witch.

As sometimes happens in Marvel Eastern Europe.

The mob chased Wanda to camp where Pietro lost his shit and superspeed tried to beat up a mob but wound up getting pinned down and beaten.

Then Magneto showed up and yanked all the crude farming implements away and told the mob to gtfo.

Magneto: “Come no further, homo sapiens! The two whom you attack are under the protection of Magneto!”

An idiot: “With power such as his, he can only be Satan himself!”

An idiot who has the right idea: “Run! Run for your lives!”

Wanda thanks Magneto for the save and he demands “Let neither of you ever forget what you owe me... ever!”

Cool. Cool cool cool.

Wanda: “He took us in... fed and clothed us... but never did he show us any human kindness. We were supposed to be above that, he said... we were mutants, and under his tutelage, we became Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch!”

What a dick.

Anyway, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were forced to join Magneto and his other agents Toad and Mastermind.

Magneto’s Brotherhood clashed with the X-Men multiple times. And then the Stranger just sorta yoinked Magneto into space.

Early X-Men is a bafflement to me.

Wanda: “Our debt had been repaid to Magneto many times over. We were beholden to him no longer... We were free. And... we were alone. We had just begun to realize the potential of our mutant powers, but we did not know how best to use them. Cut off from Magneto’s cruel exploitation, we didn’t know what to do. I don’t know what would have become of us, had we not been accepted as Avengers! The Avengers gave purpose to our lives, gave us something to be part of.”

Anyway, being on the Avengers meant dangers and foes to fight but it also meant allies, friends, and ROBOT BOYFRIENDS.

Wanda: “Were it not for the Avengers, I might never have met the Vision! He was the product of a laboratory -- and many thought him to be inhumanely cold -- but I grew to love the warm, feeling inner man.”

Of course, if you tell Vision he has feelings he gets mad and insists NUH UH.

And dating Vision pissed off Quicksilver who basically disowned Wanda for a while.

But who gives a fuck what Pietro says, Wanda also learned WITCHCRAFT and (although not explicitly mentioned) how to summon METEORS TO SMASH HER FOES.

And she got married in a double ceremony where the other bride married a tree! That tree part doesn’t get mentioned.

After this, Wanda and Vision went on a short honeymoon but found that the hashtag Avengers life kept them so busy that they didn’t have a lot of time to themselves.

Then Real Dad Django Maximoff showed up and Wanda and Pietro went with him to Transia to learn their backstory.

Annnnnd Wanda got possessed by Chthon. Won’t be the first time ha ha.

Thankfully, the Avengers managed to do a care bear stare to unpossess her. Oh, and Django died. A misstep if you ask me. There was too much character potential to just kill him off after one arc.

Alas, alas.

Anyway, the recap skips over a whole bunch of stuff and doesn’t mention Moondragon’s role but we get to the point where Wanda and Vision quit the Avengers.

Wanda: “When the Vision and I were finally reunited, our thoughts began to turn inward. Our life with the Avengers was fulfilling, but apart from our careers, we had no real private life of our own. Would society accept us on our own, away from Avengers Mansion? We didn’t know -- but we had to at least try to find out. Taking our accrued Avengers salaries, we bought a modest little home in Leonia, New Jersey.”

So a brief recap of their adventures in the first Vision and Scarlet Witch miniseries.

In the first issue, Captain America’s Halloween housewarming gift of a cursed book winds up being cursed and contains Samhain. When Wanda didn’t immediately free him, he got angry and turned some trick or treaters into monster versions of their costumes to attack Vision while Samhain attacked Wanda. She manages to set the cursed tome on fire, ending Samhain’s power. FOR NOW. Then Not-Actually-Their-Father-But-Doesn’t-Know-It-Yet the Whizzer shows up.

In issue two, the Whizzer is looking for Wanda’s help in regaining custody of his son Nuklo the Nuclear Man. With their help, Whizzer manages to get the court to agree to release Nuklo to his custody. But the lead doctor managing Nuklo is secretly ISBISA! ... Y’know, the Whizzer’s old foe from his All-Winner’s Squad days? No? Okay, well he also masterminded the nuclear ‘accident’ that led to Nuklo’s birth in the first place. And now he’s back to finish the job with radiation siphoned from Nuklo. In anger at Wanda being drawn into Golden Age drama, Vision reveals that Wanda isn’t the Whizzer’s kid but it little matters because Whizzer has a massive heart attack and dies. Nuklo helps defeat Isbisa and both of them are drained of atomic power leaving them human. Oh and Vision’s arm gets melted off. That’s kinda important.

In issue three, Vision is in a robot coma and he needs an energy donation from Wonder Man, his brain brother, to recover. Comic books! Vision has a meaning laden coma dream where Ultron screams at him a lot. Grim Reaper attacks and tries to kill Vision and Wonder Man while they’re incapacitated because he has one character beat and its that. But Vision manages to subdue him.

In issue four, is the pertinent one for this issue.

I’m going to say, I think the second Vision and Scarlet Witch series is better. This was a series of loosely related mishaps. The second volume does more with Vision and Scarlet Witch living in suburbia as a concept.

Anyway, in the fourth issue and in this Avengers recap of Wanda’s entire life, after Vision lost his arm, he and Wanda went up to Attilan to get it replaced. Because the Inhumans can casually just build him a new arm that works with his powers.

And people say the Inhumans aren’t good for anything.

While on the moon, Wanda and Vision decide to visit with Pietro and Crystal and their new daughter Luna. Pietro was even not a dick to Vision. It was a nice moment until Magneto barged in and started a fight by insisting he wasn’t here to fight while trapping everyone inside the building. Also, he threatened Bova to get information on who his kids were and frankly, that’s unforgivable. Bova is an angel. A cow angel.

They fight fight fight and then the fight is ended when Luna cries and Magneto realizes he’s doing a big superhero/supervillain fight in the same room as a fragile child and realizes ‘wow maybe i’m the dick here.’

Now the Vision and Scarlet Witch series ends with the internal-reveal that MAGNETO is the father (for now) of Wanda and Pietro. Magneto asking them to accept him as such. And on a confused moment of ‘shit what now.’

The Avengers issue picks up on that and finishes out the scene.

While Wanda is too stunned to know what to say, Pietro has some choice words.

He snatches his daughter away from Magneto and tells him fuck off, you’re no father to me.

Magneto’s argument is ‘hey genetics is the only thing that matters you’re my son like it or not.’

Pietro’s counter argument is ‘nuh uh’ and that Django Maximoff is the only man he calls father. And Wanda agrees.

Its good to see some Django respect.

Magneto tells them they’ll see the error of their ways and flies off.

Which is the wrong tack to take to prove that you’ve changed and are ready to get some good dadding in and won’t kill your granddaughter for being a human.

He’s super bad at this.

After that, Wanda and Vision went home to New Jersey and just stayed at home for a while, Wanda was so horrified by the reveal.

Wanda: “Even now, I can hardly begin to express the horror, the shame! It’s as if I suddenly discovered Hitler lurking in my family tree! Part of me wishes that he is really sincere about tempering his hatred for non-mutant humans. But even if he was telling the truth, that can never excuse his past crimes... Nothing can!”

Its really surprising how ready people are in-universe to compare Magneto to Hitler. From Wanda to Cap to Xorn.

Wasp: “Wanda... you mustn’t torture yourself this way! Magneto has no claim on you, and you’re certainly not responsible for him! I know it must be tough, but you can’t let him ruin the rest of your life!”

These are helpful things to tell Wanda to calm her down.

Less helpful is when Wasp speculates that hey maybe it was okay not to believe Magneto when he said he’s changed because maybe he’ll become worse! Maybe his newfound tolerance of humanity will lead him to try to save humanity from itself rather than wipe it out. In reference to how Moondragon tried to do that on that planet we never heard from again.

Wanda: “Heaven help us, if such a thought occurs to Magneto!”

I’m pretty sure he’s going to be too busy in the near future trying to be teacher to the most death-prone idiots this side of Westchester. And then after that when he decides to be evil again, he’s going to do some nonsense with Asteroid M. But I don’t think he ever hits the ‘save humanity from itself’ point.

Anyway.

Wasp and Captain Marvel reassure Wanda that if Magneto Strikes Again the Avengers will be with her!

The following day, Wanda returns to Leonia, New Jersey to put together a suitcase of stuff since she’s going to be staying at Avengers Mansion for a while.

Wanda: “Jan was nice enough to offer me a few of her things, but they’re all too small for my figure. And that robe the She-Hulk lent me last night fit like a tent!”

Wasp and Scarlet Witch usually look the same size and shape but that’s important canon body shape information for someone, I guess. If they wanted to draw Avengers But Not All The Same Paper Dolls character designs.

Anyway, the issue really ends with Dr Strange showing up to pull Wanda into a crossover with his own book in Doctor Strange #60.

Ergh. This era sure has a lot of stuff going off on the sides.

I’ll synopsize Scarlet Witch’s time in Doctor Strange’s book if it becomes necessary but I’ve already looked at five non-Avengers issue for this post and am probably going to have to cover the Hawkeye series in brief too when it intersects with Avengers.

Follow @essential-avengers​ for grudging contextualization of everything that’s happening in Avengers, when I feel like it. Like and reblog if you liked.

[aknightonthetown]

NJPW Guide (Part 5): Bullet Club Part 1 - History

Bullet Club, unlike most other groups in New Japan, has a storied history of leaders, betrayal, new leaders, new betrayal, and general evolution of the group. This means that, looking at the group today, it is kind of important to explain what came before and why the group changed.

The Prince Era

Bullet Club was founded by Prince Devitt, better known today as Finn Balor in WWE, who founded the group due to turning heel after a match where he failed to beat Tanahashi. Originally the group was 4 foreign wrestlers (Devitt, Bad Luck Fale, Karl Anderson, & Tama Tonga) who banded together due to a desire to win by any means necessary. After expanding the group so they were able to compete for basically any title, Devitt started a rivalry with his former partner Ryusuke Taguchi. During a match with him he ordered that nobody from BC was allowed to interfere. The Young Bucks came out and broke that rule and Devitt got into an argument with them due to this. After attacking the Bucks for turning their back on him and shaking hands with Taguchi after the match, Devitt left Bullet Club and NJPW.

The Phenomenal Era

Later on in the same show where Devitt left AJ Styles debuted by attacking the IWGP Heavyweight Champ Kazuchika Okada, revealing afterwards that he was wearing a Bullet Club shirt. This era is viewed as having 2 leaders, Styles and Karl Anderson, co-leading the group. Under this leadership Bullet Club won the IWGP Heavyweight title for the first time, AJ Styles won it from Okada, and winning every title there was to win in New Japan at the time. The group also further expanded with the most notable new member being Kenny Omega, who was added to replace Devitt as the Junior Heavyweight challenger of the group. This era would come to an end when, after a fairly unsuccessful Wrestle Kingdom 10 where AJ Styles failed to beat Shinsuke Nakamura, Omega beat Nakamura in a tag match where he was partnered with Styles. After the match Omega beat up Styles and, along with the Young Bucks, managed to convince everyone else to kick Styles out. In a post match promo Omega announced he was becoming a Heavyweight, he and The Young Bucks were now officially “The Elite” within Bullet Club, and that Bullet Club would rule the world.

The Elite Era

During this era Bullet Club was that Bullet Club largely became Face. They lowered the amount of interference in matches, The Elite doing more comedy and wackiness in matches, and in general trying to become more likeable. During this Era Kenny Omega also went on to win the G1, being the first time a Non-Japanese wrestler has won it, and having a series of long as hell but generally thought of as amazing matches with Kazuchika Okada. However not everything was great while Kenny was in charge. The original Bone Soldier joined the group. And also Tensions were starting to get massively high. Between Cody joining and being much more of a bastard than Kenny was comfortable with & a lot of the original members of the Bullet Club getting pissed off at The Elite for making BC all about them. This led too...

The Civil War

Originally this Era was all about Cody VS Kenny in a war between two Elite members for control, that also had heavy tones of a bisexual love triangle between Cody, Kenny, and Kota Ibushi. However that rapidly fell by the wayside due to BCOG. Bullet Club OG was a group that formed in response to The Elite’s dominance. Headed up by The Tongans(Generally every Tongan member of BC but more specifically Bad Luck Fale and Tama Tonga) the group wanted a return to the bastards of old, rather than the good guys they seemingly were. Then at King of Pro Wrestling 2018 Jay White attacked Tanahashi, his seeming Stablemate Okada came out to try and bring some order to it. However BCOG came out as well and everyone proceeded to beat up Okada, making it clear White joined the OG’s. This led to him being the new leader of the group and, with The Elite dropping Bullet Club and then leaving NJPW alltogether, led to Jay White being the new leader of Bullet Club.

The Switchblade Era

Now Bullet Club is more united that it has been in years, with Jay White as the head with Tama Tonga being, similar to Karl Anderson years ago, being a slightly lower member of the card as Co-Leader. With some new members being added and the group returning to the attacks and disrespect of old, Bullet Club has become the main villanous group in New Japan once again. And now it seems they are all set on all-out war with their face aligned competitors, with various members fueding with various Chaos and LIJ members. Time will tell how this pans out for the group but one thing is certain. It is Bullet Club 4 Life.

Sorry if that was real dumb in places, it is hard to do a history without just regurgitating information. Also this got out far quicker than I was expecting so I fully forsee there to have been some important fact I missed. Next Part will be the actual members of Bullet Club, so expect that to take a fair bit cause there are A LOT. If you have any questions/corrections/comments feel free to send them to me.

[polar-stars]

2nd out of 5 parts of an ask by @smokeprincess24

Mika Aldini

👹 How does you OC act around different people and how does their personality change to match the environment they’re in? How do they act with: friends, family, strangers, children or their lover(s)?

Mika has some hesitance in exposing her soft, romantic side to others and is prone to deny it. She only lets people she truly trusts have insight into some of her rosy fantasies. Her mom is the one who she’s most comfortable talking about such things. 

Other than that, there’s not much of her behavior that differs depending on who she’s talking about it. 

🍅 How easily is your OC embarassed? What subjects make them flush and why? What event has made your OC the most embarassed they’ve ever been?

Mika is VERY easily embarrassed. Wether it’s about her being too obvious about her crush on Hiraku and it being pointed out, or her father’s way too open display of his love and affection for his only child…there’s a lot that can make Mika flush. 

💥 Are there any emotions your OC doesn’t know how to deal with, doesn’t understand or hates having to feel? Any reason behind this?

Actual heartbreak is something she’ll greatly struggle with. She has not quite suffered from one yet but has only seen it in works of fiction. Mika always knew in the back of her mind that its something that happens, however she won’t be prepared for just how deeply it can hurt. Given that she always sort-off idolized romance and only ever looks at the pretty parts of it, it’s definitely something that’ll make her feel very miserable.

She’s generally rather inexperienced with feeling plain vulnerable to begin with. Another emotion she’ll struggle with (rather soon) is guilt. 

🏀 Does your OC have any skills that people wouldn’t expect them to have? Do they have a hobby or pass time that others would consider strange or weird? How did they learn this particular skill or pick up this hobby?

Mika knows both how to ski and snowboard! People know that she’s rather sporty but the fact that she possesses these skills is a little surprising to some because many find it hard to picture the sun-loving, fiery Mika in snow to begin with ahdhd. 

Well, she’s not an all too big fan of winter and when she does end up in a snowy area during the cold months she does believe that doing sport is just the best way to deal with it. 

⭐ Does your OC like to sleep alone or do they enjoy sharing their bed? Have they been to any sleepovers? Have they ever been camping? What did they think of the experiences if so?

Mika has not much experience sharing a bed yet. It’s something she imagines as very comforting and lovely though and she wishes to experience it someday with someone she loves.  

🍏 When your OC says “I had a bad day” what does that tend to mean? Is it really as bad as they’re saying or are they being a bit dramatic?

Mika, much like Chieko, has a leaning to be overdramatic at times. So a „bad day“ from Mika-understanding is most likely a string of some annoying and frustrating events, but something she’ll most likely be over with the next day. 

🐉 How religious is your OC? Do they pray to any god(s) or do they not believe in that kind of stuff? What is their view of religion in general? Where do they believe people go when they die? If your OC is not religious why not and what do they believe in otherwise?

Mika is Christian and she’s registered in the Catholic Church, but later in life actually finds herself leaning more towards Protestantism. 

She does believe in God and visits Church to important occasions like Christmas, Easter and so on but she does not go there every Sunday. 

💧 What is something from your OC’s past they’re the most ashamed of and why? What is something they’re really proud of? And lastly what is something in their past that could make them shake with dread?

She’s mainly embarrassed by some of her more intensive outbursts over more trivial things but what she’ll truly look back upon in shame will come later on. 

What she’s so far the most proudest of is the time when she cooked for the Trattoria-Aldini-Branch in Rome and the practicum Takumi arranged her in Mizuhara’s “Ristorante F” after her graduation from middle school, as preparation for her Stagiares. 

🐟 What was your OC like as a baby? What were they like as a child? A teenager? An adult? How do you think they’ll develop ten years into their future? Twenty years? Will they live to old age?

Mika, as baby, was pretty loud and demanding. She began crawling relatively early and began crying and screaming the moment she wanted something. She certainly kept her parents of her feet.

Mika was a happy, adventure-loving child who certainly enjoyed to be outside a lot. She learned swimming at an early age and her love for dancing showed as soon as she could walk, honestly. She had always been a little feisty but to her family she’d also expose a love for plushies and Disney princesses.

As a teen, she’d become a confident and bold individual who’s tired of being the sole young chef of Tuscany and out to find a worthy rival. Mika certainly lives for the thrill of the challenges of Totsuki and practically embraces the competitive atmosphere. At the same time, her love for Disney movies involving princesses has ultimately developed in a deep fascination with all things romance and a strong longing to experience it herself.

As an adult Mika will have grown in experience regarding romance and does see everything a little less through rosy lens. She’ll remain a strong individual in her adulthood, who knows what she wants and how to step up against anyone who decides to be an obstacle. She’ll be a little calmer though and have her temper under a bit better control. 

🍇 Does your OC have any bad habits? Does your OC have any addictions like smoking or drinking? How did they fall into these habits and why? 

At times she does loose her temper a bit too quickly and it’s not always necessary to yell right away. She also tends to procrastinate when it comes to studying tings unrelated to cooking.

She drinks on parties and she does have a little tendency to party a lil’ harder than necessary sometimes. 

🔮What does your OC think is their best trait. What is actually their best trait? What about their flaws? Are they one to admit these flaws or do they like to pretend they’re perfect?

Mika thinks her best trait is her courage and I’d agree with her on that! 

A major flaw of her’s is that she can be a little bit inattentive to the people around her at times. She’s very unaware of this though. 

🌸 What’s a sentence that would make your OC’s day better? One that would make them laugh? One that would make their day worse? Why? What words would you have to say to them to completely ruin their day?

“Yukihira Hiraku is about to have a Shokugeki!” is a sentence that always puts her mood up. She loves watching Hiraku’s Shokugekis! She gets to see the person she admires in action and it’s also just a great experience overall as his matches are certainly thrilling, captivating and the rest of the audience is very into it as well.

A sentence that could ruin her day is anything that suggests something bad happened to Hiroshi. She’ll either end up pissed off at whoever might hurted him or worried for the rest of the day. 

🌷 How much effort does your OC put into their looks? Do they care much about how they’re dressed or what their hair looks like or are they not bothered? Could they be considered a snob or a slob?

She has a pretty well-developed fashion sense and does take her fine time choosing her outfits, no matter the occasion (unless it’s a school day because y’know then she knows what to put on: the uniform). She also takes good care of her skin, possesses some make-up skill and takes VERY LONG to shower. It’s all things she honestly just picked up from her parents mostly. 

❤️ What inspired you to make this OC? How long have you had them? How have they changed in the time you’ve been developing them?

Mika is one of the oldest Fanchilds of mine. She’s the fifth to ever be created, I think. She was created on that faithful night in 2016 where I decided to create more fankids after I had designed Chieko a few days or so earlier and took my drawing-tools to bed to sketch and color them ahdhd. Takumi/Ikumi is one of my first ships in the series as well and, back then, I didn’t saw much else option for either of them...so my decision to let them have a child was pretty automatic.

Mika did not change all too much over the years, really. What mostly got added recently is her frustrating love-triangle situation and also her story was just ironed out more over the years ahdhd but character-wise she remained more or less the same. Takumi and Ikumi honestly share a lot of the same character traits in the end and I think that’s a reason for that. 

🧡 What traits of your own do you see in this OC? Are they a little bit self-inserty? Don’t be shy, we all put parts of ourselves into the creations we love!

Hm, I don’t think I have all too much in common with Mika. She’s very brave and challenge-enthusiastic and I’m....one of the greatest cowards you’ll ever meet being frank. 

What we do share I guess is a strong love for the sea. Also, I do enjoy dancing (although I am not anywhere near the level she is) And I mean, she cooks Italian which is one of my favourite cuisines...but there’s really not much she takes after me ahdhd. She has much more in common with my mom than me being real. 

💚 Are you writing anything with this OC or planning on writing anything for them? Do you rp with them or are they just for fun to mess around with?

I have a few ideas but I don’t know if I’ll get to it soon.

💗 Ramble a bit about this character!

Mika, Mika, our beautiful helpless romantic Mika. Did I mention already how greatly her love-situation frustrates me? I really want her, the romance fanatic, to get happy with someone but ahhh who?? She’s also one of my first OCs and actually pretty dear to me and ahhh, WHY?!

But meep, aside from that and my whining about a situation I drove myself into; Mika is honestly really fun to write and I love the trio she’ll have going on with Kimiko & Hiroshi. It mirrors the classic Sōma/Megumi/Takumi-Trio in certain ways but it won’t be an exact rehash either so ahh. I’ll just enjoy writing this I think. 

[lokgifsandmusings]

Definitive Ranking of Book 1 Episodes, #11/12

11. 1x05 “The Spirit of Competition”

So much probending. So much love quadrilateral.

Need I say more?

I’m back in a totally timely fashion (*coughs*) with the next definitive ranking of Book 1.

Now, I started out this list by explaining my frustration with “Endgame,” and how the biggest issues of the first season are that aside from setting up something ~cool~, there was really no follow-through from the perspective of the plot, or Korra’s development. Bryke seemed wholly unaware of what they were trying to say, and ended up with a season that stood for nothing.

With that in mind, it would seem logical that episodes such as “Turning the Tide” or “Skeletons in the Closet,” where the main plotline quite obviously began to lose its way, would be right at the bottom the list next to “Endgame.” But “Spirit of Competition” is just a special mid-season clunker. The Equalist plotline doesn’t even exist here, and it’s also probably solely responsible for every single complaint about probending since we get THREE matches, none of which are particularly meaningful.

Oh hey, Bolin feels good about himself, so he does well!

The focus is, instead, on the love quadrilateral. Sure, one of the points of this polygon is more or less missing the whole episode, but Asami’s viewpoint being dismissed as a mild inconvenience is kind of the theme of the season.

Look, I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I found Makorra wholly uncompelling from the start. In “The Revelation” I guess I saw some potential because they actually like, interacted and their differing backgrounds came up? Sort of? But the biggest reason why their scripting left me drier than a desert was that it never seemed much deeper than “you’re hot and I want on you,” largely because of episodes like this where their interactions focused on ~~feelings~~ without Bryke realizing they never established them.

And it’s not like I think giving Korra a romantic subplot was necessarily a bad idea. Girl grew up completely isolated, and there’s actually a lot to be explored as to how that might manifest with her navigating the social space for the first time, particularly with  people her own age. I just don’t really see why this is how they went about scripting it. I mean, this episode was coming hot on the heels of “The Voice in the Night,” which not only moved the plot pretty significantly, but it put Korra’s bravado and insecurities front and center. Her interaction with Amon made the stakes feel more personal, especially the way he was so clearly toying with her, and how he promised that her time would come eventually. She finally allowed herself the space to feel scared.

So why not follow it up with...a team huddle of sexual tension? 23 solid minutes of Korra trying to figure out what to do about the boy she liked? You could pretend this was her compartmentalizing and purposely not dealing with things, except that’s not really in evidence at all. Like, I don’t even think Amon is referenced. It’s okay; it’s not like he JUST HAD HER CHAINED UP.

Instead, what’s *really* important is the probending. Clearly. Now, Griffin has tried to defend probending to me a number of times. And I grudgingly understand it as a framing device for Korra’s airbending progress in Episode 2 (as heavy-handed as that was), as well as showing her learning to work with others. You can argue that’s exactly what this episode did, but really, I just don’t see the *entire* episode devoted to it as being justified.

Not to mention, this was more just showing us that pissing people off doesn’t make for the group dynamics, which...yeah? We didn’t need Korra and Mako not communicating in a probending match to understand that Korra and Mako were having trouble communicating.

Oh Jonny...

It was all very basic cause-and-effect, and combined it just seemed as though Bryke had time they wanted to burn. Except then “Endgame” was rushed and sloppy, so that’s a hard case to make. Still, recapping:

They play well in their first match

Korra asks out Mako and it’s awkward, so she goes on a date with Bolin

Mako yells at Korra for going on a date with Bolin

Mako and Korra play poorly in their second match, but Bolin wins it for them

Korra kisses Mako and Bolin sees

Everyone plays horribly for the third match, but then Korra wins it for them

I think every time we found ourselves back in the stadium, I let out a groan. But what’s even the takeaway from this? Why does Korra magically pull her head out of it? Did she have a mid-match epiphany about the value of platonic friendship that we weren’t privy to?

Mako and Bolin agree to not let girls get in between them, which is a nice brotherly moment, though I would have liked Bolin to point out that Mako should kind of shit or get off the pot here. And still the whole thing is undercut by the fact that feelings weren’t really developed between any points of this quadrilateral.

Perhaps ironically, Asami and Mako had the most depth to them of any pairing at that point, with their bonding over shared trauma.

Man, she really fed his ego...

I can’t track this for Korra’s development at all. She took the world’s worst advice from the world’s most problematic relationship coach in the form of Pema. But there’s actually something wildly endearing about how she asked Ikki and Jinora for advice in the first place, since it highlights just how much of a fish-out-of-water she is here. Of course the 11 and 8-year-olds would know this stuff! I also happen to love how blunt Pema is and could gush about the sordid Pelinzin dynamics for some time. Slay the “other woman” trope, girl! I honestly think her POV would be super compelling around the time this all went down, and one day I’ll get to writing it. One day...

What was I saying? Right, Korra’s romantic development in this episode. I just don’t even know. The way she asks him out is cringe-worthy, but supposed to be. Then she goes on a date with Bolin because she was sad about being rejected and for some reason didn’t say “sounds good, let’s go as friends.” Then when Mako calls her out for toying with Bolin (kinda? They did just get noodles), she has the nerve to say it’s so clearly his jealousy. Then they play a shitty match and Mako tells Korra he does like her, so she kisses him (honestly, reasonable). Then she’s in such a pissy mood about Mako probably yelling at her for that, that her next match she literally waterbends at the ref? But then is the person who wins the whole thing? And somewhere in that time realized she should be super thankful that Asami secured them a tournament spot in the first place?

Yeah, no shit, Sherlock

Look, navigating the world of teenage hormones is tricky, and I guess there’s something realistically dramatic and infantile about it all. But this is a scripted show, and I honestly have no idea why Bryke would think this is the compelling way to write a romance. If the idea was to force Mako into admitting he liked her, and using Bolin as that wedge, then why was Asami also necessary as a love triangle device? Couldn’t just one love triangle had sufficed? I’m also struggling to see the point of the repeated conversations between Mako and Korra, or how probending became the visual metaphor to hammer home how they’re not getting along. WE GET IT. I PROMISE.

Truly, I think the main issue is that this nonsense was all condensed into one episode. In isolation, each individual beat is fine, especially as a learning moment for Korra. I actually really liked the Borra date, not in a shipping way, but as what it was: Korra had a very good time with someone she only had a platonic attraction to, and Bolin put romantic weight onto it (for perfectly valid reasons). Then he found out in a harsh way that Korra wasn’t interested, but she apologized to him and he moved on more or less instantaneously. Their dynamic is still based on affection, and I like that the show recognized that sort of romantic incompatibility and unrequited feelings (it happens) without giving Bolin a whiff of entitlement about the whole thing.

two episodes later

I know I said I was struggling to see Korra’s growth in Season 1, which is still a complaint that’s there. But I can at least say that Korra learning to consider others was something that happened. Not as in like, “that uppity girl needs to learn empathy!” or any bullshit like that. But in the sense of, she was raised in an isolated compound and had attention on her 24/7. Everything she did was about her growth and development as the Avatar. Then she ran to the city, and quickly learned that hey, you can’t just beat people up even if it’s “justice” in your mind. You can’t just agree to dates with people you don’t want to date and not expect some hurt feelings. And you can’t just be antagonistic to your crush’s girlfriend, because she’s like...a human. I mean, you can, but Korra is a rather nice person, and didn’t want to do that after 1x07.

In some ways it’s a touch on the uncomfortable side of things, because we’re talking about a specifically brown female protagonist learning to more or less restrain herself? But it really is just about her navigating the overwhelming social space for the first time, and there’s something to be said about that as well. Aang was a fish-out-of-water in the sense that he was missed the events of the world for 100 years. Korra was a fish-out-of-water because she hadn’t gotten to experience the world at all. It’s kind of just a different way of giving us that, to a different level of success.

Like all the classics

However, I do feel like her isolation wasn’t deeply explored? Like we watched her mature and we saw her viewpoints evolve, but no one ever really talked about it, in the same way Mako and Bolin being orphans was rarely discussed too. It’s ~there~, but I do think given some of the less wonderful implications, a bit more explication would have helped.

Also, we didn’t see Korra like, having to learn greetings and slang or anything. You know, things you’d expect if this is the kind of story you’re digging into. Instead, we got Korra learning how to navigate specifically romances. Then there was her more general worldview and how she saw her fit as the Avatar, which as I said, was something heavily unresolved in Season 1 (and that’s fine). But it makes the hammering of romance all the more just...why.

I know some people watch shows for ships, but I’m not one of them (which is why I love this piece by Gretchen), and I also happen to think that [relation]ships are the most compelling when they’re not relegated to this sort of separate sphere. Book 1 was written kind of like, “oh now we’re doing the shipping episode!”

But instead of Mako and Korra yelling about the concept of dating each other, maybe we could have had them interacting so we’d have an understanding of why they wanted that. And if they were only meant to be attracted and wow, it didn’t work out ‘cause we’re incompatible (you know...what actually happened), then why focus on it like this and build it up all season as some kind of ~~true love~~?

I guess what it took me 2000 fucking words to arrive at is that “Spirit of Competition” was telling-and-not-showing storytelling for the romance itself (which sadly is "in" these days), and given that it was the only focus of the episode, it’s just not very good—not as an artform, not as a way of getting audience engagement, and not as anything that served the larger Book 1 picture.

Honestly, what follows makes me wistful for this

But at least it didn’t collapse under itself like the damn dying star that was “Endgame.”

Before I get out of here I’d like to nitpick for a second about the probending. IF YOU ATTACK THE REF, YOU SHOULD BE OUT OF THE TOURNAMENT! God, what the fuck. She didn’t even get a red card for that...just a yellow. Really violated the suspension of disbelief. Also, the random Tahno rivalry that they realized they had to build up for the next episode was so badly done. “Here’s this jerk! Hate him now!” I guess it kind of works to make Amon’s point, but the fact that we only get him in 1x05 and it’s resolved by 1x06 is very odd.

I suppose “Spirit of Competition” has merits in terms of ironic enjoyment, and there is some downright fun silliness (“you’re a bad idea!” and my favorite, “you look great, champ!”). But in that department, I’ll take “The Sting” any day.

Next time, I’ll rip into what is probably a perfectly fine episode, other than it just didn’t do it for me.

#12 1x12 “Endgame”

1x05 photo recap found here

Book 2 ranking/essays found here

Book 4 ranking/essays found here

[cincinnie]

The Other Shade of Magic 

MagicAU?

KidLaw. Most people knows one world existed but what if there were several? Law was one of the last of his kind that bears abilities to control magic to its fullest potential. Officially, he was the ambassador between the worlds. Unofficially, Law is a smuggler. Then, there was the South, the most grey, boring, without any speck of magic flows through it, has one stupid barbarian king, Eustass Kid, who just levitated a screw. 

Author’s notes:

Buckle up your seats, ladies because in a few moments, you shall witness this lovely story that I have created 3:00 am in the bloody morning while high in caffeine and now, shut up and enjoy this twisted and totally not angst story that I am about to tell you.

Before y’all say something about this chapter as you further read into it. This is a solid KIDLAW pair. Other pairings exist too but you can figure it out after I introduce the world slowly. And yes, I’m not working on roman au yet despite just finishing the latest chapter as it felt wrong on my eyes. I swear, I’m not lazy.

Kid will appear a bit a while since I’m building the world for y’all and not jump to the romance so soon. I mean, why not.

Chapter 1: The Weight Of Blood Magic

Trafalgar Law sat on his chair silently, listening to the conversations of the drunk men and women; having a fun night. Law stared at his whiskey and black and white spotted cap, lying on his table. He was bored but for Law, it was all just business in this part of the world, the North, he calls the region. It was a cold yet not so to interesting world. The people here could wield magic with some sort of magical tool to command elements or some sorts but for him, it was a child’s play. Law didn’t need any magical cards, wands or even rings to wield his magic. All he need was a flick of his finger and he can easily raise everything around him.

Law sighed, as he adjusted his black trench coat and black scarf. The trench coat and black gloves where good disguise to hide his tattoos. He wore a thin layer of clothing; his black spotted gray faded jeans, a black feather neckline long sleeves and his old-fashion leather shoes. He blended well enough among the crowd and if he was lucky, he could leave in time like usual without any customers.

“Evening.” Law looked up, disappointed as he was found. He scratched his charcoal hair, tiredly as he stared as his customer. The long haired blonde  looked odd with his black cross tattoo in his neck, black triangles replaced his eyebrows and rather sophisticated choice of clothing.

“Evening.” Law replied, as he looked down and tapped the table. A code that very few in this world knows about. Some may from old customers who were eager to cast magical items from other world, some wanted more than learning magic, others are collectors of magical items that they hope, they could bring it’s fullest potential but sadly none of those people were able to satisfy Law’s hope of finding another.

The odd man tapped his table. It was the code. Trafalgar gestured him to sit down, which the man slowly did. Obviously, on guard to him. Even in one quick look, Law knew this man was some sort of witch or self-proclaimed magician like him but Law was here to test him.

Law grabbed his cap and put it on, shielding his golden eyes, a trait that everyone seems so distracted about.

“Are you the magician?” The odd man said, with a whisper at the end that, Law barely heard.

“Maybe.” He replied, arrogantly. “Depends on who am I taking to. Who are you?”

“My na-” Law interrupted with a gesture.

“You’ve mistaken. I don’t care about your name. I care about who you are.” Law emphasized, as he sounded boredly, and the blond raised his eyebrow.

After a short silence between them, the blond spoke again.

“I can predict the future.” The man said. Law raised an eyebrow. It was the first time someone said that to him from all those years traveling from different worlds. That peaked his interest quite a bit and hiding the fact, he might be disappointed in the end.

Law remained silent, as the blond continued.

“Would you like me to show you?” The blond offered.

“Why?” Law asked, this conversation was taking too long and he had other affairs to do.

“So, I can prove it’s real and you can take it away.”

“Why?” He repeated.

“I don’t want this power.”

“Why?” Again. Test him.

“Take it!” The blond slammed his fist on the table, that didn’t noticed by the crowd, laughing loudly.

“Why would I?” Law said, as he adjusted his seat and shove his hand on his pocket. This man is indeed desperate and an open book. Boring.

The blond growled. “I just don’t want it. Do something about it.”

“People would die for that.” Law replied, as he took his old pocket watch and opened it. He was already late. He could hear the ticks and tocks of his pocket watch.

“Then take it and give it to someone else. I don’t give a damn who gets it.”

Law hummed, thinking of what he should do but the blond seems to already know, he works with a fee as he slowly slides an item in the table. It was an anniversary coin. Law could barely contain himself from snatching it.

“This is a golden coin was from a distant past of my great grandmother's time during the era of enslavement by the infamous royal evil Vinsmoke family. This no longer exist in this time, as the government burned and destroyed everything after the downfall of the said family except for this coin. What I’ve heard, you only listen to people with this items..”

Law smirked, as he started to think of the pro and cons of what he could gain with this blond man. He slowly extended his hand and took the coin, immediately pocketing it and stood up.

“Are you willing to wait?” Law said, as he drank his whisky straight. “I mean, you can predict the future.”

“It doesn’t work like that. ” The blond replied, with a frown. ‘How long?”

“But are you?” Law replied, looking down at the blond’s eyes, that seems to be very desperate to be free from what it seems to be a curse. Law wouldn’t blame him. A world where magic was some sort of a joke that could get you killed as some beliefs, it can be taken away from them. But magic choose, it’s wielder and this man was not meant to be one. Sometimes, magic could be wrong but Law never saw magical powers being wrong.

“I am.” The blond replied. “But how long.”

“Same table, Same time. Maybe same drink.” Trafalgar said, as he walked away, as the blond’s other questions falls to deaf ears.  

Trafalgar closed the night bar’s door and gestured a silent goodbye to the bouncer. He walked fast, hoping the blond didn’t follow him. He looked at his pocket watch, ten minutes late was already too much and this client was no person that should be kept waiting.

With one wave of his hand, his magical nodachi, he named Kikoku appeared in mid air and landed gently in his hand. It had an oblong-shaped hilt, trimmed with white short fur and purple grip. Law quickly concentrated and gathered his magic around him. When he felt it was ready, he slashed in mid-air and a black circle with ancient scripts appeared. Law pointed the sharp tip of his sword and the circle turned into a green veined door, that automatically opened. Law unsheathed his sword and entered.

“You are late.” A familiar voice, scolded him the moment his feet stepped in the blood red carpet.

“I am aware, Vergo.” Law replied, displeased and already pissed the moment, he have arrived. Vergo was taller than Law, he had a black beard and sideburns and glasses that Law always hated as he couldn’t read the older male easily. He wore a white knee-length trench coat, a polo shirt with a tie and a black gloves. He didn’t know why Vergo was always the one, who greets him everytime, he visits. If this man wasn’t the King’s guard, he would already sucked the life out of him for being so annoying and prideful as hell. He hated people like this, who thinks they are above him, thinking they can manipulate him for what power he could wield.

“It’s Vergo-san to you, brat!” Vergo shouted, clenching his fist but he was able to contain himself from punching Law right there.

Law hid his smirk. He always like to reel Vergo in the edge, knowing now the Mad King needed Law for what sick bullshit, he finds in his world. Law was very important to the lengths, he has his own room to land his teleportation so he doesn’t need to sneak in, a room for him to sleep and a library dedicated for him alone. Law knew the Mad King must be insanely in love with him or his power but he was having none of that. But Law was in love to someone else and that’s why he still comes back to this world just to look at him, aside from the blood mark reasons...

Vergo opened the door for him and escorted him to the throne room, where the Mad King awaits in his throne.The room was huge, banners decorated the ceiling of a familiar royal symbols, red carpet was placed on the white marble floor, marble pillars held the place in where it stood and a golden throne is placed in the far end of the room.  A very tall, light blond-haired, tan sun kiss skin, very lean and muscular man sat on his throne, legs crossed, and hand on his cheek, bored. His eyes were hidden under a ridiculous pink glasses, matching his huge pink feathered coat, unbuttoned white sleeves exposing his chest and pink and orange pants with pointy black leather shoes. Sadly, this flamboyant man was Donquixote Doflamingo, the King of Dressrosa. One of the Seven Great Kings in this other world, where he first landed when he was a naive, young magician who was clueless of what great feats, he could wield on his own. Doflamingo was the one who made him realize that, he was not ordinary magician.

Law called this world. The Shichibukai, a world where 7 replaceable kings and queens fight over each other for centuries for land and power. Magic was abundant in this world as everyone was able to use them in great feats and was a perfect ground for Law to learn to control his magic under the Doflamingo’s guidance but as years pass by, Law learned everything he could but none explains what heritage of magician or branch, he belongs to. After traveling to world after world, Law was desperate to be united with his kind, which even him believes, he might be the last to be able to wield and born with this magic..

The sight of Law almost made Doflamingo jump out of his throne and smiled at him from ear to ear. Excited for his favorite magician to finally appear after a long time of absence.

“Law!” He said, too happy for Law’s taste. This man was mad and letting his guard down always ends up in a very bad situation. He didn’t obtain the throne by mere blood line but shedding blood was. The people of the kingdom treated him as a good king eliminating the old King who murdered his own family and subordinates but for Law, something was unusual of the said story and regretted, he found out of the truth. The truth about Doflamingo setting up and framing the old King to killing his own people.

“I’ve appeared as scheduled, King.” Law did not bow nor looked away from the mad king. He didn’t find obligation to do so and knowing, he could easily get out of his bad manners towards the mad king was something, he should always be careful.

“Disrespectful as always, you brat.” He heard, Vergo muttered behind him.

Doflamingo laughed. “Fufufufufu, oh my sweet Law. You were late and kept your King waiting. I felt very lonely.”

Law could feel something crawling in his skin. “My king, please if you may, remove your strings around me.”

Doflamingo smiled, wider. “You are always on guard around me, Law. That saddens me very much.”

“It’s a bad habit, I must say. From traveling all those places, as you already know.” Law bit his inner cheek, trying his best not to gag. This is the only world that gives him this creeping fear.

“I still remember that young Law, who landed in my kingdom, claiming to be from the other world. Before, you were such a nice puppy but now, you bare your fangs on your master. That what saddens me, Law. If only you can be mine and mine alone.”

Law cleared his throat, wanting to escaped this conversation as he know where it was going. It’s either Doflamingo is going to give him a deal that, he would tempted to accept or something else that he have never done before and would argue not to agree. He cursed at himself for being in a blood pact to such foul man but blaming himself was stupid as he couldn’t do anything anymore from the naivety of his childhood.

“What do you command of me and my magic, my king?” Law said, stoic as he could be but Doflamingo’s smile didn’t falter of such insulting gesture and avoidance of his previous words.

“Vergo, if you may.” Doflamingo commanded and Vergo left immediately.

“What will I do for you?” Law asked, as he clenched his fist but as sooner as he knows, the more mentally prepared, he could be.

“Everytime, we meet, you always avoid answering my proposal, Law.” Doflamingo said, as intertwined his long fingers together. “That’s very rude of you.”

“Am I not always?” Law scoffed, quick witted on his answer. “My king?”

“But not to my little brother.” Doflamingo replied, his smile turned into a deep frown, Law could feel the shift of magic around him. Doflamingo was closing to the edge, impatient of getting his hands on Law’s neck but Law will never falter. He has and never given up to be free as he could be.

“Your baby brother is mute, my King.” Law changed his tone to being polite, avoiding to anger the Mad King any further.

“I am aware of my brother’s disabilities but that doesn’t answer any of my questions, Law.” Doflamingo warned, as the magic around Law turned dark, static and filled with hatred.

Law stared at Doflamingo, trying his very best not to falter on the Mad King’s monstrous aura that a normal magician in this world, would already be on their knees but not Law as he was proud and mighty. .

“I assure you, my King. I have nothing him or to you. I don’t treat him above others. But deciding to what you want me to be hinders my search of my true self and if I agree with you now. I will never find my true potential, as you please be understanding of my circumstances, my King.”

Law spoke those words as careful as he could, one mistake could get him in trouble and trouble in this world never ends up in a good position. The air around Law loosened, abling Law to breath again.

A knock interrupted their conversation, in Law relief. He didn’t want to talk to Doflamingo about his proposals any longer.

“Come in.” Doflamingo said, and the door slowly opened. As it did, Law’s heart fluttered as he laid his eyes on the tall man in the door.

It was Donquixote “Corazon” Rosinante, the younger prince of Dressrosa Kingdom and the only real blood family Doflamingo has left; the man Law secretly loves.He wore black feathered coat, a contrast to his older brother’s flamboyant appearance, a white shirt printed with red hearts, a simple white slacks and mismatched leather shoes. His hair was light blond like his brothers but it was covered with a red hat, hiding such beautiful locks, under his reddish-brown eyes were make up. If no one knew Rocinante was a prince, no one would notice as he dress simply clothes much simpler than Law’s apparel. Rocinante was mute and born without magical abilities. Law felt his attraction to Rocinante was a childish one but yet, every time, he gazes on the said man. He couldn’t control the wild beating in his heart. This was one of the mysteries of himself that , Law couldn’t understand and he was one of the reasons, why Law kept coming back to this place. To find out what he was truly feeling but everytime, he does. The more confuse, he gets.

Was it love or not?

Rocinante walked pass Law without sparing him a single glance and kneeled down in front of Doflamingo. He gestured him a sign language and all Doflamingo did was nod and spoken not a single word or gestured one. Rocinante stood up and bowed down, he walked on Law’s side and stop for a brief moment. Rocinante took off his black and white spotted hat, and ruffled his hair almost childishly and put the hat back. This was Rocinante’s way to greet Law, every time, they meet just like when he was a child under Rocinante’s care before.

“Cora-san!” Law whined, as he tried to fix his ruffled hair. Law only earned a pat in the back as a reply and Rocinante left as soon as he did.

“He treats you like a child.” Doflamingo said, to Law’s surprised, Doflamingo said it as if he was bored.

“What was it all about, my King?” Law asked, curiously.

“Crocodile denied my partnership for the 20th time..” Doflamingo whined.. Law didn’t say anything knowing this what it seems to be a desperate partnership between Doflamingo and King Sir Crocodile of Alabasta has been going for years and years it's been, even how great and godly Doflamingo was Crocodile still denies him an alliance. Saddening, the pink bird which why Law suspects, the king only loves him because of his magic not truly by heart that may belong to the reptile king.

After several minutes of silence, another knock on the door interrupted them. This time, the door opened without Doflamingo’s command.

Two children was thrown in Law’s feet, crying and begging to be forgiven for what sins they committed. The young girl had a long bright blond hair with wilted flowers decorated in her ears. She wore almost nothing but a rug covering her small, fragile body. The other was a boy with a long brown hair and a pointed nose, he was already up in his feet, shielding the young blond behind him. Vergo grab the young boy’s head and clenched it hard, earning a painful scream and the young girl, who begged on Vergo’s feet not to kill the young boy but Vergo as inhuman as he was, didn’t falter and remained cold hearted. A true bastard he really was.

“I’ll kill you if you hurt her!” The young man shouted, as Law tried his best to swallow his pride as anxiety and fear mixed in his stomach. He was in the edge of knowing, it may be the first time, he will be commanded to do something inhuman to children. He was a magician and medical practitioner in the other world of Four Kings but he must refuse this one. If he only could, do such feat, he would consider himself human.

“Take her heart. You are the only one who has the ability to do so.”Doflamingo commanded with a harsher tone, Law could hear the children’s whimpers at the command and all Law could do was clench his fist harder.

“Why?” Law said, like he was about to choke himself. “Do it yourself?”

“If I do, I’ll kill her instead but alas, because the girl possess the Chiyu-Chiyu magic that enables her to heal anyone who’s wounded with her tears. I need her alive.”

“Why? Her heart, my king.” Law said, as his voice was about to lose its control.

“Because I can control her easily in that way. If I simply give a squeeze of her heart, tears will fall in her eyes and therefore, she heals and she will be useful.Therefore, she lives.”

Law took a deep, shaky breath. “Chiyu-Chiyu magic haven’t existed for a millennia and now, you are saying to me this child possess it? How sure are you of this matter and why need my service, my king.”

Law immediately regretted what he said, as he could see Doflamingo veins popping in his forehead and teeth gritting.

“Vergo.” With one command from Doflamingo, Vergo slammed the young man’s head on the floor, Law could hear the boy’s skull breaking. Vergo did not stop there as quick as he was, he kicked the child’s stomach hard enough to sent him flying to the wall, toppling knight armors that was used for decoration.

Law bit his lip, hard enough to make it bled as he tried his best not to send Vergo flying as punishment will be severe if he interferes. Doflamingo possess magic that can stop anyone and control them like a puppet and one wrong move could cost him his freedom. The young blond screamed, as the young boy landed on the floor, almost lifeless. Law could feel so little life in the young boy. The young woman gathered her strength and ran towards her friend, tears pouring out of her eyes. As the tears dropped to the boy’s injured body, it glowed so bright for a brief moment and the boy returned to normal as if he was never beaten and kicked towards the wall.

Law breathes in relief as the boy was not dead because of him but it was proven a point that the Chiyu-Chiyu magic has now reappeared in this world after it’s been lost for so long.

“Now, that I have given you proof. Do what I command, Law.”

Law gulped. Law tried his best not to show any emotion or pity for the child but the girl’s fragile blue eyes, will always hunt Law for the rest of his life.

Concentrating his magic to his hand, and muttered the spell with regrets. “Mes.”

The girl’s heart was separated from her body and landed in the floor. Law closed his eyes, not wanting to look at any of the children’s face as he picked it up. The girl’s heart beats on Law’s gloved hand, Law tried his best to hide his emotions, to the greater lengths he masked it with magic,but he knows, he was slowly slipping away to madness of his own magic. He tossed the heart to Vergo and walked towards the door.

“I shall take my leave, my king.” Law spats as he closed the door and left. A tear fell off his eye as he heard Doflamingo laughed, maniacally behind him. But the only comfort Law found was Rocinante’s surprised appearance in front of him. Rocinante gave Law a pat in the back and he escorted Law to the chambers where he opens his portal.

Law summons Kikuko to his hand and slashed to make a blue scripted portal. He looked behind him and Rocinante simply gave him a sign.

Be safe.

Everything changed as the portal swallowed him and he disappeared.

P.S. How was it? Leave comments and suggestion if you can!! I’m on speed.

Looking for available editors?

Thoughts? Just got bored and posted this even though it’s unfinished. 

[dingoes8myrp]

A Word on Buffyverse Ships

I've been thinking a lot about the romantic relationships of Buffy, the canon ones and the fandom ones. I've never really committed fully to one ship or another, nor have I condemned one or another. I've watched them, I've analyzed them, sure. But I've never picked one or voted one off the island. I suppose it wasn't the reason I watched the show, so I never saw the point.

Recently, I rewatched both shows as an adult (rather than a teen/collegiate). It's amazing how a few years can bring new perspective to things. Writing my own fanfiction and reading that of others as well as engaging in many wonderful discussions here with other fans has really made me think about which ships I'm really ride or die for, and which I could do without. So, here's my take for those interested (since I've given my two cents here and there in many of your discussions, I'm sure). Please feel free to reply, discuss, or what have you.

I'm going to talk about these basically chronologically (to the best of my memory). I haven't scoured the Internet for every single ship, so these are just the ones I've thought extensively about recently. If there's one I don't mention and you're curious about my thoughts, drop me a line.

Xander/Buffy – A Nice Thought I enjoy the idea of this one in a post-show timeline. As a teenager I think Xander is way too immature and judgmental to be a good fit for Buffy. During the rest of the show's run they're on different pages romantically and don't seem to want the same things, so I don't think there was ever really a right time for them to be a couple during the show storyline. Although when I read the rumor that Sarah Michelle Gellar and Nicholas Brendan pitched the pairing for season six I gushed a little. I do think by the end of the series Xander has displayed a remarkable amount of growth to become a humble, supportive man. He's loyal to Buffy in the way that he's by her side no matter what. Even if he disagrees with her or if he's angry at her, when push comes to shove he's in the fray right with her. However, he's not a yes man. He's not so enamored with Buffy that he doesn't see her flaws, and he's not afraid to call her out (albeit a bit brutally) when he thinks she's making a mistake. He also accepts her for who she is, even the parts he doesn't understand. I don't think these two would work as a lifelong pair, but they'd be an interesting match if the timing was right for them. Ultimately, I think it was a good move that this one remained unrequited.

Buffy/Angel – Meant to Be I have conflicted feelings about this one. I do not think it was a healthy example of a relationship, nor do I think it was intended to be a romanticized thing for people to aspire to. To me, the Buffy/Angel relationship always came off as a cautionary tale. Buffy was young and naïve at the start of their courtship, and the guy had a checkered past. "Oh, but he's different. He's changed." Her mother didn't approve, stating Angel was too old for Buffy (rightfully so). All the iffy red flags were there. I think Buffy was good for Angel, motivating him and helping him grow. But, I think he might have been a hindrance to her, as he always became priority over anything else (like oh, say, an apocalypse). One of my favorite Buffy moments is when she sacrifices Angel to prevent the Acathla apocalypse at the end of season two because she overcame that very issue. As an aside, I think Angel was a bit shady in his relationship with Buffy, knowing it wasn't the best thing for her, that realistically a life with him would mean a lot of sacrifice on Buffy's end. But, he pursued it anyway. The part where he had sex with Buffy and lost his soul is a bit suspect for me. The show seemed to steer us toward the direction that he didn't know exactly what "a moment of true happiness" meant, so that he couldn't really know sex with Buffy would make him lose his soul. But I have to think he knew it was at least a risk or a possibility. In my opinion, he was a bit reckless with that relationship, always going against his better judgment. So, I have my beef with this relationship for sure, and it's not my personal favorite. However, I think Angel is the person Buffy always measures everyone else she dates up to. He's the one for her, and I think Buffy is the same for Angel. Therefore, these two are my OTP, much to my chagrin.

Giles/Jenny – We Hardly Knew Ye This is a tough one. I wish we'd gotten a bit more time with Giles and Jenny because they barely got to be a relationship. Because of that, it's hard for me to land on it. They have kind of a nice bickering Pride and Prejudice thing happening, which is amusing. And it was nice to see Giles have his own life outside of being a watcher and a librarian. I also love Jenny as a character. She was portrayed in a way that I could imagine running into her teaching at my high school. She was a character I could see actually existing as a part of my world. Sadly, I don't see this as a long-lasting relationship. Mostly because they didn't know each other very well and never struck me as madly in love. Had they gotten the chance, I'm not sure it would have worked out, particularly with that slight deception on Jenny's end that put her at odds with Buffy.

Oz/Willow – The One I Want to Want This ship is particularly close to my heart for many reasons. Willow is probably the character high school me could relate most to, and Oz is my all-time favorite Buffyverse character. I can't explain why. He just is. I think for much the same reason I like Jenny. Because he's someone I could have gone to high school with (you know, aside from the werewolf part). This was the relationship I lived vicariously through when I was single or feeling bummed about a break-up. Oz was kind, considerate, quietly charismatic, drily witty, intelligent, and endlessly patient. He wasn't some knight in shining armor, or a smoldering heartthrob. He was just a guy, like any other guy I could have known. The fact that Willow caught the eye of a nice guy gave me personal hope for my own situation. Some days it still does. Oz is the dude I would date, marry, and have little werewolf babies with. Willow is my spirit animal. So, even though these two aren't an OTP for me as a fic writer/reader or a fan, they are my favorite ship. I could go on and on about them, so I’ll keep it short and sweet.

Spike/Drusilla – Eyeballs to Entrails These two are one of my favorite ships on the show. They're dark and twisted and they're both formidable villains when they want to be. But Spike, despite his undeniable edge, is so gentle with Drusilla and so devoted to her, it was one of the first hints of depth we saw in a vampire other than Angel. And Drusilla, despite her timid personality, had so much power in that dynamic. She was a strong woman, a force all on her own. These two are an OTP for me. I think if Drusilla had never left Spike he would have stayed with her forever. If Drusilla managed to get a soul she and soul-having Spike would probably reconnect with interesting results.

Spike/Angel – I'm Sure That's a Thing I don't really see a window for this in the run of the shows, but I totally believed these two were a Louis/Lestat type of thing back in the days of the Whirlwind. I definitely see a lot of subtext there, intended or not.

Cordelia/Xander – Well, There's Something You Don't See Every Day I… don't know where this one came from. When Cordelia and Xander shared their first dramatic kiss I think I laughed. "Oh, what a funny reaction for these two to have in that moment." And then that moment continued into a pretty substantial relationship. I never quite understood why these two were ever a thing. Realistically, yes. I get it. We've all watched two people get together and started taking bets on the date of their inevitable break-up. And on some levels I get the appeal. It's The Shop Around the Corner effect: these two can't stand each other, so naturally they need to be together. I did like the depth this relationship uncovered in Cordelia, but it's not one of my favorites.

Willow/Xander – Ugh. Really? Okay, I'm admittedly biased on this one because I've told you how I feel about Willow/Oz. I also have a general pet peeve when it comes to stories taking two characters who are good friends and deciding they have to pair them. It bugs the crap out of me that a man and a woman aren't allowed to just be friends in anything ever (except for Lucas and Haley in One Tree Hill and I love that about that show). I also can't stand love triangles. In conclusion, I hated this. Blasphemy. Never should have happened. Oz is a saint for forgiving Willow. Cordelia has every right to be pissed off about it. Xander's a dick for having the nerve to pull that Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered crap.

Buffy/Faith – Now That You Mention It… A relationship between Buffy and Faith never occurred to me when I watched the show. Then I read some fanfiction and some discussions about some subtext between these two. So, when I rewatched the show recently it was like "Wow, how did I never see that before?" One of my favorite moments in the show is the shared dream between Buffy and Faith at the end of season three. There is so much going on between these two women. I'm not sure the timing for a pairing was ever right for them in the show. Buffy was kind of closed off to Faith in the beginning, threatened by her and distant. Then once Faith went rogue I think she did some pretty unforgivable stuff as far as Buffy's concerned. Faith could say the same. Buffy did try to kill her. I don't think Buffy would ever forgive Faith for poisoning Angel, or for the body swap, but I don't think Faith would fault her for that. And I think Faith could forgive Buffy for stabbing her. I wish there was a window somewhere in the story where I could see this ship happening. Maybe post season seven. I'd have to think on it. However, I think these two women have a unique bond and, under the right circumstances and in the right plot, I could see this happening.

Giles/Joyce – Awkward I'm glad this was just kind of a fun one-time thing because how awkward would that have been? I feel like Joyce is always a bit competitive with Giles when it comes to Buffy. On the one hand, she respects Giles and appreciates how much he cares for Buffy. On the other hand, she resents him at times for endangering Buffy or for taking her away on some level. I think these two would always have a difference in opinion on what's best for Buffy, and that would kill any chance at a relationship they might have. How funny was that Band Candy episode, though?

Xander/Faith – Wait, What Just Happened? Again, I'm glad this was a one-time thing because – wait, what? This struck me as a plot device, a way to show us Faith was more dangerous than we thought. Tough break for Xander.

Xander/Anya – Haha! Oh, Wait… You're Serious? The issue I have with this ship is that it became a running gag on the show that Xander always fell for the monsters or the weirdos. Even when their relationship started, Anya was so awkward and out of place it was comedic. So when they made Xander and Anya a long-term couple I could never really take it seriously. I was always waiting for the punchline. It didn't help that as the show progressed they sort of gave Anya the Eric Matthews treatment and she went from trying to get used to being a mortal to "Who dropped her on her head?" Although they kind of grew on me, I never really considered this a realistic or long-lasting pairing. I did like Anya's arc after Xander bailed on their wedding. We got to see her trying to return to her demon ways and feeling conflicted. We got to see Xander struggle with the idea of a healthy marriage. That was all well and good. I just don't see this as an OTP kind of thing.

Riley/Buffy – A Breath of Fresh Air This is another ship that I personally really enjoy. Riley is a good, solid guy who's a badass in his own right and doesn't mind dating a woman who's independent and badass. I think Riley and Buffy had a healthy relationship, for the most part, until that clunkily executed break-up at the end (I think the show could have written that better). This wasn't quite a relationship I related to or lived vicariously through because Riley's not really my type and I couldn't really relate to Buffy much during this point in her arc. But, I enjoyed watching this ship and I really wanted it to work. It was healthy and safe, and Buffy never has enough of that in her life. However, I think the issues in the relationship were realistic. Buffy got kind of closed off and neglectful, and Riley got insecure and needy. Had that fortuitous and conveniently timed job offer not come along, I think these two could have eventually worked through those issues with some effort and commitment. But, I don't think Riley could ever hold a candle to Angel, so as long as Angel was in the picture I think he was always SOL.

Tara/Willow – You Make Me Complete This ship took me some time to warm up to, mainly because I felt like they wrote Oz out a bit unceremoniously so I didn't quite buy the quick progression to Tillow. However, I think these two had one of the most functional, realistic relationships in either of the shows. I would consider it THE most functional relationship if the whole addiction to magic arc with Willow hadn't happened (but that was a bit manipulative and unhealthy). I think Willow truly became whole as she grew over the course of her relationship with Tara, and I think Tara could breathe with Willow and feel comfortable with herself. I can't picture these two ever being as fulfilled with other people as they are with each other. I would have liked to see more of Willow coming to terms with her sexuality and dealing with that, and I would have liked to see a bit more development with the relationship. But these two are an OTP for me.

Spike/Anya – I Almost Forgot About That I didn't like this either. They just shoved these two together, got them drunk, and had them sleep together. It felt very contrived to me and I wasn't a fan.

Angel/Cordelia – I Guess You'll Do I never quite bought into this. It's very similar to Jenny and Giles for me in the way that it was hinted at that these two might have warm fuzzies for each other, but nothing was ever significantly done with it. For me, I don't know if I see this as a viable relationship. A lot of that is due to Angel being hung up on Buffy.

Cordelia/Doyle – A Face You Could Learn to Love These two had so much potential and I wanted so badly for them to be a couple. Another Jenny Calendar effect here where there was barely anything to suggest a possible relationship. But I think the chemistry between the two characters was spot on from the start. From the second he sees her Doyle's head over heels with the idea of her and she's rolling her eyes all "as if." But then they get to know each other and he genuinely appreciates the person she is. Unfortunately she never really gets to know him at all, so I don't really know how that relationship would have panned out. But I would have loved to see what would have happened.

Fred/Angel – Handsome Man Saved Me from the Monsters I'm glad this never became a full relationship in the show. I like the fact that these two were genuine friends and there weren't any romantic strings attached. Fred had a bit of a crush in the beginning, but I think that was a confusing mix-up on her part more than actual feelings. He saved her, so she automatically developed an appreciation for him. Overall these two had a sweet friendship and, while I think it could have developed into something under the right circumstances, I'm really glad it didn't.

Fred/Gunn – What Could They Possibly Have in Common? I'm not sure how these two ended up together. Opposites attract, I suppose. It just didn't feel like a real relationship to me. I tried to picture these two sitting around bored and talking and I had no idea what they'd possibly talk about. I feel like they'd be having a strike out conversation. "Do you like movies?" "Oh, I haven't really seen too many. I do like some of those old black-and-white romantic movies." "Oh. I'm not much for romance. More of an action kind of guy." "Oh… Have you read any good books lately?" "Uh… Not really. Been a little busy sharpening my knives and stakes." "Oh, right…" *cricket, cricket* It's not quite that I don't like this ship. It's more that I would have liked to have seen more of it, how it developed and how they worked. I didn't really have enough evidence to buy into it.

Fred/Wesley – Too Much Alike I understand the appeal of this ship, but in my opinion these two are too similar for a relationship to work well. I think they're much better as friends.

Buffy/Spike – Love Me, Hate Me I have a lot of personal bias with this one and it brings up some unpleasant feelings for me, so I don't think I could ever fully get on board with it even if I tried. That being said, I could see why this made sense at the time. This was always a relationship I could see happening under the right circumstances. Well, the stars aligned in season six and there you have it. The thing I don't like about this ship is how very unhealthy it is on both sides. It's very manipulative and abusive, and while that would be just fine if the two of them were soulless villains, it felt pretty out of character some of the time, particularly for Buffy. There was always a forced nature to it for me, which maybe was the point. Anyway, overall while I can see how it makes sense and I get the appeal, this isn't one I can rally behind because it makes me feel too icky.

Angel/Faith – Huh. Well, That's Interesting There's a lot of potential here. I think Faith and Angel understand things about one another no one else really could. They've both done terrible things (and enjoyed it), and they're both on sort of an impossible road to redemption. After a certain point, these two quietly became pretty ride or die for one another. And believably so. I didn't really see a place in the show's storyline where their pairing could have realistically fit, but I could see these two being a pair under the right circumstances. I think problems would arise because Angel's OTP is Buffy, and I think Faith would be very troubled by the idea of being compared to Buffy. But, it would be an interesting run while it lasted.

Wesley/Lilah – A Sharp Turn This was unexpected, but very cool. I liked that we saw a darker edge to Wesley and a softer side of Lilah. I also believed this relationship from the start. It made total sense to me at the time even though I didn't see it coming. These two had a mutual respect for each other, and they challenged each other. I also think they were very much in love, but neither of them really wanted to voice it (and I think they understood that about each other). While this relationship wasn't good for the rest of the characters involved because it sort of took Wesley away from the group, I like this ship a lot and it has the potential to be an OTP in my book. I would have needed to see a bit more of it.

Angel/Darla – It's Complicated I have mixed feelings about this one. While I think Darla and Angel totally miss the mark, Darla and Angelus are a perfect match, much like Spike and Drusilla. I think Angelus and Darla have a mutual appreciation for torturing and ruining others, and I think Darla understands exactly who Angelus is and is content to let him be that. He may not be devoted to her or even in love with her, but she's okay with that. As long as she's a part of the fun and she's in on the plans. It's not like she's entirely loyal to him either. She has her own agenda and likes her independence. However even human Darla and soul-toting Angel didn't really click for me. I think these two only work when they're both soulless monsters.

Connor/Cordelia – Eww, Why is This Happening? This was just gross. Wrong on so many levels. Cordelia was a mother figure to Connor, so her having a romantic thing with him was just icky, amnesia or no. Don't even get me started on the "It wasn't really Cordelia" thing. However, on Connor's end I totally understood it. He never knew Cordelia as a mother figure. She was someone who was in a similar position he was in. They were both sort of lost and out of place, and neither of them trusted the group of people claiming to be their allies. I also think Connor sort of needs something to do or he goes a little sideways. He needs a thing to kill, a task to complete, or someone to protect. Cordelia was a purpose he could cling to, and cling he sure as shit did. However, this is another one I think was blasphemy and never should have happened. It was outright character assassination for both of them.

That's about all the steam I have. If I think of anymore ships I'll do another entry. In the meantime, please comment, discuss, or message if you feel the need.

[jesterlady]

It wouldn't be right to do a redux on SG1 without doing the same for SGA so here is the Atlantis version of the post about the things I like and things I don't like.  Probably not as long seeing as how I have literally half the material, but we'll see. I like: -Literally every word that comes out of Rodney's mouth.  I don't know if they have a dedicated writer who does nothing but comes up with things for him to say suitable to every occasion, but it is a sheer delight to listen to David Hewlett.  Practically every scene in Grace Under Pressure where he's basically talking to himself or hallucination Sam is pure pure gold.  His new whale friend! -Carson's accent, oh, I could just listen to it all day long.  It's such joy to listen to Carson talk as well.  He's not that old, but he calls everyone son and it's so adorable. -Tao of Rodney.  I probably would have made a separate post about it if Sunday hadn't made me so upset.  This episode made me cry and just...when Rodney starts trying to do nice things for people and actually apologizes to Zelenka and the Ronon hug!  Ugh, it's amazing -The way Radek talks to himself in Czech, especially when annoyed with Rodney -How we learn little things about Lorne, like him being a painter or that he sleepwalks -John and Elizabeth being possessed and fighting each other.  Who doesn't like a good possession episode?  Cadman/Rodney ftw, as well. -Woolsey taking over for Sam.  I was always going to be predisposed to liking him since I love Robert Picardo so much.  I liked that even though he was an antagonist when he first originated on SG1, he was a straight shooter and since I knew he was going to be on SGA, I figured he would straighten out even more, and they did a really good job of balancing the by the book guy with the living in the last frontier guy. -The city itself, it's really pretty and very cool, and has endless possibilities.  It flies! -David Hewlett's acting in the Shrine.  That opening video with him, I was absolutely blown away.  So good. -Ronon and John fighting with Bantos rods and hopping on one foot.  Bantos rod fighting scenes in general. -That real life siblings portrayed Rodney and Jeannie Miller.  It brought a huge element of awesome.  Jeannie is amazing! -The love triangle, for lack of a better term, was actually handled extremely well.  Granted, it's annoying in any shape or form, but Ronon and Rodney didn't get into some big pissing match over Jennifer and she made her feelings about what she wanted extremely clear instead of dithering around about it. -That Teyla realized it wouldn't be safe for her to be on the team while pregnant and that it was extremely hard to go back. Side note: I hate pregnancy storylines where the woman gets all shirty when people tell her to take it easy (particularly when her normal job is extremely dangerous) like they think she's less capable.   Uh, no, that's not being independent and strong, that's being stupid and selfish.  It is not weak to protect your child, it's common sense, and it reflects well on you, not poorly. -The song Beyond the Night and how they put it in the show.  It was so vastly different than anything either show had done before, but it was beautiful and well done. -Rodney, Jennifer, and Sam trying to get out of a hole in the ground together -Ronon and Teal'c fighting badass style together.  It took them a while, but they are the most metal crime fighting duo in the entire world -Rodney and Daniel interaction.  More and more and more please.  They bicker and snipe and work so well together, it's like a sarcasm orgy. -Ronon Dex fighting Wraith in a ware house.  Side by side cutting with Eliot Spencer fighting in a warehouse, please. -Todd the Wraith (and that they name the Wraith such ridiculous names). It's always better when your villains are ambiguously evil and you kind of like them.  Is Todd dead?  WE DON'T KNOW! -Ronon and Teyla holding hands while he takes her to the infirmary.  They are so adorable together and sweet. -While we're on the subject, I like Rodney and Jennifer together.  The only romance the show ever took the time to develop and too little too late some say.  But it makes sense to me and he learns a lot. -While we're further on the subject, I love the whole leaders in love thing that I could see going on with John and Elizabeth.  It also would have been nice to see develop. -Amelia kickboxing her way to victory -Chuck the Technician will never be as cool as Walter, but he's still pretty awesome -The episode where John time travels into the future and hologram Rodney shares with him everything that happened.  Really really cool. -Nanite hallucination for Elizabeth, really great job by Torri. -The Michael arc was very good, I think they could have done a lot more with it and planned it better, but the idea and him were really cool. -That Carson came back.  Oh, thank God that Carson came back.  A part of me is really sad that actual Carson is dead and some other man is living his life, but I figure he's the kind of man who wouldn't mind.  Rodney going and visiting his stasis pod gives me all kinds of feels.  Carson is literally the whole cinnamon roll too good and pure for this world meme. -Rodney delivers Torren! -Rodney being jealous of himself -Alternate dimension jumping Daedalus. -The way Rodney always says ZedPMs.  So Canadian! -Wraith Queen Teyla -Them trying to adjust to Earth again in the Return.  I love that Atlantis became their home and each other their family.  They don't belong on Earth anymore.   -John's speech to Teyla about how everyone is his family and there's nothing he wouldn't do for any of them -Woolsey kicking ass in their trial -Zelenka covered in body paint after spending time on the kid planet. -John's leadership style.  So casual, so intense.  "I'm sorry for shooting everybody!" -Ronon's smile.  Ronon's three freckles on his face.  His triangle eyebrows.   His hair.  His gun, ooh, I love his gun.  The way he lifts John in play that one time. -Twilight Bark/LOTR Beacon scene -The way everyone was obsessed with Lucius.  That was so funny. I don't like: -It felt like nothing was planned.  They just sort of...did whatever seemed cool to them and it resulted in poor resolution at times and extremely poor character/relationship development -That for an ensemble cast, so much emphasis was put on John and Rodney.  Maybe Buffy spoiled this as well for me, but in my opinion, if you're in the credits, you should be in every episode.  Even just a bit at the end or a bit at the beginning, but you should be involved.  (SG1 did this as well, but not as badly as SGA).  I could be wrong but they clearly made the effort to do this with John and Rodney so they were in every episode.  Even if the episode wasn't about them, there was some kind of scene with them in it.  So clearly, they were capable of that.  Things like Ronon and Teyla not being in the Vegas episode, annoy the heck out of me. -The kids leaving Rodney, Sam, and Jennifer to die in the hole.  Maybe I'm unrealistic, but I just feel like nobody would actually do that in such a dire situation. -They switched planets!  What about the Athosians new home?  It felt like we didn't even see what happened to them and then all of a sudden they were in a new place and missing from it. I always thought...maybe Atlantis was more about where it was then just the city itself.  Apparently not. -Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!  I mean, it'd probably be one of my favorite episodes if not for the end.  It's really cool that way, but I cannot forgive them for doing that to me.   Especially now that I know it was done on purpose to "shake things up" and for ratings since SG1 was ending. -Ford never had a chance.  He was never going to be my favorite, but they could have done so much more with him.  It's really sad how badly they botched that up.  Also, there's no reason they couldn't have actually developed him once they turned him into a psycho Wraith wanna be.  That would have been an amazing S2 character arc for him, but instead, it became 'guest star' and Ronon was clearly chosen to replace him. -Teyla's baby arc.  I get that Rachel was actually pregnant and I'm super glad they wrote it in rather than killing her off or making her stand behind furniture like a sitcom (totally not compatible with her active fighting or love of midriff-less clothing.)  But the whole thing was really rushed.  Like, how am I supposed to care about some random dude I've never met named Kanaan, who's the father of her baby?  Romance should evoke feelings, not blankness.  I just never got the chance to really care about them as a couple, which could be why I really have always seen Ronon and Teyla together, honestly. -They way they wrote Elizabeth out of the show.   It's horrendous and unacceptable.  They didn't know what to do with her?  Uh, so you actually take the time and figure it out.  Making her leave just because they wanted someone from SG1 to come on to the show is the stupidest thing.  She was amazing and a great leader and had a lot more to give.  So what if she was intended to be more of a General Hammond. Part of being a show runner is playing to your strengths and what people love.  Both of those things were Weir.  I love Sam, always have, always will, she did great, but, that was just another example of the horrible, horrible way Atlantis handled character development and why they were never quite as good as SG1.  Even the whole Elizabeth arc being resolved with her in a different Replicator body just felt wrong and disrespectful.  (All the Replicator stuff seemed a little bit off to me (especially as regards her) and maybe they just went a little bit crazy without taking the time to think things through). -The Genii as villains.  Ugh, they just rubbed me the wrong way.  Colm Meany is awesome as is Robert Davi, but they just didn't do it for me -Harmony.  Annoying children who deliberately manipulate adults and lie about what they've done to discredit another adult, are so awful.  Granted, Rodney is a petty, selfish, arrogant child himself, but John has no reason to suppose he's not telling the truth.  Not really.  Children shouldn't be allowed to get away with that.  It reminds me of my younger brother and he and I used to fight all the time when he would be a brat and annoy me on purpose.  My mom always said since I was older, I had to be more mature and not rise to it.  Perhaps true, but the most unfair thing ever and it still bothers me when I see it in others today. -Destruction of the Midway.  So sad, it was such a cool idea.  It's just annoying them always trying to figure out how to limit travel between Earth and Pegasus.  Just give them both ZPMs then! -Sam not being present at Brain Storm.  All the most brilliant scientists on Earth, my auntie.   (Bill Nye was cool!)  But just a simple exchange like Jennifer asking if Sam would be there and Rodney replying that no, she was off world, would have sufficed. -Remember when Jennifer, in her first scene, was all afraid of being CMO and didn't want the job?  Yeah, literally never mentioned again. Much more thematic problems with SGA, I'm afraid, but still plenty, plenty to love.

[stromuprisahat]

#anyway yeah it wouldve been nice to see them get on like a house on fire #i have not and will not read the books #but ben and archie's dynamic is great and i wouldve loved to see a little bit of that carry over to mal and kirigan #rather than the same old love triangle pissing match

black-rose-writings:

#things we could have had if the writers weren't cowards

When Mal is discovered to be the last amplifier, Kirigan has him discreetly transfered directly under his command to keep him unkilled. Not entirely usual, but Second Army has plenty of otkazat'sya working for them and this is rumoured to be Sun Summoners sidepiece, so no surprise there.

Once Aleksander decides it's time to start on the Fold, he and Mal are holding Alina's hands, with him helping to guide her powers to avoid dipping onto merzost. The Fold's alive in its own way after all, so uncontrolled sudden erasure is bound to cause some new troubles and we wouldn’t want that, would we?!

Actually. Also. While I'm SABposting.

The whole "Dark & Dangerous Morally-Questionable Immortal vs Safe But Bland Childhood Friend love triangle? Is boring. It's been done to death in every single YA series ever written.

But. Y'all know what could've been super refreshing and highkey entertaining?

Kirigan and Mal getting along.

Like. Mal is supposed to be a promising young soldier anyway, and when they meet, he's just succeeded in hunting down a folkloric magical creature that nobody has caught in hundreds of years. And then he has the sheer brass balls to withhold said creature's location to try and negotiate with someone who outranks him to an almost inconceivable degree.

This is. Probably not a smart career move, because noblemen are petty and prone to pissing contests, and Kirigan could make Mal's life very unpleasant. But it is brave, and Kirigan has been a soldier long enough to both a) spot untapped potential and b) respect bravery when he sees it.

(It's interesting to me that Mal often forgets to salute/call his superior officers 'sir' in the First Army scenes, but he absolutely remembers his manners with Kirigan. He needs this guy to like him, so he can see his bestie.)

And getting on each other's good side would actually benefit both of them - which Kirigan especially would know - being however many centuries old and with strategy as his fucking job.

On Mal's side - he's kind of languishing in mediocrity because he's an orphan with no contacts to give him a foot in the door to promotion. When he applies to transfer to better units where he'd learn new skills or have more opportunities to distinguish himself in the eyes of his superiors, he's shunted aside and overlooked in favour of someone whose father knows the king, because fatcats all look out for each other. But if he applied for the same transfer with a recommendation from the Black General, his potential new CO would take him far more seriously as an option. He certainly wouldn't suffer for having an affluent, influential man at the top of the military totem pole keeping an interested eye on his career.

On Kirigan's side - having Mal around, even infrequently, will settle Alina and make her feel more at home, and she'll know he pulled strings for Mal to boot. He's been intercepting their letters, because Alina writing all about the daily goings-on in the Little Palace is a fucking security risk, and she's understandably angry with him for it, but if Mal has a reason to come by the Little Palace now and then, to report to him on something or other, she can see him in person and won't need to write letters that could so easily fall into the wrong hands. And - well, at some point, Mal will owe him so much that he'll have to be loyal. Because betraying him would cost Mal everything. He's patient. He can wait.

Except. Mal turns out to be likeable, in the salt-of-the-earth sort of way Kirigan sometimes misses from when he was a serving soldier himself, all those centuries ago, and he is full of fun facts about Alina and amusing (for Kirigan, Alina would say embarrassing) anecdotes about shit she got up to as a child. He's gotten used to the intrigue and the backstabbing and the plotting that goes on at court, but there's none of that with Mal, because the boy is a shit liar and has no guile whatsoever. It's refreshing. And Mal has grown up being schooled about battles that Kirigan fought in or masterminded, and he has Questions that at some point he gets to actually ask, and for a minute while they're conversing Kirigan sort of stops being this terrifying Grisha freak of nature in his mind and is just. Another old soldier, like most of the COs he's ever had, telling war stories, and there's common ground, between them.

And like Alina is aware that they've formed a tentative truce for her sake and she is very pleased that they have, and then one day Aleksander makes a comment about how "the boy isn't a complete imbecile, I suppose" and she starts to think he might even like Mal, in his own prickly way,

And then she walks into a room during a fete and sees them talking, and that's lovely because they both look actually interested in the conversation! And she's smiling at them, right up until Mal starts flapping his elbows around and pulling comically horrified faces and she just knows he's telling Kirigan about the first time she ever rode a horse, when the damn thing spooked and took off with her at top speed and dumped her in the - yes, there he goes, pretending to pick pondweed out of the hair he doesn't have - lake. And Kirigan creases up and almost chokes on a mouthful of wine and saints, he's such a horse girl he'll be bringing this up forever and. Yeah she is going to have to murder the pair of them because she will never hear the end of this otherwise