#she gets worse btw

[of-some-writings]

Heaven Wills It

With a gun to her head, It found her. Schematics for an unknown mech, an impossible machine. There was no sender, nothing she could even attempt to trace back. It appeared from the cosmic aether, a miracle, a gift. With this gift came a message; or, perhaps, a declaration.

“To the girl who will journey the Star-Crossed Sea,

Kill them all.

The Chorus cries out for what shall always be done.”

“Your money better hold, P.” crackled from her intercom. She smirked, feeling her heart racing already.

“It will, Rhonda, don’t worry.” It sure as hell better, anyway. She burned through the last of her credits getting this trip together, what she was able to sneak into her private account anyway. Everything else was probably frozen by this point. She staked everything on this working, on this final shot, her only chance.

The woman on the intercom spoke again. “I’ll worry about it until we’re out of here. Hell, I can’t even believe I let you talk me into this, even with what you’re paying. You know I’m not gonna help ya if things go south, right?” “Not expecting you too, you made it pretty clear which of us have the balls to do this.” Snarl to her voice, nerves getting to her, making her antsy.

“P, not now.” There wasn’t any real anger in that voice, just a vague strain. “We both know, the only reason I’m out here is cause-”

“I know…” she cut her off, feeling shame. She didn’t like what all this was doing to her. None of this is what Iphy would have wanted, but definitely not that. “I… I’m sorry, Rhonda. She was your friend. Thanks for even hearing me out.”

Silence.

Then,

“Give them hell, Penny. Make those bastards pay. If you make it out, drinks are on me.”

She laughed. Stars, when was the last time she laughed?

“I’ll hold you too that.”

Without much more fanfire, she heard hissing from the machinery around her. The floor of the hangar began to open, revealing the lush jungle on the planet below. If she remembers right, HA wants to cut it all down, build refineries. World was uninhabited by anything smarter than a golden retriever, so given what other habits the Purview has demonstrated, this one fell through the cracks of outrage. Only a handful of squadrons guarded operations here.

She spent the better part of a year getting ready for this day, making sure she’d catch the One she was looking for. “Waterloo”. All and all, Penelope thought she was being kind.  

Of all the worlds to die on, they could have chosen worse.

She pulled up on the handles of her pilot’s rig, Then pushed forward, one, then the other. Some would opt for the neural interface, Iphy did but she argued it didn’t count, and Penelpe appreciated the pure tactile feel of driving her mecha. She is not her frame; it is something under her command.

With one step over the edge of the hangar floor, she fell. She gasped with excited as she tumbled, freeform in the air, the countless tonnes of her mech making her plummet at terminal velocity. Her readings blared out warnings, heating up and projected impact damage but as she fell, staring at the jungle below, her movement from the ship sending her on a diagonal arc towards her target, she simply allowed herself to exist in wonder. As she was forcefully turned skyward she could not see Rhonda’s ship, it’s cloaking on from the moment they entered this system. She knows where she’s going, where they’ll find her if she survives this. 

The warnings blared again, and this time she listened. With the press of a pedal near her left foot the jet thrusters on her mecha’s back revealed themselves, kicking to life. The machine shook with the force of the change, but with careful steering she was able to maneuver it to land onto one of the many giant trees that block out the sun from low terrain. She grabbed at branches, climbed down the tree on all fours like this machine’s strange anatomy seemed to encourage. With a thud that shook the underbrush and sent alien beasts scattering, The Pegasus was on the ground. It stood on its two back legs, and with a practiced effort pulled the… “gun” from her back. It seemed to fight her, just a little, but she gripped it hard. It knew she was stronger than it, and thus conceded to her. It settled in her hands, then became her hands, the living weapon for now disappearing into the metal of her forearms. She looked at the mech’s hands… at hers. With a deep breath, she pushed “Find Me In The Torrent” along.

Halfway to her target, she received an incoming call. This was strange to her, considering she shouldn’t be getting any calls, shouldn’t be able to. Whoever was doing this knew her encryption, at least decently well. She took the call, waited.

“Penny? Penny holy shit, where are you?”

A man’s voice, more of a boy honestly as far as she’s concerned. She took a deep, deep breath.

“Nice hearing from you too, Nester.” She remembered her brother’s smile first. How long has it been since she’s seen it?

“Penny c’mon don’t do this shit this time, what are you doing?” He sounded so panicked. She couldn’t blame him. He was next in line after all, and he’d never wanted the responsibility. It didn’t occur to her that he’d be worried about something else. 

“Exactly what I said I would. Now get off this channel before you get me killed.”

“Penny, Penny please,” his voice broke. She could feel him shudder from across the universe, how he cried with his whole body yet never his voice. “I’m begging you just, come home. Look I’m mad at Mom and Dad too, its fucked up, what they want from you but this isn’t how you fucking deal with that. This won’t help. Please P, let me help you.”

…

Her jaw clenched, her voice a wisp. “Nes…” 

“If I didn’t think I had to do this, I wouldn’t. But she died, and no one cared. Another name on the casualty reports. Well not for me. That was my wife, and they took her from me. I’ll burn the Purview to the ground if I have to, if that’s what it takes-”

“Takes to what Penny? To fucking what? Fix the hole in your heart? Bring her back? This shit isn’t going to help anyone P, you’re putting us all at risk if you-”

“Tell Mom and Dad to disown me.”

…

No reply. She could see him in her mind’s eye, staring dumbstruck. She continued. “They were probably gonna do it anyway, but doing it now gets them ahead of the curve. This isn’t a karakan assassination attempt, its a crazy bitch on a spree. I don’t want anyone to think otherwise.”

… “P, I-”

“I love you Nes.”

She flicked off her communications. Alone again, at last, She locked her eyes on the distant camp.

It rested in a man-made clearing, trees cut away and spartan living arrangements set up in their place. A series of large tents, One clearly a mess hall, a barracks, a conference area. In the near distance she saw a set of drills, boring into the ground to try and draw out the planet’s life blood. Taking stock of herself, she pulled out a small headset, a visor over one eye. As it flickered to life her vision was consumed with a stream of data, internal and external. She turned her {Eye} to them all. The datastream faded, the world outside grew dark. But points of interest revealed themselves as moats of light in the darkness before her. A handful of mecha, of course there were. Two Shermans, a Swallowtail(scandalous)... and a Tokugawa. 

She watched as soldiers moved through the camp. Not just soldiers though; she could see civilians, geologists, botanists , everyone you’d need to strip the planet or all it’s worth.  Pawns of the Purview, but she didn’t give a shit about them. All she needed was to keep them quiet…

She was taught the art of war as a matter of tradition, diplomacy because it was her obligation. But Penelope’s second love would always be tech. Well, it was time to put all that to use. With a tap against the side of her cockpit, her keyboard flicked down. One hand on the controls, the other typing away, On her visor the flow of data, the contours of the dogshit HA firewalls, were laid out before her, fingers tap tap tapping away as one fell after another.

Five minutes later, the base’ comms line was down. She heard the immediate commotion, And just as quick, attempts to keep the civs calm. Her {Eye} fell upon a woman, towering, jumper half pulled down in the sweltering heat. Commander Ajax  She was flanked on either side by a man and a woman, veins of steel running down the sides of their arms as they drew their weapons. Another man, the last member of the squadron, moved towards his Swallowtail, clearly hoping to use his mech’s systems to figure this out. 

Before he could climb in, a voice rang out from the camp’s intercom system.

“Attention, All civilians should vacate the premises for your safety. The members of Squadron Waterloo will remain, as price for their wellbeing.”

The startled crowd looked to the towering woman. She nodded, and like bats out of hell they went, packing up small things before running in the direction of another camp. She wager she’d have, maybe, half an hour before backup arrived.

Still unseen, she spoke calmly into the microphone. “Waterloo. A year and five months ago, a woman named Iphigenia was killed in an encounter with you.”

Ajax remained unmoved, unshaken, while her men got visibly antsy, one inching away to one of the Shermans. The Swallowtail was already coming online.

“That woman was my wife. I have come here to kill you all.”

The frost of her voice blew over the camp, overcoming the sweltering heat of the jungle and forcing the retreating Sherman pilot to freeze in place. There was no hesitation, barely even a threat. It was as if she was simply telling them what had already happened.

“However, Commander Ajax” she breathed away from the mic, not daring to let them hear how she herself shuddered. “If you will surrender yourself to me, I swear not to harm your crew. Your death can save your men.”

…

They turned to their commander, of course they did. She could feel how they looked at her, their bastion; she was a real leader, a comrade. Penny’s heart stirred. But if Ajax had the sense of honor Penny thought she saw in her, it did not factor into her next decision. She turned to her two men, gave them a knowing gesture, and like that– they ran!  Ajax too ran to her Tokugawa, taking one quick look back to see-

To hear Penny’s voice over the loudspeaker, one last time.

“Bang.”

It was force from nowhere, kinetic energy that emerged from the universe at terminal velocity. The Ushabti Omnigun was a weapon to harm mechs.

Commander Ajax saw one of her men atomize in front of her. It was instant, surely painless, but as his bloody vapor filled the air Penny knew that she had left an indelible mark on that woman’s soul.

Good.

She stepped into the clearing, Torrent white as Death, alien in this world of vibrant greens and steel blues. She raised her hands, willing the Mimic into shape- but Penelope was consumed in red, warnings blaring. The flow of data from her visor revealed to her the digital attack that had begun, forcing her to content with the Swallowtail. She grimaced as the war of counterhacking began, Penny knowing that she has become a juicy glowing target on his friend’s readouts. But unlike him, she was willing to push herself; straining Torrent’s hacking systems to slip past the Swallowtail, hostile code rushing towards the Sherman just moments before it’s pilot could reach it. She could see her climb up the mech, try to open it’s hatch. Penny grinned as she saw her strain; it’d take more than that after what she did to it. She tried once again to turn her attention to the commander, but the Swallowtail’s pilot was almost as good as she was. The lapse in focus was enough for it to flood her systems with meaningless junk data that confused her targeting systems. In the moment she needed to recover she saw the commander mount her Tokugawa and bring it online. She couldn’t take a clean shot right now.

“Bang.”

The second Sherman pilot disappeared  as her mist consumed by the jungle. You can’t miss with a gun that did not exist. Once she had cleared her systems, her {Eye} revealed that the Swallowtail remained hidden behind the larger tents, but that was at the back of her mind. Penelope wasn’t stupid, and didn’t come unprepared, she knew who she was dealing with.  She watched in quiet reverie as the Tokugawa pulled a hilt from either side of it, Torch Spears sparking to life In two of its hands while the second set gripped a rifle.

Ajax

Mech: Achilles

Penny crushed the grips of her handles. What remained of Waterloo saw as liquid metal peeled itself from her arms, coalescing in her left hand as an oversized pistol, barrel wider than Torrent’s arm itself. With the flick of a switch, a series of metal plates flicked out of her right hand. As Torrent tightened it into a fist, twin streams of plasma poured forth from the plates.

The Tokugawa charged first, flourishing with the twin spears as the rifle began to spray in her direction. Low priority warnings went up as the molten shells buried themselves into her chassis, Penny winced at the imagined pain but did not yield. The Pegasus held its ground under the rain of lead, waiting, waiting for-

Achilles lunged with one of the spears raised, a wicked jabbing motion that aimed for the heart. Penny was almost relieved, the action telling her in no uncertain terms that her rage had been reciprocated. Ajax was trying to kill with the first strike.

With a yank on her rig Penny forced the charged blade up, twisting to catch the plasma weapon before it could hit its mark. The two mechs strained against each other, another series of warnings telling Penelope that this was a contest she’d lose–if she was trying to win. All she needed was to keep her occupied, just long enough for the frustrated Commander to move her second spear away to wind up an attack. In that moment Penny placed the Cannon directly against the abdomen of the mech. With a hiss, a hiss,  Penny saw an eruption of metal viscera from the back of the Tokugawa. The Mimic fed from her anger, it felt like a live wire in her hand but at least for now the Commander was its target. Achilles stumbled back, the shot leaving a gaping hole in the Tokugawa’s side. Penelope attempted to use the moment to step back, but it seemed the commander was not as stunned as she’d hoped, finishing the wind up fast enough for the spear to connect with Torrent’s right shoulder. The inertia of her movement instantly ripped the plasma spear out, But Penelope could feel through her haptics how the arm grew stiffer, slower. The heat must have fused some things together, goddammit. 

Again her visor was flooded with information as the Swallowtail launched another assault, just as the Tokugawa began to stab at her again. Penny could already feel the headache forming as she tried to keep up a war on two fronts. As the spear drew close Torrent was able to duck under it’s path, in a fluid continuation attempted to jab at Achille’s heel with the charged blade. But the data attack slipped through again, throwing her systems off again, combined with the slowed arm allowing the Tokugawa to aim a kick directly at Torrent’s head. The force of the blow knocked Penny flat on her back, looking up to see the Tokugawa aiming its rifle straight down. Penny quickly lifted the Mimic up, but it twisted and snarled in her grip, refusing to relent to her rage again. Penny felt a twinge of fear through her heart as she saw the Tokugawa pull the trigger,

Think 

Think!

“Bang!”

An omnigun shot aimed directly at the left rifle hand, knocking it ajar from Achille’s grip and tilting the gunfire to the side of her. She jumped up, slamming the pedal for her jets that caught light just a moment fast enough to curve Torrent away from another spear thrust. Just as she caught a second to breathe, another blare of warnings from her left. 

A thread of gunfire punched straight through her chassis, through Torrent, Penny seeing stray bullets whiz past her head. Her {Eye} followed the invisible thread back towards its source: The Swallowtail had joined the physical confrontation, a machine gun from it’s back aimed expertly towards her center. As it was reloading, Penelope heard more gunfire, barely jolting out of the way of Achilles rifle fire. With the Mimic still unresponsive she couldn’t return fire; but she had more than just that. She could feel her reactor strain under the invasions and plasma strikes yet she pushed it harder as she bifurcated a hacking stream towards both mechs at once. Her visor showed the data fire like bullets to the cores of these machines. The Tokugawa gave to her hostile code immediately, laughable HA computer security is how she found out about Waterloo’s newest deployment in the first place. Suddenly the plasma spears half receded into their sheathes, while Ajax’s gunfire went pointlessly wide. But the Swallowtail proved more difficult; moreso than the Pegasus it was designed to be a proficient hacking mech, and the pilot had proven her equal at each point of this fight. And that thought ate away at Penelope, feeding a deep seated rage that, if she had the time to think, would scare the girl she was just a few months ago. This worthless piece of shit was not her equal. She needed him, both of them, to know she was better than them. Dedicating her sole focus to the attempt, regardless of whether Ajax managed to clip a couple shots, puncture the fuel line of one of her jet thrusters, Penelope could feel through the war of hack and counterhack, the pilot’s panic, the growing sloppiness in his strings. Finally, finally, she punched through, and she watched in delight as it’s rifle went limp, its perfect aiming systems down. No thought from there, deep down Penelope knew she needed to capitalize.

Pedal to the metal, she turned her jets on to max, wincing as one of the auxiliary thrusters exploded and broke off. But gritting her teeth she remained on course until she could safely turn them off and let inertia carry her at max speed. The Swallowtail pilot tried to scutter away, but-

“Bang.”

One of its legs collapse under it, long enough for Torrent to fly past it at max speed, clotheslining it with the base of her charged blade.

The two collapsed into each other behind the tent, momentarily out of Achilles’ view. The Mimic slithered up her wrist, both of Torrent’s hands reaching down to pin the Swallowtail below it grabbing at the rifle and with a satisfying snap ripping it from its mount. Her {Eye} could see that it’s reactor was on the brink of giving out, even worse than hers was. Immediately she tried to strike for that digital heart, but the pilot tried to hold her back. Another war of datastreams erupted between the pilot, but something undeniable separate Penelope from this man: she was not fighting to survive. Smoke poured from the Pegasus, and she did not care. He did. Thus, in that war of wills, he lost. They were both quietly thankful when the machine merely sputtered to an agonizing death, and did not immediately meltdown. Penny climbed up, pulling a lever to open the vents to full and clear Torrent of its heat. She regarded the downed mech briefly, and then turned away.

The tent next to her exploded.

Achilles stood there, spears now bursting with life. As they ripped through canvas she saw how they grew, able to reach her from even there. The Commander was going all out.

Finally she thought.

Penny looked down to the Mimic; to Find Me In The Torrent, her cosmic miracle. To them, she whispered.

“I… don’t care what happens after. I don’t care what it costs. Just… help me kill her.” She couldn’t believe what she was saying, the way her voice twisted into a snarl. She couldn’t believe that she meant it. But she did, and if… the machine, or the Mimic, or something, was listening…

It answered.

The Mimic coalesced around Torrent’s hand; warping the metal now, twisting the steel flesh as the fingers bent, the palm opening to now form the barrel of a massive cannon. 

Penelope took a deep breath; she spoke, slow, quiet.

“Heaven Wills It”

Immediately her visor’s view was overwhelmed with new data, systems adjustments, a cascade of errors as something that should not be able to happen nevertheless occurred.

Penelope starred down Ajax. Close behind her were the untouched Shermans, the rest of the camp. Penny struggled to stare Ajax down fully. If she thought too hard, she’d remember what she heard of Iphigenia's last fight.

Her comrades called it an honorable clash between warriors. And she could tell why some found comfort in that kind of self-deception. But Penelope could not care about honor, or what lies she’s been telling herself to get by. She could not be objective about this: this is the woman that killed her wife.

“Bang.”

She took a step back, then sprinting, barely skirting around the exterior of the Tokugawa’s ridiculous range. A dent in the armor around its chest formed.

“Bang.”

The dent grew deeper. Hostile data flowed from her mech with every breath; she flooded pilot’s chamber with excess heat and shut off her life support. The first spear wavered, but the Commander adjusted, of course she did, and plunged the second deep through Torrent’s stomach. Penny felt the burning heat directly below her, could feel it begin to melt deeper and deeper into her heart.

She remained on the retreat. Her {Eye} revealed how the Tokugawa’s reactor was burning hot, but she knew it could stand to burn even hotter. Her thinking mind valued her own safety, but she could feel (how… could she feel?) the Mimic getting antsy.

“Fine, dammit.” she snarled, Taking a bold step forward past another thrusting spear. She cursed, she could throw off their targeting as much as she liked but this close?

The Tokugawa rushed to meet her, the two mecha colliding at the edge of the ruined camp. Using her charged blade she held back one of the spears as she tried to lift the cannon upward. 

She could feel the shudder as the Tokugawa’s second arm wrapped around them, as a jolt like lightning ran through them as Achilles buried the Torch Spear deep into Torrent. Penelope heard the shriek of tearing, heating metal before she saw it; the spear punched straight into her cockpit, a scant few inches from her body. The plasma spat and licked at the edges of the room, Penny almost instantly feeling the burns that, if given any time longer would never heal. She looked onward, but the damage broke her {Eye}, screen barely visible. She ripped off the visor, looking out, as she twisted the Mimic up, she could barely keep her eyes open, but, but, Heaven-

“Bang!”

This time it screamed, it roared As Find Me In The Torrent pressed the cannon arm against the side of the Tokugawa. An overwhelming upheaval of visceral metal punched straight through the mech, mere second later Penny could feel the plasma spear go inert. She panted, exhilarated by the fight, by the pain; by the site of the Tokugawa fall on the ground, almost all of it’s right side blown to pieces. Penny flexed the cannon arm, watched as the Mimic reformed, seemingly gorging itself on the scrap metal it just helped create.

A request for communications came from Ajax. Penelope accepted.

“... I… I surrender. Just please, leave him out of this. That’s what you promised in the first place, right?”

…

“Yeah. Get out of your mech. It’s over.”

Penelope crawled out of her cockpit, out onto an outstretched arm of Torrent that reached town to the Tokugawa. She saw Ajax, bleeding, coughing, do the same, clutching a wounded arm as she walked up Torrent’s. Penelope had her pistol, of course, but she had not drawn it. Between Ajax’s towering height and low position, and Penelope standing above her, the two were able to meet at eye level.

The commander was professional, she had to give her that. Stared her death down with a militant stoicism, that could almost ruin the moment. Almost.

Penny began to speak, but her voice caught in her throat. She tried to twist herself into that snarling version of herself she just was but… she couldn’t. Her chest tightened.

“She was the world to me, y’know. After a lifetime of nothing, just pure obligations, having her… made that future one I wouldn’t mind. And you took her from me.”

The commander did not emote, much anyway, breaking eye contact with Penny as she sighed. “Look I’m not going to apologize for… wait, who was she even? Who the hell am I dying for?”

Penny, too, looked away. “...An atlas pilot.”

Ajax’s brow furrowed, sorting through a year of memories, flashing before her eyes in greater detail. Then, suddenly it all snapped to focus. She laughed.

“Her? She fought like a demon, y’know. I saw her throw a Barbarossa, real scary bitch. That… you a solider, miss?”

“Not by trade.”

“I figured. A soldier wouldn’t think like this. Cause, imagine if everyone acted like you. People die in wars. It’s just the way of things. If you were hoping for some deathbed apology, sorry; it was a good fight, and I’m glad I won.”

Penny’s face twisted, just a little.

“I… I know, this isn’t reasonable. But I, I-” “Because it happened to you? Arianne, Tora, they both had people who loved them too. Siblings, partners, parents. Me? Got two partners and a kid back home. Are any of them entitled to revenge?” 

“I, I, look-” She said, starting, stumbling, feeling something twist in her head, in her heart. She needed it to stop, if she was going to go through with this.

 Without ceremony she kicked Ajax down into the palm of Torrent. She stopped on her chest, suddenly not thinking about the pain she’s causing, or what may happen to her after this.

“I… don’t care. I really can't say I give a shit. I don’t care if this is right, or if your friends hunt me down ‘cross the Star Cross sea. You hurt me. I want to hurt you.”

Something began to crack, ever so slightly, within Ajax’s confidence in death. Suddenly, she was once again staring down a demon.

“Kid, look. The Purview isn’t going to let this slide, y’know. They’re going to find you. You’re going to die.”

Penny… laughed. It was wicked, empty, poisonous on her breath. “Yeah, I’m sure they’ll have an easy time with that. Hell, let them try; if they even care. I mean, really, think your little squad is worth that much attention?” She flexed her hand, pointer finger pressed against Ajax’s head as she cocked her thumb

“You’re nothing. And me?

“I’m Nobody.”

…

Bang.

…

…

When Polyphemus cried out in pain, the cyclops replied,

“Polyphemus, what ails you? Why do you cry, breaking the silence? Surely, nobody is hurting you.”

And yet he cried again, “Yes, yes! Nobody is hurting me, is killing me!”

Silence.

Then, “If Nobody is hurting you, then Heaven wills it. There is nothing to be done but pray.”

[valentimmy]

sephiroth but this time he did an oopsie :(

[spicyraeman]

Lae'zel doodle with some post zaith'isk hcs

[autisticrosewilson]

So do you guys actually think that Jason's entire story, relationship to the others, and philosophy amounts to him being a rebellious teen who wants his dad's attention? Like are you 100% serious? I thought you were joking about that but too many of you are saying it with your whole chest.

And what the fuck is this "Bruce antagonizing Jason is fanon!" Shit I've been seeing? You guys are aware that a parent can love their kid and still be a shit parent right? I know you guys don't want to fathom the thought that maybe your blorbo might also occasionally have to face responsibility for consistently endangering children but let's not start being delusional now.

Bruce does love his kids, that doesn't mean that he hasn't hurt them. And I'd also argue that for the most part he feels in the right for it, and he's said multiple times that he believes it's for their own good, so you can't even argue that he's sorry about it. It's okay for you guys to admit that your PERSONAL INTERPRETATION of the character wouldn't do that but don't sit here and pretend that it's not a facet of the source.

[sidesteppostinghours]

ok. question.

ortega ended up hallucinating sidestep after they "died", but sidestep doesnt know about that. they know it got bad, but never the full extent of how their death affected them. so if your sidestep Did learn, if they found out ortega looked for them in every little piece they could, would that change anything for your sidesteps? would their relationship with ortega be any different?

[bean-spring]

Mel haters are so funny to me because they quite literally have nothing to say against her besides "nooo she used Jayce for hextech!!" well, it's what happens when that's your fucking job

[anonymocha]

if you are still doing requests, can the nation see tooth fairy examining vila's teeth (girl probably has them shark teeth or something)

ANON…. THAT BRAIN OF YOURS………. 🤫🧏

[profounddefendorcrusade-blog]

I feel bad for Starlo.

Star has a point, idk what the four were ticked off about, there is like 99% chance everyone willingly participated in the trolley problem, based on what we've seen of his behavior thus far it's not like Starlo to be that big of a jerk/drag them by force/yell at them to do it. Ed's words:

he does it because Star asks NICELY

clearly jealous

It genuinely seemed like a fun time/fun roleplay, especially since every day is the same. Like, the five are supposed to be a rowdy and adventures bunch, what exactly did Starlo do wrong, I'm genuinely confused and curious. Except taking a big liking in Clover (his posse should know that this is a big moment for him, according to Blackjack they've known each other since high school and had the same liking for westerns. So they were basically a nerd gang.) Starlo was kind, patient and considerate towards Clover the whole time, even warned Mooch about them not being bandits, taught Clover gun safety, wanted to bring his posse along for a fun time, thanked Ace for telling him about getting Clover a new hat...

Sure, at first he only liked Clover for being a human, but as Ceroba says, that changed and he grew to genuinely care about them, plus I can't help but think Star saw himself in Clover and that's part of the reason he was so proud of them all the time even when they messed up (I'll talk more about this at some point)

What exactly made Ace want to leave the gang? He even said how he doesn't mind "getting run over by the fake train"

he's so nice. says sorry for forgetting the safety goggles even when he was scatterbrained due to his excitement. I love him so much

The only real "faults" (I'll call them temporary faults) I saw in Star during the Wild East section was that he was even more enthusiastic and more proud than usual. But how couldn't he be when he met a member of the species that he has admired for so long because they have real cowboys and sheriffs on the surface (who are seen as brave heroes who deliver justice, while Star canonically feels like a nobody farmer). His posse should have realized Clover wouldn't be there forever and just let their boss enjoy himself with his "deputy who'd have to leave sooner or later anyway"(or be more patient with him/ask him why he feels this strongly towards Clover/if there's a deeper reason for that). His friends including Ceroba just turn their back on him so quickly instead. The moment he's gotten the chance to feel valued for once and put himself first and not have to take care of this whole town and everyone in it and live his dream of meeting a real human, suddenly "his personality is damaged?"

Star's literally built this whole town, organised everything, he worries about everyone, Ceroba (plus was the one to give her emotional strength before and after Clover's sacrifice), Kanako, the monsters, his family, struggles with feelings of worthlessness yet never wipes that smile off his face, always does his best to be hopeful and optimistic and make others laugh, gave his posse a nap time so they don't become exhausted, gave Ceroba a free home, didn't act upon his feelings towards her and was a 110% supportive, caring friend instead. THAT'S who he is. He's the papa bear of this friend group, the glue holding everyone together.

He was just *really* excited. Y'all know he's insecure and just wishes to escape who he is and yet y'all blame him for liking Clover so much. Yeah, the four are very clearly jealous. But why won't the four of you control your feelings for a while? As mentioned, Clover WILL HAVE TO LEAVE EVENTUALLY. They won't be Star's "deputy" forever (the kid who's just as into westerns as he is, who values justice just as much, who also values doing the right thing. Someone he clearly felt understood in the presence of, whom he loved; just look at the way he talks about Clove during Showdown). Star seems genuinely confused of what he did wrong poor guy just wanted to live his fantasy for once and feel important:

Even at the beginning Moray's like "oh no Martlet is upset" Mooch replies "don't be a buzzkill nothing exciting ever happens around here" and Ray's like "Yeah you've got a point"

If you all agreed to have a little fun with a human who will very soon leave forever why is Starlo's enthusiasm such a big problem? If the posse weren't into this after all (unless they were simply too jealous which could have been solved with a honest talk and a little patience) why are you doing this "rowdy" job with Star in the first place? Do you want your boring routine day to day life so much back? Or just for Clover to leave (which they will soon enough)? You, western enthusiasts, literally met a real human, A HUMAN FROM WESTERNS YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE PASSIONATELY INTO (clearly not as passionate as Star but passionate ENOUGH to understand where he's coming from).

... okay.

[cherry-treelane]

I find it so ironically funny when hardcore Debbie defenders use the defense that she was just a victimised teenage girl (agreed) and then proceed to slander Fiona and express their hatred for her character and lack of sympathy

as if being an adult magically absolves an individual of the horrifying trauma that precedes them and screws up their mentality and actions

funnily enough these people get mad at others for "expecting Debbie to be an innocent angel and hating on her for acting out as a result of trauma" (also agreed, debbie does deserve more sympathy, she can't be expected to grow up to be a perfect saint when she's been through so much) yet seem to hold Fiona to the same unattainable standards and put her on a pedestal as if she wasnt a child that was forced to intensely grow up while never actually being raised

like lets put this into perspective and remember that fiona grew up surrounded by corrupt morals and insanely screwed up behaviour yet still emerged as messed up, yes, but surprisingly good considering the situation she was in??? she had to navigate basic things such as morals and being a good, responsible person on her own. imagine how difficult it must be to lead a bunch of kids, including yourself, with no previous role model or good example of your own to follow. most of the time, she always tried to do what she thought was best and would have the most desirable outcome

[fallenangelontheceiling]

I’m breaking my No Tumblr For Lent rule because I really have to share -

I’m 65 pages into Mansfield Park and I can’t stand Edmund. He’s objectively a Good Person (which I can already tell is going to be a rarity in this narrative), but god is he insufferable.

The Crawfords are flakes, but at least they’re entertaining flakes so far.

Austen is always scathingly snarky but this is the first time I think she comes off a bit self-righteous??

[nana2009]

what’s the context of ur last davekat art? was that yandere dave or just reg dave?

i love ur art btw :3 3<3

yep yep its yandere dave!! and the context uhhh.....uhh..hhhh

look i can't find a way to sugarcoat this, so you'll have to use your imagination ;P ;P (<- wonk)

[moonlitlex]

honestly i could write essay after essay about everything that made that finale bad. and i will. however comma i genuinely do not care about any of these characters enough to want to do that. i don't want to spend my time critiquing and analysing a show where all the characters are boring and the plot is all deus ex machina.

LIKE. WHO IS RUBY. WHO IS SHE. WHO FUCKING IS SHE.

she's done with the whole SEASON. she was in EVERY episode. and we literally don't know anything about her apart from the whole mom mystery thing which is all for the big reveal at the end anyway?

and i can talk about the ways in which that was unsatisfying and so on. but like what does that tell us about RUBY? what do we know about HER

and the answer is honestly very little. ruby is such a stock doctor who companion that it's just kind of boring. she gets a big mystery, because of fucking course she does, and who is she outside of that? nice?? sweet?? does as she's told?? (this one is fucking boring btw) kind of like the chibnall companions, she's whoever she needs to be for the situation at hand. the writers say ruby needs to be shocked by landing on a planet after 6 months of travelling with the doctor, so she is. she isn't a person. she has one desire, which is to find her mother, and the only reason she gets to have that is that rtd needs to set up whatever the fuck was going on with her mom for the finale. that's it.

and the doctor. like why should we care about this doctor specifically, outside of the fact that this is the character we have been following for the whole show? who is he??? like seriously who is he? he doesn't get any character development? what makes him different from other doctors? who the fuck is this guy????

i said earlier that ncuti's doctor is what you get when you throw all the doctors in a blender and i stand by that. he's definitely the doctor, but he's like an average of all the other doctors with nothing particularly unique or special about him. ruby is what you get when you throw all the companions in a blender. definitely a companion, with nothing unique or special about her either. much like chibnall's companions, all she gets to do is stand around and watch.

and the crucial missing factor is we don't get to see what they see in each other. which from the companion's perspective is still excusable because here's a dude with a spaceship time machine and that sounds kind of sick so lets go and travel with him is an understandable motivation. but what does he see in her? because there's always a moment where you can see the doctor sort of think, oh yeah, i should travel with this person.

but there isn't really this moment with ruby. it's kind of like with how thirteen meets her companions. she just sort of runs into them, and now they're stuck together. and ncuti does get to emote more than jodie, so at least you can see that ruby and the doctor do like each other, but their relationship isn't really fleshed out ever. and like i can buy ruby risking her life for him, because that is just sort of what happens on doctor who, but it's not based on anything. we don't see them develop this trust of each other. their relationship doesn't get developed. it just appears fully formed.

[allforthegayphase]

favorite renee headcanons? <3

I think she loves Christian rock. She was blasting Awake and Alive by Skillet on the way back from Evermore with a half-dead Jean in the backseat, and Jean was lowkey wishing he was asleep and unalive 😔

And her ringtone is that What if god was one of us song 🫶

[skrunksthatwunk]

ok soooo im like 5 episodes into dear brother and i need you guys to know how much i love rei so far if only for her staggering around like a rain-soaked stray dog just haggard and unseeing all the time. like we know very little about her thus far except that every scene she's in she steals the show by flopping and wilting all over the frame

[donationwayne]

Feelin Good (Could be Better) Chapter Three

Hello, I've posted chapter three of ten of my first ever chapter fic!!

You can read the first, second, and third chapter of my fic over on AO3 right here

Summary

The Buckley parents come to town, turning Buck's already shaky mental status from precarious to worse. Despite avoiding a dreaded dinner at all costs, Buck consents to join Maddie, Chimney, and his parents for dinner. Buck is super fine thanks for asking, he'll just bake about it. And think about kissing Eddie, obviously. Secrets are revealed, leaving the 118 reeling.

snippet

He felt safe here, on the complete opposite side of the US. Buck has been spiraling so badly since that dream he worries seeing them will only make things so much worse. He knows it’ll set him back that much further. “I would have taken vacation time to skip town if I’d known sooner.” That does earn him a reaction from both Bobby and Eddie, who simultaneously raise their eyebrows. It would be comical if Buck wasn’t filled with such existential dread. In therapy, Buck avoided talking about his parents like the plague. Dr. Copeland had noticed him dodging the questions each and every session—she never let up in her pursuit of asking after them, but she was also content to wait until he was ready, simply prodding him in the meantime. They had plenty of other work to do first anyway. It could wait in the wings until the moment he had enough strength to address the elephant in the room. He thinks he knows what she’ll say, and Buck knows he’s not ready to hear it.

[helmarok]

i'm always thinking about this line