#since the military doesn’t know about the mutations I can only guess that they don’t start until the infection has already taken root

[tricktack]

sorry for not responding earlier! anyway here’s everything wrong with matpat’s latest video on sonic frontiers.

a few months after sonic frontiers was released, matpat made a video titled “Game Theory: Sonic BROKE His Own Lore! (Sonic Frontiers)”. it is generally very shitty and…. may not even contain a theory in the first place?

before i get on with complaining, i want you to guess at what point matpat first says something that shows he knows nothing about sonic.

it’s less than 10 seconds in.

matpat starts the video by saying “let’s be honest. sonic the hedgehog wasn’t originally designed with in-depth storytelling in mind. Mainly you’re just running, jumping and ♪rolling around at the speed of sound♪”. and this man. had the balls. to show FOOTAGE OF AND SING A SONG FROM SONIC ADVENTURE 2, A GAME WHERE THREE MAJOR CHARACTERS DIE, THERE ARE THREE DIFFERENT STORY ROUTES AND WHERE SHADOW THE FUCKING HEDGEHOG FIRST APPEARED. AND THE SCENE MATPAT REFERENCED WAS ONE WHERE SONIC WAS BEING CHASED BY THE FUCKING MILITARY.

and it’s not even like the sonic series has really been fumbling its lore for a long time. it wasn’t until sega released sonic 06 before it was finished and got backlash for that that sonic’s stories started getting a little blander (although they didn’t really stop being good until sonic lost world released in 2013.)

after this matpat proceeds to use the old “rough transition to 3D” narrative which is just…. not true in the slightest??? sonic adventure was great, sonic adventure 2 was great, sonic heroes wasn’t as grandiose as other games but it wasn’t bad at all, the first actually bad 3D sonic game was shadow the hedgehog, released 7 years after sonic first became 3D (and the issues with it mostly came from sega wanting to capitalize off of a few fans who wanted guns in sonic games but that’s a whole other story and also gamma, omega, eggman and tails already use guns although gamma is dead but that’s also a different story)

not to mention he also shows a picture of the werehog from sonic unleashed in this part which like. fuck you matpat werewolves are cool actually (and also that game is from 2008 so it’s also not an example of sonic’s “transition to 3D”)

once he starts actually talking about frontiers the video gets a little better for a few minutes. he does slander black knight a tiiiiiiiiny bit but that pales in comparison to the other things he says so i’m not gonna make a big deal out of it. (i would recommend satbk if you can find a wii or a wii emulator though, it’s got a great story and atmosphere)

so after a few relatively peaceful minutes of matpat praising frontiers, he uh. well he fucks up again. he says that sonic frontiers ties together the stories of all the sonic games and “now we actually have to take sonic’s lore seriously.” but frontiers is far from the only game reference other games - the whole thing is one continuous story with a bunch of different arcs. a lot of people don’t realize this without playing the games, since they usually compare sonic to other games that don’t really have very complicated stories, like the mario series. still, matpat should have done some research on sonic’s lore before making a whole video on sonic’s lore.

he also claims sonic frontiers is a multiverse story based on literally one line. it is not a multiverse story. he would know that if he played the fucking game.

anyway. his theory has to do with the aliens that were revealed to have brought the chaos emeralds to earth before most of them were killed by the End (we still don’t know what that is) and the rest were mutated by chaos energy into chao, little baby pudding creatures who you can raise in the adventure games. chaos, the main villain of sonic adventure, is a mutated chao, and he looks just like these aliens. so what is matpats theory in this video?

five minutes of him pointing out something that doesn’t make sense and then showing clips from an interview with ian flynn, a writer for the game, to make said things make sense. that’s not a theory. that’s canonical information.

the only theorizing matpat does in the entire video is that he claims the master emerald must have undone chaos’s mutation. first, that’s not how mutation works. second, wouldn’t more chao have mutated back, since most of them were on angel island, very close to the master emerald? mutations occur naturally. chaos doesn’t need an emerald to be a mutant chao.

so anyway matpat doesn’t know shit about sonic and he apparently doesn’t know what a theory is either

(sorry if this doesn’t make sense, i’m not really that great at writing things out like this)

okay so what i'm gathering is... the dude who most notably runs a channel called Game Theory... has never touched a sonic game in his life. one of the most popular video game franchises. isn't sonic in a few of the intros GT has had over the years ???? i haven't even played the games and I know that there's tons of lore and plot behind them ???

AND just restating stuff that has already been said by one of the writers 😭 you're right that's not even a theory he's just relaying canon information. maybe he should not take credit for something that was already explained

thank u for the ramble because i would not know otherwise just how Wrong he is about a lot of things lmao

[nat-without-a-g]

I mean, they were trying other things

Except “they” was CEDA and the military just went “Kay you’re not doing enough” when the government silence backfired and got the guns out…

So…..

Yeah I don’t think they really were either

I'd like to think they were trying other things, but I really don't think they were.

[grimmywrites]

So, about Infinite Darkness...

I’m gonna try to be as succinct as I can (I failed) about all the problems I had with it, but my list is pretty long... Yes, this has spoilers. Let me state upfront: if you’re not a hardcore RE fan, you can skip the show. Below I’ll tell you why.

Story: What a mess. Honestly, they turned me off right at the beginning with all the military stuff. It’s the same reason people didn’t like Chris’ campaign in 6; didn’t they learn anything from that? So, the story wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever seen. Honestly, it had more plot holes than anything and so many points where I went: “I don’t care about this.” Again, it was a jumbled mess. Capcom, hire me and I’ll do better, I swear. Let’s just sum it up by saying it’s a rehash of things we’ve seen SEVERAL times in the series before. If you’re gonna do it AGAIN let’s make the story unique and interesting. Oh, there are shady people in the military that want to use bioweapons in war? Okay, we’ve known that since the first game. We’ve seen it time and time again. Look to re8′s ending for example: the BSAA are now starting to use engineered soldiers - THAT was a reveal that was far more interesting. The way it was addressed and overcome in this show was just... so lackluster. Ultimately, it just felt like this entire thing didn’t need to happen. It changed nothing, it impacted nothing, and I’m aware that it really couldn’t since it was after re4 and before re5. There was just no lasting point and all the ‘themes’ (if you can call them that) made absolutely no sense, but I guess I’ll get into that with the characters? Pacing: Absolutely god awful. One minute we’re in the White House fighting zombies then I blink and it’s over and I’m like: Oh, we’re done? Another we’re in a sub and then I blink. Oh, that’s over, too. Also, the creators must’ve taken a page from the last couple of seasons of Game of Thrones (which is an abysmal idea, don’t fucking do that) because with a few cuts here and there we went from Guam to China back to DC. Guess everybody learned how to teleport so they got exactly where we needed them to for the “climax”. Let’s talk about that climax: There was none. Let’s look at Degeneration and Damnation (no I won’t talk about Vendetta). Both had their weaknesses but Leon and the climaxes were BADASS. Leon doing parkour in Degeneration? Leon going against Lickers and the huge Tyrants in Damnation? Those were amazing scenes. He did a few cool things here and there but nothing that got more of a laugh out of me. My man is coming off re4 where he rampaged through a village, a castle, and an island of mutated creatures to save one girl. C’mon now. Characters: By now (if anybody is even reading this rant), you’ve noticed that I’ve talked a lot about Leon. But what about Claire? Yeah, they lied to us about them working together. She got sidelined again. A lot of people are upset about this -- and yeah, it sucks because I do love Claire. Leon has just happened to be my favorite since 1998 so I wasn’t as heartbroken. That doesn’t mean I’m not disappointed, I’m just not very surprised. Leon - My main problem with Leon is Nick, his voice actor. I’m so sorry for all those who like him, but he just isn’t good enough for me. Paul Mercier (re4, Degeneration, Darkside Chronicles) and Matt Mercer (Damnation, Re6, Vendetta) would have been more appropriate. Nick tries his best, but he’s just too soft sounding to be post-re4 Leon. This is a man who is quipping one-liners left and right a couple of years ago. Now he’s barely smiling and doesn’t feel confident at all, and I think a lot of that is because of his portrayal. There are times where the lines hit, but more often than not they fall flat. I never felt that way with Paul who is my favorite Leon or Matt who gave emotional performances every time. Also, his decision at the end? I can understand it, but explain to Claire! Claire - I like Stephanie as Claire, I have no problems with her. She makes her sound tough and ready to do what she thinks is right. Unfortunately, the story completely sidelines her and makes her role obsolete. Everything she uncovers (because that’s her role apparently, just there to Nancy Drew) is already told to us through flashbacks and other characters. Why even have her? Was it just to show us WHY her and Leon don’t talk often? A waste. Shen Mei - I don’t care. I felt nothing for her. They tried really hard, but they just failed to flesh these new characters out and when her time was up I once again went: Oh? That’s it, then. ‘Kay. I think I laughed a bit, sorry girl. Her whole plotline was to get that chip in Leon’s hand, nothing more. Jason -  I don’t care. A character I thought I felt sorry for with his ptsd but nope. Once his story unfolded - messily, I might add (I hate the REPEATED flashback shit. Tell me once and stop teasing me.) I just went... okay, what the hell is your plan? To spread fear? ‘Kay. It was dumb and made no sense. What, he wants everyone to feel terror so they know? It needed to be clarified. It’s like they couldn’t figure out more synonyms for fear and terror. So, what? It helps keep Leon from going public with the chip and that information? Because he knows it’ll just cause mass hysteria? And then you’ve got Claire’s side - she’s not an agent and she believes the people have a right to know. They’re both right, but there’s no goddamn communication between ANYONE in this show. I just felt exhausted by it, nothing else. Not to mention it’s useless angst because of the plot of Degeneration. Wilson - Our bad guy. Let’s just sum up really quickly in case people were confused by the plot: He was putting infected soldiers into war zones so that even after they died they’d kill anybody involved, then he’d bomb the area and clean up the evidence. These soldiers didn’t show any symptoms because they had inhibitors that kept the virus at bay until they died, so they had to take regular shots to stay human. He’s the one who gets the zombies into the white house so that he could blame it on China and get the US into a war with them. That way he could send in his soldiers and infect the populace. From there, he’s the only one with the cure so he could rake in LOTS of money selling it to the world. AKA: he wants to use the US military to infect everyone so he can make a profit. He gets infected by Jason and gets away... then meets up with someone who gives him an inhibitor. This someone is working for Tricell, the big bads of re5 who work under Wesker. So it leads right into the fifth game. That’s all he is, a tie in and yet another example of someone in power trying to profit off the viruses of the RE world. Honestly, nobody else is worth mentioning. Animation: They’re getting better at it. Leon and Claire looked especially pretty, but there’s still a stiffness here and an issue with everyone’s mouths while they talk. I want to praise how different SOME of the characters look - the president and his aides all look appropriately aged and grizzled and distinct. Same with Jason. Other characters (side characters mainly) kinda look generic. Shen Mei for example isn’t very distinct. I mean, her grandpa and brother (both one scene wonders) were more realistic looking than she was. Even Claire - they gave her a bigger nose and made her look more in line with her Revelations 2 model (thank god I love that model). Movement was pretty fluid, I wish we’d seen more fighting and cool action -- though not to the extent of Vendetta. Maybe that’s what they were trying to avoid, but it didn’t make it any fun to watch. Enemies: This is the last thing I’ll comment on. The zombies were fine - they always are. I heard a ton of reused sounds from remake2, as well, but I thought of it as an Easter Egg more than anything. They looked good, their gore was good, all set there. Problem was, they were basically the only bad guys. That’s a huge fucking disappointment. I know people recognize this series as ‘the one with the zombies’ but that’s not true. Every game (save 7) had MULTIPLE enemy types all created through bio engineering. In this show we see three types. THREE. Zombies. Zombie rats - a one-scene wonder that Leon dispatches fast and easy. I’ll admit, they looked cool but there was nothing else to them. “They’re a bioweapon” and then Leon fries them all with some electricity and we’re done. Jason’s mutated form. Okay, I have to admit, I really loved his design. He was cool, I liked that he could talk and emote. But, other than that? He didn’t DO anything cool. He mutated once and hopped around a lot. That’s it. I mean, a bioweapon that keeps his mental capacities? C’MON! We could’ve done so much more with him. Again, this goes back to why the climax was so bad -- he and Leon didn’t fight. One jumped, the other ran around to catch up and fired a few bullets and a rocket at him. Then he used an acid bath to finish the job. (Also, explain to me WHY he mutated into a tyrant-like creature while everyone else with that specific virus was another form of zombie? We see Jun (Shen’s brother) mutating almost crystal-like at one point but... what? You leave them off for a while and they turn into crystal zombies? Make it make sense.) I’m sure there’s more to say, but honestly, unless you’re a hardcore RE fan like me, I’d say you can skip it. It wasn’t a fun ride, there weren’t any stakes, it wasn’t emotional... it just... was. I will end on one good note that made me smile, though: I loved seeing the Ashley Easter Egg.

[youngbugandtonystank]

Wait in your analysis you said wanda not only mindcontrolled the avengers but some other people too in age of ultron. I don't remember her doing it to someone else? when was this? if this is true then I have no idea how she's even considered a hero wtf

If you remember, there’s a brief time where Wanda and Pietro worked with Ultron, during this time, Steve asked Hill where they were and she says this:

Maria Hill: He's all over the globe. Robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs, reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place. Maria Hill: Mostly guys left in a fugue state going on about old memories, worst fears, and something too fast to see. Steve Rogers: Maximoffs.

In simple words, all over the globe, while Ultron and Pietro stole military weaponry, propulsion lab equipment, robotic parts, and more, Wanda mind-controlled the people in those facilities. Ultron did this because he wanted to mass-produce the Ultron sentries created by HYDRA and also, some of them assisted Helen Cho (mind-controlled) in activating Vision. 

This also means that Wanda was indeed right, 80% of what happened to Sokovia was her fault and Pietro’s ('How could I let this happen? This is all our fault’), leaving aside the obvious one (Ultron), since those sentries were the ones that destroyed and killed half the citizens of Sokovia:

And I want to add, @deehellcat raised a pretty good point the other day in one of my posts: 

@deehellcat: In AOU both Tony and Bruce explicitly say they do not know how Ultron came to life because they had been working to make it happen, but could not. We all know Tony is notorious for taking blame for stuff he couldn’t have had anything to do with. Yeah, he said Ultron was his fault, and partly maybe it was, but he did not create Ultron. From all appearances, the Mind Stone itself did. Which brings to my mind the question of whether Wanda is in some way an avatar of it, but we won’t get into all that right now.

Thor mentions that Ultron and Vision’s powers all came from the Mind Stone but only one was corrupted. Wanna guess why? Tony and Bruce wondered what they missed while working on the program and Jarvis told them that he was going to continue to run variations on the interface and any developments because they were unsuccessful in creating Ultron. 

This was also confirmed in Infinity War where Shuri asks Bruce why didn’t they just reprogram the synapses to work collectively. Bruce explained that they had to attach each neuron non-sequentially, meaning that Tony and Bruce couldn’t program the A.I.’s polymorphic structure by themselves. Something or someone else did it for them. The sentience integration trials were unsuccessful and even Jarvis didn’t know what triggered his activation, couldn’t read how Ultron blocked the mainframe and finally rendered the program as a ‘malfunction’. Then the Avengers were scared that Ultron was going to find military’s nuclear codes while he was free, but he couldn’t do it because someone didn’t let him find those: JARVIS. Ultron attacked Jarvis because he was scared of what the A.I. could do, so Jarvis went underground. Ultron didn’t even detect Jarvis when he was still operating. Why? Because both work on a different matrix. Tony and Bruce had to reconfigure Jarvis' matrix to fit Vision.

And as we saw in Wandavision, at first, Wanda wasn’t really conscious about what she was doing, it was her chaos magic reacting to her whims. Hill (AOU) mentions that Wanda’s powers (under the impression that those were enhancements and not a mutation) are neural-electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation and more, but how is it possible that she can manipulate those and commands them like an expert if she doesn’t understand them? As agatha said: ‘It’s magic on autopilot’. At the beginning of AOU, Wanda mind-controls Tony;

Ultron: But you needed something more than a man. That's why you let Stark take the scepter. Wanda Maximoff: I saw Stark's fear, I knew it would control him, make him self-destruct. Ultron: Everyone creates the thing they dread. 

And the first thing Ultron says to the Avengers at his activation is this:

Ultron: I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or...I was a-dream?

Wanda Maximoff: I can read him. He is dreaming.

Then Cho explains that those are not called dreams, It's Ultron's base consciousness. Wanda previously stated she couldn’t read Ultron’s mind but she can do it with Vision. This is probably because Ultron’s consciousness comes from her very own magic; something even Wanda can’t understand.

And notice the way he talks about life in general:

Ultron: But, down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices. Ultron: How could you be worthy? You're all killers. Ultron: There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction  Ultron: I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me, no strings on me. This quote with what Agatha told Wanda: ‘You're making her say this. She's your meat puppet, I just cut her strings.’ Ultron: Men of peace create engines of war. Ultron: You think I'm one of Stark's puppets, his hollow men? I mean look at me, do I look like Iron Man? Stark is nothing! Don't compare me with Stark! he's a sickness! 

Ultron tells her that he’s ‘come to save the world’ and he accused the Avengers of not wanting to change the world ‘You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change’, similar to what Wanda told Agatha about joining and volunteering for HYDRA; ‘We wanted to change the world’. It’s kinda funny because Wanda told Steve that Tony doesn’t really know the difference between saving the world and destroying it, and I think that was her. She was describing herself. This would also explain Ultron’s gigantic hate for Tony. It doesn’t directly come from him. It comes from Wanda.

She saw this and was scared, but at the end she smiled:

(there’s seriously something dark going on inside of her lmaoo)

Thor: If you believe in peace, then let us keep it. Ultron: I think you're confusing peace with quiet.

-

Citizens of West-view: When you let us sleep, we have your nightmares. Wanda: That's not true. I've kept you safe in here. You feel...You feel at peace.  Citizens: No. We feel your pain.

Here she’s trying to convince them that she was helping them, that they felt peace and that she kept them safe. And after they denied this and told her they were in pain, she actually attacked them. 

Wanda Maximoff: Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that? (YOU lmaoooo)

Wanda is more powerful than Doctor Strange (confirmed in WV) and Vision (confirmed in WV and Civil War), it’s not unreasonable to think it was her who activated and created the integration of the corrupted consciousness of what Ultron was, since she can also recreate Vision with her chaos magic too. 

[geekgemsspooksandtoons]

Bioshock Rebirth Part 1 told in a humorous way

Showed this to @feckinatlas like some of the others. I had this in my draft oh wait. Yeah this is part of my Bioshock Rebirth AU, my reimagining/reboot of the Bioshock franchise. While I don’t wanna write a full on novel because I’m lazy like that. Yet I wanted to make a funny recap. Originally this would of been part 1 and 2. But I decided to keep as 1 right now.

Basically was inspired by stuff like the ByteSize recaps of The Last Of Us. So if you want to know the full story but keep it short. Despite some parts seem long and deep. Yet this is told in a humorous way. Hopefully you enjoy it. Including the night before I am uploading this. I decided to add Booker’s parts because I imagine him as a boss.

Part 1.

Archie: My aircraft was shot down and now it crashed into the ocean near this lighthouse! What the Hell is all this!? Andrew Ryan? An underwater city called Rapture? Weird looking people trying to kill me? Weird diving suit monsters with drills? Little girls holding giant needles? What the Hell is going on down here?

Atlas: Oy lad! My name is Atlas. I’m the leader of the rebellion going against Ryan. He’s an asshole and I made the distress call. We need to take Ryan down and we need your help.

Archie: Okay man who I trust and grow to admire as a father figure who reminds me of myself. Hi two ladies.

Daisy: Hey there I’m Daisy. I’m Atlas’s 2nd in command and....I guess I’m gay with Diane.

Diane: We had a weird history.

Archie: Ah no judgement there. :)

Atlas: Now we need your help rescuing this young girl Ryan has imprisoned. We don’t know why she’s imprisoned but we need to save her.

Later.

Elizabeth: I’m Elizabeth and I want to go Paris! But I’m stuck in this tower. :( But you’re real and that’s so awesome! :D

Archie: Hi Elizabeth! I’m here to rescue you! 

Bluto: Who in the fuck wants her out!?

Archie: AH SHIT HE’S A BIG DIVING SUIT MONSTER! 

*When they get out.*

Elizabeth: Oh my God it’s so great out here!

Archie: Oh crap I’m starting to like her.

*As they explore Rapture more.*

Atlas: Ah crap they’re working like a team! She’s using these small tears to help him out while he shoots stuff!

Elizabeth: I feel like I’m gonna lose my mind and go crazy seeing all this death and unpleasant stuff. :( Especially after meeting that Steinman guy.

Archie: You’re going to be alright. Nothing is gonna hurt you. Don’t become apathetic. We’ll get through this together. :)

Elizabeth: I feel comfortable with you. :)

Atlas: Now since that Big Daddy is dead. Put that Little Sister out of her misery!

Archie: Oh Hell no man! There has to be another way!

Brigid: Do not hurt my little ones. Hello young man and young girl. Use this thing to free them from their torment.

Archie: Ah thanks lady. :)

Atlas: Don’t trust her Arch! She’s responsible for them!

Archie: But she’s trying to help them! :(

Booker: Argh! I work for Ryan’s personal guard! You’re Atlas’s Dog. I’ll send my troopers to get that girl back. Including I’ll wonder if I should capture or kill you!

*After going around unpopulated and some populated parts in Rapture for nearly a week.*

Archie: Ah man Tenenbaum’s safehouse is pretty nice. And these Little Sisters are kids and are great. :) Yet Brigid seems weird around. Especially she looked like I looked familiar. Even Atlas did so too. And sometimes he says these three words sometimes and my head hurts.

Later.

Julie: These are my franken trees.

Archie and Elizabeth: Woah!

Later.

Cohen: I’m Sander Cohen and I’m a weird and disgusting artist guy! 

Archie: Ugh I don’t like him.

Elizabeth: Me neither.

Jasmine: Hi I’m Jasmine and I’m a stripper. :)

Archie: This Jasmine lady is very nice. Glad we were able to rescue her.

Later.

Bluto: Argh! Give me back Elizabeth! I’m trying to protect her! 

Archie: We need to stop the Proto-Daddy! We have to kill him.

Elizabeth: No I can’t kill the closest thing I had to a protective brother.

Archie: I understand that Elizabeth but we have to stop him or he’s gonna cause more death and destruction. I would love if there was another way. Including there’s no turning back if you have to stop him.

Elizabeth: I understand but let me be the one who has to put him down. I’m not going to enjoy this.

*Puts him through a tear that sends him into space as he falls from orbit.*

Bluto: Nooooo! You were my best friend Elizabeth!

Elizabeth: :(

Archie: I’m sorry for your loss. I’m sure he was a great friend. *Hugs her to comfort her.* You’re still a good person.

Booker: Argh! That’s it boy scout let’s fight! Why the Hell aren’t you mutating? Why are you so badass? How are you able to kill so many of my troopers with some what ease! Fight me boy scout! I’ll show you how a real soldier fights!

Archie: Okay gruff old man!

Booker: No you beat me! I just want my daughter back! She’s the only important thing in my life! She deserves better than this. :(

Elizabeth: You’re my father. 

Archie: I’m not gonna kill you because while you’re an asshole. You don’t wanna hurt children and you still love your daughter. Now let’s go Elizabeth. 

Later.

Atlas: Alright Arch we’re close to getting to Ryan. How about you go to Ryan and take him down. Whether you kill him or not. I’ll take care of Tenenbaum and Elizabeth since they trust me a lot. Even though with Tenenbaum she still doesn’t trust me fully.

Archie: Thanks Atlas. You’re a great friend. :) Now excuse me while me and some others go to Ryan. You can take care of the two closest people I’ve known in my life. I’m sure they will be in good hands.

Later.

Archie: It’s over Ryan! 

Ryan: A man chooses. A slave obeys. A broken slave has no purpose. You’re a broken machine who’s entire life was a lie. 

Archie: Bullshit. >:(

Ryan: Would you kindly? Familiar phrase.

Archie: Ah my head hurts AND OH MY GOD ATLAS KEPT USING THAT PHRASE AND I’VE BEEN SEEING WEIRD SHIT LIKE ME WANTING TO KILL YOU!

Ryan: Yes he has and you saw that Fontaine was involved in your process. Now beat me to death with this golf club so you can prove you’re just a slave.

Archie: Hell no old man! >:( *Takes the genetic key and goes back to Atlas.*

Later.

Archie: Atlas how did you know of the WYK plans?

Atlas: I don’t know what you’re talking about boyo? But hey did you know Elizabeth’s lips taste like strawberries? She tried to kiss me you know.

*Atlas gets knocked out by a wrench and Archie finds the two ladies tied up.*

Elizabeth: Oh my God you came back! I found out I was born full of ADAM!

Brigid: Yes he did thank goodness you came back. Atlas terrorized us! 

Archie: I’m here to save you two from Atlas because he’s been lying to me about a lot of stuff. *His radio gets called.* Hello?

Atlas: Code Yellow. >:)

Archie: AHHHHH! I’m slowly dying and it’s more raw now! My life is flashing right before my eyes! 

Elizabeth: Oh no Archie! :(

Brigid: We need help and have to find the stuff to stop him from dying! We owe it to him!

Archie: I’m slowly losing my mind! I’m dying! I’m remembering everything! Andrew Ryan! Frank Fontaine! Yi Suchong! Brigid Tenenbaum! Jasmine Jolene! the Lutece twins! Johnny Topside! What the Hell happened to me!? What is my life!? I’m remembering everyone I met in Rapture! I’m not 23 and actually 5 years old!? My name is Jack Ryan!? What the Hell happened to my life!?

After that he wakes up.

Archie: Brigid knew who I was! I’m angry! >:( She had a hand in ruining my life!

Elizabeth: Archie no! I forgave Brigid! Please don’t hurt her!

Brigid: Ah yes you’re pointing a gun on me that I made sure has no ammo. I think you finally remember everything. :(

Archie: My real name is Jack Ryan. I’m actually 5 years old. I literally was ordered to snap a puppy’s neck by Suchong. Frank was gonna use me to save Elizabeth and kill Ryan! You were one of the people responsible for ruining my life!? And you didn’t tell me when you found out it was me!? I’m not a actual human because of what you, Fontaine, and Suchong did to me! I was supposed to be a slave! What the Hell did Johnny Topside do to me!? >:O

Brigid: Yes I had a hand. But I feel great shame. You were meant to be a sleeper agent. But Johnny discovered you. He couldn’t handle the idea of someone like you going through that. So he kidnapped you, punched Suchong in the face, and he had help reprogramming you. I felt empathy as well. This happened when I realized what I did to the Little Sisters. Me and him changed your life. We gave you the name Archie. While the Lutece twins made sure you were in a place where Fontaine could never find you.

Archie: Johnny did that?

Brigid: Yet due to the experiments done on you. Along with you going through military training. You became stronger than you ever were. Yet it was your own choice to become a soldier.

Archie: Woah.

Brigid: Fontaine used Johnny’s death as propaganda. As if Johnny was the first to rebel against Ryan. In a way he did. But the truth was that all Johnny wanted for you was a normal life. In a way he was practically the real Atlas in a way. Since Atlas was inspired by him. Including some of Johnny’s traits and memories went to you in a different way. He became a slave to give you freedom. And I feel terrible that I couldn’t save him. :( You don’t have to forgive me. 

Archie: I forgive you. ;_; *Breaks down crying as Brigid, Elizabeth, and the Little Sisters hug him. Because before this. He showcased he was more human than he ever was.*

Later.

Archie: We gonna stop Frank! 

Atlas: Oy you fucking mistake! You were the closest thing I had to a son! You were meant to be my Ace In The Hole! Yet you didn’t kill Ryan! You got too close to Mother Goose, the Little Magician, those brats, and anyone else! Johnny Topside ruined everything! Tenenbaum betrayed! So you know what, I’m gonna take the woman you’ve grown to love! She and all the ADAM in this city are gonna make me a lot money! You are gonna die alone because you have everything I didn’t have!

Archie: Johnny Topside was more of a father than you ore Ryan could ever be! >:(

Atlas: That’s it time for the disappointment wrench! >:(

*Hits him with the disappointment wrench.*

Elizabeth: No! ;_;

Atlas: My secret is out! I gonna get the Hell out of this city! Everything’s gone busto!

Archie: We gonna save Elizabeth! He has the genetic key! We need to kill Frank Fontaine!

Daisy: We the remaining rebellion can help you!

Archie: That’s great! But I’m worried we may need some Little Sisters help to free Elizabeth! I don’t want to put them in danger.

Brigid: Don’t worry I’ll trust you and we believe in you. We’ll help however we can.

Later.

Archie: It’s okay Elizabeth! I’m coming! Holy shit Frank is that you!?

Atlas: I’m half transformed by this ADAM and using some power from Elizabeth. Now time to go mano a mano against you.

*Both men just scream battle cries at each other as they fight to the death.*

Atlas: I’m so angry at you! I’m gonna beat you to death! Meaning you can’t save this woman you’ve grown to love! 

*Miranda, Sally, and some Little Sisters free Elizabeth so she can use a tear on him.*

Atlas: Ah crap! 0_0;

*Archie screams a battle cry as he stabs Atlas in the chest with a ADAM syringe and hangs him brutally down a glass ceiling. Resulting in the death of Atlas/Frank Fontaine.*

Archie: Hooray we did it! :)

Elizabeth: Yes we did it! :)

Daisy: Fontaine is dead! Ryan is gone! Let’s make Rapture a place where a community can safely live at. :)

Archie: I’m not alone anymore too. I have a family now! 

*Two months of changing stuff as much as they can. Since there is the scary risk if Rapture is found by the surface.*

During that time, relaxation, relationships developing. Also this.

Jasmine: I’m sorry that I sold you for money. I know you must hate me. 

Archie: I forgive you. :) I understand and you’re my birth mom.

Jasmine: Thank you. ;_; *They just hug each other.* I’m so proud of you.

[fruitso]

Anemone: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution Analysis + Theories!

Okay, so here are my thoughts/ramblings on what’s going on in “Anemone: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution” and what it means for the series and the future. Obviously spoilers, so read below at your own discretion.

The biggest question for anyone going in who is familiar with the series is: where are we? The world we see is obviously NOT the one we’re introduced to in the first film. This is an Earth that is not covered by the scab coral, so is it from the past? An alternate dimension? It’s similar to the alternate Earth we see in Eureka Seven AO (there’s even a Generation Bleu sign in one of the backgrounds), though there aren’t any LFO or IFOs.

Now, this film does establish that alternate worlds exist, so that latter option isn’t too far fetched. However that doesn’t explain why certain characters like Anemone and Mischa exist in this world, while others like Renton or the rest of the Gekko crew don’t. And if you recall from the first film, there were posters of Anemone around, so SHE clearly existed in some form in that world.

And then there’s Dewey. He’s the biggest clue to what is really going on, since he is the one with seeming knowledge about these alternate worlds. It’s not entirely clear yet what his deal is, or even how he got there. The last time we saw him, he’d been attacked by the Silver Box’s red ribbons, but appeared to be okay afterward—if a little shaken. From what Dr. Bear says, they found Dewey shortly after the scab coral began appearing in their world, and Dewey mentions something about being caught up in it. So was Dewey somehow split into two worlds following the events of the Summer of Love? And what’s going on with his eyes when he releases himself at the end? I assume we’ll find that out in the following film (though I’m guessing it has something to do with Silver Box), but as to how he arrived in this world, I have a theory, which also ties into what’s going on with Eureka.

So when explaining what’s going on to Dr. Bear and Anemone, Dewey talks about a Child of God being chosen to be sacrificed, and that where he came from it was Renton who was chosen and subsequently killed. It’s hard to tell whether Dewey is simply mad at this point, but he does go on to talk about how the Child of God was sent to show God’s mercy, but not to use that power for evil. He also says that the child fell to the “witch”—the witch being Eureka. However there’s later a discrepancy, at the end of the film when the scab coral mutates into that monstrous form, Dewey tells Dr. Bear that the Child was “swallowed up” by God’s power and then abandoned when he tried to demonstrate that power “fairly”. Before he kills(?) Dr. Bear, Dewey says that since the Child won’t do it, HE will, and then proclaims that the incarnation is “complete” and that the world will be overwritten by him. So I think it’s safe to say he was lying about Renton dying—or he was unclear about what happened to Renton. However this still doesn’t explain what he’s talking about, since Renton was only a kid when the Summer of Love happened. Unless the ‘sacrifice’ he’s talking about was when Eureka went through Acperience…

Okay, so this point is muddled partly because the first film did such a poor job of providing clarity, but this is what I think happened. In the first film, after the Summer of Love, Eureka is placed within the custody of Facility Guard—that universe’s version of the Gekko State. The purpose of the Guard is ostensibly to keep a watch over Eureka, but Holland plans on going rogue and taking her and the Nirvash away from the Federation. Now either before or after this rebellion, the Gekko arrives in Bell Forest where Renton is attending a middle-school/military academy while his adoptive parents, Charles and Ray, are taking vacation. Eureka and the Nirvash crash into Renton’s home, just like in the series, and presumably that’s when Renton decides to join the Gekko. Renton ends up developing feelings for Eureka and wants to ‘free’ her like she did for him, and so they somehow end up trying to go through Acperience. How and why is never clear (though according to Eureka’s dialogue in the second film, it’s because they went to the Silver Box, though the first film doesn’t clarify this) but afterward Eureka ends up in her scab form, at which point Holland forbids Renton from contact with Eureka and he runs away.

SO, this is probably what Dewey is talking about when he mentions that the Child was “swallowed up” by God’s power, since during the Acperience we see that Eureka’s arm begins mutating and threatens to swallow up Renton. But how he could be aware of this is unclear, as is what Dewey believes is the ‘proper’ use of God’s power. (I’m also assuming “God’s power” in this case is the Nirvash, and/or the Amita Drive).

Speaking of Acperience and Eureka, this is also an important point of divergence between the two films. In that first film, we saw that Renton stopped the Acperience when he grabbed the Amita Drive before Eureka’s arm could swallow him, and afterward discovered Eureka had reversed into her Scab form. BUT in the second film, when Anemone finally confronts Eureka, she claims that she did kill Renton when her arm swallowed him, and that she woke up alone in her scab form. At that point Eureka says she began to use the Silver Box’s power to dream up alternate realities in an effort to bring Renton back to life. We’re then treated to a montage of various scenes and images from all the entries in the Eureka Seven franchise—the series, 2009 film, AO, Hi-Evolution, and even the video game and manga! (I have thoughts on this, but I’ll get to them later)

This is apparently why the scab coral were taking over Anemone’s world, as each dream Eureka tried to conjure into existence ended up forming more of the scab. However it’s shown that Eureka was wrong: Renton didn’t die. At the end of the film, the Nirvash type Z appears out of an egg (which Dewey calls the “Guide to Nirvana” and apparently its “final form”?) which Eureka feels is calling her, before the scene transitions literally to another world where we see Renton holding up the Compact Drive (and also wearing his costume from episode 50).

So what I think this means is that Renton and Eureka went to the Silver Box where they were sucked into Acperience. Renton managed to get them out, but a part of Eureka was absorbed into Silver Box, and that part believed she had killed Renton and thus fell into despair, and at that point started dreaming up those alternate realities. This somehow began manifesting in Anemone’s world as giant scab coral which began to overtake the planet. Dewey somehow ended up in that world and taken prisoner, where he revealed that the scab’s core was Eureka. Thus dubbed “Eureka Seven”, the government formed ASSID and Anemone’s father found a way to enter the scab’s consciousness through “diving” technology. He, and a team of girls labeled the Super Six tried to infiltrate and destroy the scab through the inside, but each of them were absorbed by the scab, later manifesting as the cores of the giant mech Nirvash X which appears to defend the scab coral from attackers.

Now at this point, what is still unclear is what happened between the end of Hi-Evo 1 and this film; when we left Renton in the first film he was on his way to reunite with Eureka (and the text tells us this would occur within 18 hours). It was also before Charles and Ray were to attack the Gekko to kill Eureka on orders from the Federation. But at the end of the second film, after Anemone and Eureka escape the Command Cluster and/or Silver Box, the crew of the Gekko as well as Charles and Ray appear from the destroyed scab coral, as well as the girls of the Super Six. However Renton is still apparently on another world. So why did the Gekko and the Beams appear? My theory: it has something to do with the Eureka that Renton managed to rescue from Acperience. In the first film, we clearly see that Eureka was conscious after Renton pulled her out from the scab. And when we left things off in that film, the Gekko was about to be attacked by Charles and Ray, like we saw in the original series. So I think something happened with Eureka when Charles and Ray infiltrated the Gekko which absorbed them all and transported them into the scab coral forming in Anemone’s world. Of course this raises the question of what happened to the Eureka of that world, and how far the “Eureka Seven” scab coral was spreading—was it just Anemone’s world, or were more realities affected?

The answers I feel all lie with Silver Box and the nature of all these alternate worlds. There’s still a lot about Silver Box that we don’t know, but it’s clear it can reveal and affect multiple worlds. When Adrock stops the Summer of Love event, he sees a vision of multiple planets and an infinity symbol which morphs into a cube. At the end of the second film when we transition to Renton on the other world, we see that same cube again briefly, but red. Could this be similar to the Quartz from AO, which allowed the scab to travel to alternate dimensions? Adroc does say something about what he sees being the “true world”.

And this ties into the montage when Eureka talks about the realities she created. Dewey mentions that these worlds are garbage remnants created by a false God, as opposed to the true worlds. I don’t think this is supposed to mean that all the previous entries in the Eureka Seven franchise are ‘false’; when we see the worlds that Eureka came up with in the scab coral, they’re just random scenarios from the series that have nothing to do with the other entries. However I think when we see that montage, it’s supposed to represent the alternate worlds that Eureka saw when she was within the Silver Box, not necessarily the ones she created, because she says that no matter how many times she dreamed she couldn’t bring Renton back to life, even though Renton never dies in any of the other E7 entries.

So what will happen next? Well I think it’s clear that Eureka is going to take the Nirvash Z and use it to find Renton, which supposedly will bring them to ‘Nirvana’. What is Nirvana? My guess is that it’s something that will tie into all the alternate universes. Dewey says that God doesn’t destroy a world he creates, but rather “washes away the evil society and rebuilds it”. This sounds a lot like the Limit of Questions, which in the original series was explained as an event which would collapse reality if too much sentient life existed in the same space, and I imagine that Dewey’s role in the next film will be to bring about a similar event across all the alternate worlds.

[testingcheatsenabletrue]

My One, My Only, My Guardian... [pt.1]

[pt.2]

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

The wind whistled as it blew through the crumbling remains of the abandoned Golden Age town. Debris drifted across the ground, rattling faintly until it tumbled into a piece of rubble and stopped. What a sorry place to return to. I’ve been searching across the solar system for my Risen, I’ve checked every place I could and then checked again, again, and again, but I haven’t found them anywhere. This place? I’d been here so many times. Hundreds, thousands of times.

My first instinct is to say this is perhaps the 8th time I’ve been here, but in reality, it’s been so much more than that. Like. So much more. One thing was for certain, though: this time was probably the last, if the distant rumbles of Fallen salvage ships were anything to go by. Traveling alone and defenseless was never the safest bet, but it’s the only one I’ve been able to make for a while now.

I used to be in a little group of Ghosts, a pack if you will. Right off the bat, the lot of us decided safety in numbers was just about the only safety we’d get in our quest for our Risen. The first five of us to leave our pack found their Risen shortly after we started. Since then, we’ve gradually shed members while traveling. Out of the original twenty or so, eight had found their Risen, three were killed, and all the rest have given up.

All the rest, except for me. And I’ll be honest: if I don’t find my Risen here and now... I’m probably going to join them, one way or another.

Speaking of this place… I don’t know why I keep coming back here. It was the first place I tried looking. It has some sort of… feeling, within the earth itself, that I can’t describe. I can’t shake the sense that my other half is here, somewhere in the city.

I’ve often wondered what they would be like. I hoped that they’d be like Saint-14, or Cayde-6. Strong, funny, good-hearted. I sure hope they’re an exo. Then we’d have something in common, and I wouldn’t have to worry about healing them from environmental damage. I hear that’s really hard to deal with.

I always imagined them being a protector, a Titan, someone who put themselves before others. A gentle titan.. who gives really warm hugs. Or a cool hunter, with really warm coats! Just. Warm. And kind, soft. Someone who’d be nice to be held by.

I pass by a scraggly old tree that seemed to wave to me on my way to the abandoned construction site, giving me pause. I liked that tree. I named it something funny a couple hundred years ago. Like… Paul, or something. Paul sounds about right. Oh, I remember when Paul was just a little sapling – I thought it was a flower, at first. So small.

“Hi Paul.”

I continued on, unsteady from the wind, scanning rubble as I went. I circled the construction site. Once. Twice. Three times. Four.

I was forced to stop and hide as a Fallen ship roared overhead. I hid under a clump of weeds, close to the ground in hopes I wouldn’t be detected. I’ll admit… I panicked a bit and dug myself a ways into the finer bits of rubble. It was habit! Usually I’m not lucky enough to be stuck in a place with weeds. And I watched this crab.. thing… hide by burying itself in sand, so of course I do that now.

Wouldn’t have to if I had a Risen…

Oh, I really hope I can find mine. We’ll be two peas in a pod, my Risen and I, and I’ll never have to be scared and alone ever again…

I’ll be scared and with a friend, instead.

Or… different than a friend. I wouldn’t say more, but something other than a friend. Nothing more, nothing less, just… different.

We can travel the world together. Heck, the solar system. We’ll see beautiful things together… sunsets, oceans, ancient forests, glaciers. On this planet, or others. I always wanted to show my Risen all the pretty places I’ve been. I’ll pick my Risen flowers! Don’t know how, what with… not having hands… but I’ll find a way. For my Risen! And they’ll keep me safe and warm and hold me close…

I snuck a peak outside my hiding spot, shimmying across the ground slightly to get a better view of the sky. I sure didn’t hear any Fallen ships anymore, but you can never be too sure. Something felt funny. Like the ‘its-just-around-the-corner’ kind of funny. Except that corner was… the… the pile of gravel I’m currently hiding on. What? Another peak around and I was up in the air, squinting at the pile of rubble. I have it a closer look.

What I assumed was just another hill of rubble seemed to closer resemble a remarkably large pile of gravel that, over the years, was compacted into more solidified chunks. Grass was trying to grow over it, but it seemed like it was too dense for anything other than the roughest of weeds to deal with. It also seemed to have a lot of erosion going on… I could have sworn this pile was taller last time I was here. But I also thought it was rubble for… my whole life, really, so I could be wrong.

I gave the pile a quick scan.

Yep. Signs of erosion, rainfall. And…

I’m sorry, is that a body? Under this pile of gravel? But it’s huge! Like a small hill. How could a body be-

You know what, I’ve seen weirder places for a body to be.

I gave the spot another scan, this time trying to isolate the body. I could barely keep still. I always get like this during a candidate scan, but this time, in the place I always had a hunch about? This was beyond exciting.

Female. Exo… exo! Oh, please let this be my risen, please let this be my risen…

Frantically, I looked around. There has to be some way I can recover the body, get a better scan result. Wait, I was in a construction yard! I could use one of those, uhm, big dig machines. I’m not sure what they called them in the Golden Age. I dubbed them scoopers. ‘Cause.. they can scoop… things, I guess? That seems like it was their intended purpose, with the big bucket ends. The air buzzed as I zipped over to the nearest scooper. I could get one of these running. Easy peasy, even if they were old, rusted, hadn’t been used since the collapse…

If I could keep myself steady.

Just… flip a switch here, wrestle with some old engines there, give it a spiritual kick, and…

Well. Not this one.

I went over to another one, did the same. Not that one.

Third one, same attempt. It sputtered to life. It jittered and stopped, coughing at any chance it could, but it probably would do the trick.

I was so excited. This was it. This was my Risen. It had to be! I always knew she was here, I just knew it, I knew it! Screw you, that one really mean Ghost who said I would never find my Risen! Look who’s laughing now! Not you! What was your name? Barold? Bensen? Bob?

No, wait, it doesn’t matter. You gave up! I didn’t! And look who’s found their Risen. Me! Ghost!

I need to get a name sometime. My Risen can give it to me! Oh, I hope it’s really cute.. or cool. I can be cool. Yeah, I need a cool name. Like Jack. Or- or- Fin… bar.

I’m not good with names.

Oh, wait, my Risen, right!

I halted the scooper and peaked to the pile. It was very compact, but it wasn’t like it was cemented together. I just needed to be gentle, so I don’t hurt my Risen. Not that she can feel it, she’s kindof. Really dead. But still! First impressions. Not sure if she’ll remember this when I wake her up. I carefully started to nudge the gravel hill, testing the surface before I began digging into it. The old machinery struggled, but it was a good sport about it.

Digging took a lot longer than I expected, though mostly due to the scooper. Poor thing was old and tired. It’d been years since it last worked like this. Eventually, I uncovered my Risen. I used the machine to pick her up by the torso, move her out to the open where it would be easier to wake her up, and set her down. Carefully. Gently. Be nice! She’d do the same for me, if the situation were flipped.

Surely…

I rested the scooper’s arm down on the ground and turned it off.

“There you go, buddy. Sleep well. Thank you.”

I flew towards my Risen, my path more a wobbly spring than a straight line. I was so excited; I can’t contain it. This was it. I could feel it. She was the one! My one. My only. My Risen.

Another scan.

Female. Exo. Not sure what she used to be, her clothes didn’t match what I expected a Golden Age construction worker to have. It was a suit, of sorts, and thick jacket. Very official. Almost a military style.

But the Golden Age was a time of peace…

Whatever. They were remarkably well preserved, but even then, they were worn and dull. They were also not well situated, giving her an almost disheveled look despite the formality of the actual clothes themselves. I couldn’t tell if that was from the scooper or not.

She was a bit rusted, with excessive damage to her face. It was nearly completely caved in.

Is.. is she recoverable? Please…

My shell shuttered. She was. She just was. I could feel it. She was the one, my one, I could do this…

What would I say… what will I say? I’ve been searching so long, you’d think I’d have thought of this by now, but… all I’ve ever thought of is the life I would have with my Risen, not how it would start.

Vast oversight, Ghost.

Well. What was she like? What will she be like when I wake her?

Another scan!

Female. Exo. She’s very sound, cognitively. No corruption, mutation of any kind. Not like those on the moon. Certain. Convicted. Dedicated. Stubborn, maybe? Last few memories don’t sit well with me, though. The emotions… anger, fear, the kind of fear that makes you sick, sadness, loneliness, fear again… then cold. That’s the last thing. Fear and cold.

But she’s the one. She’s my Risen. 

She won’t be lonely with me around.

I shivered again. This was it. This was it.

It all happened in what felt like a single second. I saw the spark, burning bright as the sun. It had a grandness to it, like an explosion that you couldn’t tear your eyes away from, despite its danger. Its intrigue, its glory, the terrifying awe and dreadful, humbling drum of your core as the shockwave hit you head-on. The Light came pouring down like rainfall, coalescing into a beam that was as instant and deafening as a thunderclap on a sunny day.

In a moment, it was there, and in a moment, it had gone.

I did it. She was here.

My Risen laid on the ground in front of me, looking to the sky with tired eyes, blinking slowly. I hovered above her, placing myself front and center.

“Eyes up, Guardian,” I breathed.

The seconds crawled by like hours as she gazed up at me, her expression not giving a thing away. What would she say? How did she feel? I couldn’t wait to hear-

“Five more minutes.”

She rolled over and went to sleep.

…

Well, that was anticlimactic.

[atopearth]

Chrono Cross Part 3 - The Destroyed Future & Song of Hope

It's kinda crazy that the Masamune is there blocking the way to the Dead Sea. It's saddening that it's some kind of evil sword that makes people go crazy when they go near it or wield it. It seems that only the dragon sword Einlanzer can break the seal of the Masamune. I see, the Einlanzer is given to the most gifted Acacia Dragoon, so Garai had it first, then Dario, and probably Glenn in the future. I always found Radius and Garai's story saddening, mainly because it was really normal. Normal for Radius to have been envious of Garai and wanting to best him, and thus seeking the Masamune, but saddening that it ended up consuming him and amplifying his negative emotions which ended up with him killing Garai. It's an unforgivable act that he can never live with, but nevertheless something he's forced to live with for the rest of his life. I wonder if Dario and Glenn know...

I've always loved the music in Dead Sea, I think it really suits the atmosphere, like that weird quirky and mysterious feeling. Anyway, I love how the treasure chest containing Freefall kinda gives you a literal freefall back to the beginning lmao. Arris Dome?? These ruins are Arris Dome?? It's kinda saddening to know of the fate of the Acacia Dragoons here...to think that they all died here in captivity is rather terrible. I love how there's that Enertron helping you recover your HP etc that says you rejuvenated everything but you're still hungry, it's just like in Chrono Trigger🤣 OMG, that broken bell at the place you see Miguel is Nadia's bell?! The bell the king named after Marle at the end of Chrono Trigger?! Btw, I'm honestly shocked that the kids Serge see running around are actually Crono, Lucca and Marle. And I find it absolutely terrible that it says Nadia's bell will never be heard again. This was not what I wanted after the nice happy ending of Chrono Trigger! If...Serge is the one that will cause this destructive future, it's pretty saddening to hear it from our previous main characters that we're the ones killing it after they tried so hard to save it from Lavos before... The Dead Sea culminates all of the futures that were eliminated, the ones that shouldn't exist... Nothing is really "living" here and the things that are here never age. Just like Miguel who has been here for 14 years... I feel so sorry for Leena though, her father is here alive, but she'll never see him again... I know Wazuki had no choice but to come here to stay away from the storm that night, and try to save the wounded Serge, but his insistence on going further into the Dead Sea ended up having Miguel stuck here for so so long... All the destroyed possibilities that will never happen because of the choices we didn't make all end up here..? Fate is what predetermines it all, controlling us and knowing everything. Is this basically like our "save point", the Record of Fate? The thing that knows everything, dictates whatever you do if you want to "live" and basically controls whatever you do because if you don't want to go on the "wrong path", you need to follow it, and if you don't want to be forgotten, you must record down your journey on it?? I wonder if staying here for so long has made Miguel think that there's no such thing as overturning fate and doing your own thing... He's been stuck here for so long, who knows if it's fate for him to be here forever or if it's his lack of choice and willingness causing him to be stuck here...Or he knew that it was his fate to die here so that Serge can "fix" everything. I honestly hate how Serge has to kill Miguel to restore the dimensional distortion..it's just so saddening that not only was Miguel stuck here all this time by himself, but he had practically assimilated himself into the Dead Sea so much that killing him was practically inevitable imo. When Miguel started talking about how Crono and them saved the world from Lavos back then, travelling through the different ages, it felt so weird to think about it because Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross feel like completely different worlds haha. I'm still baffled at how saddening of an existence the Dead Sea is though, it's literally everything "useless" brought into one place, everything that's unneeded in this world... The Sky Dragon saving them from the Dead Sea always felt random though, like was he watching over them all this time or something?

Kinda crazy to finally go back to Another World only to find that Lynx with Serge's body is creating such rampage across the land that people such as those in Arni Village are hiding in a shelter. Omgg, I completely forgot that the Dragon head skull in Fossil Valley is actually Draggy's mother!! I wonder if Skelly talked to her during the time he was there lol. Termina has been taken over by the Porre military in this world now too... Sad that our previous friends such as Guile can't recognise Serge in Lynx's body but that's understandable. I'm glad Karsh, Zoah and Marcy saved General Viper (at Fort Dragonia) though! He's not really a bad person at all. He just wanted the power to protect his people against Porre and stuff. It's kinda saddening yet sweet that if you have Home World Zappa in your party, he shows such relief at Karsh being alive and tells him to go see his mother to show her that he's well. It's...saddening that even though Karsh is his kid, this Karsh isn't really his kid at the same time... Omgg! So all along, it was that hopscotch kid outside the house (top left Termina) called Kein who was giving the little girl in the house the Drakehorn soup ingredients to heal her cough so that she can get better and then play with him! It was obvious that he actually wanted a friend even though he kept saying he didn't need friends, but I didn't realise how sweet he was to do that for their family, it's so wholesome and cute. It was honestly pretty hurtful to hear Glenn seem to know that Lynx is Serge but is unable to accept or face us because he can't take Lynx's face. I was pretty sad. On the other hand, damn those kids at the smithy have such complicated love relationships and everything! John the guy training outside has his girlfriend Annie supporting him all the time, but the girl Marina inside who has been trying to stop the two brothers from fighting all this time since the beginning of the game actually likes John! The funny thing is that the two brothers both like Marina and got rejected at the same time after she told them she actually likes John lol, kinda cute how one of them tells you to leave them alone and the other one is adamant on winning Marina's heart eventually. It's kinda cute how it basically sorta reflects how Dario and Glenn kinda were as kids. They both loved each other as brothers with Glenn respecting his big brother and Dario caring for Glenn, but I guess the difference is that even though they both liked Riddel, the one Riddel liked was Dario, so Glenn never had a chance. He was always second to Dario in terms of swordsmanship or the woman he loved I guess, it's pretty saddening.

Lmao when we go save Riddel and the dragoon that's been sleeping since the beginning of the game is still sleeping there LOL. Even the Porre soldiers are like whatever because they can't wake him up hahahah. That mutated cockroach boss though, so disgusting yet cute LOL. Hahaha Fargo was trapped here?! I can't believe they've been using and manipulating Orcha for so long with those whatever seeds that make his dark side come out. They even made him steal the Dragon's Tear from Guldove! That's so horrible... I'm so happy that Norris is such a good guy though. He didn't like how Riddel was being treated just to get info about her father, and he even helps her escape! It's just saddening that his superiors suck. It's hilarious how the Porre soldiers don't shoot you in battle, they literally just whack you with their guns lmao. Grobyc is as cool as usual, I mean, he's a killing machine but he's pretty cool to have his own thoughts and decide to join Serge because they're strong and don't just listen to the Porre military. Running away from that other machine wasn't scary since it was so weak, but dang are the Porre soldiers and everything persistent. Loved it when the guy that watches over the dragons let them all out to stampede the soldiers hahahha. Everyone is so helpful, it's sweet. Aww it was so cute when Marcy so sincerely apologised to Serge and he patted her head in response!! That was so sweet! So cute Harle picked a fight with Marcy to cheer her up though. Serge honestly doesn't say anything much, so sometimes it's difficult to gauge what he's thinking, but when he heard Kid outside wreaking havoc at Hermit's Hideaway trying to find Lynx, you could tell how much he cared about her that he instantly ran out to see her. Gotta love how Polly and Fargo save the day (since we were surrounded by Dark Serge's forces). It's really sweet yet heart wrenching to see Serge reminiscing about his memories with Kid and how now that he's Lynx, she's intent on killing him, it's just terrible to see the person that you cherish and love want to kill you because of your appearance... I feel sorry for Harle though, she likes Serge for the person that he is, but he'll never like her, and she can only watch over him for the limited time she has to spend with him... She's really cool for encouraging him all the time though. It's so sad that she has to leave no matter what you say to her though. I always get Serge to choose the world over her, but sometimes I wonder if it only hurts her more to hear that from Serge since she knows it's a lie... It's actually really cute how well assimilated the Dragoons are on the S.S. Invincible now btw hahaha, I mean, Karsh acting as Riddel's personal bodyguard near the pirate fanboy of hers is so funny hahahah.

I love visiting the sleeping Dragoon in Viper Manor, it's so cute how he now says come back soon everyone in his sleep LOL. He could probably sleep through the Acacia Dragoons coming to get their manor back lol. Ohh, Norris and them are leaving to go back to the mainland! Anyway, time for more side quests (which are the highlight of this game!) and getting the relics from the dragons to get through to the Sea of Eden! Aww young Glenn, Karsh and Dario are so cute! Glenn being a glutton who loves Viper Churros is so adorable lol! I had an inkling of it, but it's kinda crazy, even Karsh liked Riddel ever since he was a kid! I guess it's understandable, she's a really sweet person, and she seems fun too. It's just too bad there's only one of her, and her and Dario seem great together considering how much they both care for each other and go around together on little adventures. I feel so stupid right now... Solt and Peppor are called the Shaker Brothers because they're salt and pepper shakers!!! LOL, it somehow never clicked to me!! Hahaha. On the other hand, it's kinda saddening that Karsh's story with Dario is really similar to Radius and Garai. It's just that as Radius wanted power that Garai had, Karsh wanted Riddel's love that Dario had. I hope we get to see the full story soon! I guess it'll be shown when we see Dario? It's good that Karsh's story didn't end in tragedy like Radius' did. On the other hand, I'm glad that Solt and Peppor could feel and understand that Karsh isn't a bad person and wouldn't kill Dario like that. 

I'm so silly! Of course the best way to convince Fargo was to get Another World Fargo to talk some sense into him! It's kinda saddening but interesting to see how different Fargo is if he were stuck in the past or if he was able to move on. At least though, regardless of which Fargo it is, he still loves Zelbess just as much. Needless to say, but Magical Dreamers really describes Nikki and them well. I love how they showed the story of Fargo and Zelbess through their musical play, where Zelbess saved Fargo and taught him the song of Marbule. It was really sweet to see Nikki and Miki show the boundless and selfless love they had for each other and the world around them, because the reason Zelbess left her mermaid friends etc was because even though it was peaceful there, she didn't want to selfishly live in peace there whilst the world around them was at war. She and Fargo dreamed of a world where humans like Fargo and demi-humans like her could get along and love each other for who they are. I think it would have been so beautiful if they could see it together, but since that's not possible anymore, I hope Nikki and Marcy as their children will be able to create that world alongside Fargo, and everyone can find their happiness. It's really interesting how these Lagoonates are like the bad dream of the Black Dragon, and it is only through defeating them all that Serge can wake up the Black Dragon in Another World. Btw, I love love, super love the song! It's probably the most memorable part of Chrono Cross for me because it's what I look forward to the most every time I replay Chrono Cross! It's just so beautiful, hopeful and heartwarming to hear every single time. I love that we get it as the background song as we deal with the Lagoonates! I legit took my time with them because I just wanted to listen to the song lmao. It's so cool how the worlds are connected like that though~ I always found it so sweet that Miki really does love Nikki, it's so cute, I always hope that it'll work out for her. LMAO at the reaction of the people in Marbule when you defeat the Black Dragon, they're all like "don't kill me!" and they actually run away from you hahahaha. LOL at the Porre soldier staring at the treasure chest in a cell, and then when you take it, he's like where did it go?! Hahaha. Btw I know this is a stupid thing to care about, but I absolutely love the detail of having wet footsteps in the Viper Manor sewers! Seeing the water from every step you take is so cool! (Link for the song/play!)

I love the Earth Dragon Isle, it's so fun to go through the sand boil and blast the rockroaches down into the holes hahaha! It sounds so inhumane to do that though lol! I always thought the dragons were really nice to acknowledge Serge's will in wanting to change fate and defeat FATE, until I realised that they weren't really nice, but I can't remember what they wanted... I always found the Fire Dragon the cutest and the coolest looking! Omgg the Green Dragon is so annoying! Can't believe I had to kill so many monsters for it to come out, I always try my best to dodge them LOL. Okay, Sky Dragon looks the coolest! Definitely the big boss look hahahha. Lynx nearly died hahahah. Luckily I trapped UltraNova hehe~ Anyway, I've always loved Orlha's introduction, it's so cool how she single-handedly fended off the Porre soldiers from Guldove. It's kinda crazy how she gave Serge her precious sapphire brooch (family heirloom split in half with her twin sister) so that when he gets his body back, he can prove to her that that he really was Serge and is trustworthy enough for her to journey with him. I've always liked her for some reason even though I barely use her lol, maybe it's the twin tails hahahaha. Omggg, I wanted to feel sad over Dario and everything (since you're fighting him controlled by the Masamune right after reuniting with him), but wow, I remember he was a hard boss (that doesn't give a star!), but dang, he hits so hard! If I didn't steal those plates from the dragons to absorb the different elemental damages, Riddel probably would have died like ten times over. Even Miki died LOL. How does he do like 400 damage?! Crazy. Even Lynx was taking 200 damage and he has moonglasses! I was looking at the damage Riddel absorbed (with the Black plate equipped) and lmao, it was like 600 damage, literally double her life hahahah. The only time she died was when he attacked her and his three hits legit dealt like 500-600 damage alone lol. Anyway, I completely forgot that it was actually Dario who picked up the Masamune and was controlled by it, forcing Karsh to "kill" him as he fell off the cliff and washed off here. It must have really hurt when Dario told Karsh to kill him. It's kinda saddening to think about Dario and Riddel though. In Home World, Riddel is dead because she followed Viper and them to the Dead Sea where they were all consumed by the terminated time line, and in Another World, Dario is most likely dead. It's kinda crazy that they can still be together even though they're from different worlds though, it's such a beautiful love. On the other hand, I feel sorry for the maid that took care of the Dario with amnesia for 4 years, I feel like she liked him.. I think it's really cool how Dario is determined to rebuild the Viper Manor (Home World) now that everyone is dead/gone even if he's by himself. He's really a good guy. Btw, it's kinda interesting that Masamune is an evil sword here though, since in Chrono Trigger they seemed more like little kids who wanted some fun in their life? I guess they seem to be like that here too, it's just that somehow it got corrupted towards more evil stuff until Doreen (another soul in the sword?) comes to straighten Masa and Mune up? Anyway, I think it's so cool how Karsh and everyone else can rebuild the manor alongside Dario even if they're from a different world. Like Riddel said, despite the fact they're from different worlds, the fact remains that Dario is still Dario and she is still herself. Even if the ones in the Home World are dead, I'm glad Dario can still see the them from Another World.

I've always played Chrono Cross by relying on elements more than physical damage, but wow, when I fought the Criosphinx to get the sunglasses by just using Lynx, Fargo and Zoah to attack, spam imbecile, diminish and weaken, and spam heal whenever I needed to, it was actually pretty interesting. Very different to how I usually play haha! It was kinda boring though lol because I'm literally just healing and smacking the guy. But I guess it was worth it. Took a few tries though, because I was too lazy to buy some imbecile elements, but wow, lowering magic was veryyyy useful for this fight, weaken was good too, but imbecile was so much more important. We will soon get our original body back!! With the help of Steena and the Dragon Tear to navigate through Fort Dragonia in the Home World, it will be soon! But of course, Dark Serge interferes~ Anyway, he was pretty easy, the only hard thing was stealing the rainbow shell off him because I kept getting the trashy tiara instead zzz. Had to run away a couple of times but it was worth it! How...funny that in Chrono Trigger, we always deemed Lavos as the evil entity sucking up the energy of the planet and caused the destruction in 1999AD so we had to save the world from it, yet here in Fort Dragonia, when Serge is trying to get his body back, and it tells us the origin of life etc, after the "original people" came into contact with Lavos and became humans, we were in essence a progeny of Lavos, who like our progenitor began to devour the planet for our own means... Anyway, it's been so long, it feels weird to have Serge back lol. Ohh nice, we immediately get our previous team mates back! Now to get Orlha yay! Not that I'll use her though lol! The twin einlanzers are so cool!! Glenn can be like Garai now!! Still kinda sad that you don't get Dario in your party since I would love to have him and Riddel, especially since you can get so many people in this game!! Oh well, guess we can get Turnip LOL, can't believe I "grew" one of my party members at Hermit's Hideaway hahahaha. Anyway, Dario’s side quest and the one with Fargo/Nikki are probably my favourite side quests in this game and will always be. Fargo’s one presents a really beautiful story of dreams that people are still hoping to achieve now, and Dario’s presents nice youthful and loyal bonds of love and friendships. I just love seeing them and I probably love it more than the actual story itself haha. Can’t forget about Miguel though! He breaks my heart every time I get to his part because not only do i feel for the man himself, it also makes my heart break for the futures that never came about. Like, sure, any future is better than the destruction one, but in the one with destruction, there were likely people and children that never got to be together or born, but I guess that’s how it will always be when you make choices in your life.

[storywriting]

[ Vaguely related, I wish the Holland and Eureka relationship had been explored a bit more. Cut for vague minor spoilers because I’m a bad influence so some of my mutuals are watching this shit for the first time ;A; ]

Rewatching the early episodes I’m honestly struck by how utterly affectionate Holland is toward Eureka even though she doesn’t particularly return that affection to him or anybody else. Holland gets so aggro and combative as the series progresses that it’s honestly really easy to forget that side of him. I forgot that the was the one who thought Renton should join the Gekko and he had a pretty big obvious interest in watching Eureka’s clearly unusual behavior toward Renton. He seemed almost amused by them at first, not threatened by the development of their relationship at all. You’d never guess that he would have any issue with them in the future.

There’s also this concept that gets floated a few times that Holland only cares about Eureka because he’s using her to run away from the military and his problems therein. While that is partially the case, I honestly think the early episodes are proof that’s not entirely true. Yes, she is a factor in that, but he seems to really take an interest in her on a personal level, just as Adroc would have wanted. Despite how cold she seems to be toward everybody, Holland regards Eureka with a gentleness you really don’t see from him in most other contexts. It’s like when your kid is being kind of an asshole but you’re still loving toward them because you know they don’t understand how to not be an asshole yet.  Even with Renton he’s initially extremely personable at first, offering genuine advice and seeming to enjoy getting the hero treatment from somebody younger.

I think in his heart of hearts Holland wanted to see Eureka grow to be more human, but when Renton’s influence finally caused that to happen more quickly, he felt instantly threatened by the rapid change and the ways in which that  change complicated his relationship with her. Suddenly she’s acting all different and future of their success as edgy criminal eco-terrorists feels a lot more in jeopardy because he and Renton have a conflicting worldview. As much as he might hate to admit it, he was telling Eureka what to do and what to think almost as much as the military was. It made sense to. She didn’t know how to think for herself yet.  Holland knows exactly how much Eureka doesn’t know and some part of him is seriously questioning why he let her get in this deep in the first place. “I need to be the one protecting her. That little boy is just a kid. She doesn’t know anything. She can’t handle it. She can’t.”

And the writing does such interesting things with reversal and subversion when things really start to come to a head. The more human Eureka seems to become emotionally, the more her body mutates into something alien and unfamiliar.  Being normal is strangeness for her, and for Holland, too. He really carries this anxiety of watching her become a fully realized individual. Baby’s growing up and there’s so much danger in this world. For Holland, this person he thought he knew everything about is beginning to morph into strangeness.  Ever since Renton showed up asking what he should be doing, all kinds of wild shit has been happening, and now Eureka is asking the same question. Both Renton and Eureka in turn are learning this lesson about the world, about violence, about expectations and compliance  Suddenly it’s hard to have a game plan. He knows it’s right for them to grow up and learn these things, but that doesn’t mean that’s and easy or comfortable transition to make. 

In a lot of ways Holland’s story is about letting go. Just like any parent, natural or incidental, he has to let the kids go, and that’s so incredibly hard for him because he’s been at the helm for so many years and he has so many people relying on him.

Holland is constantly making the choice to shoulder the weight of the world’s conflicts for everybody else, going as far as to take as much blood onto his hands as he needs to in order to ensure the kids will never have to spill any blood themselves.  He carries these huge existential burdens for everybody else but it never matters quite as much as when he realizes he has to let go and finally commits to doing so. It takes so much pushing from the kids, from Talho, and from the oncoming barrage of circumstances for him to realize that.

Renton and Holland are both deeply self sacrificial characters who share a profound love for the the home they’ve built and the people they build with. Knowing this, it’s amazing they never really get the chance to see eye to eye for long. They have a lot in common.

Holland is a really good character, man. ;A; There’s so much about his journey we don’t get to see and Renton and Eureka don’t get to see because he’s an adult and other than some unfortunate lapses of judgement, he mostly keeps his adult problems among the other adults where he can. There’s some catharsis in there that I would just adore to have more of.  

[rhythmic-idealist]

Do you have any headcanons for the Beforus Ancestors?

YES.

(Thank you, by the way, for such a lovely ask?)

Okay, some are saved for a fic that I am going to push the next two chapters of out sometime in the next year I swear.

That said, I can definitely talk about KARKAT.

In my headcanon, Beforus!Karkat Vantas remained hemoanonymous until his death, and was only outed as a mutant after it, enabling him to pass his name down to Kankri.

(An aside that I’ve talked about before, but—the Signless’s sign exists because of, you know, his execution, and Kankri doesn’t wear a sign, so I’m pretty sure that Kankri and Beforus!Karkat were also, as an adjective, signless.)

I like riffing off the ectobiology thing actually? And making Beforus Karkat’s life’s work lie in that general field. And it’s, yeah, it’s a little bit because if there is any way he can fuck with his own genes and not pass down his mutation to his descendent, he will, but it would be sort of horrible for me to make everything about him stem from “self-hating mutant” especially because in this universe—at least in my headcanon—he gets to actually grow up and have a normal career on planet. (I’m not sure this is a great take anyway. I am open to constructive criticism if my take is sucking ass right now.)

Beforus isn’t as militaristic, although I do not believe they lack a military or even that they aren’t doing imperialism in space. I think that it’s prettied-up. That said, I don’t uuuuusually put Beforus Karkat in the military. Imho, being a threshecutioner doesn’t really have much to do with his actual interests. It’s just the way to be kickass and useful and good and the best on Alternia, them being one of the deadliest branches of the military, and all. 

Unfortunately, though, my reasoning for his career does boil down to “he’s good at it, and looking for something he’s good at,” not that he loves it more than anything.

I like getting him into Feferi’s inner circle, so he’s probably good enough at it that she starts him on some research she particularly needs. Probably some of it is gross bullshit that he recognizes as gross bullshit because that’ll come up when you’re doing genetics based research for a strictly genetic-caste-based empire and probably she sometimes listened and sometimes thought he was real adorable when he got like that and sometimes he didn’t speak up at all.

My Karkat picture is SUPER VAGUE I’m like HE DOES…. SOME SCIENCE even though he would be happier writing screenplays. Probably he does wind up writing at least one successful screenplay before he dies.

Much happier screenplay writer Beforus!Karkat is a nice fantasy to lie in for a second actually lemme do that for a sec. Ah. My boy.

So after THAT load of bullshit. (It is a load of bullshit, don’t quote me on any of that as like, canon to Runaway, Or 50 Ways to Leave Your Culler (one chapter. this still has ONE CHAPTER and tons of the next two drafted what am I doing) or anything, it’s not):

FEFERI PEIXES I have very few headcanons for except I call her Her Benevolent Radiance: “radiance” being a part of her title I’d seen a ton of people tossing around before I stole it, and “benevolent” being something I thought of myself, but one time someone on mxrp thought I was their friend who uses the exact same title so I guess lightning struck twice. Which makes sense.

I’m still puzzling out what I headcanon Beforus as like before her.

SOLLUX CAPTOR you’ll just have to wait until I finally publish chapter three (sorry Sollux) of my years-old fic and see. He and Feferi stand… under TREES together. (I’m deciding whether this is good or not, but it definitely… isn’t… always. There are definitely some times where it’s like Feferi’s kinda… keeeping him under her wing? Is that a thing people say? I just don’t wanna only be mean to Feferi fans.) Sollux and Karkat don’t really stand under trees. I haven’t seen them stand under a tree together in…. EIGHTEEN MINU

(Okay no real talk since I decided to talk about Sollux’s relationships I should add that I love Aradia so fucking much and I don’t know if you all know how much I care about Arasol? But I do, but I just. Literally haven’t hammered down Beforus Aradia yet so I have no idea what she’s up to I’m forced to give no comment.)

[lalaurelia]

Quick Gotham 5x11 thoughts

FINALLY WE HAVE GOBBLEPOT CONTENT IN THE EP!!! Sorry about going all caps, but I’ve been thirsty for this stuff for far too long XD

To summarize - good action here, actually nice/professional Jim, badass Babs, sweet BatCat moments, and Gobblepot scenes. Did I mention Gobblepot? Well, we have it. Now let’s get to the deets.

Oh, and sorry, but I just can’t like Ed lately. And Lee. And I’m being mean about it. Sorry.

Things are looking grim for Gotham’s green zone with the army closing in, but Jim’s being all tactical about it and hoping to stall the army enough to actually reverse the criminal orders. Criminal orders - I’ll be mentioning these several times here, because really now. But for the opening scene I love Jim and his allies being all to the point, very focused, very professional, it just makes sense and is so pleasant to see them all working together for Gotham.

Then we have Oswald abandoning the submarine plan for the sake of following his heart, and oh, Oswald, my dear, you’re so romantic. Because... who does Oswald follow throughout the episode? Jim. Jim’s his heart, his half of Gotham, his everything.

Do I love the scene where Oswald comes to Jim? Oh do I? I LOVE IT TO PIECES and yes, sorry, all caps again XD Because - you just look at it.

Jim recognizes Oswald’s presence before he sees him. He claims it’s his “recognizable odor, part dandy, part snake” but come on, he just can’t flirt to save his life, this man, and when he does it comes out this awkward XD Jim teases Oswald before offering him a drink. Now, forgive me if I’m wrong here, but he never did it before. So this is Jim’s acknowledgement of Oswald as an ally, at least, if we remove the shipping goggles no can do, I think I was born with them.

And Oswald’s monologue about Gotham, about how his life is in Gotham, how he is part of the city as much as Jim is. Seriously, when the trailer was out I was afraid they’d make the line “it’s part of you too” be addressed to Ed with the amount of screentime that mutated broccoli was getting and so many scenes that Oswald had with him. God, I’m so glad it’s Jim that hears this. They both acknowledge what Gotham means to them, and they’re always going to be united through that more than anything. Their version of being married, so to say.

Oswald is so breathtakingly beautiful in that scene too, I just can’t.

Then Ed shows up, hogs the blanket, eh, you’re barely more than a civilian at this point, Ed, and you were always a crappy shot. Do you think you make a difference? But as far as symbols go, him standing alongside the heroes is a nice touch.

Loved Jim teasing Oswald about if he still wants to fight, and him shooting back about his full pardon. Lovely banter between husbands

Then we get the good guys of the GCPD on the barricades with Bane’s soldiers down there. I’m not sure if they still had any advisors at this point, with the show’s situation being what it is, but if they wanted us to buy that Bane was ex-military and knew what he was doing, tactics-wise, they kind of… failed. I might go out on a limb here and consider this to be intimidation tactics on his part, but in the sutuation where your troops and resources are limited… that’s not the best idea.

Also. The way Bane took command was by force, sure. But first he and Nyssa made the general issue a criminal order. And the thing about criminal orders - you don’t follow them. The soldiers caved there, for plot, and because you have to know about it, you have to keep your thinking critical, to recognize the order as criminal, and well, army’s not known for a lot of that.

Jim though, I do buy (and headcanon) as having a head for tactics. First his plan to stall the army at a certain point, then him securing the higher ground for his troops - that's good thinking. But then Jim goes and also issues a criminal order, by opening fire on the army soldiers. He gets a bit of leeway there, since they’re actually protecting civilians, but - well, I guess my issue there is that they should’ve waited for Bane’s side to shoot first.

The way Bane’s soldiers were situated in that little square, though… no cover, no nothing, they just stand there like scarecrows - Jim's side could’ve taken them out in minutes. But okay, plot. And it wasn’t all bad, I guess, just kind of stupid, and I don’t like Gotham to be stupid, it’s too good a show for that.

I didn’t enjoy another scene of Oswald getting hurt, and that’s all I’m going to say about it.

Then Jim goes to save Babs and the baby and get the general too, for stopping all that. He’s being all stealthy XD And Babs helps him, distracting the guards, taking them out herself, man, girl just needed a good opportunity to. Also I was angry a bit for Jim not even asking if she was alright, but I guess he didn’t want to anger her more XD So I’m gonna be thinking he just knows Barbara enough to not ask her stupid questions.

Loved him and Babs working together in this scene, period. Now that’s a badass parents couple, if we’re talking hetero romance - and seriously. All Lee scenes were so extra and useless here. I just can’t, they make her so superficial it’s annoying. First her treatment of the Narrows in S4. Then her reverting back from it here in S5 and seemingly not giving a damn about the Narrows. The way she never sees Jim for the person he is - the only hint of her understanding him was when she was saying goodbye to him in S4, of all things. And so here, we get her saying “oh, this person needs this, this person needs that, someone do it” - you're a doctor, goddamit, DO THAT YOURSELF. Because by the time she’s arrived at the GCPD, it’s past triage time. And she only remembers the Narrows when she needs to look all concerned - and then DUMPS the people to just go do whatever she wants. Yeah. Stellar leadership skills. You couldn’t have made me dislike the character more if you tried. Or maybe you did try. I dunno.

I loved how Jim goes all soft when he holds the baby, it’s so damn sweet. Him, Babs, and little Barbara actually look like a very sweet family, and you know, since we’re not getting canon Gobblepot, I’d rather they ended up together instead.

Because Lee makes no sense. Ugh. I’d prefer not to waste any more time on this cardboard cutout of a character, so I’ll just get it all out here at once. When Jim relies on her to lead the people of the Narrows to safety, she doesn’t show any conflict, about how she wants to stay with him instead, and she just goes. Then she dumps them, people who actually rely on her too, who look up to her (poor souls), and abandons them to go die with Jim. It could’ve been a touching scene, with her feelings all in turmoil, her conflicting desires to do good and be with her loved one at the same time… but we never got that. She’s emotionless and empty in those scenes, and all we get is her being stupid, whimsical and superficial. Ugh. I don’t like hating on female characters, but I do hate on this version of Lee. And Jim also goes all stupid with her, and it doesn’t seem as he respects her, either. What was that line about her disobeying him becoming a habit? Women aren’t property, Jim, even if you’re married, and since I decided to ignore that filler ep, you’re not even married, so shut up about it, Jim. You seriously need to continue your relationships with people you respect instead.

I wonder how Babs convinced all those people to go and risk their lives though - that must have been quite a speech. And it was indeed very moving, and enough for the soldiers to finally realize the orders they’ve been given were criminal, and turn on their commander instead. GOOD.

The scene with Babs and Jim at the GCPD after that is again so soft. So cute. I love seeing that soft smile on Jim, and I like Babs being soft with him too. Seriously, I love Babs in this episode.

Then we get Oswald and the mutated broccoli scene. Kind of cool I guess. But I don’t like how he blatantly tries to manipulate Oswald when he’s emotionally vulnerable. AGAIN.

Oswald, my prettiest bird, you should’ve stabbed him. But you keep giving people second chances, and that’s a trait I love about you. Too bad I don’t enjoy that narcissist with a fondness for mirrors and would prefer for you not to waste time on him. Nothing good will come from that, only negativity, and the knife pressed to your back.

Also the scene looked too dragged out and their interactions too forced. They’d be a fun comic duo, but if you want us to buy the tension between them… it’s not working. Also - you just can’t rely on Ed for anything. Oswald trusted him with Martin and we never saw the kid. Oswald trusted him with a dog, and he abandoned it in the submarine. What the hell, Ed.

Oswald is so pretty in that last scene, I’m crying. Of course he dolled up for such an occasion with Jim! And Jim’s eyes, they flit to his side, is it any surprise even? XD

I kind of realized I completely left out BatCat scenes here, but I’ll just say they’re good and sweet and touching, and what the hell, Bruce! You don’t treat Selina like that! Stupid, stupid boy! You had half a brain to say goodbye to Alfred, at least, but man, you owe Selina big time.

This episode could’ve been made better. But I still enjoyed it a lot, mainly for good Babs content, Jim being nice, and finally, finally some premium quality Gobblepot.

I live.

[spectraspecs-writes]

Taris - Chapter 15

Link to the masterpost. Chapter 14. Chapter 16.

Matrik was right - all I had to do was hit one shop in the Upper City to find that permacrete detonator. And it only cost 50 credits. Just fifty credits to help a man get his life back.

I still feel a little banged up from fighting that assassin, though, but apparently there’s a little free clinic up here that I completely missed earlier. So with the detonator in hand, I head down there. When I walk in, the doctor there sees me right away. “I see from your appearance that you are an off-worlder,” he says, “Still, you are welcome here. I'll not have it said that Zelka Forn refused to help somebody just because they weren't a citizen of Taris. Do you require healing or medical supplies? I can treat almost any injury or ailment right here at the medical facility, except the rakghoul disease, of course.”

“Rakghoul disease?” I ask, “What’s that?”

“The terrible affliction has plagued Taris for many generations,” he says, “It is spread by the rakghouls, horrible monsters that live in the Undercity below Taris' great skyscrapers. Prolonged exposure to the Undercity breeds the disease and those infected will eventually mutate into rakghouls themselves, becoming mindless beasts that feed on the flesh of others.”

“Isn’t there a cure?” I ask, “If it’s been around that long…”

“There is no antidote for the disease, though I heard the Republic scientists at the military base here on Taris were close to perfecting a cure. Then the Sith arrived.” Naturally. “They overran the military base and now they refuse to allow anyone access to the laboratories inside. The Sith are keeping the serum for the patrols they send into the Undercity.

“If I could just get my hands on a sample of that serum the rakghoul disease could be wiped from the face of Taris forever. But I don't see how that's going to happen.”

“Hey, I could help you out, I’ll be heading for the Undercity later,” I say.

“I don't see how anyone could get their hands on the serum. The military base is crawling with Sith guards. Breaking in there would be a suicide mission. I suppose the Sith patrols in the Undercity might have a sample of the serum on them, if they hadn't already used it because of a rakghoul infection. But I doubt a patrol would just hand the serum over. And nobody's stupid enough to attack one of the Sith patrols, even in the Undercity.”

Nobody but the Rakghouls. “But I only mentioned the serum because you asked. I don't actually expect anyone to get me the serum. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?”

“I could use some healing,” I say.

“It will just take me a moment while I examine your injuries, and then I'll administer the proper treatment,” he says, and he gets to work.

While he’s examining me, I figure I can try to get a little further in the quest for Bastila. “Do you know anything about the Republic escape pods that crashed in the Undercity?”

And then he gets weird. “Republic escape pods? Uh... no... why would you ask me that? I don't know. Those pods crashed in the Undercity, I'm not involved in any way!”

“You sound weirdly defensive about this,” I say. He knows something.

“I'm not defensive! I just don't like being accused of knowing something about those Republic pods. This is as bad as an interrogation by the Sith!” he says. Why do men keep accusing me of interrogating them? First Carth, now this guy.

But he knows something. He must be worried I’m Sith. “Don't worry, I'm not with the Sith. I won't betray your secret if you tell me,” I say in a gentle voice.

“Well,” he says slowly, “you don't look like you're with the Sith. I guess… I guess I can tell you my secret. Or rather, I can show you.”

He goes to a door at the back of the clinic and opens it. It’s full of kolto tanks, those full-body tanks you immerse people in when they’re in really bad shape. And I recognize these people. From the Endar Spire. “Hey…” I say, “I recognize these men. They're Republic soldiers!”

“You... you recognize these soldiers? But how? Unless... unless you're a friend of the Republic.”

“Yeah,” I say in a hushed tone, “I was in that space battle overhead. I served with these guys.”

“Since the space battle overhead, people have been secretly bringing in these Republic soldiers who crash-landed on the planet. I had to take them in. What choice did I have?” he says.

“Their injuries are terrible,” he continues, “most won't survive. But at least I can make their last days more comfortable. And at least here they are hidden away from the Sith.”

“Well, for that you have my thanks,” Carth says, “It's good to know that at least some of these men ended up in compassionate hands.”

“Is there anything I can do?” I ask, “Any way I can help?”

“I'm afraid there is nothing more anyone can do for these soldiers,” he says, “Now, if you'll excuse me I should return to the front in case anyone comes in needing medical attention.”

“Yeah, of course,” I say. He’s tended my injuries enough. I think Carth and I can get back to the Lower City.

On our way there, we run into two Exchange thugs harassing a man. I guess that’s the price you pay for not having Czerka Corps on a planet - rapant Exchange thugs. “Davik says you missed your last payment,” one of them says.

“Davik doesn't like you missing payments!” the other says.

The merchant looks super stressed, which is understandable. “Here – I've got fifty credits! A down payment. That should buy me some time, right?” he says.

“Sorry, you're out of time,” one of the thugs says, “Now it's all or nothing. Davik can't have people not paying his debts!”

“But I don't have that much!” he says, “How can I give you credits I don't have?”

“That's too bad,” the thug says, faking sympathy, “Davik's going to want to make an example of you! You're coming with us.”

“No – help! Somebody help! They're going to kill me!”

Carth leans closer to me and whispers, “I know we have to be careful about drawing attention to ourselves, but are we just going to let them drag this guy off?”

“No, we’re not,” I say.

“Hold on a second. Looks like we got ourselves a witness here!” one of the thugs says, noticing us.

“Davik doesn't like witnesses.”

“Leave this man alone or you'll have to deal with me!” I say, pulling out my swords.

“Guess we have to teach you to mind your own business!”

Honestly, I’m going to have my own bounty on my head by the time Carth and I are done on this planet. I doubt this will be my last fight with these guys.

“Thank you!” the merchant says when the Exchange thugs are dead, “I owe you my life! Those bounty hunters were going to take me away and kill me! My wife warned me not to take a loan from Davik.”

Yeah, you should have listened to your wife, dude. “Now I can't pay him back,” he says, “It's not good to owe a crime lord money.” No, it’s not. “He'll just keep sending more bounty hunters after me until I'm dead!”

“How much do you owe him?” I ask.

“You already helped me by saving me from those bounty hunters. So unless you have a spare 100 credits to give me so I can pay off Davik, there's nothing else you can do.”

Only 100 credits? I get twice that much in most duels. “Yeah, here, man, have them. I’ve got that much to spare.”

“You're giving me 100 credits? Just like that? I... I don't know what to say! Thank you! Thank you!”

“You're giving him a hundred credits?” Carth says, “Generous.”

“Yeah, it’s not like I don’t get that much in duels, anyway,” I say with a shrug.

“Now I can pay off Davik. You've saved my life! Thank you! I better take these credits to him right away!” And he runs off.

As I start to walk away, I step on something. Fifty credits. From one of those Exchange thugs? And I look to the other one - he dropped fifty credits, too. Dude - am I about to get that money back from these corpses? Yes, I am. They’re not going to use it. So I take it. Only one thing you can do with all-dead. Go through their pockets and look for loose change.

Now. Back to business. Back to the Lower City.

[apothecaryforwearysouls]

Fallout OC interview (My first fallout 4 character)

1. What is your name?

“Alice Everett, but you’ll call me Queen if you know what's good for you.”

2. How old are you? “30.”

3. What do you look like? “shaved head on the side, long red hair on the top. I'm pretty built and average height.”

4. Where are you from? Where do you live now? “From Vegas, the first one. been to New Vegas since love the atmosphere hate the military that hangs around. the Silver Rush had this robot though.....anyway what was the question? ”

5. What was your childhood like? “Shit, what do you think? you don't come from white picket fences and how was your day honey and end up a blood-soaked killer”

6. What groups are you friendly with? Are you allied with any factions? “Operators and Disciples know their place if that counts.  Mr. House, maybe he did like what I could do with a fission battery and his power module. The institute I guess, don’t talk with them much being their leader was boring as hell.”

7. Tell me about your best friend. "Only one I can really trust. Keeps my bed warm and knows what love means, no one could replace him. isn't that right Dogmeat?”

“Bork Bark”

8. Do you have a family? Tell me about them! “Husbands dead, Sons dead, anyone else ever knew or loved was atomized when the bombs dropped. Next question.”

9. What about a partner or partners? “I’ll occasionally get with Nisha. That is more of a physical thing though. don’t know how something serious would work out these days. Maybe one day.”

10. Who are your enemies? And why? Preston Garvey. He and his Minutemen love to take shots at the men I send out their way. Pretty much anyone, to be honest, raiders don't make many friends.

11. Have you ever heard of the Brotherhood of Steel? What do you think about them? "Brotherhood are raiders with better equipment. Just like the Gunners, they parade around with their rules, regulations, and uniforms. they're just as bad as us maybe worse at least we’re honest ”

12. What about The Enclave? “Who?.”

13. How do you feel about Super Mutants? “A pain in the ass mostly, they are dumb as rocks yet think they're the next step in evolution.”

14. What’s the craziest fight you ever been in? “I’ve been in a lot of fights, a lot of them worthy of retelling but it has to be that damned Hallucigen building. Whatever gas they cooked up is worse than any chem trip. I know the Gunners were there but once that shit hit my system i saw ghouls, mole rats, family, friends, nightmares... I shot until I didn't have any more rounds. I cut through anything else with my knife. Normally being covered in blood and gore doesn't bother me but that..that is a feeling I never want to feel again.

15. Have you ever fought a deathclaw?

“Plenty they’re the wastelands apex predator, hinting them really gets me going. Gatorclaws, on the other hand, I can’t stand they hide in the water just waiting like lazy Brahmin for prey to walk by. Deplorable.  ”

16. Do you like fighting? “Oh, I love it there is nothing better! The feeling of power and fear mixed together is unlike anything else.”

17. What’s your weapon of choice? “a sharp knife is always good, but the feeling of an automatic Handmade. The sound, the vibration, the way it rains lead. unbeatable. ”

18. How do you survive? Your wits, your charm, your skills, brute force, some combination? (a.k.a. what’s your S.P.E.C.I.A.L?) “Skills mostly, I was a Surgeon before the war. Once I entered the wasteland it all slowly came to me. Learning how to survive was actually a lot like med school now that I think about it. struggle, pain, and in the end a vast amount of knowledge that can save a life or end one. ”

19. Have you ever been in a vault? What do you think of them? “I've been in enough to know they're sadistic death traps. don't get me wrong I kill people for fun but Vault-tec chose to experiment on people before the world went to shit.”

20. How do you beat all the radiation around here? Has it affected you? “I have easy access to Radaway but a few years back I got exposed pretty bad during a rad storm and had to take cover in a cave full of this fungus that glows in the dark. I didn't know that they radiated radiation too ate a few out of desperation and all that radiation mutated my optical nerves, I can see in the dark now. cool huh?”

21. What’s your favorite wasteland critter? “Radscorpions, their vicious nature and lack of fear is so badass. Plus they’re really cute!”

22. What’s your least favorite wasteland critter? “Bloodworms. End of story, it is just the way they wiggle. Makes me gag just thinking about them. I send men to take out their nests regularly.”

23. How do you feel about robots? “They have their uses but I don't find them very reliable in the field. The only ones I really care to use are those Assaultrons. ”

24. How many caps do you have on you right now? "uh I think I have around a thousand but I have a ton more around the place.”

25. Nuka Cola or Sunset Sarsaparilla? “I run Nuka-World I think my choice is obvious. Sunset is just gross how anyone drinks it is beyond me.

26. Do you do chems?

“Pycho/Med-x on occasion but only when I think the fight is going to be difficult. They get in the way in most situations.”

27. Do you ever think about the Pre-War world? “Some nights ill think about it. About Nate, about my family, the world before but its gone and nothing can change that. I like who I am now I know that the world can’t be saved and people are not worth charity. ”

28. What’s your biggest regret? What would you do differently? “God that's a long list. Despite what you may think its really simple. Going into that damn lounger thing in Goodneighbor, reliving my husband's death and the theft of my son all over again and have someone else see it firsthand along with me was the worst. I'm glad Kellog died slow.”

29. What’s your biggest achievement? Or what do you hope to achieve? “Honestly I want to love someone again....”

30. What do you want for the future? For yourself? Your friends? The world? “Get richer, maybe retire old but if that doesn't work die for something worthwhile.”

Tagged by @baphometprince​ (thank you, sorry for the way late reply it has been a hectic few weeks.)

Tagging @illumimommy​ and anyone else who actually read through and wanna do it.

[journeysintowebcomics]

Stand Still Stay Silent Liveblog #38

UPDATE 38: Just S’m Weird Spirits Is All

Last time Lalli had found a new place to camp, and also showed how his mage abilities don’t come for free. He was bleeding from his nose and eyes. Unfortunately, even though the path was cleared, going through it made a husk fall to the ground and tear down a wall, and now there’s one of these evil things scurrying behind them. Let’s continue.

First I’d like to thank you for the translations I was sent! And also apparently there’ll be a page about luontos at some point, so I’m looking forward to reading it. Also!

ravensofskyhold says: And missing that one troll: it was behind a wall, and probably not a problem, before cattank got stuck and pulled those flesh things, which then caused the wall those were attached to break. It’s one of those hard to predict things, like the weather.

Ah. When you put it like that I can’t disagree. Guess it was just really bad luck, then. I just hope this won’t cause them much trouble, because this day hasn’t been good for them so far.

Tuuri’s feeling guilty about having shouted at Lalli, but I think it was fine. Sure, Lalli wasn’t taking it well, but it sure pushed him to fix his mistake! And something good came from it. What may have been a problem has turned into a situation that was better than before. I’m sure Lalli won’t hold this against Tuuri, even if he was upset back then. Sigrun kind of agrees, on grounds that shouting makes people move and start doing stuff.

The path Lalli indicated them to take leads to some sort of...building, far in what seems to be a forest? The building is intact, for the most part, but there are scorch marks, enough to make Sigrun ask Mikkel is the crew he was in time ago is responsible for those. Apparently it isn’t. Maybe it was a fire from before this city was abandoned. If the building has lasted until now despite having been on fire before, then it must be quite sturdy. What’s once they pass that part is rather dilapidated. There are fences, there’s that spiny wire that’s usually on top of fences...are those piles of sandbags? Could this have been occupied by military of some sort before?

Tuuri’s an expert driving, using the tank as a ram to break through fences and dragging them with it for who knows how long. I have doubts that was intentional, haha!

Once the car is expertly parked against those poles specifically made to stop vehicles from parking beyond them, Tuuri goes to consult Lalli about how secure this entire place is. Sigrun wants to know if there’s anything to be worried about in this area. I don’t...think there is? I mean, if there were, I think Lalli would have brought them here. Or if there’s anything like the husks from before, then they’re dead and therefore safe to be around. I doubt any place is 100% safe anywhere in this city, yeah, but he’d have said anything before now, yeah?

...

Or maybe not. He’s not very good at warning about stuff. I admit all those buildings kind of make me nervous. There could be something inside.

Oh, just some weird spirits, that’s all? Doesn’t sound like nothing to me, geez. Someone sure isn’t worried about them, though, so I guess it’s fine, but still...I’d be creeped out knowing there are ‘weird spirits’ nearby. This must be nothing Lalli hasn’t seen before – more mage stuff.

I can see why Lalli chose this place. Since there’s no danger in those buildings, this is a pretty good defensive place. There’s only one way in, and it’s rather narrow, so the biggest creatures can’t enter and cause havoc in here. All sides are protected. There’s a lot of open space, good for maneuvering if they have to drive. Pretty good spot, I’d say. It’ll be a shame to have to leave it someday.

Ah, the chapter is ending? Guess there won’t be book searching this time. Oh well. There are who-knows-how-many-days left in this expedition, they can do it tomorrow. For now it’s worldbuilding time! Neato. Before that, hm, closing words for the chapter, as usual.

I think it’s undeniable Lalli was the main character in this chapter. It was all to develop him, flashback included, and it was done quite well! I feel I understand Lalli a little better, which is always good. All in all, I’m satisfied with this. Well done, Ms. Sundberg. Okay, let’s continue.

That’s what Lalli was doing with the dog’s skull at the start of this chapter. It’s a rather sweet ritual, the meaning is more or less what I expected – letting the animal’s soul free – but I didn’t guess the part about reincarnating in deities’ herds. I think if Emil had known what it was all for, he’d have been comforted.

There it is! A page about luontos – a long page, with lots of details. Let’s see...

So, luontos are these animal spirits that follow a person during their entire life, starting from early childhood. They can influence a person’s health and development, and through effort and hardship a luonto can be strengthened. I bet mages try hard to strengthen their luontos, Lalli included. I mean, the luontos can be used to make spells stronger, why not to strengthen luontos?

That’s alarming. I hope this information being here doesn’t mean this’ll happen to Lalli. Hah! But okay, you know, I wonder...is this a true believe in Finland? I’m curious about that. Guess I’ll have to research a little more once I have some more time.

Worldbuilding over, new chapter start!

...ah. Suddenly this new place doesn’t seem so safe. That’s a freakishly huge thing. I hope it’s metaphorical or something, instead of that literally being underneath the ground. Does that qualify as a giant? It doesn’t seem like a group of trolls, maybe it doesn’t, but the size is fitting for a giant. Also it looks like a big facehugger. Freaky.

I don’t think anyone lived here. Not only I had the impression there were several buildings here, this type of buildings are too large for someone to live in – or at least to serve exclusively as houses. The White House, for example. It is a residence – as far as I know -- but it also has many other functions, so the residence part is small in comparison to the size of the whole structure. If anyone lived here, then it must be something like that, yeah?

Heck, maybe they’ll be lucky and these are libraries of some type. That’d be good.

Reynir is a mage, right, so of course he’d notice there’s something off about their surroundings! He must be seeing the spirits, or if not seeing them, then at least sensing their presence enough to be worried about it. Or...who knows, maybe everyone else can see them too, and just don’t understand they’re spirits.

Or maybe not. Sigrun and Mikkel went inside, took a look around, and saw nothing. I can’t see anything either. Reynir keeps insisting, though, so Ms. Captain gestures him to approach and point where exactly the weird spirits are at. Hm. I hope that, even if they don’t believe him, they don’t start thinking he’s insane or something. I mean, they know mages exist – even if again, they don’t believe it, apparently. Spirits aren’t that much of a stretch if a mage talks about them. True, Lalli won’t be the one to talk about spirits, but Tuuri can vouch for him.

Okay, now I can see it. That sure is creepy. So, in this story, ghosts and spirits are these...vaguely-shaped black blots, with shining eyes. I can’t blame Reynir for being scared. Maybe it’s for the better only the mages can see them. At least Sigrun’s taking this seriously. Mikkel is all ‘this is a waste of time’, paraphrasing, but Sigrun is actually asking questions and assessing the danger. Are...these dangerous? Can they like possess someone, I wonder? Could mages be in more danger than the rest, perhaps in International Mage Dreamhub? With some luck there’ll be a worldbuilding page once this chapter is over.

Well no wonder there are ghosts here, there are also corpses – well, more like skeletons. They must have been dead since long ago, and not from the rash illness. They were sick once, but the illness didn’t advance so much they died from it. Mikkel’s the one who identifies that. Hm. It’s kind of merciful they died from any other causes. At least they didn’t undergo a mutation as tragic and awful as turning into a troll. Perhaps they died of old age? Or some other unrelated sickness?

Hah! Yeah, I knew Mikkel wasn’t officially a doctor. I mean...this crew isn’t what a lot of people would call ‘top-notch’, despite them being competent enough to not die in the first day. A medic that isn’t a medic fits it just fine.

Soooooo they were abandoned. They were left here to die, and these people didn’t even know. My guess is that they never woke up, and they dried and wasted away on these beds. I hope they were in a coma or something, and therefore unaware, instead of waking up and unable to move. Less horror that way. But yeah, no surprise there are ghosts, this situation is perfect to make a person have regrets and rancor.

Also, why didn’t they come back, the ones who left? The note seems to indicate there was a chance of these people waking up and reading it, yet they never returned. Perhaps something happened to them? Or were they so callous as to leave a few people to rot here unattended and alone despite the chance of them waking up? A mystery for the ages.

Since there’s no immediate danger to deal with, Sigrun decides it’s time to leave and return to the tank, and Reynir comments the spirits here are nothing like the spirits at home. Ah, so he has been seeing spirits all along, even before coming here. He just didn’t think it was anything special. Maybe in Iceland mages aren’t common, so he didn’t know how to know he was one. While they were leaving, the cat puffs up again. Hah! This is why having a cat is useful! Good for them!

But the consequences of this happening will have to wait for next time.

Next time: in five updates

[i-drink-and-i-write-fics]

Broken Wings

Chapter 13: No Rest For The Wicked

Summary: Rose follows Captain Marvel around to fight skrulls before ending up back on Earth. She makes a choice in regards to Everett and hopes she doesn’t regret it.

For the next four years, Captain Marvel and I hopped from planet to planet fighting skrulls. We mostly bounced between Earth and her home, but occasionally we made a side stop based on any intel she received from people she trusted. Since half of our battles were fought on another planet, only my control on fire, lightning, and wind remained with me. But my inability to heal from heavy hits is what caused us to return to Earth as often as we did.

We learned a great deal from each other. She found it fascinating to see how the Earth healed me in different ways depending on my level of injuries. I was baffled at how she was able to harness the power of a white hole to use in battle. Carol told me about the Kree Empire, the work that Ronan was doing to secure their future, and how she was found on Earth after an accident which lead her to meeting Fury and Coulson. And in return, I tried my best to explain mutants and the X-Gene.

“But if you all have the same gene that causes mutation, why is each mutation different?” We were exiting her ship after we landed at the military base back in California.

“Honestly? You should probably talk to Dr McCoy about that. I’m sure it has something to do with alleles, or something on that level.”

“You’re unsure?” Carol glanced in my direction as we walked down the halls to the barracks.

“Well, a majority of my knowledge on biology was gained during the 1500s, so needless to say there are some holes in my education. I’ve done my best to self-teach myself the ways that science and technology has changed, but mostly I’ve had to rely on Charles and Hank to fill in the gaps.”

“Do the others know how old you are?”

“Fury has an idea that I’m older than I appear. What number he’s guessing at, I haven’t a clue. As for Coulson and Ross, no. And I’d like to keep it that way.”

She stopped and grabbed my arm. “Ross doesn’t know? I thought you and he were….”

“Friends. He and I are friends.” But I couldn’t look at her in the eyes as I said it. In truth, I had really missed Everett while I was traveling around the galaxy. And the more I thought about him, the more I realized I had made a mistake by telling him no.

Carol sighed and let go of my arm. “Somehow I’m not entirely convinced by that. Why don’t you go find him? We’re not scheduled to leave again for a couple of months.”

“I have a sinking feeling I’m too late.”

“Why? Has he mentioned anything the last time you were here?”

“Just that he felt he never saw me enough.”

“Then it’s time to make up for lost time.” She shoved me in the direction of the men’s barracks before heading down a different hall.

I shook my head before continuing down the path she had pointed me towards. Taking a deep breath, I knocked quickly on his door. His eyes grew wide as he took in the site of me.

“You’re back!”

“Yup. Danvers says we’ll be here for a few months this time so I thought I’d check up on my favorite pilot.”

“I’ll glad you’ll finally be here for a while. I feel like we never get to talk as much.” His eyes subconsciously went up and down my body, sending a feeling deep into my stomach.

“I know, I’m so sorry. Can I come in? I’ve really missed you.”

I didn’t think it was possible for his eyes to get any wider. “You did?”

“Of course. Like I said, you mean a lot to me, Ev.”

He licked his lips as he stared at me, like he couldn’t believe I was really there. “It’s been so long since anyone has called me that.”

“Would you prefer Everett?” I took a tentative step towards him.

“Not a chance.” Before I could say anything else, he pulled me in roughly for a kiss. I wrapped my arms around him and followed him inside, kicking the door closed behind us.

That night we laid in his small bed, my head on his chest. The sound of his heartbeat was calming after all those quiet nights on the ship. I decided to break the silence. “I don’t think I’m going to leave with Carol this next time.”

I could hear the smile in his voice. “Part of me wants to believe it’s because of tonight, but I know you better than that.”

“Well, I won’t lie and say this didn’t help push me towards that decision. But in all honesty, I’m not meant for space travel.”

“What’s it like out there?”

“Eerily quiet and massively expansive. Really makes you feel small and it’s a bit unsettling. But it’s also amazingly beautiful at times.”

He trailed his fingers over my arm that was draped over his chest. “So…um,” he cleared his throat, “what made you change your mind about us?”

I let out a long sigh. “This last trip…. it almost went horribly wrong. I managed to remain unharmed, but it was a big wake up call that my power is here on Earth and I can’t take it with me. Before all this I was helping my old friend Charles start a school to help our kind and I still want to help. And I very well can’t do that if I’m dead because some skrull decided they had enough of me. It also made me realize how alone I have been these past twenty years. You’re not the man I lost and I’m glad for that. You’re someone who will combat my darker side, not feed it.”

“You don’t have a darker side.”

“Everyone has a darker side, Ev. Some are just darker than others. I’m not ready to talk about my past yet, but I do want to see if we can make this work.”

“Well, we’ve known each other for five years now without me knowing your past. I think I can wait a little longer.”

“Thank you.”

The next month felt like I was home again, which was an odd concept for me. I was not the kind to feel comfortable around military and government people, but yet here I was trying to date a pilot while forming bonds with Fury, Coulson, and Danvers. Danvers seemed to take it in stride that I didn’t want to return with her this last time, but that didn’t stop her from subtly trying to change my mind every day at lunch. Fury (who now sported an eye patch thanks to the injury he received at the beginning of this war) was glad that I had decided to stick around the base, even if it mostly was because of Everett. He felt this war was far from over and wanted me close by when shit hit the fan.

And as it happens with my life, that’s exactly what happened.

It started with Everett. I went to visit him one night and he looked deathly pale when he opened the door. “Oh my god, Everett! Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m just running a fever is all.”

I looked at his pupils and something began to buzz in the back of my mind. Like a memory long since buried. “Just a fever?”

“Well, I have felt dizzy as well as dehydrated. But I’m sure it’s just the flu.”

My blood ran cold. “We should get you to the hospital wing.”

“I’ll be fi-” But before he could finish, he passed out on his feet. Luckily, I was close enough to catch him before he could hit the ground. I scooped him into my arms and ran out the door and down the hall.

I passed both Fury and Coulson on my way who immediately raced after me without waiting for an explanation. In the hospital wing, Fury began to bark orders as I laid Everett down on a stretcher. “Damnit, Ev. Wake up.”

The doctors wheeled him away as Fury and Coulson turned towards me. “What the hell happened?”

“I went to see him today and he looked like death warmed over. I started asking him what was wrong when he passed out! Thank the gods I was close enough to catch him.”

“Did he tell you anything?”

“Just stuff that made it sound like he had the flu. But his pupils…. they were really small.”

Fury studied my face. “I take it you’ve seen this before?”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Yes, but it’s been so many years I don’t know if I’m remembering it correctly.”

“So what could it be?”

“Me. It’s my mutation, or at least part of it.” I ran my hand through my hair. “Part of me was worried this could happen, but since it hadn’t happened in-” I caught myself before I could reveal an idea of my age, “in many years, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure it could still happen.”

“What is happening?”

“My mutation is killing him. I can’t explain it beyond that because I genuinely don’t know. I’ve actually been working with some friends to find out the reason why.” I buried my face in my hands for a moment before looking back at the two gentlemen. “I need to leave before this gets worse. If I leave now, there’s a chance Everett can survive this.”

“You’re just going to abandon him?!”

I opened my mouth to respond, but Fury’s boss suddenly burst into the room.

“You two,” he gestured at Fury and myself, “with me now.”

“Yes sir. Coulson, stay here with Ross and report to me once they get a diagnosis.”

“I will, sir.”

Before I had a chance to protest, Fury grabbed me by the arm and dragged me after his boss. We sped down several hallways before we finally came to his office. I couldn’t understand why he wanted to speak to me. I knew so little about this man, I didn’t even know his name. And as far as I knew, Coulson and Fury told him I was someone with the Canadian government when I brought that first skrull to this base.

The man went behind his desk, but remained standing. “Nick, I’ve worked with you for many years and I’ve always thought you were a great agent.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Until now. We’re caught in the middle of an intergalactic war and your hiding a mutant right here on base?!”

My head snapped up as Fury fumbled to explain the situation. “Sir, it’s not what you think. Miss Fauna has been helping us fight the skrulls.”

“A mutant that you allowed near one of our pilots! And now he’s dying because no doubt he contracted whatever those creatures carry!”

My eyes narrowed at this. “How do you know about Captain Ross being ill?”

“Excuse me?! You dare question me?!”

“How the fuck do you know about Everett?! We literally carried him into the hospital five minutes before you walked into the door! And furthermore, how the fuck do you know about me?!”

“Your kind never was great at hiding!”

“I’m the best at hiding, mother fucker! All time champion! Unless….” my voice trailed off as I caught a glint of green in his eyes. My jaw dropped and my eyes widened as the realization hit me. “Holy fuck! You’re-”

But I was cut off by the man in question shooting me with a Taser gun. The prongs hit right at my heart and I could feel the currents flow through me. Harmlessly.

He scowled at the gun, smacking the side of it with his hand. “Piece of shit.”

“Did you just try to Tase her?!” Fury’s jaw was practically on the floor.

“It’s not a piece of shit, Talos.” Both sets of eyes snapped to my face. “The problem is you’re trying to use it on a creature that’s had lightning flow through her body on an almost daily basis since she was a child. This,” I gestured at the prongs that still stuck out of my chest, “is the equivalent of a human receiving a static shock. Now. Let me show you how this was supposed to go.”

I grabbed the protruding wires with my hands, but didn’t remove the prongs. My eyes and hair turned silvery blue as I summoned a lightning bolt. It burst through the window by his desk, hit my body, and traveled down the wires to Talos’ waiting hands. Talos was immediately shot back through the wall behind his desk, the Taser gun exploding from the force of energy. I grabbed Fury and shoved him down so the desk would protect him from the shooting plastic pieces.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!”

“Fury, for fuck sake can you bring your voice down a few dozen notches. We need to get Danvers. Your boss is actually Talos, the head of the skrull army!”

“Don’t you think he’s dead?!”

“Trust me, if skrulls were that easy to kill, I would have been home ages ago.” I yanked the two prongs out of my chest and grabbed Fury by his jacket before racing down the hall. “Marvel! We got a fucking emergency!!”

Luck was on my side and Carol happened to be walking by at that very moment. “What’s going on? Is that blood on your chest?!”

“Forget about that! Talos is Fury’s boss! I just blasted his ass through a wall, but you need to finish the job.”

Without waiting any further, Carol raced towards the room we just left. I took a deep breath and headed back towards the hospital wing.

“Wait, aren’t you going with her?”

“No, Fury. Carol can handle herself. I need…. I need to get…” I closed my eyes and sighed. “Home. I need to go home. I’ve been here far too long.”

“You’re really going to do it. You’re going to leave him.”

“I don’t want to, but I need to. I need him to live.”

Fury nodded his head. “I still think it’s a big mistake, but after what I just saw you do to Talos, I’m not going to fight you.”

I gave him a small smile. “Thanks, Fury. I’m sure our paths will cross once again. Governments have a bad habit of sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure they will.”

Back in the hospital wing, I hid close by to Everett’s room and listened to the doctor’s diagnosis as he talked to Coulson.

“We can’t explain it. It’s as if a foreign source is causing him to be ill. All we can do is wait.”

My heart broke at the news. I was right; I was killing Everett. The moment the doctor and Coulson walked away from the room, I quietly slipped in. Everett was hooked up to a couple different machines to keep track of his vitals and to help him breath. A small sob left my lips. Seeing the doctor left behind his clipboard, I flipped to a blank page and began to quickly write a note for when Everett woke up. He would never forgive me, but hopefully this would help him understand. I folded up the piece of paper and tucked it under a glass of water on the nearby table with his name visible.

I bent down to whisper in his ear. “Ev, I am so sorry it’s come to this. I never wanted to leave you, but I can’t stay and watch you die at my hands. I love you.”

Kissing his cheek on last time, I snuck out the door and off the base.

Chapter 14

[ganymedesclock]

Okay I might just be a dummy buuut, didn't Honerva go bonkers because of quintessence poisoning??? We never see her actually touch it until Zarkon and her in the rift. Keith literally got *covered* in quintessence, why isn't he nuts???

So I’m gonna put out a pretty long post here on what I think quintessence is and does, but first I’m gonna link this interview and quote a relevant section of it that sums things up for me really effectively:

Dos Santos: I think Quintessence, if anything, it sort of grabs on to the worst of us and accentuates those elements. Like anything, it corrupts.

Montgomery: Anything at all, even, whether it’s good or evil. Medicine in large doses can kill you. So that’s really what Quintessence is. It’s not innately good or innately bad. It’s a power source, and if you misuse it, it can be very disastrous.

Quintessence is not a “touch it and you’re evil.” I would argue I don’t even think just touching or interacting with quintessence has a specific evil effect, because Allura back in s1e1 also says “the quintessence of the Lion is mirrored in its pilot.”

Quintessence, in Voltron, depending on what shape it’s in, seems to be used to describe either a soul, or life energy. The discrepancy, in my mind, is roughly that everybody has that vital energy, or they’d be dead, but, the ‘soul’ is roughly the pattern in which this energy moves which seems to be determined simply by who you are as a person.

Quintessence as a fuel source is basically raw vital energy tapped from the veins of whoever or whatever entity contributed it, voluntarily or involuntarily- or, in an unusual case, the rifts, which raises some big questions of what exactly that was a rift to.

Honerva psychologically

I don’t think psychologically the quintessence had anything to do with Honerva’s descent. Everything we see about Honerva as a person aligns with her later behavior. One does not become the greatest scientist of an age the way Alfor introduces her to by being someone who passes up what they see as significant breakthroughs.

From the start, Honerva is incredibly focused on her work. Incredibly drawn inward. Something new catches her attention- the rift- and she’s enraptured by it.

This is where she starts pulling out the stops. Sinks further and further into it because the more she digs, the more interesting it is, the more potential it has. Partnering with Zarkon I think just encourages her further in this sense. I’ve said before that Haggar and Zarkon are kind of unpleasant people in a lot of the same ways and I think their union and devotion amplified a lot of those qualities in both of them- Zarkon’s desire for military supremacy, Honerva’s brilliant scientific mind and fascination for the potential of this work.

So even Honerva arguably being distracted from her work, finding and pursuing a relationship with Zarkon, would draw her further down. Because Zarkon is charming, to her, but he’s also very likeminded, and a powerful force who agrees to foot the bill for all her research. She’s not beholden any more to Alfor and his cautions.

To me, I think this is the significance where the first time we see Honerva arguing with Alfor, it’s after she’s married Zarkon and when she’s switched to galra-style clothing away from her initial Altean suit. It’s not conflating the galra with an evil influence taking her over- it’s showing why Honerva is getting bolder and more aggressive about this.

Because now, whatever she does, Zarkon is going to back her up. The bad news power couple has assembled and they’re pushing more progress, further.

Honerva was, quite frankly, always the person who was going to dig up some kind of godless abomination, especially with that kind of encouragement. She was, from the start, a scientist who focused on potential and pushing limits.

Honerva’s illness (this gets pretty body horrific)

I think what happened to Honerva was not anything malicious or soul-sucking and certainly not the quintessence instigating mental instability. Again, Honerva’s personality is consistent.

But again, the interviewers say that quintessence is like medicine- as in, it can be lifesaving or fatal, and that depends on your dosage.

Honerva didn’t know that it might hurt her. Basically, what happened to her was a fantastical version of Marie Curie’s fate- in her fascination with it, and dedication to understanding it, she left herself massively overexposed. This is not a product or symptom of a sinister influence, either- because Haggar in the present is much more cautious about quintessence. Honerva in the past was willing to just arbitrarily test the stuff on her sick cat. Haggar in the present gives orders to limit Zarkon’s exposure, clearly fearing for his health, and Zarkon doesn’t take it directly- he has a harness seemingly designed just for that.

As far as what happened to her?

Well… if quintessence is life energy, and presumably regenerative in nature, how could that hurt a person?

The immediate short-term way we’ve seen it hurt people is by being converted into another form of energy, such as the druid’s lightning attacks. The most likely fate of Antok: internal bleeding and burns compounded by cardiac arrest because he was basically assaulted with a defibrillator at the highest possible setting.

But that definitely wasn’t Honerva’s problem. As mentioned, it took her years of exposure to start showing symptoms. At first, seemingly, just difficulty keeping her core temperature up- when we see her hair bleaching out, that’s also when she’s started wearing a whole lot of layers. Loss of weight and the development of certain mutations also happen here.

This is noteworthy since we can cross-reference this with Kova- who also lost weight and had several physiological mutations.

And through Kova, we can also tell something interesting: that stage is, in fact, completely stable. If Honerva had stopped overexposing herself there, and been more cautious, she never would have gotten sick- because Kova’s health actually improved with those treatments and he seems to have stabilized, even ten thousand years later.

But Honerva did overexpose herself- and that’s when we see her condition take a sudden nosedive.

We see basically no evidence of malaise besides the aforementioned issues with core temperature before suddenly Honerva is bedridden, emaciated, and seemingly in considerable pain.

Which, my two cents is: what happens if you’re so steeped in life energy that the tissues that are supposed to break down in your body don’t? Or dead tissues start reviving themselves?

Basically what I think killed Honerva was a massive cancerous buildup. Her body outpaced its own ability to self-regulate and what I can only guess happened to cover her sudden downward turn is one or more of her organs started to shut down.

A nasty way to go, to be sure. But it’s definitely not what killed Zarkon.

Zarkon’s injury

Because Zarkon wasn’t killed by disease. As mentioned- it took years of continuous overexposure for Honerva to become poisoned. Kova was only treated temporarily, and out of that, has emerged completely stable and healthy, even ten thousand years later.

Zarkon entered the rift, a higher concentration to be sure, completely insulated in his paladin armor, and for an incredibly short period of time.

Zarkon is also the one who post-resurrection, isn’t stable. Because Haggar, much like Kova, post-resurrection, seems to have completely stabilized. She’s not using any more quintessence to prolong her life or stave off bad symptoms. Her illness regressed to the point where it was just the mutations and the chill.

(Of course, that’s what seems to have happened. It could be that just Haggar in her current state isn’t suffering because she no longer needs the organs that failed her in life, but she does certainly seem still able to feel pain and exhaustion, so I’d guess that somehow the resurrection process did actually cure her symptoms)

But Zarkon? Zarkon’s the one who started using quintessence treatments. He’s unstable somehow.

And something conspicuous here is... there’s a wound on Zarkon’s face after he revives.

One featured incredibly prominently in his character design.

But not one that anyone- the other prior paladins included- seems to have given to him.

It’s an injury he sustained in the rift, seemingly- from the dark creatures.

Alfor was wrong. Zarkon didn’t die from quintessence poisoning, because quintessence poisoning is a very long, drawn-out process. All living beings are naturally supposed to have at least some of it running through them- it takes a long time to override that natural tolerance. One would argue quintessence is not even a poisonous substance as much as it’s like water- you can die from too much water, but it takes an absurd amount of water unless you’re putting it in your lungs.

Zarkon and Haggar’s symptoms are different because Zarkon and Haggar were killed by different things. Now, I personally don’t take the idea that the dark creatures are puppeting a defenseless Zarkon, because, what I said about Honerva holds for Zarkon as well: looking at his past self, he always had it in him to go this far.

But the dark creatures are definitely relevant. And I definitely think it’s possible that they might be currently affecting Zarkon in a way that his continued consumption of quintessence is trying to stave off.

Because quintessence is not evil. Rather, quintessence appears to be a medium, and within that medium, there are two forces operating currently. There’s Voltron, benevolent and protecting, and there’s the dark creatures, who so far seem to be aggressive but we’re not really sure what else. We don’t actually know for sure the dark creatures are evil- they’re dangerous, but at this juncture we understand really nothing of them, and this is a series where you have to hesitate on your first impressions sometimes.

After all, if the dark creatures are similar to Voltron, it’s quite likely that they’re not a corrupting influence as much as a kindred one- one that, like Voltron, is drawn to certain people they can resonate with.

Which is a very interesting topic indeed, because there’s also the second comet- potentially, another Voltron. If its willingness to be shaped and guided by Lotor and his team is any indication, that’d even suggest that while Voltron and the dark creatures seem to have a standard good-and-evil rivalry going on, there’s at least some kind of shade of gray on that scale, as well. 

So, Keith/Allura/Kova...

All basically get off scott free and have no problems.

Allura, because she seems to have an abnormally high threshold for energy in the first place- Allura not only absorbs power from Haggar, but when she does, it fundamentally seems to change nature somehow: turning from Haggar’s black-on-pink magic to an ethereal white-on-pink power.

Allura, who is able to revive planets from the dead with her power and the support of others in a direct opposition to Haggar’s Komar experiment.

Allura, who, I’m not saying is some kind of chosen one but she is definitely some kind of chosen one. Yes, we do see her have her limits, but, unlike Honerva, she listens to those limits and doesn’t try to fire planet-wide healing powers all the time because she’d like to be conscious.

Keith? Keith was exposed to a tiny amount of quintessence, once, and while his reaction to both the refined magic and the raw quintessence were sure interesting, that’s not nearly enough exposure to be dangerous because again- Honerva was exposed for years before she was ever actively sickened.

As an aside

I’m really not wild about the assertions that Honerva and Zarkon “lost themselves” in this because the quintessence has some kind of psychoactive effect because we have actually zero evidence of that at all.

If anything, I’d think s3e7 disproved that heavily because it went through great pains to show us that young Honerva and Zarkon were... really always the same people, through and through. Zarkon was always interested in conquest. Honerva was always the kind of person to push boundaries and take serious risks even after they seemed to bite her before. That callous disregard and sense of elitism was always there. This was not really the story of good innocent people polluted by evil beings from another dimension.

The quintessence, the dark creatures- they were just a catalyst. If not them, it would have gone down anyway- just not on so catastrophic a scale.