#so if he suddenly Appears (tm) at the end of the season to do some bullshit chronomancy with a chocolate rabbit

[smolandweirdwriter]

@queer-quester what the fuck i dont remember sentient chocolate rabbits??? when ??

why is he kissing himself

[dragonfly0808]

The Sibling Squad (Roxy’s Crew)

This particular thingy was something I came up with at some point at the very end of s1/very beginning of s2 (which is why the ages were retconned every so slightly at this point and Shirley didn’t start at Cloud Tower till season 3).

This is something I was very excited about and, even if very few of you care, I thought I might let you take a peek into my brain and see why I chose the siblings I chose for Roxy’s squad and what each one of them kinda represents/is a foil for.

I’ll go in the order that they were introduced in the series.

Starting off with!!!! Shirley.

I chose Shirley after building up her personality and I feel like she fits flawlessly in as the oldest of the squad. One reason I really wanted her there is for being a witch, to have a good witch tm (and also a fairy-witch romance but that’s neither here nor there) to show off the differences in the way they work.

Of course, there’s also the fact that Shirley has been really dependent on Riven for most her life and, aside from her brother, she’s been pretty much on her own and she’s also the youngest of her coven, so I thought that the dynamic of her suddenly being the oldest of a group she loves and feels responsible for could be very interesting.

Shirley is very protective, she wants to be the protector and not the protected when it comes to this squad, and I thought that could be a cool thing to explore, even if it’s more implied/observed than anything else.

I chose Shirley to be, perhaps not the leader, but the oldest and most protective of the group. You could say she’s almost the Stella of the group… but obviously not really.

Next up, Alexa. Alexa is Brandon’s little sister and I think I’d mentioned previously that she’s ever so slightly inspired by Alisson Argent from Teen Wolf, cause I loved her growing up and it just kinda fit with the character I pictured for Brandon’s sister.

I haven’t gotten to explore Alexa very much, I think she’s probably the least ‘known’ and with less ‘screentime’ in the sibling squad. I did however have her establish kinda what her main goal is in her first appearance in s4, that being to carve out her own place in Red Fountain and not just be recognized for her brother.

She wants to be her own person and, whilst she is incredibly proud of her brother, she doesn’t want to live in his shadow, thus why, she picks the bow as her main weapon, since her brother never excelled in that area, he was only ever ‘okay’ with the bow.

Alexa is probably one of the more outgoing in the group, she is very extroverted and she’s unapolagetic about who she is and what she wants. She grew up with Stella and Sky and learned a lot from both of them on how to just keep going and, just by watching them and her brother, she knows how to deal with different people.

Alexa is a leader, ambitious yet kind, and she will be (at least in battle) the leader of the sibling squad.

Then there’s Naten, who I think is one of the most beloved OC in the series.

Naten is the glue and heart of the group I feel, a farm boy with a heart of gold and more love than he knows what to do with.

He’s a jokester who hides a lot of his complexity behind his soft exterior. It’s not something he really does on purpose, he just doesn’t care how people may think of him or if they underestimate him for liking to joke around.

Like I’ve mentioned before he’s a bit of a jack of all trades and if there are 2 things that define him in Red Fountain it’s his versatility and his dedication. In his character moodboard, I mention that he has dyspraxia, and, despite having occupational therapy with his mom, who also has dyspraxia, he still struggles with it, so he tends to practice a lot to completely master every technique he can in Red Fountain.

Naten has layers, but his main traits are his dedication/stuborness and his love.

^All of them were introduced and had their personalities kinda written in profiles before I even had the idea for the sibling squad, so their ‘roles’ in the group felt very organic to me and were mostly happy coincidences. 

The final two are the ones that were written already knowing that they would be a part of this group.

I loved coming up with my version of Chimera. Making her a vulnerable, insecure girl and having her almost be a foil to Stella was just… ugh, light bulb moment for me, truly.

If you payed attention last chapter you may have noticed that Chimera seems to be getting more powerful. A lot of it is thanks to Stella giving her the staff but it’s also thanks to Chimera constantly practicing to be better.

Chimera has a dual role in the group. First, she’s the tank, the one with the power crawl that’ll eventually be a force to be reckoned with. She may seem a bit overpowered this last chapter but it was a very calm situation in which she had full control and already knew the environment and had created similar illusions there before, it wouldn’t exactly be the same in a fight.

Second, she’s the quiet one. She’s naturally introverted and a quite shy/socially awkward. Traits that were made worse after Valtor’s curse.

She’s 1 of the 2 introverts to balance out all the extroverts. She’s the studious one, the soft spoken one, that doesn’t always know how to stand her ground.

She’s also the one who was the loneliest and most isolated before joining the group, she feels a bit insecure about her spot in the group and is just happy to be included.

She’s learning to be a part of the group and is terrified of losing them.

Finally, the one I know you’ve all been waiting for, even though she isn’t technically a sibling, Roxy.

Roxy is the last to join the squad, and she’s the one who will truly bring them together. Cause, at the moment Alexa and Naten are the closest, and the others are more friendly than besties.

Roxy will be the missing piece to fully pull the group together.

Roxy will be the catalyst for the squad to truly become their own thing, to go from being the Sibling Squad, to Roxy’s Crew.

I won’t explain Roxy as much as the others since she’s already gotten a lot more screentime in 10 chapters than the others have had in 3 seasons.

Finally, some of you may or may not wonder why the whole Naten/Chimera mutual crush.

That’s mostly cause it’s cute and I came up with it on the spot when planning out their summer chronicle.

Then I truly stopped to think about it and realized once more, I am a fucking genius.

Chimera is insecure and doesn’t think much of herself, she’s working on herself and being true to herself, it’s logical she’d fall for a soft boy, a boy who wears his heart on his sleeve and is unapologetic about who he is.

Naten has more heart than anything else, yes, he at first glance, falls for Chimera’s looks (which by the way I thought it’d be adorable to have him fall for her first for her looks when Chimera has never felt pretty) and then he falls for yet another soft soul that is trying to be true. Who is just as dedicated as he is. 

They’re both triers. Both kids who have to practice time and time again because they don’t have natural talent, but they have an insane amount of determination. That’s something they can understand about each other.

So, going in age order; Shirley is the oldest and the protector.

Naten is the glue.

Chimera is the tank and the quiet one.

Alexa is the leader.

And Roxy is the missing piece.

And I… am very excited to explore them further and… their very first, full appearance, all 5 of them together will be in just two chapters, in chapter 17!!!

[still-a-morosexual-help]

OBEY ME! LESSON 46 DETAILED SUMMARY + THEORIES

This lesson’s got two locked chapters that I can’t unlock :’)

D takes them to the casino where they meet Mammon in the Lamp event outfit. When he laughs and tells them that they must have forgotten who he is if they think they can take the money MC ignores all of this to ask him wtf he’s wearing. Mammon blushes and tells them that they have no right to criticize what he’s wearing considering what they’re wearing. Then he says also Lucifer wtf happened to you!? He laughs and teases Lucifer about getting shrunk and how he could accidentally step on him and kill him rn or how Beel might eat him as a snack. I saw someone say that Mammon was a little shit who was also BabyTM and like Yess!??? I love when we get to see more of the asshole side of him specially when we already know how soft he is. Man’s an onion :’) Beel says he wouldn’t do that unless Lucifer hid inside a piece of cake and Beel swallowed him whole without realising. Lucifer, off screen: “You’d better realise I was there!” And Like??? That’s the point Lucifer wants to argue? Not the fact that he wouldn’t hide inside a cake? Mammon says whatever and that he’ll take Lucifer from them so he can have fun with his new toy anyway RIP to Mammon who dies after this lesson. “Mammon, Avatar of Greed, Appears”- gonna have Pokemon Battles from now on, I can’t believe this what this dating sim has evolved into :D Mammon uses wind to lift Lucifer up and bring him towards him. MC has a flashback to the previous night and commands Beel who transforms into a demon and whose body starts moving on its own, Beel then cancels out Mammon’s spell and uses a wind spell to send Mammon flying. Beel transforms back to his human form and is shocked by what happened. Solomon says MC did a good job commanding Beel though they weren’t able to draw out all his powers. They get the armour, which Beel thinks is too flashy but MC tells him it looks great which he is happy about. D tells them about a rumour of Satan attacking a town up north.

As they walk through the woods Lucifer talks about how much he’s gonna love beating the shit outta Mammon when he’s back to normal and waves MC off when they ask him to go easy on Mammon. Beel says that Lucifer used to be a lot nicer to Mammon in the celestial realm and how the two of them would team up to go argue with Raphael. Solomon asks if it was Diavolo who got Lucifer to change and what exactly Lucifer had to do to reach the status they now enjoy in the Devildom. Beel seems shocked at this and ask Lucifer if it’s true. He says he doesn’t remember. There’s growling & they’re suddenly surrounded by ghosts. Solomon: Oh yeah lol this is called the Black Phantom Forest. Everyone else: WHY the FUCK didn’t you say so before!? They run from the ghosts and set up camp beside a lake, MC & Beel talk. Beel says how they’ve all changed from their time in the Celestial Realm and he can’t remember when he stopped resisting the urge to constantly eat. But how somethings are still the same and how the brothers have always been together and how they always will be. He brings up the three things the butcher said to maintain a long relationship and how even though they may sometimes falter at the “respect each other” part when it comes down to it the brothers have all three things with each other (Not me sobbing like a baby. It’s the found family trope for me guys). Beel says how he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to fight Belphie if they meet him in the game and how he has so many people who he loves that he doesn’t know who to put first and that he knows many people would kill to have that kinda problem and that as both an angel and a demon he’s being lucky to have the people he loves. MC gets to hold his hand, lean on his shoulder or say nothing and guys I love Beel so much he’s just so pure god. Okay so theory part: I 100% believe (& it’s implied in canon and in the chats too) and the main reason Lucifer is so mean to Mammon now is because he’s scared if he doesn’t discipline him then Diavolo will and he’ll end up with another Lilith situation. That being said I NEED to know how Lucifer came across Mammon in the celestial realm and what he said to make Mammon so loyal to him. PLS om! Give me the boys backstory? I like to think Lucifer raised Mammon the same way Simeon is raising Luke and that’s why you can see some of Lucifer’s traits in Mammon whenever he becomes serious about something and why Mammon sometimes slips up and calls Lucifer “Dad” and why Lucifer becomes so happy about it. I also think the others would have been older than Mammon was when he first met Lucifer, when they eventually joined the family which is why they share far less traits with Lucifer and why (as far as we know) none of them have called Lucifer ‘dad”. If this is true it also brings up a real interesting dynamic between Satan and Mammon that would be useful when writing fics. You know a little deeply buried resentment and envy about Lucifer having been more of a father figure to Mammon than to the person who is technically his actual son, and since we know for a fact that right after arriving in the Devildom Lucifer starts going through an existential crisis and Mammon’s the one who steps up to look after the others I 100% believe Mammon’s the one who did most of the work in raising a newly created Satan and who taught him how to control his anger so well (cause lets be real it definitely couldn’t be any of the others) which also gives backstory to Satan’s “do you think Mammon’s actually the most decent of us” homescreen comment and more importantly adds spice to the relationship dynamic you can work with in fics.

When they wake up Beel is thankful that they didn’t get eaten. Solomon: not like you would have noticed with all the fun you had *wink wink* Lucifer: wtf Solomon:*WINK WINK* Me: bro they were just talking…  they find out game time and real world time pass differently and come across a treasure chest in the middle of their path. Solomon: Lets open it! :D Lucifer: Expect that’s definitely a trap… Solomon: Exactly! Which is why we should open it! :D MC: Lets open it! :D Lucifer: Why is the entire human species so fucking stupid!? Why were you created without any self preservation!? Who approved this!?  They find medicine, a warding bottle and cat ears. …They put Lucifer into the bottle and Lucifer’s really going through it in this huh. But opening the chest pulls up an inescapable battle with the final boss, and Satan pops up fully immersed in the villain role with an evil laugh and everything. Luci asks MC to use something from the chest and they use the cat ears and Lucifer’s disappointed when they actually work. But it only deals 222 damage to Satan’s 870k HP. Satan paralyses them all and steals bottled lucifer and calls Belphie to finish the others off. I can’t remember if I mentioned this before but how did the brothers know that Lucifer was gonna be mini before they even got home, it would’ve had to be quite a bit in advance for them to so perfectly set up everything… And you know Solomon was really determined to open that chest (I mean so was MC but the whole of season 1 was establishing that their curiosity was gonna get them killed) so…

MC tells Belphie they don’t want to fight him and Belphie says he doesn’t want to fight either but at the same time Satan agreed to give him mine lucifer for a whole day if he defeats them. Beel’s still reluctant and Belphie says Beel doesn’t have to worry cause Belphie isn’t the same small/weak person that Beel always had to protect (and holy shit I need more info on this too?). Beel eventually agrees and says that Belphie’s strong, he tells MC that they weren’t able to use his entire power against Mammon cause he was holding himself back unconsciously but that he was ready now. MC makes Beel do a bunch of wind attacks and they defeat Belphie who’s impressed. Beel says that the magic was actually MC doing it not him (even though he was the one that executed it). Belphie says he’ll join their party if MC promises him that he’ll be allowed to poke at mini luci. MC tells him there’s a damned line and he’ll have to wait his turn. Solomon wonders if MC should be going around giving the right to annoy lucifer to others but also he wants that right too. Even though Lucifer was kidnapped since he’s still in the bottle he’ll be protected so MC’s test is still ongoing. Odd that there was a bottle that would protect Lucifer should he get kidnapped in the chest that was a trap… look we all know Solomon is shady enough that he’s probably behind this right?

During dinner at a tavern the twins are sickeningly soft with each other and Solomon watches them with a smile. For the night the twins end up sharing a room with each other, with Mc and Solomon alone together. In the middle of the night MC wakes up to Solomon still up and looking sad. They ask him what’s up. He says despite how much they walked he still isn’t tired and that seeing the twins together made him lonely. Seeing how much they love and care and understand each other and how they were always together made him wish he had something similar but how when you didn’t age it was difficult to from lasting bonds like that in the human world. MC tells him that all of them care about him and he says he hopes so. Solomon: Lol just the two of us in a room in a game, wouldn’t it be crazy if we made out? MC can either kiss him or kinda stare awkwardly. If they choose the second he apologises for suddenly putting them on the spot and says he won’t try anything else. So this might be kinda an unpopular opinion and I’m genuinely really happy that the side characters are getting more screen time and development because I desperately needed that but I’m not really onboard the romancing option with them? I’m happy they’ve got their own cards now and I love the devilgram stories and romance options in them but I don’t think it makes sense in the context of the main storyline? Barbatos has almost no interaction with MC and though they haven’t shown it yet it’d be weird if he was suddenly into MC. Diavolo spent 2 whole seasons simping over Lucifer why is MC suddenly an option? Besides Diavolo always seems so lonely and I really want him and MC to be really good friends, I want Diavolo to have a friendship where there isn’t some condition that hangs over it like there is with his relationship with Barbatos and Lucifer. The same goes with Solomon. I just want him to have a good solid friendship where there isn’t expectations or power between them. He also initially only seems interested in MC for their power and as a way to train them and eventually genuinely softens up to them, Just the request to kiss seemed outta nowhere? I don’t know why but with Simeon he seems above crushes? I always imagine him seeing MC as another cute kid Lucifer picked up (despite MC being an adult) and having a sort of soft indulgent attitude towards them. I don’t know I think I just want MC to have some friends who aren’t trying to sleep with them.

Solomon is extremely chipper the next morning and Belphie grumpily makes a comment about him having fun and sdfjdvnsjdokd they just talked. Belphie uses his magic to teleport them to Satan’s castle and Beel asked why he couldn’t do that the previous night, Belphie says grumpily cause then Solomon would have missed out on the fun and Solomon agrees and THEY JUST TALKED!? Satan has managed to transform Lucifer into wolf Lucifer and is shaking his bottle hard enough to make Luci wanna puke while Lucifer asks him to stop. MC tells satan to stop and he tells them they won’t be able to defeat him cause they skipped right to the boss battle without taking the long route and levelling up. MC says they’re not gonna fight him cause this whole thing is fucking stupid. Satan says it’s not cause he’s having fun. MC gives him one of their free therapy sessions about how important the bonds between he and his brothers are and how they don’t care more about helping the brothers all get along than some stupid star. Beel comes out spitting facts, saying they all know that Satan actually cares about Lucifer and how that embarrasses him and how he needs to stop hiding it by lashing out. And how Lucifer needs to get his shit together and be honest with satan. That he needs to tell Satan that Lucifer knows he’s his own demon and a really good demon at that. Lucifer says FYI but I never said you weren’t your own great person and Satan blushes and says that unless he wants to look childish he has no option but to accept the olive branch. He tosses Luci to MC. Belphie complains about having stupid older brothers and Solomon says he’s disappointed in Satan and reveals himself as the true secret final boss and FUCK YEAH! I CALLED THAT SHIT! Kinda – I thought he might have just given them a heads up about Luci’s condition. On a different note, Satan needs serious therapy. They all do tbh.

Solomon congratulates MC on what they’ve done so far but says they still haven’t accessed Beel’s full potential and that he’ll give his ‘adorable apprentice’ one more shit at it. Solomon summons Asmo who complains about how long he was made to wait and how he nearly gave up and went to the spa and that no one likes a selfish man. Solomon tells Asmo that he can tell him all this after they get back to the real world and I genuinely want the backstory of how they met and just more about their relationship. At Solomon’s command Asmo uses charm and paralyses Beel and at MC’s Beel uses another wind attack. Asmo says he’s never seen beel do something of this calibre before and he seems more powerful, even more than he was in the celestial realm, Asmo yells at Solomon for just standing and seeming impressed instead of helping him. There’s a bright white light.

Back home with everything back to normal Beel, Lucifer and MC are hanging out by the pool. Lucifer is in an unexpectedly good mood and MC has earned a star, which glows slightly from its place on the symbol etched to the back of their hand. Inside Solomon is feeding the other brothers as punishment. Mammon is sobbing his heart out and Levi is out cold (possibly dead). Satan is given Levi’s remaining share of food and Asmo is in tears. Belphie had made a run for it the second they got home and is nowhere to be found. Solomon talks about how nice Lucifer actually is and how he really loves his brothers cause he just made Solomon make them dinner instead of punishing any of them…. Love that the canonical reason why none of these demons tell Solomon about his food and allow themselves to get tortured is cause they don’t wanna be rude and hurt his feelings. And he thought no one cared about him. If that isn’t love I dunno what is. Beel and MC take a walk while Lucifer sits by the pool and in his words basks in “their screams of agony” While blushing beel says he’s grateful for what happened and how that star is proof that they got closer. Mc can either thank him or say that the star belongs to him. I think they kiss after the second option? For the first Beel says MC’s the one who did the work of drawing out his power. Over the echoing screams from inside Beel asks if they feel like they forgot something and ndfjkfjkdjfefjkn THEY FORGOT DIAVOLO I’M!!!!???? poor baby

[randomoranges]

I'm pretty sure you've mentioned it before but what tribe does Étinenne belong to? Any specific details you can give?

Bonjour – hi hello pardon for the delay

I got super busy with work and stuff and then had to think of the answer because this is not a straightforward question haha and then had to revise the og answer to make it better.

Anyways this is going to be a Thing and a little bit all over the place but here we go.

As they say in the vernac’ attache ta tuque a’c d’la broche à foin.

Bref.

So

The island of Montreal was before colonisation a meeting hub for different groups of first nations. They’d come to what is now the old port area and trade, exchange, meet up, etc. But not no one really stayed permanently esque in that gen area in a long term type of way.

Keeping that in mind, Pointe à Callière is currently the museum that has the ruins of the old Ville Mariefortifications from the Maisonneuve era.

Both areas are super close to one another. Like it’s part of the same area.

After MUCH consideration and going back and forth (thank you 5ever @allbeendonebefore for the help – the real MVP) I’ve come to these following thoughts.

For starters, it’s more particular with étienne because Montreal is a city – but it’s also an island and a few years back they tried to like unite all the cities of the island into one giant city on the island. To some success. So – what path did I want to go with? And also both paths have their pros and cons and things that make it easier and harder.

I always chose the island one because it encompasses the Important Areas of the City and the ones with the Most History, so it’s easier to include More. Ish.

Ét would have started off as just Some Guy who appears where Pointe à Callière is. He’s a regular dude and he likes the vibe of the place and the comings and goings of the people in the area so he sticks around and lives his life. People (the First Nations people who were using that area as a trading/exchange/meet up hub) would tell him stories of their adventures/things that happened because ét seemed trustworthy and because he was the “local guy” who just happened to be there and et is curious and does fit in with crowds really well. Ét ends up “collecting” these stories and obviously finds them fascinating.

Throughout his early days, he picks up on these tales, makes connections with people and lives an ordinary life by the heart of the river and at the foot of the mountain [poetic license here]. Élyse may be his only constant by then, but their relation isn’t as close as it would be today. She too would come and go but she’d be the only one coming and going as frequently and because she too does not age like a regular human, ét would assume that’s the standard. The others who come and go don’t necessarily come back so he’d think little of it – or he’d see them again Much Later, so Clearly It’s Fine.

He isn’t aware of a bigger role he may or may not have just yet.

There would have been other “avatars” of the first nations groups that would come and go and they would have traded stories with étienne as well and that would be how he would get the cartiertales from the St-Laurent Iroquoians [who are, according to history, the group that happened to be there when Cartier showed up]

For now, étienne without knowing is like the personification of the Meeting Spot where everyone meets up. He has a connection to the spot but he’s still unaware of his raison d’être. Of course, he yearns for a sense of belonging, but whenever a group comes over for a bit and he thinks this might be it, it turns out that it’s not.

Eventually, by the time the Mohawks come and settle on the territory, they would be the first group that would make an actual real connection with Étienne and like invite him to join them. And seeing as Étienne has longed to belong to a Group, he’d join. Also since they seemed to actually want to stay in a more permanent way and not just – well growing seasons done so long and thanks for all the fish.

Étienne equally being a quick study of languages would also pick up really quickly and he’d fit in nicely with the Mohawks who could see potential in him/him being an asset.

It would be around these times that he’d start to realise that people around him – that he’d met just a few years back – that were just like him what feels like the other day – are changing when he isn’t. And it’s prolly around then that he realises he’s different from the others in his community and question why. The answers he gets aren’t satisfactory, but he grins and bears it and keeps searching for Others Like Him and he wonders if maybe those others whod swapped stories with him before, with warnings and caution knew something he didn’t.

The interesting thing with PAC as well is that they’ve done this thing a few years back called the Memory Collector – collections of memories and whatnot from people who’ve come and gone through Montreal from the og Montréalistes to current immigrants and everything in between. So Étienne being the actual Collector of Memories through people coming and going and telling him their stories is like – perfect.

He’d move around with the Mohawks and it would be the first time he’d feel as though he’d belong to a group so he’d associate with them as an identity.

In my humble opinion, my thoughts have always been that when Maisonneuve and co arrived and tried to get a village started, étienne, being the curious being he’s always been, woulda been intrigued by these newcomers and would have wanted to see how they lived compared to him and the people in his community. Also, with Maisonneuve and Co wanting to get a village started in like his area he woulda been like well hello neighbours! Come, come, here is the land! Enjoy!! So, he would’ve prolly wanted the others of his community to do the same and want Maisonneuve and Co to welcome the ways of his people as well. In his mind he doesn’t understand why these two groups – and others – can’t get along and just live peacefully together. He’s seen enough bloodshed and it’s Exhausting. He much rather have those evenings of trading stories and having a good time.

Also, an interesting note is that Cartier mostly just came, saw left-ish compared to Maisonneuve who was like “aight, let us live here Permanently” that changed the dynamics and also pulled at Étienne who again was like I Want Friends.

In the og village of Maisonneuve and his Montréalistes [yes, that’s what they were called at the time] there were different first nations ppl who decided to live with Maisonneuve and Co. So it’s not always easy to be like ah yes, étienne woulda belonged to X and Y. Hence this rambly mess.

Obviously and unfortunately, there were way too many conflicts btwn Maisonneuve and Co and the first nations folks and that would upset étienne who woulda wanted all groups to get along. In his opinion there were many resources for all to live happily. The Grande Paix de Montréal [1701] would have given him Hope TM that things could settle down once and for all.

On a side note, before Maisonneuve and Co arrived, Étienne would have not used the name Étienne. That would come post colonisation but I’m not sure when. At the time he would go by Tiohtià:ke.

In the early days of Ville Marie ét woulda still been more “first nations” than “bonjour I am now a Montréaliste” but he woulda offered his services/employment to Maisonneuve as a voyageur after a bit, because on top of errthing else ét woulda been hella intrigued by the idea of exploring the world and the fact that there were people who crossed the big ocean and who lived so completely differently from anyone hed ever known woulda boggled his mind and also to get away from the hot mess of conflicts going on. He woulda thought the Grande Paix would have brought back the earlier trading hub/story swap vibes, but too many bloody conflicts he was tired of made him want to get a change of pace. Plus the fact that now he felt Attached to Groups so no longer needed to just Wait. And also the fact that said Groups were Not Getting Along would have made him want to Leave.

After a while of that, around [18XX] he woulda settled in the city and like been a merchant of sorts. [im still working on the notes and details, but he’d get tired of the trips and the conditions and it wasnt just go out and have fun and explore but there were too many issues as well and he just – wanted to have a good time, really, so hed go back to the city and change again]

By the 19th century, whatever ties with his og first nations roots he had woulda been completely washed away by the colonisation of the island – especially by what is now the old port/ville marie and he would have tried Real Hard to Fit In because of his curiosity and wanting to live like these european folk and because of how shite the first nations were being treated. George-Étienne Cartier would have been an Aspiration of his and someone he would have modeled himself after [way of life, personality, etc]

By that time he would also consider himself as French and first nation (Mohawk) as a second and maybe even third thought. Equally, compared to some other avatars, I feel like Étienne would have “lost himself” and is now unfortunately more disconnected from his OG first nation roots than others might (think Ed). The colonisation + the large amount of euros that came to MTL would have given him whiplash for years and would have been like a tidal wave over his head. All of a sudden the village boomed, it was a city and there were more of these french cathos than anything else.

For a good part of the 19th and 20thcentury, he would have identified as Catholic and French with very little regard to his first nation roots. The og village of Ville Mariewould now be an actual thriving and important city and offering more opportunities for growth to him/suddenly MTL city is super relevant. He’d get swept up by the fast pace and the “glamour” and pretty words and it was easier to just go with the flow than to fight. He’s always been someone of good times and parties and of celebrations over everything else and obviously it wasn’t always easy for everyone in the city, but it certainly is when you know the right people and you’re on the up and up as an Important City.

Post Oka crisis (1990s), I think he would have started lowkey thinking about his first nation roots again. Mostly because the crisis shoved it in everyone’s faces in a big way that hadn’t been heard in a Long Time. And maybe slowly slowly like veeeerrry slowly reconnecting. But feeling v lost and overwhelmed by it bcs is that even still him? Was that ever even him? And if not then what the heck even bcs thats like centuries of his life just – forgotten and lost. But to a point he’d also relate with the immigrants who’d come to his city and then feel alienated from their og roots. And then also like even going back to it it’s not even what it was Before, because the Mohawks changed over the centuries as well [duh] as most groups do. Like with any language and expressions and fashions and such from any place.

Eventually at some point in the 21st century he would reconnect more and make his own amends with his identity and the multiple facets it has as well as coming to terms with certain events that happened btwn the euros and first nations over the centuries. The Catholic identity would peter down post 1970s, but the french id would stay even though he likes the multicultural aspect. Theres just something about being a little shit and also being Different in a Sea of Same, etc

In the end, he would attach himself to being Mohawk + French origins since those two would really be the two first groups that gave him a sense of like “belonging” in their own way. [And, obvi he’d belong to the queer community lamao]

Literally coulda just answered your ask with: Mohawk, French, Queer Lamao bit I turned this into a Thing TM oupsee.

And I totes hope this actually Answered the Question and you didn’t mean something completely different LAMAO

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Fruits Basket 2019 Episode 19: “I’m So Sorry!”

You know, considering how apprehensive I was going into this episode since I knew what it was going to cover, I gotta give them credit for how by the end of it I actually really liked the little things they did to flesh out this part of the story, even if they only had so much time to work with.

I think this is gonna be a divisive episode for a lot of reasons, including the fact that some manga fans might not like that they toned down the comedy [relatively speaking] and fleshed out the character interactions more, but one way or another I think they did a nice job with it.

Anyway, thoughts under the cut [and spoiler warning for the whole manga]

I didn’t expect this episode to give me a whole lot to talk about [in terms of positive stuff, at least] since Ritsu’s intro arc was always kinda short and simple, but they actually made a fair amount of edits to how the whole episode played out. It’s still the same length and covers the same basic plot beats, but with a different sort of execution compared to the manga.

Specifically this adapts chapters 44 and 45 of the manga, though technically Ritsu first appears at the very end of chapter 43. And there was a fair amount of stuff that was cut or replaced in this episode, mainly the couple of scenes with Yuki and Haru that were there to follow up on what happened in chapter 43. Since that hasn’t happened yet in the anime, obviously it had to be cut. I think we’ll be seeing that whole part of the story happen near the start of season 2 at this point, since they definitely don’t seem to be planning to introduce Rin in this season. So in that sense at least this episode played out similarly to how it did in the 2001 anime [where Ritsu’s intro was in episode 23]. But there was also a lot of stuff changed outside of that, which made this more of an entirely unique version of this part of the story.

Basically most of it boils down to how they edited the whole flow of events to give Mitsuru [and her interactions with Ritsu] way more screen-time and focus, which I think was exactly what this episode needed. In the manga their interaction in this whole part is literally just contained to one page worth of dialogue at the very end, and it only vaguely sets up the idea that they might have stuff in common. And for the record, at least in the manga, that’s also basically the only time they ever interact in the story to begin with. After this I don’t think we ever see them again at all outside of one bonus comic page that, at least in the collector’s edition, is compiled at the back of the final volume along with some other bonus material. Both Mitsuru and Ritsu kinda vanish from the manga after this point, and then right near the end we suddenly get told that they’re dating and it’s all just kinda weird and unexpected.

Maybe it’s just the writer in me who likes nerding out about this kinda stuff, but I thought it was really neat how elegantly they managed to incorporate Mitsuru into how almost all of this episode, and how they used some of the scenes from the manga that they cut as inspiration for the more original scenes here. Like how the scene with Ritsu freaking out about cereal and spilling milk everywhere got replaced with him spilling coffee on Shigure’s manuscript. I also liked how instead of having a scene near the end with Tohru and Ritsu talking in private, we got to see Ritsu and Mitsuru talking about the same sorta stuff.

The other really big change, which lead to how they could more or less cut out that one scene between Tohru and Ritsu, was how they heavily fleshed out the scene with Ritsu about to jump off Shigure’s roof by basically inserting his whole talk with Tohru into it, which I think worked surprisingly well. Some manga fans might dislike how it made the scene less comedy-focused, but I think it worked well. I did think it was kinda unintentionally funny how it reminded me that Tohru keeps finding new and exciting ways to fall off, or nearly fall off, dangerously high places, lmao.

I’ve seen some people say that it felt too over the top and melodramatic in a way that made Tohru feel too much like an unrealistically perfect therapist, but honestly that’s just kinda how this part of the story always felt. Tohru’s whole conversation with Ritsu about the meaning of life and whatnot always felt like the part where Tohru’s place in the story felt the most forced. But with the amount of characters the premise of this series demands introducing, it’s commendable that most of the parts where Tohru basically serves as the Soma family therapist don’t feel this way.

It probably doesn’t help that the reboot shuffled this around in the timeline so that it’s right in the middle of two other arcs about Tohru meeting a new Soma family member. This episode coming immediately after one as good as Kisa’s episode really set it up for failure in a lot of ways, lol. But ultimately I think it was a good idea to move this where they did. It makes sense that they’re trying to rearrange things so that all of the zodiac members except for Kureno and Rin get introduced before the end of season 1, and this is the best place in the season to put this episode. I think it at least works a lot better here than it did in the 2001 anime where it happened literally right before the Kyo arc, right near the end of the season, which was just a really awkward place to put it all around.

In terms of other stuff that got changed/removed from the manga, they cut out a whole bit with Hatori getting called over to bandage Tohru’s hand after Ritsu broke a cup and she ended up getting cut, though honestly I’d kinda forgotten about that whole scene so I didn’t even notice it was gone. And along those same lines, I guess they also cut out the minor detail of Ritsu spraining his ankle on the roof and it having to also get treated by Hatori, since they had Tohru have a much more dramatic fall on the roof instead.

Like I said, basically every single scene with Mitsuru was anime-original since in the manga she only really appeared in that final scene, and even that got fleshed out a fair bit in this episode, so that we actually got to see them becoming friends, and they both had the same sorta monologue to tie everything together. Which did a way better job than the manga ever did at setting up their relationship, lol. It’s still kinda forced, but it’s not the gaping void of nothingness that it was originally.

Another thing they changed, which I didn’t even notice until I checked the manga again afterward, was that Ritsu was wearing his kimono throughout this entire episode, whereas in the manga he switches to wearing a more masculine outfit immediately after Tohru finds out that he’s a guy. It honestly felt so natural to have him just keep wearing the same outfit the whole way through that I didn’t think anything of it.

Which finally gets us to the elephant in the room, the hornet’s nest, the can of worms, the grand king of controversy, that is Ritsu’s crossdressing.

I definitely think it felt a lot better in this version of events specifically because they at least let him still wear his kimono and his feminine hairstyle even after the ““““gender reveal twist”“““ without it being some sorta issue, but ultimately the way it’s handled still feels notably dated, and I definitely think there’s gonna be a lot of entirely new fans who immediately view him as being heavily trans-coded. Since he really is.

I feel like this should be fairly self-explanatory, but just to be completely clear, this isn’t a matter of “wearing feminine clothing must mean you’re a girl”. This is more specifically about how Ritsu’s crossdressing is framed completely differently to how characters like Momiji and Ayame crossdress. They just do it explicitly because they’re carefree and self-confident and don’t care what people think about them, and it’s not a particularly major or defining part of who they are as a character. But with Ritsu, it ultimately ends up being one of his defining points as a character if only because this is basically all we ever see of him, and the story goes to pretty great lengths to detail how his motivations for cross-dressing come from an entirely different sort of place. Instead of him doing it because he’s naturally confident enough to not care about societal judgment, he does it because it’s the only thing that *makes him* feel confident in himself at all. It’s shown as being pretty much the one and only thing that alleviates his crippling self-hatred. In particular I think the flashback to him trying on one of Kagura’s dresses as a child and having a moment of realization and euphoria really feels like a distinctly Trans Experience [tm] kinda thing. Not to mention the other flashbacks to how he felt ashamed of himself because his parents were constantly apologizing to other people because of how he is, which comes across even more strongly as being specifically tied to his gender expression since at least in the anime, he’s also wearing a dress in that flashback.

It’s also worth noting that in the manga they placed a fair bit of emphasis, especially in his big talk with Tohru, about how he basically ‘wants to pull himself together and stop needing to dress like a woman’, as if it’s some sort of emotional crutch he needs to move on from, and it seems like that basically got cut out. Which is for the better, I’d say. I’ve said before in relation to Momiji that I also disliked there how [in the long run] his own crossdressing is treated as something temporary that he’ll inevitably move on from, and it stuck out even more in the manga when we also got this whole part later which even more explicitly framed cross-dressing as a ‘phase’ that someone needed to move on from. I guess in a lot of ways it really says a lot about the subtly yet meaningfully different way Ritsu’s framed in the reboot, that he just continues wearing his kimono throughout the whole episode and nobody really talks about it after Tohru finds out he’s a guy. I much prefer this more neutral framing of ‘this is just how he dresses and that’s cool’ more than ‘this is something he needs to stop doing in order to grow up’.

It all still feels a little bit outdated even in this version of the story, but I think it would have been even more noticeably outdated and uncomfortable if they had kept all of that stuff from the manga too. So I’m glad they cut it out. They did technically add an original bit near the end with Mitsuru realizing that Ritsu isn’t actually a woman, but I think that was handled perfectly well. Her reaction was basically just ‘oh I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made assumptions like that’, and him freaking out about it was basically just treated as him getting unnecessarily apologetic for something that isn’t a problem at all. Interestingly enough, I think that little scene between them was at least vaguely inspired by that aforementioned bonus comic page about them.

It’s obvious that it’s not like the reboot’s gonna retcon it so that he’s trans now, but I much prefer this take on his crossdressing compared to the manga.

I’m kinda curious to see if they’re going to do more with him as a character after this in the reboot, since Takaya’s said before that his lack of screen-time and importance is one of her big regrets. Though it’s honestly kinda hard to think of where they could even fit him in, aside from maybe the summer vacation arc. Ultimately he kinda suffers from not really being connected to any of the other zodiac characters, which makes him the odd one out who’s difficult to insert into scenes. I think they could probably at least do something with his apparent friendship with Kagura, though, since that never really got elaborated on in the manga.

I’ve always wondered if him getting sidelined after his intro arc in the manga had anything to do with the fact that his arc was the exact point where Takaya’s hand injury caused the series to go on hiatus. It’s not like we’ll ever know one way or another, but I wonder if the fact that his introduction happened to coincide with such a stressful and draining part of her life made her want to basically ignore him as a character afterward to try and forget about all of that. But who knows.

I do have a feeling that the fact that they edited and fleshed out this episode a fair bit compared to the manga might be because Takaya wasn’t happy with what she did with this arc originally, which probably had a lot to do with her hand issues. It might have lead to her not being able to put as much care and thought into this arc in the manga as she would have liked, so she might have even given the anime staff some pointers on how she wanted it to be improved.

Anyway, that’s a lot more than I expected to say about this episode, lmao. All in all I liked it way more than I expected, and I hope they can find some sorta way to give Ritsu more screen-time than he got in the manga.

And as we basically all knew would happen, it looks like next week’s episode will be Hiro’s introduction. I’m kinda curious to see how that goes, since Hiro’s the sorta character who I think is well written for who he’s meant to be, but it doesn’t stop me from kinda hating him as a person, lmao. At least to the extent that you can hate a preteen kid for being annoying and bratty.

[janiedean]

lol no idea about b/ellarke but i'm soo sick of seeing the platonic argument for jb too like even on the show season 6 had ONE b episode but it was so shippy that all my show-only friends who don't even care about the ship were like "such eye-sex, omg" and YET some will say it's platonic lol. that reply was a++

no listen I have a serious, serious, serious problem with the term platonic being attached to a lot of ships in order to deny that they’re romantic but especially with jb I really can’t stand it for a number of reasons and sorry but you touched on a sore point so I might rant at you but:

I’m sick tired of this idea that platonic relationships are inherently *purer* than romantic ones or that two people who are romantically in love with each other and have been written as such should be *platonic* because they somehow work better as friends. now, that’s brought up with m/m ships too, but with f/m ships - where the romance is maybe more expected because it’s the norm - there’s the really irksome habit of saying it when it’s not your typical couple. b/ellarke is an interracial couple with the male lead being half-filipino which is not a typical combination and guess why most of the bashing goes to him, but with jb we go to what is my serious fucking problem with it.

as in: it’s a hot guy and an ugly woman who happens to not be the kind you can turn beautiful with make-up and who is, actually, the stereotype deconstruction of a lot of things with her character type.

what I mean: usually ugly women who aren’t feminine in appearance or manners or who have *male*-coded jobs are lesbians or trans or hate being women and/or have gender issues and if they aren’t they usually go back to their feminine-coded jobs/appearance later (ie, I love eowyn to pieces but she’s hot regardless and her story ends with finding the man of her life and giving the sword up, and mind I ship it with the force of a thousand suns and I love how that story goes because it’s one specific trope tolkien knew what he was doing). brienne is ugly, and she’s also not lesbian or trans nor she hates being a woman nor she has issues with her gender - she happens to dress like a guy and do things guys do (ie: being a knight) because that’s what she’s good at, but she doesn’t resent being a woman, she only resents not having fit into society’s standards to give her father a heir that was either one or the other. she fell for renly because he danced with her without laughing and I have a feeling she wouldn’t have a problem wearing dresses if no one gave her shit for it. brienne is a woman who’s NOT pretty which makes her undesirable by society’s standards (and westeros’ tbh) but at the same time she’s the kind of seventeen year-old who irl would probably write mrs jaime lannister on her diary without realizing jaime writes mr brienne tarth on his, but never mind. and sorry but it’s not a model that’s very popular.

as in: I have weird issues when it comes to personally relating to brienne because I know I’m objectively a lot better looking but I never felt like I was and is2g in every single affc chapter of hers I read there was one flashback where she’d remember something that was the westeros version of shit that happened to me at some point in between elementary and high school. at some point it was creepy how accurate it was. and thing is: it was the first time in my life I actually related to a fictional character that way because at the ripe age of twenty-two I had never run into a female character who was UGLY, straight and not belonging to a romantic or sexual minority and who was never gonna get any prettier and who was also, incidentally, the person with the straightest moral compass in the series pretty much. wow. amazing. and guess what -

she’s also the tangible/possible love interest of a guy who’s a lot hotter than she is, who respects her greatly for her skills, who trusts her because of them and with whom she has a thriving relationship and who doesn’t give two fucks that she’s ugly and who, on top of that, even had not so platonic boners when seeing her naked. now, on her side it’s pretty much canon that she’s in love with jaime and honest I think it’s gonna be clear on his very soon, but like, the thing is that it’s not a dynamic that usually gets this kind of treatment. ugly guys tend to get hot girls, but hot guys always are with ugly girls who suddenly turned beautiful or weren’t really ugly in the first place or have one part of their body that doesn’t look good but are hot regardless, or who are ugly for someone’s standards but not for others. and honestly, I don’t care if people don’t ship it - you can dislike it how you want, no one is obliged to - but going like ‘ah but they’re friends WHY CAN’T THEY BE PLATONIC’ or the everlasting ‘but she’s too ugly for him’ (rotfl jaime is the one person who didn’t give a fuck about his brother being disabled/*ugly* for westeros standards you think he cares about brienne’s looks) is basically denying all over again that if you’re a woman who doesn’t look hot or attractive then you can’t be seen as a romantic or sexual desire object by someone who’s actually hot.

and I’m really fucking tired of that. I mean, I see that shit everywhere also with famous people (like I’ve seen people being shocked that hugh j*ackman’s wife is very average when they’ve been together since forever and they obv love each other??, same as m*isha collins’s wife like ‘oh I’m so surprised she’s really plain couldn’t he do better’) and honestly, from the point of view of someone who really has trouble seeing themselves as as such (because as stated before I really don’t see myself as good looking), having a canon romance where the girl isn’t hot and will never become such and it doesn’t fucking matter because the guy wants her regardless of her fucking attractiveness factor would be really, really refreshing.

but no. they’re friends. they’re comrades. it has to be platonic. can’t be that it’s romantic. you know what, no. it doesn’t have to be platonic. if you see it as such fine, but it can be romantic, there’s literally no reason for it not to be since on brienne’s side it’s basically canon and jaime certainly doesn’t think of her in platonic terms regardless of what he likes to tell himself (I don’t get boners for people I have no attraction to, and given that jaime in general doesn’t feel attracted to people that aren’t his sister maybe that means fucking something) and denying that it can be romantic in this case to me sounds dangerously like ‘but she’s ugly and he’s not so it doesn’t make sense’. yes, because in order to partner with someone you have to be the same level of attractive. yeah, nope.

anyway sorry for the rant but since as stated I have *personal* investment in the ‘can we stop saying ugly girls can’t be sexual or romantic partners’ issue I just really can’t stand this stupid argument especially for jb. especially when they treat it like a romantic relationship is somehow cheapening it. because, spoilers, some of us actually WANT romantic relationships and enjoy the idea and would also not mind some X-rated activity thrown in the mix and saying that this whole thing is somehow less noble than some crappy purity-based relationship where you’re supposed to have deep affinity but be just *friends* and love the soul and all that jazz is frankly a thing that should be deleted from existence.

especially when platonic in theory and in the beginning didn’t even fucking mean that and the sexual component was fundamental in the concept, but never mind that.

ugh, sorry I went on that rant but I really have Issues TM with jb attached to platonic love from people who want to deny at all costs that they have romantic potential rather than just say that it exists but they don’t care for the dynamic.

[ramblesandmumblesofanerd]

Weekly Reviews: Samurai Jack Season 5 Episode 5

Previously on Samurai Jack…

The Samurai has survived his battle against the Daughters of Aku, but one member still lives. Ashi, a devoted assassin, continues to fight against the samurai both physically and verbally in spite of her being outmatched. Even when she and the Samurai are devoured by a gigantic beast, she believes that Aku’s order shall destroy the Samurai and restore peace to the great land of the Shapeshifting Shogun. While trying to escape the beast, Jack tries to reveal the truth to the assassin while also trying to keep her alive. Eventually, the two warriors do escape, and Ashi is reminded of a time in her childhood when beauty was dismissed.

“XCVI” starts at the surprisingly empty domain of Aku, where three human armies converge on the familiar, spiked spire where Aku himself dwells. One army in particular is clad in a familiar, red plaid pattern, and is led by an old man confined to a wheelchair. Long time fans of the original series will remember this man as The Scotsman, the oldest and longest of Jack’s friends in the future, now old and grey and but still full of fire. His army consists of his entire lineage of children, all of whom are women who are not afraid to show some skin in combat, in spite of their father’s insistence on putting on proper armor. Regardless of their attire, the armies commence their attack on Aku, who still suffers from his depression over the Samurai’s persistent existence. He sees the attack as on opportunity to hopefully cheer himself up, and immediately begins his counterattack, making quick work of most of the humans. The Scotsman realizes this was a bad idea, telling his daughters to immediately fall back while he distracts Aku, who notices their retreat. The Scotsman confronts Aku, belittling him for hiding in his tower while Jack continues to inspire more and more people with each passing day. Aku responds by aptly disintegrating the man with minimal effort, leaving nothing but dust and his now broken enchanted claymore sword. Aku smiles for a moment, but then remembers the hollowness in his non existent soul.

“Why did he have to bring up the Samurai?” he moans before returning to his throne.

The Scotsman’s daughters gather around his ashes, swearing vengeance for what Aku has done, only to be greeted by the spirit of their dead father. It seems his sword has the ability to keep his spirit on the mortal plane, which is just what he needs at the moment. He tells his daughters to regroup, gather more warriors, and most importantly, find Jack.

Speaking of the Samurai, we cut back to the island of ladybugs, where the two warriors are recuperating from the events of the previous episode. Ashi, now doubting everything that she was taught, has a vision of her mother berating and belittling her once more. Ashi is barely phased, however, as she now wants to know the truth about Aku’s order. As night gives way to morning, Jack finds a way off the island in the form of what appears to be a sea dragon. The creature gives Jack and Ashi across the sea to the mainlands, where Jack, surprisingly, bids Ashi farewell and walks off into the distance.

As Jack rests in the beach after another day of travel, he once more experiences the fiery hallucinations of his guilt. The fire starts to yell at him as faces from his past start to emerge from the embers. Unlike before, though, the vision doesn't last long. Jack's thoughts are interrupted by the appearance if Ashi, who has come to learn the truth from her former target. Jack initially refuses to tell her, saying that her lind is far too clouded by Aku’s hatred, but the assassin’s protests (which oddly parallels the Scotsman’s) cause Jack to change his mind. He tells her to wait until morning, only to be met with more impatient growls. As the two wait for sunrise, Ashi stares at the clear night sky. She asks Jack if Aku was the one who created the stars. Jack is appalled by the notion and tells her a tale his mother once told him long ago about two siblings named Sun and Moon riding their mighty Phoenix and shooting the darkness away with their magical bows and arrows. Ashi can’t help but smile as she visualizes the tale in her mind.

The next day, Jack takes Ashi through a field of desolation. There is nothing but ash and decay as far as the eye can see, save for one vibrantly colorful tree. Jack tells Ashi that instead of Aku being the one who brought this lone tree into existence, he was the one who destroyed all the other trees which once stood here. This field is a testament to Aku’s power and hatred over beauty. The second truth comes from the familiar landscape of a city ruled by Aku’s law. A ship lands at a port where Ashi and Jack watch in silence. The pilot is a criminal looking for refuge from his home planet. He is promptly given a home in a part of the world Aku has oddly left untouched, as every man, woman and child seem quite happy. The criminal gives a wide, toothy grin as he sees his new home, but this is not a warm, hospitable smile...this is a smile of malice and pure evil. This is Jack’s second lesson: the innocent are always targets in this world.

As Jack continues to show Ashi more of Aku’s world, she eventually concedes as they gaze upon a recently devastated village still lined with the corpses of it’s people. Ashi asks what can be done about Aku to which Jack responds that there is nothing that can be done. He has fought for so long that his hope is completely gone. A noise from the rubble attracts the two warriors, as they soon discover that one of the villagers still lives. He marvels at the Samurai’s return and tells them that the children of the village have been taken away to a nearby factory.

Jack and Ashi infiltrate the factory, hoping to find the children, unaware that they are being watched. In a nearby control room, a robotic foe opens a door close to the warriors, revealing the children. Ashi then hears a high pitched whine in the air as the children suddenly change from silent and stoic to vicious and primal. Jack and Ashi run as they formulate a plan to save these children, with the latter realizing the sound may control the children. Jack tells her to destroy the source as he leads the mind controlled army of children away.

Ashi tracks the sound to the control room, but is caught by an assortment of mechanical vices controlled by the sadistic guard who has observed her and Jack since they entered. He tortures her with electricity, calling her a Samurai Sympathizer, and regaling her with tales of how simple controlling the children was. Ashi’s rage builds to the point where she finally frees herself from her prison and finally gives the guard his comeuppance, as she throws him into a wall and causes his unstable armor to explode.

Meanwhile, Jack has been trying to defend himself from the children he wishes to save. The mind control has turned them into animals, making them pursue and attack Jack relentlessly, almost overwhelming him at one point. But then, suddenly, the children cry out in pain as electric sparks fly through the air. It appears the guard’s death is affecting the children, making them fall to the ground one by one. Jack cries out in anguish, believing the shock has killed the children. As he is consumed by grief, guilt and fear, a familiar green aura fills the scene. Outside, a familiar figure waits for Jack and finally speaks to him.

“IT IS TIME.”

Jack offers no resistance, walking alongside the Green Warrior into the fog.

Moments later, Ashi comes looking for the Samurai only to find the children. Like Jack, she is horrified by the sight, only to be thoroughly surprised soon after. The children start to wake up one by one, alive and well in spite of their trauma. Ashi calls out to the Samurai to show him what has happened, but he is nowhere to be found. Samurai Jack is gone once again.

As we finally reach the midpoint of the season, we're given a few things that fans have been dying for in this episode. Firstly, we see Ashi finally accepting the truth of the world she lives in. Ashi now knows the terror and destruction that Aku has wrought upon the world, and she wants to fight him. This can only be the beginning of a wonderful story I hope to see to the end. Next, we’re finally given a taste of what the Green Warrior truly is. He may not be the specter of death that I once thought, but perhaps he is more of an icon of Jack’s grief which may lead him to his death. Only time will tell what the true intentions of the warrior are. Throw in a long awaited appearance from a classic character, and you get yet another fantastic episode that left me wanting more. But, once again, we will have to wait until next week for the story to continue.

In the meantime, never stop rambling, TM Youtube version now available https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXnsRX-jzwo

[thisdaynews]

Ashes 2019: Ben Stokes performs the impossible to give cricket another golden chance

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Ashes 2019: Ben Stokes performs the impossible to give cricket another golden chance

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Highlights: Ben Stokes keeps Ashes alive for England

Much changes for all of us in the aftermath of great sporting deeds. They have a long, lovely tail. You float along happily in their wake, wanting to stare from all angles all over again.

You don’t really want to move on because it was all so good that everything else seems a little tame in comparison.

You got the sense from Ben Stokes, in the giddy hours after his extraordinary solo rescue mission at Headingley on Sunday afternoon, that he hasn’t quite realised how much has changed for him.

When sportsmen and women pull off superhero displays like that, it no longer matters in some ways what they do next. They’ve cracked it. They have defined a day that those in the nation intoxicated by sport can never forget.

Nothing can take it away. Maybe Edna Mode can design him a new costume. The rest of it is already sewn up.

Ian Botham after Headingley ’81, Jessica Ennis-Hill after Super Saturday at London 2012, Andy Murray after that baking July day at Wimbledon in 2013.

All three would go on to further triumphs – Botham in Ashes series home and away, Ennis-Hill winning back her world title after time out for the birth of her first child, Murray winning a second Wimbledon singles title at a dreamy canter three years on.

Each was wonderful but the summit had already been scaled, just as whatever Stokes may do after this summer could surely only buttress what he has built rather than top it.

Botham 1981, Flintoff 2005, now Stokes 2019

‘If I had a sister I’d want her to marry Stokes’ – how social media reacted to Headingley heroics

‘An amazing feeling’ – Stokes savours match-winning century

For those who were in the ground on Sunday it will be the same. Any late-night anecdotes about sporting occasions experienced will always have to begin with one particular ‘I was there’.

Richie Benaud famously described one of Botham’s mighty sixes 38 years ago as going straight into the confectionary stall and out again. Stokes’ reverse-sweep six into the Western Terrace went straight into the sweet spot too.

To be in the ground was to be part of a collective agony and ecstasy that no-one present will leave behind. To be following on radio, TV or phone was to abandon anything else that was meant to be happening, unless of course you took the logical step of walking away with 73 still required and Jack Leach walking in.

Just as there are Manchester United fans who left the Nou Camp in 1999 before Sheringham and Solskjaer ripped up the night and Manchester City supporters who fled Wembley before Horlock and Dickov intervened that same mad May, so there are England cricket fans who knew nothing of Stokes’ heroics until well after they were complete.

Car journeys where the radio channel had been angrily changed. Dogs already walked taken out for another. Phones lobbed on to the sofa and TVs switched over to the football.

These memories are as much a part of the communal experience because they underline the impossibility of it all. The frozen moments of hope and fear as another six skimmed the outstretched hands of Aussie fielders, the shared horror of the run-out that never was and the lbw that should have been.

Through it all was the disbelief. A man at one end who had scored two runs from his first 50 balls hitting 74 off his last 45. The control of nerves and situation, the mad acceleration of a man gone from patiently putting in place the corner pieces of a jigsaw to suddenly bulldozing the house.

A man at the other who was not only wearing glasses but had to keep polishing the condensation from them, who has a batting average in the County Championship this season of a couple of decimal points above four.

Disbelief everywhere but at that striker’s end. The stubbornness of refusing to accept it was all over. The pure determination: this is my match, not yours.

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‘Lyon has dropped the ball’ – Spinner fluffs run-out chance

Stokes is at that rare point where he has the ability to create accidental sweet magic in little improbable moments – the two that became a six in the last over of the World Cup final, the ramp shot off a flat-out fast bowler that sailed for another six in the dying moments on Sunday.

It shouldn’t be possible but with Stokes it can be. It’s why there are those comparisons with Botham and with Don Bradman at the same ground as he and Arthur Morris chased down 404 in 1948.

Which was better? You risk taking the lustre off any of them by finding any faults. When Botham came to the crease in 1981 England were five down and still 122 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat. Bradman and Morris stuck on 301 as part of the biggest run-chase in Test history.

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Watch the moment England keep the Ashes alive

Then there is Brian Lara’s 153 not out in Barbados in 1999 when the West Indies – humiliated 5-0 in the preceding series – needed 308 against an Aussie attack spearheaded by Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. The home side had appeared cooked at 105-5; Lara dragged them close and then found the last 63 runs in the company of his numbers 10 and 11, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.

Botham, Bradman and Lara. It should be fanciful or sacrilege but those are the parallels that make statistical sense. Stokes has made the jump.

Stokes century leads England to epic one-wicket win

TMS podcast: Stunning Stokes serves up another Ashes classic at Headingley

Maybe England have to win the Ashes from here to ensure his 135 not out is remembered as catalyst rather than glorious resistance.

Botham went to Edgbaston after his century in Leeds and took five wickets for one run in 28 balls as Australia, chasing just 151, were blown from 105-4 to 121 all out. He made another century in the fifth Test at Old Trafford and took 10 wickets in the final Test at The Oval.

Maybe Kevin Pietersen’s 158 in south London in 2005 wouldn’t mean the same had Ashley Giles perished early and Australia snatched a win from the jaws in the final session instead. Bradman’s team were the Invincibles for a reason. Headingley was their finest hour but they garlanded the whole long summer.

Maybe we should just be grateful for what we have. In a nation saturated by football, front pages as well as back have been about cricket. The grassroots game is withering but kids in the street are talking about someone most had never heard of a year ago.

Stokes cannot single-handedly save cricket in this country. The Test grounds are full but you step outside the bubble to indifference and ignorance. A continual failure to reach beyond private schools or truly exploit the British Asian love for the game leaves it a sport at the heart and within the reach of too few.

But that was as true before Sunday as it was afterwards. Stokes has rescued England and he is giving cricket another golden chance.

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‘Amazing stroke’ – Stokes reverse sweeps Lyon for six

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Bachelorette Recap - HB Wk.2

Group Date #1 - Drag Show

We learn/are reminded of a few things with Hannah:

She can't dance. At all.

Her grammar is sub-par - It's "couldn't care less", NOT "could care less". The latter implies that you could, IN FACT, care less than what your are currently caring. So frustrating.

She loves abdominal muscles. Her favorite comic book artist has to be Rob Liefeld.

Speaking of abs, let's talk about Luke, who's just Brick Tamland-ing his way through life. You've know her for 2 days and suddenly you're starting to fall in love? Mike is skeptical and so am I. GTFOH, you Bryce Harper doppelganger.

Jed comes out the winner of this date for multiple reasons. He could probably come back and be the musician for one of the episodes of next year's Bachelor or Bachelorette. He is also able to secure a rose while rocking the Canadian Tuxedo. Very impressive.

1v1 Date w/Tyler G - 4-wheelin'

Hannah compares Tyler G to a hotter version of Tim Tebow, which I defintely see BUT TEBOW WAS A GATOR. HE MOST DEFINITELY DID NOT ROLL TIDE! You might as well say you want to have a wedding reception at Toomer's Corner to completely stab Nick Saban in the back.

This date gives us my favorite picture in the history of the franchise:

Your traditional post-4wheelin' relaxation: mud-caked white denim outfit sitting on a comfy sofa, covered in a blanket with my 4wheelin' buddy, sipping on some pinot gris. As one does with the boys.

Their evening convo seems pretty good for this early in the process and they seem to hit it off, but their rose-sealing kiss was not very passionate at all.

Group Date #2 - Roller Derby

The first athletic contest of the season leads to the first injury of the season (Sidepool Alert!) and the first appearance of Fred Willard. Dustin, a shy guy with a nose ring, gets a swollen ankle...a kiss...and later a rose. That is how you roller derby.

Meanwhile, Cam has been in the mansion for 2-3 days spitting rhymes and not hanging out with Hannah. He's freaking out and seriously needs to calm the eff down. His stir-craziness leads him to violate the sanctity of the group date. I can't decide which is worse: Cam destroying the integrity of the Date Card or the other idiots coming out to complain to Cam about taking their time away from Hannah, which effectively takes their time away from Hannah.

Obviously, this is catnip to the producers. They drive Cam over to the group date to stir the pot and probably cut the date short to allow for the festering of feelings.

Rose Ceremony

Hannah is already getting choked up by the responsibility of being the Bachelorette. In the 2nd week. Holy hell, Hannah! You're gonna needs to Man Roll Tide-Up here. Making the choice for Hometowns might end up killing you if Week 2 is causing this much inner turmoil.

Placement in the group matters. Connor S, who's on the left edge of the group is able to steal Hannah away from the group quickly before anyone else is able to act. If you're in the back of the pack, you've got no shot at pulling off that move. As a contestant, you have to mark out your territory early on in the night to have that advantage. And even then, it's a guessing game. Will Hannah sit on the couch or stand up and talk to us? OH THE DECISIONS!!!!

Some interesting notes from the Rose Ceremony:

Hannah really loves abs. This is her favorite scene in all of cinema.

Kevin's death stares when Cam ABC's him out of quality time with Hannah were fantastic. His comeback of tossing chicken nuggets at Cam was the complete opposite.

Hannah definitely acted like her dad just caught her making out with a guy when Jed walked in on her and Luke P.

In Jed's defense, he was able to overcome that awkwardness fairly well. You don't voluntarily wear all denim if you aren't mentally tough.

Tyler C get the first rose of the night (Sidepool Alert). 3 people get sent home. Luke P finagles his way into more alone time with Hannah and we're set up for some interesting action next week.

Stray Notes:

Hannah Jacket Tracker: Hannah loves jackets, apparently. She transitioned from a white denim jacket to black leather jacket for her 1v1 this week and wore a athletic racing jacket for the 2nd group date. I foresee many jackets in our future.

I am done with ABC. Cam has totally ruined those letters for me. It's officially annoying. It's so annoying that I'm glad I don't have any babies or toddlers, because I would be unable to teach them their ABCs, because that acronym annoys me so much right now.

Official Tracker of Guys Who See What They Want and Do Whatever It TakesTM - Luke P and Cam

My God, those robes looked luxurious at the Drag Show. They probably felt like being hugged by a hundred chinchillas, who all love you so much.

The height of Garrett's hair is the height that Trump wants his wall to be

John Paul Jones almost went overboard while he was uni-cycling down the runway. Sorry, not sorry.

See you all next week