#so that probably explains the change in characterization

[ink-flavored]

#OCKiss2025 Day 1: Desperate

Part of the @ockissweek event from Feb. 10-16th, featuring Henry & Priscilla Contains: blood, guns, misgendering (on purpose and on accident), yelling, threats of violence, misogyny, an extremely unhealthy marriage Slang: A “high-hat” is a snob, or someone who’s snobbish. A “flapper” is a young woman who disregards social norms, especially characterized by short hair and knee-length skirts. “Sap” means idiot. A “piker” is a coward. Tips are appreciated!

Percy wrung out the dirty rag into the bowl under the mirror. Watery blood splashed and rippled, sending pink-stained waves lapping at the edge of the ceramic. He inspected his work—the blood was gone from his face and hands, leaving them soft and fair as ever. His hair was hidden away under his hat, probably a mess, but not able to be dealt with until he got back to the house. And yet, he frowned into the glass. For all his efforts to clean up, there was still a crimson stain on the crisp, white fabric of his shirt that wouldn’t come out. He lifted one end of his jacket to see how bad the damage was.

The splatter was about the size of his palm, spread across his ribs, and sufficiently damp from the rag already. All he’d managed to do was spread it around, a blurry imitation of the shape it used to be. Percy sighed. He’d have to take it to the cleaners.

All said and done, though, his mission was a success. They cleared out the rat’s nest one bullet at a time, and managed to get back to the safehouse without a tail. A much faster solution than ideally proposed, and all he sacrificed was a clean shirt. He threw the rag down in the bowl and buttoned up his jacket. The stain disappeared behind the dark fabric, and he smiled. Like it was never there at all.

In the mirror, he saw a nervous head pop around the corner into the room. “Miss… Gardner?”

Percy’s eye twitched, but he let it slide. “What is it, Bill?”

“We—We just got the signal that, uh, the seasons are changing?”

He sat into his hip, arms folded. “Are they, now?”

“Yes ma’am, and it won’t be long before—”

The safehouse boomed from the sound of something—someone—slamming on the rickety front door. Bill jumped, and Luther, the second guard posted by the entrance, yelped.

“Priscilla Gardner!” Henry screamed through the walls. “Open this fucking door right now before I break it down!”

Bill turned white as a sheet, staring wide-eyed for instruction. Percy just sighed.

“Let him in,” he said.

He rushed away. The door clicked open, but Percy heard it slam against the wall anyway. Henry’s furious, thundering footsteps shook the air, and he was menacing when he found what he was looking for. Percy stood tall, staring into the mirror instead of turning around, and his face contorted with rage.

“How dare you,” he growled.

“How dare I what?” Percy replied, flat and emotionless.

“How dare you sit there like a high-hat flapper instead of explaining to me what the fuck is going on here?”

His blood boiled—Henry knew what it meant when he wore his hair like this. He knew exactly what he was saying. Percy knew it was what he wanted, but he whipped around with burning eyes.

“You should be thanking me is what’s going on,” he spat. “I cleared out that rat infestation by my Goddamn self, you ungrateful sap.”

“Thanking you?” Henry took a threatening step forward. “I had a plan to take care of it quietly, and you—“

“They would have seen it coming a mile away, and we would have been back to square one.”

“I already set-up the Goddamn sting!” Henry roared, throwing his arms out wildly. “The chief was for it! We would have cleaned them up in one fucking afternoon, and now I have to explain why my wife was out there ruining our operation!”

Percy almost laughed. “You’re worried about the fuzz?”

“Our reputation with the fuzz.”

“Oh, please. Our real enemies heard my message loud and clear—they would have bought their way out of yours.”

Henry dragged his hands down his face. “So, that’s it then? Decades of work we’ve put into getting the police on our side—gone? Because you wanted to play with a pistol?” Percy opened his mouth, but Henry kept going. “All because you wanted to get one over on a tiny, tiny piece of our opposition? All because you couldn’t let the negotiator handle this?”

Percy cut in, “The negotiator needs to learn when his skills are unnecessary.”

“And you need to learn your place.”

Oh, that was it.

Priscilla whipped her pistol out of the holster under her arm and let her hat flutter to the floor in one motion. As her hair tumbled out of its misshapen bun, she pointed her gun right over Henry’s heart.

He put his hands up, as though he were innocent. As though his palms weren’t stained with just as much blood as hers, because it was the color of ink instead. They both knew what kind of business this was—Priscilla was at least willing to embrace the truth. She did what she had to do to get things done. And Henry? Henry went around all his problems.

Not this time.

“Remember the woman you married,” she warned. “I haven’t.”

“You’re really pulling a gun on me for this?” he asked, volcanic rage turned to calm, placating words.

“I am.”

“For what? For the crime of wanting to make sure our business can keep thriving? For wanting to keep our influence intact?” He let out a single, breathy sound of laughter. “For wanting to keep you safe? You’d shoot your husband for that?”

“I’ll do much worse if he doesn’t get off my Goddamn back.” Priscilla pulled back the hammer with a click. “I can run this city with or without your help. Remember that.”

Henry hung his head, but she knew him too well to see it as an admission of defeat. She kept the pistol trained on him, finger hovering over the trigger. It was silent in the safehouse, the quiet violence of a dying season.

Then, Henry took a step forward. When Priscilla didn’t threaten him further, he took another. He kept going, step by step, until he pressed himself against the barrel of her gun. It was lodged between his ribs now, too tall and too close for her to truly strike his heart.

“Do it, then,” he muttered, staring down at her with dark eyes.

Priscilla caught her breath, a single moment of hesitation. It was all he needed.

Henry grabbed her wrist and wrenched it to the side with one hand, and fisted her hair in in his other. She would have cried out from the strength of his grip, had he not crushed their mouths together in a kiss as bubbling hot as his rage.

It melted her. She almost dropped the pistol, fingers going limp around the handle, as she succumbed to the warmth of his touch. It was true that Priscilla could have run this city without him, she might even be able to run it better without his meddling. But, oh, she didn’t want to.

Henry loved her so desperately he was willing to risk his life at the end of her hand. When his fury got too much for him—for the both of them—the only thing he could think to do was kiss her, and she was weak for it. The way his angry lips scraped across her own, how her gasps for air only drove him to kiss her harder, deeper, longer… She’d gladly infuriate him every day of her life if it got her this.

There wasn’t anyone else like him. Nobody else could make her hate them one minute, and fall even deeper in love the next.

When he finally gave her room to breathe, she was sure he saw the love in her face. That she’d only done this for him. That everything she did was to keep her dearest husband intact in his favorite office, doing the paperwork he loved so much. Henry loved her enough to risk his life, and Priscilla loved him enough to kill.

“If you come back to the house tonight,” Henry told her, low and raspy, “I’m going to lock you in the basement and board the door shut.”

“Enjoy eating dinner alone,” she replied.

He sighed, frustrated, but let her go. Priscilla stumbled, dizzy, and he stomped his way back out the safehouse door. She watched him go with hungry eyes, only interrupted by Bill and Luther. The two goons crawled out of wherever they’d been hiding during their argument, and stared at her.

“Oh, don’t be such pikers,” she chided. “He’ll be ringing the hotel phone by tomorrow morning, begging forgiveness.”

Privately, she knew she’d have forgiven him by then too. She turned back to the mirror to fix her hair again, smiling to herself. The moment he calls, she’ll be halfway out the door already, desperate to get back home to him. They’ll stay wrapped in each other for hours, wondering how they could have ever been so angry.

Her heart fluttered at the thought. Perhaps she could convince him to lock her in the bedroom instead.

--

Events Taglist: @foxys-fantasy-tales @thelaughingstag @ceph-the-ghost-writer @auntdarth @damageinkorporated @srjacksin @wyked-ao3 @alesseia @monstrify

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[sadmanyeyes]

Chapter 7

Later on, in a hotel room, Natsuko asks Yakumo if he's sure he's okay, saying she knows she twisted his arm into coming along on the trip. Tatsuya joins in, saying the whole experience has scared him into never driving without a license again. Yakumo tells them all to chill, reminding them that they're all friends.

Later, by himself, Yakumo muses to himself that at least he has a bike now and now all he has to do make a few bucks before the trip. Then, he remembers Three Eyed Pai saying that he doesn't even have two weeks left of his normal life...but he doesn't trust her. Pai is fine but he has no idea how to deal with her other half. Then he sees a guy in an overcoat walk out of nowhere, staring at him with one eye. The guy walks off, Yakumo being creeped out before he heads inside his place, Pai apparently having left the door unlocked. He finds his dad's skull on the floor...and finds his place a sty, apparently ransacked. That sucks...but more importantly, Pai's missing!

He runs over to his boss' place and is greeted by an angry drag queen with cream on his face. He calms down when he recognizes Yakumo and he tells him that Pai's inside sleeping when he asks for her. The boss says that she was at his door five minutes ago, saying she was starving. Apparently Yakumo told her how his boss used to cook for him when his dad was on trips. Then Yakumo finds her sleeping like this:

Yakumo tells his boss he can't dress her like she works at the bar, much to the boss' confusion. The boss then teases him for being possessive, much to Yakumo's embarrassment. Yakumo fights off the allegations by saying that he doesn't see Pai like that, only wanting to protect her, saying she's like a sister to him.

The boss accuses him of being into incest then. Yakumo gives up and takes the boss to his place, showing him the mess. The boss asks him if he called the cops but Yakumo wants to duck them for the time being...he asks if the boss heard anything from across the hall and the boss denies it, saying the ransacking is the work of a real pro. Yakumo then says that means Pai didn't do it, much to the boss' confusion. It's then Yakumo sits him down with some tea and explains some things...

So to recap, Pai is triclops with a split personality and Yakumo is an immortal zombie. The boss then says that Ling Ling seems suspicious, since she helped the two with no reason. Yakumo says they don't have to worry about her though, since she just wanted to make money off Yakumo's "zombiehood". So Huang is more like a victim (as far as they know) and Chau is dead...so who's left? Apparently (I'm using that word a lot) the only things taken were a few of Yakumo's father's books. It's here where Yakumo's boss reitarates some words he doesn't want to hear: he can't go back anymore. Like a Yakuza trying to leave his old life, he can't go back to how he was.

He repeats what Pai told Yakumo: trying to live his old life will just lead to unhappiness. There is nothing on this planet that can't be broken, nothing that can't die...except for him. Just being immortal is going to make a lot of people come after him. But that's not so bad! He can leave his old life behind, go on a new adventure, rescue the beautiful girl, maybe get some ass along the way...but Yakumo insists he doesn't see Pai like that. She's a monster after all...but the boss says so is he.

Yakumo, walking outside, says that while he thinks Pai is pretty cute, he can't drop his entire life for the sake of getting her human again. He doesn't trust her...and his life and friends are in Tokyo. The next day, at school, he greets his friends and tells them that he fixed up the bike so he's ready for the trip! He takes Hideyoshi's coffee can and takes a swig, handing it back...but Hideyoshi walks off, telling him to keep it. Tatsuya goes with him. He playfully tries to flirt with Natsuko and she screams when he touches her, running away from him.

Later on, Hideyoshi tells some girls Yakumo can regenerate, telling them he's a monster...as Yakumo and Natsuko (having come back to him) listen in. Yakumo confronts him and Hideyoshi breaks down, begging for forgiveness as if Yakumo is going to kill him. Yakumo runs off as Natsuko calls after him, the one-eyed guy watching him as he says his name...

So Natsuko chases Yakumo down and says they're all just worried about him but Yakumo gets it. He can' even trust Pai. It's just like Three-Eyed Pai said: his life is over. He tells Natsuko tell everyone he said to take care, saying he'll be back when he's human, before the one eyed guy shatters a pillar, burying Yakumo is rubble before he snatches Natsuko!

End of chapter.

[bereft-of-frogs]

with Vernestra being in the new book and seeing some people comment on like 'waiting for the other shoe to drop with her arc' (sorry if you happen to be the person who wrote that on reddit and are reading this haha, I actually really agreed with your review, that line just popped out at me), and my own frustrations with wishing they'd just invented a new character to fill her role in The Acolyte, because speculation on how we make the (kinda big) leap from book characterization to show characterization is overshadowing her character in these last few books, I started wondering like why did they choose Vernestra to be the one book character to bring forward? They had to retcon the Mirialan lifespan for it, didn't they? I know they probably wanted at least one book character to get the book readers on board with the series, but there wasn't anything that jumped out at me to explain why that figure had to be Vernestra. Then I got it.

...I bet they just wanted to use the lightwhip.

I mean first of all it is a cool, unique weapon for the series, even though they only used it in that one shot, fair enough lol. But I bet they had the idea for that shot of Qimir's scar to connect to whatever turned him to the Sith and planned the arc from there, so they had the plot first (Qimir fights his former Jedi master, leaving him with the scar that can be strategically revealed when it is time for #traumatic backstory) and slotted Vernestra into it because the lightwhip makes for a unique enough scar pattern to serve as heavy foreshadowing when it's revealed in episode 6.

But damn, I wish they had just made it like Silandra's shield and had it passed down, I would have been chill with Vernestra being Qimir's master's master, that would have made sense to me. But that's definitely where the 'they needed a character from the books to get the book nerds to watch the show' lol and maybe they already have Burryaga's (the only other character I can think of with a sufficient lifespan) ending planned (#fear). But it still does kind of suck that the ending of the book series has to be viewed through this lens of 'ok well how does this explain what happened between book Vernestra and show Vernestra...'

[thankskenpenders]

Thoughts on two specific areas of the writing in Sonic X Shadow Generations

The best new 3D Sonic game in over a decade (or even two, depending on who you ask) dropped late last year. And I didn't write anything about it! Sometimes life happens. Well, I've finally sat down to finish Shadow Generations, and by now everyone has already been singing its praises for three months. This is the rare instance where the entire Sonic fandom, and even mainstream reviewers, are in agreement on something. The level design is the best it's been in a long, long time and the cool factor is off the charts, embracing Sonic's peak cringe era in an incredibly confident way. It's great. If you're even reading this post, you probably don't need me to tell you that. So I won't!

No, what I'm really interested in here is the writing. Because this is me we're talking about. But I actually don't want to talk about the main narrative of Shadow Generations, which is really solid little story about Black Doom trying to mold Shadow into his perfect soldier. No, I'd like to zero in on two other aspects of the writing here: the revisions made to Sonic Generations, and Gerald Robotnik's unlockable journal.

The updated Sonic Generations script

The new package mostly presents Sonic Generations how you remember it. There are some tweaks, but it's not a major overhaul. Graphically, I don't think the game has been touched much, if at all. I certainly can't notice any difference without a side-by-side comparison, despite playing it on a PS5. The most notable update is that the game's script has been rewritten by Ian Flynn.

Naturally, this caught my attention. Generations always had a nothingburger story, so with Ian rewriting Pontac and Graff's lame dialogue there was nowhere to go but up. (I don't like to pin the blame for those games' stories entirely on them, as a ton of it was dictated to them by Sonic Team, but, well, I don't think they're very good dialogue writers.) But it's less a complete rewrite and more like Ian was brought on as a script doctor for some minor touch ups here and there. Many lines of dialogue are completely identical to how they were originally written in 2011, and many others only have slight wording changes. Ian was clearly not allowed to request additional scenes or extend the ones that already existed. He has to match the original beat for beat so that they can reuse 99% of the cutscene animations. Don't expect it to be a whole new experience compared to the original.

Still, I think the new script is an improvement, albeit a minor one. Various things have been tweaked to maintain characterization consistency. Cream calls Sonic "Mr. Sonic" instead of just "Sonic." Instead of calling Sonic "buddy," Rouge uses the pet name "Blue," like she tends to do in things like the IDW comics. Espio doesn't have to remind you in the dialogue that he's a ninja, and he no longer has a line making it sound like he has some kind of soul reading power. I also like that Modern Sonic now actually has responses to what his friends say when he rescues them, rather than being silent like Classic Sonic. They won't blow you away, but they make Sonic feel a little more engaged with everything.

In general, the altered dialogue just seems tighter to me, and some of the more childish or trite wording of Pontac and Graff's script has been altered. Here, let's actually make a direct comparison, just because this stuff is interesting to me as a writer. Here's a couple lines from after the Egg Dragoon fight late in the game, in the original script:

Modern Eggman: Ooooh... I can't believe this! I was supposed to beat you this time. Modern Sonic: Aw, I'm sorry! I didn't get that memo. I beat you every time! [Turns to Classic Sonic] No, seriously, we beat this guy every time. It's like it's our job or something!

This is a simple exchange. Eggman is mad that he lost. Sonic is unflappably confident because he always beats Eggman, and he explains this to his younger self. But the wording here isn't particularly good. Eggman's simple and direct wording makes him come off like a little kid who's mad because his older brother beat him at Mario Kart, rather than a mad scientist who just had his plans foiled. It's making light of the situation.

And I've never liked Sonic saying "It's like it's our job or something!" That doesn't feel like a thing Sonic would say, it feels like a thing an outside observer would say about Sonic. This is a frequent problem with so-called "MCU dialogue," where quips meant to echo the commentary of a casual, somewhat disinterested audience are inserted into the story itself so that the writers can be like "See? We get it. We're genre-savvy, too!" It also just reminds me of bad Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric lines like "Rings! It's like they're made for me!"

And then here's Ian's rewrite:

Modern Eggman: I recalibrated everything! This was supposed to be my time! Modern Sonic: Oh, please, keep dreamin', Egg-head. I beat you every time. [Turns to Classic Sonic] No, seriously, we beat him every time. Our score card's flawless.

Eggman's still mad about his defeat, but the line "I recalibrated everything!" makes it more specific. He put all this work into the engineering side of his latest scheme and got tunnel vision, thinking if he got his creations just right there'd be no way he could lose. "This was supposed to be my time!" also turns it into a time travel pun, which is a bonus. He's still pitching a fit over losing, but it feels more like Eggman pitching a fit, rather than sounding childish.

And then instead of saying that beating Eggman is "like his job or something," Sonic says he's got a flawless score card against Eggman. He doesn't take Eggman seriously as a threat—at least, not to his face. He acts like it's all a game. But he conveys this in a way that feels truer to the character, rather than feeling like the words of a real world observer poking fun at the tropes of the Sonic series.

Is this amazing, A+ dialogue that blows me away? No. Again, it's not a completely different scene from the one we already had. Ian had to fit the beats of what was already there. He couldn't go all out and write an all new story confirming his longstanding headcanon that the Time Eater is a remnant of Solaris or whatever. But the wording here makes the existing story land a little better and feel truer to the characters in subtle ways.

But to me, the main change is that the Sonics and Tailses seem to have a more solid understanding of what's going on with the timeline and the Time Eater, compared to how idiotic they sometimes seemed in the original game. Which is good! No more standing outside Green Hill and wondering why it seems so familiar. Thank god. As part of this, yes, there are a few more references to past games in the dialogue, like Sonic briefly being confused about the fact that they're time traveling without the Time Stones, or South Island and Westside Island being acknowledged as the normal locations of Green Hill and Chemical Plant. Yes, ha ha, insert joke about how Ian loves references here. Look, it's Sonic fucking Generations. It's a game built entirely out of nostalgic references. Just own it! And, again, in this instance Sonic and Tails come off as less stupid when they make it clear that they do, in fact, remember their adventures from presumably less than a year ago in-universe.

Eggman, too, seems to have a better understanding of the powers he's toying with. Where in the original vesion his focus was simply on going back in time to undo his previous defeats and he seemed kind of oblivious to how much the Time Eater was actually fucking up the universe, here Eggman says he wants to use the Time Eater to give himself complete control over the entire timeline. Eggman also makes way fewer references to his own failures and shortcomings. Of course he won't admit that Sonic has defeated him time and time again. To him, he's never truly lost—Sonic just keeps delaying the inevitable total victory for the Eggman Empire.

So, yes. The new Sonic Generations script is better. It won't blow anyone away, but it's better than it was. It's been elevated from "kinda lame" to "fine." No, if you really wanna see Ian flex his ability to breathe new life into old Sonic stories, look no further than...

Gerald Robotnik's Journal

Hoo boy.

The story of what happened aboard the ARK has always been... a bit confusing, to say the least. Fans with encyclopedic knowledge of the script for every route of Shadow '05 may disagree, but it's the truth. We've had all the pieces to understand the story for a long time now, but that info was given to us out of order by a pair of unreliable narrators—Gerald, who became a vengeful lunatic shortly before his death, and Shadow, who was subjected to multiple rounds of amnesia and altered memories. Some of the ambiguity left by Sonic Adventure 2 was cleared up in Shadow '05, but that game also retconned in a bunch of new elements to Shadow's backstory (aliens!) that lead to further confusion. Not to mention the fact that that game had multiple routes and only revealed the truth about Shadow if you sat on the ultimate final boss battle for WAY longer than the fight would normally last. Or the fact that Sonic X made its own tweaks in its telling of the story. Or the fact that none of these things ever had the best English translations. I can't blame anyone who hasn't played those games in two decades for not remembering the truth about these characters and getting some details mixed up.

What we needed was something to piece together all of the info we have into one coherent backstory, told in chronological order. And thanks to Shadow Generations, we have that, in the form of an official journal tying together what we knew from Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow '05, and Sonic Battle into the tragic tale of Gerald's rise and fall.

Ian Flynn was the perfect man for the job here as the guy who started his career by tidying up the mess that was the first 159 issues if Archie Sonic. This is what he excels at: taking disparate bits of weird Sonic lore from multiple different sources, boiling them down to their most interesting elements, and connecting it together in a way that will make the audience see the dramatic potential he's always known was there. Rather than feeling like a cynical exercise in franchise building, going back and explaining things that never needed explaining so that people can add more bullet points to the wiki, he puts a new spin on things that retroactively enriches those past stories. The story here means something to the characters involved and gives us a better understanding of them as people, rather than as plot devices to motivate Shadow.

(And, of course, Ian didn't do this journal alone. He wrote the story, but I also have to give a huge shout out to Evan Stanley, who made the final product. All of her handwritten journal entries, sketches, and "photos" included throughout. The physical damage done to the journal over the course of 50 tumultuous years, passing from Gerald to Eggman to a certain special someone at GUN. The way Gerald's handwriting gets less and less legible as his mental state declines. So much love was put into what could have been a mere text dump in a menu, and it really elevates it to the next level. Congrats on officially getting hired by Sega, Evan, you've sure as hell earned it!)

The main idea the journal conveys is that Gerald was under a lot of pressure from a lot of different parties—GUN, the President, his colleagues aboard the ARK, Black Doom, even his own family—and boy did it get to him. The known incidents aboard the ARK mentioned in previous games are put together here to form a story where everything slowly spirals out of control as Gerald keeps compromising his morals to further his research, thinking he'll eventually find some way out of all this because he's a genius. I won't recap that whole story here (if you haven't already played the game and read the journal entries, I would highly recommend at least reading it on the Sonic wiki), but I'd like to highlight my favorite elements of the story, as Ian tells it here.

1) The Eclipse Cannon

Here's something that never quite made sense in Sonic Adventure 2: why does the ARK have a laser that can blow up the Earth built into it? It was supposed to be a peaceful research colony. Sure, Gerald went crazy and swore revenge on the Earth, but, like... when did he have an opportunity to go back up to the ARK and modify it? Did he have someone else do it? How? The ARK was raided by GUN and shut down! And then they arrested him, held him in prison for an unclear period of time, and executed him by firing squad when he was no longer useful! It doesn't add up. Shadow 'the Hedgehog '05 would give its own answer by introducing the Black Arms and saying that the Eclipse Cannon was always supposed to be a secret trump card against the Black Comet. But, like... we know that's kind of a bullshit answer, right? You don't need enough power to blow up a whole planet just to destroy a comet.

Well, the new journal retains what we already knew, but it paints a much more complete picture.

See, long before Gerald ever made a Faustian bargain with Black Doom, he had already made one with an even greater evil: the military. GUN gave Gerald much of the funding for the ARK, Gerald's personal utopian research station in space, but it didn't take long for GUN to start pressuring him to design them weapons. Gerald tried to get GUN off his back by personally contacting the President of the United Federation, and the President gave him an alternative: how about, instead, you just use your genius brain to figure out the secret to immortality for us, so our soldiers can be immortal? Gerald was initially sickened by the notion and found it completely absurd, like chasing a shadow... but given no other option, the sarcastically named Project Shadow soon began in earnest. (Maria would later put a more positive spin on the name after Shadow's awakening, pointing out that a Shadow can show us the direction of the light, like she says in the game itself.)

Of course, this search for the ultimate life form didn't go very well, and without any results on that front GUN kept hounding him for weapons. Gerald would throw them a bone here and there to get them off his back. His research on Chaos resulted in the Artifical Chaos prototypes, which he worried would be used for warfare but could at least theoretically be used for search and rescue missions in floods, in his mind. But that wasn't enough. So he gave them Chaos Drives to power their mechs. And that still wasn't enough. He's got Emerl. He'll give them Emerl. They're not impressed by Emerl. They'll shut the whole ARK down if Gerald doesn't give them something big.

Fine! GUN wants something big? Gerald builds a huge fucking laser cannon into the ARK. However, as a middle finger to GUN, Gerald makes it so powerful that it would destroy the Earth if it was ever fired at any target on its surface. In other words, GUN now has their ultimate weapon of mass destruction, fulfilling his contract, but they can never actually use it. Oh, the delicious irony. (And also Shadow will blow up the Black Comet with it in 50 years yada yada yada.) Is this perhaps extremely shortsighted and naive of Gerald, to believe that such a weapon would never actually be used just because of the risk? Of course. But hey, that's Gerald for you. And I love this as an answer.

(Also, this, uh, kinda echoes something from real life! Remember the bit in Oppenheimer where he says all nuclear war will become unthinkable, and Edward Teller responds "until somebody builds a bigger bomb"? Yeah, Teller went on to conceptualize a superweapon codenamed Project Sundial that would have been able to kill all life on the planet, as the ultimate deterrent for war. This was never made for obvious reasons, but hey, there's a basis for this sort of thinking outside of heightened sci-fi! There's a whole Kurzgesagt video about this if you're interested.)

2) The Biolizard

The Biolizard is, of course, brought up as the initial failed prototype of the ultimate life form, from before Gerald met Black Doom. We don't really learn all that much about it that we didn't already know, but I just love the way it's framed in the story.

As you can see above, we actually get to see a picture of Maria holding up the cute little salamander that would end up mutating into the Biolizard through Gerald's experiments. (Researchers want to figure out how to replicate salamanders' regenerative abilities for humans in real life, too, so this was a natural starting point for the project.) And then, after it grows to a monstrous size and goes out of control, Gerald has to lock it away in an unused sector of the ARK. He needs to keep the poor thing alive for his research into harnessing Chaos Energy, building life support systems directly into it, but he doesn't have the heart to tell Maria what happened. So it just becomes this first dark secret weighing on his conscience. The Biolizard becomes Gerald's Tell-Tale Heart beating beneath the floorboards of the ARK. I love that.

3) Lost Impact was the breaking point for the ARK

Remember the level Lost Impact in Shadow '05? The flashback level on the hero path where Shadow is running around fighting Artificial Chaos enemies on the ARK 50 years ago? Yeah, that wasn't just a random incident. That was important, as we now know due to its placement on the timeline.

See, Emerl's rampage aboard the ARK that was chronicled in Sonic Battle and Dark Beginnings set off a domino effect. Emerl riled up the Artificial Chaos, causing Gerald to lose control of them. They became violent, and so Shadow had to stop them, as depicted in Lost Impact. The thing is, that incident sent an SOS signal to GUN telling them that shit was going down on the ARK. Gerald didsn't fully understand the trouble he was in and assumed that he'd simply be reprimanded by the higher ups, or maybe face legal action. But, well... the next time he heard from GUN, armed troopers were raiding the ARK.

So Lost Impact was the straw that broke the camel's back. I just really like that detail.

4) Maria

And, of course, there's Maria herself. Maria has often been more of a symbol than a character, this perfect embodiment of everything that's good and pure in this world who gets killed to motivate Shadow and Gerald's revenge plots. But I really like the wrinkles this journal adds to her and Gerald's story, and their relationship. This is the most fleshed out they've ever felt.

For one, the journal leans into the idea of Maria's intellectual potential. The rest of the Robotnik family is all geniuses, after all, and she was proving to be a really bright kid. She excelled in her studies on the ARK, and she even helped design Shadow's jet skates and inhibitor rings. When Maria died, the world didn't just lose a symbolic personification of purity. She genuinely could have been a hugely influential scientist who did so much good for the world. That's what Gerald wanted for her. But we'll never know, because GUN killed her.

Speaking of her family, their presence isn't just mentioned for the sake of fleshing out the Robotnik family tree. It's mentioned that as Gerald struggled to find a cure for Maria's illness through his genetic research, he faced mounting pressure from his family. They didn't want Maria to be up on the ARK forever. They wanted Gerald to hurry up and find a damn cure, or otherwise just send her back home to Earth so she could be with her family again. She'd been up on the ARK for so long that Gerald's coworkers started thinking that she had been born up there. Eventually she gains a baby sister on Earth who she's never met. A rift forms between Gerald's two sons, and he's unable to really deal with it because he's so consumed by his work. There's this sense that the family is falling apart, and that everyone is dreading the possibility that Gerald will never find a cure and that Maria will just spend her final years up in space and die far away from her family, because Gerald just couldn't let go. If that happens, it'll break the whole family. But he can't stop now. So he just keeps working. Curing Maria is the only way to win his family back, in his eyes. It can't all be for nothing.

But my favorite detail regarding Maria is this one paragraph:

Maria is growing into a lovely young woman. It breaks my heart that someone as bright and energetic as her is diminished by disease. There are no visible effects, and I've caught my fellow researchers muttering to each other, doubting her illness. It is infuriating. I find all my reason and restraint vanishes when she's slighted.

This is SUCH a great addition to the story! It's always been true that Maria doesn't really seem all that ill, just looking at her in cutscenes. With this one little comment, Ian flips that issue on its head and turns it into a story about invisible disability. She doesn't act like she's in chronic pain, so she must not be, everyone thinks. And this really, really gets to Gerald, as does the pressure from his family. He's dedicating his whole LIFE to saving her, and they think she's faking it?! It's such a small addition, never referenced elsewhere in the journal, but it adds so much flavor to the story, as does the implied family drama. It grounds Gerald and Maria and makes them feel more like real human beings, rather than being pure archetypes. It's just enough info to let my imagination run wild filling in the blanks.

You also get the feeling that Maria being such a walking ray of sunshine was the only real source of joy Gerald had left in his life before Shadow was awakened, and the only thing keeping him from snapping under pressure sooner. All this stuff just keeps piling on, everything's spiraling out of control, but at least Maria is keeping her chin up, right? It makes so much sense that losing her would make him go off the deep end when it's framed like this.

It's just... man, I never thought I'd care so much about Gerald and Maria. But that's the Ian Flynn touch. After years of less than stellar Sonic writing that seemed to be embarrassed of itself, I'm so happy to have new games coming out that fully embrace the history of the series like this, making its world feel so rich and real instead of just serving as an excuse for a string of platforming levels. I don't even like Shadow '05, but I'll be damned if Ian and the rest of Sonic Team didn't make something amazing by "yes, and"-ing Shadow's cringe past here. Sonic has truly reached levels of "we're so back" never thought possible.

[undeadhost]

To be honest I’ve so vehemently pushed away the idea of writing for fun because I’ve always been such a S.T.E.M. guy and have always preferred impersonal, formulaic, analytical essays instead of writing in the first person or god forbid creative writing. But at the same time. BlackBright tag needs more fics. So.

[iron-strangers]

Dream a Little Dream of Me

Description: It's all true, Jedi can read minds. You've been trained to keep people's thoughts about you for so long. It went well until the day you caught Din's fantasy involving you.

Pairing: The Mandalorian (Din Djarin) x Female Jedi!Reader

Series: Expanding Clan Mudhorn

Tags: Established Relationships, Mand’alor Din Djarin, A Sprinkle of Family Fluff, Sexual Fantasy, Vaginal Sex, Oral Sex (f receiving), Unprotected p-in-v, Creampie, Breeding Kink, Lactation Kink

CW: Reader has AFAB characterization, uses she/her pronouns, is able-bodied, has depicted body changes related to pregnancy and breastfeeding, and hair that can be pulled during sex. No Use of Y/N. Consent Issues: Reader peaks into Din's fantasy. NSFW MINORS DNI

Length: 2.7k

-

According to urban legends, jedi can read minds. That's true, well, to an extent.

Jedi can read unshielded minds. A Jedi’s mental shield helps to prevent their minds so they’re not easily read, but also to prevent them from accidentally reading a non-force sensitive’s mind. This knowledge helped you survive being chased around the galaxy during the Empire’s reign. Imps are weak-minded and you could easily get any information you needed by reading their mind.

As you grew older, some thoughts people had about you turned sexual. Some got you blushing, like the one from a spacer who fantasized about sweet-talking you into having a quickie in the back of the cantina, some others were just plain disturbing and had you slamming a mental shield as quick as you can before fleeing the parameter with your blaster clutched in your hand.

During the old Jedi-Mandalorian war era, Mando'ade have found a way to keep the jetiise out of their head. Beskar helmets are effective for as long as you can remember, but apparently, there's a loophole. Beskar can't block a jedi who's already soul-bonded to a Mandalorian. There might not be any data about this, but let's be real, there's barely any noted soul bonds between a jedi and Mandalorian throughout history.

This explains the weird sync you and Din have. People have mentioned how you complete each other, that you have almost the same opinions on things, how you two always make the same decisions, both politically and on the battlefield. Some might even suggest that you and him finish each other's sentences. It's a cliché, written in teenager’s holonovels. So you're used to laughing it off, deflecting that you probably just spent too much time together, that between leading and parenting, agreeing on the same thing is just what spouses do. The Armorer called you ‘two halves of one warrior’ at your wedding ceremony. It should’ve ring an alarm in your mind, but in your defense, you were too busy getting swooned off your feet.

It became apparent one day when you met him in a small bakery, just a few minutes away from the Keldabe Palace, when he wasn’t supposed to be done until much later in the day. You’ve been craving Keshian Spice Rolls all day and you figured it was a great day to take the kids out, enjoy the sun and a little sweet treats, then surprise your hard-working riduur with a box of pastries back in the palace. Imagine your surprise when you stepped into a bakery and saw him already queuing.

“Rid’ika!” He called, waving to you from the line. You skipped over the lines, smiling and nodding to everyone as you made your way to your riduur. Din took Grogu from you so you can lift Aranar, who’s busy charming everyone off with his toothy grin, up.

“What are you doing here?” You asked, holding his offered hand. “You have to meet the Prince of Bespin in half an hour.”

“I know, but I heard they are baking Keshian Spice Rolls. So I went to buy you some.” Din shrugged, not once caring about the Prince having to wait for him to get back from spoiling his riduur. “And what about you? I thought you have a bes'kad class for the verd’ike this afternoon.”

“The class won’t start for another two hours and I really want a spice roll.”

You heard people behind you aww-ing and you buried your face into his shoulder, humming when you feel cool beskar against your blushing cheek. Din smiled behind his helmet, paying for three spice rolls to go, never once he let your hand go. You got back to the palace with twenty minutes to spare and herded the ad’ike to the Mand’alor’s office.

“Knock when you need him and don’t come in before I answer.” You rushed into the room when you spotted Kryze marching to stop you.

“You two better not be having se-”

“Young ears, Kryze! Manda, we’re just gonna eat Spice Rolls!” You held the pastry packages up for her to see, holding your laughter when you saw her scowling.

“Spice rolls better not be a code for something else, Djarin! You have a meeting in twenty minutes!”

Din closed the door on her face and you locked it with the force for good measure before dissolving into giggles. Din lifted his helmet up and immediately pressed a longing kiss to your lips. The kiss was uncoordinated since the two of you couldn’t stop grinning. The kiss, and the pastries were heavenly, Grogu and Aranar shared a piece, for your peace of mind. After all, it was you who had to wrangle two sugar-high toddlers in the training yard as you teach advanced sword techniques to a group of heavily armed teenagers who happened to be Mandalore's newly sworn warriors.

The impending knock finally came and you shared another sugary sweet kisses with your riduur before you put his helmet back on and sent him away to his duty. The door was barely closed when you were hit with realization.

Fuck, you thought. We’re soul-bonded.

**

Overall, there are worse people to be soul-bonded with. Having one with your own riduur is not a bad thing at all. Having one with your riduur without any source to soul-bond knowledge, however, is another piece of work. Putting a mental shield up against your own riduur feels wrong but you do it anyway, respecting his privacy to his own mind.

Until today.

Today, you feel a gentle nudge at your brick wall of a mental shield, laced with Din's warm force presence. You could've brushed him off and shielded yourself better, but you thought to yourself that a small peak wouldn't be bad.

You're wrong. Oh, you're so wrong because it's bad. Your hand directly flies towards your mouth and you try to stifle a moan as a yawn.

In his fantasy, Din had you bent over the meeting table and he's pounding into you. He has his hand on the small of your back, pressing you down to the table. You're completely naked against the table, pinned beneath the beskar of his armor. You can hear the filthy sound of his cock ramming into your sopping cunt. Din grabs a fistful of your hair, making you cry his name out loud, losing yourself to the stretch and the hard thrusts of Din's cock.

“Oh fuck-” you grit your teeth, clenching your fist on your thigh. You sit there, stunned, breathless, unable to stop watching.

“Can you feel how good this pussy stretches around me, rid’ika?” Din grunts, holding you so close to his hips while his fingers reach down, rubbing your swollen clit. “Such a good girl, do you wanna cum, mesh'la? Wanna soak my cock and make me give you another ik’aad?”

Maker, yes! You thought, trying your damn hardest not to whine while the version of you in his mind is whimpering and begging him to make you cum. Din leans to your ear, telling you to come. You’re shuddering in his arm, moaning his name in a punched out noise with a telltale sign of orgasm, and you snap yourself out of his imagination.

You put your strongest mental shield up and you lean to the plush seat, blinking and looking around the room as you settle yourself back to reality. Din is sitting on the head of the table, looking over his own datapad as he watches a member of his council talk about Mandalore’s quarterly budget report. If you didn’t know better, you’d think your riduur is actively listening to the report instead of daydreaming about fucking you over this very table.

You tread carefully when you're back home. You put Aranar and Grogu to sleep late, making sure they are a little bit more tired than usual so they sleep soundly later tonight. Once the kids are out like lights, you take the baby monitor with you and change into one of Din’s loose shirts.

You find him still seated on the dining table, tapping things into his datapad. You smirk to yourself, walking towards him and leaning over the dining table to take your own datapad that you could easily reach if you make an extra trip to the end of the table. Din can't stop staring, making no move to help you, instead he stands up from the chair and moves to cup the swell of your ass, just like how he imagined before.

“Careful, rid’ika, you don't know what kinda game you're playing here.”

You whine when his hand moves underneath the shirt, trailing up your thigh, sending shivers up your spine. He whispers praises to your ear, biting down your jaw and your neck.

“Fuck, look at you, mesh'la, you're expecting this, huh?” He lifts the shirt up, revealing nothing underneath other than your glistening cunt. “I haven't even done anything, rid'ika, and this pretty pussy's already all wet for me.”

You moan softly when his fingers find your clit, rubbing on it as you shudder in his arms. Din sinks two fingers into your wet heat and he groans when he feels how wet you are. He thumbs on your clit as he keeps pumping in and out of your cunt, spreading your arousal all over his fingers and your inner thighs until you shake beneath him, then he pulls off of you.

“No, cyare please, I'm so close- Ah!” You cry as his fingers leave you, only to moan loudly when he kneels behind you and he slaps your soaked pussy.

“Needy girl,” he teases, slapping your clit again, ignoring your cries. He parts your folds with his tongue until his smart mouth finds your clit and he starts sucking on the sensitive nub. You grip the edge of the table tightly as you grind against his face, smearing your arousal all over his lower face. Din tuts, holding your hips in place, chuckling when he sees your hole clenches around nothing.

“You know what you get for being such a good girl, cyar’ika?” Din asks, his fingers are back on your clit, rubbing the bundle of nerve in a tight circle as you buck violently against his fingers. “Good girl gets to come on my face.”

His lips are back on you, kissing, lapping, and sucking until you're a whimpering mess. You let out a high pitched whine and you come on his mouth, flooding him with your arousal as he keeps on sucking on your lips as you ride your orgasm.

Din grabs your chin towards him and he kisses you hard, his lips are glistening with the mixture of your cum and his spit and you can taste yourself on the tip of his tongue. Din pulls off of you and he turns you around, lifting you up to the edge of the table. He lays you down and he parts your legs with a steady hand on your inner thigh, keeping them apart so he can admire his hard work, your drenched cunt glistening with your sweet come. Din groans then he spits on your cunt, adding to the mess before smearing everything around with the thick head of his cock. He's painfully hard, his foreskin is pulled all the way back, revealing the flared tip, steadily leaking precum all over you. He lines himself up with your entrance and fucks all the way into you in one push. You watch as his thick cock stretches your hole, feeling yourself clinging to his girth, fluttering around him as you struggle to take his size. Both of you moan when he finally buries himself deep inside you, still holding tight to each other.

“Maker, been thinking about this sweet pussy all day.”

Oh, I know. You thought. “Yeah? Did you think about fucking me, ner riduur? Thought about how my pussy clenches around your cock? Did you think about filling me up with your cum until I'm swollen with your adi'ka?” You taunt him, circling your legs on his hips to keep him buried deep inside of you.

“Fuck!” Din swears, hissing while he steadily leaks precum all over your wet heat, leaning his head to yours and rutting deep against your sweet spot. “You're playing with fire, rid'ika. Can't just say things like that.”

“But I want you to,” you beg, moaning wantonly when he starts pumping in and out of you. “Want you to keep fucking me until I'm so full and swollen with your baby.”

Din growls, pounding deep into you with punishing pace. He's watching you, watching your cunt swallowing his cock, watching your face grow slack with pleasure. You slip your hands under the shirt, covering your breast and squeezing them, making your milk leak until there's a wet patch over the shirt.

“Filthy girl,” Din grunts, pawing on the piece of clothing. “Lift it up baby, let me see.”

You lift the shirt up, revealing your breasts for him, shiny from both milk and sweat. Beads of your milk trickling from your nipples, leaking steadily as he fucks into you. He slips one engorged nipple to his mouth, sucking until he can taste you on his tongue while his fingers play with the abandoned one, rubbing and squeezing, spraying him with milk.

“Everything about you is just so sweet, rid'ika, my perfect girl.” He praises. He licks your nipple clean before switching to the other side, pressing open mouthed kisses before bringing the sensitive buds to his mouth and sucking on it, drinking you until he's full while his hand loves on the other one. His cock never stops pounding into you, bringing you closer and closer with each snaps of his hips.

He folds your legs into a mating press, tucking your knees against your chest and his cock is so deep inside you. So deep he reaches your cervix, kissing your womb with his tip. You clench hard around his length, your wall seizes violently around him, milking him irresistibly as he keeps hitting the spot that makes you see stars, begging him to please, never stop. You're wailing as your whole body shakes, tipping your head back and moaning Din's name so loud he has to cover your mouth with his palm, worried the filthy noises of the snap of his balls slapping your ass, your loud moans, and the squelching sound of your wet pussy might wake the sleeping kids up.

With a shaky shudder, you come down from your high, whining as Din keeps fucking you, chasing his own orgasm. After a few brutal thrust, your riduur groans loudly, shouting punched out moans as he peaks. His cock twitches in your soaked, messy cunt, filling you with his hot cum, flooding your insides and claiming you his. He kisses your lips, muffling both your moans, only parting to plant another kiss to your temple while he pumps you full of his cum, murmuring sweet, loving praises and filthy promises to you.

“That's a good girl, rid'ika. Take it, baby, gonna get you all round and pregnant. That's what you want, right? Want to give me another? Want to be bred all over again?”

Din keeps rutting with you until you both shake from overstimulation and he gently pulls out of you. He admires your blissed, fucked out face, trailing soft kisses down your jaw and your neck, sucking his marks all over your body. You tip his jaw up and catch his lips in another kiss, laced with a content smile, before breaking away to whisper sweet I love yous to each other.

Din gathers you in his arms, carrying you to the bedroom and lowering you gently into your shared bed. He leaves for the fresher, fetching a damp rag to clean you up before slipping into his side of bed beside you. He pulls you close, kissing your lips lovingly and rearranges the covers, tucking you into his arms.

“You're my dream girl, you know that right?”

“I tried,” you smile contently, caressing the scruff of his jaw softly.

“You don't have to,” Din mutters, humming when you snuggle closer to him, pressing your heartbeat over his. “You're perfect just the way you are.”

You exchange more kisses, lazily making out in bed until sleep takes over, safely nestled in each other's arms.

About a few weeks later, you start to feel the tiniest flutter in the force.

[ofswordsandpens]

Okay compiling my most critical opinions on the pjo show so far (episodes 1 & 2)

The Gods' Conflict, Foreshadowing, & Big Three Kids

The show has seemingly dropped a lot of the foreshadowing and threat regarding the gods impending war over the theft of the lightning bolt. In the book, Percy remarks about how the weather's been inexplicably weird and extreme. When he gets to camp everyone is on pins and needles about something and they don't want to talk about it but its still very present. By the time he's claimed as a son of Poseidon and everyone's like "oh fuck" and then Chiron finally explains to Percy that the gods think he's the lightning thief, everything clicks into place for the reader. It all makes sense why everything seems so wrong... because things are wrong. Meanwhile in the show, that doesn't carry through as much, so the reveal of the conflict between the gods and why that's a big deal falls flat in comparison imo.

They dropped/stalled the foreshadowing of the fates and the cutting of the string. They could very well include this in future episodes, and probably will, but I think the timing of it - Percy seeing this before he even knew he was a demigod - again carries some hefty significance and helped set the foreboding tone of things being wrong even from the beginning.

They did drop Zeus's attack on Percy in the minotaur battle completely, which does disappoint me. In the book, its lightning that blasts the car off the road. In the show, Sally seemingly loses control of the car. That change is pretty significant, because it's again losing the power of RR's foreshadowing in the book. The attack on Percy outside the camp borders was a duel attack from Zeus and Hades.

Finally, I don't like the changes they made to Percy's claiming scene, namely, the reaction from the rest of CHB. Percy being a son of Poseidon is a huge deal. When Percy's claimed, the attitude is very much begrudging reverence paired with genuine fear of what it means and what he represents. In the book, Percy is claimed. People gasp. Everyone kneels. Annabeth says, "This is really not good." In the show, Percy is claimed. People... stand there? Annabeth smiles - she's going to get her quest. The only person who has the most outright negative reaction is Luke. I won't go so far to say this is out of character for Annabeth, but it is focusing on an entirely different aspect of her character in the moment, and what the audience gets from Percy's claiming scene here, the tone, is now different from the book. Basically, the reverence and fear don't really carry across to the show, which I think is important.

The phrase "forbidden child" slaps tho.

2. Gabe's Characterization, Sally's Characterization, & Why the Changes do Make a Difference

I'm going to say this with great care: The show has absolutely depicted an abusive relationship between Sally and Gabe. The show has shown Sally to be a strong woman who would do anything for her child. The show has shown Gabe to be a controlling, toxic man.

What they have depicted in the show does not read like the characters and dynamic in the books.

Book Gabe is a violent, menacing drunk. He is so disgusting and vile that monsters avoid him. This is overwhelmingly apparent from the second Percy gets home in the book, even before he is aware of the physical abuse Sally has been facing. Percy has already been dealing with physical abuse from him, amongst other things (edit to be more specific: this is including verbal, emotional, & financial abuse). I've already spoke to it here, in-depth, so I'll try to keep it short but all of this has not been translated accurately to the screen. (Is this to say that a person must be overtly abusive to be abusive? No. But does this character on-screen feel like Smelly Gabe? No.) These things have shaped Percy (and Sally) in very specific ways. As others have mentioned: Percy cannot stand alcohol. He meets Dionysus and is reminded of his step-father. He gets to Tartarus and the air reminds him of Gabe.... The character on screen, while abusive, does not share this presence at all, and that makes a difference.

Edit: To emphasize once more, I am not saying that the show has not depicted a realistic portrayal of abuse. It has (verbal, emotional, & financial so far). It has also distinctly changed the tone and Gabe's presence from the book, to the extent that it no longer feels like the same character and that does have a rippling effect on the dynamics he shares with both Sally and Percy.

3. The Lack of Annabeth

Annabeth in the show is just like... really not as present as she is in the book so far, and I'm just kinda like, why lol?

Annabeth in the books is already way more involved in Percy's life. She was in the infirmary feeding Percy ambrosia after the attack (ulterior quest motives lol), she's the one who lead Percy around camp and re-explained godly parentage to him - and its a moment where she's very sincere with him, and even trying to help him! Instead these moments are given to Chiron and Luke, which I do get the merit of, but still, these were her moments!

Annabeth in the books had already surmised that the gods were fighting, something was stolen, and the something bad was going to happen, all before Percy had even been claimed. And she shared that with him! Again, the loss of foreshadowing and little bonding moments has me :(

I'm a little worried how they're going to deal with her crush on Luke because its pretty central to her character in the books! It helps Luke to manipulate her and also keeps her from admitting he's done something wrong. Also, it was very sweet and funny reading her get flustered - It drove home the point that she was just a kid with a crush that she didn't know how to handle. But in the show Luke spoke to her and I was expecting there to be some sort of reaction to it and there just... wasn't? (This is not something I'm laying at Leah's feet btw! Only the writers/directors!) We're only two episodes in tho so maybe we'll see it some more moving forward.

4. The Minotaur Battle

Again, I've already spoken about this in depth here but !!

The lack of Zeus's lightning strike, them all coming to a standstill and just chatting instead of running for their lives, Grover being awake and just sort of off to the side watching the fight, Sally being like "Promise Me Grover Swear it"... it all just doesn't ring right to me

I wanted more panic, more terror, more urgency. Higher stakes. I wanted Grover unconscious, I wanted to see Percy drag him into camp, and I wanted to see more of Percy's grief alongside his rage. Like the book did.

The pacing in the show here, and just overall, is weird

5. Other Stuff

Mrs. Dodds fight kind of fell flat too. It was honestly too sudden and Percy killing her in the show seemed even more accidental than in the book lol. Like, accidental impalement vs intentional swing of the sword.

They really had show Grover throw Percy to the wolves and not just gaslight him, but low-key have a part in getting him expelled? Not sure how I feel about it tbh.

More New York. I wish we had gotten the part of Percy taking the bus home with Grover included cause like? Him ditching Grover was funny, but it would have been the perfect opportunity to show Percy traveling through New York and establish it has his home. Shots of him looking at the city, walking the streets, interacting with people near his building.. yeah.

More Montauk too tbh. Like more shots of him and Sally on the beach rather than just the cabin.

Nectar and Ambrosia! Unless I missed it, which I might have, why have we still not gotten an onscreen depiction of it yet lmao.

[sailortongue]

Wingteam

pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

wc: ~1.5k

summary: the team decides that Spencer is in need of a date and they're going to be the ones to help him. But there's just one problem that the team doesn't know about: Spencer already has a girlfriend

a/n: this is my first time writing for criminal minds so they're probably all out of character but pls bear with me. binged the first four seasons in a month and i'm completely hooked on the show and spencer so hopefully i'll write more and improve characterization. any feedback would be super appreciated!

------

Spencer Reid was a rather private person, preferring to keep his private life just that: private. But it was getting progressively harder to explain why he didn't want to participate in group outings to the local bars. Truth be told, all he wanted was to get home to you and cuddle on the couch. Not that his teammates knew you even existed. It wasn't that he was ashamed of you! No, never. How could he ever be ashamed of the most wonderful thing in his life? No, it was because he knew he'd never hear the end of the teasing, especially from Morgan. And so he had decided that he would keep you all to himself, after discussing with you, of course. You had no issue with him not disclosing your relationship with his coworkers. However, it was this secrecy that led him to this horribly uncomfortable moment.

“You don't get to weasel out this time, pretty boy. You're coming with us even if I have to manhandle you there,” said Morgan. “And you're not leaving that bar without a girl on your arm,” he added, finger pointed at Reid in an accusatory manner.

It took all of Spencer’s willpower to not outwardly grimace. Like hell he was going to leave with any girl that wasn't you. “I’m not looking for a relationship right now,” he declined. It wasn't exactly a lie; he was already in a relationship, afterall.

“Oh, c’mon, Spence, don't you want to settle down one day?” chimed in Emily. “I bet you'd be an amazing husband.” She redirected her attention, “We just have to find the future Mrs. Reid, right Morgan?”

Morgan smirked, “Sounds like a plan.”

“No. There is no plan. Stop scheming. I told you, I’m not looking for a relationship. And even if I was, I don't think I’d need a team of FBI agents to help me get a date,” Spencer tried to discourage his friends, but to no avail. In fact, it just seemed to egg them on.

“Reid, I’ve never seen you go out with anyone. We’re getting you laid tonight and there's nothing you can do about it.”

“Never seen me go out with anyone? Should I be inviting you along to my dates?”

The sarcasm wasn't lost on Morgan, who rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.” He turned to look at Garcia, “Hey, babygirl, you wanna help us land Reid a date?” The grin that Morgan had whilst asking was soon mirrored by the technical analyst in question.

“Do you even have to ask, sugar?”

A quick glance around the bullpen at his gathered teammates told him that no one was going to help him get out of this. Spencer’s expression changed to one of panic, but not for the reason that his friends assumed, i.e. that he had no experience with girls and was just nervous. Much to his chagrin, Hotch made a different deduction, and whilst everyone else was discussing their plan for later that night, he leaned down to Reid, “Why don't you just tell them you have a girlfriend already?”

Spencer, who was nowhere near as skilled as Hotch at hiding his emotions, had shock written all over his face. He opened his mouth to question how Hotch knew that, not even bothering to deny it. But Hotch answered before Spencer could even ask the question. “I’m a profiler. To be honest, I'm surprised the rest of the team hasn’t figured it out. Rossi has a suspicion, though.” And with that, Hotch stood back up to his full height and resumed conversation with the team, asking what time they had decided to meet.

I’m so screwed thought Spencer.

--------

“I’m so screwed,” Spencer announced to you as soon as he walked into your shared apartment, dropping his satchel in the entryway. You looked up from the book you were currently reading, “What happened? Are you okay?” You closed your book and set it on the coffee table, giving your perfect boyfriend your full attention. He sighed and joined you where you were reclined on the couch, lying down and placing his head on your tummy, wrapping his arms around you in the process. You smiled down at him gently and brought your hand up to play with his curls, eliciting a satisfied groan from him. “What's eating you, Spence?”

He tilted his head up before answering, “I have to meet the team at a bar later tonight.”

Your brows furrowed in confusion, not seeing what the issue could possibly be. “Ok? Why is that a problem?”

He adjusted himself to be propped up on his elbows on either side of you. “It’s a problem because they've all decided that I'm in need of a girlfriend,” he huffed. Despite your best efforts, you couldn't contain your laughter at Spencer’s obvious distress over the situation. You truly meant no offense, but he was just so gosh darn cute.

“Spencer, sweetheart, why don't you just tell them?”

“Honestly, at this point I just want to see how long it takes them to figure it out without me outright telling them. We're not supposed to profile each other, but it becomes second nature due to the job, so they're bound to pick up on it eventually. Hotch already knows, and he said that Rossi is suspicious. The others haven't caught on yet, but now Morgan wants to be my wingman for the night. How am I supposed to play this off?”

You thought about it for a second before an idea came to mind, a sly grin sliding across the features Spencer loved oh so much. “You're going to do exactly what Morgan wants.”

Spencer blanched, immediately objecting to your words. How could you even suggest that?

“Hold on, I’m not done. I’m not sending the love of my life out to flirt with anyone that isn't me. So what we’re gonna do is….

--------

“Oh, what's this? Did pretty boy find a pretty girl?” teased Derek. His friend practically looked like those wolves from vintage cartoons with hearts for eyes and tongue rolling out of their mouths. His question caught the attention of the rest of the table, all of whom saw Spencer with his eyes trained on a lovely young woman sitting at the bar.

“You should go talk to her!” encouraged Penelope.

“Oh, she's so pretty!” exclaimed JJ. “I agree with Pen, you should definitely go talk to her!”

Hotch watched as the rest of the team, all at least a few drinks in, hyped Spencer up with intoxicated enthusiasm. He had a barely-there smile on his face, watching the events unfold. He watched as Spencer’s face got redder and redder with the attention. As entertaining as this was for the others, it was infinitely more entertaining for Hotch, since he was certain that the woman at the bar was Spencer’s secret girlfriend.

Finally, Spencer gave in to his friends’ demands and approached the bar, seating himself beside the woman. Beside you. Knowing his friends were watching, he had to pretend as if he was meeting you for the first time.

“Can I buy you a drink?” he offered.

You glanced at him coyly before accepting his offer. At some point, the two of you fell into the usual rhythm of conversation you always had, speaking to each other in a way that betrayed how close you really were.

Back at the table, Rossi leaned over to Hotch and gestured for Hotch to lean in as well. “That's the kid’s girlfriend, isn't it?” he whispered. Hotch pulled back with an amused expression and gave the slightest nod, confirming Rossi’s question. Meanwhile, Morgan was placing a bet with Garcia about how long it would take for Reid to leave with you. Morgan was confident that it would be within the next thirty minutes, stating that Reid, who wasn't the most socially adept but was having such a lively conversation, must have really hit it off with you. They watched as Reid spoke to you, all smiles and wild hand gesticulations. And then there was you, the pretty woman who, unbeknownst to the team (minus Hotch and Rossi), was already irrevocably in love with their resident genius long before they took it upon themselves to be a whole wingteam. The radiant smile you wore matched the one Spencer had as you responded to him just as enthusiastically as he had been speaking.

Unfortunately for Garcia, Morgan won their bet. The two of them watched as Reid leaned in to whisper something in your ear. When he pulled away, there was a prominent blush on your face that the minimal amount of alcohol you had couldn't possibly be responsible for. You nodded at him, and he stood from his stool, offering his hand for you to take, which you did as you followed him to the exit.

“My man!” called Morgan from across the bar, raising his beer in Spencer’s direction. Hotch and Rossi chuckled, exchanging glances and shaking their heads. The rest would figure it out eventually. It might be when they receive a wedding invitation, but eventually nonetheless. 

[sunflowerwizard]

I've seen enough people mischaracterizing Early Access Wyll, so here's the best breakdown of his original character I can give.

I'll start this off by plainly summarizing Wyll's EA backstory, some of his core personality traits, then do a bit of analysis.

BACKSTORY

EA Wyll mentions being "born and bred in the upper city" into nobility. It's unspecified what exact level of influence his family occupied.

In datamined voice lines from EA (take with a grain of salt) Wyll refers to being from House Eltan specifically. Eltan was the Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate in the first Baldur's Gate Game, and the founder of the Flaming Fist. Forgotten Realms lore states that the Eltans are no longer in charge of the Fist and have somewhat diminished in power, but again. We don't know to exactly what level.

This also means that this iteration of Wyll was not Ulder Ravengard's son. While he still spoke about his father in EA, the descriptions and characterizations do not line up with Ulder at all. Additionally, he comments about "knowing of" Ravengard during the burning inn sequence, but otherwise makes no connection.

The most damning evidence of all that Wyll being a Ravengard was not originally intended, is Wyll wanting to be like his father and thus "going thieving in the wrong shadows".

Wyll gets caught stealing, presumably as a teenager, and his father uses latent connections within the Flaming Fist to get Wyll sent there. Effectively the fantasy equivalent of sending your unruly kid to boot camp.

Wyll mentions that he didn't adjust well to life as part of the Flaming Fist, was not a very good fighter, and was generally not well liked. The goblin at the windmill calling Wyll "Captain Failure" implies he might have been given higher status despite not earning it.

The way Wyll feels about goblins is a big change between EA and full release, and is explained as part of his backstory.

We didn't get the finer details, but we can assume Wyll in his time with the Fist bore witness to a group of goblins razing a village. Horrified and enraged, he tried fighting a goblin, was overwhelmed, and had his eye torn out.

This is when Mizora showed up and offered him a pact. Considering he was left for dead and probably going to bleed out, it's pretty understandable why he took the deal.

Mizora is not nearly as present in Early Access as she is in the current game. Karlach was not involved in Wyll's story at all, there's no devil transformation.

It's also more heavily insinuated there's a sexually coercive element of Wyll and Mizora's relationship, with him speaking to how every time he wanted to leave her, she found some way to pull him back.

Additionally, Wyll wants out of that contract. Unlike full release where Mizora is randomly captured in Act 2, she starts off kidnapped, and insists she'll let Wyll go if he frees her

It kind of ended up being a plot cul de sac, but Torturer Spike was the goblin that took Wyll's eye--which was a quest item you could pickpocket/loot off his body. Wyll had commentary on it and everything.

TL;DR: -Born to a noble family with Flaming Fist connections -Caught Stealing and sent to work for the Fist as punishment -Tried to fight back during a goblin attack and was gravely injured -Mizora offers a pact -Uses his pact to become a traveling monster hunter, presumably to make up for his past failure to protect people. Antagonistic towards goblins in particular -Ultimately wants out of the pact, but Mizora won't let him go -Wyll and Mizora get abducted by Mind Flayers -Mizora agrees to let Wyll go if he frees her from the cultists

PERSONALITY

This is a bit less concrete than changed story beats, but I can say this: a lot of Wyll's core traits stayed intact between EA and full release. He's still willing to put his life on the line for the Tiefling refugees, with a whole cut line about how the kids he's training deserve to have a carefree childhood. He wants to do good in the world, probably because he spent so much time in his youth feeling like a fuck up.

There's also a much clearer divide between "Wyll" and "The Blade of Frontiers". Notably, in EA he didn't introduce himself by name. Not even a "my friends call me Wyll" quip at Shadowheart like he has currently. During his old romance scene, he has a line about being used to being the hero, and not used to needing one. He's a symbol. An emblem of something bigger than himself. The fact he's so self-aggrandizing as The Blade makes it apparent he's not confident in himself as "just Wyll"

He's also decidedly more forward and flirty in EA, with no reservations about courtship. In fact, the main obstacle to your budding relationship is Mizora herself. Wyll's trauma from her treatment interrupts your first night together. Whether you have sex or just snuggle, Wyll has a line about how he doesn't want to start a relationship until he can "give himself completely" after being freed from his pact.

THOUGHTS & COMPARISONS

I'm also not entirely sure if I'd say EA Wyll is substantially angrier than current Wyll, so much as he had more opportunities to be angry during Early Access. I can understand why the goblin stuff was cut, because it did dip into "Let's make the one black guy fantasy racist" trope. However, it did very much feel like the narrative was pointing in bright, flashing colors that this is a trait Wyll would have to grapple with, learn, and grow from. The fact EA Wyll's most glaring character flaw was scrapped and didn't get much of a replacement in full release makes his story feel less realized.

While I appreciate the overtly sexual element of Wyll and Mizora's relationship was removed, I feel like the final version is somehow even more creepy. During Early Access she existed in the background as a vague villain you only experience via Wyll. And if you do his romance scene and see the way he panics at the mere memory of her, you get the impression of oh shit. This broad is bad news and I've gotta get my boy out of there. The same principle behind not showing the big scary monster too early in the horror movie. Once you've seen it, you can't let your mind fill in the blanks. Mizora went from this intimidating figure whose motives you couldn't fully ascertain, to a mean girl that thinks she's smarter than everyone else but is really just the bumbling lackey of a bigger fish. Who pulls Wyll around with an actual metaphysical leash like a dog. And you're meant to find this sexy.

My final point, and I've said this before: current Wyll's personality seemed more suited to being a scion of house Eltan, while EA Wyll seemed more suited to being Ulder Ravengard's dissapointment son. Current Wyll speaks and carries him like someone raised in nobility despite only being elevated to such status as a teenager. Perhaps this is cynical and maybe even a bit of a conspiracy theory, but I genuinely think he's only Ravengard's son to save on time and assets. Why give Wyll a whole unique family with its own story when we can just tie him in to the "rescue the grand duke" plot, regardless of how much sense it makes!

[cosmereplay]

If you are having strong negative emotions about Wind and Truth after you finish it, and you're having a hard time expressing why, consider: maybe you are sad about the stuff around the book.

Let me explain, because this happened to me over the last week.

Sanderson's books are known to be emotionally pretty rough, and it's hard to read my favourite characters going through it. The ending is the end of an arc, not the whole story, so many things are left open-ended. On top of that, the characters grow and change, so the characters I have grown to love are different now! AUGH CHANGE!!

On top of that, for me personally I have relied a lot on the Stormlight fandom to help me laugh and distract from my shitty life, so to go through a month minimum where people are avoiding social media for spoilers purposes, or not posting, or have info that they can't share yet, is isolating and frustrating. Even though it's not anyone's fault, it's just change! (More change. Fuck)

Change brings its own grief. Many people will be moving on to other fandoms after this, or thinking about characters in different ways than I might want to. I might have to rebuild my community a little as people develop different obsessions or ideas. It's normal, and it's okay to be sad about it!

Anyway so after I finished reading the book I had a real depressive low for a bit. It's commonly known as post-vacation blues, the time after the thing you looked forward to, when you have to go back to regular life. That just by itself is a well known cause of temporary sadness/depression. No wonder I was having trouble getting out of bed 😅

There can be a temptation, especially for those of us who like to project our feelings onto characters, to take umbrage at this or that characterization, or pick the book apart to find things to be upset about. But if the critique is based off projecting emotions, then it won't be a solid argument and you'll probably end up having a bad time in a conversation with someone who is enjoying the literary critique.

I just started coming out of it today and realized hey, maybe the book isn't bad. Maybe I was just sad, for all these reasons. It'll still take months for me to digest it but that's just me, I'm a slow learner for literary stuff. At least now (after a couple good mopes) I can start thinking about my true opinions not clouded by grief.

So I thought I'd pass it on in case others might relate! If you don't relate that's fine. (ie This is a mental health post, this is not the place to tell me what you didn't like about the book, that's not what this post is about.)

[raayllum]

The 'Dark'!Callum Inversion scenes Meta

Because it was Everything to me from a characterization standpoint, extremely interesting and satisfying, and I just have all the feelings, so let's talk about it!

First off, symbolism set up!

Before the scene in the forest begins, we're treated to reflection motif with Callum seeing a corrupted version of himself in the water of the Moonshadow assassin lotus pond, which was previously a place associated with shame, loss, and failure (3x03); as well as love and goodbyes (3x03, 6x09). The first batch is what Callum is feeling, with the second batch being what will influence his future choices in the coming episodes.

We also get Callum talking about how he (inadvertently) freed Aaravos, then dons his symbol of freedom (wings) in order to get away. Then Callum brings out a far more complicated symbol for himself: the cube.

A few things right off the bat:

The cube since S4 has explicitly represented Callum's inner turmoil and connection to Aaravos, and we see that come out further here in both areas.

Just as Karim looks to direction from the Sun ("What would you have me do? Where would you have me go?" in 5x04) and his sister ("And what would you have me do?" in 7x03), Callum quasi-looks to the cube for direction.

However, the runes being emphasized (upside down star for Aaravos, the Ocean rune) foreshadow that the choice of what do do next is already made, as the Ocean rune was also emphasized in his original dark magic dreams in 2x08, and foreshadowed his choice to do dark magic again in 5x08. We'll return to the rune emphasis again later.

I also want to talk about dark!Callum (DC)'s appearance as opposed to the form he takes in 2x08. The cloak is back, which in 2x08 was their main distinguishing feature. Now, 7x06's is joined with corruption around the eyes (which was present in Callum's 6x03 nightmare) and the white streak, which is new. 7x06 DC therefore seems both less menacing than full corruption leering grin DC (earlier in the pond; 2x08's true form) and simultaneously more honest. He's not covering up his appearance at all, is presenting more of a middle man of what Callum could become, and yet is still deeply loathed.

The rune emphasis continues even once we get DC shows up, with the Ocean rune continuing to be highlighted, as Callum unlocked the Ocean arcanum due to realizing/accepting his lack of control on "To love is simply to know this: the tides are true as the ocean is deep [...] The Ocean arcanum is accepting that there are depths you can't see, parts of yourself you can't understand..." It was inextricably linked due to him realizing he would go that far with dark magic again, even if he hated it.

Then we get into what is probably my second favourite line in the whole scene, which is, "You didn't create me with dark magic, Callum. I have always been a part of you." Although DC is demonstrated through dark magic indicators, it is not exclusive to dark magic use. This too is reflected in what Callum says about the ocean arcanum, explaining, "The ocean arcanum is about accepting there are depths you can't see, parts of yourself you can't understand, and things you can't control".

This aspect of everyone having both dark and light inside them (as Aaravos lays out in 7x04) is reflected in 7x06 "Inversion" as well through the metaphor of the half-moon. Not only is there dark and light within all the main cast that they have to confront this season (Ez and Rayla, for example, both accept and understand the circumstances under which they'd murder someone) but it also comes back to the half-moon as well: "Consider the half moon. Light only falls on half its face right now, but that doesn't mean the other half isn't there" (2x02).

So this dark side—this willingness to go this far and in this way—is a fundamental part of who Callum is and who he's always been ("But not everything [has changed]: I would do anything for you"). Again, we love it here.

Then, the scene starts stacking metaphor upon metaphor / symbol upon symbol. First, we had DC, evidenced through dark magic corruption and a darker doppelgänger self; then we had the Ocean rune to invoke the last time Callum did dark magic, and why; finally, we have DC bring the two together into one of the other main symbols of the series: fate vs freewill through the idea of writing your own story.

"So how's your book?"

Previously, Callum had though that choosing who he wanted to be was exclusive to being a dark mage. He could choose to exert and maintain his agency OR choose to give into a pre-written destiny ("your destiny is already written, all you have to do now is accept it"). This was only enhanced by his struggle in earlier arc 2 seasons, as the dichotomy between "you can be a dark mage or a powerless human" become reconciled to "you are a powerless human because you are a dark mage," manifested in Aaravos stripping him of his power through possession/control because of his dark magic use.

This is similar to Callum's more optimistic but simplified view in 5x08 that "so long as we protect each other, so long as we love each other, you can never control us." By the end of the episode he's realized that's not true, and by the end of season 7 he likewise realizes his previous view of dark magic and himself is also not true.

Like Viren, Callum is realizing that it's not so much a choice between agency or dark magic in his life, so much as it is taking responsibility and acknowledging that he's Choosing to do dark magic for something he thinks is worth it ("Every step forward is a choice" / "That's the destiny I choose"). A character just giving up dark magic is not enough to make them a 'good' person (hi Kpp'Ar) or truly change their path (6x04 Claudia) without recognizing that dark magic itself wasn't necessarily the problem, but what it brought out in them and how they coped with it (Viren blaming Soren for his own actions, etc). Simply put, there is no 'or'. There is only 'and'.

The true heart is a gift of childhood. For a few wonder-filled years, we each have innocent eyes to experience the world’s beauty in a simple way. Terrestrius, you were lucky and held that innocent wonder longer than most. I have seen generations of humans and elves accept the darkness that lurks in all of us beside the light. There is no black and white, only shades of gray. We must all carry complexity. But please believe me there is beauty in this burden. Your heart will be a little heavier, but now there will be no more half-truths, Terrestrius. 

[Side note: if you're interested more in the idea of knowledge as a burden in TDP, please check out this meta.]

As indicated by Aaravos' speech, this process of reconciling dichotomies into singular dualities is part of growing up and accepting that things are complicated shades of grey, just as Ezran had to learn in his 4x03 speech: "To give them that, we have to hold pain and love in our hearts at the same time," with reconciling dualities permeating much of arc 2, particularly season four.

So what does this process look like for Callum emotionally, with this scene in the woods? Well, there's a few different stages.

The first involves ideas of trust, which TDP comes back to time and time again. Whereas before DC kept himself very separate from Callum in 2x08 outside of a couple of lines, here he refers to them more routinely as one entity / person, emphasizing:

which Callum reflects even before we get there, even if he backtracks:

Furthermore, we return to the concept of parts of ourselves, not only in terms of fragmentation and brokenness, but also in terms of reality. DC states that he has always been a part of Callum, and the Ocean arcanum's "parts of yourself you can't understand" furthers this as previously noted, but so does Lujanne's statement from 2x02:

Real trust is accepting the dark parts we will never know.

But more on 7x09 in a bit. For now, part of how DC attempts to get through to Callum is in line with him being a more honest presentation of Callum than his prior manifestation in 2x08, and that begins with acknowledging Callum's feelings, but also the facts:

I get it. You hate me. But we know the truth too. Only I can save them all.

Now there will be no more half-truths. Dark and light brought together in understanding and acceptance, even if it is painful and complicated. DC posits, then, that Callum is someone who can and will "sacrifice [his] sense of right and wrong" and do dark magic again. This would, in addition, mean sacrificing his own life and his life with Rayla, as the plan involves being killed so Aaravos cannot use him further. (It does not, noticeably, involve sacrificing Rayla herself; in fact, it's rather the opposite, but again, more on that in a bit.)

Callum's capacity and willingness to do so is called out openly by DC, who reminds Callum of another truth and of his own doubt:

Taking the coin feels especially noteworthy since, when Callum did so, everything was seemingly fine. He'd cleansed himself of dark magic use and therefore possession, and believed/'knew' that the prison pearl was safely at the Starscraper, hundreds of miles away from him or anyone who would ever seemingly get to it. Yet he took the coin anyway, because to quote one of my friends, "Callum will see something and go man that's fucked up and file it away for later," and boy, he sure will. This tendency to preventively 'take', particularly for objects of perceived/potential power, also goes back even earlier: he doesn't just chain Claudia, but also steals her primal stone (1x03, 2x02: "You stole her primal stone"); in 4x07, he is unable to let go of / attempt to destroy the cube ("if you're so sure, why did you save it?"); and rather than having the self-awareness I'd assumed off screen to burn all of Viren's dark magic books, he read all of them instead (5x08).

So Callum plans for contingencies, yet has reservations about the plan DC—himself—is making. Fair enough. It would cause him to do "sacrifice his own sense of right and wrong," i.e. something that he considers vile and dangerous, and morally reprehensible. It'd mean dying and sacrificing his life. Does he bring any of these up as to why he doesn't want to, or can't, follow through on the plan?

No, because the singular reason he gives is this:

I can't. Don't you get it? Rayla loves me. She believes in me. This version of myself.

"You hate me" versus "Rayla loves me."

He doesn't say that it's wrong (2x08; which seems to be something he's relinquished partially by 6x03 anyway) and he doesn't even say that it'd kill him. The sole objection he gives is that Rayla would stop loving him, and implicitly that he'd be letting her down. I don't think I have to say why this is a little bit crazy and codependent, but I do love it, and it tracks with what Callum has said in the past, ie. 4x07's "I'm not afraid that he'll hurt me. I'm afraid that he'll use me to do awful things or hurt people I care about." A big part of 5x08 and the Ocean arcanum was realizing if it's a choice between doing awful things or his loved ones being hurt, he'll choose to do the awful thing, and 7x06 here takes that one step further: is doing an awful thing worth it to save your loved one, even if they hate you for it? (The answer to him is yes, but again: we're getting there.)

At this time, Callum still has hope that there's another way through that lets him defeat Aaravos and still have Rayla's love — I mean, not die, stating, "There has to be another way. Another way without you."

The immediate episode starts poking holes in this through Aaravos' conversation with Ezran: "It is the nature of children to think that the world must be one way or another." Callum has created a binary of "use dark magic to defeat Aaravos but sacrifice myself / Rayla's love" OR "defeat Aaravos without dark magic and keep Rayla's love". One option, or another. He's going to find out that that binary isn't true, but again, not quite there yet. For now I want to detour briefly into 7x07, specifically:

AARAVOS: There is great affinity between your brother and I. Callum sees the world as I do, understands the need for compromise [corruption]. Very soon, your brother will embrace dark magic to save those he loves. EZRAN: Oh? I suppose you've seen that written in the stars. AARAVOS: No, no. I've seen it written in his eyes. EZRAN: You're lying. Callum would never do that. AARAVOS: I never lie, Ezran. In your heart, you know this already. Callum will walk down that dark road.

So Aaravos knows, episodes in advance, what Callum is capable of and what he's willing to do. So does Ezran. So does Callum. And so, eventually, does Rayla.

But why is he willing to do this? Unsurprisingly, it's time to talk about my favourite part of the scene, or what I'm going to call

The Narrowing

Now, there's no denying that part of Callum's motivation here is to save the world. This has always been true; Callum loves the world. He cares about the greater good, and he's been willing to sacrifice himself for it before (3x01). Him being willing to use dark magic to save everyone, including Rayla and Ezran, is not news; it's inordinately in character. We've yet to see one of their lives be pitted against the greater good, wherein I think his choices would change, but Callum being willing to sacrifice himself / a life together in order to keep Rayla alive? That was always my prediction going into S7 that he'd do dark magic again and do it no matter the personal cost (losing the relationship, losing his life, etc) so long as it kept her and/or Ezran alive. And here we are.

With that out of the way, I want to talk about the specific narrowing we see, as DC proposes the same plan and according rationale behind it three times in 7x06, but it gets more specific each time (+ specific rune placements to boot):

"Them all," to a greater emphasis on Ezran and Rayla, to just Rayla.

Now, part of this is to reflect Callum's objections, which as we've gone over were exclusively centred on not wanting to lose Rayla's love (which Callum probably associates having her love as synonymous with him being alive, but Ezran did it first with her being alive in 4x01, so. yeah). That's what he wants to maintain, that's what he cares about. But DC points out that Rayla loving him, and him wanting that, should be secondary to keeping her alive. It's not about his wants. It's not about him.

It's about her.

After seasons of Callum's "I would do anything for you," we finally verbally get the second piece:

VIREN: But if it's love, then nothing else matters. Do what you must. (6x06)

While other characters discuss Callum's motivations in other ways—Runaan says "He will do whatever it takes to protect this world" as the man who's prepared to take him out to do the same, and as fits within Runaan's worldview like a perfect puzzle piece—most of that is publicly around other characters who share that worldview. Callum says "I have to, or everyone will die" and Aaravos' "So the hero dies for the greater good" in the final battle, where everyone—Rayla included—can hear (remember, privately, with Ezran how Aaravos framed the matter instead). Callum and Aaravos have an incentive and need for Rayla to accept and understand this—Callum wants her to take him out, and knows this'd be more effective than "I'm doing it for you" or she'd flat out refuse (6x03, 6x05); she needs to be Callum's 'false' safety net for Callum to be willing to corrupt himself again, on Aaravos' end—nor does it make it untrue. That is what Callum is doing something vile and dangerous for, and it's worth sacrificing his life and Rayla's love for him if it means saving everyone, including her. If it doesn't, or didn't, well, that remains to be seen...

But we all know what I'm saying for future events. Where we leave off story wise now is a Callum who willingly re-corrupted himself to save her and the greater good, a Callum who fully knows and accepts that in many ways he has sacrificed his sense of right and wrong in order to do so, and is aware that now and in the future he will "do anything, however dangerous, however vile" to protect the people he loves. The nice thing is that he also knows that rather than the false dichotomy set up before, sacrificing Rayla's love for him in order to save her life, is not something he has to be concerned about any longer, because she still loves him, and always will.

He became the person he hated, the person he was terrified to be (he carried out the exact same plan DC posited for the exact same reasons as posited) but not in the manner he expected, because he's still a person that Rayla loves. That's why the white streak is different. He can trust himself in this way, and knows that she can too.

She loves, accepts, and trusts this part of him, all of him. The thing he was most worried to lose is what he didn't have to lose at all, and I think that's pretty beautiful.

In conclusion, the scene in the forest was everything, the white streak and bridge scene in the finale was everything, we love a little snake boi and his prime enabler, TDP is kissing me on the mouth characterization wise always, god bless; thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed.

[stsg420]

stsg420’s fanfic recs!!! (on-going)

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SMUTTY CONTENT WILL LOOK LIKE THIS

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STSG

Knife-Edged Butterfly -> I rated this: 20/10

• suguru is a sexy girl-dad stripper. satoru is a “retired” assassin/special agent who loves chicken wings & annoying nanami (crazy!!!!) mahito is a deranged bitch trying to kill everyone. but holy fucking shit???? this was so amazing and the fluff was probably the most well-written and comforting fluff I've ever encountered on the internet. I can’t even explain how articulate and amazing the writing and characterizations in this fic are. This is my #1.

Coanda Effect -> I rated this: 11/10

• formula one au. I’m sure y’all have seen it everywhere. there’s a reason for that. this fic right here has the potential to be my favorite stsg fic EVER written. the writing. the depth. the character progression. the intertwining plots. the relationships. the drama. oh my fucking god. I could go onnnnn and onnnn. there’s not too much smut but it’s perfect. absolutely perfect. go binge read RIGHT NOW ITS ALMOST FINISHED!!!!

There you are -> I rated this: 9.9/10

• set during the 10 years after geto defects. they meet up, because of course they do. they fuck each other and love each other and leave each other like always. it’s sad and hot and angry and bitter and so so so canon. the diction and writing style perfectly encapsulates their relationship. nurse!geto makes an appearance :)))))) do not read if you’re having a particularly sad stsg night (speaking from experience)

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GETO

Washing hair and the quiet acceptance of being loved -> I rated this: 10/10

• this fic right here. the ultimate comfort geto fic (until mine is released🫡). I’m telling you this makes everything feel better. just 1k+ words of the fmc taking care of geto. because he is a princess and the loml and deserves nothing but the best care and treatment.

Ausländer -> I rated this: 9.9/10

• outlaw!geto, officer!gojo, and a badass fmc. she literally builds/runs her own town. this is a geto/fmc fic but there is unresolved tension with stsg. let me tell you, this is a work of ART. a MASTERPIECE. I wish I could get this tattooed on my brain. the fmc is soooo well written and has amazing depth. this is some delicious wild wild west type shit. lots of guns and saloons and chases on horses!!!! fucking incredible. I strongly urge you to read this.

Spin the Bottle -> I rated this: 9.8/10

• y’all already know. college au where suguru is your best friend, has the fattest crush on you & needs just a litttttlee bit of liquid courage to cross the line. it’s fantastic. it’s scrumptious. it’s indulging. it’s cover girl. I reread this twice a month. not joking. this is college suguru to his core and you can’t change my mind.

[thydungeongal]

I have spoken about this before but like. Neoclassical Geek Revival, Break!!, and Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy all do this thing with their character customization that I really like that I think more games should have. Instead of an endless cavalcade of new feats, talents, and abilities, give player characters a choice between a list of discrete options that are a thematic package that includes both benefits and drawbacks.

If this sounds familiar to you from the original two Fallout games where players had the choice of choosing up to two Traits for their character at character creation, each of which had both benefits and drawbacks and could subtly alter your playstyle, you're correct, because at least @anim-ttrpgs (the creators of Eureka) have openly stated that the game's system of Traits is explicitly inspired by Fallout's Traits (down to having lil guys for each of the traits: they're called Snoops and they're like Eureka's equivalent of Pip Boys). Here's one:

Neoclassical Geek Revival also has Character Traits, and while they are not quite as comprehensive as I would like, I like the fact that they provide one more axis of character customization.

LOOSE CANNON These individuals are so hopped up on adrenaline in any conflict that they may ignore the effects of any accrued points on dX conflict rolls, but are always reckless in conflict dX rolls.

NGR has a system of characters effectively having three "moods" which affect whether their ability checks will be not rolled at all, treating the result as 10+modifiers without even rolling, rolled on a 3d6, or if they are reckless you will be rolling a d20 for their ability checks, with things getting more swingy as the adventure goes on. This trait is probably the most dramatic and game-altering of the character traits, because it will make things extremely swingy for the character all the time but the benefit of being able to ignore penalties from damage, stress, and so on is huge! Sadly the other traits don't quite measure up to it.

Eureka actually has a similar trait which works by just changing the regular 2d6 that is used for skill checks into a d12. It's actually quite genius in how it expresses so much about a character with so little. To briefly explain the probability: a 2d6 will generally have results weighed towards the 6-8 range, generally a 7, which in the context of Eureka means that most checks will come out as partial successes. It also means that character skill has a huge effect on the outcome: a +1 on a skill means that a character has a (rounding off) 72% chance of a partial success as opposed to a 58% chance on a +0. A character with a +0 will get a full success only around 17%, with a +1 putting that in the region of 28%. A single modifier is a big deal when you're using dice that produce a distribution weighted towards the middle!

Conversely, all results are equally likely on a 1d12. 50% of a character's rolls will straight up fail on a 1d12, but at the same time the chance of a full success goes up from ⅙ to ¼, assuming a character with no modifiers! By simply changing the type of dice that are used for making a check and making that an exception unique to that character provides so much characterization with so little.

And finally, Break!! has quirks. And I'm just going to show my personal favorite.

[rubydubydoo122]

could you talk more about fanon vs canon tim drake? i havent gotten too far into the comics yet but have seen a lot of him (mis?)characterized by others

Just a preface, I'm not gonna crucify any Tim fans who find themselves writing these tropes, because it is fandom, and everyone's allowed their own interpretations of the character, I'm just personally not a fan of these takes on Tim because in my mind they just don't make sense for the character. If anyone has differing opinions, feel free to (politely) explain them to me, because I'm happy to hear them.

Ok, so much like Fanon Dick Grayson, there are two versions of fanon Tim Drake.

There's version A.) where where he's one minor inconvienience away from becoming a supervillain (I understand where this one comes from and I don't HATE it) and there's version B.) where he was criminally neglected as a kid and is infantalized (This version of Tim I Loathe)

I'll start with version A. I see where it comes from. Mainly the Red Robin 2009 run, but we have to remember that Tim was grieving pretty much everyone close to him during that era. He was being self destructive because of that grief, and yeah, grief changes a person, but Tim is the type of character who would still turn out good despite all the hurt handed to him. Oh! But Gun Batman-- Tim actively chose against being that. He would rather kill himself than let himself become a version of Batman who went against everything Batman stood for. I know there are multiple storylines where Tim meets and evil future version of himself, but those versions would constantly be like a weight on him to be good. All in all, if I had to choose between the fanon Tim Drakes, I would choose villain Tim Drake, as long as it's done in more of a character-study way rather than a 'He deserves to go evil, as a treat' because it's an interesting take with the right motives.

Now onto Version B. Loser Tim Drake. The reason I Loathe this version of Tim is because it usually involves Characters Assassination of the characters around him. Ok, so do I agree that Tim Drake was somewhat neglected? Yes. But goddamit, the way I see Jack and Janet portrayed, you would think that they were running from the feds or something. They were good people, just bad parents. Maybe a little immature to raise a child, but it wasn't to the point where they would probably need to call CPS. Neglect isn't black and white, and the Drakes fell into that grey-- which I personally believe to be a lighter shade. You do have to remember that a lot of Tim's introduction was written in the 90's where parenting styles were a lot different compared to Today. Still, they sent him to boarding school, meaning they made sure that some form of adult was taking care of Tim AND a lot of people try to make Jack Drake out to be the villain for stopping Tim from being Robin, and blackmailing Bruce for it, but... It's What Any Sane Parent Would Do? I'm 18, but I know if I ever had a kid, and then fell into a coma and then woke up and found out that my Kid was fighting crime in one of the most CRIME RIDDEN CITIES alongside my middle-aged neighbor who dresses up like a furry I WOULD CALL THE FUCKING COPS. But enough about the Drakes. Because not only does Loser Tim Drake assassinate their character, but why is 17 year old Tim the victim when it comes to 10 year old Damian-- "Oh he tried to kill him' They're both trained by assassins. They're both trained. They're both Trained. Why Is a Junior/Senior in high school hurt by the actions of a 5th grader. I have a similar age gap with my younger brother. We have had pretty brutal fights and the next day we're fine. I'm not going to get into "Attack on Titans Tower AUs" but I will say this, Every Time I Start To Read One Of Those, I Lose Half Of My Hair Because of How Bad the Characterization Of Both Jason And Tim are. Please, Read, The, Comic. Jason Wasn't Trying To Kill Tim. If He Was, Tim would Be Dead. ANd Tim was Snarking Jason Through The Entire Confrontation. Lastly, Why Has DICK 'BAMF' GRAYSON TURNED INTO TIM"S NUMBER ONE OP????!!!! DIck IS LITERALLY TiM's ChiLDHOOD HEro!!!!! NoT BAtMAN, DICK GRAYSON. And like, not only that, Dick and Tim are the most brotherly. I'm Begging, Please go read a 90's comic. Why is it, the only time I see Dicks Manipulative side in fanon, It's in opposition to Tim? I bet it's bc of Teen Titans Go. I bet the only Tim and Dick interaction they've seen is TTG Robin going "No BOdy cARes AbOuT TiM DrAke"

Sorry that ended up becoming rant-y, and less objective. Since actually reading comics, fanon Tim Drake gets on my nerves.

[oh-no-its-bird]

Been thinking about your team ro time travel and team ro defect crossover and I just. I've been rereading keanblade's stuff recently so i have a very specific tobirama in my head and the idea that he'd take one look at this group of sad dissilusioned young adults/children and be like guess i'm a father of 5 now and rewrite his entire priorities around that. Like, you mentioned in the of team ro time travel you liked the idea of having half hatake tobirama in the mix and i'm an enjoyer the idea hatake tend to just adopt children wily nilly like oh look more pack, I think i will thank you very much. Just tobirama absconding with this entire group that has no incentive to return to their own time and being like i'm the dad now (yes some of them are barely younger than him, no that doesn't change that he's everyone's dad fuck off). He gets to teach kakashi all kinds of hatake things! Show him how to be a little wilder like the hatake of the warring states! If you subscribe to the theory he helped hashirama learn how the mokuton worked he could tenzo with his mokuton. The funniest option is that somehow all of this leads to peace without izuna dying and they werent even trying for that. Like, tobirama just straight up ditching everything to take care of a bunch of depressed teenagers and a kid, over half of which are uchiha, and being SO fiercely protective of his little pack of murder children and the uchiha seeing this and being like. Huh. I thought that guy hated us? He just. Is living in the woods with three uchiha and treating them like his specialest little guys. An uchiha patrol runs across them and tobirama is patting itachi on the head for a good job learning whatever insane jutsu he's currently teaching team ro because those are his kids and of course he'd teach them to be as strong and terrifying as he could. Makes them think. Bonus points if this also somehow leads to madatobi and/or when the village does get built tobirama always looking to team ro before agreeing to any plans cuz they know what didnt work the first time, having not only been affected by it in the worst ways but left because of it in their time. Does this make the village better? Who knows. But they're certainly trying.

Sorry for the long thing, this has just been plauging my thoughts. I dont even know if i explained my idea well it's just been banging around in my brain for too long and i needed it out

Based off [THIS] au about Team Ro defecting from Konoha after Kakashi, having been told the truth of his fathers sabotaged mission and the slander campaign against him by Orochimaru, interrupts Shisui's murder at Danzo's hand, leading to the entire team + Sasuke to flee Konoha-- and then accidentally time travel into the warring states era, years before Konoha was set to be founded.

(This is already long, so the reply is below the cut ->)

OK FIRST OFF IM SO SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO REPLY TO THIS OOPS I HOPE I DIDNT KEEP U IN SUSPENSE

Woahh Keanblade mention !!! I love their stuff, they have some great fics and I love their brain. I haven't read their fics in a while actually, I should like go brush up on my keanblade lore / characterization at some point

IM YELLING THO IM SO ?? HONORED ?? TO HAVE SPARKED SMTHN IN UR BRAIN ACTUALLY, IM EATING THIS UP I LOVE IT THANK U SM FOR SENDING ME THIS I HAD SO MUCH FUN READING UR IDEAS !! AND YOU SENT ME SO MUCH TOO, SO MUCH FOOD TO DEVOUR ! Thank you for sending them to me I am giving you a little kiss right on ur brain

Tobirama really said "wow I can't believe I have to adopt these guys now"

Hashirama, probably: "Otouto you really dont have to--"

"I can't believe the world itself is making me adopt these sad, lost children."

"Children? Otouto, they aren't exactly--"

"I MUST take them in. I'm FORCED to, even."

"Tobi, no one is saying you--"

"I really have no choice in the matter. There are NO other options for them."

"Tobirama, please--"

The fact that Tobirama is like literally the same age as Kakashi and then they're just barely older than Shisui and Tenzo makes the whole thing so much funnier. It's probably for the best that he didn't try to dad them fr fr bc Im pretty sure the only one here without some form of daddy issues is like. Sasuke. Who is also 7.

(Which could be argued against tbh just depending on ur specific interpretation of Fugaku's dynamic w his kids on any given day)

So I imagine trying to actually parent various members of team ro comes with the risk of accidentally stepping on a landmine and potentially causing incredible violence and years of baggage to explode outward. I love my traumatized shinobi boys !!

Big brother Tobirama my beloved tho !!! Do u think he has complexes about being a big brother I think he has complexes and also that we should totally explore that, send tweet

Tobirama cave hermit arc !!! Madara had his turn, now it's his!

Team Ro really showed up, immediatley got thrust into an (unwilling, unwanted) custody battle, then got fucking SNATCHED by Tobirama before they could try and make a run for it, and just kinda,, decided to go with it? I guess? Fucking gold, actually. How the actual fuck did Tobirama convince them all to stay with him, the world will never know.

The man teleported the group of them into a forest alone, (instantly outnumbering himself) and went "this means I won the custody battle btw." and team Ro just went "I mean its better than being stuck with Uchiha Madara I guess." and went with it

Im not going to lie I fucking pictured Madara stumbling across the cave and team ro yapping at him like little chihuahuas and fucking lost my mind actually, needed to take a second to regain my sanity (in a good way)

Do u think Hashirama yells at Tobirama when he comes back home for publically kidnapping some mystery uchiha (plus others who were not very recognizable and thus do not matter as much) in front of the uchiha clan. Does Tobirama come back home? Does he just decide to become a cave hermit somewhere in the woods with his hashtag found family who may or may not fully want to be there? (they must, to some degree, want to be there-- if only because Tobirama Senju might be talented but he is also 18 at the time and nowhere near the height of his power. And Team Ro is many things, but unskilled is NOT one of them)

I forgot Tobirama knew ab the time travel for a sec and pictured him looking at Sasuke, this little clone of Izuna, and going "Hmm. You look exactly like my rival does and no doubt belong to the Uchiha main house."

"Does this mean you'll give us to the uch--"

"No."

(Finders keepers !!)

"Madara, the most uchiha uchiha in who knows how long before itachi and sasuke came along to give him a run for his money" is so fucking funny actually, I am internalizing that line and will probably suddenly think about it later at work and giggle to myself, I can already tell

If Izuna and Hashirama are both being little bitch boys in this I do need to advocate that they should totally get to kiss and be little bitch boys ✨ together ✨(the hashiizu agenda never dies) (let them begrudgingly get a drink together--though its Izuna who does most of the begrudging--get drunk while whining about their brothers, and then share a very ill advised kiss or two that Izuna will now deny ever happened till the day he dies)

I still think Tenzo should get to bond with Hashirama bc I love them getting to interact, but Im hearing your 'bad brother Hashirama' vibes for this spin off and nodding respectfully, so like. Maybe Hashirama can be sad about Tobirama monopolizing Tenzo, literally THE only other Mokuton user in the world's time, and be mad ab that too? I dont usually write explicitly bad brother Hashirama so I'm not too good at proposing how that could go tbh but I love the soap opera / dogblood drama vibes, it's so fun

I do think that some of team Ro could be useful at the peace talk / village planning meetings if they spoke up !!

Itachi may be young but is clan heir, and no doubt knows most of the modern day clan laws that Konoha would one day put in place, so he can suggest those knowing that it's what they'd eventually land on anyways.

Meanwhile Kakashi is the student of a Hokage, who watched over the shoulder of two different Hokage's, from ages 13 to present, so he absolutely knows a thing or ten about politics and running a village (at least from an outsiders perspective) Which. Actually technically makes him the most eligible / knowledgeable person like. In all of the peace talks when it comes to running a village which is fascinating. I'm jotting that one down to reference later in my original team ro time travel fic actually, there's a lot that can be done with that

ALSO !! If this is the 'team ro time travels to warring states era' au but like, with the team ro that defected from Konoha, they totally have Opinions(tm) about Konoha, which is so fun. I feel like Shisui has the sort of personality where he might actually be vocal about things when it comes to founding Konoha.

The way that the team stood whenthey left the village, Shisui and Itachi were both still majority village loyalists (though their loyalty had been deeply shaken)

Tenzo was high key "whatever my teamamtes say I will follow" but still has Konoha's roots buried deep into his heart.

Kakashi was the most complex-- the only one who it could truly be said was against the village, and for that I think he's interesting to play with and has motivation to get inolved in village making-- or the opposite; Want nothing to do with it.

IM YELLING ACTUALLY AT TEAM RO GENRE CHANGE THTS SO FUNNY

It was actually never time travel, it was straight up dimension travel. They fr went from a grimdark angst fic to a silly fluffy cracky fuckin, blessed eyes au where Tobirama is actually secretly a Good Boi(tm) and his indescribable riz and way with children make Madara forget about the whole mutual genocide thing

(Plot twist: Izuna and Hashirama arent actually bad brothers, they're just not aware of the genre they're in and reacting accordingly to their brothers doing a sudden 180 and ending the war with the ✨power of love ✨ and also adopting several teenagers (some of which are literally their age) who appeared out of nowhere, have no credentials, two of which are technically CONFIRMED BLOODLINE THEIVES (Kakashi willing and Tenzo unwilling, lab grown mokuton stolen from Hashirama's dna is STILL BLOODLINE THEFT, thanks Orochimaru) and are losing their GODDAMN MINDS over the turn of events)

Anyways this whole thing was a riot, I loved it and u are a master at silly fluff and comedy, I had a lot of fun reading what you sent me !!!

Ik u were aiming for silly fun so I hope my additions didnt take anything too seriously, I am in my shinobi politics 'writing everything as being played straight' era, so tried my best to stick with silly fluffy fun time comments instead of tripping and falling into the political implications of, like, a disillusioned with Konoha nukenin Kakashi, at the age where he was near his most depressed and apathetic, who is also technically the most qualified person in Fire to discuss making a village, being let in on village planning with implicit backing from both the Uchiha head and Senju heir. Or how itachi in the original (non nukenin) au was down to kill Madara, but the him in this au now has even more motivation to do it. N other fun implications like that

BUT LIKE I LOVE THE FLUFF I LOVE THE SILLY

politics free zone !!! we are not making eyecontact with the drama bc this is team Ro's vacation, actually

anyways THANK YOU FOR SENDING ME SUCH A WONDERFUL AND DETAILED ASK !!! UR BRAIN IS SO BIG FOR IT, I HAD SO MUCH FUN READING IT AND THINKING ABOUT IT AND IM SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO REPLY TO AND I JUST HOPE I REPLIED WELL ENOUGH SDKFJHDSFJKDSHFJSDk

umm and then they all lived happily ever after, the end

[ladykatibeth]

I think some of the surprise there is for Izzy’s season 2 behavior is that a lot of the the fandom (even some Izzy fans) decided to base Izzy’s characterization entirely off of episode 9 and 10 (where he was honestly also probably having a bit a of a breakdown) when he’s at his most lowest and ignoring anything before that.

So while everyone’s here, (welcome new friends!) I’ll address something’s people have been surprised by, or have said is a new development.

1. “Talking it through”….Izzy is a very open character—Wait, here me out.

He is unintentionally very expressive. If you look at his expression it flits through emotions. He’s a pretty bad liar. His feelings are very on display, and he has a lot of them.

In terms of talking, he literally chases Ed around the ship trying to start a conversation about the plan. He explains exactly why he’s upset in episode 4. He’s also mean about it because he’s angry and he’s mean when he’s angry.

(Well I’d argue he’s anxious and he’s angry when he’s anxious and he’s mean when he’s angry)

This is one phrase we never see him disagree with in the first season, but I would argue he doesn’t fully endorse it.

Specifically “as a crew.” He doesn’t like showing vulnerability….in front of people. Intimate conversations are usually private. He’s the least posturing when he’s doing 1 on 1 conversations, for an infrequently used example, look at him ranting to Spanish Jackie like a friend on the phone before the navy people come in—and then he shifts. He will talk to people about feelings—in private.

2.Speaking of episode 4—Izzy’s care for the crew.

Izzy didn’t see the Revenge Crew as his crew up until his being named captain (neither did Ed, the co-captain conversation doesn’t occur until after Izzy’s been banished). He does express care for the QA crew having been lost in his resignation rant.

They are “the crew of the Revenge.” He’s not perfect though, he does risk Ivan and Fang in the navy deal, but given the fact he’s never done this before I assume most of this previous crew behavior is more in line with the first example than the second. He’s not nice, but he at least cares about about them staying alive.

3. Izzy apologizing/taking accountability.

I think the main thing here is people taking Izzy at his most pissed 100% at his word.

In episode 4 we see Izzy do his resignation rant—and he regrets it by the end. He takes back what he said and apologizes for it. Just because Izzy says something when pissed doesn’t mean those are his day to day feelings.

In episode 6 Izzy says Ed will rue this day—and then makes sure specifically to get him out of the way so he isn’t harmed. He expresses concern over Stede doing something to Ed’s brain, not anger at him.

Izzy isn’t incapable of reflection, his pattern is he gets angry says something, reflects when calmer and then either regrets or changes his mind.

So he’s like weeks of (relatively) calmer time to reflect and realize he played a part, Izzy is incredibly impulsive when mad but our impulses aren’t always our regular logical feelings.

(Also why I don’t like when people completely take his Ep 10 rant as his whole entire world view, he’s pissed and scared and saying hurtful things on purpose, that’s not the summation of him.)