#supposedly he's been working on this world since he was a kid right and inventing and investing in all of these characters | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

longitudinalwaveme · 3 years ago

Text

Arkham Files: Mirror Master I (Samuel Joseph Scudder)

Hugo Strange: From the patient files of Dr. Hugo Strange, director of Arkham Asylum. Patient: Samuel Joseph Scudder, also known as the Mirror Master. The patient displays a number of antisocial and narcissistic tendencies, and clearly has a nicotine addiction, but no formal diagnosis has ever been given to him, and since he, like the rest of the so-called “Rogues”, arrived at Arkham only a few days ago, I have not had the time to give him a complete psychological examination. Session One. So, Mr. Scudder, how are you today?

Mirror Master: (Blows puff of cigarette smoke) For suddenly having been sent a thousand miles away from home? Not bad, I suppose.

Hugo Strange: Yes, I can see how that would be stressful. Believe me, having suddenly gained over a dozen new patients in one fell swoop is not an ideal situation for me, either.

Mirror Master: Don’t sweat it, Doctor. I’ll be out of here in a few days anyway.

Hugo Strange: I very much doubt that, Mr. Scudder. Arkham Asylum’s security has been improved considerably since the days of the unfortunate Dr. Jeremiah Arkham.

Mirror Master: It doesn’t matter how good the security is, Doctor. The prison hasn’t been built yet that can keep me locked up.

Hugo Strange: You are not a metahuman, Mr. Scudder. As long as we do not allow you undue access to technology, you will not be able to effect one of the fantastic escapes for which you are so well known.

Mirror Master: (Blows a puff of smoke) You a betting man, Doctor?

Hugo Strange: Not particularly, Mr. Scudder.

Mirror Master: Too bad. I was going to bet you that I’d be out of this joint in a week or less.

Hugo Strange: If those are the terms of your ‘bet’, then I might be willing to relax my standards on betting. In the parlance of gambling, my victory will be a “sure thing”.

Mirror Master: So, do we have a bet, doctor?

Hugo Strange: Do we not need to, ah, set the terms for victory first?

Mirror Master: You’re right. If I win, well...I’m out of prison, and you have to acknowledge that I can beat your supposedly impervious security system.

Hugo Strange: And if I win, you will make no more escape attempts and will attend psychological sessions with me regularly.

Mirror Master: It’s a bet. (The two shake hands)

Hugo Strange: Now that that is out of the way, Mr. Scudder, I would like to make it clear that Arkham Asylum is not a prison. It is a mental hospital; a place of psychological healing.

Mirror Master: Then why am I here? I’m perfectly sane.

Hugo Strange: You call yourself the “Mirror Master” and commit crimes whilst wearing a hideous orange-and-green leotard. If that isn’t a sign of emotional disturbance, I do not know what is.

Mirror Master: It’s a costume, Doctor. You know, like the ones actors wear while putting on a show? If they’re not insane, then neither am I.

Hugo Strange: The two situations are not at all synonymous, Mr. Scudder. Crime is not a performance.

Mirror Master: (Blows puff of smoke) The crimes aren’t the performance, Doctor. I commited crimes a long time before I put on the costume. The performance is being the Mirror Master.

Hugo Strange: Ordinary criminals do not turn their crimes into elaborate performances, Mr. Scudder.

Mirror Master: And that, my dear Doctor, is what separates the criminals...from the supervillains.

Hugo Strange: So, in your mind, the crimes you commit as the Mirror Master, with the silly costume and the incredible technology, they aren’t for money?

Mirror Master: Well, the money’s nice...but the real fun of being the Mirror Master is the challenge. Matching wits with the Flash, outwitting security, getting my name in the papers-that’s the real reason I became the Mirror Master. If I’d just wanted to get rich, I could’ve done that easily.

Hugo Strange: Yes, I was just about to mention that. Your records indicate that, among other things, you have invented or discovered an alternate dimension known as the Mirror Realm, which enables you to teleport between locations, mirrors that can hold people’s reflections, a 3D printer that makes perfect mirror images of people, hypnotic technology that works over long distances, a mirror that predicts the future, a mirror that lets you switch your legs with other people’s legs, a number of laser weapons, some sort of flying car, a mirror-powered jet pack, a mirror that allows you to shrink and enlarge yourself and other people, mirrors that create a wide variety of fantastical illusions, a weapon that turns people into glass, a weapon that reverses the way that the brain perceived the world, guns that can transform stolen jewelry into light beams (and back again) for the purposes of easy transport, and a weapon that distorts people’s bodies.

Mirror Master: (Blows out a puff of smoke) I’m a man of many talents, Doctor.

Hugo Strange: Obviously. What’s more, when you arrived here, we administered a number of psychological and intelligence tests to you, and the results were remarkable.

Mirror Master: How so?

Hugo Strange: In spite of the fact that your records indicate that you never graduated from high school, your overall intelligence score was somewhere around 174. In other words, Mr. Scudder...you are a genius.

Mirror Master: (Whistles) Well, I always knew I was smart...but I’ve gotta admit, I didn’t realize I was that smart.

Hugo Strange: Mr. Scudder, you are, quite bluntly, one of the most astonishing scientists of our generation. You could easily have made yourself rich and famous legitimately.

Mirror Master: Yeah, well, here’s the thing, Doctor. By the time I made those discoveries, I was already a convict. People don’t exactly line up to hire liquor store robbers from Skid Row, even if they are geniuses. Besides, why should I try to help science and society? What did they ever do for me, except put me behind bars?

Hugo Strange: After you had robbed a liquor store, Mr. Scudder.

Mirror Master: (Blows puff of smoke) In case you haven’t figured it out, Doctor, I’m not a very good person.

Hugo Strange: No, Mr. Scudder, you are not a good man...but you are also a very sick man, and it is my duty to help you.

Mirror Master: What do you mean, I’m sick?

Hugo Strange: By your own testimony, you dress up in costume and commit crimes as though it’s some sort of grand performance. You have repeatedly ignored opportunities to make money legitimately, and even your crimes focus more on showmanship than on actually making a profit. In fact, the only times your crimes show a profit requisite to the amount of effort you put into committing them are when you are working alongside the other so-called Rogues, which, I suspect, is largely attributable to the fact that Mr. Leonard Snart puts some effort into keeping your idiosyncrasies in check when you work together. All of this suggests that you are emotionally disturbed, Mr. Scudder.

Mirror Master: So I’m dramatic. That hardly makes me a candidate for a rubber room, Doctor.

Hugo Strange: I’m afraid I would have to disagree, Mr. Scudder. And I am the medical professional here. (Pause) So, Mr. Scudder, I repeat: why the costume? Mirror Master: I told you already. It’s part of the performance.

Hugo Strange: And your decision to wear this costume had nothing whatsoever to do with the costumed vigilante who runs around Central City?

Mirror Master: What, you mean the Flash? He really didn’t have much to do with it. I put on the costume before I ever met him. He makes commiting crimes more fun, but I would’ve become the Mirror Master regardless of whether there was a Speedster around to fight.

Hugo Strange: So the Flash did not inspire the Mirror Master?

Mirror Master: (Blows puff of smoke) No.

Hugo Strange: Then what, exactly, inspired you to put on the spandex leotard?

Mirror Master: Well, you’ve gotta admit it’s memorable.

Hugo Strange: I suppose so.

Mirror Master: But in all seriousness, I was a big fan of JSA comic books as a kid. I always thought their costumes were pretty cool; if anything inspired my costume; it was theirs.

Hugo Strange: So the Mirror Master was inspired by the so-called Mystery Men of the 1940s and 1950s?

Mirror Master: Yeah. Let me tell you, if anyone understood showmanship, it was the JSA. Those guys were my heroes.

Hugo Strange: In that case, is it not counterintuitive that you became a supervillain? I was under the impression that the JSA comics presented those vigilantes as unambiguous heroes.

Mirror Master: (Blows puff of smoke) You know, I never really thought about it like that before.

Hugo Strange: Then allow me to posit my own theory. (Strange pulls out Mirror Master’s file, papers rustle as he does so) According to your files, you were born to Percival and Martha Scudder. Your father died of cancer when you were only seven months old, and his medical bills consumed all of your parents’ money. As a result, your mother was forced to move with you to a glorified tenement building on the spot where Morrow Street and Baker Street met. The area was colloquially known as “Skid Row”, and poverty, crime, and drug addiction were rampant. Your mother, a seamstress, had to work long hours just to make ends meet, so you were often left at home alone. You and your mother never had enough clothes or enough to eat. When you were six years old, your next-door neighbor was murdered in a violent drug dispute; you were at home to hear the gunshot. When you were eight, you witnessed a violent brawl that ended in a man being sent to the hospital; when you were twelve, you watched another neighbor die of a drug overdose.

Mirror Master: (Obviously uncomfortable) Can we please stop talking about this?

Hugo Strange: Mr. Scudder, until you acknowledge what happened to you, you cannot make progress.

Mirror Master: I do acknowledge what happened! I know Skid Row was a crappy place to grow up; I’m not pretending it wasn’t! But that doesn’t mean I want to talk about it!

Hugo Strange: Mr. Scudder, I understand your discomfort, but unless we talk about what happened to you, I will not be able to help you. (Pause) To continue: As a boy, you were very close to a young girl named Jennifer Conners, who lived in the apartment across from yours. Her father, a minister at a local church, soon became like a father to you. He even served as your Scoutmaster. You were a Boy Scout, Mr. Scudder. You even earned the title of Eagle Scout when you were fourteen. That’s highly irregular for a costumed criminal.

Mirror Master: (Trying to change the subject) Yeah, well, I’ve always been extraordinary.

Hugo Strange: That is not the point, Mr. Scudder. The point is, until you were sixteen years old, you were a remarkably well-behaved child in spite of your dreadful environment. You got good grades, you loved comics about so-called superheroes, you were a Boy Scout-you were not a juvenile delinquent in any sense of the word. What changed, Mr. Scudder?

Mirror Master: (Angry) Why do you need me to tell you? Isn’t it in my files?

Hugo Strange: It is, but I think it is important that you admit it, Mr. Scudder.

Mirror Master: (Blows puff of smoke) Fine! What changed was that I watched Mr. Conners get shot right in front of me! (Blows another puff of smoke) He was the best man I knew, and it still didn’t stop him from getting murdered by one of the Candy Man’s drug dealers.

Hugo Strange: The...Candy Man?

Mirror Master: Jack Monteleone. (Blows puff of smoke) He controls Central City’s drug empire.

Hugo Strange: I see. So, your beloved father figure was killed in front of you. I’d imagine that produced a great deal of anxiety.

Mirror Master: (Blows puff of smoke) No duh, Sherlock.

Hugo Strange: As such, you decided to start self-medicating with alcohol and cigarettes. Eventually, this got you mixed up with the party crowd at your school. Your grades slipped rapidly, and, by the time you were seventeen, you had dropped out of school and run away from home so that you could better feed your addictions. You committed a number of petty crimes before robbing a local liquor store at the age of 19, whereupon you were sent to prison. While serving your sentence, you discovered the Mirror Realm, and upon your release, you became the Mirror Master.

Mirror Master: (Blows puff of smoke) So, how exactly does my life story prove that I’m crazy?

Hugo Strange: Mr. Scudder, you are not “crazy”. What you are, however, is a child living a fantasy life. You used to self-medicate with alcohol; now you deal with your trauma by putting on a mask and playing an elaborate game of cops and robbers with your city’s scarlet-clad vigilante. By becoming this “Mirror Master”, you are reenacting the comic book stories that you loved as a child. You may be a warped reflection of the JSA, but you have nevertheless created a world for yourself where good and evil are simple and clear-cut and no one will ever really get hurt. And the Flash is enabling your fantasy.

Mirror Master: (Blows a puff of smoke) Or-and here’s a novel concept-I do it because I like money and attention.

Hugo Strange: Nothing is ever that simple, Mr. Scudder.

Mirror Master: (Blows a puff of smoke) I’m really looking forward to watching you have to eat your words when I escape, Doctor.

Hugo Strange: And when you fail to escape, I will look forward to helping you deal with your nicotine addiction, Mr. Scudder. Regardless, I think that it is time for this session to come to an end. We have covered enough ground for one day.

#flash rogues #dr. hugo strange #flash comics #batman comics #mirror master #sam scudder #fanfic

19 notes · View notes

demi-shoggoth · 4 years ago

Text

COVID-19 Reading Log, pt 18

Man, this past month has been a heck of a year, hasn’t it? I’ve still been reading books, but my pace has ebbed and flowed, and I forgot to update this for a while. So here’s my thoughts on ten of the most recent books I’ve read.

91. The League of Regrettable Sidekicks by Jon Morris. I had no idea this book existed until I was doing image searches for this project for the other “League of Regrettable X” books. This one covers the sidekicks, minions and goons of comic history. Unlike the other books by Jon Morris, the spread is more even of Gold/Silver/other ages of comic books. After all, the 70s is when Jaxxon the green rabbit appeared in Star Wars, and the 80s had a shape-shifting penguin named Frobisher in the Doctor Who comics. It also feels like it’s a little looser about what makes a character “regrettable”. Some of the sidekicks in its pages, like Woozy Winks and Volstagg the Voluminous, are legit great characters.

92. Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were by Michael Page and Robert Ingpen. I wanted to like this book; I really did. For one thing, it was recommended to me by @listmaker-lastcity, who I was working with on commissions. For another thing, it was fairly pricy used. Thirdly, to its merit, it is gorgeous. Michael Page, the illustrator, is credited first, and rightly so. But for an “encyclopedia”, it makes up a lot of stuff. It opens with a disclaimer that “the creators of this book have… unlocked their own fantasies”, which means that it invents Arthuriana and Greek myths wholeheartedly. Several of the entries do not exist outside this book, and others are so distorted that their actual folkloric origins have been clouded and obscured by people using this as a source. For material I’m not familiar with the primary sources of, like Gulliver’s Travels, I have no idea if it’s reflecting the source material accurately, or making things up whole cloth. As a fantasy, it’s intermittently fun; some rather nasty misogyny does sneak in and the book is wildly anti-science. As a reference work, it’s useless to the point of actively harmful.

93. Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh. I was a huge fan of the “Hyperbole and a Half” blog back in the day, and knowing Allie Brosh’s history of mental health problems, I was worried when she seemingly dropped off the face of the earth. Her release of a second book was a pleasant surprise, but also showed that some worry was appropriate. This collection of essays, cartoons and heavily-cartooned essays is sadder than the first collection, as it was written during and after a series of family tragedies. It is still very funny in parts, however, and has an overall message of self-care and love that turned out to be extra relevant in the nightmare year that is 2020. It’s the only book for this project that I read in a single sitting. Highly recommended.

94. Mozart’s Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt. This book is half memoir, half biography. The composer Mozart owned a starling during some of his most productive years as a composer, and even wrote an elegy to it when it died. The author used this as a launching point to adopt her own starling, and to examine how this invasive species is seen in American birding culture. The writing is humanistic and charming, and very self-aware (the author worries that her starling is going to die, because that’s what always happens in “this animal changed my life” books). The message is one of respecting all other creatures and of valuing the lives of animals, which is not much of a surprise from the author’s other books (I covered The Urban Bestiary earlier in this project.

95. The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine by Lindsey Fitzharris. The subtitle says it all; this is a biography of Joseph Lister, focusing on his research into antisepsis and promotion of sterile technique in surgery. It takes ample digressions to talk about other major surgeons of the time, the state of hygiene and disease theory in Victorian England, France and the United States, as well as things like labor conditions and women’s rights. These bits and pieces are woven in successfully, so they feel like appropriate context setting. Fitzharris is empathetic despite the often grisly subject matter, but readers with a sensitive stomach and a low tolerance for gore might want to skip this one.

96. Twice the Thrills! Twice the Chills! by Bryan Senn. This is a big book, 400 pages in full sized paper. It is an overview of the horror/SF double feature, covering every movie released initially in that format between 1955 and 1974 in the United States. As such, it reviews more than 200 movies, with behind-the-scenes anecdotes, critical opinion and box office, and general coverage of trends and themes in genre cinema at the time. I enjoyed this book greatly, especially since it covered some movies I’d never even heard of. The timing is perfect, too, as I read this book just before @screamscenepodcast covered the first entries in it, Revenge of the Creature/Cult of the Cobra. My one complaint is that the author seems biased against Japanese films. He discredits the special effects and monster suits in kaiju movies compared to even movies like Attack of the Giant Leeches and The Killer Shrews, and complains about acting and scripts in Japanese films much more than he does for other dubbed films. He also consistently refers to Ishiro Honda as “Inoshiro Honda”, which is how his name was misspelled in the 60s. That level of disrespect for some of my favorite genre pictures is a constant low-level irritation in what is otherwise a fine resource.

97. Cursed Objects by J. W. Ocker. This is a fun catalog of objects said to be cursed, including the whys, supposed effects and current locations of these artifacts. The book is sorted into categories, like “cursed objects in museums”, “cursed furniture”, “technological cursed objects”. It takes a skeptical, folkloric look at the topic, being more interested in the stories than in any legit supernatural powers. It even talks about things that “should” be cursed because of their odd appearances or eerie provenances, but aren’t, like the Crystal Skull forgeries. The book is a pleasant and breezy read, and the author has a good sense of humor on the topic. He curses the book itself with an epigram against thieves, and buys a cursed dog statue on eBay that sat on his desk throughout the writing process.

98. Death in the Garden by Michael Brown. This book is wildly misnamed, being light on both the “garden” and the “death”. It’s supposedly a social history of poisonous plants, but is more interested in English herbals specifically. It refers to the authors by name extensively as if we should have all of these memorized, and the only place where the prose has any energy is in the biographical section for these herbalists. There’s very little information about the actual plants and their poisons. I would use the word “doddering” to describe the prose style, which is simultaneously rambling and boring. The photography is pretty, though.

99. Ripley’s Believe it Or Not! 1929-1930 by Robert Ripley. IDW puts out lovely volumes of vintage American comics, and this is no exception. Being a kid into weird facts and trivia, and an adult who is still into them, the Ripley franchise was a major part of my childhood. This is the first modern collection organized chronologically, covering the first two years the strip was in national syndication. The strips cover the typical Ripley mix of sports trivia, weird facts, word riddles and puzzles, misleading statements and the occasional outright lie. The book has a warning about the racial attitudes of the time, which is fair, but it’s not nearly as bad as I feared. Ripley’s habit of drawing from photographic references means that people in ethnic minorities look like real people. But the language is decidedly “of its time”, with slurs used to identify foreign ethnicities (particularly Asian ones). So be warned.

100. Unlucky Stiffs: New Tales of the Weirdly Departed by Cynthia Ceilan. I’m ordering material to pick up from my local library again, which is great! This book was actually recommended by the library website based on the morbid slant of some of the other books I was putting on hold. Unfortunately, this book sucks. It’s pitched as a “weird deaths” book, something like a more literary version of the Darwin Awards. But the deaths are often not all that bizarre, instead being typically sad accidents or murders. It just comes off as mean spirited and misanthropic. Not recommended.

#reading log #ripley's believe it or not #b movies #comics #medical history

60 notes · View notes

tarajenkins · 4 years ago

Text

Please no more Square, I am at my (character) limit lmao

"The Light will not be denied!"

I really do still wonder how anyone who played through ShB could reach the conclusion that a child with no Blessing Of Light ever stood a chance against the will of a Lightwarden. And not just any child--a child the Ascians intended to use as a doorstop to prevent the First from being destroyed before the Rejoining could happen, a child whose own trusted parental figure was willing to gaslight and manipulate them for the sake of their own power. A child whose behavior would absolutely need to fit a certain mold to achieve their ends.

The Light corruption of a Sin Eater is confirmed by Halric's arc to be a lot like Tempering. Repeatedly Tempering someone, like Loonh Gah's mother in the Amalj'aa questchain, destroys their sanity. Emet-Selch's own dialogue up there confirms that the Warden essences in the WoL would not only drive them to madness, but violence. Vauthry had the essence of a Lightwarden forced into him before he was even born, and he had no higher power to protect him.

Selch puts it plainly: the corruption of a Lightwarden is absolute in time, even for the WoL. I have yet to hear a good reason why Vauthry’s corruption would have been the sole exception to this rule. The “half Sin Eater” bit is brought up sometimes, but that is just buying into the lies his father told. Vauthry was already an entirely Hume infant. He was never “half” anything. He was already complete. He was corrupted. Tempered, according to Halric’s arc--blaming him for not fighting it is like blaming Thancred for the Waking Sands. It’s not a thing anyone can fight.

There’s also Yoshi-P asking players to ask themselves if Vauthry was really a friend of the Sin Eaters, or was he being controlled by someone.

(On a side note, I could have sworn it was stated the Ascians can't handle Light well, or at all? How did Emet-Selch even do that in the first place? Bad Writing(tm) \o/)

Silence Is Golden:

In a world where everyone rightfully fears Sin Eaters, a world where Eulmorans had fought them and died to them for decades, where those corrupted by fallen Sin Eaters have to be put to death before turning themselves--how would the mayor of Eulmore even explain his son's "gift"? Explain his son having a second, Sin Eater face in his chest? Explain that he allowed his child to be corrupted by a rando in a cloak, with no input from his wife? How did he keep her silent? Besides Square not bothering to give her dialogue, of course.

(Also, there was at least one other Minifilia in Vauthry's lifetime. The Minis all fought for Eulmore, as per Moren's book. How did they miss the Lightwarden now residing in Mr. Mayor's child? Did Hydaelyn know?)

It's such poor writing on Square's part to have left the disturbing Echo of how Emet-Selch “made” Vauthry as a footnote, and even moreso to have Wrenden claim in the hilariously contradictory patch 5.1 that Vauthry's father was the "good old days" of Eulmore. A man that would agree to let that be done to his own wife and child, a man who vocalized such disregard for his own peoples' lives, that was the good old days, really? The mayor who had "unrest" and detractors "stirring up the citizenry"? THAT mayor?

This is how far the writers were willing to go to dehumanize a fat man who had absolutely no consent or control in his “destiny”. And, speaking of dehumanizing--

--Square couldn't be arsed to treat Vauthry's mother like a character and not a convenient and silent womb, so we have no idea what happened to her. (My money is still on the Obscenity theory.) But since Vauthry only mentioned "Father", it sounds like the mayor raised him alone.

What did Former Mayor do when his son had challenging questions about his father’s plans for him, or when the child balked at the answers given? How did he explain whatever happened to his wife? Just how much did "Father" have to manipulate that child's world to maintain the lies?

It’s strongly implied Former Mayor kept his son in a state of isolation where neither his word nor the Ascians' will could be questioned until the child was thoroughly brainwashed to believe, and there would be no questions then. Whether intended by Square or not, Vauthry does display many signs of an adult who suffered extreme isolation as a child.

An entire childhood, with his likely only trusted source of knowledge and solace being someone who was grooming him for a power grab--and all the while, he can’t escape the presence of a creature inside him that drives mortals mad.

One of “Father’s” directives stands out in particular between the lines during ShB, though we don’t know how it came about originally:

Don’t tell anyone what you really are.

Even though Vauthry was given a good reason “why he was born as man and sin eater both", it still leaves the impression he was born because Sin Eaters are bad, and Vauthry needed to stop them from doing bad things--plus hush, don’t tell, people would find his existence bad if they knew the truth of it. Kids ask questions. Kids wonder. Feeling like an outsider hurts, let alone an outsider made of the same stuff that everyone fears. If Sin Eaters are monsters, then what was he?

The fact Vauthry asked his father why was he born that way in the first place indicates the child instinctively felt there was something wrong.

The in-game dialogues appear to back this up. Although Vauthry's "heritage" was supposed to be this amazing thing, the true nature of it was instead lied about and kept hidden his entire life. Seems unusual for a guy supposedly convinced that he is “perfection”, doesn’t it? The fact that Eulmorans never once referred to Vauthry as "half Sin Eater" or a "God" during twenty years of his rule, the fact he only mentioned it himself before the Warden was about to claim him entirely; all well and good his father obviously invented some lie to placate the masses (“born with miraculous and convenient power” was all it took), but how did maintaining that lie, hiding who he really was, read to Vauthry all those years?

During ShB, he still seemed to keep to the isolation he likely always knew. He never left that room. The citizens came to him when they wanted something, but it was never implied or shown he sought social contact on his own. Nothing was scaled to him, utensils, glasses, plates, etc.--as though he refused to single himself out as different from everyone else.

He called the Lightwarden’s awakening a “trial” to be embraced during Crown Of The Immaculate. Odd that someone supposedly convinced of his godhood would ever think he needed testing--but it makes perfect sense in the context of someone who always felt they needed to prove that they were worthwhile.

He was proud of his power to protect his people, and proud of the paradise he built for them, but he didn’t want Alphinaud to paint a picture of him, he wanted a painting of the city. There were zero paintings or other monuments to himself in Eulmore. Lot of people in the fanbase speak of him being vain, yet he seemed to not want to be seen unless he had to be--almost as though, even toward the end, even through all the bluster, he still read being “half Sin Eater” as wrong.

With that in mind, there didn’t seem to be much evidence to even tell Vauthry he was born because he was wanted. He was born because his ability was needed. If not for his father’s ambition, however sweetly that may have been disguised, then to defend Eulmore against the monsters he was a part of. His ability was needed, not even him specifically--and the Eulmorans, with all their wishes and dreams to be fulfilled, could easily enforce the belief on the child that who he was didn’t matter, what he may want did not matter, only what he could do for others mattered. And what he did for them wouldn’t matter if they knew the truth of him. What a terrible, conditional ”love”. It could explain why he was so cynical about human nature. (Even though his predictions about human nature in the face of a dying world 110% came to pass in the Black Rose timeline. 6_9 gg G’raha)

Yet despite all this, Vauthry needed to be convinced he was doing good for the shattered world. He needed to be convinced what he was doing was right, despite having power enough to not care. If Amaurot was Utopia, then Eulmore reminded me very much of Ursula K. LeGuin’s Omelas--a paradise, at the cost of one child’s eternal suffering.

Food For Thought (and Bad Writing(tm)):

A lot of people have a boner for the cannibalism implications of meol despite the bad math behind it, but fucking meol, how does it work?

Sin eating historically was to cleanse one who has passed on of their earthly sins that they may find peace in the afterlife--this was done in different ways by different people, but one of the best known methods was ritualistically baking the sins of the dead into bread or cakes and consuming it. Yoshi-P has even said he thought of meol as a sweet bread. Quest text from the Unfulfilled Forager in Gate Town further backs up that meol is not meat-based:

(By the way, nothing was keeping this man from hunting a shit-ton of meat that was literally within walking distance.)

It suggests Vauthry could have been taught that by eating the sins of the world, a.k.a. Sin Eaters, a.k.a. meol (which in the Japanese version, was something he was apparently afraid of doing?) --he was saving someone’s soul.

“And for thy peace I pawn my own soul. Amen.”

In reality, there would be a point Mr. Mayor would not know how to feed the Warden forced on his child. Humes don't have a natural method of feeding on "living aether", yet the Warden would not reach its full potency without it. Making meol could either involve an instinctive act on the Warden’s part, or it was taught--and that seems very much beyond his father’s area of expertise, OR Vauthry himself, so I’d almost wonder if the Ascians had a part in it. But like mixing medicine in a favorite food, theoretically, the aether provided by meol would slowly build up. And as the Warden grew in power, it would need more, and more. It would explain that final “powerup” before Mt. Gulg.

Provided Sin Eaters have any living aether left. They never explained that bit. Sin Eaters have no bones, no blood, no meat, nothing but Light. We saw enough of them dissipate into the air, including in cutscenes. Even Tesleen, very recently turned, faded. There is nothing else to them but Light...and there should be nothing left but that “blank perfection”, the Eater would have ate the rest? So where is the “living aether” they require to survive?

Fresh-sliced sneater wing, empty as the plotholes of this arc.

I could buy him turning people into Eaters directly, but then what was the point of the bread?

That’s right folks, meol still doesn't make sense, surprise! Also: so many people in one city allegedly being "disappeared" over twenty years, from a stagnant population, to “feed” everyone every day--yet no panic, not so much as a hushed whisper about it? Eulmore is supposed to be the safest place anywhere -- no idea how it could gain that reputation with that theory. Square wrote Eulmore like it existed in a vacuum, no one knowing no one. The lack of depth is still jarring, three playthroughs later. Only one unreliable narrator of an NPC (Thoarich) even hinted this theory, to boot.

Side note I thought was strange: you never see any of the normal food in Vauthry’s chamber actually eaten, it’s all untouched. I wonder if the Warden somehow eventually affected his ability to tolerate the food a Hume would normally eat.

That said, his “mind control” of the populace was laughably ineffective, so I wonder what even was the point of feeding them meol. Perhaps it was again the Lightwarden instinct to create more of its own kind. Nothing else seems to fit. “Oh no, this Eulmoran is staggering randomly around, muttering about Vauthry! How can we survive this onslaught?” Yyyyeah no, lol. Alphinaud confirmed the Eulmorans were acting of their own free will until that final showdown, so the mind control seemed to be a panic move--I wonder if it was even took conscious effort at that point, or just another instinctive SOS from the Warden. Given his father’s trouble with the smallfolk, I have to wonder if it was Former Mayor’s idea, if there was a real reason behind it. Not a reason that would make good sense, but nothing in this arc does make good sense, so.

The thing is, meol was an optional dish. No one was forced to eat it. So Vauthry must not have been relying on controlling or turning anyone.

But despite the fact meol defies their own game logic, Square really did seem to relish hinting at the dehumanizing, Austin Powers “haha fat guy eats people” trope anyway, and seriously. They could do better than that--I hoped they’d BE better than that. But here we are, the company that is supposed to go so hard against harassment takes an easy target and encourages a very specific negative response to it. This is the reason I believe Eulmore was such an inconsistent arc--they almost entirely depended on Vauthry’s appearance to carry the weak narrative, explaining very lttle of his actual motivations because that would ruin their weak-ass “gotcha” that he was the Lightwarden of Kholusia. Of course he’d be evil, just look at him! Right guys? Look! He’s fat!

Just as they used nothing but thicc’qotes in the trailer to try establishing the evils in Eulmore. Thicc’qotes eating fresh fruit whilst having pleasant conversation is the root of it all in Square’s eye; not a noblewoman who tried to have her maidservant murdered, not the nobleman who pushed his bodyguard over the rails, or even that asshole on the balcony laughing about splitting someone’s head like a melon. No, fatness is the real wickedness. Square was full of shit for this one and it shows when looked at with even a little critical thought. I don’t know what I expected of someone who requested a human “Jabba The Hutt” to be the last-minute midboss, someone who looked at a heavier Lakshmi and said “that’s not cute”, or a jackass who told a cosplayer they needed to lose weight onstage at FanFest 2014.

Even more disappointing? All these questions here, all these inconsistencies? For the majority of the playerbase, “he’s fat” was good enough. The Ascians get a million thoughtful theories. One of their victims? The playerbase thinks he manifested from the womb as you see him in game. They don’t stop to think of what it implied, to be born corrupted and groomed as a tool not only for Ascians, but his own father. They avoid the fact the fandom darling directly violated a woman and child’s bodily autonomy even as they insist on Vauthry taking absolute 100% responsibility for everything he was made specifically to do. And there’s just one difference between him and literally every other villain in this game, aside from the fact he had no choice. Yeah. As much as some players hate to hear it, if Vauthry had swapped models with the fandom darling, we wouldn’t be hearing justifications for mass murder/dictatorships/skeevy noncon. We would definitely be hearing how Vauthry was used, though--and how tragic his story is.

Some players bring up Dulia-Chai as though she somehow counters all the bodyshaming bullshit elsewhere. It doesn’t. She was still in place along with all the other thicc’qotes as Square’s fucked-up shorthand for excess and indolence. I had to learn she kept books for the Stoneworks in optional dialogue. Maybe if she didn’t talk about cakes and such so much, but I mean, that’s what fat people do, right?

So if you’re laughing at fat men, we fat women know you’re actually laughing at us, too. Git gud or stop embarrassing yourselves.

“Tyranny”, aka you keep using that word, I don’t think it means what you think it means:

Whatever the Ascians did to make sure Vauthry’s "Ascension" was a time-release event, the "madness and fury" clearly had taken him when we met him in Shadowbringers. Punishments for those having broken the laws of the city changed from exile into vicious death sentences. Suddenly the God talk, where not even Alphinaud had heard that. It really makes a case that Vauthry was slowly declining into madness the longer he was exposed to the Warden--in fact, Thancred sort of confirms it, during the trailer: “This town certainly has changed, but not at all for the better.” He was only on The First for five years.

Vauthry likely had no introspective dialogues because much of who he actually had been was already gone, and the player is left with his remaining drive to do “good” and “justify your existence” wrapped around the instincts of a Lightwarden.

Yet a lot of things remain that really contradict the "bones of the poor" narrative the writers were trying to push about the city, and many times I felt a real disconnect between what our party was saying and what Eulmore was actually doing. A lot of it implies that, despite the Warden utterly subverting Vauthry as per the hard rules of Tempering, there was benevolence at work, once. The Minstreling Wanderer said that he could not say whether Vauthry was wicked in his youth, and I take this as a sign he was not.

First off, let’s just get this out of the way: The Crystarium also expected you to work for the city in some form if you were expecting to stay there.

”Layabouts”: a people who were the main line of defense against the Sin Eaters for all The First for eighty years, until the futility of it, and all the loss, broke their spirits entirely. Just another sample of how Square intended Eulmore be shown as fat=lazy, despite their own lore--until Square was lazy themselves and didn’t finish the thicc’qote models so Eulmore would be exclusively fat bodies as shown in the trailer.

The narrative often fudged with writer omnipotence regarding the protagonists, pressing to cast Eulmore in a negative light because they’d given up hope, even though loss is so important in excusing the Ascians’ actions. Our party had the WoL, whom they knew not only had a good chance of defeating Lightwardens, but G’raha seemed to know the WoL could contain them. Your average native inhabitant of the First would not be far off the mark feeling hopeless about the world, though, because they didn’t know about these extraordinary circumstances. Most of their oceans were lost in the Flood, and that in itself, realistically, is a death sentence. It’s all well and good G’raha was so perky and hopeful, and all well and good the game contrived a convenient deus ex machina to fix the issue (they never really addressed the issue anyway), but none of the locals could know any of this. I can see why Eulmore would think the Scions were full of shit, because for 80 years after the Flood, Eulmore tried to stop the Sin Eaters and could not. Honestly, I expected more sympathy for the Eulmorans, because they had been the front line for so long and lost so much. But lol fatties amirite?

Now, Square tried to dabble in many other Enlightened Social Commentaries with Eulmore, but immediately contradicted themselves so many times I was constantly asking myself why Alphinaud was being so goddamn extra dramatic. Gate Town/The Derelicts:

Not at Eulmore’s hand, Alphinaud honey, you can’t solo farms or communities. The people who remained behind were borked over by the ones who left. What are you even trying to say here, Square, help me out. Generosity--”largesse”-- is bad? Abandoning what you have, all others be damned, for something you were never given a promise of receiving....good? Sympathetic? Seriously, what is your point here, Square? How does this equal Eulmore being malicious? How does this not make the bulk of Gate Town hopefuls a bunch of dipshits? Wright is in sight from Gate Town, but no one ever thought going there might be better?

If Square meant for Eulmore to seem a prison for the “poor”, they did a shitty job of that, considering: 1) A big point about Gate Town was that the people staying there left viable homes, farms, and communities for a chance at getting in, a chance that was never guaranteed by anyone, and they refused any alternatives Alphinaud offered them, plus

2) No one was keeping anyone from leaving if they wanted to. No guards, no masked vigilantes, no rando singing Hotel California in your ear.

So ruthless a prison, there were not only invisible guards holding you against your will, there was an Amarokeep waiting in the Derelicts to whisk you away for 70 gil so you can pretend to make a daring escape, straight to the freebie Amaro that will take you to The Crystarium. Tell your friends! Tell Alphinaud! He will literally buy anything this expac.

- “Young Kai-Shirr” getting into Eulmore was never a “matter of life or death”, and I can’t tell if that was Alphinaud being pretentious again or the writing was just that bad. Kai-Shirr was offered work at the Crystarium and he refused it, “it has to be Eulmore”. How is that on anyone but him? (Plus why does no one ever question Kai-Shirr’s complete lack of caring for why Alphinaud wanted in, if that was true? Was Kai-Shirr then not dooming Alph to “death” instead when he robbed him? That’s not very cash money of him.)

This isn’t “life or death” either.

Neither is this.

Nnnno.

Considering Stilltide reported they have fish for all, and Wright’s trouble was not enough people, this is not only not “life or death”, but fucking creepy. Hopefully this better illustrates my confusion of what we were being told vs. what we were being shown in Gate Town/The Derelicts. d( ᐖ )

- The citizens In Gate Town/The Derelicts were not at the mercy of a "contest" to be let in. It was shown to be literally a help wanted board with jesters, and the “contest” was “do you have this certain skill someone is looking to hire”. I guess the Crystarium will hire a fishmonger to do the work of a chirurgeon or something?

The jongleurs were otherwise just "rule of cool", I guess--although the significant look the Red gave us, followed soon after by Emet-Selch’s lurking outside the Offer, made me wonder if they were not acting as monitors on Vauthry for the Ascians.

- There was at least one person in the Derelicts from the Crystarium, looking to make a quick gil on the extravagant “refuse” of the city, and several locals were doing the same. I guess those “layabouts” inside the city had their uses after all, Katliss.

- Meol was not the only food given to those outside the city. Produce and such that was not “pretty” enough for the fussy free citizenry was distributed to those camping the outskirts.

I’d have expected a “tyrant” to let that produce rot. Catty in Stilltide confirmed there was enough fish for everyone living there, and Zia-Bostt above seems to back that up. Game in the field was also aplenty even in terms of map mechanics--this was not some form of forced famine to hold the smallfolk in a state of dependence. Eulmore was still paying the villages for produce.

So much for the exploitation of big, bad Eulmore!

Again, Alphinaud himself bemoaned how the people were there of their own choice, and how they refused any and all alternatives he presented them with. The people in Gate Town wanted to wait for Eulmore, they left their own homes and farms freely for Eulmore, screwing over their neighbors in the process--and that is not Vauthry’s fault, that is on them?

Hurricane Florence left my husband and I homeless a while. You do not fucking pass up sure shelter and work and food to wait instead for a nebulous chance at Hollywood or Las Vegas--and if you do, that’s all your own tomfoolery, that’s not “injustice”, no BONES OF THE POOR required. It’s common sense, Square, goddamn lol

The Free Citizenry:

- The rich would not be permitted into the city if they did not give up their wealth for the benefit of all living there. This was a condition for the rich only. There is zero indication those funds were being put into Vauthry's pocket; it ran the city, and both free and bonded enjoyed the results (there seemed far more bonded residents in Eulmore than free, to boot.). There's a policy that would never fly in at least two allied citystates, lol.

It raises the question, if Wrenden and Former Mayor were so damn equitable, how were there even rich to begin with? There’s an old noble in Vauthry’s Eulmore who apparently does not know how to tie his shoes without a servant--a.k.a., the idle rich existed before Vauthry even came into power. The dialogue of Vauthry’s father also made it seem that these were systems in place long before he his son was even born -- except Vauthry’s system did not allow their hoarding of wealth, and distributed it instead to the benefit of everyone in the city. It was also a system that was so satisfactory, both free and bonded citizens became loudly dissatisfied after he was gone.

- The rich were the only ones guaranteed “Ascension”, and if you want to call that a perk I’m going to assume it’s because the entire system relied on their dosh--technically, they already did their “work” for the city. (”Buying a stairway to Heaven”, as it were.) So much for those "bones of the poor", Alph. Statistically, if bones built Eulmore, it was the bones of the rich.

Until Gaia, Ascension was only mentioned twice, but again, no real context was given. (jfc Square, we shouldn't have to buy an overpriced lorebook for this.) First time was the Weeping Warbler chain. Going by the quest dialogue, it sounded very much like something offered as mercy to terminal illness or otherwise impending death, as the Warbler's creepy patron lamented how he almost wished he could hasten his own to join her (btw, the right answer to that poor girl's fear that she'd be a burden more than a treasure was "YOU ARE MORE THAN YOUR VOICE”, asshole. >:| ). Players at the time were legit “oh that poor old man, she’s like his daughter :CCCCC” Ahahaha oh my sweet summer children

Either way, "Ascension” was definitely implied to be entirely voluntary. It was implied there were even rules and conditions to be granted it. And Vauthry did not seem to push anyone towards the idea, it was just there. (If it was for terminal illness, though, consider the following: Thoarich seemed confident the Warbler would live, but may lose her voice. If you have to be terminal to be Ascended, ironically Vauthry may have refused her patron's request.) The second mention was from Vauthry himself, for his “trial” when the Lightwarden awakened--so he certainly, tragically, believed what he claimed it was. The Bonded Residents:

- Even at his worst, there is no indication that the free citizens were encouraged by Vauthry to abuse their workers; in fact, the Amiable Maiden and her Ardent Attendant implied heavily that appreciation and respect for one's bonded was the ideal that was pushed by Eulmore, that "love for one's fellow man".

At no time were the bonded residents “slaves” (a new accusation from Twitter). They were “bonded” to the patrons who hired them by a work contract, and they sought those jobs willingly. No one kept them from leaving Gate Town, only kept them from getting in without a work arrangement--again, a prerequisite the Crystarium also had according to Katliss. The bonded residents were paid, and apparently paid well.

As the WoL, we were also bonded to the Chais, and were able to come and go later. It was like the writers knew they needed to sit the fence so the free citizens would be redeemable enough to help with the immersion-breaking giant Talos plot later, and so never pushed Eulmore to the evils they talked about but never showed--leaving behind the most disconnected, self-sabotaging arc I’ve ever seen from this MMO.

An evil slaveowner at work.

Alphinaud rewarded for being an agreeable yet melodramatic young boy.

- The bonded we met who fled Eulmore had fled their patrons, not Vauthry himself--even the Warbler thought Vauthry a “great man”. No one in Eulmore feared him.

- Tristol’s “grave sin” to be patronless and penniless was contradicted by Fathana, whose patron had died some time ago, and yet she remained in the city without one to help new workers--because her patron had been so kind to her. The clerk whom you first speak to upon entering Eulmore even says that if you are “fired” or otherwise lose your patronage, you can try to find another patron to remain in the city or work as a general laborer like Fathana until, presumably, you do find another patron. Or maybe you don’t even need a patron, and you are allowed to stay as your own boss at that point, she certainly was.

Since the Chais helped us leave the city, I’m not at all sure why they didn’t do the same for Tristol, especially if Vauthry’s violence was a well-known thing. It’s almost like violence from Vauthry wasn’t expected, and they’d never think that would happen. I mean, some recent time ago, Vauthry only exiled thieves from Eulmore.

(Hell, Square may have even fudged Tristol’s punishment, implying Vauthry had ordered him tossed off the balustrade of The Offer. Vauthry’s balcony appears to be the one directly above The Path To Glory, right above the gates into Eulmore. There doesn’t seem to be ocean nearby at any realistic distance or angle from that balcony. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

- Laws that we saw in effect were for the benefit of patrons and bonded citizens alike. There was nothing to suggest those laws were unreasonable, either. The punishment became fuck no unreasonable (though as I pointed out earlier, the punishments seemed to ramp up in violence the longer the warden was part of him, from exile to a literal pound of flesh, much like Titania went from a benevolent ruler to Jumpscare Prime). But fraud being a crime is sort of expected anywhere, and creeps at the Beehive should not touch dancers unless dancers consent, lest they get the bouncer. ( another strangely thoughtful law for a “tyrant”. )

- The bonded residents inside seemed much happier with their lot than Alphinaud’s dramatic assessment, which was also confusing as hell.

- Entire families were allowed to enter if one member was hired. Alphinaud was able to drag us along with a minimum of fuss as his “assistant”. Vauthry’s definition of how one “gives” to Eulmore was not based solely on traditional work.

- Bonded residents were not afraid at all to speak of bending rules for perfect strangers when offering drinks to us, so Vauthry wasn't out prowling for blood 24/7 like an Inquisitor trying to fill their heretic quota. Not only was Dulia-Chai not afraid to go calm him down at the height of his rage, Chai-Nuzz didn't freak out at the idea she'd do it. Nuzz. Wasn’t nervous. Yeah, let that one sink in 9_6

The only time Vauthry acted seemed to be when an issue was brought forward directly to him. Otherwise, it seemed like standard Lightwarden behavior: stasis, until presented with a real and immediate threat to itself, which in Vauthry’s case was a threat to the order of his city, or the ones killing Lightwardens.

For allegedly being aggressive against Kholusia's neighbors, Vauthry seemed to have taken the Crystarium's refusal of his offer to lead them back in the day really well, as in, he did jack shit in retaliation and accepted it. In fact, he was so warlike, Emet-Selch was surprised Vauthry would move that army, even for a very clear threat against fulfilling the false destiny Emet-Selch forced on him.

While on the subject of aggression, the people in Amity have dialogue indicating they feared Vauthry would send the army after them--which he obviously never did, in all 20 years of his reign.

- “No one leaves” except hey whoa there hi, Lue-Reeq, who comes and goes as he pleases. Plus that bonded resident who came to Wright looking for ale. Plus us, also bonded residents, because Dulia-Chai once again had nothing to fear from Vauthry.

Also anyone who was exiled previously. For supposedly wanting to keep people inside Eulmore, Vauthry sure was terrible at doing it lmao

GCBTW: I'd really love to see Square and Alphinaud be similarly vocal and insistent with the actual horrors our own Allied city-states commit without the corruption of a Lightwarden in play. The selective outrage/pearl-clutching is really immersion-breaking.

Ishgard: “Highborn” genuinely exploiting the “lowborn” every other sidequest to this day. Genocide of the Au Ra. At least two FATEs, one job quest, one lorebook entry, and one dungeon indicate Ishgard has fucking disgusting levels of rape carried out by figures of authority. Rent is being charged for people from the Brume--the homeless, destitute people in the Brume--to live in the Firmament, but they can arrange payment plans! And this was all talked about while one of them was shivering in the cold nearby. What, can't the highborn be arsed to share what they have? Eulmore is the height of wickedness because they couldn't cram an island full of people into one tower, but Ishgard's our pal even though they can't manage to make space in their mansions for one small area of one city. My God, Vauthry had FOOD in his chamber, shame!--but that's okay, Aymeric, you rock that extravagant dinner spread in the dating sim cutscene. Maybe the Brume can fight over the Ishgardian Muffin crumbs.

(Yes, I know, Vauthry had more food than that in his chamber. He’s also approaching fifteen-plus feet tall. Proportionally, the food in his chamber would be the equivalent of you or me living on cocktail peanuts and thimbles of water. Once more, Square was so fixated on fatphobia they didn’t do the fucking math.)

Doma: “Hey yeah look guys I know child trafficking is bad but let’s just smile and nod at this guy who did it to Yotsuyu and give him a different post, okay? Okay. Remember to be polite. We will never speak of this again.”

“Let me laugh about your beliefs and call them bullshit while I angle you into a war that isn’t even yours, Xaela tribes.” Gridania: Lets people straight up die if the “elements” tell them it’s okay. Exiling a child for stealing a bag of flower seeds is normal and totally not at all fucked up. Open and accepted racism against the Duskwights with no sign of Kan-E-Senna saying fucking stop that shit.

Ul’dah: Human trafficking. Child trafficking. Human lab rats. Using prisoners for blood sports. The Syndicate living it up in finery, giving exactly nothing to people living in the streets. Notoriously corrupt Brass Blades. More implications of fucking disgusting levels of rape. Turning away the Doman refugees when they literally had nowhere else to go and nothing left. We smiled and nodded when Godbert said people mustn’t be given charity, they must work for their own good.

Limsa Lominsa: Fucks over the “beast tribes” at every opportunity, then complains they summon Primals.

But remember, folks, it was Vauthry’s Eulmore that was the real evil we had to desperately move against. Not the newer, capitalist Eulmore that didn’t feed two guys from Wright because they couldn’t afford it, shoosh those “bones of the poor” don’t count. The writers tried to retcon a lot in 5.1, it seemed--suddenly, it was implied people were forced to leave villages, conscripted, etc. Except the people were still there to tell us otherwise in 5.0, and there was still no sign of any Eulmoran forces keeping them in Gate Town. We went from Alphinaud demanding the free citizens take responsibility for what they’d done in Eulmore to posthumously blaming Vauthry’s “bad influence” for everything up to and including a noblewoman’s attempted murder of her maidservant, because the noblewoman’s husband was creeping on the girl.

Which leads us to another of my biggest peeves--all the while, despite “the truth” being so important when it came to Emet-Selch, the sins of Vauthry’s father and the suffering his wife and child endured because of Emet-Selch’s direct hand are left unspoken. We smile and nod silently to Eulmorans and then offer them up Vauthry and his “bad influence” as an excuse for their own misdeeds. I’ve never felt less a “hero” in this game as I did then. Yet Emet-Selch, who committed this atrocity on a child, was called a HERO because fandom darling, while the child is vilified and thoroughly dehumanized.

It’s really telling how much blind condemnation the fanbase dealt to Vauthry for reasons that were completely inaccurate, while the fandom darling of this expansion was 100% the founder of not one, but two civilizations based on domination, the most recent being a nation whose canon creed is "No lands must remain beyond our grasp. Go forth. Conquer. Rule.", a nation whose people have a habit of calling all the “lesser races” they conscript “savages”. Fandom Darling was also hype af for Black Rose and called it worthy of his bloodline! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

It’s really telling that the fanbase will randomly accuse Vauthry of being a sexual predator with Sin Eaters based on exactly zero evidence (but a lot of projection on their part), while the fandom darling 100% canonly used the actual Solus zos Galvus’ enthralled body to sire a child with Galvus’ unwitting wife, and going by the dialogue--

--he’s done that before. No wonder consent was no big deal when he made that offer to Former Mayor. But this was played for sympathy because fandom darling and what do you know, the fandom bought it.

Square “both sided” actual authoritarian characters--actual colonizers, actual mass murderers of entire worlds, actual skeevy-ass characters who don’t care about consent because “not really alive”--called it “heroic”, even (the latter was called “moral relativism”, and it’s genuinely unnerving how many players pushed that as absolution or relatable)--but throughout the course of the main expansion and two subsequent patches,Square went all-in that the fat guy who had his agency and sanity stolen from him in utero to be used as a tool of destruction was the real tyrant. We the player were encouraged to buddy up with E-S while we were never once given the option to wonder if something was terribly amiss with Vauthry, if he may need help. They didn’t even spare us a “jfc that poor man, the Eaters got to him” when he blindly twisted his neck 180 to neither see nor hear us. He was still “evil” because reasons, a.k.a., he was fat.

TL;DR, the playerbase:

I remain unconvinced the Ancients were not clever enough to suspect summoning the “Will Of The Star” may have an effect on their own wills, as their wishes for Zodiark carried an unspoken need for the Elder Primal to be granted control to achieve its end. Emet-Selch stated that Tempering was to be “expected”, even “natural”, though his appearance towards the end of 5.3 seems to contradict Tempering: has there ever been another instance that a Tempered being was able to act directly against the best interests of the primal that holds them in thrall? Elidibus sure couldn’t.

Disclaimer: I actually have no issue with liking the Ascians, be it shipping, writing, art, porn mods, whatever. But if you come into my yard with nothing but shit talk for Vauthry on reblogs of my art, yet have all the praise for the one who made him, you’re going to hear in my personal space about why you’re a hypocrite. Often. With receipts.

The End.

First off, it’s popular in the fandom to say the Lightwarden was Vauthry’s real body because it’s just so damn inconvenient to the dating sim mentality that the fat guy was the default. Thing is:

That is Innocence’s head and its wings inside Vauthry’s split-open back during the pre-phase two “transformation”. Between that and the second face that appeared to cave in most of Vauthry’s chest (on the heart side, interestingly enough), the face whose eyes opened and glowed upon the Warden’s “awakening”:

It doesn’t look at all like it was a “transformation”. It looks like the Lightwarden emerged and absorbed what was left of its host’s physical form while still retaining Vauthry’s broken mind. (Notice the nose, much longer than Vauthry’s actual nose, eye spacing, the bit of smile. That second face was the Warden.)

Before his death, Vauthry did not say "well dang, the Ascians promised I would be all-powerful so I could be evil! Curse them for cheating me!"

He said "Father told me...that I am hope. That I am righteousness. That I am...a god... That is why I was born...as man and sin eater both...I kept the people safe!"

Those lines make no sense if Vauthry interpreted Father’s manipulations as "haha I'm a spoiled evil brat I can do what I want". A spoiled evil brat wouldn't need to be convinced what they were doing was GOOD, would they? Why would that even have been a thing, wouldn't they just not care? He had the power to not give a shit. Instead, he would see his peoples’ “dreams fulfilled, their wishes granted.” EDIT - Canon as of 5.3 appears to support this analysis! \o/

Spoken at the end by G’raha Tia on the subject of enduring hope, and additionally supported by the Minstreling Wander, who told us in the Immaculate EX unlock he could not say if Vauthry was wicked in his youth. ”Vindicate his existence”. Vauthry was never in this for the evil selfish lulz. He believed he needed to prove the “half Sin Eater” heritage forced on him did not make him a monster, that it was good, that he was good, and he did it by doing everything he was gaslighted to believe was good by his father--until the Warden finally broke him entirely. To the people who debated so strongly he was just evil because reasons, or refused to hold other characters to the same standards of damnation they set for him because reasons, hope your shoe tastes good. Your reasons were always really clear, btw.

This remains the story of a child who needed a hero that never came, and players choose to discard it, like the free citizens snub produce, because Vauthry isn’t pretty enough for them. A fat character’s stolen life simply isn’t worth the effort of contemplation because the one who made him makes players horny on main.

What happened to this character, with just the little information the game gave us, was straight-up abuse. Yet too many in the fanbase thought no further than juvenile fat jokes (so cool) or unquestioning contempt for a character who was clearly in a state of mental breakdown (unless it was the fandom darling, he’s allowed, even if it destroys worlds) --while Square readily had their characters ace detective enough to detect his weight, but not his unnatural height, his pointed ears, his fogged over eyes, his bendy-straw neck, his second freaking face. Oh, and he can control Sin Eaters. Wait, you mean the Lightwarden was in him the whole time!? Seems legit gais, what an unexpected turn of events!

ᐠ( ᐛ )ᐟ

#FFXIV #long post #Vauthry #character analysis #Lord Vauthry #Eulmore #Shadowbringers

175 notes · View notes

pleasantwizardphilosopher · 3 years ago

Text

This is the third chapter of my current fic, please let me know your thoughts!!

The news are going insane, who is this anonymous hero? People cannot even decide on her features, some say she has brown hair, some say she’s blonde, others claim she’s redheaded (?). Not even those who were in the attacked building, which was afterwards closed by the FBI for further investigation; could give any more information aside than the fact that she was a woman, mid-twenties (or was it thirties?), with similar powers to those displayed by Superman, no one saw her face up close though, to preoccupied with surviving and helping others.

One bold reporter, who was also in said building, decided to give her a name, and so, not even twelve hours after that tragic event that almost took 120 people’s lives, “Supergirl” was everything the news outlets were talking about. Blowing off in a futile desperate attempt to find out whether she was another Kryptonian or a super-powered alien from a different planet, under the knowledge that Earth, and particularly National City, is the home of several misplaced aliens from throughout the galaxy. There were lots of testimonies from people who supposedly saw her that night, saying Rao knows what, and others who actually got to see her in action, those being a little more reserved on their testimonies, making thigs a lot more confusing.

Kara squeaks in excitement for the nth time this day, she cannot even focus on the task at hand as she molders a few wires together, the grounding smell of melted tin and burnt plastic filling the room; swaying her hips enthusiastically to the upbeat pop music playing loudly in her lab, giving a few tiny jumps of excitement every now and then. The always-present humming of several industrial-level refrigerators and a constant typing and beeping coming from the room above along with the music drown the noises of the city, a few miles away. She is in a towering scary-looking warehouse, one that she and Winn bought together in order to make it the official Zor-El Technologies headquarters, there are three floors, mostly empty since it’s only the two of them and Roland, the janitor who comes in once a week to clean every preposterous failed experiment and organize a little, always handling their devices carefully; it has a basement, where they keep their new inventions and innovations locked down in a vault, the ground floor where they keep most of their tools and utensils, where Kara is currently working in her own projects, the first floor, where Winn has his state-of-the-art, kind of futuristic-looking super computer console and the third one, which is empty. The warehouse is provided with huge floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing sunlight to stream freely all day long, much to Kara’s delight, and being this the factor that tipped the scales when deciding where to buy, at least for her.

She is so enraptured in her own gleefulness that she doesn’t hear Winn come in (probably to consult something with her about his current software design), and everything seems to move in slow motion, for Kara it really does. She is singing the chorus at the top of her lungs while remembering how good it felt to save so many people, and so she twirls giving a small jump, but instead of landing on her feet immediately, she hovers a few inches above the floor, and is at that exact moment when Winn bursts through the door, literally catching the woman mid-air.

They stare at each other in silence for a few minutes, Kara still hovering above the floor, not even breathing, afraid to scare her closest friend (Alex doesn’t count). Winn just stares blankly at her, jaw dropping in a way that would be comic haven’t he caught his best friend fucking flying. Kara lands softly and quietly moves forward to where Winn is still standing jaw-slacked, and she carefully places a warm comforting hand on his shoulder, trying to measure his reaction. But when she looks into his eyes all she sees is glee and curiosity, maybe even a hint of smugness. They break into a fit of laughter, Winn laughing so hard for not catching the clues that tears prickle his eyes. And Kara is filled with warmth and familial love for this man who has become so much to her. After all, they have been together since high school, which is quite some time to get to know someone.

After that, Winn is the best partner in…law enforcement (?). The computer geek is the best ally she could’ve asked for and the most supportive friend ever. He designs a suit for her, one that bears her House crest, because even after all her parents did, she can still proudly display the Zor-El name and family crest and help people, maybe even work to make up for their crimes and mistakes; and the characteristic red and blue that her cousin also sports, the red skirt was definitely a no go (Rao no), instead, she goes for pants and knee-high red boots, with a golden trimmed belt at her waist. Starting off as a superhero proved to be way harder than she had expected.

The first time she goes out to stop a bank robbery, she collides like a missile with the vault’s doors (Shoot!), ripping them from their hinges. The second time she tries to stop a fire, she mistakenly freezes the whole block’s heating pipes (Rao!). However, she never gives up and after a very heated conversation with Alex, she manages to convince her to let her help, to be the beacon of hope she was always meant to be and to protect Earth and its citizens, human and aliens alike. Alex throws a chair, or two, towards the wall in frustration, unable to convince Kara to stop this nonsense and stop risking her life (the irony Special Agent Danvers). And then, hazel eyes lock with ocean blue ones Kara sees fear in brown eyes, and she understands, she really does, but Alex cannot ask her to keep such important part of herself hidden anymore, not when she could be out there, helping, she is a super-powered Kryptonian after all. The certainty and compassion the agent sees in cerulean blue eyes isn’t something she’ll ever stand in the way of. Kara is her sister after all, and even though she fears for her, she’ll always be by her side, supporting her. This starts a new facet into their relationship, as Alex becomes part of her Super-task force (rename pending), being an FBI agent, she has access to a lot of information and having the Girl of Steel by their side, several agents’ lives could be spared.

After more than a year of fighting crime, human and aliens equally (she’ll never understand why aliens attack the species whose planet is giving them refuge), she has come to a certain balance between the cheery, sweet looking and clumsy Kara Danvers and her alter-ego, strong-looking and inspiring, Supergirl, taking more distance from projects at Zor-El Technologies and dedicating more and more time to saving people and helping wherever she can. It isn’t as fulfilling as she thought it’d be, it’s almost empty the way she has come to have to decide between helping people one way or another. She does love science after all and helping the little citizen as well.

She sighs. She has been getting less and less time in her beloved lab and it’s finally taking a toll on her cheery attitude and sunny personality. Grumbling a little she keeps reading the opinion column in the newspaper she’s holding “Brilliant, gorgeous and…sociopath? The last of the Luthors” the title reads, is an extremely extensive, and horribly written piece, she must say, about Lena Luthor and how “aside from appearances she’s just as insane as the rest of her twisted family”; the piece is so biased that the Kryptonian is not sure how someone was allowed to publish that, and is extremely long, taking almost three whole pages. She hasn’t meet the raven-haired genius in person and hasn’t actually bothered to look her up, it feels like a huge invasion to her thin and almost non-existent, privacy; she knows what the general public does, she doesn’t live under a rock for Rao’s sake, her brother went insane and as such she had to take over the company, now renamed L-Corp, and has been working restlessly to drift it away from weapons manufacturing and turning it into a force for good with science and engineering, very similar, in a way, to what Zor-El Technologies aims for. She is so mad at whoever wrote this …crap, that she entirely misses the small sidenote that reads “Third alien assassination this week, hate or patriotism?”.

It’s just the beginning of August, she’s perched in a bench right in front of National City’s Central Park, next to a cafeteria that she absolutely loves, the wind is blowing softly and is quite chilly, announcing the upcoming winter, claiming it to be freezing cold. The sky is cloudy, grey clouds filling it with very little sunrays being filtered through them; there are huge mountains of orange and brown-ish leaves scattered across the sidewalk, some kids are playing with them, throwing them at each other and breaking into fits of giggles, the street is filled with their laughs, the soft smell of recently baked bread, upcoming rain, and hot coffee. The trees are almost bare now and make low whistling noises when the wind rushes through them, shaking violently whatever leaves they have left to the ground and lifting the ones that have already fallen into spirals in the air. Kara is tucked into a fluffy light brown sweater and ripped jeans, glasses perched on her nose and hair up in a tight ponytail as she keeps skimming through the article. Her heart breaks every single time she encounters pieces like this one about the green-eyed genius, it’s absolutely unfair judging someone based on their family’s crimes instead of measuring them on their own merits, that’s what she believes in after all, what she was taught those many years ago in her home world, and after following up-close every article the Irish woman has written for scientific Journals, she’s fairly certain that the Luthor is nowhere near to how the papers and the press paint her to be, she’d have to meet her to be sure but there is no doubt in her mind about it.

She stands to leave, folding the latest version of the Daily Planet and tucking it into one of her jeans back pockets, just then a strong gush of wind comes from apparently nowhere and ruffles her hair in her face and almost blowing the paper from her hand, making her stop to put everything back into place. While taking her hair and awoken leaves out of her face, as if drawn to a magnet her eyes fixate on someone standing just by the main entrance of the park, across the street from her. She is a little shorter than herself, she guesses, is wearing sleek black boots, tight black jeans, and a very soft-looking red sweater under a leather jacket, the woman’s hair is jet black and falls in soft waves over her shoulders. Her lungs seem to forget how to work as she just stands there, jaw-slaked staring at the woman, she’s too far away from Kara for her to make out her factions precisely but she’s certain that the woman is gorgeous. Her body feels heavy and slacked as if something was pinning her into her spot, or most accurately someone, the blonde woman across the street to be precise, Lena doesn’t know what’s come over her, but she’s certain that whomever that may be, she wants to get to know her, there is just something in her posture that pulls her in, as if the woman emanated warmth that Lena feels drawn to like a moth to a flame, furthermore, she is like a ray of sunshine, with her soft-looking, blond mane, her outfit screams soft, and it hits something deep within the CEO.

They don’t know how long they stay there, fixatedly staring at each other, the world seemingly vanishes, brown and orange leaves floating throughout the space between them, neither seems to be able to breathe or even blink. Lena is too scared someone might have recognized her to move a single muscle, at least that’s what she tells herself, but is actually the soft, tender, pull to her heart that keeps her there, feeling like the permanent hole in her heart has finally been filled, she’s certain that the blonde can feel it as well. Kara has never felt like this in her whole life, she had even started to believe that she wasn’t capable of such feelings, having heard every cheesy pop song about love at first sight it had seemed quite ridiculous to be honest, but she’d be lying to herself if she said that she doesn’t feel absurdly drawn to the woman. Out of nowhere, a car rushes past, lifting curtains of leaves in its wake, while passing near the blonde a ball comes rolling into the road from a pile of leaves, where the kids were still playing and right behind it, a young boy no older than 6, just jumping in the way of the car; between the leaves the driver mustn’t have seen him since they don’t stop; fortunately Kara is just a few paces away and manages to grab the child by his armpits and lift him, pulling him out of the way and back to safety. When she turns around to look at the woman again, she is no longer there, vanished between orange streaks, it all feels cold and empty now for the Kryptonian, the same way one feels after waking from a beautiful dream.

Kara shakes her head, what was she thinking? With a light giggle and after receiving several ‘thank you’ from the child’s mother, she turns around to leave, only to almost run over Nia and Brainy, her boyfriend, who, miraculously, had apparently just materialized behind her. She and Winn met Brainy at a trade fair, about six months ago; he had approached their stand and started asking questions, very precise and specific ones, the ones that only someone with wide knowledge of the subject would be able to do; and making suggestions here and there, Winn following suit to add his own input to the conversation. Brainy was a Computer Engineer with a double degree in Electronics, and his mind rivaled Winn’s, he even challenged him, that’s how he was added to the team. He and Winn became a whole new department in Zor-El Technologies. They designed software, firewalls and other products meant to protect devices from outside infiltration and whenever Kara worked on a techier device, they'd provide its software and failsafe; he sometimes worked on side projects mostly theorizing and experimenting with chemical compounds. It worked out like a charm, they complemented each other like a well-oiled machine, allowing both computer geeks to spend more time in their own computer and AI innovations and inventions rather than just supporting Kara with other projects more engineering-like.

Later on, he introduced them to Nia, an Actuarial Science undergrad, who decidedly loved their work, having read thoroughly about their previous projects and future launches; and joined to take care of Zor-El Tech. finances, because honestly, although Kara and Winn where great minds, finances weren’t their strongest suit, pun intended. The whole thing contributing to Kara being able to take on a lower workload, allowing her to spend more time saving people and having to worry less about small perks of the business, without raising suspicious. Around three months ago, however, Kara realized that Nia had powers, after falling asleep at work and having woken up startled and stammering something about an imminent threat to a Kryptonian, a week later, Lex had stroke, declaring war on Superman and turned the sky red to try and take him down with a Lexosuit of his own design, trapping her sister in the cross-fire. After that, the whole team decided to leave secrets aside and the four of them started fighting crime together, with Nia and Kara on the field and Winn and Brainy being their eyes and ears, both of them brilliant strategists.

Nia is looking at her with a knowing smile, as if she had been witness to the staring contest between the Kryptonian and the unknown woman, she truly hopped she hadn’t, fortunately for her Brainy was as oblivious as always and so she decided to start a conversation with him. It was easy talking to Brainy; he didn’t have many issues with emotions, he did, well, he kind of just didn’t understand them and hence didn’t know what to do about them; Kara’s mind is barely into the conversation as her thoughts keep drifting to the beautiful woman who had managed to make her feel dizzy and giddy without even being within reach, without Kara actually being able to get her face and figure entirely, damn lead-lined glasses. She hopes their paths cross once more, although she is not certain how that is going to happen when she didn’t even get to see her face. She lets out a soft groan of frustration. Kara has been feeling particularly irritable recently, since she hadn’t really had time to work on her projects, and after this quite frustrating encounter she is at the brink of blowing up.

She hates the feeling, so, as soon as they hit Zor-El headquarters she heads to her journal, the one she keeps on the bottom drawer of her lab’s desk, she is always filling it with unfinished or half-baked ideas, scrolling through it, deciphering her doodles and notes, analyzing every idea she has ever written in it. She has made up her mind, she is going to do something big, one of her greatest projects so far, she knows Zor-El has kept launching projects, but she hasn’t really been involved in them, or truly invested, having to save the world, every now and then. This would be her project, something for her to focus on entirely, to take the most advantage or her brain and to challenge herself, she knows the others would understand and give her space.

The Girl of Steels slams her journal in her lab table with a little triumphant ‘aha!’ immediately wincing after seeing how the stainless-steel table bended underneath her strength. She should definitely get nth metal benches from now on, note to self. The journal is open on a page that talks about solar panels, it’s an idea that has been nagging her for some months now, it makes a lot of sense, her own cells are super-charged batteries, if she could figure out exactly the way they metabolize solar radiation into energy, those solar panels would be the best ones on the market. That is, assuming she can build the circuitry, she is well-versed on engineering, but this is way out of her league, the solar cells culture would be the easy part, she already has well-cemented physics and alien biology knowledge to do so, even without actually growing some of her own cells (she can ask Alex to take a tissue sample to analyze); and the hardest would be the software, she could totally ask Winn and Brainy’s help for it, but the circuitry, neither of them could build it from scratch, or maybe they could, but it would require a lot more time and money that the one they currently have for out-of-the-blue prototypes; and taking a pre-designed one from the currently available on the market wouldn’t be powerful enough for mechanism.

She starts biting her nail and pacing around her lab. There must be a way for her to manage this, not only would it be an amazing project for the company to make it into the front pages, but it would also greatly improve the lives of millions, especially those in sun-filled countries, such as African countries and Central America countries. She feels like this is an old problem and the solution is just there at the back of her mind, but refusing to be caught, then, out of nowhere, she gets it, it’s so clear know that she can literally watch a light bulb light in her head. Lena Luthor, the heiress to the Luthor empire has a whole department dedicated to sustainable energies, moreover, they are currently working on improved solar panels and renewable energies, this could totally work, a partnership with a high-standard company such as L-Corp would prove to be good for the development of Zor-El Technologies and if this project ended appropriately, L-Corp would also benefit from it.

One thing she knows for sure: she needs a good proposal, excellent in fact, so she throws herself on the nearest chair and starts typing her proposal into a document, she is using her superspeed leading her to finish it soon enough, deciding to take some time to go grab a doughnut, giving her computer time to buffer and finish the ordeal, Winn would definitely call this a “computer onslaught”. While she’s munching on her chocolate and strawberry sprinkles doughnut a thought crosses her mind, it would be a good idea to notify the whole crew, the Superfriends as Winn call themselves. Once gathered she gives a very inspiring pep-talk about how this project is going to bring Zor-El Technologies into the spotlight for good, and maybe even keep them there, she wants to do this for herself, almost entirely, she won’t ever refuse help as she was taught that they were stronger together, but she wanted to do most of the work herself, having being deprived of working on scientific projects for so long, she needed this. Hence, they agree on supporting her, taking off her back as much Supergirl duties as possible, Dreamer, Nia to friends, would take her place on the street and she’d only be called if the emergency needed her particular set of abilities, aka brute force and invulnerability. They also agree on providing the Kryptonian with moral support, advice and food, yesss food!, and everything seems to be set. Now only the hard part is missing, arrange a meeting with L-Corp to present her idea.

That’s when it hits her, she has to present her idea at L-Corp (!!) which means, she has to talk directly to the CEO aka the one and only Lena Luthor *full blown panic. It has to be spotless; she know for sure that the woman will be attracted to the idea, however, she hasn’t really met her and is not entirely sure how stern or demanding she may be. Sitting again in front of her computer, the blonde starts proofreading her proposal, adding a few details here and there, like the fact that the panels are going to be improved by platinum oxide nanoparticles, maybe a core-shell with iridium, she’s not entirely sure about that last part, she has to do some research to see which nanoparticles oscillate most under solar radiation; and that step of the project is going to lay entirely on her court, since she’s going to base her whole research on the way her cells work and that’s definitely something private, secret even.

The youngest Danvers is sitting outside the office of The Lena Luthor, her leg keeps bouncing unstoppably, as her nerves are quite taking the best of her, she shouldn’t be nervous, this isn’t the first time they are turning towards a bigger company for sponsorship, nor the first time she has been face-to-face with an important person, but there is something different about asking for sponsorship directly to the head of one of the biggest consortiums of the country, who also happens to be the sister of a maniac who tried to kill your cousin and who also is the woman whose career you have been following closely for five years, glup. When the double doors open and her assistant, Jess, signals her to get in, she is not at all sure what to expect, partly because of her nerves, she is going in auto-drive, and partly because, coming to think of it, she has never actually heard anything about the raven-genius from someone who has directly dealt with her and it’s kind of worrying. She is not sure whether to expect a cold-blooded, cocky-demeanor and over-the-top CEO or a kind, friendly, but straight-forward one.

When she finally gets over herself and manages to drag her feet into the office, she almost drops herself to the floor. The first thing she notices is the pristine-white decoration that prevails in the office, the floor-to-ceiling windows give it a very open-space, clean appearance. The second thing she notices is the smell, it smells like coffee, expensive perfume and …scotch (?). The third thing, and the one almost sends the Girl of Steel barreling out of the office is the CEO, Kara is absolutely not expecting, nor ready for, a stunning, raven-haired, Irish beauty that she has seen previously, more specifically, a month ago, outside National City’s Central Park, she freezes. What Kara doesn’t know is that Lena isn’t expecting her either, the blonde woman who stole her breath a month ago, the CEO is not used to feeling giddy, like she is now, she finds herself blushing slightly and feeling a little silly, what are you Luthor a love-struck teenager? Pull yourself together! The idea just randomly pops into her head and makes her blush a little harder, she certainly feels like one, surrounded by the scent of vanilla and flowers that irradiates from the other woman, seeping into her like the soft warmness of hot cocoa during a cold snowy winter. She is beautiful, with those cerulean bright blue eyes, and sun-kissed skin, the navy-blue tailored suit and light blue button up definitely fits her. In her eyes, she can see, and feel, her kindness, she is certain that this woman has the biggest heart she has ever encountered, blue, like the ocean, a sight she would gladly get lost into, but underneath all that, there is something else, which terrifies and captures her, Lena suddenly finds herself wishing to know all about this Kara Danvers.

The Maiden of Might certainly cannot believe that all it took for her to be and absolute mess, aside from her usual clumsy-self, is a set of forest-green eyes paired with crimson red lipstick, a black pencil skirt and emerald-green blouse, which certainly seems to make her eyes pop out more. But what really drags her in are precisely those eyes, filled with curiosity and amusement, maybe a little bit of fear and so so much hurt, like open wounds that have never healed, buried just under the public eye, to protect herself. Whereas she first thought that Lena was unbreakable with her power pose and 7-inch Luboutins, now she isn’t that certain. Her aura yells “power” and “control”, but the almost invisible quirk of her brow says fear, her pose, if you look carefully enough seems stiff, carved into her through punishment and humiliation; her hands are holding a pen, innocently, however, being the observant hero is, she is capable of recognize the soft movements of her wrist as if the raven-haired woman wanted to fidget but were refraining from it.

For a moment neither of them move, too absorbed in the sight in front of them. Then, as if realizing she was staring, Lena shakes her head, returning to the real world and leading the blonde woman to her desk, so they may discuss the matter at hand. When the Kryptonian takes a second too long to move, her crimson lips move upwards into a smirk, and oh boy is she lost. Mentally slapping herself, Kara manages to move towards the modern white desk and take out her proposal, praying to Rao not to stumble over her words while the genius woman is staring intently into her eyes like that. She feels her palms sweat, she didn’t even know that could happen, but manages to catch herself and go through the proposal with the CEO. Lena is stunned to say the least, her department has been endlessly and fruitlessly trying to improve solar panels effectivity for several months now, a huge crew of the most recognized scientist in their fields have gotten nowhere, and out of the mist, Kara, on behalf of Zor-El Technologies, which she has heard about but very little; comes forward with not only the most complete proposal, but the design is already planned, the system and functioning have been researched and started to be developed. She has crossed paths with extremely bright people, studying at the best universities and all that, but this, this is entirely different, unexpected and is directly poking into her curiosity.

After Kara has finished her proposal, Lena decides to negotiate a little with regards on how this joint project is going to work, she is curious by nature who can blame her. For starters, L-Corp is not going to provide a team, she herself is going to work on the project, it’s been a while since she has had the opportunity to be hands on with a project with the move and rebrand of the company, however this is the opportunity she unknowingly has been waiting for and she is going to take it, she has a lot of experience in bioengineering and nanotechnology after all, and several ground-breaking discoveries in those areas have been hers. Albeit Kara was certainly not expecting the green-eyed woman to propose working herself directly into the project she cannot say that she isn’t pleased with the idea, heck, she has been wanting to work alongside the genius ever since she first heard of her. A contract is printed, were both parties agree on working together and the details of the launch and profits for each company are thoroughly detailed. The main change into the proposal it’s that Winn and Brainy are not going to be the ones designing the software but Lena, who is also going to work, along with Kara, on the circuitry and Kara herself will help design the absorption and conversion system, a dual design based on nanoparticles.

Once all the details are polished and both women have agreed to the terms and signed, they stand up to shake hands and close the deal. What neither of them is expecting is the soft buzz, current-like, that goes through their hands when they touch, while it is electrifying, it is not unpleasant, a soft tingle that goes from the tips of their fingers all the way to the base of their spines, thrumming alive every nerve termination. If they linger a little, holding hands and smiling dumbly at each other, coffee and flowers mixing in the air between them, no one can blame them. Lena lets go first, a little breathless, as if her soul had just went for a ride outside her body, fingers still tingling, she has to will herself to not rub her hand on her skirt in an attempt to make it stop. She lifts her gaze from where they were shaking hands and fixates her eyes into ocean blue ones, seemingly searching for something into her jade-green ones. She doesn’t know what this is, neither does Kara for that matter, but she doesn’t mind, staring into ice-blue, strong and confident, she sees power and strength, and somehow, she knows that those shoulders hold the weight of the world.

When Kara gets out of the office that day, she wonders what the future may hold for both of them, while the project is definitely going to revolutionize green energy production, she is certain, she is willing to allow her mind wander into endless possibilities for the both of them, she has been struck dumb twice by the CEO, and that is not of common occurrence, as Kryptonian, and from the House of El nonetheless, she is not easily flustered or left speechless, less more breathless, but the stunning woman behind those doors has managed somehow. And she is nothing short of a scientist after all, hence, she will take her time to find out the meaning of this. Smiling happily to herself, she leaves the building, with a slight bounce to her step, after all, this project will change the future of Zor-El Technologies. What neither of them know is that it will also change both their futures and perceptions.

#supercorp #lena luthor #karlena #supergirl #i wrote this on a whim #i am supercorp trash #kara danvers #They're a mess #Kind of soulmates #We're starting off #Please be nice #I love reading your comments

5 notes · View notes

jcmorrigan · 3 years ago

Note

What movie or tv show scared you the most?

OH HEEHEEHEEEEEE MY TIME HAS COME

I think this was probably the sign I was meant to be a horror fan, because I'm gonna talk about two movies here and neither one is a standard horror film. Now, I avoided horror films like the plague, but I now realize that's because of my aversion to jumpscares and gore, which have very little to do with actual scary stuff. I feared actual horror imagery as a small child, but basically once I read Coraline it all just turned around because that book gave me nightmares but I actually WANTED those nightmares and kept going back to the book. So what are the movies I just COULD NOT contend with?

First up, I have found that a lot of people have said this one, but really and truly, fuck Chicken Run.

I was...maybe ten when I watched it. Signed up for a goofy claymation adventure. What did I get? First of all, a whole lot of bleak color palette that warned me that this was not going to be a happy story. We are then shown the stakes right away: our entire main cast lives in a dystopian prison and if they do not find a way to escape, they will die. One DOES die. This is where a lot of people say they noped out right away, but actually, the execution of the dinner chicken in the first scene was tame for me compared to what would come next.

The pie machine. It's assembled, it's talked about, and eventually our two leads fall into it in a way that is designed to be fatal. Look, there are a ton of horror tropes in this scene alone. I haven't seen it SINCE THE ONE AIRING and I can still vividly tell you a lot of this. And if I walked into a horror film and asked for this, I'd come out super satisfied, but I was not expecting horror from this. First of all, I remember vividly the shot where you're looking from Ginger's POV falling down the shaft and the divider comes up to shunt her into the "meat" line. It's incredibly claustrophobic and you just get this almost jumpscare reminder that the character through whose eyes you see is regarded as nothing more than meat to be consumed. There is then an array of blades designed for close calls, and dough that essentially glues the lead characters down to a conveyor belt so they have to helplessly watch the death machines that are coming. Sticky stuff that roots you to one spot; that's another thing that just REALLY unnerves me and I love it if I'm reading CreepyPasta but I was not reading CreepyPasta; I was watching a children's film. The leads escape certain death by jamming the gravy system, causing the machine to overload on pressure, and here I feel like I should've been relieved that they escaped but instead I was the most unsettled of all when the pressure meter started climbing. I don't know if this film *gave* me a phobia of industrial accidents or if it just awakened what was already in my OCD little brain, but suffice to say that after this movie, I was hyper-aware of my own fear of things like hissing steam, rising pressure meters, and being in a room where large metal things were clanking. (I'm since over it; I've been exposed to it in enough things.)

Now, I was no quitter. I should have just noped out. But I didn't. I continued to traumatize myself. The next part of the film until the climax I don't remember so well - it wasn't as traumatizing - EXCEPT for the part where Ginger finds and rebuilds Rocky's circus poster. And now, as an adult, I can see how that was kinda supposed to be funny, like, "The goddamn chicken padded his résumé and the way they found this out was a circus poster." But little me was invested in these chickens, I wanted them to be happy, and what I saw was basically their death notice being signed with that scrap of paper with a cannon on it. I FELT that in my bones.

STILL NOT HAVING THE GOOD SENSE TO JUST EJECT THE TAPE ALREADY, I proceeded to the climax, in which what happens to Tweedy might be one of the most fucking awful things I've seen ever? Pinned upside-down in a superheated, confined space with rising liquid from below as the pressure meter starts climbing again. And her husband arrives just in time to see her like this but not in time to actually stop the explosion. Thank God it didn't actually kill her because even though I was already traumatized, that would've absolutely made it worse.

Thing is, ever since this movie scared the absolute shit out of me - and was probably the cause of the weird stomachaches I had for A WEEK after - I've kinda had this thing about reclaiming the scary parts and stomping on them while laughing maniacally. I feel like every time I've done a crossover project, there's been a temptation to write in an arc where the mains go up against THE PIE MACHINE and fucking win. And also there's whump with tons of comfort in my version to mitigate it all. I haven't done any such thing for TBTC...YET. But I know what I must do. I know who must destroy the machine and the Tweedys along with it. Buckle your seatbelts.

My final word before I move on is that as I ascend into adulthood, I think that for the most part, a rewatch of this film wouldn't traumatize me so badly. It'd still be gross and creepy in a way I think shouldn't be sent to children without warning, but I could deal with the imagery, maybe enjoy using it as whump fuel even more, maybe my horror side would really get into the peril this time. But the one thing I've realized is that this premise is fucked EVEN MORE if you're a grown-up, because as a child, you're sympathizing with the chickens. You want them to get free of this death camp environment. But as an adult, you start to realize that all Tweedy wanted to do was be a chicken farmer who sold pie, and her supposedly nonsentient animals ganged up on her in a display of unheard-of intellect among farm stock. This would then lead to her undergoing at least one near-death fate. Think about being a farmer in our world and the animals you keep GANG UP ON YOU LIKE PEOPLE because you're killing them for food. No thank you, no THANK you.

But surely this was a one-of-a-kind phenomenon. Surely, after this...after so many other people agreed with me; "Fuck Chicken Run"...no animation studio would ever pull shit like this again.

I had hoped that was the case until Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

This is one I don't actually see lambasted as often. Maybe because the Chicken Run trauma crew grew thicker skins before this movie. I only sort of did. Maybe because no one ever actually invested in this film, having already predicted how much it would be garbage from the dumb humor in the trailers. Oh, but not me. I was a fool. Also my family picked it for a movie night so my fate was sealed anyway.

The original book is actually pretty frightening on its own. Food falls from the sky in such great numbers that it starts to destroy the world. Okay, that's terrifying. But kind of in the alluring way. I would keep coming back to the one page about the giant pancake on the school because the way it was drawn unsettled me so, with something huge and immovable blocking off the way to a building that usually has hundreds of innocent children inside. The film built on this and made it a thousand times worse.

Let's start with the goddamn Spray-On Shoe. Our main character is a mad scientist (but the good kind, apparently) whose list of bumbling failed experiments dates back to when he was a child and invented a spray you could put on your feet to coat them in shoes. He then gets laughed at because he didn't engineer a way to get the shoes off, and runs home in humiliation. Guys, the teasing/bullying factor is...not the most worrying thing about this story. There's a throwaway line about how Flint wears THE SAME SHOES into adulthood because to that day they simply cannot be removed. This seems like an incredibly urgent medical problem? Having your feet encased in the same rubber for years? The same rubber as when you're a kid? I just found myself thinking "What if my shoes never came off one day" and that terrifies me, okay? It's stupid and it's silly and it scares me. Even more than that, though, is the canonization of a polymer in this universe that can be sprayed on sticky and will literally never break no matter what you do to it, because that goes back to the pie machine dough principle. Being glued to a surface permanently is inherently terrifying and we'll go over this later because this is not the last fuckin time the glue shoes get brought up.

Flint invents a food-spewing machine. It ends up in the sky. He rides his popularity as it rains larger and larger food down upon the town and also the world. Most of this film up until the climax is unsettling but not AWFUL. Where it starts to go to shit is when Flint realizes his machine is too dangerous and shuts it off, only for the town's local greedy politician to switch it back on into an apocalyptic mode. So can we start with "Local town finds out its elected official is willing to sabotage their well-being in order to capitalize on the fame of a disaster-causing object?". Like, the whole film would've been solved so much sooner if there hadn't been a saboteur in the works - not a fun campy villain, mind you, but a saboteur who exists to drive the plot to the scary place. But I guess we need that narrative tension to justify having a film in the first place, so fine, I'll ride it out.

The main crew saddles up to fly out to the machine, which is now encased in a FLESH LABYRINTH of food, and...I'm just gonna rapid-fire the shit that happens at this part:

-The food turns sentient in order to defend itself. The cute animal sidekick brutally dismembers an army of gummy bears that is fully sentient and rips them apart to devour them.

-We enter the flesh labyrinth and it's exactly as much a horror RPG setting as you think it is.

-Now sentient cooked chickens besiege the party. The comic relief character is consumed by one, only to kill it from the inside and decide to WEAR ITS SKIN in what is seen as his defining character arc's conclusion. Wearing the skin of a dead monster allows him to forge his new identity.

-One of our party has to go back because of a tight passage lined with her deadly allergen, causing her to undergo anaphylaxis after an accidental mild nick. In the flesh labyrinth.

-The entire horrific journey is instantly INVALIDATED when it turns out that instead of the kill code for the machine, all Flint has is a file of a cat video. Which he finds out as the town is about to be obliterated off the face of the earth.

-So he solves it by jamming the works with the spray-on shoe and DID I NOT JUST GO OVER HOW HORRIFIC INDUSTRIAL EXPLOSIONS ARE IN KIDS' MOVIES? DID I NOT? ARE WE REALLY DOING THIS AGAIN? Anyway it's canonical proof that NOTHING can break the shoe glue and I should be happy for the town and happy that there's no more flesh labyrinth of living meat but instead I'm just terrified because of the door we have opened. We have imparted the existence of an indestructible sticky polymer upon the world.

-It's later seen used in a credits sequence to repair damaged houses. Which, first of all, given its flexible nature, is fuckin stupid. It won't serve as an actual wall. Second, that got me thinking about construction accidents involving the fuckin shoe glue. If that stuff gets dripped on a person's face -

-So then cue me sitting awake in bed later thinking wide-eyed about Cloudy with a Chance of Fucking Meatballs and realizing that this compound that is essentially a chemical weapon in the making is now in the hands of the mayor who deliberately caused an apocalyptic event over the town because he wanted the food rain. And THAT'S not going to lead to pretty circumstances.

I think you'll see that a lot of my fears with these two movies is "THINK OF THE IMPLICATIONS!" and I think that just shows how my mind works and why I'm drawn to fanfic so much. I'm all about diving into a universe, exploring its corners, analyzing it to death.

And with the industrial horror stuff, I kinda wanna bring it around to two other films that actually really subverted my expectations and made it fun. 102 Dalmatians was a fave of mine through middle school, but I remember when the climax took us to a big ol' factory and I got plumb nervous. After the usual blades and ovens of horror, the fact that it concludes with Cruella basically wearing a cake and a lengthy montage of the dogs kicking toppings onto her is just one of the most wholesome imageries. She survived the thing and now you get to watch her be decorated Lisa Frank style by her victims who are more interested in humiliation than murder, and I love that.

But maybe more prevalent is that I'm well aware that if certain filmography or plot points had been handled in different ways, The Boxtrolls might've actually frightened the ever-loving fuck out of me what with all the industrial stuff and medical horror, but I just...felt like that film was holding my hand the whole way through going "It's okay." The industrial stuff was framed in a way that was just campy enough and yet also taken seriously. Putting a really charismatic villain - ACTUAL VILLAIN, NOT CHICKEN FARMER OR CORRUPT POLITICIAN SABOTEUR - at the wheel was just such a mitigating factor that it gelled the whole thing together and I ended up LOVING what was done with giant machines and garbage crushers and explosions. And as for the medical body horror, I really appreciate how it was so baked in that Snatcher did that to himself - that everyone, EVERYONE warned him "Do not do this, you will probably die, I'm serious, bad fucking idea" up to the point of Eggs trying to plead him during an anaphylaxis attack, one last time, DO NOT continue down this path, we can find a way to heal you psychologically and get you some self-fulfillment. And Snatcher fully chooses hubris over the many, many opportunities offered him to be able to step down onto a safer path and that removes the fear and pulls it more into a tragedy for the villain. Not at all the same thing as "Sam the reporter is trying to save the world and doing her best until a fixture of the landscape accidentally sends her into anaphylaxis."

(Oh, and by the way, can I just - when I do see CWACOM brought up these days, it's always in the context of "This is the one movie where the guy tells the girl it's okay to look nerdy!". Well, no, not the way I remember it. The way I remember it, Sam basically tells Flint "I used to have really tacky style but have since changed it up of my own volition" and Flint is just like "NOOOOO YOU NEED TO WEAR GLASSES AND A SCRUNCHIE. I WANT A HOT NERD GIRL." This could've been pulled off right with some more introspection into female beauty standards, even in a tongue-in-cheek way, but right now it really looks like Sam just wanted to make herself more glam for a new image and Flint bullied her into regressing her style. Which I've also realized meant he bullied her into dressing more like she did as a teenager and normally I think that kind of shit is just "You're overthinking it" but since it's CWACOM and I spelled it out on paper like that, I'm just now realizing how that can be seen as pretty...icky.)

The one saving grace of CWACOM is that I was older by that time, and so it didn't affect me as hard as Chicken Run. But I still hold it dearly to my heart as one of the MOST DISTURBING movies I know, and by "dearly" I mean "fuck this movie, really and truly." I want to extend my thanks to 102D and Boxtrolls for giving me industrial-horror-based climaxes that were actually really comfortable, and again, probably what drove both of these was the fact that we had a campy diva villain in the lead for the potential scary stuff to surround and radiate off. Not a fuckin...ordinary chicken farmer who is just trying to make bank but is somehow passed as a Nazi allegory for trying to live her life as a farmer? I dunno, maybe if I rewatched that film I'd see she has a thirst for human blood too, and if I could fix fic Chicken Run my first order of business would be to give her a thirst for human blood instead of/in addition to chickens.

Anyway. Fuck both these films, EXCEPT for the fact that traumatizing scenarios can always be recast as whump material, and the next time I wanna do some crossover aftercare from a physically and psychologically damaging mission, I have a pie machine and a flesh labyrinth to exploit. REALLY HEAVY ON THAT AFTERCARE COMFORT THOUGH!

4 notes · View notes

isaacsapphire · 4 years ago

Note

(re: the fanfiction research thing) Colt like the guns? I know nothing about him but now I'm curious. What should I ask you? :P

Yeah, Colt like the guns. Samuel Colt, the real historical figure who invented a workable repeating firearm, and became particularly associated with revolvers. The early seasons of TV show Supernatural featured some lore involving various things that their fictional version of Samuel Colt did, including make a revolver that could kill anything, including supernatural entities that were otherwise difficult or impossible to kill by other means that is very important to the plot.

Anyways, the dates given by the TV show were actually a little wonky when you dig into the timeline for the real Samuel Colt... Which I did because that was my special interest at the time, and I discovered that if you really dug into it, which I did because I was bored with my actual college work and happened to have access to a particularly good library and the balls to get into microfiche when necessary, there was an INSANE story of international travel, love, murder, social climbing, the very first American media circus trial, bigamy, possibly more murder, a knife that nobody ever described the same way twice, bad spelling, and some seriously ride-or-die brothers.

Seriously, this is my drunk history pick, and I'm just going to shit this out right now before bed time and without looking anything up or linking. I'll link on a reblog later tomorrow or something.

So, Sam and John were two of like 7+ kids, Sam being one of the younger ones. I kinda get the impression that Sam was always the "I'm playing around with stuff that goes boom" kid, and he got kicked out of a boarding school as a teen for blowing up their pond trying to invent a better naval mine (like a landmine, but in the water for blowing up boats).

He wasn't a gunsmith, but he had an idea for a better repeating firearm and got a bunch of people he knew, including several members of his large extended family, to invest in his business venture. Step 1 was to get patents for this gun design all over the world in preparation for being eligible for big arms contracts with multiple nations. (Step 3 absofuckinglutly was "profit" BTW, but there were some bumps in the road before that actually happened.)

So, Sam was like, 20 something on this big venture capital funded Grand Tour, because you had to physically go to each countries' patent office back then, and you had to take a ship between a lot of countries, so this was pretty time consuming and involved a lot of hanging out on fairly nice ocean liners for weeks at a time. And while on one of these long ocean voyages, Sam met a nice young German woman named Caroline Henshaw who he married. However, due to her heavy accent and possibly other reasons as well, the fact of Sam's marriage was kept quiet and not public knowledge.

Fast forward several years; Sam is now getting all up into Washington DC lobbying because now he's trying to get the US government to buy a shit ton of his guns, and of course there's political drama about that because there's always some drama about that kind of thing. Sam is enjoying going to dinner with important people. Sam is also making political enemies.

Meanwhile, his big brother John lives in NYC and had written a book. However, the publisher owed him money, so John confronted him about it. Nobody knows for sure what happened next, but at the end of it, the publisher was dead due to some blunt force trauma courtesy of John, who proceeded to try and cover up this fact by putting the body into a box and having it shipped to New Orleans. Or anyways that was the plan, but the ship the box was on was delayed and it was hot and the body smelled really bad so the whole thing was discovered and John's involvement became known.

Cue an absolute uproar of a trial, since the brother of this dude who's trying to get a government contract is accused of murdering a dude who owed him money. The press had an absolute field day as more salacious details came out... Like that unmarried John shared his house with an (apparently) unmarried woman; Caroline Henshaw. The trial was, as best as I could tell, a shitshow. Caroline gave birth during the trial (not like, in the courtroom tho), named her son "Samuel Colt Jr" and brought the infant to court. I never got my hands on the trial record itself, but the newspaper articles said that on the last day of the trial, the prosecution changed their position on what they said the murder weapon was, from being a paperweight or something, to being one of his brother's cutting edge guns he was trying to sell the government. Despite this kind of incompetent fuckery, the jury convicted John of murder, to his shock; John had maintained he had been acting in self defense and the killing was justified.

Between the time of conviction and his scheduled hanging, both Sam and Caroline visited John regularly in prison, and a day or two before the hanging, John married Caroline in a very small ceremony in his cell, witnessed by his brother Sam. The next day, before John was to be hanged, a fire broke out at the prison and kept everyone there occupied for several hours. When they got back to John's cell, they found a dead body of a man who apparently committed suicide by stabbing himself in the heart with a knife that is not consistently described. A hasty inquest was formed the next day, consisting entirely of people who had never met John in life, which concluded that the body was indeed John and had died of suicide.

Caroline Henshaw and son were thereafter financially supported by Samuel, who sent them to Europe for years and years. Multiple people thought they saw John in Texas years afterwards. Samuel married a good social climbing match, leveraging his wealth into class. He ever afterwards referred to the boy as "my nefu" complete with the quotation marks and atrocious spelling because Samuel Colt was unusually bad at spelling. Supposedly, when Samuel Colt died, Samuel Colt Jr showed up with his mother's marriage license to Samuel Colt and claimed his chunk of the estate, but I didn't get those legal documents either so I can't confirm that.

#Samuel colt #guns #supernatural tv show #spn #mr colt made man equal #a bigger history #oh geez i can tag asks now #I'll get you the Forgotten Weapons link later

54 notes · View notes

llendrinall · 4 years ago

Note

So i got another fic idea in my head The dates are very important. 1 (May 1998) Percy was a Ministry spy and he worked closely with Albus. He saved a lot of lives no matter their blood or if they were creatures. And at the battle of Hogwarts he saves Freds life but hes in crit condition George is a total ass (He's angry and takes it out on Percy) going off at him saying nasty things along the lines of that Percy isn't welcome at the Weasley home anymore.

2 When he tries to go to the House to talk to them he's not treated very well ("Dont wanna hear excuses Percy"). He just give up, packs his things in his flat, & the next morning he goes, gives his mission reports that date from the start of his Ministry career along with his resignation letter on Shacklebot's desk. Then he's off to America to start over he snuck into Freds hospital room & used Snapes healing charms as a way to 'set things right' before leaving.

3. Percy is now in New York, gets a job, and then spends the next 6 months working diligently and whatnot. Then he meets Audrey Smith, they end up going on a few dates and she introduces Percy to her local gym and they become gym buddies and soon start dating. (Aug 2000) After 2 years together (They're married) Percy and Audrey find out they're expecting. And then the twins are born on the 2nd of May 2001. Percy laughs a bit as Audrey pats him the shoulder and says "They sure chose the date"

4. Sep 11 2001) Audrey dies in the 9/11 attack (she was a muggle) & Percy is left a widow with 2 daughters to look after. (June 2002) He bumps into Oliver who's on a quidditch training exchange. They catch up. (Oliver doesn't bring up the fact that Percy's fam has been looking for him for years and that he's saved so many lives) As December rolls around Oliver spends it at Percy's, meeting the kids and hearing Percy tell him everything (His wife, his family and the war)

(I think this is part 5? Idk its 2am here) (Jan - May) They spend a lot of time together after Xmas and slowly Percy begins to heal a bit more after Audrey's death. Oliver ends up going back to the UK and Percy misses him. (July) Oliver comes back with news that he's transferred to an NY team "They might not be big on Quidditch here but they're extremely good, Perce" (Its not because Oliver has been inlove with Percy since Hogwarts. Neither is it because he loves Molly & Lucy to death either)

6 (Feb 2004) The UK Papers get a picture of Oliver, Percy the twins out and it BLOWS UP. Charlie (The only one who even heard Percy out back after the war ended, He knows the others did wrong by him) floos in and then warns Percy about everyone knowing he's here and that they're gonna be coming in 2 days. So He ends up having Charlie take the girls. He ends up meeting with his fam and it takes a long long time for them to heal and fix things.

7. His Fam only get to meet Molly and Lucy when they're 6. When they're 7 he and Oliver gets married. Idk why but i seem to only send you these fic ideas when im hella tired and at 2am. T_T Why am i like this? So Audrey named Molly and Perce named Lucy (After each others moms)

Honestly, What can I say at this point? You have the whole story thought out. Go for it and write it!

It’s not the kind of story I write, though. But since you dropped the materials here, I can share how I would assemble it.

I would avoid New York. Big cities have a character. They are characters and you have to treat them as such. In Life skills, London is a character, complex and big and hard and beautiful. In Secret language of plants, even though Draco and Harry end up in London, I had them stay in the house because London was too big of a character for that stage of the story.

So, no New York. If I had to use a well-known city I would go with Boston, I think. Otherwise, a small one with a nice name.

Audrey doesn’t die on 9/11. Well, she dies on that day, but not on the attack. It’s something as simple and dull as a traffic accident. Percy wasn’t with her, not that it would have mattered. Yes, wizards have potions to mend bones instantly and protective charms and spells to stop the momentum, but Audrey died instantly, and no one could have seen the car until it was on her.

The driver was an old man, fumbling with that new invention, a mobile phone, trying to call his daughter who worked in New York.

Magic Law on the States is a bit… over the place. It would be extremely simple to put a curse or a hex that man. If Percy was clever about it, it wouldn’t be too illegal. But he doesn’t. Percy realizes it wouldn’t make him feel better.

Percy doesn’t particularly like the States. The tea is terrible, the coffee is weak, the spelling is painful and people are entirely too talkative. But it’s sunnier than England and the orange juice is good, so he stays.

He goes to Romania every summer to visit Charlie. The girls love it there and it was always easy to talk to Charlie. Charlie who had such a promising career in Quidditch and rejected the fame and fortune for a thankless career working with dragons. Not even training dragons for bank security, which is a cool and profitable career, but fighting that very same use.

Charlie only goes back home for a week during Christmas, so he gets it. They don’t have to talk about it, never mention that weird state of loving your family and not wanting to be with them, to fight, to have to explain and justify your very existence and your life decisions.

He meets Oliver in Romania. Supposedly Oliver is there to see the sights and rest his left shoulder, that was injured at the end of the league. But he is not the first Quidditch player who has a crisis of faith and comes to Charlie with questions. So far, none of them had taken up dragon-protection, but one became a broomstick racer and another is the head coach of an Italian team.

Charlie only thinks about dragons. Oliver only thinks about Quidditch and is in the middle of an existential crisis. So it’s perfectible understandable that the topic of Percy, his war heroics and his semi mythical status is never brought up. To be fair, Charlie doesn’t know much about it because he doesn’t read English newspapers and his family never talks about Percy when he is around. Oliver just thinks that Percy is the first Competent Adult he has ever met and is much more interested about this Figuring Life Out than any hero status.

So it’s fair to say that the headlines come as a surprise.

Someone snapped a picture of Oliver and Percy sitting very close together in a park, with twin stupid loving smiles. It was all perfectly innocent. Molly was doing something cute out of frame and they never kept any physical distance between themselves, not even in Hogwarts. But it doesn’t matter. The picture is sold as proof of the mysterious war hero and the dashing sport star carrying a secret love affair. It’s a beautiful story, powerful. Percy is the tragic handsome hero and Oliver the right person to bring love back in his life after years nursing the wounds of war. Or perhaps Oliver is the sweet and honest good boy, the boyfriend every mother wants for her daughter, seduced by the man living a life of exotic and daring adventures.

Whatever it is, the world wants to believe in it. So much so that bloody Draco Malfoy pops up to warn them that there is a dozen of rabid, ruthless, paparazzies coming their way. He knows because Malfoy owns the most read magazine in England and has put a bounty on a photo of the two of them kissing.

Paparazzies don’t have a concept of trespassing, but breaking and entering into a dragon reserve has certain difficulties that can’t be bypassed with an alohomora and a lack of morals. Percy and Oliver spend the rest of the month in the reserve, not daring to go out. Twenty-two days in each other’s company, hiking in the mountains and playing with the girls. Molly and Lucy have decided that Oliver is similar to Charlie in all the right ways, so they like him.

On day nineteen, they kiss. Someone gets a picture of it, but, in his excitement, the photographer wanders into a nest of young dragon carps. He is recued three hours later sans pants or shoes. The photo of their first kiss is lost.

Oliver says he is almost done with his existential crisis but now Percy has one of his own.

You see, there is something Oliver hasn’t said. Something he didn’t mention at all. And Percy doesn’t know if Oliver just hasn’t noticed (it took him two years to realize all the Weasleys were siblings) or if he noticed but… doesn’t care?

There is more than one reason why only Charlie has met the girls.

Even now that Percy has received letters from every family member (including Freaking Aunt Muriel) and even a surprise visit from them (he has a life debt with Charlie for the heads-up) and they have begun the unpleasant work of fixing their relationship; even now, they haven’t met Molly and Lucy.

It’s because of the Weasley cousin they never talk about. The accountant.

Percy knows that it’s perfectly normal. Many wizarding children don’t exhibit any magic until they are at least seven. But he also knows that every single person in his family was levitating toys (Bill, Ron and Ginny) or stopping spilled milk in mid-air (him) or shooting sparks (Charlie and the twins) by the time they were three.

Molly and Lucy had done nothing magical so far. Nothing at all. And Percy knows, in his heart of hearts, that if anyone makes them feel inferior, if anyone dares to say anything against them, he will go the Dark Lord route and kill every single person prejudiced against squibs. He might kill every single wizard and witch and eradicate all magic, so his girls won’t feel inferior to anyone. He found in himself the strength to forgive the man than took Audrey’s life, but he won’t do the same for the person who speaks against his children. He can’t.

On Christmas Percy reluctantly agrees to go to England with the girls because Charlie promises he will be there too. It is not easy. It is, in fact, very, very difficult and tense. He is forever grateful at Lee Jordan, who is glued to Fred’s hip cracking jokes and defusing tension. Also, Angelina Johnson takes George and Ginny to the kitchen and informs them they are the biggest idiots she has ever had the misfortune of meeting and that helps to avoid anyone saying something unforgivable they will regret their whole life. On Christmas’ Eve Harry Potter takes everyone’s wands because he is Harry Potter “and I do what I want” which means no one hexes anyone and they can overindulge the punch.

Oh, why bother? The whole thing is terrible and awkward and it hurts. But it is a necessary painful step, either to fix things with time or to say that he tried, actually tried, and never look back at this moment with regret.

Also, he gets to meet with Oliver. It turns out that Oliver hadn’t noticed the girls’ lack of magic, but he also doesn’t care. Why would he care? Are you- are you supposed to care? Is this another thing Oliver missed because he only thinks about Quidditch? What’s wrong with not having magic in any case? Oliver’s mother is muggle and it is agreed that she is wonderful.

(Even Potter says so. Percy has no idea of when Harry Potter met Oliver’s mum, but he speaks of her in the highest terms).

You can read about what happened next on issues of 32, 33 & 34 of Alakazam as well as special issues 17, 21, 22 and 25. Draco Malfoy earns 1.5 million galleons with issue 33, setting a record for most successful print in wizarding history. Then he obliterates that record with a single stolen picture of Percy and Oliver’s wedding. He committed around a dozen crimes to get that picture, got drunk on champagne and victory and asked Harry Potter to marry him.

(He also donated all the money to a newly created society for the support and trade education of squibs, but only two people in the world know that).

#asks #percy weasley #oliver wood #Anonymous #vese: dad percy

36 notes · View notes

yellowmagicalgirl · 4 years ago

Note

Destiny's Pawn Left Turn: what if Douxie never escaped Merlin's mind control?

I underestimated how long it would take me to do my math/chemistry homework when I reblogged the meme yesterday, sorry it took so long (requests are still open btw)

So, the easy answer to this is also the bad ending: Douxie and Krel kill each other. Douxie, while mind controlled, deliberately stabs through Krel’s core. In this same moment, Krel accidentally stabs through Merlin’s amulet. They hold each other as they die, Douxie still in the armor but able to resist once more, and Toby and Steve come through a second wormhole several minutes later only to find Douxie’s corpse cradling a broken life core.

But that’s depressing, so here’s a slightly different answer: what if Mordred never escaped Merlin’s control. Aka I am about to make Mordred even more of a woobie than he was in the fic. In the canon of Destiny’s Pawn, Mordred was released from Merlin’s control after he killed Arthur, and was able to escape when he found out that Merlin had cut off Morgana’s hand. But in this turn of events, Merlin realized too late that Mordred’s loyalty would never be what it was, so he doesn’t release control. Over the centuries between the Battle of Camlann and the Battle of Killahead Bridge, Mordred is kept in stasis, only brought out as a weapon. When Gawain resists Merlin, Merlin gloats about how he invented a false prophecy to get a living weapon. Mordred then kills his cousin. During the fleeting moments where Mordred is going in or out of stasis, he isn’t under Merlin’s control, but what are a few fleeting moments of being his own person compared to all the violent acts that Mordred is forced to commit? What are a few fleeting moments compared to years of dreamless sleep?

A girl with skull earrings invites Claire to join the Battle of the Bands. This girl has enough tact not to mention that the band that she plays the guitar for, Ash Dispersal Pattern, will probably crush the competition. Logan gets freaked out when his classmate orders raw meat, dripping with blood.

Krel does not grow up with a soulmate. He is perfectly fine with this. He feels bad for Aja, having someone who is supposedly destined to be the perfect spouse for her, and never being allowed to meet and love her. He is happy he does not have a soulmate. Krel stays on Earth, and when Steve calls complaining that the world is going to end again, Krel meets up with his friends, a talking cat, and a girl with pink hair. Zoe has never had a friend who understands what it’s like to be supernatural, so she ends up telling them about her being the Lady of the Lake far sooner than Archie would have liked. Zoe and Krel end up bonding over engineering, because out of pity she comes over to help fix Krel’s house.

Merlin reveals that he is evil. He cuts off Claire’s hand, and Jim steals it back at the cost of his own soul. AAARRRGGHH!!! leaves Arcadia because the trolls need as many trollhunters as they can get.

Merlin goes to reawaken the knights that are loyal to him. And then he goes to reawaken his weapon. What are a few fleeting moments where Mordred is his own person? They are enough for his wrist to explode into cyan light. For the first time since he killed Arthur, Mordred starts to smile. Merlin frowns. A soulmate is a bond that Merlin can’t control, a defect in his weapon. And so, Merlin removes this defect.

Krel already had a human form when he received his soulmate’s name, so the name Mordred Pendragon is emblazoned in pale blue on his right wrist in both his human and Akiridion forms. Out of all the knights they face, Mordred is the creepiest. His eyes glow the same green as the amulet pressed into his armor, and unlike the other knights Mordred never gloats. He fights them with near-silent deadly accuracy. Krel starts wearing his watch on his right wrist instead of his left, hating the sight of the name on his wrist.

The Guardians of Arcadia (and Claire) work on a device that they can use to remove the mind control from Jim. They only have one shot, though, so they all understand that they’ll have to be perfect.

They aren’t perfect. Jim and Mordred attack at the same time. The Guardians try to save Jim from being controlled, but he dodges the blast as he crushes an emerald in his hand. And then Mordred falls to his knees, all his floating daggers falling around him and turning to fog as they. His armor gives one last sputter of green light, and it disappears from him. The amulet falls to the ground. Mordred stares at his right arm and the stump it ends in, and then he looks up towards the Guardians of Arcadia, who are all staring at him in shock. Their device worked, but for he wrong person. His eyes are gold, and tears are beginning to form in them.

“Thank you.” Mordred’s voice sounds like, aside from a single agonized scream, he hasn’t used it in a very long time.

Krel isn’t sure what a good way to bring up the fact that he’s Mordred’s soulmate. And so he doesn’t. After all, Mordred does not have Krel’s name on his right wrist, so there’s the possibility that they’ve always been unrequited. Maybe Krel isn’t supposed to have formed a relationship with Mordred, anyways, maybe he was supposed to just save him from Merlin’s control.

Instead of a prosthetic hand, Zoe and Krel turn the amulet into a pendant that will protect Mordred from Merlin’s control. Mordred demonstrates that he can fight with only one hand. Fighting is all he has been doing, so he’s gotten good at it. But, he doesn’t know what to do afterwards. He ends up living with one of the other Arcadia kids other than Krel. Mordred apologizes each time he wakes someone up because he wakes up screaming from violent memories turned into nightmares. The modern world confuses him. Someone signs him up for (a fake) birth certificate and makes sure that he is vaccinated. (Zoe does not realize that she dodged a bullet because someone made sure that Mordred didn’t list her as his next of kin.) They also look into helping him get a 3d-printed prosthetic. Mordred paints his parents’ heraldry onto the prosthetic.

Eventually, the kids are hanging out, talking about the concept of soulmates. Mordred casually mentions that he’ll never know if he’s met his soulmate because never got to see his soulmate’s name, because Merlin cut it off of him. Krel bites his lip, and as soon as possible he makes sure to be alone with Mordred. Krel starts babbling about how he didn’t trust Mordred at first, and then after he started to trust Mordred he didn’t know how to bring it up. And then he takes off his watch.

Mordred is so happy that Krel is his soulmate, but then he pauses. He doesn’t think he’s ready for a relationship right now. (He does not mention his growing crush on Krel.) And Krel, who has not yet bonded enough with Mordred to start feeling romantic attraction towards him, is fine with this.

Two weeks later, Krel is has started to pine. It takes long enough for him and Mordred to get together that everyone ends up joining in on the bet with Steve. Aja wins.

(As an afterthought because of the parallels, someone decides to have a movie marathon one weekend where they binge the MCU up through Thor: Ragnarok, both because the kids want to relax and also they want to try and get Krel and Mordred up to speed with parts of pop culture. No one is too surprised that Mordred, a boy with a prosthetic hand, long hair, and a past of getting used as a weapon and put into stasis, ends up having Bucky as his favorite character. Mordred writes at least one rather OOC fanfic shipping Bucky and whichever MCU character that reminds him the most of Krel. He is embarrassed by it later.)

Turn Left

#krel tarron #hisirdoux casperan #krexie #death tw #toa zoe #steve palchuk #toby domzalski #toa merlin #jim lake jr #toa mordred #tales of arcadia #mcu #when fate plays chess #my au's #answered ask #anonymous #dismemberment

6 notes · View notes

siriusist · 4 years ago

Text

My (Updated) Masterpost for Asexuality [2020]:

Some Youtube Videos I found Really Lovely and Validating:

Debunking Asexual and Aromantic Myths

Ace-Spec and Are-Spectrum Book Recommendations

And Some LGBTQIA+ Channels That Bring Up Asexual Experiences:

Rowan Ellis

Problems of a Book Nerd

Jessica Kellgren-Fozard

Some Shows with Confirmed Asexual Characters:

Sex Education

Bojack Horseman

Liv in ‘Emmerdale’ (UK Soap)

Historical Asexuals/ Demisexuals:

Emily Brontë: Emily Brontë was a very private person and as such it’s impossible to be entirely certain of her sexual orientation. Some Brontë scholars believe she died a virgin, never having had physical relationships with men or women. However, most Brontë scholars think that the content of her novels would suggest she may have been asexual, but she was not aromantic.

J.M. Barrie: The man who wrote Peter Pan into existence, was reportedly asexual. His marriage was never consummated and ended in divorce when his wife cheated on him. Because of his relationship with his neighbor children, and the subject matter of his books, some speculated Barrie was prone to pedophilia. Those who knew him closely vehemently deny Barrie ever exhibited such behavior. Instead his lack of sexual relationships was more likely due to his asexuality.

George Bernard Shaw: Renowned playwright George Bernard Shaw was a man far more interested in intellect than sex. He never consummated his marriage (also at the request of his wife, Charlotte Frances Payne-Townshend) and was a virgin until 29. Shaw told friends he appreciated the ability of sex to produce “a celestial flood of emotion and exaltation” but only as it compared to the “conscious intellectual activity” he strove for with his work.

Isaac Newton: Isaac Newton’s supposed asexuality is based on his recorded behavior and lifestyle. He had strict religious views, never married, was obsessive in his scientific careers, and supposedly died a virgin. Whether he truly lacked sexual attraction or was simply too immersed in making massive scientific discoveries to have a sex life is unsure.

T.E. Lawrence: Tragically, T.E. Lawrence – a man immortalized in the film Lawrence of Arabia – was sexually assaulted while held prisoner during The Great War. His lack of sexual and romantic relationships in life were mostly attributed to this trauma but some scholars argue he may have been asexual. He had no documented relationships with men or women. Most notably, since it was the turn of the 20th century, Lawrence was known to be non-judgmental of homosexuals. His personal orientation may have motivated his tolerance.

Florence Nightingale: Interestingly, though “the Florence Nightingale effect” is a situation where a caregiver develops an attraction to the patient they are caring for, the effect’s namesake, Florence Nightingale, was likely asexual. The famous nurse never married and instead chose to devote her life entirely to her work. She even refused a marriage proposal from a suitor who had been pursuing her for years. Nightingale rarely discussed her personal life and the term “asexual” was not widely used at the time, but asexual activists and scholars strongly suspect she lacked sexual interest.

Nikola Tesla: Nikola Tesla, the revolutionary engineer who was instrumental in the invention of electricity, also lived a life of celibacy typical of asexuals. He showed very little interest in sexual relationships throughout his life, preferring to focus on science. Many asexuals describe their lack of attraction as a blessing allowing them sharp focus. Once again, we have a person who could have been too busy (and brilliant) to focus on relationships, but who’s asexuality likely allowed him to be busy (and brilliant). [Fun fact: I am actually related to ol’Nikola. Sometimes it’s nice to even think about someone in my family being asexual, because it makes me feel like we’d both be able to get along together when we get fixed in our little studies, research, and schemes ♥]

Frederic Chopin: Famed composer and pianist Frederic Chopin is supposed to also have been asexual. While he lived with writer George Sand, she noted in her biography that their connection was affectionate without being sexual. She described their affair as “eight years of maternal devotion,“ also noting, “He seemed to despise the courser side of human nature and…to fear to soil our love by further ecstasy.”Whether Chopin was uninterested in sex, or had reservations about consummating the relationship for other reasons, is unclear. Many scholars believe the famed pianist lacked sexual desire altogether.

John Ruskin: Victorian art critic John Ruskin was known to be particularly uninterested in sex. Though Ruskin was once married, he reportedly showed no interest in getting physical with his wife. Typical of other asexuals on this list, his marriage ended having never been consummated.

Young Adult Fiction/ Books about Asexuality (NOTE: Some of these are coming out later this year, August and September 2020):

How to be Ace: A Memoir of Growing Up Asexual by Rebecca Burgess: Brave, witty and empowering, this graphic memoir follows Rebecca as she navigates her asexual identity and mental health in a world obsessed with sex. From school to work to relationships, this book offers an unparalleled insight into asexuality.

Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, And The Meaning Of Sex by Angela Chen: An engaging exploration of what it means to be asexual in a world that’s obsessed with sexual attraction, and what the ace perspective can teach all of us about desire and identity. What exactly is sexual attraction and what is it like to go through life not experiencing it? What does asexuality reveal about gender roles, about romance and consent, and the pressures of society? This accessible examination of asexuality shows that the issues that aces face–confusion around sexual activity, the intersection of sexuality and identity, navigating different needs in relationships–are the same conflicts that nearly all of us will experience. Through a blend of reporting, cultural criticism, and memoir, the misconceptions around the “A” of LGBTQIA and invites everyone to rethink pleasure and intimacy.Journalist Angela Chen creates her path to understanding her own asexuality with the perspectives of a diverse group of asexual people. Vulnerable and honest, these stories include a woman who had blood tests done because she was convinced that “not wanting sex” was a sign of serious illness, and a man who grew up in a religious household and did everything “right,” only to realize after marriage that his experience of sexuality had never been the same as that of others. Disabled aces, aces of color, gender-nonconforming aces, and aces who both do and don’t want romantic relationships all share their experiences navigating a society in which a lack of sexual attraction is considered abnormal. Chen’s careful cultural analysis explores how societal norms limit understanding of sex and relationships and celebrates the breadth of sexuality and queerness.

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann: Alice’s last girlfriend, Margo, ended things when Alice confessed she’s asexual. Now Alice is sure she’s done with dating… and then she meets Takumi. She can’t stop thinking about him or the rom-com-grade romance feelings she did not ask for. When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library-employee badge, Alice has to decide if she’s willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated– or understood. [A bisexual POC protagonist; adorable fluffy, easy and sweet read].

All Out: The No-longer-secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages: Take a journey through time and genres and discover a past where queer figures live, love, and shape the world around them. Seventeen of the best young adult authors across the queer spectrum have come together to create a collection of beautifully written diverse historical fiction for teens. [This features several different types of queer stories, from transexual freedom fighters, but also a very sweet asexual love story set in a seventies roller rink with a POC protagonist].

The Pride Guide: A Guide to Sexual and Social Health for LGBTQ Youth by Jo Lanford: Jo Langford offers a complete guide to sexual and social development, safety, and health for LGBTQ youth and those who love and support them. Written from a practical perspective, the author explores the realities of teen sexuality, particularly that of trans teens, and provides guidance and understanding for parents and kids alike. [Although this is a little rudimentary, I found it a great resource even in my twenties for someone coming out, or to slowly but carefully come out to those who may be uncomfortable or not understand asexuality, or not see it as a valid sexuality or lack thereof].

Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Katie Ormsbee: Natasha ‘Tash’ Zelenka has found herself and her amateur web series plucked from obscurity and thrust in the limelight. And who wouldn’t want fame and fortune? But along with the 40,000 new subscribers, the gushing tweets, and flashing Tumblr gifs, comes the pressure to deliver the best web series ever. As Tash struggles to combat the critics and her own doubts, she finds herself butting heads with her family and friends - the ones that helped make her show, Unhappy Families (a modern adaption of Anna Karenina, written by Tash’s eternal love Leo Tolstoy), what it is today. And when Unhappy Families is nominated for a prestigious award, Tash’s confusing cyber-flirtation with an Internet celeb suddenly has the potential to become something IRL if she can figure out how to tell him that she’s a romantic asexual. But her new relationship creates tension with her friend Paul since he thought Tash wasn’t interested in relationships ever. All Tash wants to think about is the upcoming award ceremony in Orlando, even though she’ll have to face all the friends she steamrolled to get there. But isn’t that just the price you pay for success?

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire: The story is set in a boarding school for teenagers who have passed through "doorways” into fantasy worlds only to be evicted back into the real world. It serves as something of a recovery center for boarders who find they no longer fit in, either in the “real” world or their own uncomprehending families. For a fortunate few it is just a way station until they can find their ways back to the worlds they do fit into; for others, it’s the least bleak choice in what may be a life-long exile. This unhappy ending for the students takes a terrifying turn when some of their number start turning up dead. A small group joins together in an attempt to expose the person committing these murders before it is too late to save the school, or even themselves.

The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality by Julie Sondra Decker: What if you weren’t sexually attracted to anyone?A growing number of people are identifying as asexual. They aren’t sexually attracted to anyone, and they consider it a sexual orientation—like gay, straight, or bisexual.Asexuality is the invisible orientation. Most people believe that “everyone” wants sex, that “everyone” understands what it means to be attracted to other people, and that “everyone” wants to date and mate. But that’s where asexual people are left out—they don’t find other people sexually attractive, and if and when they say so, they are very rarely treated as though that’s okay.When an asexual person comes out, alarming reactions regularly follow; loved ones fear that an asexual person is sick, or psychologically warped, or suffering from abuse. Critics confront asexual people with accusations of following a fad, hiding homosexuality, or making excuses for romantic failures. And all of this contributes to a discouraging master narrative: there is no such thing as “asexual.” Being an asexual person is a lie or an illness, and it needs to be fixed.In The Invisible Orientation, Julie Sondra Decker outlines what asexuality is, counters misconceptions, provides resources, and puts asexual people’s experiences in context as they move through a very sexualized world. It includes information for asexual people to help understand their orientation and what it means for their relationships, as well as tips and facts for those who want to understand their asexual friends and loved ones [A good beginning place to start if you’re considering your asexuality. Also provides reassurances about the most common stereotypes concerning asexuality].

Switchback by Danika Stone: Vale loves to hike, but kind of hates her classmates. Ash is okay with his classmates, but kind of hates the outdoors. So, needless to say they are both fairly certain that the overnight nature hike with their PE class is going to be a hellish experience. But when they get separated from the group during a storm, they have worse things to worry about than bullies and blisters.Lost in the Canadian wilderness with limited supplies, caught in dangerous weather conditions, and surrounded by deadly wildlife, it’s going to take every bit of strength, skill, and luck they can muster to survive.

Not Your Backup (Sidekick Squad #3) by C.B. Lee: Emma Robledo has a few more responsibilities that the usual high school senior, but then again, she and her friends have left school to lead a fractured Resistance movement against a corrupt Heroes League of Heroes. Emma is the only member of a supercharged team without powers, and she isn’t always taken seriously. A natural leader, Emma is determined to win this battle, and when that’s done, get back to school. As the Resistance moves to challenge the League, Emma realizes where her place is in this fight: at the front. [This is a third in a series, but the main character has recently come out as asexual at the end of the last book].

If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann: Winnie is living her best fat girl life and is on her way to her favorite place—Misty Haven and her granny’s diner, Goldeen’s. With her family and ungirlfriend at her side, she has everything she needs for one last perfect summer before starting college in the fall.…until she becomes Misty Haven’s Summer Queen.Newly crowned, Winnie is forced to take center stage at a never-ending list of community royal engagements. Almost immediately, she discovers that she’s deathly afraid of it all: the spotlight, the obligations, and the way her Summer King wears his heart, humor, and honesty on his sleeve.To salvage her summer Winnie must conquer her fears, defy expectations, and be the best Winnie she knows she can be—regardless of what anyone else thinks of her. [Another POC protagonist and promises to be a cute summer read in the vein of Gilmore Girls. Claire Kann’s first book was the adorable ‘Lets Talk About Love’ which reads as an asexual rom-com. This also promises to be absolutely precious.].

Immoral Code by Lillian Clark: Ocean’s 8 meets The Breakfast Club in this fast-paced, multi-perspective story about five teens determined to hack into one billionaire absentee father’s company to steal tuition money.For Nari, aka Narioka Diane, aka hacker digital alter ego “d0l0s,” it’s college and then a career at “one of the big ones,” like Google or Apple. Keagan, her sweet, sensitive boyfriend, is happy to follow her wherever she may lead. Reese is an ace/aro visual artist with plans to travel the world. Santiago is off to Stanford on a diving scholarship, with very real Olympic hopes. And Bellamy? Physics genius Bellamy is admitted to MIT–but the student loan she’d been counting on is denied when it turns out her estranged father–one Robert Foster–is loaded. Nari isn’t about to let her friend’s dreams be squashed by a deadbeat billionaire, so she hatches a plan to steal just enough from Foster to allow Bellamy to achieve her goals.

Loveless by Alice Oseman: The fourth novel from the phenomenally talented Alice Oseman - one of the most authentic and talked-about voices in contemporary YA.It was all sinking in. I'd never had a crush on anyone. No boys, no girls, not a single person I had ever met. What did that mean? Georgia has never been in love, never kissed anyone, never even had a crush - but as a fanfic-obsessed romantic she's sure she'll find her person one day. As she starts university with her best friends, Pip and Jason, in a whole new town far from home, Georgia's ready to find romance, and with her outgoing roommate on her side and a place in the Shakespeare Society, her 'teenage dream' is in sight. But when her romance plan wreaks havoc amongst her friends, Georgia ends up in her own comedy of errors, and she starts to question why love seems so easy for other people but not for her. With new terms thrown at her - asexual, aromantic - Georgia is more uncertain about her feelings than ever. Is she destined to remain loveless? Or has she been looking for the wrong thing all along? This wise, warm and witty story of identity and self-acceptance sees Alice Oseman on towering form as Georgia and her friends discover that true love isn't limited to romance.

The Last Eight by Laura Pohl: Extinction was just the beginning in this thrilling, post-apocalyptic debut, perfect for fans of The 5th Wave series. Clover Martinez has always been a survivor, which is the reason she isn’t among the dead when aliens invade and destroy Earth as she knows it.Clover is convinced she’s the only one left until she hears a voice on the radio urging her to go to the former Area 51. When she arrives, she’s greeted by a band of misfits who call themselves The Last Teenagers on Earth.Only they aren’t the ragtag group of heroes Clover was expecting. The seven strangers seem more interested in pretending the world didn’t end than fighting back, and Clover starts to wonder if she was better off alone. But when she finds a hidden spaceship within the walls of the compound, she doesn’t know what to believe…or who to trust. [I’ve read there is also aromantic representation in this book too, so helpful for the Aros out there as well ♥]

LGBTQIA+ Comics with Possible Asexual Representation/ Influence:

Lumberjanes: At Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types, things are not what they seem. Three-eyed foxes. Secret caves. Anagrams. Luckily, Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley are five rad, butt-kicking best pals determined to have an awesome summer together…and they’re not gonna let a magical quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! [I LOVE THESE COMICS SO MUCH I SWEAR THEY’RE SO DAMN CUTE ♥]

The Backstagers: When Jory transfers to the private, all-boys school St. Genesius, he figures joining the stage crew would involve a lot of just fetching props and getting splinters. To his pleasant surprise, he discovers there’s a door backstage that leads to different worlds, and all of the stagehands know about it!All the world’s a stage…but what happens behind the curtain is pure magic!

And Lastly, Extra Online Resources For Asexuality:

UCLA LGBT Campus Resource Center: Asexuality

The Trevor Project on Asexuality

Campus Pride: Asexuality

The Canadian Centre for Gender Diversity and Awareness

Asexuality needs to be a recognized as its own, unique sexual orientation, Canadian experts say

Asexuality.org

A Lot of Ace (An Ace Positivity Blog on Tumblr ♥)

#asexuality #masterpost #lgbt+#lgbtqia+#queer masterpost #queer rights #queer history #queer literature #you're welcome #but honestly I love everything on here besides the shows which I actually haven't seen outright #but it's good to know those are out there #also I need to read the newest books of lumberjanes and backstagers #because they're adorable #personal #a-lot-of-ace

10 notes · View notes

cottontail20 · 4 years ago

Text

Children Of Iron, Chapter 17: Drone Strike

Summary: Drones raze London.

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20323687/chapters/60673021

Vision managed to catch Peter, snagging him by the back of his suit just before he hit the ground.

"Whoa!"

"Are you alright, Peter?" Vision asked.

"Yeah" Peter nodded. "Thanks, Vision. That would have hurt.." By now, the whole illusion had faded, while a large number of drones had turned their attention to Peter and Vision. "Uh.. I think he might be on to us.." Peter took off at a run, dodging the shots of some drones, while using others for anchors from which to jump and swing.

"I think so too" Vision followed close behind him, firing at the drones. --

Meanwhile, poor Happy had had to set aside his panic over losing Wanda to focus on the task of picking up the kids. Finally spotting them in person, he brought the jet in to land near the Tower of London, and rushed to intercept the panicking kids as they fled through the crowds.

"Ned!" He called when he spotted them.

"Happy!" cried Ned, relieved, while MJ, Betty and Flash looked confused.

"I've gotta get you guys out of here" said Happy. "Quick, get on the jet!"

"Who are you?!" Yelled MJ, not about to get on a jet with a stranger without question, even if it seemed like Ned knew him.

"I work with Spider-man, okay? Now you've got to get on that Jet!"

"You work for Spider-man?" gasped Flash, awestruck.

"I work with Spider-man" Happy replied exasperatedly, "Not for Spider-man. Now.." Before he could repeat his order that they get on the jet, an explosion behind them signalled that the jet had been destroyed by missiles.

Even worse, more missiles were heading straight for them.

"Oh shit.." said Ned.

"We're gonna die!" Flash wailed.

Happy, unfortunately, could not comfort the boy, because it seemed quite certain that they were, in fact, about to die.

Just as all hope seemed lost, Wanda landed in front of them in a flash of scarlet,raising her hands to halt the missile's descent and hurl it high into the air, where the resulting explosion would do less damage.

"That was close.." Wanda panted.

"You're.. You're the Scarlet Witch!" Flash gaped at her.

"I am. Is anyone hurt?"

The kids shook their heads mutely.

"Good" Wanda smiled, and, still maintaining her affinity for the slightly weird kids of the world even in the midst of the current chaos, turned to her young saviour from the other night and asked, "Are you alright, MJ?"

"Um.." MJ blinked, surprised. "A little wigged out, but yeah, I guess I'm okay."

"You know the Scarlet Witch?" Flash gasped.

"Kinda.."

"Oh, MJ and I are very good friends" Wanda smirked, before turning her attention back to the the task at hand. "Happy, we need to get these kids somewhere safe."

"I know. I was trying to round them all up onto the jet, But.." He gestured to it's smouldering remains.

"Right" Wanda frowned, looking around. "Okay, new plan.. everyone into the tower!" She took off at a run, Happy and the kids following without question. --

Elsewhere, Peter and Vision were still locked in battle with the drones. Vision was beginning to feel strangely drained. It was something that had happened now and then since his resurrection, if he was away from Wanda for any period of time, but it hadn't occured to him that it could be a problem today. He didn't mention this information to Peter. The poor boy had enough to worry about.

Peter looked around, at the drones still causing chaos, civilians fleeing.. But he couldn't let Mysterio get away with all this.

"Vision, you can fly, right? Could you go up and wrangle Beck until I get back up there?"

"Of course" Vision took off, still not mentioning the drained feeling to Peter.

Peter dodged another few drone shots, taking shelter behind a car as he decided to check in with Happy.

"Happy, say something!" He panted. "Please, let me know you're alive!"

"I'm here, I'm here" Happy's voice crackled through the communicator. "Wanda too. We've got your friends." --

"Oh, thank god!"

"Wanda bought us some time.." Happy glanced nervously towards the door of the tower, which was beginning to spark as the drones tried to break in from the other side.

"..But not much" Wanda grimly finished Happy's sentence for him, making sure to keep the panicked children behind her.

At some point, MJ had snatched a mace from one of The Tower's displayed suits of armour. She looked as terrified as the others on the surface, but Wanda admired the girl's bravery. --

"I'm trying to get to Beck, but I can't shake these drones!" Peter replied. "I sent Vision after him!" He took advantage of an explosion that sent the car he'd been hiding behind into the air, leaping from it and continuing his way upwards, leaping and swinging from various other bits of debris. "Whoa, I think I've got it!" --

"Take your time, Peter.." Vision called into the communicator, a little breathless, firing beams at stray drones as he went. "I'm almost to Beck, we've got this under control." --

Wanda, while focused on protecting Peter's friends, frowned a little. Shedidn't like the breathlessnes in Vision's voice. Something wasn't right.. --

When Vision finally caught up to Beck, he saw him working madly, barking instructions to his team while also keeping track of the drones he was sending after Spider-Man, and all his little friends. Finally getting a confirmed lock on Peter, a wicked grin spread over the villain's face, as he prepared to order a missile strike.

"Gotcha now, Spider-Man.."

"I don't think so."

Beck tried to hide his surprise at Vision's sudden appearance.

"Hey there, Vision the super-bot. Supposedly one of Stark's greatest inventions, but then.. You're not really all his, are you?" Beck taunted, wicked grin still in place. "You were an accident."

"Maybe" Vision glared at Beck. "But there's enough of him in me to help stop you."

Beck's eyes narrowed.

"We'll see about that.."

#spider-man #spider-man far from home #spiderman far from home #far from home fix it #peter parker #Scarlet Witch #wanda maximoff #vision mcu #mysterio

5 notes · View notes

rainhalydia · 5 years ago

Text

omgellendean respondeu seu post “The character game: Theon Geyjoy (because I can't resist and need more...”

So true about Esgred, lol. How did Asha even come up with this, like how someone decides to seduce their little brother for the lulz? Re Genna, I have a feeling that GRRM invented her and her backstory only in AFfC and that's why there are no mentions of her from before — even though she supposedly looked after Tywin's kids after Joanna's death. Downsides of being a "gardener", I guess.

I can fully accept that explanation for Genna. I’m not even angry about it, he had a lot going on so it makes sense that he only really started thinking about her as a full character when she had to show up on page (never mind that he knows everything about all Targaryens ever...). To be fair, to the casual reader who doesn’t spend ages of their lives obsessing about those novels, she reads as a complete character well enough, she works as intended. It’s only for die hard, nitpicking fans like me that those things stand out.

About Theon and Asha... sorry in advance for the rant below :)

My thoughts on the whole thing: to start with, I don’t think Asha recognized Theon just by looking at him. It would be certainly more poetic that way, but when they met he’s at the port, if I recall, he’s got nothing to do so he’s looking at his ship, he dresses the way he does, in the colors of their house... it’s no stretch to think that’s why she recognized him. She was looking for him, probably asked around where he was, someone might have pointed him out, etc.

That said, I don’t think she counsciously thought about any of this, she just thought to herself “of course I know my brother” and she didn’t like it when he didn’t recognize her back. I think that’s partly why the prank turns so nasty so fast. I might be misremembering the order of events, but she goads him on and gropes him before he puts his foot in his mouth about their family. So what is she even punishing him for?

The thing is, she had all the power in that exchange. For all that her position is precarious as a female heir, at that point she had all the cards, as she later tells Theon: she is the king’s favorite kid, she is an established captain, she is well-known in the islands, she was raised there. Theon has nothing of that going on for him. She could have cut it right after the beginning and still had a laugh at his expense. Say, instead of “the lordling has a sweet tongue” or whatever she says, she could have gone with “is this the way to greet your sister? lol” and they’d have a whole different interaction.

She says she did it to know the person Theon was - but what she gets is Theon venting all his resentments at the first willing ear he found. This is not the whole of him as a person. This might be my own interpretation, but seriously, knowing Theon’s and Asha’s personalities, in what world do people believe she was actually in some danger from him? He might want to marry her off, but come on. Asha only had to slap him once and he wouldn’t. She’s his older sister, he has all those belonging issues and has wanted a hug since he put the first feet in the island.

I really think if she had presented herself as Asha to him (as the loving if teasing sister she is), his reaction would have been completely different but not less genuine, you know? One of the first thing he does after arriving is asking about her (after asking about his father and mother and an honor guard, lol Theon, you gotta love him).

Instead, in the guise of “knowing him”, she allienated him further. It’s a testment to how much they love and care about each other (and to how fucked up they are) that they’re friendly at the end of that chapter, but instead of being someone he can count on, she established herself as his competition and that informs pretty much all their other interactions in aCoK, to the point that at his most paranoid he’s like “Asha wants me dead too”. It’s irrational, but it’s not baseless, you know? He does need to be dead for Asha’s rule to be uncontested.

It’s not that I think Asha doesn’t have good reason to be suspicious or cautious when they met, more that she took things waaaay to far. She’s generally the more well-adjusted one and she needs to be aggressive with the men of the islands to assert herself, but yeah, not the way to treat the baby brother you still love if you want any good relationship with him. That she feels like she had to do this, that she can’t come to an agreement with Theon for rulling (which, she’d known his investment there is all about being loved and respected, not about really wanting to rule anything if only they had a real conversation at that point) says a lot about how insecure and shaky she really feels.

And later on, she doesn’t especifically think about this incident, but she regrets how she couldn’t convince Theon to leave Winterfell with her, which is deep down how she didn’t have a rapport with him however much she tried in the end, she blames herself, and geez Asha, I wonder where this started?

In conclusion, fuck Balon Greyjoy and his parenting.

#omgellendean #this is the original answer!#typos and all!#i sent it to queue #instead of saving it in my drafts #because I was in a hurry!#not tumblr's fault after all #just mine #still i'm very happy because i had already forgotten all my points #so i'll take it

7 notes · View notes

darks-ink · 5 years ago

Text

What A Nice Surprise CH.8

When will my linebreaks return from the war? Also more Valerie, whoo hoo, and a short appearance by Technus.

First Chapter - Previous Chapter - Next Chapter AO3 - FFnet

---

The Ghost Zone was dreary as always. Thick green ectoplasm coiled and misted, forming nebulous clouds that Danny easily passed through. His destination was a lair he’d never visited; he only knew where it was by chance. He’d seen the ghost exit it once before, while he had been fighting Skulker, and evidence suggested that it really was that ghosts lair.

And if not… well, it wouldn’t be the first time that he’d made a fool out of himself.

The door, exceedingly simple for the ghost it supposedly belonged to, appeared in front of Danny. He paused for a moment, hesitant. Then he braced himself. It had to happen. Jazz had really hit it off with Dora, but he couldn’t have her go into the Zone so often to visit her. And Sidney, too, would likely get along well with the two of them. The phones needed to be made, needed to work.

He knocked.

The door opened, a green-skinned ghost with a white mullet appearing in the opening.

“Ghost-Child?” Technus asked, frowning behind his glasses. “What are you doing here? How did you even find me?”

“I saw you leave here once, while fighting Skulker.” He shrugged, fidgeting with the edge of his glove. “I, um. Heard that you were working on getting phones working here? And I wanted to help, if I could.”

Technus eyed him, probably trying to determine his genuineness. Then he floated aside, gesturing for Danny to enter. “Very well! But, Ghost-Child, do you know anything about tech besides how to destroy it?”

“Eh, not really.” Danny grimaced. No, unless fixing the Ghost Portal per accident counted, he didn’t have much experience with it. “But I have some earphones my parents invented. When we tested them recently they worked across dimensions, so I thought they might be useful to you.”

Then Danny shrugged. “Plus I might be able to get you material by buying it or taking it from my parents, so you don’t have to come and steal it.”

The full ghost barked out a laugh. “Very well! I will gladly take a look at this tech of yours.”

Nodding, Danny dug out the extra pair of Fenton Phones from his pockets. He had originally taken an extra pair to give to Valerie, but after their recent confrontation she hadn’t exactly warmed up to him. Since no further truces had formed, he might as well sacrifice them for this.

Technus took them from his hand, turning them this way and that. “And they worked across dimensions? These don’t look like anything special.”

“Uh, yeah. We tested them, my parents on one side and me on the other, and they worked just as well as when we were all in the Zone. And that was with three of them in the Human World and me in the Zone.”

Nodding, Technus floated over to the closest desk. “Well, let’s see how your parents managed it, then. And I assume you’ll want access to the tech too, in return for helping?”

“I mean, ideally I would offer this tech in return for you no longer attacking Amity, but I don’t think that that’s gonna happen.” Danny floated closer as well, keeping an eye on Technus as he disassembled one of the earpieces. “So yeah, I’ll settle for some of the tech so I can stay in touch with the Zone-bound ghosts.”

“What, your human family and friends not good enough for you?” Technus didn’t look up at Danny, but his tone seemed light and joking. Oh, if only Danny was better at reading people he wasn’t as familiar with. “You need to have ghostly allies too?”

“Well, I am half ghost and not just human,” he joked back, hoping he was reading the atmosphere right. “And I’ve had my current allies for a while, you know? Wulf and Dora and Frostbite, among others.”

Technus stilled for a moment. Then he jolted back into action. “You know Frostbite of the Far Frozen? And Queen Dorathea of Aragon?”

“Uh, yeah.” Danny floated to the other side of the desk so he could watch Technus and the earphones simultaneously. “Dora is a close friend of mine, and Frostbite and his people worship me for defeating Pariah Dark. Why? Are they that well known in the Zone?”

The other ghost looked up from the gadgets to stare Danny in the eye. “Ghost-Child, your ignorance never fails to impress me.” Then his head turned down again as he continued working.

“What, you’re just gonna say that and not explain?” Danny’s spectral tail twitched in irritation, aura brightening slightly. “Should I have mentioned Pandora as well? I mean, it’s not like any of them are like Clockwork, right?”

Snorting, Technus shook his head. “Clockwork is just a legend, child.”

“Legendarily annoying, you mean.” Danny rolled onto his side, propping his head up on his elbow which rested on nothing. “But I was serious about those guys being my allies, you know? Frostbite taught me how to use my ice powers, even.”

“Yes yes, of course he did.” Technus glanced between some of the parts he had just pried loose. “Between their tech and these gadgets of your parents, I could’ve made functioning phones ages ago.”

“Really?” Danny blinked, eyeing the ghost suspiciously. “If it’s just that easy, we can go to the Far Frozen right now. They’ll want to keep a close eye on you to make sure you don’t steal anything else, but otherwise it’ll be fine.”

The tech ghost looked up, eye-lenses wide. “You were serious? Yes, yes, let us go immediately.” He dumped the partially-deconstructed Fenton Phone on his worktable, pushing himself up into the air.

“I don’t joke about these things,” Danny said, half-offended. “I really am allied with these ghosts, and friends with most of them as well.”

Technus nodded along as they exited the lair. Then he paused, frowning. “Wait. So what about Clockwork? He’s just a Ghost Zone legend, right? How did you even hear about him?”

“He kept sending ghosts from the future to fight me,” Danny explained with a lopsided grin. “Eventually I followed one of those to Clockwork’s lair, got into a bit of a fight with him, and fell through one of his viewing screens into the future. Found my way back, took out the bad future me that came along, and apparently that was Clockwork’s plan all along.”

Huffing out a breath, Technus shook his head. “Jeez, child. That sounds too crazy to be true, but even crazier to have made up.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Danny laughed. “Try living it.”

“Not exactly alive anymore.” Technus slowed, letting Danny take the lead. “How far is the Far Frozen anyway?”

“Well…” Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, it’s quite a ways, actually. When I visited with my parents last week, it took over an hour at the Specter Speeder’s highest speed.”

Technus glanced over at Danny, narrowing his eyes. Then he sighed. “And you are, once again, serious. You’re lucky that the Far Frozen has such attractive technology and that I’ve wanted to take a look at it for decades.”

Danny’s grin crept back onto his face. “Gotta get some good luck to balance out all the bad, sometimes.”

“That’s depressing, Phantom.”

---

“Alright,” Technus mumbled as a bit of tech clicked into place. “This should’ve done the trick.”

Danny looked up from his book – English homework for Lancer – and at his fellow ghost. “So how did it work, again?”

“It’s a chip. It needs to be installed in a phone for it to be able to connect to any other phone carrying the chip.” He held it out to Danny, demonstratively. “I’ve got two of these so we can test them. After that I can easily replicate it to make more.”

“So I’ll still need to equip everyone with phones.” Danny took the small device from Technus, turning it around in his hand. It was small. Smaller than his fingernail, even. He glanced away from it, back at Technus. “Do you have a phone to test this with?”

The ghost scoffed. “Who do you take me for, Ghost-Child? Of course I have a mobile phone!”

“Right, of course, I should’ve known.” Danny shook his head, using his free hand to pull out his phone. “So where should I plug this thing in?”

“Just phase it in. It’ll work even while intangible.” Technus shrugged at Danny’s incredulous look. “Listen, most phones don’t have a whole lot of free space, yeah? Easiest way to make it as compatible as possible is to make it work while intangible.”

Danny paused, thinking that over for a moment. Then he sighed, phasing the chip into his phone. “Yeah, alright, I guess that that’s fair.”

Just then his phone beeped, and he looked down at the screen. A new text message from an unknown number, simply reading ‘hello world’. He glanced over to Technus, who was now holding a phone as well.

“Really?” he asked, unamused. “Was that really the most creative thing you could think of?”

Technus clicked his tongue. “You disappoint me, Phantom. Your little tech-buddy would’ve gotten the joke, I’m sure.”

Rolling his eyes, Danny stuck his phone back into his pocket. “Yeah, sure, whatever makes you feel better. I’ll send you a text when I make it back to the Human World, and then we can try calling after that?”

“Of course, Ghost-Child.” Technus sat down on the edge of his worktable. “But go and hurry, yes? I get bored waiting.”

“I’m not even gone yet!” Danny protested, floating over to the door. “But, just for you, I’ll fly at my top speed, alright?”

He didn’t hear whether Technus replied or not, as he’d already left the lair. True to word, he zipped to his parents’ Portal at top speed. He really hoped it had worked. Convincing Frostbite to let Technus access the Far Frozen tech hadn’t been as easy as he’d thought.

At least Technus himself seemed to have warmed up to Danny, now. Apparently his various Ghost Zone allies were too threatening for Technus to risk opposing. Well, if it worked, it worked.

Turning invisible just before he left the Zone, and intangible immediately after, Danny passed through his house unnoticed. He and Technus had decided beforehand that it would be best for him to put some distance between the phone and the Portal, as that might influence the reach as well.

He paused high above Amity Park, looking over the city. His city. With a grin, he pulled his phone from his pocket. First registering Technus in his contacts, he send a text back.

‘made it to amity,’ he simply said.

After a few long moments, his phone rang. Grinning wider, he answered it.

“Ghost-Child!” Technus said, his voice crackling like static – even worse so over the phone than in real life, but that might not be a side-effect from the chip but from Technus himself. “It worked, just like I said, didn’t it!”

“Uh, yeah. Your voice is kinda static-y, but you tend to sound like that while possessing technology as well so I don’t think that the chip is to blame for that.”

“Ha! No, it is not. My technology is flawless, Phantom! I, unfortunately, am not. But I will be, eventually!” Technus paused for a moment, a heavy rustling of his clothes filling the line instead. “I will have as many chips as you want for you tomorrow. Bring me a laptop like promised and I’ll leave your town alone.”

“And the rest of the Human World as well?” Danny’s grin fell a little as his eyes narrowed. Count on Technus to try for a loophole.

“Yes yes, of course. I might come visit Amity, but I will let you know beforehand and I will behave well,” the ghost promised.

“Alright. I’ll come by tomorrow, then.” Danny’s ears picked up an unfortunately familiar hum in the distance. “Anyway, I gotta go, Technus. I’ll get you that laptop, yeah?”

He hung up before the other could reply, just as Valerie entered his view.

“Phantom,” she growled, a gun forming in her hands. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Convincing Technus to stop attacking Amity Park,” Danny said casually as he pocketed his phone again. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

“I’m not falling for your charade, Phantom.” The pink elements of her gun started glowing, clearly preparing a shot. Danny got the feeling that she was glaring at him from behind her helmet. “Now release your hold on the Fentons and leave.”

“I’m not doing anything to the Fentons!” he protested, throwing his hands up. “Just because they’ve realized that I’m not the bad guy doesn’t mean that I did anything!”

“You’re just leading them to their deaths!” Valerie tensed, her fingers visibly clenching around the gun despite the thick armor around them. “And then before we know it, they’ll be gone or dead and you will be to blame!”

“If I wanted them dead I would’ve done it already!” Danny snapped before he could really think about it. Knowing he couldn’t take back his words, he continued at a quieter tone. “I’ve been in the Ghost Zone with them twice already. If I really did want them dead, wouldn’t that have been the perfect moment for it?”

Valerie snorted. “Like you ghosts are logical in any way. You’re not fooling me, Phantom.”

“I think that you said ‘I absolutely refuse you ever believe you,’ wrong.” He lowered his arms, crossing them instead. “But I’ve got better things to do. See you hopefully never, Val.”

Turning himself invisible, he dodged to the side in case she reflexively pulled the trigger. Sometimes it was hard to believe that the two of them had ever worked together. Multiple times, even!

He shook his head, flying away from her before she could get out her ghost scanner. Buying the laptop for Technus – and phones for his allies – would cost most of his saved money, but it would be worth it.

Now he just had to convince Jazz to let him phase the chip into her phone.

---

Danny left Sidney’s new phone in their shared locker at the start of the day. He had already added his own phone number, but otherwise the contact list was saddeningly empty. Soon, hopefully, Jazz’s number would join as well.

During lunch, his phone buzzed with a new text. Tucker and Sam looked confused, but didn’t say anything. Most of their lunches were spent in silence nowadays, anyway.

He supposed that they’d grown apart. One day, maybe, he could mend this relationship, too.

The text was, of course, from Sidney. ‘you really got me a phone?’

‘of course I did!’ he texted back. ‘has that new chip as well, so it works in both dimensions.’

‘holy moley!’ Sidney answered. ‘thank you! it is much appreciated!’

‘thank me when I convince jazz to get hers chipped as well.’

Sidney’s answer was a happy-faced emoticon. Danny felt his lip quirk into a smile, but caught Sam’s deepening frown from the corner of his eye and felt the happiness disappear again. Why couldn’t things just be easy for once?

Instead of explaining himself he took a big bite of his lunch. He had no excuses. None that wouldn’t involve a lot of lies, that wouldn’t just hurt them more.

When had his life gotten so complicated?

---

“Phantom,” Valerie said, sounding more resigned than angry. “What are you doing now?”

“Making imaginary friends,” he replied, dryly. He hadn’t looked away from the phones in his hands. There were several more lying scattered around him.

“Why.”

“Well, in actuality I’m working on being able to communicate with my friends and allies without having to travel between dimensions.” He confirmed the contact on the new phone, then looked at Valerie. “This way my friends can contact me without having to come to Amity if there’s trouble. Unless you prefer it when they come here?”

“So one of these,” she gestured at the wide spread of cheap cellphones, “is yours?”

“Uh, yeah.” Danny flipped the phone in his left hand closed, laying it down on the rooftop he was sitting on. “But don’t worry, these are all totally legit. I bought them with actual legal money.”

She snorted. “Yeah, uh huh. Like I would believe that.”

“If I was stealing them, would I really have gone for the cheapest phones I could get?” He raised a brow at her, wishing he could see her face to read her expression. “Come on. Do you really think that badly of me, Red?”

“Worse, actually, but good try.” She shifted, one hand resting on her hip and the other hanging loosely. It would look like a relaxed position if it wasn’t for the gun holsters attached to her hips. “Give me your number.”

“Wow, I thought you weren’t into me?” He wiggled his eyebrows. Hearing her growl, he raised his hands placatingly. “Yeesh, calm down, just joking. But, uh, no can do.”

“Why not?” she asked, voice still a low growl.

“Well, um.” Come on Fenton, think! You can’t give her your number, she’ll recognize it as Danny Fenton’s. Shoot, he really should’ve bought a phone just for Phantom. “Well, it’s… You see…”

An idea wormed its way into his brain, then, and he smiled. “The problem is that these don’t actually work with normal phones. They use a special chip, so they can only connect with phones that also have that chip. Not with actual mobile providers. Sorry, Red.”

She stood, unmoving, staring at him. Then she relaxed a smidgen. “Alright, fine. I’m willing to believe that, for now. But if I found out you lied to me…” she let the threat hang.

“I gotcha, I gotcha!” He glanced down at the phones. Only one more needed setting up, but that was Wulf’s and he had no way to reach the ghost anyway. Looking back at Valerie, he said, “I’m about done here, anyway. I’ll go and get out of your hair, deliver these to the Ghost Zone. If you run into Wulf, can you let me know or send him to me?”

“Who the hell is Wulf?” She crossed her arms, unimpressed. “Please tell me that you didn’t name your dog Wulf.”

“Nah.” Danny flapped a hand, using his telekinesis to gather the phones again. “Wulf named himself. He’s more werewolf-y. Big, with black fur and green eyes. Huge claws. Can rip holes into reality to create portals between this world and the Ghost Zone.” He shot her a lopsided grin. “Nothing special. You probably won’t run into him, but you never know with that guy.”

“There are ghosts that can create their own portals?” Valerie asked, apparently focusing on that specific bit. Danny hoped that she had heard the rest, too. “That’s not a common ability, right?”

“Nah, no worries.” He pocketed all the phones, thanking his parents for the many surprisingly roomy pockets on his belt. “Wulf is one of the few ghosts I know who can do it. And they’re usually not malevolent – they have no reason to cause trouble since they can avoid unwanted contact much more easily.”

Valerie shook her head. “Somehow, Phantom, every thing I learn about your kind just makes me more worried instead of less.”

“It’s a familiar feeling,” he assured her with a grin. “Trust me, I’m still learning more and more myself. Anyway, thanks for not shooting me, Red. See you around.”

“I hope not,” Valerie muttered as he flew off.

---

It was, once again, the weekend. Danny rung the doorbell, then phased into his own house, dropping his invisibility.

“Oh, Phantom!” Jazz looked up from where she was sitting in the living room, reading a book. “Come to kidnap my parents again?”

“Eh, not really.” He shrugged, floating closer. “A while ago we did some tests with my abilities, but we never did all of them, so I thought we could finish them today.” Then he curled his hand around his chin, in a thoughtful look. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you as well.”

“Me?” Jazz asked, intrigued. She put down her book, turning to face him fully. “What about?”

“As you might’ve heard, we’ve been working on getting phones to work in the Ghost Zone.” He sat down on the arm of the couch, his boots resting on the seat. “And, in part thanks to your parents, we did it! Dora really enjoyed your talk, so she was hoping to share phone numbers so you could talk more.”

“Oh! Yes, sure.” Jazz fished her phone out, flipping it open. “What’s her number?”

Danny made a face. “Well, it’s not quite that easy.” He pulled out a chip from his pocket – the last one that hadn’t been connected to a phone. “See, the phones can only connect with each other if they all have this special chip in them. It needs to be phased into a phone – your phone.”

“Alright.” She held out her phone. “If it won’t do any damage, go and phase it into my phone, then.”

“You sure?” he asked, taking the phone from her hand already.

“I trust you, Phantom.” She sat back. “If you say it won’t do any harm, it won’t.”

His lip quirked into a smile. “Thanks.” The chip was phased into her phone, and he handed it back. “I… I really appreciate that. Your trust, I mean.”

“Of course.” She glanced down at her phone, then back up at him. “Say, does Sidney have a phone as well? Since he spends most of his time around here?”

“I got him one too, yeah.” He smiled knowingly. “Let me guess, you want his number as well?”

“Definitely.” She nodded. “Say, have they ever met?”

“No, not yet. I’ve been planning to introduce them, but I haven’t had a chance to, yet.” He leaned back, his weight resting on his hands. “Why? You hoping to introduce them, too?”

“I think they would get along well,” she admitted, a somewhat hesitant grin on her face.

“And being a group of friends will be better for everyone involved as well?” Danny suggested, knowing that that was what she was planning for. Or so he hoped. It was definitely what he wanted to happen.

“Uh… yeah. Absolutely.” She nodded a little too enthusiastically. “And, um, Phantom?”

“Yeah?” He stopped digging through his pockets for the sheet of paper he’d used to write down the numbers for Sidney and Dora.

“If I give you my number, can you spread it among the ghosts?” She fidgeted with her hands, as if she’d suddenly gotten shy over asking. “When I met Sidney, he said something that really hit me. That happy people don’t become ghosts, that most ghosts have trauma regarding their life – or death.”

“I mean, I guess so…” Danny said, uncertainly. “But how does that relate to…?”

“Well… these ghosts don’t seem to have any psychiatrists or anything,” she started to explain, haltingly. “So I thought… I can help Sidney, and I can help Dora. But there are so many more ghosts that could use my help, too. And if phones become more widespread, they could text or call me for advice, or ask to drop by. And then I can do my best for them, too.”

Danny blinked, surprised. He wasn’t sure why this had caught him off-guard so badly; Jazz had certainly seemed intent on doing this for every ghost she’d encountered so far. “Um, sure, I guess? But you might want to tell your parents as well, if you plan on having ghosts come by.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess you’re right.” She stood up suddenly. “Come on, they’re in the lab. They might not have heard the doorbell, otherwise they would’ve come up already.”

Floating up from the couch, Danny trailed after his sister. “Say, not that I don’t appreciate you wanting to help ghosts, but… Are you sure you’re ready to deal with them? Especially ones that might’ve attacked Amity Park before?”

“Maybe not.” She shrugged, not looking at him. “But if I don’t try, who will?”

#danny phantom #dp fanfic #phanfic #phanfiction #dp fanfiction #fanfiction #danny fenton #valerie gray #jazz fenton #technus #he's got a first name but idk how its spelled off of the top of my head so eh #whos gonna search for him by full name anyway?#dark writes #what a nice surprise

33 notes · View notes