#that's basically what their fight on the bridge is meant to show

[sovamurka]

timebomb is one of the most interesting examples of "interplay of sex and violence" trope, and I don't think people are ready to talk about it yet 😶

[galedekarios]

seeing a post that basically confirmed the obvious disparity in content made me think more about a scene i would have liked to see with gale and that i've been thinking about for a while now.

i always felt a bit sad that his condition is so often treated as a joke by the fandom and to a lesser extent by the game itself. i always thought that this is partially down to the fact that we don't truly get so see gale actively be in pain due to his condition, other than brief glimpses and hints:

we do hear the urgency in his voice when he explains when and why he needs an artefact and the relief in his voice when the protag chooses to help him.

we see it, too, when he is afflicted by the arcane hunger condition:

we get glimpses of it when he consumes an artefact:

he mentions it, too, in his dialogues, but it's very much downplayed by gale or phrased in such a way that is meant to overplay it with humour, or perhaps even to distance himself from it by using metaphors:

that is until we actually get to see it through his eyes, if only for the briefest of moments:

*Its teeth, its claws, it's unstoppable as it digs through and becomes part of you. And gods, it is ever-hungry...*

gale also has an idle animation where he--quite often--reaches up to touch the orb, perhaps because it flares with pain, like an old wound is wont to do:

(gif by @bladeofavernus)

from the last conversation we have with gale, and after catching all of these little moments of things he says or does with how the orb affects him, we learn that consuming the magic from artefacts no longer has any effect at all. the only solution that tara and he were able to find no longer works:

it would scare him and imbalance him, and it would finally destabilise the orb, make it more volatile.

but what happens in the game after that? the orb becoming volatile enough for the artefacts to no longer have an effect has no consequences at all: you are able to do the tiefling party, all quests in the underdark, the entirety of the grymforge, and, should you choose to do so, the entirety of the mountain pass and rosymorn monastery without an incident at all or any mention of the condition itself/any discomfort or fear it might cause.

there's no urgency here, no follow-up, to what the narrative set up... and then we meet deus ex elminster and the orb is stabilised, and the urgency that came before literally is handwaved out of existence.

what i would have liked instead to happen--or at least to bridge the gap between the artefacts no longer working and elminster stabilising it to be used on mystra's behalf--is the following:

i think it would have been nice to have a scene with gale where we do get to see--on a much smaller scale--him losing control over the orb, have the protag and the companions see what he is trying desperately to keep contained within himself, what gnaws at him, what continues to haunt him.

it could happen perhaps after a particular gruelling and intense fight--and there are enough of that in the underdark and at the mountain pass. it could have been a ! conversation, providing both friendship and romance content.

have the orb act up after expending so much energy to manipulate the weave to the fullest of his abilities, have gale manage to reign it in, but barely, show that it takes a lot of power and effort for him to do so.

that it hurts, with none of gale's metaphors to hide behind or jokes to play it off.

have the audience truly see the gravity of what he is going through.

[incorrectbatfam]

I h3ad cannon athat all the batfam members have had/are still in their emo/goth phases.

Example:

Bruce dressed as a bat and punches criminals at night (I also head cannon that he listens to the rolling stones and MCR)

Anyways thoughts?

Also what were the other batfam members emo/goth phases like?

Dick: He was hella neurotic in his late Robin/early Nightwing days. That plus his mullet and guitar tells me he probably tried to live out of a used van he bought for $700 after a fight with Bruce only to come home a week later when someone knocked on his window.

Jason: He's the theater/classic lit goth. When he was younger he would read by the glow of a candelabra even though the lights work perfectly fine. Post-resurrection, he graduates to the biker anarchist who has no problem launching a molotov at a CEO's mansion.

Tim: He's from the 90s. He's sitting in that Y2K grunge-emo-punk gray area where his playlist is a mix of the Clash, Nirvana, and Green Day. He's coloring his hair with Kool-Aid, playing with makeup, ripping his own clothes, and talking about new songs on AOL.

Damian: He's aiming for dark academia, but that's hard to pull off if you know what American schools look like. He annotates the margins of his books with notes he thinks are insightful but are actually just basic observations. Also he listens to Imagine Dragons.

Duke: This kid isn't emo or goth, he is a punk through and through. Sassing the cops? Jumping off a bridge? Leading a ragtag vigilante team? If he wanted to, I bet he can pull off a leather jacket with some homemade spikes while blasting Bad Brains and Death.

Cullen: Canonically, he watches anime and Supernatural, and I've made a lot of Tumblr references with him. He's definitely your quintessential 2010s emo nerd—Black Parade, fandoms, the whole shabang. He also definitely followed Dan and Phil.

Stephanie: She strikes me as the early 2000s pop-punker—think MySpace and Avril Lavigne. She probably had a Not Like Other Girls phase that she quickly grew out of. I can see her cutting posters out of magazines and sneaking her MP3 under an oversized hoodie.

Cassandra: She canonically listens to Killswitch Engage, so I like to imagine what she was like as a baby metalhead. Maybe she thrifted a Pantera shirt and chopped her hair with safety scissors. And at concerts she's absolutely up front when the wall of death happens.

Barbara: I think she dabbled in a little bit of everything without ever outwardly expressing it. Her playlist is all over the board, from softer rock to screamo. She also experimented with makeup a little, like black lipstick, and is more involved in the activism side of things.

Harper: She's definitely industrial punk with a huge emphasis on the DIY aspect of the subculture. She strings soda tabs into chains, turns old screws into boot spikes, and even learned to give herself tattoos. She also absolutely has a drawer full of patch pants.

Carrie: She's a TikTok e-girl, leaning into the pinks and purples along with black and white. She turns fishnet leggings into gloves and has a bunch of animal ear headbands. She also listens to Melanie Martinez and Tame Impala regardless of if they count as alternative.

Kate: Queer people play a huge role in the punk scene and vice versa. I can absolutely see Kate jamming out to an early Pansy Division track or searching places like Bandcamp to support smaller indie artists. Also she has a jacket that says "Nazi punks fuck off."

Alfred: Before punk and its subgenres, Alfred was canonically a delinquent and in that day, delinquency meant gelled-up hair and moving like Elvis. The hair didn't work out for him, but he was able to catch one of the first shows Buddy Holly played in London.

Selina: Alt cultures are based on not having much and working with what you got. Selina would use the five-finger discount at big-box stores and save her money to support small businesses. She also went around listening to free local rock shows on Fridays.

Bruce: He listened to the Rolling Stones before, but his first real intro to the scene was a handmade zine he found on the floor at school. From there, he explored more underground artists and took up journaling as a way to vent his feelings. And then: Batman.

[saintship]

Can i request Reader being almost blown up on the mission and their face is almost completely burnt/scarred??😢When they wake up and see their red face covered in bandaids and oils they just break down and decide to wear a mask from now on. And Konig seeing them doesn't know what's going on until he accidentally notice how they pulled up their mask a little to eat. Pleaseee😭 I've hard this idea for days. Can it be with fluff at the end? LOVE YOUR WORK SM

THANK YOU !!

OH MY GOD SAINTSHIP ABOUT FUCKING TIME

this has been ROTTING in my drafts I am so sorry anon, also got a little carried away at the end but nothing spicy just big feels

I really hope you enjoy

I love this idea it’s so fitting for König, I feel he’s very observant given how little he draws attention to himself.

Mask

König x gn!Reader - call sign: Radar

Life around the base could be monotonous. Being in one place usually meant paperwork, meals, paperwork, sparring or group lessons, more paperwork, passing out in your bunk, and doing it all again.

It was different, however, when all of this is happening directly after a loss. And not just losing the fight, but losing many of their soldiers. It was the young men, some no older than 20, losing their lives in the explosions that no one predicted that shook the 141 especially. Their only solace was that they managed to save you.

The air around you was burning hot, flakes of ash floating to singe the gaps of skin they could access. You crawled desperately on your stomach underneath a scorched truck, trying to make your way to the others.

“RADAR, COPY!”

A flaming piece of rubble tumbled next to you, making you jump.

“I’m—I’m on my way..”

“By the east bridge where we came in, you got that?”

Ghosts assuring tone rang faintly in your ears. Finally, you crawled out into a open area, stumbling in the direction of the bridge. The truck there flashed its headlights.

“Move it, private!”

“Yes sir..”

Before you made it a hundred yards, the engine in the car beside you exploded, blasting your body to one side and scalding the right side of your face in flames.

“RADAR!”

Your head smacked the dirt, and the world around you blurred until it was dark.

“Wrap their face!”

“Bampots, these fucks are.”

Soap’s voice cut through the fog that seemed to fill your ears.

“Speak—english.” Your rough voice caught the attention of the truck you lay in, Gaz quickly finishing up wrapping your face. He left as much room as he could, but all that showed in the end was your left eye and mouth.

“Lass..” Soap ignored your taunt, moving to kneel at your side.

“Hi.” Your voice sounded unlike yourself.

Soap’s attention was suddenly pulled to the back of the truck as it rolled to a stop. He darted to swing them open, revealing a few members of Las Almas.

“We’re understaffed on medics, but Rudy’s got basic medical training from boot.” Price explained. “Are you stayin’ awake okay?”

You nodded, the movement stinging your face and scalp, but as he said those words it was like he’d called it—the interior of the truck was dotting quickly in dark spots. Rudy’s gloved hand touching your shoulder was all you felt, and you slipped under again.

This time, it wasn’t voices that woke you. It was the incessant beeping of a heart rate monitor at your side. They’d brought you to the med unit on base—you were home. After taking in the sterile room, your head fell back against the pillow again, exhausted. Fresh gauze plastered most of your face, but the skin underneath felt dry. You needed a change.

Carefully setting down the fingertip pulse monitor on the bedside table, you guided your IV stand over to the mirror and sink, sifting through the drawers for gauze and burn ointment. After retrieving the right tools, you hesitate before removing your wraps. Your good eye seemed as though the color had dulled—the dark circles underneath especially prominent. Your lips were slathered in ointment, but the damage was evident. Breathing deeply, you began to unwrap the gauze. Your eyes remained trained on the sink until the last piece fell into the basin, only then lifting your eyes to the mirror.

No. No, no..

The right half was—gone. It was hard to describe; the skin that had been there before was rendered to an angry scarlet. The tissue pulled and tightened oddly, your right eye missing it’s eyelashes and eyebrow. A sob ripped from your throat involuntarily. Your face contorting from the crying caused pain to tear through your head while your tears stung the affected areas. You hardly registered a nurse coming in, leading you to lie back down, and re-wrapping your head through your protest. One sentiment rang clear through your breaking down;

You could not show this face anymore.

Which brought you to now. Sitting alone, hunched up in the corner of the cafeteria, quickly lifting your balaclava only to put food in your mouth before covering it just as quickly. It had only been a few days—the others knew to leave you be. The 141 sat in a group not far from you, one of them sneaking a glance every so often. You seemed to shrink into yourself, as though you could disappear if you cowered enough.

König wandered into the cafeteria not long after you’d sat down, sitting by himself to eat. You felt a little creepy people watching, knowing you resembled a certain intimidating member of the task force, but found nothing better to do.

König rid of his tray after eating quickly, going over to the 141 after Soap cheerfully called him over. You smiled at his inclusiveness, which deepened when König pointed to himself curiously. Even though smiling pulled at the tender muscle, you didn’t care.

König was pulled into a seat by Soap’s arm, the sight of such a smaller man strong-arming him rather ridiculous.

“Leave him be, Christ, Johnny.” Price picked at his tray, shaking his head at the soldier.

“I’m being friendly, sir.” Soap defended himself, relieving König of his arm.

“Friendliest in the military, aye?” Ghost murmured, lifting his mask to drink out of his canteen.

“Pride myself on it.”

“You’re diggin’ your grave, mate.” Gaz grinned.

“Oi, you-"

“Moving on!” Price grunted, to which Soap sat back and sulked at his refusal to let him argue.

“That was impressive the other day, König. Pulling a truck together and findin’ someone to treat Radar? You saved their life.”

König studied the grain of the tabletop, heat rising up his neck. “Danke. I still don’t know—what happened? They still look..scared.” König snuck a glance at you. Your fleeting eyes and hunched shoulders made his heart break. Seeing someone so determined, so welcoming, so gracious and funny and kind, reduced to a frightened animal—it didn’t make sense.

Price sighed, his eyes carrying the same weight König held in his chest.

“Their face..it got pretty fucked up. It won’t impact their daily living too much, and I’ve seen worse, but it obviously got to them.”

Soap fiddled with the screw top of his canteen. “Really got to them.”

König casted one last look and caught sight of your charred skin, everything clicking into place. You thought you needed to hide.

“I hope they get through it.” König murmured.

“For their sake.”

Because they’re so nice to be around.

König watched you a bit again at dinner, catching more of your facial scars. He wished he had the words to speak to you, but his boots seemed to cement to the linoleum at the thought of approaching.

“You got a crush, eh?” Soap’s sudden presence beside König startled him, studying Soap’s smug half-smile with confusion.

“Crush?” He repeated the new English word. “What is that? What am I crushing?”

“No-" Soap grinned, sitting up straight. “You have a crush. Means you like someone. In that way? König, do I need to explain-"

“No—no, no, I understand now.” König’s face burned; he was grateful it was largely hidden. “I don’t, though, I-"

Soap’s face morphed into one of ‘don’t even try.’

“It’s..” König huffed, lowering his voice. “I’m their colonel.”

“Eh, not really. Different clubs n’ all.” He pointed briefly to Radar. “They’re a keeper. And sweet, too. Don’t stamp this out, mate.” With a clap to König’s shoulder, he stood to join his task force as the mess hall cooks called an end to the meal. König nearly jogged to his quarters, his thoughts racing.

Sitting at the edge of your cot, you removed your balaclava for the first time in nearly 18 hours. The fresh air soothed the irritation caused by trapped sweat and fabric, a sigh escaping your nose.

You made you way to the mirror and sink, studying the damage as you did every chance you got. It wasn’t as angry as the day you got hurt, but the scarring would be permanent. You turned away before more tears could slip by, gently folding the cloth mask.

A rapping on your door made you jump, striding over quickly while wrestling with the mask to go back over your head. You opened the door cautiously, revealing a tall silhouette.

“Hello.”

“Hi, König..” you scanned the hall, not completely sure what it was you were searching for.

“Can I—come in? If that’s alright, it’s okay if-"

“Sure.” You left the door to sway of its own volition, turning to sit on your cot and look up at your coworker. “What’s going on?”

König closed the door gently, fidgeting with his hands. “I’ve—noticed something about you.”

Your shoulders deflate. “No shit.”

You didn’t mean to bite your words that way, but you did, and he shrunk a bit at your tone.

“I apologize. I will leave you be-"

“No, König,” you sighed, frustrated with yourself. “Say what you were going to say.”

He paused, as if a step in any direction would set off an alarm. “May I?” He gestured to the space beside you, to which you nodded.

The cot bowed slightly as he sat, his height still a bit intimidating even after some time knowing him. Being right next to him, you couldn’t help but feel a little small. He looked at his lap, wrestling with his mind on how to start the conversation.

“Where did you get your callsign from?” He blurted the question, briefly turning his head to you.

You paused, not expecting his casual inquiry. “Uh..when we did training in the dark, in boot camp, I could always feel someone coming up behind me.” You gestured to your back before clasping your hands back together. “My sergeant would tell me I had a built-in motion radar,” you laughed a bit at the memory, finding the courage to smile a bit under your mask. “Gaz had met me by then, and he started calling me by Radar, and it stuck.”

König blinked thoughtfully, humming in understanding.

“That’s not the reason you came in, is it?” You teased, leaning to push his side a bit. You noticed he let himself sway instead of remaining rigid.

“You got me. Uh..I just wanted to tell you something that I thought you could..consider.”

Biting back another deflective joke, you nodded, letting him continue.

“There was never a time in the military that I did not have my sniper hood.” He studied his boots, which still easily sat flat on the floor. “Not just because of my—aspiration, but.." he inhaled, then sighed deeply.

You could tell he’d never spoken these words. The impulse to touch some part of him, to comfort him, was blinding. Only his voice brought you back into the moment.

“It was..is, because I hate to see myself. I hate being seen. It feels like I’m giving away a part of myself to every stranger I come across. I would rather choose who sees me, in more ways than one.”

His voice was no more than a murmur, and for the first time, you saw the broken man nestled in a soldier’s body before you. His head hung low, his hands shook, and in the silence after his confession, his eyes fluttered shut. To hide from what, you didn’t know.

“I need you to know," he spoke, eyes still closed. “You don’t have to live this way. You are..kind, and resilient. And..” he turned his head away to utter the final word, a whisper in the dim light.

“And beautiful.”

“König..”

“I shouldn’t have come here.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry..” he stood abruptly, shaking the cot. Watching him head for the door, you refused to let yourself lose him.

“Wait.”

You ripped off what covered your face, your hair falling into place in its wake. König stared, entranced.

“I’m glad you came here. I don’t want you to go, I don’t..” it was your turn to sigh in pause. “I don’t want you to hide from me.”

König blinked, confusion gathering in his eyes.

“Please?”

“Liebling..” he breathed. He crossed the room in a few strides, taking your scarred cheek in his hand.

Anxiety held you in place, your hands finding purchase in the gaps of his vest and his sweater.

“You deserve to walk out of this room and not feel afraid.”

“König..”

And then his hands were over his head, pulling up his beloved sniper hood over and off of his head. You didn’t move, your only physical reaction being the blush that burned its way up your neck.

His eye paint made him look intimidating, but his eyes were far from threatening anyone. His lips, scarred from combat, parted slightly with bated breath. On the skin not painted with black, freckles dotted randomly, forming triangles, lines, and other shapes you wanted to memorize. His brow worried into a slight upturn, which was hidden ever so slightly by the hair that dropped near his eyes. The rest of it was a mess, a rich auburn that stuck up and settled down in all the right places.

“You’ve got to be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” The words tumbled out before you could catch them by the tail. Fear clogged your throat in the moments where he didn’t respond before he leaned down quickly, pressing his lips gently to yours. It was devoted and kind, a kiss that said I don’t just love you, I like you.

When he pulled back, both his hands were still settled on your cheeks, the heat of his palms making you dizzy.

“Thank you..” you breathed.

König grinned sideways, and you nearly fainted.

“For what?”

“Not leaving.”

[prezaki]

Bucchigiri?! and 'being Honki' - a Show about Identity and Human Connection

With Hiroko Utsumi's newest work as a director now completed, I want to take a moment to discuss the thematic through-lines of Bucchigiri?! and explain why I think that the story was very coherent even if it first seemed erratic.

At the heart of the series is the concept of the Honki Person(TM) - and that's where the confusion starts. Leaving the word 'Honki' in Japanese for the subs suggests a lore-heavy emphasis on some kind of supernatural mechanic in-story. It caused many viewers expected a well-defined shounen-typical power system - but that isn't what Honki is nor what it was ever meant to be.

"Honki" is the Japanese word 本気, which means Seriousness, Earnestness (or doing something 'in earnest, for real' if used as an adverb). 'Honki People' literally just means 'Earnest People'

And thus "Honki" is doing double duty as a red herring Lore Concept and a regular word - an intentional ambiguity that is inevitably lost by translation.

In the show, the characters do initially think of the 'Honki Person' as a literal thing to become (a supernaturally powerful master martial artist) rather than as a state of being in which one is earnest - but the thing is that the narrative proves them wrong.

But before we get to that, we need to dig a little bit deeper into what a Honki Person is thought to be in-universe:

"Historically", those thought of as Honki were fighters who participated in conflicts 300 years ago - a bit after the end of the Sengoku Period, the continuously warring states that had defined Japan for two centuries. With the advent of the rigidly structured Edo Period, honorable fighters with no clear systemic alliance were no longer needed and the aspiring Honki People(TM) were mercilessly gunned down. This feels out of left field for an anime like Bucchigiri?! to focus on, so I propose a second more allegorical layer to impose over the literal pseudo-historical read.

Even beyond the historical fact that gun imports changed warfare, the usage of guns here is deliberate to represent something. Guns are associated with authorities, and contrasted against the Honki People(TM) shunning weapons and fighting only with their own bodies.

To be Honki(TM) means to be true to yourself and secure in your own identity - this is something that is a hindrance to a social system that relies on rules and groupthink to sustain itself. Supporting this assumption, the theme of 'death' by weapon/authority is mirrored in the show several times:

On the one hand, we have the NG Boys, a gang set apart from the other gangs in the story by their even more rigid hierarchical structure and their willingness to use weaponry. They all follow one leader, have one uniform look, and appear basically brainwashed into blind obedience.

The association of weapons=structure and authority is made pretty clearly through that alone, but is also enhanced by all the members of the NG Boys living under constant threat of being fed to the real authorities of society: the police. Fear keeps everyone in line.

And further, the idea of society as an oppressive force (especially to the lower class) is put into direct focus through Mitsukuni and Matakara. Poverty is brought up briefly before through Senya (our main Honki Person(TM) was a nameless orphan after all) and brought back with the Asamine brothers:

Mitsukuni wishes to escape his social status in order to offer a better life to his brother - and he's forcibly held down by the oppressive system around him.

The cop that causes Mitsukuni to go to jail is equivalent to the guns that shot Senya and Ichiya.

(Utsumi has explored this underlying socially critical current before. Not for nothing, her previous series SK8 opens with the memorable bridge of the title song reading: "before society can kill us".)

But Bucchigiri?! isn't about overthrowing the system. It's about the individual. Understanding the context about authority just helps setting the real theme into focus.

And that theme is to hold on steadfast to who you are and allow yourself to connect with others, even in various kinds of adversity.

After this long, long preamble, let's get to the actual main characters!!

Matakara and Arajin are people who are ruled by fear and who spend 11 episodes running from others and themselves in two very different ways.

Arajin is pretty hated as a protagonist, which amuses me a little, because nobody hates Arajin more than Arajin hates Arajin.

His past cowardice in failing to protect Matakara has clearly shown him that he is a pathetic person and he's spent his whole life since then trying to avoid being reminded of this. He avoids Matakara, the strongest reminder of his failure, but further than that he avoids connection with anybody that he could see as a peer.

Arajin is solely focused on finding love and romance because he feels inherently inferior to every person he would be invited to contrast himself against. He avoids other guys because he hates himself. He shuns connection and pursues only people (girls) he views as different enough to not invite any comparison.

Matakara meanwhile has major abandonment issues - he's lost his parents, Arajin, and his brother. Everyone important to him keeps vanishing from his life and in order to keep himself from feeling powerless about this he decides to blame himself.

If it's his own fault that people leave him (because he's weak) then there is something in his power that he can do in order to avoid being hurt again (becoming stronger). In order to maintain this state of motivational self-hatred, he puts others on a pedestal.

Matakara needs Arajin to be strong, powerful, honest and admirable... because that is the image he holds himself up by. In Mitsukuni and Arajin, Matakara creates god-like icons to chase after. And by doing so, he also shuns genuine connection.

Being confronted with Arajin as a flawed person gives Matakara a breakdown because it makes it harder to run from his own loneliness by focusing on chasing after Arajin.

Arajin is always running, but Matakara is always chasing... because he can't stand to look behind and face his monster.

In a lot of ways, Arajin and Matakara can't connect because they care about each other. Arajin can't stand what he allowed to happen to Matakara because he cared about Matakara. Matakara clings to Arajin because he loves him.

This theme of love hindering connection is again mirrored in two other characters - Senya and Ichiya, of course.

Ichiya, unwilling to confront his own terminal illness head-on, wishes to avoid it by goading Senya into killing him. By doing this, he can run from his own weakness and put Senya on a pedestal instead.

Meanwhile Senya is attached to their connection as-is and wishes to maintain this master-disciple dynamic forever - going so far as to deny his own strength in order to avoid acknowledging their changing dynamic.

Both of them are denying something about themselves.

It is their self-denial that makes their communication and thus connection break down.

Ichiya can't make Senya go Honki(TM) (which should have definitely been translated as an adverb here, e.g. 'failing to make him get serious') because he is also not HONEST with him or himself.

In the finale, Senya finally admits his motivations (his illness, his perceived weakness) and he is rewarded with the honest fight he'd been craving. They both stopped running.

This theme becomes even clearer through the two leads, of course, but even earlier than that it exists in Mahoro.

Mahoro's scene in episode 6 is the thematic linchpin that carried the whole show on its shoulders. Through Mahoro, everyone in the cast gets their first glimpse at true unrelenting Honki(tm) - and it is something totally unrelated to fighting prowess.

Mahoro is physically powerless against Akutaro, but she won't run. She has a heart that won't run away, the key quality of the Honki Person(TM), because she has an unshakable sense of self-identity.

It would be easy to dismiss her cutesy design as a contrivance to give Arajin a conventional-looking love interest despite going to Delinquent Academy - but it also says something about HER. Mahoro marches to the beat of her own drum. She does not care that she does not fit in, she does not mind being alone - she'll stick right to her own aesthetic and priorities.

So it's easy for her to call out Akutaro - and in doing so, call out the whole cast along with him:

You're empty. You are nothing but a shell, shaped by how you relate to those around you. You have nothing to offer.

And how are you supposed to connect with anybody, when you don't even know who you are?

(Notably, Mahoro is also a character who refuses to compromise on her self even for love - she knows she does not appeal to Marito, but she's not changing herself to be more his type. Her Honki does not budge, even for him.)

And lest you think I am exaggerating by connecting the theme of identity and emptiness back to all of the cast instead of just Akutaro: it does come back with Matakara.

Matakara can't believe anybody would know him and care for him, because he doesn't know himself.

For Matakara, facing himself means acknowledging his fear of abandonment rather than externalizing it as a hallucination of a literal monster.

But facing yourself doesn't just mean facing your demons, it also means facing your own positive qualities. And that is Arajin's story.

Even as Arajin turned into a scummy, evasive and selfish guy, there is a part of him that has a throughline to who he always was. He's someone who can get invested in others with reckless abandon.

Whether as a child with Matakara, or in the present with Mahoro... Arajin wants to connect.

Bucchigiri?! is a show full of innuendo and sexual gags. Merging with a genie gets equated to sex, fighting gets equated to sex... and of course this is for laughs, but it's also thematic.

Because all these things are about connection. About facing someone else with your whole self.

On a literal level, yes, Arajin absolutely wants to get laid. This is his sincere desire, and good for him.

But at the same time, his battle cry of 'I want to lose my virginity!' is him crying out for a real connection, even at a time when he shunned the idea thereof.

In the end, being a Honki Person(TM) has nothing to do with fighting. Fighting is the way a lot of the rough and tumble guys on the show like to connect, but it is not the only way to do so and not the only way to be Honki(TM).

Arajin never learns to love brawling - he did it out of circumstance and necessity, but it's not his hobby. He does not need to discover some hidden love of fighting, because this show fundamentally isn't about how 'fighting is inherently good' or anything.

It's a show about how even when you hate yourself and think you're as low as it can get, acknowledging your own self in full is the first step to finding a real bond with somebody else.

It just also happens to feature a bunch of delinquents who love to punch a lot.

[brunnhildeps]

Not since GoT have I seen a show go from so complicated to so simple. From so nuanced to so fatuous.

Throw away everything interesting about the character driven, interpersonal conflicts in favour of "we, the good guys, must put aside our petty grievances to unite against the BAD GUYS" with said bad guys being so one dimensionally evil that any other option would be stupid.

Once, turning an incredible new technology into a weapon was treated as a bad thing by even some of the villain characters within the show. War is terrifying, but ending a war by winning it for one side isn't "peacekeeping", because no one group can remain "good" while they have a monopoly on violence. Now, the heroes are cops who indiscriminately use railguns built with hextech, and poison gas grenades built on the legacy of oppressing workers, but it's okay because the bad guys want to end the world for no other reason than some pseudo-philosophical spiels about order and chaos.

Once those stern faces carved into the bridge meant something. They overlooked the undercity burning. The punishment they faced for thinking that maybe they deserved better than to wallow in the filth of their superiors. Once, that song Jinx sang meant something. A hopeful plea that maybe things could ever be better. Now Vi hums it in the presence of a fascist dictator who tried to murder her sister. Then she talks about how she'll never give up "this fight". What fight? What are you talking about? Your enemy is right there. She's the one who gassed the undercity indiscriminately. She's the inheritor of the legacy of oppression that killed your parents. That tore apart the found family you built. That consigned you to a prison where you were brutalised on the regular with no trial, no charge, no nothing. Does none of that matter to you? Vi is basically written by the fanfic writers who passed out from excitement the moment they saw her eat Caitlyn's pussy onscreen.

Imagine me as Vi in the pit fighter montage but the breakup with Caitlyn is my breakup with Arcane, the show itself, and the line "No pretty face can save me now" is "No netflix original animated series can save me now"

[uramilf]

hi! I love your writing sm. can I req this it's based on a tiktok I saw and thought it'd be cute. so basically y/n singing taylor's new song you're losing me esp the bridge! and matty is concerned like "we're okay right? you've been singing that song with much passion" or something like that! I just really thought it would be cute thank u so much

Ok I decided to turn this one into a proper imagine where the reader is a popular solo artist who misses her rockstar boyfriend and literally sat up until 3am working on it because i loved the idea so fucking much, thank you anon <3

Warnings: Angst and sadness but happy ending I promise

You're Losing Me

Y/n Y/l/n was sitting alone in her dressing room cross legged on a battered sofa. She had just received a message from her friend George to inform her that The 1975 had performed their last show of their tour and were flying back to London the very next morning. He also dropped in that Matty was excited to see her again and couldn't wait to get home. She hadn't bothered to respond. Why couldn't Matty have told her that himself? Her heart sank on remembering that although Matty was finishing his tour, she was just beginning hers. She would spend one night with him in their shared house before flying to the USA and wouldn't return for several weeks. Y/n felt empty, as she had since Matty left. She looked up to realise that she wasn't alone at all; in fact the dressing room was full of people refilling her water bottles, fixing the order of her costumes for quick changes, ensuring the setlist was right. But still, the crushing loneliness got to her. She doubted that it would be remedied in twenty minutes when the crowd of 15,000 people were screaming her name. She was right.

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

Exactly 24 hours later, Y/n lay in her boyfriend's arms, thrilled to have him home but heart not feeling any lighter. She could feel them pulling apart from each other, the demanding schedules their careers presented them with tearing apart the best relationship either of them had ever been in. Even as Matty stroked her hair and pressed soft kisses to her forehead, she was fighting to keep a smile on her face. She wanted to burst into tears and tell him she needed him. She needed to be with him all the time, not just sometimes. She needed to fall into his arms the second she came offstage. She needed to feel as though their relationship wasn't a liability. When Y/n left Matty in bed to use the bathroom, he started to scroll Twitter and look for videos of his girl's first show of her tour. He came across one that already had thousands upon thousands of views. It was captioned "Y/n Y/l/n cover Taylor Swift's "You're Losing Me" at her London show last night". He clicked and started watching. His girlfriend sounded angelic as usual, but he didn't feel like he was watching a video of her usual happy, performance-loving self. The girl on his screen was breaking from the inside out. The passion she was singing with was gave her the image of someone who undeniably related to what she was singing. She wasn't just covering a popular song. He could tell she meant it. He listened closely to the lyrics; "And I wouldn't marry me either, a pathological people pleaser", "Do something babe, say something." Matty's heart was in his throat as he realised that there was a reason she had chosen the song. Did she think he didn't love her anymore? Had she been hoping for the next step in their relationship? Was he really losing her?

Y/n re-entered the room to see Matty, phone in hand, with a tear slipping down his cheek. "What's wrong, baby? Aren't you happy to be home?" "Are we ok, Y/n?" Matty whispered. "What? Of course we are. What's brought this on, love?" "The song. Last night. I know you didn't write it but you just sang it with so much passion, I couldn't help but feel like there's something you're not telling me." Y/n looked at his phone and was overcome with guilt. He understood that she had been singing to him. She took Matty's face in her hands and swiped away a tear gently with her thumb. "I'm sorry, Matty. But I just felt like I related to the song so much. I couldn't help but feel like we drifted apart while you were on tour. We were barely speaking by the last few weeks of it. I just needed you here, and honestly I did feel like you were losing me." Matty's sobs didn't stop. "Are you saying you want to break up with me because I'm away too much?" "No! Of course not baby, I couldn't imagine breaking up with you for the world. You are all I want in life. I promise. But I just don't know how to do this long distance thing anymore. I need us to be together." "Y/n, darling, I know. I'm dreading tomorrow. In all honestly, I understand why you sang the song. I was drifting away from you. I just couldn't bear to talk to you over the phone. I couldn't even answer a text from you without crying about how much I missed you."

Y/n was crying now too, feeling terrible that she hadn't seen how miserable Matty had been on tour. She stroked his hair as he buried his head in her chest. "It's ok baby, we're gonna be ok." Matty lifted his head to kiss away her tears. "Listen, darling. I'm going to speak to the boys and let them know that I'm not gonna be in the studio for a while. Give me a few days to recover from tour and then I'm gonna fly out and meet you. We'll only be away from each other for another week tops." Y/n tackled him into a hug. "You're really coming on tour with me?" "Yes, darling, really. I'm sorry I even considered going back to the studio instead of coming with you. I've just felt so pressured into releasing new music recently. But everyone else can just wait for me and my girl."

Y/n and Matty lay in each other's embrace once more, and as she was drifting off to sleep, she heard him whisper, "I promise I'll never let you feel like you're losing me again."

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

A/N: Soz guys that got way deeper than I wanted it to. Got carried away ig but oh well

[soupthatistohot]

BSD: An Absurdist Analysis - Chapter 5

Atsushi and Fatalism

[Masterpost]

This chapter is an interesting one, partially because a school of philosophy is literally included in the title: “Sorrow of a Fatalist.”

Atsushi wakes up from his altercation with Akutagawa, during which the latter had claimed that Atsushi brings calamity upon those around him simply by living. At the beginning of this chapter, Kunikida is anxious about the Port Mafia coming for them and even tells Atsushi that it is basically his fault. Then, Atsushi sees the fallout of an attack by the mafia’s Black Lizard and decides to leave the agency so as to not drag them into his mess.

Atsushi is very much falling into a self-pitying spiral at this point. Although I presented him as our absurdist protagonist up until now, this is one of his weaker moments where he does not fill this role, and as the chapter title suggests, his behavior aligns with the idea of fatalism. This school of thought claims that no matter what one does, the outcome will be the same because life is predetermined. Here, Atsushi leaves the agency because he believes that he’s fated to always be alone, that there’s nowhere that he belongs.

Despite this, the Black Lizard still attacks the agency, and we’re given somewhat of a parallel to what happened in the prior chapter, albeit a bit different.

In chapter 4, Atsushi should have not succeeded in his fight against Akutagawa, who was set up as an incredibly dangerous force, but he does. Similarly, the Black Lizard are presented as this strong elite group of mafiosos, and the audience and Atsushi are made to think that the agency doesn’t have a chance, and yet… 

… the agency is totally fine. 

They’re so fine, in fact, that it’s played for comedy. The underdog has succeeded once more. 

I think this is less dramatic than Atsushi’s success, though, because its meant to show that the agency is a much stronger force than they appear to be, that even the most intimidating enemies presented in the story so far aren’t any match for them, whereas Atsushi’s fight was a lot less sure. Regardless, its clear that the audience is supposed to think its funny and a bit absurd that the agency took down the Black Lizard so easily considering they appear to be a ragtag group of detectives, some of whom are literally minors. Kunikida tells Atsushi that they’re pretty much used to raids like these and even scolds him a bit for not helping out with work that much. To some, this may appear harsh, but I think this was Kunikida’s way of getting the message across to Atsushi that the agency is his home now and he doesn’t need to leave to protect them, that they’ll protect him. This is why I think he starts crying — this is the first time in his life he feels wanted.

I think this also allows him to break from his fatalist perspective for a moment, because he previously believed that he did nothing but bring pain to the people around him, and this is proved false since the agency treats the mafia raid as a slight inconvenience at most. 

I hadn’t considered before this point the idea of Atsushi as a fatalist and only did so because of the chapter title. From here on out, I’d be curious to see if this mindset surfaces again in moments when his self-esteem is low. I think the chapter where he faces Kyu would be another instance of this, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there!

[Previous] [Next]

[agent-troi]

Borrowed Time (WIP Ask game)

ohhh boy this behemoth will never see the light of day but I'm so happy you asked about this one bc as complicated as it is I love thinking and talking about it lol

so this was meant to be a fix-it for the ending of the star trek novelverse. some important background info: the coda trilogy wrapped up the novelverse basically by retroactively wiping that timeline from existence to avert a threat to the entire multiverse, because apparently with all the new shows and tie-in novels people thought it would be too confusing to also keep the novelverse books going. well that made me pissed as hell so I wrote this short fic, The Forgotten Splinter, bringing back one of my favorite and criminally underused characters, Riker and Troi's daughter Tasha, and Borrowed Time was meant to be a follow up to that.

I have a partial outline complete with chapter titles and extensive notes on what I wanted to happen, but at some point the idea just got too complicated and overwhelming for me to contemplate lol. the short of it is that Tasha gets her memories back from the First Splinter Timeline as well as the other timeline branches that were erased, and she and the gang work together to restore that timeline while also eliminating the threat from the Devidians.

I ended up not writing very much of it except for a list of chapter titles (in rough chronological order) and one passage:

Weddings and Funerals

Sole Survivor

The Reflecting Game

Unsung Heroes

After the Silence

Out of the Silent Wormhole

We Seek the Paradox

What's Good for the Goose

Sound and Fury

More than Memory

There but for the Grace of God

Hail Mary Ex-Machina

Roll for Initiative

The Thousandth Knife

When the Dealing's Done

“The First Splinter Timeline.” Tasha laughed bitterly. “You have no idea what we did for you. What we sacrificed… and this timeline? This timeline is shit! Your version of the Federation literally banned an entire class of life-forms, and didn’t even bother to make an exception when the child of two Starfleet heroes’ life was at stake!” The Troi-Rikers visibly blanched. “And you!” Tasha exclaimed, swiveling toward Picard. “You’re a bloody admiral! Whatever happened to ‘don’t let them promote you, don’t let them transfer you, don’t let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you’re there, you can make a difference’?” She paused to take a deep breath. “And why didn’t you tell Beverly you love her? She wanted you to go after her, fight for her, not let her go!” Picard was stunned speechless. Tasha continued her rant unabated. “Our timeline wasn’t perfect, but it was better than this! What kind of multiverse is this, where the timeline in which things go mostly right has to be erased from causation, while this shit timeline with all the unnecessary angst and dramatic tension gets to live on? It’s not fair, dammit!” By this point Tasha was nearly hysterical, and the tears poured in a seemingly endless flood down her cheeks. The multiple timelines’ worth of trauma she had been suppressing for six years had finally burst forth from the dam of her subconscious. Deanna’s soul cried out in pure and complete empathy. She had entertained similar thoughts ever since Thad’s diagnosis. Why did their timeline have to be the one where he died? The whole thing had made absolutely no sense, as if whoever was writing the story of their lives got a kick out of torturing their characters.

I came up with this after Picard season one aired but before two and three, so I didn't incorporate any of that into this idea lol, anyway I had some vague notion that this would be the first installment of an epic trilogy, but almost no one read my novelverse fic when I was actively writing and posting about it so I don't really have much motivation to make it happen

[hello-nichya-here]

What's the problem with the idea that the Avatar is actually an outdated thing the world would eventually no longer need? I don't like it either, but I could never put it into words.

Simple: the Avatar exists for a reason. MANY reasons, actually, that we see all through the show.

A symbol of hope/figure of authority

While there had never been any wars in the world of Avatar to level that we see in the show until Sozin decided to be THE worst, we see that there absolutely have been smaller conflicts before, and that the Avatar has acted as a mediator so much that people were constantly just expecting Aang to fill that role - even he sees it as one of his duties, and is constantly afraid of failing people since they're often placing all of their hopes on him, not just for stuff like the war itself, but even for "smaller" things like Ba Sing Se, or helping refugees.

That makes sense since the Avatar is not only more powerful than any other human, but also a more "neutral" authority figure, since, while each Avatar belongs to one of the four nations, they are not said nation's rulers (usually) and also are...

A bridge between the four nations

The Avatar has to go to many places in the world to master all four elements, which usually takes years. Inevitably, that leads to them learning from other cultures which can help solve conflicts or even prevent them all together - for exemple, we see Aang absolutely loving the Fire Nation and it's culture, even though it's rulers have spent a whole century destroying the world AND were responsible for the genocide of his people.

In episodes like "The Swamp" and "The Guru" the show basically tells us that the separation between the nations is basically an illusion since, in the end, humanity is ONE group, even with all of the differences between everyone. The finale solidifies that, by having all nations celebrating Zuko's coronation and therefore the end of the war, symbolizing the union between all of them.

"But didn't Roku say the nations were supposed to remain separate?"

Yes. And he was wrong. And Aang, another Avatar, corrected his mistake because...

The Avatar Cycle allows the past Avatars to correct their own mistakes

Not a single human being is perfect, and that very much includes the Avatar. However, unlike ordinary people, the Avatar not only reincarnates, but can interact with it's past self and even allow it to "take over" for a moment.

Koh clearly feels animosity towards Aang because a previous Avatar tried to kill him, and even says to Aang that they will meet again - but considering how he also said "you've come to me with a new face" which in this case could also be seen as "in another life" - implying that maybe it won't even be Aang who will fight him.

Roku full on says that the war is his own mistake, and that sadly Aang has to be the one to fix it - but they're also the same person, or rather, the same spirit. A spirit that is always learning, always getting stronger, always becoming wiser - and is practically immortal. The Avatar spirit isn't "set in his ways", unable to change to better do it's job. It is constantly adapting to the world's needs.

Looking at it that way, the Avatar would naturally become better at it's own role in every incarnation, which would make him even more respected, more capable, and even more necessary, especially when we look at a situation like Kyoshi taking over Aang's body during a trial for a murder commited by her/them in a past life - but she doesn't do it to defend herself but as a way of correcting a mistake/deliberate historical lie.

This shows us that the Avatar Cycle not only allows the Avatar to correct it's own mistakes, but also as a way of acting as...

A permanent access to knowledge that has been lost

Aang is the last airbender, and that meant that he was the last hope of air-nomad culture eventually being rebuilt. However, even if the Avatar had been from one of the other nations, said Avatar would have still been able to talk to it's past lives - some of which were air-nomads, and others who had lived in a world where they were still around AND were their sifus.

We also see Aang interacting with Koh, with Avatar Roku's animal guide, and even with a lion turtle that existed before the Avatar cycle (and perhaps humanity as a whole) even existed. His mission also makes him go after Wan Shi Tong, as well as and the sun warriors and the last surviving dragons.

All of these give him crucial information. Information that, maybe, someday, a different Avatar will need. And even if the world is radically different by that point, with every record of everything that Aang knew being gone, that Avatar will still be able to turn to Aang himself for help. And if, once again, years down the line the situation repeats itself, a new Avatar will be able to just turn to either of them for advice too.

To me, this confirms that not only would the world NEVER reach a point in which the Avatar is no longer needed, but in fact it's importance will likely only grow as the years go by, because things tend to just naturally be lost to time, even if they are super important - and a way to reach that knowledge could literally save lives.

Well, all of that already shows just how freaking important the Avatar has always been and always will be, but this list would not be complete withot the fact that the Avatar is...

A bridge between worlds

There are A LOT of spiritual shenanigans in Avatar, plenty of which have humans in danger - often because someone fucked up, either by pissing off a spirit or by neglecting the spiritual side of the world.

For exemple, we have Hei-Bai kidnapping people because the Fire Nation burned down his forest, Zhao killing the moon and thus making the waterbenders powerless to protect the North Pole, the people of a Fire Nation fishing village not only being sick and poor because their river is poluted but also no longer being able to interact with the spirit of said river that was caring for them, the people of a Fire Nation fishing village not only being sick and poor because their river is poluted but also no longer being able to interact with the spirit of said river that was caring for them etc.

As the Avatar, Aang was able to either fix some of these situations by himself, or to greatly assist people until the problem was fixed. He managed to appease Hei-Bai so he would not only stop lashing out but also set free everyone he had kidnapped. He and the ocean spirit joined forces to make sure the Fire Nation wouldn't be able to take over the North Pole. He helped Katara impersonate the Painted Lady to make sure the fishing village would no longer be exploited/polluted and then helped clean the river which allowed the real Painted Lady to protect her people.

We can also not forget that while Koh was totally trying to steal his face, he also warned Aang about Zhao's plan to kill the ocean and the moon, and gave him a hint as to what form they had taken in the human world - can you imagine him helping out if anyone other than Aang had turned to him for help?

The Avatar isn't just more powerful than the average human due to his connection the spirit world - he has the respect of plenty of said spirits AND of humans, which we see Aang use to help people because the Avatar's duty is to the world - ONE world that is a combination of both - to keep peace and ballance.

Without the Avatar, spirits and humans would always be either at war or completely separate, which harms both sides. And this reminds me that...

BONUS RANT: Spirituality has always been and always will be a core part of the world of Avatar

That's right, people. You get to see me bitch about TWO tropes I hate.

One of the reasons I believe people misunderstand the role of spirituality itself (and it's "messiah" in the form of the Avatar) in the story, is that they look at it like it's just a religion most people of that world seem to share, and wrongfully assume that it could just stop being significant or even present at all in their world if every nation just collectively "stopped believing in it/taking it seriously."

That could not be further from what we see in the show. The spirits and their world, the Avatar, chakras, chi, bending, meditation - all of these things are not part of a religion, they're just a fact of life. In "The Swamp" we are full on told that EVERYTHING is connected. People, spirits, animals, nature itself. It's all one big thing that it's sort of broken down in smaller categories.

Spirituality in the world of Avatar can never be seen as the same as say, Christianity. Something people can convert to or leave, believe or not believe. Humans can literally travel to the spirit world, and many spirits chose to stay in the human world. There's no "not believing" in it, or "choosing not to engage with it."

The biggest proof of that is the Fire Nation itself. It has distanced itself from spirituality as much as any society in that world ever could. Yet they still have temples, the sages have many simmilarities to clergies, and even the princess is taught by two creepy twins that clearly have some weird spiritual shenanigans going on. Hell, Ozai, a prince, married the Avatar's grand-daughter. Her ancestor's reincarnation was literally being hunted down as public enemy number one, and she was still seen as worthy enough to marry a prince - one that became Fire Lord, and whose children had the Avatar's blood. And, of course, Sozin started the war by using the power of comet-enhanced BENDING. Again, that's the nation that distanced itself from spirituality the most.

This isn't a matter of Progress VS Tradition, Science VS Religion. Spirituality and science are one in the same in the world of Avatar.

"But the Fire Nation is the most technologically advanced and it distanced itself from religion the most!"

Yes, but all of it's cool war-ships, zepplins, and even the drill were using pretty simple stuff to work: burning coal, hot air, boiling water, etc. All of these already easy things were made A LOT easier by having firebenders around - and once again, bending IS part of the spiritual side of the world, showing that even the Fire Nation cannot distance itself from it completely, and in fact constantly needs it to achive it's goals. Hell, we even see them having to use the power of earthbenders to get the material they'd need to keep all of their new toys running, so even their claim that they are superior to the other nations feels hollow.

Spirituality is a feature of that world, not a bug. It is not an insignificant detail that can changed or deleted, and the story would be radically altered and make less sense without it. And the Avatar is very much included in that list of super important aspects of the narrative and themes.

It's almost like that's the name of the sow for a reason or something...

[catcas22]

So I've been a fan of your fics and theories for a little while now, and wanted to know what your thoughts on Evergaols are, and how they work?

Thanks for the ask! Cut because this was longer than I expected it to be lol.

So, first the obvious bits. Evergaols are clearly some form of containment for extremely dangerous/high-value prisoners. This makes sense in a world where death is so unpredictable.

Note the three forms of execution we see favored throughout the game, so widespread that they basically just become part of the background -- hanging, crucifixion, (leaves the victim in a position where even if they come back, they'll just die again) and burning at the stake (completely destroys the body).

So in a world where execution may or may not stick, evergaols serve as a permanent way to neutralize dangerous enemies.

The central glyph on an evergaol glows purple, and so does the rift that the prisoner climbs out of. That, plus the appearance/behavior of the abnormal stone clusters, leads me to believe that evergaols run on gravity magic.

One thing I'm not clear on -- when fighting an evergaol boss, the player does what I'll call a "phase-shift," i.e. treating the evergaol as sort of a new area (same as when you do an invasion). But I'm not entirely sure whether the "phase-shift" and the fog wall present during the evergaol fight are meant to be diegetic or non-diegetic.

So, follow me here. Think about how the game handles the built-in, non-multiplayer invasions. When you help Yura fight the Ravenmount Assassin, you go through a phase-shift and show up in your bloodred invasion form.

But those are both game mechanics. Within the internal logic of the story, you just encounter Yura and the assassin on the bridge. You aren't transported to another dimension, and you aren't suddenly turned red from head to toe.

So now I'm asking myself what actually happens within the internal logic of the world when you open an evergaol. Are you transported into a pocket dimension where the prisoner is being held? Or does interacting with the evergaol release the prisoner into the overworld, and the phase-shift and fog wall are non-diegetic game mechanics?

Idk if any of that makes sense (I feel like I'm not making sense lol) but thanks for the ask!

[thegeminisage]

the tholian web episode rewrite

this post is an episode rewrite of the tholian web, an episode about jim kirk being declared prematurely dead and the enterprise, particularly spock and bones, falling to pieces until his miraculous return as a weird space ghost. i thought this ep was very very very VERY good, it's one of my all-time favs, but the end was really jumbled and didn't quite give me the payoff i wanted, so a summary of the original (which you can skip if you've seen it) plus my suggested fixes are below.

the original

the enterprise, searching for the a missing starship called the defiant, finds it in a weird area of space that is "breaking up." when jim, spock, bones, and chekov beam aboard (in space suits) they find the ship dark and full of the corpses of its crew, who all killed each other in fits of insanity, and the ship threatening to disintegrate with them on it

unfortunately, they can't all be beamed back at the same time, and jim of course insists on being last, so when the ship does disintegrate ("interphases" into another dimension), it takes him with it - with only 4 hours of air left in his space suit

because scifi, spock works out that they can get jim back if they hold perfectly still until the dimensions interphase again. but this is an episode where every possible thing goes wrong - the area of space is slowly driving the crew insane and hostile, and titular tholians show up to fire on the enterprise for being in their space past the time they said they needed initially for their rescue of kirk

spock fires back, hoping to preserve what little chance they have of saving jim, but the battle not only damages the enterprise, it also (somehow) damages the area of space they were supposed to rescue jim from, which means they have no choice to declare him dead, AND the tholians come back to start weaving some kind of forcefield (the titular web) to prevent the enterprise from leaving

btw: bones HATES this. he thinks staying to fight was stupid because they'd already lost jim and now they're going to make his death meaningless because the rest of the crew will die too. he thinks spock not emoting is heartless, and asking him to find a cure for something that isn't a disease is unreasonable. he accuses spock of being a selfish short-sighted gloryhound, etc

after kirk's funeral (baller scene; it is interrupted by yet another person erupting in screaming), bones INSISTS on watching kirk's "last orders," a tape he made prior to his death meant to be played only in the event of his passing. once bones gets spock alone, he demands to know why spock stayed and fought instead of getting jim's crew to safety like he would have wanted. spock sort of gives a nonanswer and they start fighting again, but they get interrupted by kirk's tape, which basically urges them to get along - for bones to respect spock's ability to captain and for spock to trust bones's human intuition. after the tape finishes, there's a long silence, and bones apologizes

meanwhile, uhura has seen a ghostly image of captain kirk appear in her mirror. she runs out of the room yelling for spock, but finds bones instead, who chalks it up to the space sickness having gotten her. but more and more people report seeing kirk, until finally bones and spock start arguing about it - bones even spins spock around in his captain's chair to face him when he feels spock isn't taking his concerns seriously, and then has to apologize - spock replies, "i'm sure the captain would have said, 'forget it, bones.'"

at this point kirk finally appears on the bridge. spock tries to touch him but can't, though you can see kirk mouth "spock, hurry!" 

things finally start going right: bones develops a cure for the insanity and the engines are repaired. they manage to get away from the tholian web and bring jim along with them. 

at the end of the episode jim asks if they watched his last orders. at a single exchanged glance bones and spock decide to lie about it, and promise him they behaved perfectly well in his absence 

but in MY version...

the problems

again, this ep is one of my all-time favs, but it's full and jumbled near the end. the setup was excellent, and the payoff was REALLY good, but it could have been even better.

the biggest issue was the stakes. tos loooves fake time limits and other arbitrary problems to up the stakes, but this is going way overboard. jim has 4 hours of air left in his suit AND the engines are busted from the fight AND the space is making the ship act weird AND the tholians are closing their web AND interphase only happens at random intervals AND the crew might not even be able to drive the damn ship because they're going nuts...there's so many stakes you kind of forget what you're supposed to be worried about

secondary issue was the spock and bones plot. i think they were fighting just for the sake of fighting, without any real reasons, and so their reconciliation felt a little hollow

not NEARLY enough kirk in this episode, particular cool space ghost kirk. ik it was a limitation of the sfx, but still. also, no spirk reunion. kirk deserved to see them both when he got back!!

the changes

the plot

firstly, i think interphase was explained a bit poorly, which feeds into some of the ??? near the end of the episode. i think what they wanted to convey was that some wall between dimensions was weak in this particular area, causing both the madness and the phasing in and out of reality, and these two dimensions crossed at random. i think it would have been better if there had been a predictable cycle (say, the two hour mark, an even number into kirk's 4-hour time limit), and i was never quite sure why they needed to hold perfectly still anyway

next we've got to work with the stakes. definitely keep: jim needing the 4 hours of air in his suit. the tholian web, since it is after all titular (sorry for using the word titular again) - though if it weren't, i'd be tempted to chop it too. the crew going bananas, since it is both wonderfully terrifying and can act as a "can we even drive this ship" question. however the damaged engines, and also the initial tholian wait time can def go. the "this space is making the ship itself act weird" too - perhaps the reason jim was beamed back last has something to do with the suits only being able to go one at a time, or him dropping his communicator and them not being able to lock on, idk.

so to recap: keep the scene where they beam aboard and jim has to be beamed out last, but the ship vanishes before the beaming is done. i like when jim sacrifices himself in an understated calm sort of way but i'd add just a LITTLE more rising dread here on his/the music's part because the scene is already very spooky and since i knew what was gonna happen going in i was nail-biting the entire time, and would looove to transfer some of that energy to our hypothetical new and improved episode

upon disappearance of the defiant, some scifi technobabble happens and spock figures out they'll have another chance to get jim back. unfortunately, bones doesn't buy that one bit. he and the rest of the crew (to legitimize his position and keep his accusations from seeming baseless) all think there's no possible way jim could have survived, that it's dangerous to stay where they are, and that spock should get them the hell out of dodge immediately

but spock's the captain and he says logic dictates jim might still be alive so long as there's air in the suit, so they stay. IMPORTANT: there needs to be a little bit of an argument here, involving spock saying something like "starfleet would totally agree with me and in fact if i don't fuck it up i'd be given a commendation" or something to that effect. he's not saying it because he WANTS a commendation, he's actually struggling to validate his decision to bones while also hiding the fact that he's extremely upset, but it's important. we'll get back to it later

the tholians show up. i think it would be better if the battle happened immediately to cut any confusing wait time, and this is what damages the enterprise. spock is successful in scaring the tholians off temporarily, but his ship is fucked and now they CAN'T leave, and to make it worse the tholians come back and start weaving their web. this leads us to...

spock & bones

NOW spock and bones have something concrete to fight about, instead of just bickering for the sake of bickering. bones thinks spock should have ran, but spock wanted to stay

i think a good twist for this argument in the episode that we have is that bones was under the impression spock wanted to stay for self-serving reasons (not normally an assumption he'd make about spock, but he's grieving too), and all along the reason spock wanted to stay was an emotional one. unfortunately in canon his accusations of gloryhounding came out of fucking nowhere, so we need a scene to seed in that subplot

logically speaking, the first thing that has to happen after jim's death is his funeral, which i'm saving for something else, so this scene would need to be BEFORE all that, perhaps during a pre-funeral moment of chaos where the crew are dropping like flies and the screaming arrivals are flying into sickbay. bones wouldn't be the only one bitter about spock's decision to stay behind, and someone, a fellow sickbay worker or some yeoman, makes a comment about they can't believe spock did this to them just so he can be captain, and bones is like girl WHAT and they're like yeah i totally caught him looking at transfer orders the other day

of course, spock doesn't really want to transfer off the enterprise. it's obviously a misunderstanding. i'm not totally sure why he has the paperwork...the best i can come up with is some starfleet official wanted there to be a token vulcan captain for some wack reason or another, because in tos whenever they have problems they can't logistically justify they always blame it on some backward starfleet official, so i don't see why i can't do the same

anyway, this is why we needed that argument earlier - when bones thinks back on it, spock's remark about the commendation all but confirms this new theory of his, when really had spock been on his game and not grieving he probably wouldn't have attempted to validate himself to bones at all

so this is the real conflict between them - bones think spock has gambled the lives of everyone on this ship because he thought he could outsmart the tholians, exploited jim's DEATH for his own selfish gain, and has hardened his heart against the palpable grief and loss that everyone else is displaying. none of that is true, of course, but spock would prefer to let people believe he doesn't have emotions and he has no idea anyone knows about the very irritating starfleet officials trying to poach him for another ship, so HE thinks bones is being extra irrational because of his grief (which is only a little true), right when they all need to be at their best. they will yell at each other about this for the rest of the episode.

anyway, bones is good and mad. you see the steam coming out of his ears all through kirk's funeral, which, again, is interrupted by someone starting to scream as the madness takes them. at the end of the funeral everyone is dismissed and starts to file out of the room and bones immediately jumps on spock about 1. going to see the tape and 2. his bad and selfish decisions

HOWEVER, i'd like to combine this scene with the scene of uhura spotting kirk's ghost. while people are still hurriedly leaving (mom and dad are fighting again, awkwaaard), uhura cries out that she's seen captain kirk and everyone turns to see...nothing there. bones shakes his head sadly and declares her the latest casualty of the crazy and he and spock personally take her to sickbay, barely restraining themselves from continuing their argument...

but the camera stays on the room after they leave, which slowly darkens and changes slightly in color, and the camera pans to...

a ghostly captain kirk, watching all of this with the quiet horror of a doomed man

space ghost kirk

my biggest problem with this ep was that i wanted it to be 2.01 my time of dying from s*pernatural, and it wasn't because the 60s have limits on their sfx abilities. in this fantasy world, though, i can do WHATEVERRR i want

CAPTAIN'S LOG, SUPPLEMENTAL: here kirk outlines what really happened to him, which is that he escaped the defiant during the attempted beaming but found himself floating in the enterprise in an alternate dimension - it's dark, like the defiant, and maybe green or something to visually denote the difference between kirk's dimension and ours. he can see and hear what's happening but no one, except uhura just now, can see him. he can't touch or affect anything. he is powerless. all he can do is try and figure out some sort of solution while he watches his ship falling apart - this time from kirk's pov, with lots of FUNNN spooky ambience - and, of course, spock and bones being extremely angry with one another, like fighting in sickbay after they've seen to uhura (when it's clear to jim and us that they're angry BECAUSE they're grieving)

then we get to kirk's last orders. spock tries to put bones off about this because seeing jim's face right now would kill him on the spot but bones wants to get him alone in order to violate the hippocratic oath by shaking him like a dog with a squirrel. finally spock reluctantly agrees is metaphorically dragged away to the woodshed 

more arguing but this time with kirk as a third unseen participant. bones makes an accusation and he chimes in with "spock tell him it's not true!" spock implies something about bones's abilities being compromised when he's so emotional and kirk goes "mister spock you're out of line!" spock fields the accusations of wanting a captaincy by explaining the truth about the wack starfleet officials, but bones doesn't believe him at ALL. "if you didn't want a captaincy, why did you stay and fight!?" he's sure he's got spock cornered; now he'll have to admit the truth. 

perfect time for the tape to come on. this is the same as it is in the episode, and when it stops and kirk's smiling face remains frozen onscreen, spock explains haltingly that he stayed because he wasn't sure jim was dead and couldn't bear the thought of leaving him behind. there: an emotion. he prepares for the inevitable vivisection.

instead bones apologizes, like he does in canon. i liked the line "it does hurt, doesn't it?" unlike spock, bones shows his emotions outwardly. as in canon, they get called away by plot stuff. bones leaves first. spock stays behind, looking at the screen, and reaches out almost as if to touch it. there's a moment where you think he'll break - then he puts it all away, turns on his heel and goes, and the camera pans back to kirk, speechless.

kirk notices that as time goes on and they get closer to that next interphase, he becomes visible more and more often. perhaps when he talks into the radio in his suit it could come over the intercoms or something. people start hearing him and then dismissing it. someone sights him in the engine room. spock and bones think the whole ship is going nuts, but kirk can't seem to get through to the two people who need to see him most. 

so they have to do it on their own: reconcile. develop an antidote. a toast to their departed captain with scotty, where bones finally addresses spock as captain. then, with interphase growing closer, and the tholian web coming to a close, spock and bones are on the bridge when kirk appears in front of EVERYONE

(i liked bones spinning spock's chair around and then swooning into his arms and of course the "forget it bones" is CRUCIAL, so maybe the toast/drinking the antidote takes place on the bridge, and this happens just before bones drinks his share)

anyway, this time spock reaches for him, like he does in canon, instead of aborting the motion like he did in kirk's quarters when he nearly touched the computer. but kirk vanishes again, and spock's hand closes on nothing

the ending

now that they KNOW kirk is back, everyone has to rush to beat the clock in order to both escape the tholian web and bring their captain with them

everything goes well just like it does in the episode, with the small change of: as soon as spock has directed the ship out of the web, he gives the bridge to sulu and books it to the transporter room. he arrives just in time to see jim materialize on the plate alongside bones, and he probably stands at parade rest while bones welcomes jim home like he does in the episode proper, but there's enough eye contact happening between the three of them we know spock is just as relieved as the rest of them

NOW the scene at the end, where kirk talks about how empty that universe was and how he likes a crowded one much better. i have two versions of an ending in mind and can't decide which is more fun so i'm doing them both

#1: someone, spock or bones or one of the other bridge crew members, asks jim if it was totally awful being able to see the ship in such distress and not being able to help and he dodges the question by saying he couldn't see much anyway or some stupid bullshit. then HE asks spock and bones about his last orders and they also lie. and you get the idea from their various face journeys they all know each other is lying but they're going to pretend in order to remain professional and buttoned up - and then someone says something that gets them started again. bones exasperated, spock deadpan - but it has a totally different tone from the vicious fights from earlier and it cuts the tension easily. it's an all's well that ends well moment, because you can see jim is enjoying the nice version of their bickering again.

#2: kirk asks about the last orders, spock and bones lie, and kirk calls them out on it by reminding them he could see and hear everything. this is followed with the sort of gentle and loving admonishment that kirk is capable of when he's touched which basically amounts to: thank you for continuing to be excellent and professional to my ship while privately falling apart, but if i die again, please be better to EACH OTHER so i can go to my death knowing the two of you at least have one another. spock and bones, mildly abashed, agree - and then again, someone says something to start the friendly bickering and cut the tension before the credits roll

DONE. this CONCLUDES my episode edit of the tholian web, which again is really very very good already. we love a good character death fakeout and we also love SPONES. look for more overthought episode edits someday in the future

[writingforfun0714]

Hi everyone, I recently had a birthday so I haven’t had the time to post.

I wanna post my first Arcane multi-chapter fic.

This is an Arcane reader insert (female child reader) and is basically the youngest sister to Powder and Vi. I want this to be multi-chapter and follow the episodes of the show.

Warnings—spoilers for Arcane, Reader Insert—Female Child Reader, AU (I think), parental death, POV changes, Long? (6,170 words), follows episode 1 (from Reader POV)

*I USE ‘Y/N’ FOR READER THROUGHOUT*

Sisters of Mine

Chapter 1

3rd POV

War. Destruction. Death. That was what awaited 3 young girls. The oldest has short, shaggy pink hair and pale blue eyes. Her parents called her Vi. She can’t be older than 12. The younger girl, who is about 6 years old has the same shaggy, wild hair the older girl does, but hers is bright blue. Her name is Powder. She has dark, deep blue eyes. The older girl with pink hair is holding a baby girl. She is their baby sister, Y/N, who is only about 6 months old.

The eldest has her sister with blue hair cover her eyes and sing as they walk through the rubble on the Bridge. Their parents had told them to stay until they returned, only, they never did. The fighting ceased and when the adults never came back, Vi decided to go out to look for them. Her younger sister, Powder, wanted to come as well, which meant she also had to take Y/N. Can’t leave a baby by themselves. They need protection and care. That’s what the girls’ parents told them. They are both super protective of their baby sister.

They stop and Powder peeks through her fingers to look up at Vi, who appears stunned and shocked. Powder turns to see rubble and bodies. She gasps quietly. The only sound is Y/N’s whimpering and fire crackling.

That’s when Vi hears a loud but dull thunk of metal connecting with something. Vi turns and in the smoke, she sees a silhouette of a large, muscular man. The smoke dissipates and Vi is able to see that the large man is killing an Enforcer, hitting him hard with metal gauntlets, crushing the Enforcer’s skull. He hears Y/N’s cries and turns to see the 3 young girls standing, staring at him. He approaches them and Powder steps into Vi’s side as the eldest takes a protective step forward, keeping a firm grip on their baby sister. The man’s look is sad and Vi looks at him as if to ask for help, taking a step towards the man—to ask where their parents are. You see, Vi and Powder vaguely know this man. They know his name is Vander and that he’s a friend of their parents.

The man, Vander, glances over to the left sadly and Vi follows his gaze. That’s when her eyes spot 2 bodies. The woman…she’s covered in blood and her eyes are open. The same dark blue eyes Powder has. Vi can’t see the man, but she knows who it is. They are the bodies of their parents. Vi’s eyes water and she takes a couple of shaky breaths before collapsing to her knees, crying, holding onto Y/N. Powder wraps her small arms around the 2 of them as Vi cries. Y/N starts crying as well because they are crying. Vander approaches the girls and lets his cast iron gauntlets drop, cracking the ground upon impact. He gently picks up Powder and Y/N in one arm and Vi in the other. Y/N cries as Powder tries calming her. Vi peers over Vander’s shoulder, her arms are wrapped around his muscular neck. She glares at an Enforcer as they release a bullet casing before walking back into the smoke and dust of the failed rebellion. Vi’s grip on Vander tightens in anger slightly as he walks the girls back down to the Lanes.

Time Lapse—4yrs

About 4 years have passed since Vi, Powder and Y/N lost their parents and Vander, the owner of the Last Drop, took them in. Vander also took in 2 boys, Claggor and Mylo who also lost their parents that day on the Bridge. They are around Vi’s age.

Vi has grown into a stubborn, tough 16yr old girl dead set on punching her way through any problem. Powder is a shy, passive 10 year old girl but incredibly smart. She often hangs out with Little Man since they are close in age. Little Man, also known as Ekko, was adopted by Vander’s friend, Benzo. He owns a pawnshop just down the street from the Vander’s bar. Y/N is now a sweet, smart but scrawny 4 year old kid who loves learning from Powder and Ekko. Because of her age, Y/N is often left at the bar if Vi and the others leave and she’d usually go find Ekko. He’s Powder’s best friend, but he’s also like an older brother to Y/N. He often shows her what to pick out from the junkyards. Mylo and Claggor often ignore Y/N, since she’s so young, so she really prefers Ekko for a brother anyways. Especially since Mylo doesn’t particularly like her.

Vi, Powder, Mylo and Claggor had gotten a tip from Ekko about a place topside to check out. Someone came into Benzo’s pawn shop who looked ‘weird’ according to Ekko. He had enough money to be charged double, so Vi decided to follow the lead. Originally it was just Vi, Mylo and Claggor, but Powder wanted to tag along as well, much to Y/N’s disappointment. She loved Ekko and Vander and even ‘Uncle Benzo’, but she really missed having Powder around. Y/N can’t keep up with the others and she has nothing she’s really good at. Mylo would tease her, saying that at least Powder’s a great shot. Mylo always says Y/N often slows down the older siblings and he feels like Y/N a burden, something Powder can relate to, which is why they get along so well.

Vi told Powder she could come along, since she would know what valuable stuff to take and the 2 older sisters had to tell Y/N to stay behind. It wasn’t until the older kids left that Y/N decided to go find Ekko.

Reader’s POV

I wave sadly at Powder and Vi as they head out the door. Vander, my dad, is busy running the bar and I don’t wanna be alone. I glance at the clock. Ekko would probably be at the junkyard right about now. I slip on my worn hand-me-downs I got from Powder and hurry up the steps.

I shut the door behind me and hurry up the last short set of stairs that leads into the main bar area. The music from the jukebox is drowned out by the few people scattered about. I spot my dad behind the counter. Vi, Powder and even the boys call him Vander, though I don’t know why. Vi said he’s not our real father, but the large muscular man with shaggy graying brown hair with a matching beard and mustache is all I can picture when thinking of the word ‘dad’.

He’s busy with someone at the bar, filling the cup and talking. I won’t be gone too long. I head back down the stairs and to the left is the door that leads outside to the side alley. I push the heavy door a few times for it to open enough and I groan slightly as I push it back shut.

I look around before heading off towards the junkyards. It’s not far since the bar is almost at the center of the Lanes.

I see the hills of rusted scrap metal that’s mostly beyond repair. A few adults scavenge here as well but most pay no mind to me. I walk through the trails made through the junk and that’s when I hear a familiar voice. A groan, actually. I hurry around a piece of rusted out metal and see Ekko sifting through a pile!

“Little Man!” I exclaim. His head snaps up and a wide smile spreads across his face when he spots me.

“Y/N!” He exclaims back and braces himself as I launch myself at him, colliding with his thighs and stomach, wrapping my arms around him and squeezing tight.

We laugh as we part.

“What’re you doing here? I thought Pow-pow was gonna show you her surprise-“ Ekko tells me. My eyes widen in excitement.

“Surprise?!” I ask and he nods.

“She was so proud of it and wanted to show you-“ he explains and my face falls slightly.

“N-No, she didn’t tell me. She left with Vi and the boys,” I explain to him. Now his face changes into a look of concern.

“She did?” He asks and I nod.

“Vi said she was ready and let her go with them. They told me to stay at the bar,” I tell him, “so I decided to come find you.” Ekko smirks, chuckling slightly.

“Did Vi say where they were going?” Ekko asks and I nod.

“To that place you told them about. With that weirdo guy you were talking about,” I explain and Ekko nods, knowing which I mean. Not noticing how concerned Ekko seems, I look through the oil-stained rusty metal and find what appears to be a tool! I gasp and pick it up.

“What is it?” Ekko asks.

“Look what I found-“ I say, holding up the screwdriver.

“Hey look at that! Your first find! And a tool no less! That means it’s time for you to start tinkering,” Ekko tells me and I smile happily.

“C’mon, let’s go to my hideout-I can show you what I found too,” he tells me, patting his pockets. I nod in agreement.

“Ok,” I say and follow Ekko back to Uncle Benzo’s, holding his hand and chatting along the way.

We get back to the pawnshop and Ekko holds the door open for me, making the bell on top jingle.

“There you are Ekko—oh-Y/N-I got a donation from this morning, thought you’d like to have it-“ Uncle Benzo says, searching a drawer. I walk up to the counter and watch the large man pull out a small box. He opens it and my eyes widen when I see they’re colors! 4 whole colors! Yellow, green, purple and orange! They look used, but the tips are still pretty pointy and long. Not used for long. Ekko smiles.

“Make sure to wash up before tracking all that grease upstairs-“ he tells Ekko, who nods.

“Yep-c’mon Y/N-“ Ekko tells me. I take the box of colors.

“Thanks Uncle Benzo-“ I tell him. He chuckles.

“Sure thing kid,” he says as I follow Ekko upstairs. We wash up in the small bathroom and I follow Ekko out his bedroom window and up the fire escape ladder that leads to the roof.

Ekko sits and empties his pockets.

“Woah! You found a square plug! Powder’s been looking for one of those-“ I say and he nods.

“Yeah I remember. I had found a few earlier but they were all either too rusted or stripped,” Ekko says.

“Stripped?” I ask. He nods.

“See all these grooves on this part?” He asks, pointing to the part that goes into whatever needs the plug. I reach and feel it. It’s small, but bumpy and I nod.

“If a screw or something is stripped, it doesn’t have that and won’t be able to fit into place,” Ekko explains. I nod, understanding. I watch Ekko tinker with the parts he’s salvaged along with a few parts scattered about the rooftop hideout.

He’s trying to fix his stopwatch. It got broken during a game between him and Powder. I remember watching the 2 in the alley. Ekko had dodged the 1st 3 shots before getting hit with pink paint on the 4th shot, with Powder exclaiming victory and laughing. Ekko, in frustration had thrown the stopwatch down and it broke.

“There, I think I got it-“ he says, closing it up. He clicks the button and I hear a soft, but audible ticking noise. I smile and see the red pointer ticking.

“You fixed it!” I exclaim happily. He nods.

“Wanna go to the basement?” Ekko asks, referring to our hangout/sleeping area in the basement of the Last Drop. I nod and we head down the ladder and hop down onto the garbage bins before jumping down to the ground and walking across and down the street.

We get to the bar and I have us enter through the side alley door. Ekko gets the heavy door for me and closes it behind us. I hurry down the steps and open the basement door. I flick the light switch and hurry down the rest of the stairs before hopping onto the couch. We continue talking, mostly about the others.

After about two and a half hours pass, Ekko decides to head back home. I’m laying in the lower bunk Powder and I share, listening to music. That’s when the door suddenly opens and I gasp. I look and see my older siblings trudge down the stairs. Mylo, Claggor and Powder take the couches while Vi takes the armchair.

“You’re back!” I exclaim happily, running up to Powder and Vi. I hug both of them before getting a good look at them. Powder appears to be ok, but the others are covered in blood and bruises and they’re all a bit dirty and smell a bit.

“Yeah, we’re back,” Mylo scoffs.

“What happened to you?” I ask.

“Vander learns none of this,” Vi instructs, ignoring my question.

“No worries there—Powder took care of the evidence,” Mylo complains.

“I tried ok!? I-It’s not fair! You’re older! You’re bigger! It isn’t fair!” Powder exclaims back at him.

“So stick with us! Take a punch or two!” Mylo exclaims. I grab the rubber ball we play with and throw it hard at Mylo, hitting his shoulder.

“Ow! Hey you little-!” Mylo exclaims, rubbing his shoulder before the sound of the door opening shuts him up.

“Everyone alright?” Dad asks, walking down the stairs.

“Never better…good,” the boys mumble. Vi refuses to look at him. Something’s definitely wrong.

“I don’t suppose you can explain why it is that I’m hearing about an explosion and a foot chase topside?” Dad asks. My eyes widen and I look at Powder, tugging on her arm. She gives me a look meaning that she’ll tell me later and I nod.

“Four children fleeing the scene. What the hell were you thinking?” Dad asks Vi.

“That we could handle a real job-“ Vi says, looking at him.

“A real job?” He asks.

“We got our own tip, planned a route, nobody even saw-“ Vi tries to explain.

“You blew up a building,” Dad argues.

“Did you even stop to think about what could have happened to you? Eh? To them?!” He asks angrily. Vi glances away, covering her mouth with her hand.

The large man sighs and rubs his forehead with his hand in frustration.

“Where did you even get this tip?” He asks. At first no one answers. He looks to Powder and she would’ve said something had Mylo not been glaring at her. Dad glances to me and his look softens a bit, but he’s still pretty serious.

“Y/N?” He asks, knowing how easily I crack.

“It was from Uncle Benzo’s,” I say and the boys sigh.

“From?” He asks. Powder gives me a nudge and shakes her head slightly.

“Little Man,” I reveal and even though I feel bad about telling, I’m glad he knows. Dad sighs, and Vi immediately stands up.

“I brought us there so be mad at me, but you’re the one who always says we have to earn our place in this world-“ Vi argues.

“I also told you time and time again the north side’s off limits!” Dad argues.

“Why!? They’ve got plenty while we’re down here scraping together coins! When did you get so comfortable living in someone else’s shadow?” Vi asks and a tense silence falls over the room. I cling to Powder, afraid of what’s going to happen.

“Everyone out,” Dad orders in a calm seriousness that is almost unsettling. The boys stand first before Powder does as well but I don’t move. Dad looks at me and I see how serious he looks.

“Powder,” he says and that’s when Powder picks me up and carries me out with her. I don’t protest. His look…he’s never looked like that…at least towards me before.

Claggor shuts the door behind us.

“He was really mad,” I whimper about the bar owner turned father.

“Why did you tell Vander?!” Mylo snaps and I flinch, tucking my face into Powder’s neck, my grip around her tightening slightly.

“Back off Mylo-“ Powder defends me, glaring at the older boy before walking away.

We walk outside to the side alley.

“A building blew up?” I ask as she sets me down. I lean against the side of the building and slide down to sit. Powder nods and takes a seat next to me.

“Yeah, it was an accident,” she tells me.

“What happened?” I ask.

“I..I don’t really know. We had to hurry out-“ Powder tells me.

“Well at least you made it back,” I tell her.

“Yeah, barely,” she replies with a scoff.

“Why are you sad?” I ask, noticing the tears on her cheeks. She looks at me and wipes her eyes before looking away.

“I’m fine,” she lies. I pout.

“Mylo?” I ask and when she doesn’t respond, I know that means yes. I instantly wrap my arms around my older sister and squeeze.

“Why is Mylo so mean?” I ask. While Mylo would usually be mean to Powder, he hasn’t exactly been the nicest brother to me either. He always says I’m a burden and because I’m a baby, I shouldn’t hang around them. So I understand how Powder feels.

“I…I don’t know,” Powder admits, hugging me back.

3rd POV

The two girls stay sitting, hugging, for a moment. Everything that happened plays through Powder’s mind. Sure she had trouble hopping on the rooftops, but Vi had caught her. Though she didn’t miss Mylo’s eye-roll and head shake of disapproval. Then, once inside, it looked like nothing Powder had ever seen. So many books and objects, but she did recognize something, the Valdiani music box. She took that along with-

Powder gasps suddenly and her eyes widen. Y/N pulls back, slightly confused.

“What?” The younger girl asks.

“I forgot-“ Powder tells her baby sister. She reaches into the pouch she has attached to her belt and pulls out the 5 blue crystals she took. She shows them to Y/N, who awes in fascination at the glowing blue stones.

“Woah…pretty,” Y/N awes quietly. Powder smiles and nods.

“What are they?” Y/N asks curiously, reaching to pick one out of Powder’s hand to get a closer look. Y/N picks up one glowing stone and stares at it.

“I dunno-“ Powder tells Y/N.

“C’mon, let’s go show Vi-“ Y/N tells Powder, who nods in agreement.

The two girls hurry inside with Powder pulling the heavy wooden and metal door open for the both of them and shutting it as they get inside. Y/N follows Powder down the stairs as they get to the almost shut door to the basement.

“Ugh-she’s the problem,” Mylo hears. Before Y/N can open the door, Powder stops her and motions for her baby sister to be quiet. Y/N nods understanding and they peek through the crack to eavesdrop. Powder, Y/N and Ekko eavesdrop all the time so it’s not uncommon.

“Mylo I’m really not-“ Vi tries telling the wild haired boy as he tosses the rubber ball on the wall, making a thunking sound.

“Do you remember what was in that bag? The biggest payout we’ve ever seen and she just lost it!” Mylo argues.

“She made a mistake,” Vi argues.

“Name one time she hasn’t,” Mylo argues back, referring to Powder, throwing the ball roughly. Y/N notices Powder flinch sadly. She reaches out and grabs Powder’s hand and squeezes lightly.

“She’s young-“ Vi continues to argue with the boy.

“Don’t bullshit me, you were twice the person at Y/N’s age. Besides, Powder can take care of the runt while we’re out,” Mylo says, calling Y/N a runt. The little girl balls her fists angrily.

“You know what Mylo? You’re right. There’s a bunch of things Powder just can’t do and Y/N’s too young,” Vi says about both her sisters.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Mylo mutters. The two younger girls share a look before Y/N reaches up, wanting to be held. Powder picks up her younger sister and hurries out. Of course Vi hadn’t meant it the way it sounded.

However, the younger girls leave before hearing Vi’s defense.

“Like complain about everything,” Vi snaps.

“What?” Mylo asks, throwing the ball again.

“And brag nonstop,” Vi adds, sitting, leaning forward with her elbows on her thighs.

“Ok-ok I see where this is going-“ Mylo laughs, throwing the ball.

“Picking fights with the group when we need to focus?” Vi asks, catching the ball to get his attention.

“Vi I-“ Mylo chuckles.

“Or tell strangers on the street we got a nice haul?!” Vi asks interrupting the boy, throwing the ball hard at Mylo to make him understand the seriousness of his actions.

“I-I didn’t mean-“ Mylo stutters as Vi towers over him on the couch.

“The girls are my problem because they’re my sisters. Your problem is never knowing when to shut up but I’m going to help you with that,” Vi says, “see this look on my face?! This will always mean it’s time to shut up!” Vi snaps at the boy.

“But-I-!” He tries, but Vi points at her face and he sighs.

Reader POV

Powder takes me with her and that’s when I ask her.

“Am I a burden?” I ask.

“W-What?” Powder replies, more stunned than anything.

“To us…our family…to you…am I a burden?” I ask, on the verge of tears. Powder stops and sets me down. I see her own eyes shine with unshed tears.

“No-never. It’s…my fault. I’m a jinx,” Powder says, and I recognize the insult as one of Mylo’s and frown as tears slip down Powder’s cheeks.

“No! Mylo’s a liar! He’s a liar!” I start to yell, not caring that I’m crying as well. I feel a hand on my back and look up to see Powder looking at me with a kind smile, though I still notice the tears in her eyes.

“Thank you…for defending me,” Powder tells me before pulling me into a hug. The sudden switch causes my anger to die down. I immediately wrap my arms around my older sister.

“Always,” I reply.

Powder suggests going to see Ekko and I happily agree. We’re in his hideout right now, talking, though I’m mostly listening.

“Why don’t you show Y/N your surprise,” Ekko suggests and I start to hop up and down excitedly.

“Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Show me! Show me!” I exclaim. Powder looks away nervously.

“N-No-no-I…it..doesn’t work-“ Powder stutters slightly. I frown in confusion. Ekko frowns as well, but his is out of concern.

“What’re you talking about? We tested it two days a-“

“Yeah well it doesn’t work now ok? I…I used it…earlier today,” Powder admits and Ekko gives her an empathetic look.

“I don’t understand-what?” I ask, not knowing what Powder’s talking about.

“It’s ok..I’ve had stuff not work too. But you can still show Y/N, right?” Ekko asks.

“Yeah pleeeeeaaaase?!” I beg, tugging on Powder’s blue shirt. She made it herself and will also fix my clothes if they rip. She chuckles.

“Ok-ok-“ she says and pulls out something from her leather pouch. I look and see it looks metallic but my eyes immediately go to the bright colors on it. It looks like a-

“Mouse,” I say, pointing. She chuckles and nods.

“Good eye. This is Mouser,” she tells me but I watch her expression fall into sadness.

“She didn’t work,” she says as if remembering something.

“But she will, we can work together,” Ekko says, glancing at me with a smile. I smile back and nod eagerly.

“Yeah! I wanna help! I wanna help! Pow-pow please?!” I beg. She looks at me and nods after only a moment.

“Sure, I could use all the help I can get-“ she says and I cheer happily.

“Yaaaaay!! I’ll help!! I’ll help!” I exclaim before Powder and Ekko grab Ekko’s toolbox. She sets Mouser down and unscrews the head.

“Can I see?” I ask and she nods. She teaches me about how she built it and how it’s supposed to work.

“Does she go boom?!” I ask excitedly and Powder nods.

“Let’s see what the problem is,” Ekko says, spinning a wrench in his hand. I watch my older siblings get to work and I make sure to pay attention.

After about an hour or so, Powder realizes we should go home.

“But we’re not done!” I argue.

“We can always finish tomorrow,” Ekko says and Powder nods.

“Vander basically grounded us anyways,” Powder adds. I sigh, pouting.

“C’mon, I’ll show you my latest idea,” Powder bribes. I light up and nod.

“Ok,” I agree and turn to Ekko and leap at him. I wrap my scrawny small arms around his hips and squeeze tightly.

“Bye Little Man,” I say, using his nickname. He chuckles lightly and ruffles my hair with one hand and hugs me with the other.

“See ya tomorrow Lil Sis,” he says as I pull back. I watch as he and Powder hug tightly before parting. Powder grabs my hand and waves goodbye to Ekko as we walk home. I wave too as the boy waves back at us.

We get back to the bar just as Dad and Claggor head out.

“Girls, it’s time to stay home,” Dad tells us and we nod as he and Claggor walk down to Uncle Benzo’s.

“Huh, I wonder what’s going on,” Powder says out loud but when I try to follow, she grabs hold of my collar and makes sure I go inside.

We walk in and I hurry down to the basement. I open the door slowly at first to take a peek, but when I look around, I see it’s empty.

“C’mon, no one’s here,” I tell her and walk inside.

Powder turns on the music/record player as I grab the colors I got earlier from Uncle Benzo and find a piece of paper in the wooden box Powder lets me keep some of my stuff in.

“What is that?” Powder asks me.

“It’s some colors Uncle Benzo got. He gave them to me and I wanna add ‘em to the ones we got,” I explain.

“Ooh can I draw with you?” Powder asks and I nod eagerly.

“Yeah!” I exclaim happily. Powder moves over on our bed and motions for me to sit next to her. I grab my stuff and move over to my sister. She grabs one of the new colors I got. I’m confused at first until she grabs one of her inventions.

“What’s that?” I ask, curious.

“This one is Whisker. She goes with Mouser,” Powder explains, drawing on the metal container.

We keep coloring until the basement door opens again. I look up and see Vi walk down the stairs. She approaches our bunk and leans on the top, looking down at us.

“What’re you calling this one?” Vi asks, knowing Powder names her inventions.

“Whisker,” Powder says as she outlines the mouth.

“Here, move over kiddo,” Vi tells me and I shift to the side so Vi can sit down.

“You wanna talk about today?” Vi asks her.

“What’s the point? I ruin everything. I always do,” Powder says, sitting up with her legs pulled up so her knees meet her chin.

“Nobody said that-“ Vi tries telling her.

“No, just that you were ‘twice the person at Y/N’s age’,” Powder says, repeating what we had overheard earlier between Mylo and Vi.

“You heard them,” Powder tells Vi sadly as she clicks Whisker’s head into place, “I’m not a fighter,” she says.

“You don’t have to be,” Vi says as Powder frustratedly presses Whisker against her forehead. Vi glances up where Powder hangs all her bombs that she makes.

“Look, I’ve got these, and you’ve got those,” Vi says making a fist before lightly touching the metallic canisters.

“They never work-“ Powder argues.

“They will,” Vi says and I nod.

“You help teach me stuff-I need you-“ I say, emphasizing that I need her, and Powder gives me a half-hearted smile. Vi smiles at me and ruffles my hair.

“She’s right,” Vi tells Powder before Vi’s eyes light up a bit.

“Come with me,” Vi says. Without waiting, I immediately jump out of bed and start following.

“What?” Powder asks.

“C’mon,” Vi insists as I tug on Powder’s arm. She pats my hand and shuts off the string lights in our bunk before we head outside, up on the roof.

I cling to Powder’s arm as we follow Vi out the door and to the edge of the room. She sits and motions for us to do the same. Powder sits on Vi’s left and, wanting to sit next to both of them, I wriggle in between them, making my older sisters chuckle and Vi ruffles my hair.

“What’re we doing out here?” Powder asks. Vi looks and spots a rusted out pipe stuck in the chain link leaned up against some old boxes.

“Here, see that sign?” Vi asks, handing Powder the pipe. Vi points and Powder follows Vi’s finger.

“Mylo drew that middle finger and he tripped over that red paint bucket and nearly fell off. His ass made that splotch,” Vi says. I cup my hands around my eyes to get a better look and spot the paint. Powder laughs.

“And there-“ Vi points to the right and down. We follow and see a small gap in the ground with wooden planks as a walkway.

“Claggor tripped there running from Enforcers and got his foot stuck. He was there all night before we found him,” Vi explains. I see some guy peeing, but I think about the story Vi told. It’s not close to the bar so Claggor must’ve been scared…I would be if I was alone.

“And that,” Vi says, pointing to the power lines that connect to the bar. Powder lowers the pipe and looks. They string to different buildings and disappear in the dim light. But I spot something tangled in the lines. It’s…it’s a toy! Powder sees it too.

“When I was a kid, some guy took my favorite toy and threw it up there,” Vi explains.

“I’d come outside hoping the wind or a bird might knock it down,” Vi says with a sad look on her face.

“We’ve all had bad days. But we learn, and we stick together,” Vi says, wrapping her arm around us and pulling both me and Powder into her. We smile at Vi. That’s when I remember what Powder had shown me earlier.

“Pow-pow-“ I say, tugging lightly on her shirt, “the light rocks-“ I remind her and she gasps.

“Oh! I forgot!” She exclaims.

“What’s a light rock?” Vi asks curiously. Powder takes out 3 of the glowing blue stones from earlier and shows Vi.

“These were in my pocket. They’re from the apartment,” Powder explains to Vi.

“What are they?” Vi asks, staring at the small glowing stone in Powder’s hand.

“We dunno,” Powder says, glancing at me.

“Maybe we can get lots of money for them!” I suggest.

“You mean they’re valuable?” Powder asks and I nod.

“Should we show Vander?” Powder asks Vi.

“No-“ Vi immediately answers. Powder and I exchange a worried look before turning to Vi.

“Let’s keep this our little secret,” Vi says looking at both of us. Powder nods and Vi looks down at me.

“Y/N?” She asks and I look to Powder, who nods encouragingly.

“I won’t tell,” I assure my oldest sister.

“Mylo’s wrong Powder. You’re stronger than you think. And Y/N, you may be young, but you’re smart. Pow-pow and Little Man taught you well,” Vi compliments, winking at Powder, who absorbs Vi’s affection. Powder told me once that she wished she could be more like Vi to protect me so I know she wants to be like Vi.

“One day, this city’s gonna respect us,” Vi says confidently, standing up to look at the sprawling city. I lean against Powder’s side and think about Mylo…what he said…and I think about how Vi doesn’t feel that way. The light breeze feels nice and I enjoy the time with my sisters.

Meanwhile…

3rd POV

Deckard makes his way through the streets until he’s suddenly ambushed. He blacks out and wakes up when he’s thrown into a chair. He groans as the chair skids back a bit from the force. His breathing quickens as a large pale man sneers at him. The muscular man presses a pipe against Deckard’s neck.

“Gah!” Deckard gasp and starts squirming.

“You were supposed to follow them and not interfere,” a smooth, slightly raspy male voice says followed by a small sound of metal clicking. Deckard struggles against the metal choking him.

“I’m sorry! They split up and caught us by surprise!” Deckard gasps.

“Now his accomplice is asking questions about you,” the man replies. Deckard looks and in the dim lighting, he can make out a thin man with slicked back dark hair. His clothes look nice but Deckard can’t make out the details. The man is holding some sort of metallic device. Deckard watches as the man tilts his head back and uses the metal device to pierce his eye! Deckard’s eyes widen in shock.

“That’s not a risk I’m willing to take,” the man says and the huge muscular man pressing the pipe to Deckard’s neck suddenly presses harder.

“Agh-“ the young man gasps.

“The kids! It was their fault! The explosion! In the upper city!” Deckard pleads, and that gets the mystery man’s attention.

“That was them?” He asks.

“Yeah. The topsiders are up in arms looking for ‘em,” Deckard explains.

“Vander’s in trouble,” the mysterious man says, referring to the Last Drop’s owner. The man turns to look Deckard face on and Deckard chuckles nervously when he sees the mystery man’s left eye is glowing in the darkness.

“Smartest thing you ever said, boy,” the man says, standing. The man practically saunters over.

“Get him a meal,” the mystery man tells the other two that presumably work for him. The muscular man lets go of Deckard’s throat, tossing the metal pipe down with a clanging sound and the young man gasps for air.

“Keep him off the streets,” the man instructs as the two men practically drag Deckard away.

The mystery man walks up to the glass wall that looks out at the vast ocean that’s home to many of the sea creatures and monsters the man enjoys watching.

“Our timeline has moved up,” the mystery man says, at first appearing to talk to himself, until a quiet scientist makes his presence known behind the thin man.

“It’s almost ready,” the scientist says, looking at a vile of glowing purple liquid.

“Show me,” the man says. The scientist motions for him to follow to a small enclosed space that contains a mouse.

“Feeding time,” the scientist says, picking up a hairless cat looking inside the area. The cat meows as he’s placed inside. The scientist locks it closed before the man turns to him.

“And the side effects?” The man asks. The scientist mixes in the glowing liquid with the mouse’s water supply.

“Stabilizing,” the scientist replies, tapping the glass to get the mouse’s attention. It squeaks before going over to the slightly purple water. It drinks some of the water while the cat stalks up to it curiously.

The mouse suddenly squeaks as if in pain and backs away from the water, twitching. That’s when purple veins start appearing all over the mouse and it grows in size by about 3 times, gaining unnatural muscle. And it’s regular, black eye is now a glowing purple. It’s squeaks are now a mash of snarls and noises of pain. The monster mouse turns on the cat, causing the cat to freeze. The mouse leaps at the cat and the feline lets out a dying meow as the rat instantly kills the animal.

The glass cracks and blood splatters, causing the 2 men to make faces of slight disgust.

“Do you have a subject in mind?” The scientist asks.

“Someone just volunteered,” the mysterious man says, referring to Deckard.

End.

Chapter 2

[path-of-arceus]

Chapter 2

7 day has passed, Shenlan walked out of Wallace's house. For the first time since the incident which he needs to recover from. The world outside looks so serene and pretty, it's like a dream, a paradise for him.

"So..." Wallace's voice breaks his silence. "What do you think about this place, the Sootopolis City?"

"This place looks... amazing!"

"Oh, don't get excited yet, kid." Wallace chuckles. "You barely seen anything yet!"

Wallace reaches out his hand forward, this taken Shenlan by surprise as the boy flinched backwards slightly.

"Come, there are still a lot of places that you need to see."

Shenlan hesitates, Wallace nods his head, reassuring the boy. Shenlan lets out a smile and grabs Wallace's hand, they started to descend the many stairs of the city. The air feels cold, at least, it's not what he is used to from living in Bay City for 13 years.

He gazes at the beautiful lake, the same lake that nearly took my life, he thoughts, sadly, trying to not get his thoughts wrapped in what happened a week ago. He tilts his head as notices a certain building, build on a small island a but far from the main land.

"Is that building... meant to be there?" Shenlan asked curiously, marveled by the wonders of this world more than anything else.

Wallace starts to chuckle. "Oh, that is the Sootopolis Gym, a place where other young trainers can try earning a badge to earn the right to fight the Champion of Hoenn."

"If it was meant to be a place where young trainers get to show off their skill... why is it placed in the middle of this lake?"

"That is the point." Wallace responds eagerly. "Some trainers are not allowed to surf across waters until they are skilled enough to do so."

Shenlan nods his head, beginning to understand the basic concept of this world. While he certainly doesn't know what any of that mean, he is very interested in this world.

"This world is massive and there will be time where people were let out into the world to explore the wonders."

Wallace pats the boy on the head, as he gently smiles at him.

"Come, there are still more things i need to show you."

Wrapping his arm on the boy's shoulder, they went towards a lovely scenery, a serene and beautiful bridge towards a small island with giant tree looming over them.

"This tree is so... Massive..." Shenlan commented. "Probably the first time i have ever seen a tree in this size in my life..."

"Ahh..." Wallace turns around. "This tree was given to us by a rather mysterious man, who is as old as time and as big as this tree he gave to us."

Shenlan nods his head, he is impressed at what the world has to offer. More than his own world.

"But that's not what i'm here to show you." Wallace speaks, he turns around towards a beautiful cave entrance. "This is what i wanted to show you."

"This place looks awesome!"

"Glad to see you like this place." Wallace responds. "This is the Cave of Origins, the crown jewel of this city, it's what this place is known for."

Wallace takes a deep breath.

"As the protector of the Cave of Origin, i have a sense of duty to this place, you see." Wallace continues. "It's not a title you can just receive."

In the distance, a metallic wing flaps can be heard heading towards their direction. Wallace turns his head around and smiles.

"Ah." He eagerly exclaimed. "There is Steven."

A giant metalic bird landed softly near where they stand. Steven hops down, with a mysterious egg on his hand.

"Hello Steven." Wallace greets him enthusiastically. "... What is that?"

Steven smiles, he turns around to face Shenlan. He reaches out his hand, giving the egg to the boy.

"You want me to... Have it?" Asked Shenlan, hesitates.

Steven nods his head.

"Alright then, if you say so."

Shenlan steps forward, gently taking the egg from Steven's hand. Wallace walks over to Steven, he smiles as he gently kisses Steven's forehead. Steven smiles back in return as he leans closer to Wallace.

"Thank you, Steven!"

Steven smiles and nods his head. Wallace walks back over to Shenlan.

"Now take care of the egg." He said. "It will be your forever companion in your journey."

Shenlan nods, he hugs the egg closer to him. He can feel an enthusiastic heartbeat coming from the egg.

"Let's get the egg safely back home." Wallace suggests. "To make sure it's safe before i show you around."

As they began to walk back up the steps, Shenlan heard voices of someone speaking behind him. It couldn't possibly be Steven, he had heard his voice before. This voice sounds and feels different

"What's wrong, kid?"

The sudden voice startle the boy, he lets out a chuckle before following behind Wallace.

[mdhwrites]

Since you started Arcane I gotta ask. I think you mentioned about Powder not reacting accordingly to her family death from the bomb... on that scene she was sorry to Vi she messed up not that she killed their father basically. Vi reacted "normally" but Powder didn't show any remorse.

Do you think she became numb to "death" since she witnessed it from a young age with her parents on the bridge? Vi was a bit older so maybe she conceptualized it already. Since then it's clear they faced death many times around, Zaun is harsh environment/upbringing after all, what's horrible to us is average there. I think she may have became a sociopath from it. Vi as well to an extent but only to strangers, death of close ones will still affect her, Jinx cares if only Vi dies tho (well not just her. Actually I'd add more to that but it'll be spoilers until u finish so I'll wait)

So first: I won't be finishing Arcane. That sucks but at least until I can bury my own trauma from my brother, I just can't have that casting a shadow over it. It'll make it hard for me to enjoy any of it, let alone review it properly.

However, I actually want to rebuff this analysis of how Powder reacts and try and be a bit fairer myself. First: She does technically react to her father's death but she never apologizes. She instead acts like a small, frightened child. She starts shutting down, wanting to be assured things will be okay. That things are okay. It's a very classic response to this sort of trauma, not helped by the fact that, as someone else pointed out, Vi had taught her to react to things with violence but now violence was getting her in trouble.

That is the counterpoint though, isn't it? Milo says in the first episode that Vi was twice the person Powder was and I kind of have to wonder if that meant she actually, you know... Was a member of Zaun. Was a member of the violence and trouble. Even worse when you remember that while they're young, Powder still looks at least 5 during the battle at the bridge that claimed their parents. That KILLED their PARENTS. And she isn't breaking down or running from the scary man who just murdered an enforcer in that scene.

And the rest of the first three episodes are warring with itself over how to write Powder. Is she a ruthless child of Zaun, out for blood and to make a name for herself? The sort that would have absolutely godlike aim even at her age, at the point where she can far surpass others who are years older than her with ease? All while having a cold, expressionless face until she's done with her task? Or is she the innocent? The one who can only run and who seems damn near traumatized by the sight of just a street brawl happening in front of her? The noise fades out and echoes while things go into more slow mo like most media does to show something horrifying, which the street fight in episode 1 seems to supposed to be for Powder, but like... Is that REALLY the first street fight she's seen? Milo even says she needs to take a punch like she's literally never been hit, which does have the horror of Vi being the first person to hit her but this is the same person who made an explosive monkey filled with a material she knew could do some REAL damage to people and property.

It's still done well enough that Powder isn't awful. The pain of the last scenes of episode 3 are still mostly earned and I even admitted in my original review that I had to recognize that I had a problem due to personal elements. After all, characters can be multifaceted, have different sides to them, etc. like that... But that works a lot better for adults like Vander who have had the life experience to turn one side on and one side off. Even then, you still see a core of a person in there.

Meanwhile, Powder is fighting between the innocent little girl who's meant to die and her champion form, Jinx, and those parts to me are just a bit too incongruous. A little too at odds without a bit more smoothing out. It's SO close to being right though that I do want to cut it more slack than I originally did.

[beardedmrbean]

Oh yeah Ronald Erwin McNair, sorry I thought he was on that other space shuttle that fell apart during launch.

Also that program with Nichelle Nichols, I recall a lot of space exploration and travel polices were created to prevent another colonial empires power struggle which gave us the world wars and the eugenics horror show.

So space was showed to be “EVERY HUMAN CAN BE IN OUTER SPACE!” Now of course only humans of peak condition can be astronauts but stuff like Star Trek suppose to show a possible future where we all can coexist with each other.

Of course NASA was like “okay let not pull a Nazi and show that non whites and women can be astronauts too” but when most of your organization made up of geeky white people…

I can see why Nichelle Nichols was chosen as she inspired many people especially in the blacks and women into science with her uhura role.

And the whole racial tension that she of all people understands. So she basically help convince a lot of black people and women who you know grew up in segregation and heavy gender roles so NASA definitely felt like an out of reach idea for them.

Sorry you are a bigger NASA fan than me. I’m just curious how da fuck is math racist when we had a black astronaut that grew up in the Deep South?

🤨

He was, that was his 2nd flight, Challenger, Jan 28 1986. That's a day embedded in my memory.

NASA has pretty much always been THE government agency that didn't care about anything other than if you can do the job, obviously politics still showed up and they weren't going to send a woman or black man to the moon, woman bit was less sexist than it was a technology and biology thing, going potty and all, still sexism but it was really more cost effective to not have to worry about the other bits.

Nichelle Nichols thing, I hope she fully grasped how important she was to women in general and black women especially. This is the best anecdote about her, at least that fits the theme.

Roddenberry knew what he had created already, why else have a black woman and a Russian on the bridge crew, Nichols found out when Dr King let her know what she meant.

She also wrote that she had "a short, stormy, exciting relationship" with Sammy Davis Jr. in 1959.

GIRL!!! lol

>Sorry you are a bigger NASA fan than me. I’m just curious how da fuck is math racist when we had a black astronaut that grew up in the Deep South?

And a physicist at that.

It's not, I think the issue is that people don't like that there's going to be a right and a wrong answer for math, 1+1 will always equal 2 is problematic somehow.

There's also claims that the way it's taught is geared toward white students, which I'm not sure how that works, but even if that's true they're playing to the majority which sure would come out discriminatory but that's a no win situation unless you bring back segregation.

It's reading but, I think we may be in the market for this happening in math too.

As a teacher in Oakland, Calif., Kareem Weaver helped struggling fourth- and fifth-grade kids learn to read by using a very structured, phonics-based reading curriculum called Open Court. It worked for the students, but not so much for the teachers. “For seven years in a row, Oakland was the fastest-gaining urban district in California for reading,” recalls Weaver. “And we hated it.”

The teachers felt like curriculum robots—and pushed back. “This seems dehumanizing, this is colonizing, this is the man telling us what to do,” says Weaver, describing their response to the approach. “So we fought tooth and nail as a teacher group to throw that out.” It was replaced in 2015 by a curriculum that emphasized rich literary experiences. “Those who wanted to fight for social justice, they figured that this new progressive way of teaching reading was the way,” he says.

Now Weaver is heading up a campaign to get his old school district to reinstate many of the methods that teachers resisted so strongly: specifically, systematic and consistent instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics. “In Oakland, when you have 19% of Black kids reading—that can’t be maintained in the society,” says Weaver, who received an early and vivid lesson in the value of literacy in 1984 after his cousin got out of prison and told him the other inmates stopped harassing him when they realized he could read their mail to them. “It has been an unmitigated disaster.” In January 2021, the local branch of the NAACP filed an administrative petition with the Oakland unified school district (OUSD) to ask it to include “explicit instruction for phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension” in its curriculum.

From a different article same subject

I like that they put the numbers in this one,

But ya, they didn't like the system they had and even though they were getting year to year improvements with it they changed it because why not throw students under the bus.

Maybe they should learn from Ron McNair, but that would be the students taking the initiative and learning on their own, which might require a sea change in the community as it relates to education.

There's a reason this program has kept going since 1987, but ya colonization of students minds, there's a math one too not sure how good that is.

And there's people who just can't get some math honestly, I know I'm one of them, full spectrum dyslexia is not something I'd wish on anyone.