#that's who they'd be here. jack can convince anyone to work with him and has like a sixth sense for things like security weaknesses

[loving-jack-kelly]

heist au where davey is the strange and offputting genius hacker with no desire for conventional social skills and jack is the charismatic team leader who's like "who the hell is this guy" at first but ends falling for him

[the-white-soul]

*Flowey smiles, glad he's been forgiven for now. When Frisk is here and this hassle is through with, he'll continue trying to convince them. Because deep down, don't they want the perfect world where everyone is happy? This would make him happy. He is certain they'd understand that at the least.*

You don't need to be so scared, you know. If it comes down to it, Chara and I have the power to wipe them out faster than they can call for backup. And so far, *He looks at Chara.* the only times I get hurt is when I allow it.

I agree that Chara is the most justified here! They've been through a lot and have seen everything and know everyone. If anyone gets to judge, it's them.

I just hope nothing happens to Frisk while they're distracting Jack...

Say... *Flowey hums and taps on a petal rhythmically.* I could watch over them while the rest of you sneak into the prison. I'll make sure they're safe! He is a pretty big threat, and if Frisk is supposed to rile him up, who knows what could happen.

(Kara) "I'm not sure about this. Chara?"

(Chara) "Frisk would get him riled up more than I can possibly believe. That all sounds good but Flowey, you're too powerful. I don't think we can go through this without you in the center."

(Kara) "We've done crazier things."

(Chara) "Kara, *Brings them to the side so no one can hear* this isn't just about the plan, I don't want Flowey to die."

(Kara) "We all have to make sacrifices. Plus Flowey would easily defeat Jack if he wanted to."

(Chara) "*sighs* fair enough. *Comes out of the corner* You can do that plan, Flowey. Go out and be Frisk's bodyguard. Just please promise me you'll do anything not to die. You've been the one nice monster to me for hundreds of years. I'm counting resets as time. I also want to warn you, that they have the power to reset. They haven't used it since they went out of the underground, but if they ever suggest to reset, slap them in the face and tell them not to. Understand?"

(Noelle) "Kara, I need to tell you something as well. *Blushes, but hides it*"

(Kara) "How many times will I speak in private? I'm getting more secrets than priests!"

(Noelle) "*Pulls Kara by the arm to a place that is 500 feet away. It sort of hurts Kara but they ignore the pain.* Alright no one is here. Kara, Noelle died but I could never see her die. I wasn't around."

(Kara) "I don't know what you mean... *Shushed by Noelle*"

(Noelle) "If I don't leave here alive I just want to say, Noelle loved you. When she would talk about you before Susie was her main interest, she would go insane. She'd tell me daily how happy she was around you. Every day. She told me that she wanted to love you but couldn't work up the courage. Even when I saw you two together briefly, she was happier than an angel when I saw you two kiss. That's what I always used to call her, my little angel."

(Kara) "Why are you saying this?"

(Noelle) "*pulled out a letter from her bag. It was very old and dusty* This is a love letter that she wrote to you for Valentine's Day. I want you to read it. I think Noelle would've wanted you too."

(Kara) "*Started reading* Oh, what should I say? I don't know how to start these. Alright, here it goes. Kris, you're what makes my life fun. As neighbors, we know each other but I don't think that's enough. I've been waiting for the moment to tell you this forever, Kris I love you! Your smell, your love for your brother, your kindness to everyone. I will follow you till the ends of the earth. If you don't want to date me please say no but if you do, I'd like to go to the pizza place. You can fake scare me like when we were kids! Even then I had a crush on you. I don't know how to end this but let me say this, Kris I will always be your friend but if not, I'll love you forever. *After it has a part that is clearly used by a different pencil* What was I thinking. If anyone finds this in the garbage can please keep it in there. It's terrible, it's terrible, I'm terrible, why would I think anyone would be in love with me?"

(Noelle) "Now that you've read it..."

(Kara) "*Hugs Noelle while crying* Dess, thank you! I'll cherish this until I die. Noelle was always the sweetest girl ever."

(Noelle) "*and that's why I can't tell you anything*"

[strongfuck]

@lowerqualityrp: [x]

Jack knows he’s about to die again, and the inability to do anything about it strikes a fear into his soul that can only be surpassed by what he felt as he watched Angel die.

“Rhys, don’t.

“Please.

“Rhys, please-”

If he’d have been human, there certainly would have been tears brimming his eyes.

And yet, he isn’t.

Still, he’s Handsome Fucking Jack and he’s never been one to go down without a fight. As he watches the shrapnel dig into the port, he jolts upwards and guns it towards the lowly former manager as if he’s capable of wrapping his hands against the metal and jerking it from his grip.

“Rhys, don’t you fucking d-”

*******************************************************

Groaning, Jack’s eyes open again.

Except, it doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t feel like it did when he was living in Rhys’ head, and he doesn’t quite feel alive. It’s foreign and, albeit, a little bit frightening.

Jack didn’t have a plan for the conversion to fail. He didn’t come up with a plan B. And yet, he’s here. Not quite breathing, but he’s alive. While he’s thrilled he’s not sitting in the black abyss of the afterlife, he’s not exactly prepared to find out who kept him around and why?

He swears, if it’s that fucking Maliwan bitch trying to get his sales tactics-

Never let anyone say that Rhys isn't a man of his word. Even when he'd been in Hyperion, his deals may have been shady, but ultimately they'd been deals he carried to the end.

With the gorgeous, purple light of the Vault of the Traveller around him, the blue of Jack's projection looks a different colour entirely. Despite how long it'd been, he looks exactly like Rhys remembers: comically taller than him, kind of manic, kind of scared. And it makes him wonder if time's passed for Jack at all, if that's something an artificial intelligence that advanced can experience-- because he looks just like he did in the wreckage of Helios when he'd begged on his knees for his life.

Then again, maybe that has something to do with the fact Jack had spawned out of the projector on his knees, too.

So, just like he did all those years ago, Rhys kneels as well to meet Jack's eye. "...hey, Jack."

Off in the distance, the rest of the crew is looking over the treasure haul with cheerful chatter. Sasha has an armful of guns, Fiona is trying to convince her to make multiple trips instead of one big one, and Gortys and Loader Bot are scavenging through gear to help Vaughn. Rhys had excused himself minutes earlier, but they'd stopped watching over him as soon as he was far enough away.

He's been busy over the years working on new Atlas tech: going through their blueprints, reviving them, making his own, forging, building, programming. The facility he'd taken to using was full of shit, certainly, but keeping himself preoccupied helped stave off the conflicting emotions from their whole adventure pretty damn well. If the price of being able to sleep at night was being a workaholic, then Rhys would take it.

At the moment, Jack's being projected from a device made out of scraps leftover from Rhys' most recent attempt at making a sniper rifle. He's not connected to any networks, not really capable of doing anything except processing his own program and moving within the limits of the device's ability to project, but he's activated just like Rhys promised.

I'll bring you back when I'm better. He isn't really, but it can't get much better than opening a fucking Vault, can it?

"Welcome back." Rhys rubs the side of his neck, palm over his tattoo. "Uh... kinda."

[dicenote]

Aight, now that I've gotten some sleep, some jumbled thoughts.

To add some extra ~drama~, I wanna add @whyamihereat4am's addition from the notes to the mix and say that Light controlled Beyond to draw L and write his name. In this AU, Light is super cocky and is pretty sure that this won't work, but it does. Here's what I think goes down next:

According to the rules, using a drawing of someone's face doesn't actually work. So matter how good of an artist Beyond is, Light can't kill L straight away

But if Light ever sees L's face, it's an instant game over

The question is, does Light know this? Does he actually believe that Beyond knew L's name and face?

Light probably delays killing the FBI agents to run additional experiments.

He wants to figure out if the Death Note can make people act on information they're not aware of, or what specifically he has to do to control people to do what he wants

When all his tests come up negative, Light might think that Beyond's drawing was just his own interpretation of L's face, and that "L Lawliet" is just a name Beyond made up. Like, Beyond only drew and wrote what he thought L's name and face would look like.

Does that conclusion make a lot of sense? Not really tbh, but it's the best that Light's got.

(The assumption that this rando prisoner actually knew L would only barely cross Light's mind. I dunno how much info about the LABB case is public, but I really doubt that Light is gonna find evidence of Beyond and L crossing paths)

In the time it takes for Light to come to his conclusions, Raye Penber has already cleared him from suspicion. There's no real need to do the whole bus-jacking plot anymore, so the FBI members get to live this time around.

Light gets to continue his killing and experimenting scot-free, for now

Meanwhile, for team L...

L cannot under any circumstances show his face to anyone unless he's certain that they're not Kira.

The fact that L's not dead yet reveals that Kira can't kill people using drawings. (There's probably a way to confirm this by checking on criminals who had sketches of their faces in the news, idk)

This also points to Kira being connected to the police, as that's the only chance they'd have of seeing Beyond's drawing. So even though the FBI investigation came up with nothing, L's still convinced that Kira is among the people who were watched.

Obviously L can't release the photo to the public, so only those who have access to police files can see it

When the Kira Task Force ask what Beyond's message might mean, L probably tells them that it's just Kira taunting L, or that it might be a code. He tells them that he'll look into what "L LAWLIET" might mean and essentially sweeps it under the rug.

This is incredibly suspicious, especially to those who were already on the fence about L. Some wonder if the drawing is actually supposed to be L, even though L "could never look like that" in their opinion.

Some people probably leave the Task Force here because they distrust the way L is handling things.

Since she's still alive, knows Beyond, and can be trusted, L turns to Naomi for help.

Maybe Naomi can shed some light on whether or not Beyond was actually controlled to reveal L's identity? I'm gonna be honest, idk enough about Naomi or Beyond right now to say how she would react.

When L asks the FBI to follow people again (maybe with a narrowed-down list of suspects), they tell him that it's a waste of time. If Kira is among the people they were following, then prolonging that search might just alert Kira.

Idk if the US, like, fully pulls out from helping L like they do in canon? They're kinda pissed at him for not trusting the FBI's search, though.

So maybe L asks Naomi to follow people, starting with Raye Penber's suspect list?

Naomi is quick to theorize that if Kira can control people to the extent that they controlled Beyond, they might be able to kill in ways other than heart attacks.

At this point, Light is screwed, but he also has a big lead. There's probably a way for him to weasel his way into getting Naomi's name (maybe through reading LABB files?) and killing her in some elaborate creative way. That leaves L with nobody on his side but Watari and a Task Force that wants more answers from him. In this timeline, L might shrink the Task Force himself to ensure that he can trust everyone in it. At this point, the evidence against Light is a little shaky, and L doesn't have a good way to directly confront Light himself.

There's definitely more I could (should?) elaborate on, including how the hell Misa would fit in all this, but Imma stop here for now.

fact 1 (okay, more than one, but ehhh): Before killing the fbi agents, Light runs tests on prisoners to see how much he can control them before they die. One of these tests (I think) includes having an inmate draw L’s face. This doesn’t work because his victims can’t act on information that they don’t know themselves.

fact 2: A little while after the FBI agents die, Beyond Birthday dies in prison because of Kira.

fact 3: Beyond has definitely seen L’s face.

So, like, I’m picturing an AU where Light uses Beyond as a test subject at this time and controls him to draw L’s face on a prison wall. Which he then does, because he is able to. Cue Light freaking out because holy shit he didn’t expect that, while L scrambles to figure out if Kira has a lot of powers that he’s unaware of or if Beyond just willingly Did That. This would probably lead to a bunch of other butterfly effect shenanigans that I’m too eepy to think of right now.

[ssa-thotchnerr]

A Certain Hopelessness

Aaron Hotchner x Daughter!reader

Warnings: angst, kidnapping, violence, swearing, sad!hotch

a/n: some sad Hotch stuff for your angst needs!! Also, there is a creepy unsub here, just a warning. This is set in around s7 and the reader is 15-16

word count: 2.1k

—

There was a feeling of hopelessness that had settled within the BAU over the past 2 days. A feeling of helplessness that was most felt by Aaron Hotchner, who'd been listening to his daughter screaming in pain, begging for him to come and save her. The whole team had the same thought in their head;

They couldn't come and save you because you'd been hidden so well.

But that didn't mean that they weren't going to try, they would try their hardest to find and save the little girl they'd watch grow up for years. But they also know that they couldn't save every single person, they just hoped that you wouldn't be that next person that they couldn't save. No one had even tried to get Hotch to move from his position at the round table, he'd told them that he wouldn't leave you, even though you had no way of knowing that he was there.

He would always be with you.

—

You'd pulled your knees up to your chest to try and obtain some body heat, since sitting on a cold, concrete floor of a basement where it was always constantly breezy didn't give you much of a high temperature. You wished that you hadn't left school early, maybe then you wouldn't be in your current situation.

"Good morning," You looked up at the door at the top of the stairs in fear, seeing the shadow of your kidnapper standing in the door. You winced as you pushed yourself into a corner, trying to make yourself as small as possible. He laughed as he stepped down the creaky stairs, and you saw the silver glint of a knife in his hands. "I hope you slept well, you got a long day ahead of ya'."

"Pl-please don-don't hurt me, I-I won't try to run again! I-I promise," You stuttered, fear filled eyes looking up at him. Through the little light in the basement, you could see the malicious grin on his face. "I'll-I'll do whatever you want, just-just please don't ki-kill me." You begged.

"Oh honey, I don't know if you got this, but I'm not gonna kill you, mainly because I wanna hurt your daddy," He said. "Make him feel like the awful person he is."

"This is about my dad?" You asked him, letting yourself relax a tiny bit. He nodded and crouched down in front of you, pulling you forward by the collar of your no bloodied hoodie.

"Damn right this is about your dad," He snarled, pushing you back into the corner roughly. "Don't you feel awful when he leaves you and that little brother of yours own your own? But then again, he worries about what you'll do to the only child he cares about, he couldn't give a shit about you." You blinked and couldn't help but furrow your eyebrows, feeling your heart sink. You shook your head as you looked up at him.

"Wh-what?" You asked quietly. He chuckled at your confusion and obvious hurt, his plan coming together. He was reversing everything you'd ever known, he knew that your dad loved you and Jack equally, but he could easily make you believe that your dad hated you with every single fibre of his being. He knew you were easily manipulated, and he knew exactly what to say to get you upset.

"Don't act like you don't know, darling. Your dad despises you, he hasn't even got that team looking after you," He said. Your eyes filled with tears as you thought about being left with this man a minute longer, but it hurt even more to think about that your dad didn't care about you enough to look for you. "They left on a case this morning, he told them you didn't matter."

"You-you're lying," You didn't know if you were telling him that he was, or you were trying to convince yourself that he was. "My-my dad wouldn't leave anyone." You said. He chuckled and came closer to you.

"Well, maybe you aren't anyone, you've never appeared to be to your dad," Tears leaked from your eyes as he'd finally, truly broken you down. "Why are you crying? I haven't even started hurting you yet."

—

Hotch couldn't bare to watch this man hurl abuse and untrue thoughts at you much longer, he couldn't watch you be broken down anymore. He shut his eyes as he heard you start screaming, presumably in pain. There was a knock on the door, Hotch spun around on the chair he was sitting on to see who was there.

"Sir, we think we've found a possible suspect on who has Y/N," Garcia told him. "Based on what he'd said in the video earlier, we found that he believes your a bad father to her and Jack, and that she'd be better off with him," She said. It didn't take a criminal profiler to see the hurt flash on the normally stoic Aaron Hotchner's face. "So, taking information with males that had lost a child, we found Craig Brock, he lost his daughter Leona in a car crash last year, And she shares a very, very striking resemblance to your daughter,” Garcia watched as Hotch took in what she was saying. “And with that, Reid determined tha5 he wants you to feel the same helplessness that he had felt when he lost his daughter.” She finished, sliding a picture of the girl across the table to her boss. Hotch took the picture and saw the resemblance, he sighed. He didn't want you to share the same fate as this girl, he didn't want to lose you.

"Do you have an address yet?" He asked.

"I'm working on it sir, but you should have her back by the end of the day," Garcia said, smiling at Hotch, who gave her a small sliver of a smile in return. "You should probably turn that off, or at least go home and see Jack, if anything happens with Y/N or  our Unsub, you'll be the first to know." Hotch sighed as he turned the TV off, turning the volume down and standing up.

“I never thought the day I’d be taking orders from you would come, Garcia,”

—

You grunted as you finally built up enough strength to rip the sleeve off of your hoodie so you could wrap it around your waist where you had been slashed. His words had echoed in your head since he’d even muttered them, did your dad even care about you? Were the team even looking for you? Hell, were they even in the country? You broke down into tears again, your blood coated hands coming up to cover your mouth. They fell back down to your sides when the door was yanked open, almost coming off of its hinges.

“Get up!” He snarled, huffing out in anger when you pushed yourself further into the corner, making yourself as small as possible. “I said, get up.” He practically growled. You sat still, crying out in fear when he grabbed the collar of your hoodie and pulled you up onto your feet roughly.

“Okay! Okay! I-I’m sorry,” You whimpered, holding your hands out in fear. He dragged you up the stairs, you crying all the way up as the pain from your wounds shot up.

“Looks like I was wrong about your dad not caring for you, he and his team are on their way here,” He said in your ear, his arm snaking around your neck and then his free hand holding a gun to your temple. You were shaking, your entire body trembling with fear. “He’s not gonna know what to do when he comes through that door, you’re cut up like a piece of paper.”

“He’ll probably fucking kill you,” You snarled. He was taken back by your sudden change in attitude, and righted his arm around your neck and pushed the barrel of the gun closer to your head.

“Anymore of that, and I’ll put a bullet through your skull,” He said in your ear.

That shut you up quickly.

It felt like hours before the door creaked open, and from the back room, you could see that Emily, Morgan and Reid were entering the house.

“Help! Help!” You screamed, only for a hand to be clamped over your mouth and to be thrown to the floor. His foot was on your neck, a gun pointed between your eyes. Emily, Morgan and Reid all cornered him, their eyes watching as you struggled to breathe, coughing and gasping as you tried to bring air into your lungs. You were beaten black and blue, and covered in blood, they almost didn’t recognise you.

“Craig Brock, let Y/N go,” Emily said calmly. “We know what happened to Leona, and we know that there was nothing you could do to help your daughter. Do you really wanna put another father through the pain of losing their child?” She asked him. In a moment of hesitancy, he removed his foot from your neck, allowing you to cough and then slide away from him. In what seemed as though a move of panic, he shot down at the floor, narrowly missing your head, but just clipping the side of your ear. A ringing noise deafened you, and you screamed.

—

Hotch felt his heart drop as he heard a gunshot and then a scream. Emily had ordered him to stay outside, she didn’t want him doing something that he would end up regretting. Minutes later, the front door opened again, only this time you were there, Spencer’s arm around your waist to support you and your arm around his shoulder. Walking out of there, you looked so small and scared. There was no way that Hotch couldn’t run towards you, gently taking you from Spencer.

“Da-daddy?” There was a small smile on your face as you saw the blurry figure of your dad. Hotch smiled in relief and nodded, arms going around you gently so’s not to disturb anymore of your cuts or slashes. “You-you came.” You stuttered.

“Of course I came, I wasn’t gonna leave you, honey,” He assured you. You couldn’t properly hear what your dad was saying, but you could make it out. “Alright, let’s get you to the hospital.”

“Can you carry me?” You asked, holding your arms out to him. Hotch nodded and lifted you gently, holding you close like if he let you go, he’d lose you once again.

-

“Can I see Y/N yet?” Jack asked his dad. Hotch smiled as he nodded at his youngest child, who was clearly eager to have his older sister back. Hotch was getting Jack from school while you were asleep at home, with every door and window locked to improve your safety.

“Yeah, she got home this morning after I dropped you off at school, she’s been missing you too,” Hotch told Jack. When they got home, Jack practically shot upstairs. “Jack, do not go into Y/N’s room.” Hotch called up to him. Jack sighed as he waited for his dad to come up the stairs.

“Can I go in yet?” Hotch laughed as he nodded, opening the door to your room and sighing at you when he saw you were now awake, Greys Anatomy playing on your TV. “Y/N!”

“Hey bubs!” You cheered, smiling at your brother as you pulled your brother up onto your bed. Hotch sat down on the end of your bed and took the TV remote turning it off. “Dad.” You whined.

“You’re supposed to be asleep, Y/N,” He reminded you. You sighed as you flopped back onto your bed.

“Can I stay here?” Jack asked, looking at your dad. Hotch shook his head.

“No, Jack, Y/N has to try and get some sleep,” He said. You pulled Jack to sit beside you and you both pouted up at your dad, who sighed as he shook his head. “Fine, fine.”

“We love you, dad.”

—

[aros001]

Going in blind: Watching season 4 for the first time. Random thoughts.

I never said anything about it before but I love Shadow Weaver's DCAU Batman eyes. They're so expressive.

Episode 1: Okay...I wasn't expecting Catra to do that. I mean, it makes sense. If she has leverage over Hordak then she's basically in charge of the Horde and that's what she's wanted (or at least believes she wants) since episode 1. It's an aspect that made her a good antagonist, that she's not blind to the evil of the Horde, she just doesn't care as long as she herself is secure. Which naturally begs the question, when the rebellion and the princesses are crushed, when the Horde is on top, when Adora is dead, when Catra finally has everything she's ever wanted...will she actually finally be happy? Somehow, I have my doubts.

I definitely feel for Glimmer in this. When you go through as big a loss as she did you need to be able to feel and vent if you're ever going to get through it. It doesn't have to be right away but everyone doing everything in their power to avoid the topic entirely can make you feel like you're going crazy. It'a especially bad for her since it unintentionally makes it feel like everyone is acting like it doesn't matter that Angela is gone when it clearly means everything to Glimmer.

Episode 2: I actually had a potted cactus plant once. Accidentally forgot about it and left it outside for an entire winter. Once the snow was gone the cactus looked like it had melted.

I kind of want to see what an interaction between Double Trouble and Clayface from the Harley Quinn animated series would look like. I'm guess Catra was just testing how good Double Trouble was as a doppelganger because it doesn't seem like she did anything while Adora was being distracted, though I suppose that could be a reveal in a later episode.

Not much to say except that I love how buff Huntara is while still clearly being a woman. Like, women can have a variety of different body types, as this series and Steven Universe show, and Huntara's build isn't just, like, Bow's body with lipstick and ponytail and the animators calling it a day. No, she looks like a freakin' jacked adult woman.

Episode 3: I didn't figure out the Flutterina = Double Trouble twist until a minute before it was revealed, so good job there. Before that I was wondering if Flutterina was some fan's original character where they won some contest where their OC got to be in the show for an episode. She was giving off some weird self-insert vibes. That twist made it all work though. It's honestly not a bad plan. Shapeshifters haven't really been a thing in the series before now so there's no reason to suspect it. Even if they did they'd probably be expecting it by way of magic or technology, while Double Trouble's seems to be a natural ability.

I like that even though Bow is definitely the goofier one of the trio he is still consistently shown as competent. That's never in question. He was very heroic and reassuring to the villagers this episode. I get why those kids idolize him so much.

Catra's having guilt over what she did with the portal and to Entrapta and her response is basically to just double-down. She doesn't know any other way to be. Not going to lie, I am kind of hoping we get another moment in the show where Adora just completely overwhelms Catra with the sheer power of She-Ra. I'm not saying like brutalize her or anything but just something where Catra is made to realize just how powerful Adora is and that she could just destroy Catra if she had a mind to do so.

Episode 4: Well, I was saying I wanted Adora to do it but I guess I don't mind Glimmer being the one to get some good shots in on Catra. Like I predicted, Shadow Weaver's moving in to become her teacher like she was with her father. Honestly I like that that was more Adora's problem than Glimmer using her as bait, which she seemed to get over pretty quick. Yeah, it was kind of a heartless thing to do but it was an understandable tactic and she clearly outright told Adora that she did it and why afterwards, which at least means she's still being honest.

It occurs to me that Glimmer and Catra may be the ones running parallel right now. Both are basically leading their respective sides of the war. They both have lost someone very important to them. And both are trusting someone they probably shouldn't. Both even have outfits that've been updated in the intro. The difference is Glimmer's just trying to deal with a bad situation while Catra's is entirely self-inflicted.

Minor thing but I like Glimmer's new outfit this season. I'm sure this is the intention but it makes her look older and more mature. A little more muscular in some shots too.

Episode 5: Heart of Etheria project. No idea what that is but assumedly whoever's a part of it doesn't like Light Hope and Mara being friends. Sounds like it's very much interested in She-Ra being just a warrior, and perhaps a tool, for the greater good. It does make me wonder though how much Light Hope remember from when she was rebooting. Even if she deleted the Mara memory she could potentially still have the memory of her and Adora watching the Mara memory, as well as Adora asking to be her friend.

Episode 6: Yep. Scorpia; definitely favorite supporting character. There is something kind of funny about her whole "Scorpions are loyal" line when you remember the story about the Frog and the Scorpion, where it stings the frog despite it meaning death for itself as well simply because that is its nature. But finally we're having someone go save Entrapta, and I can only assume at some point Scorpia's going to access the power of the Black Garnet.

The parallels between Catra and Hordak are definitely at their max here with that speech of hers to him. She's basically trying to convince herself that she doesn't need anyone, the timing of which is appropriate since she just drove away Scorpia and now truly doesn't have anyone. Not that I blame Scorpia, obviously. Like Adora before her, however good you believe someone can be and that you can help them, at some point you just have to cut the toxic people out of your life. You have the right to be happy too.

And man, Bow is just the best. He saw something was wrong between Adora and Glimmer and defused the situation like (snap) that, pushing them to talk like any sane person would.

Episode 7: I'm sure it is just because I've seen way too many TV shows and movies (both animated and live action) that don't do it but it is just such a relief to have a show where the characters just TALK and LISTEN to each other. It doesn't solve all their issues but they're at least not being stupid and freakin' petty. It helps the drama feel a lot less forced and contrived.

Episode 8: A little bit of amusement in Bow thinking at first that Glimmer and Adora didn't even notice he was gone despite them coming to his rescue very shortly afterwards, given Catra is only now realizing Scorpia has left and assumedly she did so a while ago. Bow and Sea Hawk hadn't been gone for that long so it's not unreasonable Glimmer and Adora wouldn't be worried about their absence (Bow was literally talking about "me time" when they last saw him), while Catra is only noticing Scorpia's absence now and it was because she wanted something. Like Scorpia said, she's a bad friend.

Kind of ironic given that a lot of Catra's issues are the direct result of Shadow Weaver giving her very little love growing up but it does seem this tough love is probably what'll get through to Catra the best. She might finally stop making bad decisions and lashing out if she's forced to live with the consequences of them, like Adora told her last season.

Glimmer gets a bit of slack from me since she suffered through a huge loss, that being her mother, and then was immediately thrown into being queen right after. It'd be hard for anyone to be 100% on their game and well-adjusted in a situation like that, and I buy that she was on some level resentful of Adora for coming back instead of her mother, even if unintentionally so. What definitely helps is that Glimmer very clearly and immediately regretted what she said to Adora. Like Catra she's lashing out but unlike Catra Glimmer recognizes some of the damage she's doing and knows, at least in this case, that she went too far.

Episode 9: Now that I can see the design in color I definitely prefer Mara's She-Ra with pants to Adora's She-Ra with shorts. Honestly, while the differences are pretty minor, I do think Mara's She-Ra design is overall a lot better than Adora's. Sharper shoulder guards. Bigger cape (especially the cape, I love capes). I don't know, there's just a lot that clicks with it and I wouldn't mind Adora getting a similar outfit later.

Madam Razz definitely had a Yoda feel this episode. I was very much expecting her to start wacking Mara with a stick over the sugar like Yoda did with R2. Though while that was Yoda acting crazy, for Razz it's because she experiences time out of order, and I don't think I've ever seen that concept taken to this extent, or at least done this way before. There are characters like River Song from Doctor Who, Professor Paradox from Ben 10, or even the Reverse-Flash who interact with other characters in time out of order but those characters are still on a linear path from their own perspective, even when travelling through time. Razz is just bouncing around her own timeline, seemingly not even any real reason or cause to it like Subaru from Re:Zero. Clearly she's not just remembering things oddly because her talk about things of the present are heard by people in the past and have an effect. I wonder if maybe the reason why is because Razz was at ground zero of Mara's actions and this is a side-effect of pulling Etheria away from the rest of the universe.

Bringing more Star Wars into this, it basically sounds like the Heart of Etheria project has turned Etheria into a magic Starkiller Base; storing power that'll be unleashed to destroy whole planets. And jeez, I think this was the first time I really felt creeped out by Light Hope when she was talking to Mara.

I'm looking forward to seeing what it means that the First Ones only made the sword and that Etheria made She-Ra. If that's the case, why is only the sword able to bring out the She-Ra form? Is it like MCU Thor's hammer and the weapon was just meant to help him control the power he already had? Or is what we think is She-Ra not actually She-Ra and that form that Adora and Mara take is just a stand-in for the real thing?

Episode 10: It didn't even occur to me until now but Double Trouble's capture is another blow to Catra's circle of "friends" too. They were at least able to make her laugh. One less person for her to talk to and just...really just distract her from her thoughts.

It's a good dilemma this episode presents about what to do with the Heart of Etheria. The safest and probably best option is to just dismantle it, like Adora and Bow want, since it could easily lead to the destruction of the entire planet if it goes off. Not the mention there's so little they know about it and what it was intended for and the one person who can potentially tell them, Light Hope, they were warned not to trust. But it's not hard to understand where Glimmer is coming from in wanting to use that power to fight the Horde. They're already losing the war and now she knows Hordak Prime and his FAR more powerful forces are on the way. Tapping into the Heart is a huge risk but she's not seeing any other paths for the rebels to win. It's a really good dilemma, with good arguments presented from both sides, and I buy this widening the schism between Adora and Glimmer.

Episode 11: I have mixed feelings on King Micah still being alive. On the one hand there's a lot of good potential interactions we can now have with him, primarily between Glimmer and Shadow Weaver, and he is a fun character. But on the other I can't help but wonder if this kind of lessens the impact of what Angela gave up to overcome the false reality. Part of what made it so emotional was that she had to accept the person she loved was dead and not coming back...except now we see that he wasn't dead and now he is coming back. Yeah, their family lost out on years together and that does still carry some emotional weight but I was already also half-expecting Angela to come back later in the series because she's stuck between dimensions, meaning there's a chance she could still be alive. If both Glimmer's parents come back then that really feels like it takes a lot of weight out of her story. But I guess we'll see what happens.

Also, why did the Horde exile him to Beast Island? Why not just kill him?!

Episode 12: So the Horde exiles Micah to Beast Island instead of killing him. The First Ones protect their secrets by sending their bad tech to Beast Island. Does no one know how to just destroy things in this world?

Ohhh, I am so looking forward to next episode. While it's debatable whether Glimmer should be going through with her plan she is at least being smart with how she's going about it. Double Trouble was being paid by Catra to work for the Horde, not out of any sense of loyalty. Glimmer has the resources of Bright Moon at her disposal so it's reasonable she could pay them more to switch sides. Double Trouble was very good at sabotaging even a group as tight-nit as the heroes, so Hordak and Catra are probably easy pickings with all their issues.

Episode 13: ....WELL THAT AIN'T GOOD!

I'll admit, I had a little bit of an unintended laugh. After all we've heard about Horde Prime, like this shadowy all-powerful monster, I wasn't expecting the fabulous flowing dreadlocks and smoothness. Credit where it's due, man has charisma and charm, which goes a long way in helping your big evil world conqueror not be a very flat character, because it's doubtful he's going to have the same kind of sympathetic motivation as Hordak or complexity as Catra to keep him elevated.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Double Trouble kicking at Catra while she's down. Adora and Scorpia were honest but they never wanted to hurt Catra. Not so much with Double Trouble and they just shove reality into her face. Everyone leaves Catra because of Catra. She's the common factor. It's her fault and no one else's. Again, I don't know for certain if Adora and Catra get together at the end (Catra would have a LOT to make amends for regardless) but Double Trouble was definitely implying Catra had feelings for her with the way they put Catra's hand on "Adora's" cheek while talking about how she left her.

I like that we see Glimmer's plan actually working at first. The princesses get a massive power boost and decimate the Horde forces. But the minute it starts going wrong she immediately admits Adora was right and she tries to stop the energy flow. I imagine having her there with Catra was intentional by the writers. Despite some parallels, Glimmer can actually accept her failures and work to try and fix things. Unlike Catra, she didn't blame Adora for things going wrong.

So the sword allows the First Ones to control She-Ra and the energy she'd be absorbing from the planet. Assumedly that means there are at least some parts to She-Ra that have nothing to do with the First Ones and thus maybe Adora can still use some of those powers without the sword.

Season 4 verdict: Yeah, the show keeps getting better, though I will admit last season's finale had me more emotional, but that's a bit of an unfair comparison given everything that happened in that finale vs. this one. This is definitely the series hitting its darkest hour, where it feels like EVERYONE lost. Not just the rebels but the Horde as well. The sword and Light Hope are gone and She-Ra (for now) along with them. Glimmer and Catra are basically prisoners. Hordak's probably going to have his personality stripped away. The Fright Zone is in ruins. The only one who's gained anything is Prime.

Really looking forward to what the final season has in store, especially since there seems to be the implication that Catra just saved Glimmer's life.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/o1j5gk/going_in_blind_watching_season_4_for_the_first/

[dukereviewstv]

Duke Reviews Tv: Smallville 1x11 Hug

Hi, Everyone, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Tv, Where We Are Continuing Our Look At Smallville By Talking About Episode 11 Of Season 1, Hug...

This Episode Is About A Corrupt Businessman Named Bob Rickman Who Wants To Buy The Kent Farm To Build A Pesticide Plant But When Jonathan Refuses, Rickman Uses His Ability To Get Anyone To Do Anything He Wishes With Just A Shake Of His Hand To Get Jonathan To Sell Him The Farm, Wanting To Stop The Sale, Clark Goes Off To Find Rickman's Former Partner, Kyle Tippet (Played By The Health Inspector Who Took His Job Too Seriously While Dating Pheobe On Friends)...

Who Was With Rickman During The Smallville Meteor Shower, Will Clark And Kyle Stop The Sale?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Hug...

We Start In...Metropolis, I Guess As Bob Rickman Talks With A Representative For The CEP Who Asks Rickman About Why His Boys Were Doing Surveying Down In Smallville To Which Rickman Tells The Rep That He's Planning On Building A New Plant Down There...

But In Showing Him Sludge From The Last Small Town That He Placed A Plant In The Rep Tells Rickman No Way, No How And What's Worse Is That He's Giving Rickman A Restraining Order To Stay Out Of Smallville Until Every Case Against Him Is Settled...

With Rickman Asking If There's Anything He Can Do To Stop This, The Rep Tells Rickman That Unlike His Colleagues He's Not Easy To Buy Off Despite Rickman Telling Him That He's Never Bought Off A Soul In His Life But Seeming Like A Good Sport, Rickman Shakes The Rep's Hand And Convinces Him To Commit Suicide...

Back In Smallville, Clark, Lana And Chloe Go Horseback Riding In The Woods Only Unlike Clark And Lana Who Have Ridden Horses Before Chloe Is Horse Impaired If That's Even A Thing..,

With Chloe Dropping Her Camera (As These Woods Are Apparently The Bermuda Triangle Of Smallville) Lana Goes Back To Get It For Her While Chloe Talks With Clark About How Surveyors From Rickman Industries Came Running Out Of The Woods, With No Memory Of What Happened...

Believing That Kyle Tippet Is Behind This, Clark Is Just Like "The Guy Is A Crazy Old Hermit Who Sells Sculptures In Town, How Dangerous Can He Be?"...

Hearing Lana Screaming, Clark Asks Chloe To Stay With The Horses While He Goes To Check It Out...

Finding Kyle Near Lana, He Runs Off When Clark Tells Him To Get Away From Her...

Grabbing At The Camera, Clark Looks At The Tape With Jonathan To Kyle Wasn't Trying To Harm Lana Whatsoever But Lana's Aunt Nell Thinks Differently As She Wants Clark To Go To The Police To Say That Kyle Spooked Lana's Horse And Attacked Her, Which Isn't The Truth...

It's No Wonder, Aunt Nell Became A Member Of The Royal Flush Gang, She's Just Willing To Frame Anybody For Stuff They Didn't Do...

Believing That They Haven't Heard The End Of This, Jonathan Asks Clark If Kyle Seemed Dangerous? To Which Clark Tells Him No, Just Scared, But Remembering What Chloe Said, Clark Wonders If There's A Connection To Which Clark Decides To Go Talk With Kyle Despite Jonathan Telling Him Not To...

Back At Rickman's Smallville HQ, Lex And Victoria Pay Him A Visit...

(Start At 0:29, End At 1:43)

Paying Kyle A Visit At His Trailer, He Tells Clark That All He Was Doing Was Making Sure That Lana Was All Right, Asking Him About The Things That Chloe Mentioned, He Doesn't Want To Talk About It, Saying That He Left The World Behind For A Reason...

Asking Why He's So Unfriendly, Kyle Tells Clark That He's Not Interested In Friends Because All They'll Do Is Betray You...

This Is Kind Of True For Clark And Lex's Relationship, Lex Betrayed Clark And He Ended Up Becoming His Enemy...

Talking With Lana And Whitney At The Beanery, Clark Tells Them What Kyle Told Him, Despite Whitney Telling Him That If He Was There He Would Have Done Something About It...

Of Course, You Would, Whitney (Sarcastically) You're The Man...Not!

Running Into Lex On His Way Out, He Warns Clark About Rickman Wanting To Buy The Family Farm And That He's A Locust That Can't Be Trusted...

Paying Rickman A Visit In His Office, Kyle Tells Him To Leave Town...

(Start At 0:05, End At 0:45)

Running Into Clark, He Asks Kyle What He Was Doing At Rickman's Only To Face The Anger Of Whitney Who Tells Kyle To Stay Away From Lana Or Else, With Clark Giving Kyle A Ride Home, Whitney Is Confronted By Rickman Who Gets Whitney To Shake His Hand...

Dropping Kyle Off At His House After Picking Up Some Groceries, Clark Asks Him If He Misses Having A Normal Life To Which He Tells Clark That Some People Just Aren't Meant To Have A Normal Life...

Shortly After Leaving Kyle At His Trailer, Kyle Is Attacked By Whitney, Who's Truck Clark Happens To See But When Clark Sees Kyle Attack Whitney, He Pushes Kyle Away So He Can Save Whitney...

With Kyle Being Arrested For Assault, Jonathan Asked What Happened, As Whitney Tells Him That After Kyle. Blew Him Off, He Came Out Here To Talk Because He Had A Feeling That He Was Going To Attack Lana Again...

But Despite Seeing Kyle Swing At Whitney, Clark Believes Kyle When He Tells Him That Whitney Swung At Him First, Which Pisses Off Whitney To No End...

The Next Day At School, Clark Asks Chloe To Try To Find A Connection Between Rickman And Tippet As Lana Comes In Equally Mad At Clark For Saying That Whitney Attacked Kyle, For Which She Believes That Whitney Would Never Hurt Anyone, But With Clark Bringing Up The Scarecrow Incident Again, Lana Marches Off Beliving That Clark Is Using The Incident As An Excuse To Frame Whitney...

Back At The Kent Farm, Rickman Pays Jonathan A Visit...

(Start At 0:24, End At 1:57)

With Jonathan Selling The Farm To Rickman, Martha Is Extremely Pissed Off As Jonathan Tells Her And Clark That One Minute He's Telling Him He Doesn't Stand A Chance And The Next Minute He's Holding A Signed Contract...

Calling Their Lawyer, He Tells Martha That He Can't Do Anything Until He Sees The Contract But The Devil Made Me Do It Argument Will Not Hold Up In Court...

Asking What Rickman Did, Jonathan Tells Clark That All He Did Was Make His Case And Get Him To Shake His Hand And That Was It. Going To See Lex, Jonathan Tells Clark No, He Will Not Owe Lex Luthor A Favor But Martha Tells Jonathan To Stuff His Opinion Of Lex As She Tells Clark To Go See Him...

Meeting Lex At The Beanery, He Notices That Lana And Clark Aren't Talking To Which Clark Tells Him That It's Because He Won't Cave On His Opinion About Kyle, This Gets Lex Comparing Clark To Atticus Finch From To Kill A Mockingbird...

But As For The Contract, The Deal Is For 3 Times It's Market Value But The Contract Is Ironclad And A Dozen Extra Lawyers To Deal With It, Luckily, Though Lex Has A Few Million To Spare...

Yes, We Get It, You're Rich, Thank You For Sharing That With Us...

Meanwhile, Rickman Gets A Deputy To Shake His Hand So He Can Get Kyle Out Of His Way...

But Speaking Of Kyle, We Discover That He Has The Same Powers As Rickman When Kyle Gets A Police Officer To Shake His Hand...

With Kyle Disguised In A Police Uniform, Clark Blows His Cover (Great Work, Clark) As The Deputy Rickman Shook Hands With Shoots At Kyle...

(Start At 0:58, End At 1:31)

Taking Kyle To Lex's, He Has A Weird, Jack Sparrow-Like Hippie Doctor Named Toby Look At Kyle's Wound And Sew Him Back Up While Mentioning Club Zero Again Making It The 3rd Time We've Heard About It On The Show With The First From Nixon And The Second From Phelan...

Wondering Why Clark Brought Him There, He Tells Lex That If His Parents Saw Kyle, They'd Freak And If He Brought Him To A Hospital, They'd Arrest Him Again, So, This Was The Only Option...

Returning To The Barn, Clark Finds Lana Waiting For Him, But He Doesn't Want To Hear What She Has To Say Despite Her Wanting To Clear The Air To Try To Preserve Their Friendship...

The Next Day At The Beanery, Lex Is Confronted By Rickman, Who Knows That Lex Is Challenging His Sale Of The Kent Farm And He Wonders Why?

(Start At 0:39, End At 1:49)

Finding The Connection Between Rickman And Tippet, Chloe Tells Clark And Lex That Rickman And Tippet Were Partners In The 80's Selling Farm Equipment And Were Salemen Of The Year 3 Times In A Row But After That Rickman Started His Own Company And Kyle Went Hermit...

Showing Clark And Lex An Article From The Ledger That Shows That They Were Trapped In A Car During The Smallville Meteor Shower They Decide To Ask Kyle Some Questions At The Luthor Mansion But When They Get There Kyle Is Gone...

Returning To His Trailer, Kyle Packs Up Only To Be Confronted By Clark And Chloe...

(Start At 0:09)

Meanwhile At The Luthor Mansion, Rickman Unexpectedly Drops By To Say That He's Waving The White Flag And The Kents Can Keep Their Farm After Realizing That Smallville Isn't Worth The Hassle, Asking Lex To Shake On It, We Don't See Anything ...

But When Lex Gets A Phone Call From Clark Stating That Kyle Wants To Go Public About Rickman, Lex Meets Them At A Gas Station Saying That He Called His Friends At The Planet And The Inquisitor And If Kyle Is Willing To Talk With Them They'll Write His Story...

Willing To Do Whatever He Has To To Stop Rickman, Kyle And Clark Get In The Car And It's After That We Discover That Rickman Got To Lex...

(Start At 1:27, End At 2:00)

(As Lucille Ball) Oh, But Ricky!...

With Rickman Arriving At The Scene, He Gives Lex A Machine Gun, Telling Him To Finish The Job...

Eventually Finding Clark And Kyle Inside Of The Vacant Garage, He Tries To Get Lex To Listen To Him But Unfortunately He Can't Which Leads Lex To Shoot Clark Point Blank, He Isn't Hurt But It Forces Clark To Knock His Friend Into A Bunch Of Objects...

Meanwhile, Rickman And Kyle Face Off For The Last Time...

(Start At 0:13, End At 1:04)

And By "Do The Same With His" It Means We Won't See Or Hear Of Kyle For The Rest Of The Series 10 Season Run!

And So, With Martha Healing Clark's Wounds, Jonathan Wonders Where Kyle Is, To Which Clark Tells Jonathan That He's Probably Out In The World Making A Difference Now...

With Lana Dropping By She Decides That She Doesn't Care What Happened To Kyle Now Because Their Friendship Is Worth More Than One Lousy Argument To Which Clark Agrees...

And By "A Long Time" Lana Means 4 And A Half Seasons Of Friendship, 2 Half Seasons Of Hating Each Other, 1 Season Of Romance Before She Ditches You And 5 Episodes Of 1 Season That's Just A Goodbye Before He Moves On To The Person He's Supposed To Be With...

Later In The Afternoon, Lex Visits Clark To Tell Him That Because Of Rickman's Death, They're Not Expanding...

(Start At 0:23, End At 1:03)

In More Ways Than 1, Lex...

But That's Hug And It's Okay..

While Not The Greatest Episode, I Didn't Mind It. Everything From Story To Characters To Villain Was Just Okay Not The Best But It's Not The Most Horrible Episode Of The Series And To That, I Say See It...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...