#the idea that caleb is just there. all the damn time is destroying me | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

the-littlest-goblin · 4 years ago

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ooooooooh for fic prompts, could i request: essek interacting with Frumpkin, specifically playing with him (so as to impress Caleb and earn his favor a bit), but our favorite hot boi most likely did not have pets growing up and is at a bit of a loss with what to do. (bonus: Caleb sees this and thinks it's incredibly endearing)

I think you got everything you wanted. ft. my personal 'here’s how Frumpkin can still win’ headcanon.

----

This was not how familiars were supposed to work.

Essek may not have summoned one before (he’d never really understood the use of an assistant with no opposable thumbs), but he had read enough about the spell to know that this was not how familiars were supposed to behave.

Maybe that was because Frumpkin didn’t technically count as a familiar anymore.

No one knew exactly what had happened, or why. Essek and Caleb had exchanged a number of theories on the matter, but so far the best explanation still went to Beau’s conclusion: “weird fey shit.”

After Aeor and the Somnovem, when they had all finally gotten a chance to breathe again, Caleb had done some sort of ritual to more permanently banish his familiar. Essek hadn’t gotten the full context at the time, but it had something to do with symbolic closure and moving on. The cat was already gone from the Material Plane at that point, but Caleb had wanted to remove the temptation to summon him again, and so devised a sort of reversal of the Find Familiar spell.

However, upon performing the anti-summoning ritual, the cat had appeared in the ritual circle as if Caleb had cast the spell as usual. Only instead of going to his master’s side, Frumpkin had sauntered away from Caleb with a swish of his tail and gone to sit directly at Essek’s feet.

“Hmm,” Caleb had muttered, the hint of a grin twitching at the corner of his mouth. “It looks like he has made a choice.”

Ever since, Caleb had been unable to banish Frumpkin, or communicate with him, or give him orders. He had seemingly lost his magical connection to, and mastery over, the cat—Frumpkin was no longer his familiar, as had been the intention. It was just that Frumpkin apparently liked the Material Plane better than the Feywild, and so refused to leave. And since Caleb had let him go, he chose a new wizard to keep him company. For the next several days they had spent recuperating and planning their next moves, Frumpkin stuck with Essek, never straying from his side for long.

But, crucially, he did not become Essek’s familiar, a lesson they had learned quickly enough. Essek didn’t even have Find Familiar in his spellbook. He couldn’t banish Frumpkin, he couldn’t communicate telepathically with him, and he certainly couldn’t give him orders.

So, Essek just had a pet cat now, one which happened to be fey in nature. Stranger things had happened—much, much stranger—so for Essek’s part, it had seemed easiest to just accept this development in stride. At times, he was even grateful for the cat’s presence.

But right now, he was very much not. At least familiars were obedient.

Essek winced against the sound of shattering glass—a sound which was becoming somewhat routine since taking up residence in these new, temporary lodgings with Frumpkin as his roommate.

Essek closed his eyes and took one deep breath before looking up from his notes to survey the damage. His gaze met Frumpkin’s round, amber eyes across the room, looking impossibly innocent where he sat primly on one of the tables which Essek had set up to house his research. His tail swished back and forth where it hung over the edge, acting like a flashing signal to point Essek’s attention down towards the starburst of broken glass glittering directly beneath him.

Mercifully, the beaker which Frumpkin had marked for termination had been holding a harmless and easily replaceable solvent, rather than any of the more valuable or dangerous liquids Essek had lying around in his provisional lab. His fingers curled protectively around the precious vial of liquid dunamis sitting next to him.

“Why?” He let the single syllable of the word stretch out into a long, bone-deep groan lasting several seconds. The question was aimed both at Frumpkin and at himself, and covered a variety of curiosities he had about the situation. Why did Frumpkin feel such a persistent desire to destroy Essek’s belongings? Why had he chosen to adhere himself to Essek in the first place, when he seemed to hold a deep disdain for everything Essek owned or did? Why was Essek incapable of learning the very simple lesson of locking the door to this makeshift lab? Why had he promised Caleb that he would take care of Frumpkin while the Mighty Nein dealt with the Assembly, instead of throwing the mangy beast out onto the streets of Port Dumali as soon as they had arrived at the safe house?

None of these were questions to which Essek was about to get any answers, so he tried another one.

“What do you want from me?”

Frumpkin blinked.

“You are still a fey being. You don’t need food or water, and as far as I understand, providing those two things are the pillars of caring for a pet. So, what else could you possibly need that requires my attention?”

Frumpkin flicked his ears.

Caleb had given Essek a brief overview of what to expect in terms of cat-care, but either he had chosen to leave out a lot of unsavory details, or decoupling from their arcane connection had put Frumpkin through a drastic personality change, because Essek had received no instructions about how to handle the kind of stalemate in which he currently found himself.

“You have my sincerest apologies, but unlike your previous master, I cannot read your thoughts, and your current methods of communication are lacking in clarity.”

Frumpkin’s tail began swishing faster. He broke eye contact with Essek to gaze intently at the row of jars lining the next table over. These were full of various concoctions, including some potentially dangerous acids, the results of Essek’s increasing boredom as he stayed hunkered down in his safe house day after day. He only ever went out for the duration of a Disguise Self to buy food or other necessary supplies; he was too noticeable to amble around the city for leisure, on the slim but ever-present risk that word of a strange drow in Port Dumali would reach the ears of Ikithon or his servants. Essek was under strict instructions to stay as hidden as possible until he got the all-clear from the Mighty Nein. With only the materials to continue his most basic experiments with dunamis, he was growing bored out of his mind.

Essek heaved another deep sigh before reluctantly abandoning his notes and gliding over to where Frumpkin had stationed himself. With a short wave of his hands, the spill vanished and the broken shards of glass floated gently into the trash bin. Then, Essek unceremoniously lifted the cat into his arms before he had the chance to wreak any more havoc, and deposited him outside the door.

Distraction removed, Essek made to turn around and return to his research, this time intending to lock the door to prevent further feline interruptions. But before he could do so, he made the mistake of looking into Frumpkin’s eyes again. The cat’s pupils gleamed, impossibly wide and round, and his tail was still swishing back and forth in an incomprehensible pattern, like some sort of code. A mixture of affection and guilt welled up in Essek, rooting to the spot.

Godsdammit, but he had promised Caleb he was going to take care of his cat, and that meant not ignoring Frumpkin when he was clearly trying to tell him something. Because even if Caleb no longer wanted a familiar to travel around with him, he still loved this damned cat, and also Essek was trying to be less callous and heartless in general.

He thought back to Caleb’s instructions with a fair bit of desperation, searching for some hint of what would make Frumpkin happy. All he came up with was a faint recollection, something about enjoying being scratched behind the ears.

“Is that all you want? Is that what you interrupted me for?” Fighting not to roll his eyes, Essek reached down for a pet.

As soon as he got close enough, Frumpkin lunged.

“Gah!” Essek snatched his hand back, nursing the sting of pain from Frumpkin’s bite. There was no blood; the little demons’s fangs hadn’t managed to break the skin. It could barely count as an injury, but the shock of betrayal hurt more than the scratch.

“What in the Nine Hells was that for?” Essek glared at Frumpkin, then noticed just in time that the cat was poised to strike again. This time, he only had to turn slightly to keep his hands out of harm's way, but Frumpkin wasn’t aiming for the exposed skin. There was a loose thread dangling from the hem of Essek’s sleeve, apparently caught by the previous attack. Frumpkin was intent on it. He flung himself at the thread, grabbing at it with his clumsy paws. It slipped through his grip, and he lunged again without hesitation.

Experimentally, Essek lifted his arm so the thread dangled higher off the ground. Frumpkin took the challenge to heart, leaping to grab it in his teeth before it slipped out of his grasp again, and he landed on the floor in defeat. Essek moved his arm over to one side, and Frumpkin followed with enthusiasm, this time managing to get the thread around one claw. The split second of resistance was enough to tear it from Essek’s sleeve. Frumpkin rolled over onto his back, victorious, batting his prize around in euphoric glee.

A grin spread across Essek’s face as he watched this display of simple delight.

“I suppose you were just bored, too. Was that it?”

Frumpkin responded by biting the string with a vengeance.

An idea began forming in the corner of his mind as he watched Frumpkin playing. Absentmindedly, Essek twisted his fingers and summoned a trace thread of dunamis into his hand, shaping and stretching it into a longer and longer cord of greyish, glowing energy, which he then dangled tantalizingly over Frumpkin’s head. The boring, non-magical string was immediately forgotten and discarded as Frumpkin caught sight of the dunamis toy. His whole body wiggling in excitement, he lunged at the cord again and again, pulling a genuine laugh out of Essek as he bobbed and weaved the magic around, dancing it out of Frumpkin’s grasp. He needed a break from his lab anyway, and this was shockingly entertaining.

---

“Well? How are they?” Just a hint of nerves colored Caleb’s voice, as it did every time they checked in on Essek. The fear that this time, the scry would reveal him not safe and sound on the Coast, far from the Trent’s reach, but somewhere cold and dark and threatening.

The faint glow faded from Jester’s eyes as the spell ended. Looking up at Caleb with a smile, she said, “You’re not going to believe this Caleb, it’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.”

Caleb grinned back at her.

#critrole #critical role #my writing #fic prompts #the pedant in me needs to point out that Essek would definitely be wearing his anti-scrying necklace but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯#Anonymous

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theoriginalladya · 3 years ago

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Let’s spread some positive vibes by remembering what we love about the trilogy. Fill in and tag your friends. Feel free to add your own categories to this survey.

@urrone tagged me for this Mass Effect meme - thank you!

Tagging @mtreebeardiles, @tiny-banana-time, @happychica, and @screwyouflightlieutenant and anyone else who wants to participate!

I've been a fan since: September 2012. Friends had been trying to talk me into playing for several years at that point, but I was stuck in Dragon Age at the time and wasn't interested. Then the ME games were on sale and one of those friends talked me into trying the first two games - I was hooked from the moment my first Shepard landed on Eden Prime.

Favorite game of the series: Oh gosh, I love all of them (yes, even ME2), but I think my absolute favorite is Mass Effect 3. The missions, the people, the saving the galaxy...

MaleShep or FemShep?: My first Shepard was femShep Serafina. I'm currenty running through a bunch of mostly mSheps now, Caleb being my primary. I love both though.

Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer?: I like all of them, but my goto is Colonist (Serafina) and Earthborn (Caleb)

Paragon or Renegade? Mostly Paragon, but more and more of late leaning to a middling road, ultimately Paragade, I suppose.

Biotics or Tech? Both? When I first started, I played mostly non-biotics, but I've grown to love them now.

Favorite class: Infiltrator

Favorite companions: Kaidan and Wrex (on a squad). Occasionally Tali and Garrus.

Least favorite companions: Jacob and Miranda in ME2 - I just can't get past the Cerberus connection shoved down our throats, so my first missions are to get Kasumi and Zaeed then go get the mains. (I do love Miranda by ME3, though. Jacob, however, just never grew on me)

My squad selection: ME1 - Kaidan and Wrex. 95% of the time (not counting loyalty missions) ME2 - Zaeed and Grunt. Heavies to do the heavy lifting while I sneak around in tac cloak. ME3 - Kaidan and James (before I have Kaidan back, Garrus and James - gotta love the banter).

Favorite in-game romance: Shenko and mShenko

Other pairings I like: Oh, man, I've broadened my pairings lists so much of late, it's probably easier to mention ones I don't like, but not gonna do that for this.

Favorite NPC: Major COATS. End of story.

Favorite antagonist: The keepers. I cannot tell you how long it took me to find the LAST ONE the first time I played! Also, even though I hate that part of the mission, the Reaper on Rannoch. Facing it down nearly gives me a heart attack each time, but man, it's a good conclusion to the mission.

Favorite mission: Oh gosh...It's a minor one, but Joab in ME2? That mission has become my goto mission to add to my stories in one way or another because of the prothean beacon there. SO. MANY. IDEAS...

Favorite loyalty mission: I dunno...Does the Citadel DLC count??? Tali's is a good one, though I probably have to go with Jack's. She's grown on me so damned much, and taking her on that mission to let her face her demons and move on is something I can get behind.

Favorite DLC: All of them. On every game. I love the additions they bring and boy do they provide a lot of fun for storytelling.

Control, Synthesis or Destroy?: When playing, Destroy, end of story. So far, I've mostly written Destroy, too, though I have at least one for each of them, even if the other two are only hinted at. I also have one story where Refuse was the option taken.

Favorite weapon: The Widow sniper rifles. Also the Lancer in ME3.

Favorite place: Tuchanka

A quote I like: "I'll sleep when I'm dead."

#Mass Effect meme #Positive Mass Effect #Ladya's opinions

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makeste · 5 years ago

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BnHA Chapter 290: It’s Touya Time

Previously on BnHA: Iida and Hadou showed up like a couple of Pennsylvanias and Georgias to bail Shouto out at the last minute. Ochako and Toga had an exceptionally strange fight which consisted of Toga being all “guess what Ochako, I used your quirk to murder someone, how do you feel about that”, and Ochako being all “I do not like that”, to which Toga was all “:(”. There was some doll-stealing and some bookcase-yeeting, and then Toga left in tears because Ochako was all adamant that murder has consequences. Anyway so I have absolutely no idea what Toga is thinking now, but I guess we’ll have some time to stew on it, because we ended the chapter by cutting back to the Iida+Hadou+Shouto VS Afomura battle, which was interrupted by Gigantomachia and the LoV showing up like a bunch of Floridas to ruin everyone’s nice day.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi hands the mic over to Dabi and is all “take it away, kid.” Over in Room 315 of Musutafu General, Rei is all “may I please watch some TV” and the hospital staff is all “sure”, and so she tunes in just in time to catch Todoroki Touya’s Peabody Award-winning documentary “Number One Hero, Number One Fraud: The Todoroki Enji Story”, which is being broadcast nationwide courtesy of Skeptic and his magic laptop. Meanwhile in Jakku, Dabi is all “I’M TOUYA, BITCHES”, and Shouto and Enji are all, “(゜◇゜ )”, and Dabi is all, “anyway so just to sum it all up, because of how much of a jerk Endeavor was, I am now Evil.” Everyone continues to be all “(ﾟoﾟ)” except for Dabi, who is all “└(˘▾˘┌ )≡ ( ┐˘▾˘)┘≡┗( ˘▾˘)┛≡┏( ˘▾˘)┓≡┗( ˘▾˘)┛” for pretty much the rest of the chapter. Idk. Just let the man have his fun, guys. He’s waited a long time for this.

y’all I have a confession to make. I am technically not spoiled for this chapter thanks to my robustly paranoid system of spoiler-tag-filtering, which is extensive enough that it pretty much will catch whenever someone so much as breathes something even remotely new-chapter-related. that being said, I like to think that I am capable of making basic logical inferences! and so the fact that for the past 36 hours, my dashboard has pretty much nonstop consisted almost entirely of this...

...has led me to conclude that MAYBE, POSSIBLY, PROBABLY, BUT ALSO DEFINITELY, a certain someone is finally going to reveal his ~secret identity~ woop woop. lmao

anyway so everyone, please remember to act surprised though, as we would not want Dabi’s feelings to be hurt at all. he has been planning this moment for the last decade or so and I wouldn’t want him to feel like all of that effort was for naught. so just play along, okay. OH MY, IF IT ISN’T THE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS’ MYSTERIOUS DABI. WHATEVER COULD HIS ARRIVAL POSSIBLY BE HERALDING, I JUST DON’T KNOW

“Dabi’s Dance” lmao. I’m sticking with Touya Time myself. ngl I had this recap title planned out for at least the past year or so. just waiting for that day to finally come

anyway so some people in some building somewhere are all “TURN OFF THE TV IN ROOM 315” and idk. I’m guessing the LoV is hacking the airwaves to livestream the reveal, as predicted

-- oh shit. UHHHHHHHH

did she always have this TV or did she get it just recently?? jfc of all the times for the hospital staff to finally loosen up

um... so that’s... (・＿・；)

well but I mean, she was gonna find out one way or the other at some point though. like you can’t really just keep her locked up and isolated from all news of the outside world forever and ever and ever. granted, this isn’t exactly the ideal way for her to learn this particular bit of information, but it’s not really ideal for anybody else either! EXCEPT DABI, THAT IS. have yourself a day you funky little terrorist

oh shit what is this?? it’s not live???

over in Jakku, a red-faced, sputtering Dabi makes a frantic grab for Skeptic’s laptop. “WAIT, NO, JESUS, NOT THAT TAPE!”

lol. but seriously Dabi are you even wearing a shirt. like I’m not one to slutshame anyone bro, but it’s just, exactly what type of mood were you looking to set here??

anyway so we really are cutting back to Jakku now, and Gigantomachia is all, “MASTERS”! which, I wonder if he really did use the plural? that’s right Machia, both of them in one place now! that sure is convenient for you huh

lol what is this with all this AFO monologuing. you’re really gonna make me read through this when I’m sitting here all sleep-deprived from election week. JUST GET TO THE TOUYAS. WE WERE PROMISED TOUYAS!!

sigh

“tee hee it’s fucking hilarious how goddamn powerful I am now lol”

alas, in spite of myself I do have two serious takeaways from this. one is that AFO is still controlling most of Tomura’s body behind the scenes, which both does and doesn’t bode well for Tomura (like, at least he’s not dying, but the long-term implications of this for his free will and such certainly are not Good). and two is that this confirms that Ujiko did give Tomura at least one powerful mutant quirk, which explains why he was still so deadly and indestructible even when Aizawa was using Erasure on him (since Erasure doesn’t work on mutant quirks, just emitter and transformation ones)

MEANWHILE ON TODAY’S EPISODE OF “TODOROKI SHOUTO’S TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD LIFE”

I like how he doesn’t actually say that he can’t take on Gigantomachia. just that he can’t take on him and Afomura at the same time. that’s confidence, baby. that right there is why you always draft Todoroki Shouto in the first round for your fantasy team

HADOU!!!!

OOOH, TOMURA’S ALL “MAN, THIS GIRL’S WAVE POWERS AND THIS KID’S ICE POWERS ARE A SUPER-STRONG COMBO DAGNABBIT.” YESSS I LIKE THAT, TELL ME MORE ABOUT HOW COOL AND POWERFUL THEY ARE

HOT DAMN LOOK AT THAT

um but not to take away from this exceptionally cool moment or anything, but why is Endeavor dying and shouting “RUN” down there in the corner um

excuse me. not to take away from How Bad This All Is, but!!

just a little, smol, IidaBaku for everyone. Iida, who apparently doesn’t know a damn thing about first aid and is all, “hmm that’s a pretty bad-looking puncture wound he has in his left shoulder there, I think I’ll just let his arm dangle freely like that and I won’t bother taking off his heavy gauntlets either. I mean. he’ll be fine, probably.” smh. at least Shouto probably cauterized the wounds

EXCUSE ME WHAT

TIME FOR MORE OF THAT GOOD OLD FASHIONED SHOUNEN RIDICULOUSNESS I GUESS LMAO. KACCHAN YOU HAVE A HOLE IN YOUR TORSO. THERE IS A HOLE IN YOUR TORSO, AND YOU LOST LIKE FOUR GALLONS OF BLOOD, BUT SURE. “PUT ME DOWN” HE SAYS. FIRST OF ALL, PUTTING ASIDE THE FACT THAT YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT BE CONSCIOUS, THE FUCK ARE YOU EVEN GOING TO DO, LIE DOWN AT THEM?? LISTEN, YOU SWEET IDIOT. TAKE HEED, BELOVED DUMBASS!!

ah well. I guess he gets to watch the Touya Show now too then lol

LMAOOOO now Machia’s lifting Tomura carefully in his palm like a broken action figure and Spinner is all “THE FUCK, YOU LOOK LIKE DEATH WARMED OVER”

“oh hey there Spinner. well let’s see, I woke up from my three-month coma and destroyed a city, had my body incinerated, and am currently being possessed by a diabolically evil potato. but please, tell me more about everything you've been through”

AW YISS AND THE FOCUS NOW SHIFTS TO THE TODOROKIS. EVERYTHING IS PROCEEDING EXACTLY AS WE HAVE FORESEEN

Endeavor my dude. it’s as if you want to die here. also holy shit, that bit about his lungs definitely does not bode well for him either

MOTHERFUCKER

GO AHEAD AND SIGN YOUR OWN DEATH CERTIFICATE, WHY DON’T YOU!! FLAGS UPON FLAGS. JESUS CHRIST

meanwhile Dabi’s just waving at ‘em

lmaoooo please oh please Caleb please keep this ‘EYYYYYYY’, it’s fucking perfect kdlshk;hg

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

(ETA: so as you will see very shortly, I completely missed this detail in my first read-through because I was so anxious to get to the reveal page, but THIS MOTHERFUCKER LITERALLY DOUSED HIMSELF WITH INSTANT HAIR DYE REMOVER THAT HE’S JUST BEEN CARRYING AROUND IN A LITTLE HIP POUCH APPRENTLY SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME. MOTHERFUCKER. I HAVE NO WORDS.)

IS THIS THE TIME. IS THIS THE MOMENT?! HERE IT COMES SLKFHS BRACE YERSELVES LADS

EYYYYYYYYYYYY

OKAY EVERYONE JUST LIKE WE PRACTICED!! SURPRISED FACES ON THREE! ONE... TWO... (•̪ o •̪) !! okay how was that

LMAO ENDEAVOR

at least Shouto looks properly stunned. Enji just looks like endeavor.exe just straight up stopped working

meanwhile Deku’s out here trying to do the math on this latest surprise family reveal! first Tomura is related to Nana, and now this. what’s next. who are you related to, Spinner. he rips off his boots to reveal engine legs and declares himself Iida’s long-lost uncle

oh shit Touya

it’s as if a million fanworks suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly jossed. who knew that all this time he was secretly sporting a crop top scar

also, THIRTY?! holy shit son you been busy

la la la two-page spread of Touya casually driving the dagger into Endeavor’s hero career and rocking the foundations of hero society as we know it la la la

la la la!!!

OH IS THAT THE END OF THE STORY THEN

almost got confused for a sec. there’s two monologues happening at once here. Endeavor doesn’t even know that his dirty laundry is being aired out nation-wide as we speak ffffff

btw while I appreciate the close-ups of Enji and Shouto here for sure, ngl I would also really love to see everyone else’s reactions right now. SHOW ME BAKUGOU AND THE LOV YOU COWARDS

is his hair actually turning white all of a sudden?? your hair dye just reacts on command??

(ETA: in all seriousness though, the hell kind of hair dye was he using? all he has to do is pour a bottle of that stuff and not even lather it in and it’s just gone just like that?? what the fuck would have have done if it ever rained lmao.

and this motherfucker just goes and leaves the dye remover in afterwards, too. I have never dyed my hair in my life and even I can tell you that’s probably not a good idea, Dabi.)

is this it. is this the legendary Dabi Dance in action. lmfao

oh hey what the fuck

so you figured you’d just murder your innocent younger brother to get revenge on dad, huh. well that’s nice

is that really all there is to the origin story though?? feels like we’re still missing a huge chunk of it. what was it that finally sent him over the edge? or was the trauma of being created as Endeavor’s perfect little hero tool and then being subsequently rejected by him enough on its own? because I’m still kind of confused on the part where he goes from “abused and discarded by his father” to “killed thirty people and was plotting the murder of his own brother” to tell you the truth

(ETA: lmao the initial fandom reaction to this did not disappoint. listen guys. people can be traumatized and shaped by awful circumstances that are completely out of their control, and grow up to be people they wouldn’t have grown up to be if things had been better, and all of that absolutely sucks, but. it doesn’t mean they get a get-out-of-jail-free card for all of their future actions, either! the tragedy of this situation is that terrible things happened to Touya, and he then went on to do terrible things himself. the tragedy of it is that this is exactly how the cycle of abuse keeps repeating itself on and on and on. maybe one of the people Dabi killed had a child who will now grow up traumatized themselves, and potentially go on to pay it forward themselves when they grow up. the tragedy is that the eye-for-an-eye justice that Touya is seeking out won’t actually make anything better in the end. the tragedy is that we understand why Touya is so angry, but that anger has basically warped him into the gleefully sadistic dancing figure we see in this chapter who has stopped caring about anyone else’s pain or suffering and just wants his own revenge.

anyway. basically what I’m trying to say is that it’s possible for the concepts of “Todoroki Touya was an innocent child and a victim of abuse” and “Dabi is a grown-ass motherfucking adult who killed thirty people and PROBABLY NEEDS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THAT” to coexist lol. like, y’all wanted your moral grey, well HERE YOU GO lmao, eat up.)

lol but LOOK AT THAT BOY DANCE HIS LITTLE HEART OUT though

Todoroki Touya confirmed not a fan of the Endeavor redemption arc huh. well we all saw this coming lols

anyways here’s a sexy Touya for y’all

you really are the most theatrical bitch I s2g lmao

also for real though, what is happening with his hair? anime team in shambles here. they’re probably just gonna double down and keep it red. too bad though cuz this is a surprisingly good look on him

SO MANY CLOSE-UPS OF THE TODOROKI FACES

friendly reminder that Dabi without a doubt REHEARSED this speech like a thousand fucking times. LET US FALL TOGETHER!! COME DANCE WITH YOUR SON IN HELL. apparently if you fake your own death in middle school you will never mentally age past that point and will remain a permanent chuuni

OH LMAO THAT’S THE END

we really just gonna end on “DANCE WITH YOUR SON IN HELL”, huh. very well then. you know what song to play, Horikoshi. one, two... YOU ARE MY DAD. YOU’RE MY DAD!! BOOGIE WOOGIE WOOGIE

#bnha 290 #dabi #todoroki touya #todoroki enji #todoroki shouto #todoroki rei #bakugou katsuki #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha

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buckys-other-punk · 4 years ago

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What the Hell is The Catch?

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: Steve and Y/N are forced by their friends to go out speed dating. Little did they know they would find their perfect match.

Warnings: alcohol, fluff, teasing and cussing

Word Count: 2.6K

A/N: HI I’m back!! First off, sorry @stuckonjbbarnes that this was late, I wanted to write this on time before the due date but my classes were literally beating my ass (BUT I did actually get inspiration for this fic idea by my stupid interpersonal relationships class so i guess that’s a win?) Anyways thank you for letting me join your writing challenge and ILY. Second, hello again! Hopefully my writing is still worth reading lol, since I have free time I will try to write more and hopefully complete my WIPs. As always, please ignore my minor mistakes (i’m lazy to edit) and lemme know what you think of this fic!

Bucky and Sam had somehow convinced Steve to go on a speed dating event at a nearby bar. Steve wasn’t really in the mood to go out and mingle with horny women. All Steve wanted that night was to relax in bed and watch a movie about this group of people who dream hop (a/n: aka Inception lol i couldn’t think of an easier way to describe this movie). Steve sat on his bed ready to watch the movie then his friends bombarded his space about how lonely he is. As much as Steve wanted to brush the two off they annoyed him so much that he caved in. Now Steve was sitting at some bar with a pen and questionnaire in his hand.

Natasha and Wanda had somehow forced you to go on a speed dating event at your guys’ favorite bar. You, having no choice, rummaged through your closet looking for a good outfit. ‘At least I’ll be getting free drinks.’ saying to yourself. You picked out a black dress that has lace sleeves which accentuates your curves. Nat and Wanda of course approved the dress immediately, they gave you your red clutch and shoved you out the door.

You huffed as you got out of your cab staring at the bar dreading to ‘mingle’ with men. Walking into the bar a couple greeted you with obnoxious smiles.

“Hello! Welcome to our single’s speed dating night.” the woman said, handing you a name tag. You took note of her flashy diamond ring. You returned the smile and wrote a random name on the name tag. “Is this your first time, Twyla?”

“Hmm?” you looked confused, then remembered your fake name. “Oh, Twyla! Me, I’m Twyla. Yes. sorry.” you replied.

“No need to be nervous dear.” the man next to her said. “We’re all here to have fun right?” he said with a smile looking around the area.

God, you hated being here already.”You two seem lovey-dovey. Did you two meet in one of these things?” you asked looking at the pair.

“Yes we did actually!” she said with a smile looking up at her man. “And just a few months later he proposed.” she added looking at her ring. You smiled then looked at the man, he looked behind you and quickly went back to his fiance. You turned slightly to “take in the area” and saw a woman with a flirtatious smile towards the man.

Rolling your eyes and glancing back at the couple. You just wanted to get some free drinks and go back home. “Are the drinks free?” you asked the couple.

“Yes, but-” the lady started to say but you waved her off grabbing the questionnaire on the table.

“That's all I need to hear. Thank you.” you said walking away from the pair and towards the bartender. “Hey, can I get a old fashioned please?” you asked the bartender who nodded and proceeded to make you drink. You scouted the area like you would on a mission and nobody was really peaking your interest. There was a woman who seemed right up your alley, but you had a feeling she wouldn’t swing your way. Sighing, you turned back to the bartender who handed you your drink. Taking a sip and pulling out your phone from your clutch you began texting the girls about how sad this event is and that you were ready to walk out.

“Can I have everyone’s attention please?” the lady from earlier said through the microphone in her hand. As you looked up from your phone you saw her fiance standing next to her with his own mic in his hand. His other hand holding the woman’s hand as he eyed a woman near him.

‘Dear lord. He’s going to cheat on this poor woman.’ you said to yourself. You downed your drink and signaled the bartender for another one.

“We are going to ask the guys to pick a table with a number on it and stay there. Ladies please go to the table closest to you and begin talking with your partner. Once you guys hear this bell.” the lady’s boyfriend rang lightly. “You can move onto the next table going counter clockwise.” she added with a giddy smile.

“Alright love birds. Let’s get this thing started.” the man said to the crowd. You grabbed your drink and headed to the table closest to you. You saw the man who was seated at the table, on his phone not really caring about the event. He was wearing a leather jacket and dark shades. ‘This dude is a douche.’ you thought to yourself, downing your second drink as you stood across from him.

“So, you come here often?” he says not looking up from his phone.

“Oh god, no.” you replied with a fake southern accent. “I just came because my boyfriend turned into a mountain lion and tried to kill me.” you said politely looking at the man.

“Oh that’s nice.” he said but then realized what you said. “I’m sorry…” he began as he pushed his sunglasses a bit down to read your name tag. “Twyla? Did you say he turned into a mountain lion?” he looked at you concerned.

“OH, yes!” you said ever so sweetly. “You see, Caleb wanted me to join his cult and I refused. He got so angry that his eyes began to turn yellow and he started clawing at his face with his hands. Just when he finished turning into a mountain lion, the high priestess of his cult commanded him to capture me to be their sacrifice for their next meal.” you said with a straight face, looking dead into the man’s wide eyes. His mouth was hanging open, speechless. Just when he was about to ask you another question you both heard the bell. The man sighed in relief downing his drink as you waved goodbye to him and chuckled as you walked to the next table.

____________________________________

Steve was staring at his drink as a woman walked up to him. He noticed that this was the woman who was eying up the man who hosted the event. Steve smiled at the woman anyways as he introduced herself. He looked down at his questionnaire trying to figure out what to ask the lady. The woman who talked to him earlier just wanted a rebound and the woman before that didn’t even say anything to him.

“So, I noticed that you don’t really have any interest in being here.” he said kindly, looking at the woman.

“Yeah, I just did this so I can get my boyfriend’s attention.” she replied looking back at the male host.

“Your boyfriend seems to be a bit occupied.” Steve said as glanced at the man and back to the woman in front of him. “Are you sure he’s worth it sweetheart? I mean I don’t know your situation with him right now, but it seems that if he’s with that woman you’re not his main priority.” he added looking at the lady in remorse.

She looked up at Steve and pondered to herself. “You know, I think you’re right. I mean I’m practically his side chick when I want to be his main chick.” she said to Steve. “Thank you for making me realize that he’s not worth it and I should get my priorities straight, Steve. I’m sorry to leave you here alone, but I hope you find someone who deserves your kindness.” she said kindly, patting Steve's hand as she began to exit the bar.

__________________________________

You noticed the woman who the male host was staring at earlier left the bar. ‘Good for her. Realizing that man ain’t shit.’ you said to yourself as you downed your third old-fashioned. You wanted to change things up..so you ordered a long island iced tea. The man who was sitting in front of you was going off about his sex fantasies and how he was looking for the right woman to please him. The previous man you only talked about work and was completely monotone.

You were completely ignoring whatever he was saying and waited for your drink and the damn bell to ring. A waitress brought your drink over and you looked around the bar as the strange sex crazed man kept going off about his fantasies. Finishing your drink in one go, since you weren’t drunk enough for this, your prayers were finally answered as you saw the lady host ring the bell. She seemed to be looking for her fiancé who left the bar to run after the woman, but she didn’t know that.

“Let’s make this next session a few minutes longer.” she said with a brief smile as she began to look for her fiancé. ‘Oh sweetie.’ you said to yourself feeling extra sorry for the woman. You grabbed a glass of champagne from a waiter that was walking around the bar and sipped the drink as you walked to the next table.

While walking over to the next table not really paying attention to the man seated there, you were thinking of another crazy lie to tell the poor soul. Maybe lie about how you believe that an alien had taken over your body this very night and that the alien was looking for someone to bring back to their home planet. Or maybe that you believe that the world will be destroyed in exactly 24 hours from now and that the only way to save it is to kill a man who was at this very event. That idea might be too dark, but might scare them off.

As you approached the table you heard a familiar voice.

“Y/N?”

Looking up at the man in front of you in shock. “Steve? What the hell are you doing here?” you asked the man.

“Well, Bucky and Sam kind of convinced me to come down here and find a girlfriend.” he answered. “Why are you here?”

Right when you were about to answer he stopped you. “Wait, let me guess. Free drinks? Don’t you already raid Stark’s liquor cabinet every weekend?” he said with a smile.

“Hey, fuck you Rogers. I’ll have you know I was forced to come here by Nat and Wanda.” you said sassily but paused. “But I mean you’re right anyways.” you added chuckling.

“I guess our friends thought the same about our love lives.” he said while taking a sip of his drink.

“Yeah? And what’s that?” you smiled at him.

“We don’t have any.” he chuckled and you laughed along with him.

“I mean, you do have a point there Rogers.” you giggled as you finished your drink. You waved the waitress down ordering another glass of champagne.

“How many have you had?” Steve said motioning at your empty glass.

“I don’t know like 3 or 4? I’m not keeping count if they’re free.” you replied to the man.

“Well I don’t want you running off somewhere.” he said protectively.

“Rogers, you do know I have a strong alcohol tolerance” you asked looking at his blue eyes.

“Yes, but I still want you to be safe.” Steve replied as he drank his glass of water.

“Steve, I am literally an Avenger like you. I can take care of myself.” you huffed rolling your eyes. “You should live a little anyway, the drinks are free for a reason.”you added wiggling your eyebrows. This time Steve rolled his eyes and laughed.

“Fine, since you’re keeping me company for how long our little speed date is I’ll drink.” he smiled as he waved the waitress over and asked for a glass of whiskey. “But you do know that my alcohol tolerance is stronger than yours right?” he said, winking at you.

You giggled as your cheeks began to warm up. ‘Oh god, why is the alcohol now getting to me.’ you said to yourself as you gleaned around the room. You noticed that the host of your event went outside and found her fiancé.

Steve thanked the waitress as she returned with your guys’ drinks. He looked up at you and his eyes skimmed over your frame. He had never seen you in that dress before, maybe it was new? Regardless, you looked beautiful wearing anything. Taking a sip of his drink he looked towards where you were staring at. He saw the host of the event talking to her boyfriend aka the man that was cheating on her.

“I talked to the girl he was seeing.” Steve said.

“Yeah, I saw her leave the bar. Did you upset her?” you asked, looking back at the supers soldier.

“God no, I gave her advice.” he replied looking back at you. “I told her that he wasn’t worth it.”

“Smart. I was thinking of telling our host, but she seemed so in love with him I didn’t want to hurt her. I mean I am a stranger to her after all.” you admitted taking a sip of your drink.

“Hopefully, she’ll find out.” Steve shrugged. “So find anyone interesting?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Nope, I’ve been trying to scare most of them off.” you giggled as thought back to your first date.

“Why the hell would you do that?!” Steve laughed when he finally noticed your name tag. “Twyla? Y/N, you really didn’t want to be here huh?” he asked as he looked at you.

“Well, clearly no if I was messing with these poor men.” you chuckled while finishing your drink. “Why don’t we play a game since I don’t wanna mingle with anyone else right now.” you said as you looked up at Steve.

“What, now? What the hell is the catch?” he asked, eyebrows furrowed as he stared into your glistening eyes.

“Why does there have to be a catch? I’m just suggesting something to do, unless you do want to mingle with one of these women?” you replied with a quirked eyebrow.

Steve shook his head, “Not really, but I feel like you’re up to something.”

You shook your head no. “Come on it’ll be fun.” you begged.

“Ok fine. What did you have in mind.” he sighed as he looked at you.

“An easy game of Fuck, Marry, Kill.” you said with a smile. The alcohol was now affecting and building your confidence. You saw Steve’s Adam's apple bob as he nodded.

“Kill? That’s a little harsh.” Steve said as he looked at you.

“Seriously? Kill is harsh, but fuck is ok?” you whined at him and he nodded. ”Fine, then avoid instead of kill, you baby.” you added shaking your head.

“Who are your picks then?” he asked as he downed his drink.

“Simple, the lady you gave advice to, the woman in the very short dress and me.” you smirked as you took a sip of his water.

“Ok, avoid short dress woman, marry the woman I gave advice to and then have sex with you.” he answered honestly staring at you. You blinked in astonishment by his answer.

“Damn, Rogers you answered that way too quickly. Can I get an explanation as to why your answers came so easily?” you asked, staring at the blond.

‘Well, short dress woman I would avoid because I talked to her earlier and I was not feeling it. I would marry the woman I gave advice to because she seems to have good intentions.” Steve said confidently. “And I guess that leaves me to fuck you because I want to.” he added with lustful eyes.

‘Holy shit! Did he just admit he wanted to fuck you?!’ you thought to yourself as you sipped some water.

“Some bold words coming out of your mouth Rogers.” you said trying to think of something or anything to get more information about that last thing he said.

“Why is it bold, when it’s the truth.” he said looking dead into your eyes.

“Well then fuck me already.” you whisper winking at him.

A/N: Was that good? I hope this was good. I feel like there should be a second part to this with some smutty action 🤔 Again if you wanna be tagged in future fics, have any requests or just wanna chat hit me up!

Taglist: @lostinthoughtsandfeelings @sebtheromanianprince @aquabrie @who-the-hell-is-sebastianstan @anbrax5553 @wintersoldierissucharide @caplanbuckybarnes @miraclesoflove @kitkatd7 @saiyanprincessswanie @chaoticpete @fandomsandxfiles @hailmary-yramliah @coffeebooksandfandom @thefallenbibliophilequote

^please lemme know if you wanna be added/removed for future tags or dm me if I forgot you^

#dani’s 2021 #Steve Rogers #steve x reader #steve rogers x reader #reader x steve #reader x steve rogers #reader insert #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers fluff

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cadykeus-clay · 5 years ago

Note

i would low key love to hear your tangent about the differences there are between how VM and TM9 react with the world

ah, the perfect excuse for me to put off my 30 page reading, thank you :3

(i’m also going to preface this by saying most of this is stuff i’ve picked from other people’s various metas and i absolutely do not remember who those authors might be so i apologize jsdlkfsd)

....

but uh ... basically i feel like vox machina and the nein have a completely opposite standard for how they interact with the people the consider to be their “inner circle” vs. everyone who doesn’t qualify as that.

vm is a group of individuals who, overall, had one cruel person that slighted them but didn’t really destroy their faith in humanity. (their faith in themselves is a whole different horse. that ones .... woof. looking at you percy scanlan tary keyleth.) Percy had the briarwoods, Grog had Kevdak, the twins and tary had their father. so, the way that they interact with just random people that they meet is - with exceptions of course - amicable, or at the very least, respectably polite.

they’re the saviours of emon, the freers of whitestone. they have festivals held in their honor. they have kid fans and random farmers knocking on their doorstep for aid because they’ve heard tales of the kindness. sure, vex can be a hassle when she’s haggling down a price, and keyleth tends to poke buttons in way that gets her arrested a fair amount of the time, but at the end of the day they’re the people’s heroes, and they’re happy to be that!

their inner circle, however, is much more closely guarded. they have a few chosen allies (gilmore, allura, kima, kash and zahra, cassandra) and that’s it. They’re hesitant with anyone else trying to creep into their personal fold. Hell, it took beating up tary and him breaking down sobbing for them to even consider liking him. they’ve been burned by raishan and clarota and hotis, by individuals they let in and who then stabbed them in the back. they’ll do almost any favor for a stranger who asks, but they’ll be damned if they trust anyone to actually join their midst. vox machina is vox machina is vox machina and that’s incredibly hard to change.

the nein, on the other hand, are fundamentally a group of rejects. some of them have specific people they can point a finger at and say “i hate you”, but those problems stem from a greater societal rejection. beau has daddy issues, but she also felt rejected by the entire cobalt soul until dairon found her. caleb has trent’s fucked up shit, but he also has this constant pressure of having failed his entire country, not to mention the faceless hate piled up on him from living homeless for a year. jester’s whole deal is that she had to hide from LITERALLY ALL OF SOCIETY for her entire childhood because she wasn’t supposed to exist.

and so, the nein are shitheads to society right back. they’re mean to random barkeeps, they trash their inns and don’t say sorry, they mock most NPCs behind their back (or sometimes right to their face. @ marius). Every favor asked of them comes with a ton of deliberation and arguing about whether its bait or not (ie bowlgate, the giants in the mine outside rosohna, essiks “favors”).

but, on the flip side, they’re willing to tug just about anyone into their ranks. if society already hates them by default, what’s there to lose if they get close to someone? nothing, there’s only more love to be found! so it’s adopting random bird girls on the road, its sending cupcakes to a hag that cursed your friend, its sending messages to everyone you’ve ever met just to check in, it’s making someone sit in the hot tub with you and share trauma and then when you find out he started a war you say “we get it bro” and kiss him on the forehead. it’s “welcome to the mighty nein”.

and it’s also very interesting, i think, to talk about the ways in which the party interacts with themselves. vox machina was a family, undoubtedly, as is the nein now. but vox machina ... had a lack of desperation to their attachment. i mean for one, they took a full year off from adventuring together and scattered cross continent. even if the nein gets down time like they did, i expect they’ll just trail each other around like lemmings. (its kind of what they’ve been doing from hiatus until now with the eiselcross arc starting).

but vox machina just ... went. and scanlan walked away from the party and (after the heat of the moment), they agreed to just let him be. and pike would spend weeks on quests for sarenrae without much of a complaint. even at the end - and this will be a controversial take, i know - but they let vax go pretty easily. (sure, mechanically they were wiped from fighting, but besides tears the only attempt to defy trq was from percy, which even he gave up on with minimal struggle because vax said to stop it). that’s not to say they don’t miss each other when they’re gone! of course they do!!! but they trust each other to go off into the world, because the world as whole is a place they trust.

(the one exception to this might be vex, who fought every one of these situations adamantly, but that’s a whole separate essay about her issues stemming from an innate sense of ‘failed family’ that she’s desperate to not repeat, and less about a mistrust of everyone until proven otherwise)

the nein on the other hand. hoo boy. they’ve been hot glued to each other’s hips since day one. So many quotes (many from beau, which could be worked into my previous vex essay, as they’re very much cross-campaign foils. getting sidetracked again) are about their inability to separate. “You don’t get to choose who cares about you”; “No one goes”; “If one of us is gone for more than 7 days assume we’re dead and have a funeral”; “Do we have co-dependecy issues?” Jester’s cool personal vacation to her god’s get together turned into a party with everyone because why would she go anywhere without the nein? Veth’s time with Luc and/or Yeza is constantly overrun with the rest of the nein dropping in for fun. Even small things like shopping trips are so much more “oh well if you’re going then i’ll go” snowballs than they ever were with vm.

Also, ashley’s absences had to be much more forceful than in c1. Post episode 11, the only time yasha left the group (rather than someone else piloting her) of her own free will was when she ran in grief from molly’s grave. And yes, there’s something to be said about “oh they were on a boat for a long time she had nowhere to go” but if Matt can justify astral projection pike, i feel like he could justify ‘the stormlord teleports yasha away for a bit’ and he chose not to.

Because!!!!!!!!! of the dynamic that the nein has!!!!!!!! Because of this idea that the world is bad and cold and full of hate and in here in our little hut (soon to be mansion??????) it’s safe and good and full of love and no one can leave because then you’d be going somewhere much more dangerous and we can’t have that, now can we?

.....

well uh. that’s a lot of words. i hope they made some sense??? and were at all what you were expecting???? thank u for sending the ask tho this was very fun to write!!

tldr: vox machina is a group of people who were betrayed by one bad figure, so they trust the world and are wary of the individual; whereas the nein is a group of people who were failed by the world at large so they welcome the loner and fear the pack.

#critical role #vox machina #the mighty nein #critical role meta #hey the actual essay bit turned out be 1200 words On The Nose

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lynkhart · 4 years ago

Text

MAJOR spoilers for the C2 finale of Critical Role so read at your own risk of you haven’t caught up!

I have so many feelings regarding Caleb and Essek’s intertwining character arcs I needed to explore, so strap in folks, you’re in for a bit of a ride! (But seriously though, this is like 4000 words long, I basically wrote an essay 😂)

At the start of the campaign, Caleb Widogast was dripping in guilt and self loathing and refused to believe he could ever absolve himself of his sins. Essek Thelyss was a cold, aloof individual who betrayed his people for selfish goals, and their differing yet mirrored narratives have been an absolute delight to watch unfold.

In the beginning Caleb truly hated himself. He shot down any attempt at a compliment, described himself as a ‘disgusting person’, outright rejected the idea that he was worthy of love, and never let the blame shift from him for what he’d done. When Beauregard and Veth/Nott pointed out that he was coerced and manipulated into killing his parents, he reacts in an incredibly visceral way, and I’ve seen several comments likening it to a victim of child abuse who was groomed into believing they were as responsible as their abuser, and I think that’s exactly how it was meant to be read. He doesn’t see himself as a victim, only a murderer, and punishes himself for it every day. We see this in the way he presents himself, dirty and unkempt because in his mind he doesn’t deserve to feel good about himself in any way. Other than Nott/Veth and Beau to a certain degree, he purposefully isolates himself from the rest of the group and it’s a long time until he feels relaxed enough in their company to drop his defences a little.

(Speaking from a purely meta point of view, Liam did an absolutely phenomenal job of showing this through body language and I’d love to see someone do a compilation video of it. He starts off very hunched and guarded, leaning his body away from the closest person to him and avoiding eye contact and physical touch; but by the end stands tall and sure of himself.)

Early on there were a few moments where he had the option to do some pretty dark shit, and I’m sure there’s a possible timeline where he gave into his desire for revenge and really lost his way, but I’m glad he stuck it out and worked through his trauma in the way he did. His PTSD and disassociation when casting with fire was tragic, but over time he was able to work through it thanks to the constant love and support of his friends who kept him from going off at the deep end.

Molly’s death was the catalyst for change in a lot of the party, and Caleb is no exception. On the verge of leaving the group prior to his death, the grief they shared, combined with their frantic attempt to rescue the other half of their party put things in perspective and gradually he learned how to be a person again, to care.

Altering time to save his family had been Caleb’s only goal in life, and so when Essek and by extension, dunamancy was introduced, you could see his eyes light up at the possibilities.

A huge turning point for him is aligned so closely with Essek’s redemption arc which feels quite apt I think. When Essek confesses to his crimes, Caleb delivers a beautifully iconic piece of dialogue where he acknowledges their similarities and how much he himself has changed as a person since meeting the Mighty Nein. (Source - CR wiki)

‘You listen to me. I know what you are talking about. I know. And the difference between you and I is thinner than a razor. I know what it means to have other people complicate your desires and wishes. And I was like you. Was. I know what a fool I have been for years. You didn't account for us. Good. That is life. Shit hits you sideways in life and no one is prepared. No one is ready. These people changed me. These people can change you. You were not born with venom in your veins. You learned it. You learned it. You have a rare opportunity here, Thelyss. One chance to save yourself, and we are offering it.’

This is not the same Caleb we met back in the Nestled Nook inn way back in the first episode. While not yet fulfilled or entirely convinced of his own worth, he knows he’s on the right path. That alone is progress enough, but that he uses his own experiences to help another escape those same chains of guilt says such a lot for his development. When he tells Essek that his ‘venom’ was learned, he’s also talking about himself and his own history of being manipulated and gaslit, with the implication being that it can be un-learned just as efficiently.

Caleb Widogast is selfish no more, or at the very least, doesn’t let his goals undermine anyone else’s anymore. Contrary to what he himself might still think, he is in no way a bad person. He loves fiercely and cannot abide seeing those he cares about in pain.

Early game Essek is what Caleb could have been if he’d rejected his friends and focused solely on his own selfish goal to undo his mistakes. Both are impassive at first and see the Mighty Nein as means to an end...until they get to know them and then their fate is sealed. The Power of Friendship wins once again!

At the beginning Caleb said he wanted to ‘bend reality to my will’ (sic) and in the end he does just that, though not in the way he originally intended. Destroying the T-Dock, and by extension the one thing he’d been building towards from the start, the chance to go back and change time, for me personally was the absolute peak of his journey. I rewatched the scene where Caleb revealed the truth about his parents death today, and it was really jarring to see just how far he’d come since then. It made me oddly proud actually.

I always felt like his plan to save his parents was the one thing holding him back from truly accepting their deaths, which is why the final scene of him in the cemetery with the letters for them hit so hard. He never truly gave up hope that they’d be reunited, but ultimately he realised he was merely postponing the inevitable and never allowing himself to live his own life. While time travel shenanigans would have been incredibly interesting to explore in game, choosing to let the past lie and not go back for them finally allows him to grieve and move on, and perhaps most importantly of all, to forgive himself at last.

I know some people were annoyed by Caleb’s decision in the finale to spend the rest of his life teaching rather than continuing to adventure, but I see it as the natural conclusion to his whole arc and his own personal victory.

He looked Trent Ikithon in the eyes, a man who he’d spent years wanting to kill and run from in equal measure, stripped him of his power and his voice (and ultimately his ability to harm anyone else) and finally spared his life so he had to live with the indignity of his defeat for the rest of his miserable existence. You couldn’t have asked for a more damning rejection of everything he’d been brainwashed into believing as a child. His dismissal of Trent’s position in the Assembly played into that as well. He never really wanted power for the sake of it; he had no desire for politics, he just wanted his family back, and while he didn’t get the one he started with, he made a new one for himself in the end.

As Caduceus once very wisely said:

‘Pain doesn’t make people; it's love that makes people. The pain is inconsequential; it's love that saves them.’

Caleb gets to break the cycle of abuse and teach a new generation of mages the way he should have been, with kindness and respect, and I’m pretty sure he’d have introduced a handsome drow as a guest lecturer from time to time. 😉

Speaking of...

Essek described himself as selfish and as a coward, forever putting his own wants and desires first, yet over the course of his journey with the Nein we see his priorities change drastically.

Having friends gives him people to care about, something he’s never had before, and it changes his outlook on life completely. For me, the first time we really see this is when he joins them for dinner in the Xorhaus and stops levitating. It’s a subtle thing, but meaningful. He explains that it had become an expectation of him, a quirk he’s known for, and so to feel comfortable enough around the Nein to drop that pretence is quite bold I think.

Much later, when he chooses to destroy the mini beacon they discover in Aeor in order to give everyone a long rest before the final confrontation with Lucian, he’s essentially giving up everything he betrayed his people for, just to keep his friends safe. The existence and context of that single artefact could have had an earthshattering impact on the Dynasty’s entire culture, forcing them to reevaluate their entire belief system and attitude to the Luxon, something he’d wanted from the start, something he helped start a war for, but he offered it up as a sacrifice without a second thought.

I’d say that’s a pretty big morality shift, and I’m super interested to see if Matt reveals if his alignment changed in the post campaign Q&A. I have a feeling he set him up as a potential BBEG but the party was like ‘no, you can’t have him, he’s ours now’ and that was the end of that. 😂

I think it says so much about the other characters too, that they befriended this person they barely knew, and when he was revealed to have done such terrible things, their first reaction was to give him comfort and an opportunity to atone. Jester held his hand while he confessed, and afterwards, while they didn’t immediately forgive him, they saw the good in him and wanted him to be better, which ultimately feels like what the entire campaign was about, leaving places (and people) better than they found them. It’s obvious that he’s never really had many friends before and has therefore never had the opportunity to be emotionally open with anyone, so seeing him gradually warm up to the Nein and allow himself to soften around them was really lovely to watch.

(Obviously, from a realistic moral perspective, he still fucked up big time. He’s still a godsdamned war criminal and really should have been put on trial for what he did, but I think from a narrative and personal point of view, his redemption arc was far more satisfying, so I’m glad it happened the way it did. (And not to derail but the rest of the gang have done some pretty horrific stuff as well, though perhaps not quite on the same scale)

He has a few moments towards the end that I absolutely love because they show that beneath the guilt and anguish, there’s an incredibly sweet and sensitive soul in there, just wanting acceptance. His dry jokes which often don’t quite hit, (the ‘I will punish the bakery’ line is such an under-appreciated one 😂) his simple joy at learning to garden in the Blooming Grove, and realising that he’d never been asked what his favourite food was before was actually kind of heartbreaking, because it highlighted how lonely his life must have been until that time. There was a moment pretty early on I think when he cast disguise on the party and Jester asked if he could cast it again to change the look of her outfit a bit and while he seemed to find it amusing, he refused, not wanting to waste a spell on such a frivolous request. Cut to their time in Aeor where he burns a fly spell just so he and Caleb can flirtatiously swoop around each other for a couple of minutes, all the while trying to beat Lucian to the city.

His breakdown when Molly’s resurrection failed really cemented to me how much he’d grown as a character. He never met Molly, his only knowledge of him was secondhand, through the eyes of his friends, but seeing it fail just broke him because he knew how much it hurt them to go through it all over again.

His comment to Caleb about not admitting defeat and wishing he could do more did get me wondering at the time if he was going to try and do something crazy, perhaps sacrificing himself via the Temporal Dock to make amends or somehow forcing another reroll, but I’m glad he didn’t. The conversation following that with Fjord was one of my favourites- he shows him acceptance and belief in his potential for the future, something he’s lacked for a long time, and when Caleb bluntly affirms afterwards that he is indeed an official member of the Mighty Nein, it’s the start of the rest of his life, and something he’s exceptionally grateful for.

It all leads to that final moment in Aeor with Caleb, when, presented with the opportunity to alter time and undo everything, he chooses to accept his decisions and carry the weight of his sins for the rest of his long life. That’s...huge.

He’s essentially choosing to live the rest of his existence as a fugitive, forever on the run, with no guaranteed peace or safety. He chooses to spend his life making up for his deeds, rather than looking for an easy way out.

I think that may have had a big impact on why Caleb ultimately made the same decision, as if Essek had been up for altering his timeline I think he’d have struggled to resist it himself. The conversation they had earlier in Aeor about their priorities and resisting temptation really comes to mind as well.

Now, to the relationship.

It was subtle, and not as ‘in your face’ obvious as the other characters, but I’ve been watching and hoping for a long time and I must say, it feels good to be vindicated.

(And if you have any doubt, both Matt and Liam confirmed on Twitter that their post finale relationship was 100% romantic)

I’d been hoping that Shadowgast would be a canon endgame relationship for a while, so the finale, and the aforementioned T-Dock scene in particular had me quite literally shaking with emotion as I watched live. Here you have two men, both damaged and guilt-stricken in their own ways, who find in each other a kindred spirit and a path to redemption.

They’re both very guarded and closed off people, but Essek in particular has a definite shift in the last arc of the campaign especially when it came to his interactions with Caleb. At the start he was quite aloof and stoic, though charming, and they had an instant connection through their shared love of the arcane, (anyone who couldn’t see them making heart eyes at each other when Essek was describing the different types of magic he could teach Caleb was clearly blind) but by the end he was incredibly open to showing his vulnerabilities and that takes a lot, especially for someone whose primary focus was to stay in control of every aspect of his life. The ‘Caleb, I’m scared’ moment during the Trent fight in particular made my heart ache.

No, we didn’t get a dramatic declaration of love or a cinematic mid-battle kiss, but I’d argue that their relationship was just as, if not more intimate than any of the other main characters were. They understood each other in a way the others didn’t, their shared guilt, feelings of inadequacy and their obsession with magic forged a deep connection from the get-go. Neither of them are big fans of PDA I think, though Caleb is tactile as hell (forehead touches and kisses, oh man, I’m so weak for those 😩👌) and some of their most iconic moments have them putting themselves in harm’s way to protect the other. Essek shaking off his forced guilt trip immediately after the now infamous forehead touch in ep140 was beautifully poetic, as was using his fortune’s favour to pull Caleb out of the rubble moments before. Caleb trying to include him in his Sphere of Invulnerability in the finale and Essek staying close to him the whole fight despite being obviously terrified of Trent was the icing on the cake. It’s clear that they care for each other a great deal; whether by the finale they’d consider it love is up for debate, but we know that’s eventually where it ended up and honestly, I love that. I deeply appreciated the fact Matt and Liam both emphasised that they took their time with their relationship, letting each other heal in their own way before they took the next step. All too often in media, and real life too sadly, a romantic relationship is seen as some kind of quick fix, and that a lover will somehow complete you or make all your problems vanish. They knew this wasn’t the case here, and that made it all the better.

While I would have *loved* to have seen them together as a couple right to the very end, the change in their relationship felt right, if bittersweet. I doubt they ever stopped loving each other, and if anything, choosing to shift to a deep and lifelong friendship over a romance that would cause them both so much pain is one of the kindest things you could do for someone you love. After all, friendship isn’t a downgrade, just another way of experiencing that same love, and it wasn’t as though they broke up and never saw each other again, it was pretty strongly implied that they remained a major feature in each other’s lives, they just changed their label slightly. Caleb would hate to have forced Essek to watch him wither away, and although his eventual passing would hurt Essek regardless, incompatible lifespans being what they are, having a period of time to adjust to it, to give them a buffer between the inevitable heartbreak was actually really sweet.

Their romance was no accident, they knew going in that it had a time limit, that it wasn’t going to be forever for one of them, and the fact they did it anyway says so much. They began their adventure wholeheartedly believing that they were both, in their own way incapable of love, only to later find it with each other. Whether their relationship lasted for a couple of years or multiple decades is irrelevant, what matters is that while it did they had a happy and fulfilled life together.

I know some folk wanted Caleb to use the transmogrification spell on himself so he could live on with Essek as another elf, or make him human instead, but that would have been way out of character for both I think. If they could have backwards engineered one of the rejuvenation stations in Aeor and used it to extend Caleb’s life by a hundred years or so, so he’d have a similar lifespan to Veth, now, I could have seen him possibly doing that, so he could spend more time with his best friend too, but nothing further I think. He longed to be reunited with his parents too much to postpone death unnaturally like that.

That both Caleb and Essek ultimately chose to live with their mistakes and make peace with themselves was incredibly cathartic, and I couldn’t imagine it playing out any better.

The fact Matt has explicitly stated Essek is Demi too means so much to me personally because the latter is a label I’ve been identifying with a lot recently, and it’s so rare for aspec relationships to get any representation! It has honestly given me a lot to think about over the last few days, and I really appreciate it.

To conclude, here’s a bit of shameless self promotion. I wrote this after watching the finale and honestly feel like it sums up my feelings on the nature of their relationship pretty well.

‘A casual hand on a shoulder, a waist, a wrist; a gentle kiss placed on a forehead is common between them now, an intimacy born of trust and mutual affection. Over time it grows, like a fire born of seasoned timber; gradual and steady, no spluttering kindling that flares and sparks, but a slow burn, one which lasts.

Their love is embroidered into every aspect of their lives together. Acts of service, of comfort, of understanding.

Sometimes a kiss leads to more than a kiss, sometimes it doesn’t. Either way they are content.‘

So yeah, I love these two wizard boys so very much and I couldn’t be happier with the conclusion of their stories. ❤️

#Critical Role #Critical Role Spoilers #CR Spoilers #shadowgast #Essek thelyss #Caleb Widogast #C2ep141 #C2ep141 spoilers #critical role finale

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c-is-for-circinate · 4 years ago

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Post-ep 123 Reaction

Wow, y’all. What a ride.

You know, I used to do these after every single CR episode. Every single one, 2 AM, exhausted and dazed, trying to pour out smart thinky thoughts onto tumblr because I’d be so overflowing with ideas and feelings.

I haven’t so much, lately, and I think part of that is just the fact that I have not been enjoying this Aeor arc. I’ve hated the traveling along with Lucien in a way that’s made it unpleasant to watch, instead of fun. (For me, personally! Many people have been enjoying the tension, and I know the players have been enjoying the tension, and that’s fine! Yay for them!) Some of the ancient ruins explorations, too, have gotten just a little too creepy-horror-game for sitting alone in my apartment at one in the morning. I’ve had less to say. I’ve wanted to say it less.

And that’s not true tonight. I can’t remember the last time I got excited about a CR episode like I was tonight. Oh, there’ve been bits and moments I loved all throughout, there always are, that’s why I’m still watching live even in an arc that hasn’t thrilled me, but I loved the whole episode today, all five and a half hours of it, and god that feels good.

So in celebration, some specific bullet points:

The start of the episode, the discovery of the eyes on Beau and Caleb. The attempts at science. The fear, and yet, also, the glimmers of...okay but what if we could use this? (The moment in the second half, after the Tombtakers ran off, when Beau suggests going into her dreams to ask for help to find them--yes. Yes. I still don’t have a lot of interest in evil wizard plotlines when you doom yourself/the world/etc out of curiosity, but the willingness to dive into this terrifying thing that might change you, might break you, because you need what it can give you in order to save a thing you love (your friends, the world) more than you need to be whole or sane or even, necessarily, alive--that is my GOOD SHIT.)

Guys, I just loved every single minute of that white dragon fight, okay? It was such a mess. It was such a mess! And look, there’s a very specific kind of frenetic energy that the table gets when they find themselves in the middle of a terrifying boss battle, and there’s a different very specific kind of wild ‘this may as well happen’ energy they get when things go terribly wrong entirely due to random chance, and getting the compound of both of those things at once is always glorious. Nobody is prepared for anything! Everybody is freaking out! There’s good reason to suspect that, even if someone dies a bit, everyone’s going to make it out alive, but shit’s wild in the middle there and it’s just such a joy to watch.

Likewise, I know that final fight was really stressful for both the cast and a lot of viewers, but honestly in so many ways I watched it feeling so much less stressed than the past few weeks have made me? Yes, it was a horrible, horrible fight, the team in so far over their heads, so low on sleep and spells and any resources at all. But, god, thank god, at least it was finally over. There’s no going back to fake amity with the Tombtakers after this, no more playing along and trying to plot treason while the person you’re plotting against is probably hearing every word. Enemies can be faced! They can be fought, or fled, or defeated, they can be destroyed or put off for another day, but at least nobody’s pretending any more while trapped in wary uncertain fear of their own houseguests. At least now it’s done.

The fucking Iron Shepherds parallels. Just. Yes. I have hated the trapped feelings of traveling alongside Lucien and his crew, but the Iron Shepherds parallels are, while stab-me-in-the-heart painful, so fucking good. The very best moments with Lucien have been the ones that mimic Mollymauk, not even because they bring hope that Molly could come back to us someday (although that’s there, that faint shimmering thread), but because it is always the best, worst, most glorious twist of irony. Molly died trying to save his friends, saving his friends, from the violence of a monster who was so very like him in all the ways he was terrified to know. Lorenzo and his ragtag group of multiclassed minions, full of loyalty, arrogance, unexpected powers, here to torture and enslave. The Nein have more power now, a little more negotiated control, they are different--but so much of it is just window-dressing as they’ve been dragged along on this pell-mell journey against their will, told when to walk and when to sleep, headed towards a place they would’ve gone anyway at the behest of someone they really do not give a shit about any more. It’s so much the same. And the thing that is beautiful, and the thing that I love, the one thing for which I do love Lucien, is just--god, the irony. The irony! Because it’s not just that Lucien is like Lorenzo, that Molly turns out to be like the man that killed him after all; it’s not just Lucien, all unknowing, rebuilding old grudges and replaying old scenes without even knowing them. It’s the fact that Molly’s death is the only reason this can happen in the first place. Mollymauk Tealeaf, murdered and buried, wanting only to protect his teammates from a megalomaniacal killer--sacrificing himself on a hope and a chance that maybe, maybe, he and his friends could all survive, and they’d all be fucked anyway if he didn’t--he died to do it. And it worked. They were safe, for a little while, for long enough to rescue Jester and Yasha and Fjord. Long enough to keep going, to leave part of the world better than they found it, to canonize him in his own way. Except now here they are again, worse and deeper into the same shit than ever before, and it never could have been like this if Molly had survived. He derailed Lorenzo long enough to save them then, and created the forward path for the Lucien they’re facing now. It’s terrible. It’s beautiful. And that’s some damn good storytelling.

The start of the next episode is going to be very very hard for the Nein! In so many ways, they’re back exactly where they were episodes ago when they first started traveling with Lucien’s crew to begin with: one threshhold crest in their possession, beat to hell and almost entirely out of spells, exhausted, in desperate need of a long rest, with a probably-pursuing enemy that doesn’t seem inclined to let them have one. It’s as untenable now as it was then.

They have so much more knowledge now (was it worth it?). They have their own connection to the city now (will it cost them more than they’ve gained?). Maybe they have a direction. Probably they’ve got options. They’ve got an angel, an owl, a wooly mammoth, and a destination. Maybe, if they’re very fast and very lucky, maybe, if Caleb uses a teleport spell or they somehow manage to navigate through the snow in their exhaustion with all their luck, they’ll make it to Essek in time to collapse almost safely. They’ve needed backup so badly. They’ve needed someone, anyone, to keep them safe for just a few hours so they can plan, and think, and sleep.

And they’ve been so busy trying to play nice, giving in to their fear, trying to avoid the fight they just dove into (with half the team exhausted and half their spell slots gone!), that they haven’t let themselves go and get those things. And now they’re out the other side of that fight. Now they know, just a bit more, what Lucien and his team are made of.

Now they can finally, maybe, maybe, start finding ways to take back their own control instead of keeling over with the fear. I hope. I hope, I hope, I hope.

#cr spoilers #episode 123 #critical role

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nellie-elizabeth · 3 years ago

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Westworld: Fidelity (4x06)

Hell yeah, Caleb's back, Maeve's back, this is a great episode!

Cons:

I don't really have any particular story-line that didn't work for me this week. Maybe just the same general complaint I've been saying all season, where I'm interested in various bits and pieces, but some of the larger thematic build of the season still feels sluggish/unnecessarily complex. The truth of Westworld is that they aren't really treading any new or original ground when it comes to sci-fi, so the uniqueness and spark has to come from the characters and the actual interpretation of these old tropes. Sometimes I'm impressed, and other times I feel like something tired and overused is being dressed up in a new shiny coating and being passed off as something fresh.

Pros:

Aaron Paul is a damn good actor! This whole episode shows Caleb, or rather a host built based off of Caleb, making escape attempts from Charlotte Hale. Charlotte is determined to figure out the secret as to why Caleb was able to resist all those years ago, and why humans continue to "wake up" from the control. She actually arranges to let "Caleb" escape to reach out to his daughter Frankie, but Caleb doesn't give any new information that Charlotte finds useful. All of the imagery, the dead/dying Calebs of the past, the utter torture Caleb goes through just to get an apology out to Frankie, it's really something. And then just the existential dread as you see Charlotte disposing of one Caleb and starting over with a fresh host... it's just so eerie, this sense of inevitability and looping, that whatever sliver of his original consciousness remains, it will never be able to fully escape, not even in death... chilling!

And then on the flip side of that, we see Frankie working with the rebellion to fight back against Charlotte's evil plans. Her story was potentially a little less interesting to me; this episode both introduces the character of Jay, and reveals him to have been replaced by a host, which felt a little wonky pacing-wise. But that aside, I still really like seeing her; this character is a bad-ass and it feels very earned. We see her as a little girl in flashback, starting her efforts to rescue humans who are not fully under the sway of the hosts. She's queer, which we love to see too, just making a note of the girlfriend...

And I just love that she's fighting back, while still holding onto hope that her father might be out there somewhere. What a tragedy, that moment in the end when "Caleb" gets his message out, and Jay immediately destroys the receiver so the message doesn't all go through. I liked watching Frankie work out her complicated feelings about Maeve, too. Maeve left with her father all those years ago, and Caleb never came back. Of course Frankie would be less than thrilled about the idea of bringing her back to be their ally.

Stubbs and Bernard, on the other hand, are eager to have Maeve back on their side. I'm glad that these two characters are interacting with Frankie now, because it connects the stories and gives us less to keep track of. Maeve's triumphant moment of return was lovely to see, I can't wait to learn more about how she might save the day in the coming weeks!

This felt like the best of what Westworld can offer; honestly, it gave me some good season one feels, in terms of how invested I was in what was going on. I hope the rest of the season can stick the landing!

9/10

#review #westworld #westworld review

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padawansuggest · 4 years ago

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AU where Obi-Wan and Luke get to Vader long before he was expecting to destroy Alderaan, which is basically an incredible thing that I think would have made it hard for them to bring him back from, and instead of Obi-Wan antagonizing him and getting ghosted, they capture Vader and take him with them, because Obi-Wan has had a theory goin for the last 20 years on an idea to try. So, with the force, you can create illusions of things. I like the idea of Obi-Wan forcing Vader to not only confront Luke and Leia (he draggin that tin can back to Bail and is gonna make him pay for their Uber), by telling him that’s his kids, but also forcing him to confront the fact that Obi-Wan will never love anyone as much as he loves the child he raised. I truly believe that Obi-Wan spent his whole life past his knighting caring about no one more than Anakin, and being a sith never stopped that. So, I kinda want Obi-Wan to show him a force vision of Obi and Ani when Obi-Wan first took him in as a kiddo, just a memory of them together. A playful one where ADHD Ani wanted to get up and play, but grief-recovering Obi is tired and depressed but still loves this kid, and just yanks him onto the couch with him for a nap and some decent cuddles together while Ani complains and talks about everything in the universe he can think of till he literally talks himself to sleep and Obi just gently lays his head on that little chest to listen to Ani’s heartbeat before giving him forehead kisses and passing out too.

Mainly. I just want Vader to confront something from his childhood, something completely sugar sweet that makes everyone else go ‘wtf Vader had a loving caregiver who would cuddle him???’ And absolutely breaks Vader to the point where Ani shines through and he just says that he’s so tired of everything why can’t they go back to that??

Anyways. I just had the sudden idea of Ani using force visions of him and Obi when they were much younger as a focus point for sanity to the point where he becomes an actual asset for the rebellion and even Bail and Mon Mothma are excited to have him back and they get him out of that horrible suit and fix him up as well as they can to convince the galaxy that General Skywalker is back after such a long captivity, and that drags Rex and Ahsoka (and probably Cody too) off to find them with great caution and then excitement when they can feel Ani’s broken force signiture again and know it’s him but he’s super fragile but It’s Him.

Anyways. What I really want after that. Is Ani to say he convinced Vader to save one of the creche kids and they’re still out there, but he keeps having to send hunters out for him cause the emperor keeps using him for testing and he’s got a guy he thinks can finally nab the kid for good and it’s Grogu and Din is the one they send for him and it take them like a year to get back to them cause Din ends up Being Hunted and he refuses to give the kid up (like a lot of other bounty hunters have done when they eventually decide the kid isn’t worth it) and then Din gets there and a buuuuunch of Mandos follow behind all annoyed that their covert got found in the process and now that the rebellions problem and it’s a full ass reunion at this point.

They pick up Yoda from the swamp and get both Luke and Leia some intense Jedi training (THEY BOTH DESERVE TO BE BADASS JEDI FIGHT ME) and Grogu becomes the communal baby and Obi goes back to annoying the fuck outta Ani by calling him his twin brother, which makes BOTH of them squeak all angrily at him, and Ahsoka and Rex are sus af about Ani being back but accept that he’s using force visions from his still thriving connection to Obi to stay sane and tbh he’s mainly just planning to survive to the end of the war (tbh Obi and Ani and Yoda are only gonna survive to the end of the war, that’s really all they got in them at this point and Ani is getting more fragile from holding back the crazy at this point) and Bail survives and Obi flirts with him constantly (which Bail reciprocates much to the twins eye rolling annoyance cause ewwwwww old men flirting) and Ani is all ‘lol have you two ever acted on that constant flirting?’ And they just both go super red and look away cause ya but it was a very long time ago shut up Skywalker and it’s cute.

If Cody shows up (yes) then he immediately assigns himself as the Bail and Obi bodyguard cause these old men stupid and Bail complains but he did some crazy shit in the clone wars too okay he’s just as dumbass as the Jedi.

Also Boba and Fennec eventually show up saying they had a shitty runin with Jabba and Fortuna which lead to both of them getting dead a lil bit and having a change of heart on this whole ‘bad guy’ thing which lead to them murdering the fuck outta both of them and now they control Tatooine and whatcha gonna do about it and also can we join your ‘kill the emperor’ club we bored af so they come along for the fun too.

Who else am I missing? Caleb and Ezra? They they came with Ahsoka and Rex. Cal? Ya they found him sittin on a rock bein all Jedi and shit and were like ‘damn, that’s a baby. Anyone gonna adopt that?’ And like ten Mandos fought for the honor of being his new parent. Kam? They find him when they have their showdown with Palpy and Luke is all ‘I’m gonna train him’ and everyone lived happily every after. Except Obi and Ani and Yoda who become young force ghosts and annoy everyone forever now. Thanks.

#star wars #obi wan kenobi #clone wars #anakin skywalker #captain rex #commander cody #ahsoka tano #post clone wars #bail organa #bailobi

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raiseyourvoicetotherain · 5 years ago

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Thank You - A JATP Fic

A look at the Nothing to Lose/Stand Tall scenes from a different point of view.

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When the smoke cleared and the boys oriented themselves, it was clear they weren’t in the garage anymore.

Luke looked down and noticed their location wasn’t the only thing that had changed. He was now dressed in a suit that matched the blue guitar his parents bought him. His white guitar was over his shoulder now.

“Well, don’t you look nice?”

Caleb.

Luke held back his anger as he tugged at the neck of the suit. He felt ridiculous. The jacket was too tight and the neck felt like if he could breathe, he’d suffocate.

“Sweet threads,” Reggie noted. He did think they looked good—the suit look wasn’t really their thing, but there was no denying they looked sharp.

In a moment of panic, Alex asked, “How’d you know our sizes?” Suddenly he understood why Reggie was always saying such odd things. When you panicked, sometimes all you could do was say the first dumb thought that came into your head.

Luke looked at the drummer. “That’s your question?” He wasn’t as annoyed with Alex’s weird question as he looked—he was more annoyed at trying to loosen that damn collar.

Caleb ignored their words and started another pitch on his offer. He was still trying to convince them to join the club, but Luke was getting the feeling that there wasn’t much choice left in it—he had been trying to poof out since they’d got there, but it was no use.

When Caleb stood in front of Luke, he adjusted the collar Luke had messed with and talked about the applause and recognition they could get by performing with Caleb. Luke thought about it, thought about how that was all he had ever wanted to do with his life, and now he was being offered to do it for the rest of his afterlife.

A jolt hit the boys and Caleb’s next words scared Luke. “Do you really have time to make that mistake?”

What if Caleb was right? he thought. What if they couldn’t cross over and were just written out of existence?

“. . . The clock is ticking,” Caleb said.

On cue, another jolt hit the boys.

Caleb walked out on stage and begun his performance to the audience. It quickly became clear it wasn’t the audience he was performing for, it was the boys. Every time Caleb turned and sang towards them, each of them could feel something taking control of them. Luke and Reggie’s feet began to tap, and next thing Alex was twirling his drumsticks.

Before Luke could blink, Alex disappeared and reappeared on stage behind the drum kit.

“Alex!” Caleb introduced. “Show me what you got!”

Alex couldn’t control any of his next moves. He was hitting out a drum solo he’d never heard before like he’d played it a hundred times.

Reggie was the next one to disappear from beside Luke and then he was on stage, playing his own solo to Caleb’s song.

Luke watched as his friends tried to resist Caleb’s power over them, but he could see how impossible it was for them.

That’s when he could feel Caleb trying to pull him in. Luke fought back as hard as he could, not just for him, but for his band mates. If he could just manage to resist Caleb’s power, if they could see it was possible, then maybe they could resist it too.

His hands started playing the guitar solo, and he could see and feel Caleb trying to pull him out to the stage, but Luke tried to fight back. Caleb would drag him out a few steps before Luke was able to take a couple back.

But every time Luke pushed back, Caleb pulled harder. If Caleb was still building up to the full power he could use on them, Luke didn’t know if he could hold out much longer.

Looking at Reggie and Alex, Luke could see how scared they were. They were all scared. Being stuck working for Caleb wasn’t what any of them wanted, but now the choice felt gone. They were going to accept Caleb’s offer whether they wanted to or not.

The boys looked at each other, a defeated feeling settling over each of them.

The song Caleb had been playing ended and the room continued to cheer for them. It was the kind of cheer Luke had been dreaming of—everyone in the room on their feet in applause. But he realized it wasn’t for them. They hadn’t played any of their own music, or even sung a note. It was all Caleb, all his music, all his praise.

Caleb began another song and Luke felt his anger rising again. He didn’t want the praise or the cheers if it wasn’t really for them. And he certainly didn’t want it if they couldn’t share it with Julie. Luke continued to fight the magic hold over him. Caleb looked at Luke with a wicked grin and didn’t miss a note as he pointed a finger and pushed Luke further into submission.

Luke was running out of energy, between Caleb’s magic and the number those jolts had been doing on him, he knew Caleb was going to win.

Alex heard it first. Caleb was so busy trying to hold onto Luke, it was like he didn’t have enough power to fight Luke and keep control of the other two.

“Whatever happens, even if I’m the last standing, I’mma stand tall.”

Julie, Alex thought. He couldn’t just hear her, he could feel her singing—singing out to them. That’s when Alex started playing a different beat. He was playing along to Julie.

That got Caleb’s attention and he turned to Alex with a furious fire in his eyes. But it was too late, Alex flashed out of the club and then he was on stage at the Orpheum, and there was Julie. He’d managed to adjusted the threads Caleb had put them in so he could play properly and he kept playing along with Julie.

She looked surprised to see him, but relieved. Alex realized she’d had no idea what had happened to them. She must have thought they’d been destroyed by Caleb’s stamp.

At Caleb’s club, Reggie had heard Julie singing just moments after Alex. After the drummer disappeared, Caleb turned to Reggie, who had also started playing along to Julie instead of the house band. With a victorious look at the evil man, Reggie flashed out and appeared on stage at the Orpheum, right next to Julie, feeling more comfortable in his own adjusted outfit. He was just as happy to see her as she was to see him.

Caleb turned on Luke. He had completely lost all composure now and looked like a mad man so full of rage, which only made Luke smile. The guitarist started playing a few notes to Stand Tall, and then he could hear her. Julie was out there, and he had never needed her more than that moment. The extra magic Caleb had already put on Luke was making it harder for him to get to her.

“And it’s one, two, three, four times.”

Luke flashed out and through the flicker, for just a moment, he could see the stage, the Orpheum, the audience. Then he was back at Caleb’s, he’d managed to ditch that god awful jacket, and open up the neck of the shirt, which made it easier to play his own tune instead of playing along to Caleb’s band.

Caleb still looked at him with a victorious confidence, as Luke desperately tried to keep playing along with Julie and resist Caleb.

“That I’ll try for one more night.”

Luke flashed in and out a few more times and finally, when he looked across the stage, he saw her. Julie was looking at him, singing for him. Looking in her eyes, he tried to hold onto that feeling.

Pulled back to Caleb’s, the magician had a mad, evil look on his face, which disappeared when he saw Luke return. Luke stood straight—he stood tall—to the old ghost, holding his ground with a victorious smirk of his own.

“Light a fire in my eyes,” he heard in his head.

“Better luck next time, Caleb,” Luke said, triumphantly.

He thought about Julie again, standing on that stage for him and the boys. She was his family, Alex and Reggie were his family. Nothing was going to tear them apart.

In the split second before Luke disappeared again, he saw Caleb’s face turn to a whole new level of anger and madness. “No!”

“I’m going out of my mind!”

Luke flashed back to the Orpheum and knew he was free. Caleb’s magic wasn’t powerful enough to break them apart now.

Not worrying for a second about what would happen at the end of the show, Luke savored every moment. He allowed himself to be completely consumed by the cheers of the crowd, the beat of Alex’s drums, every deep bass note Reggie played thrumming into his heart. And most of all, he watched Julie. He might never see her again, but he could have watched her perform forever.

Julie had gotten up on stage, committed to performing for herself. He was so proud of her for getting up there on her own. Luke’s biggest worry the last few days had been Julie losing her music. It had taken her a year to find her voice again after her mom died, and she still felt like she couldn’t perform without the boys by her side. They were all worried about her, but Luke was terrified that losing the boys so soon after finding music again would cause Julie to lose it forever.

If Julie hadn’t been able to get up on that stage, the boys might have all been trapped with Caleb forever. She sang for them and reminded them that they were a family and no music was worth doing without each other.

“Even if I’m the last standing, I’mma stand tall,” Luke sung with Julie, savoring that last note.

Their song ended to thunderous applause, and the boys were gone mid bow.

A moment later, they reappeared side stage, where they could see Julie looking beside her, believing they’d crossed over. The boys looked at each other and back to Julie as she waved to the crowd.

Alex took a single step toward the stage, but Luke put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“Don’t you want to say goodbye?” he asked.

Luke looked at Julie again and even from here he could see it—she thought it worked. They’d had their goodbyes and he wasn’t sure he could do it again. Luke shook his head and the three of them stood and watched her.

Then it hit him. Another one of the jolts.

All three boys fell to their knees from the pain. This wasn’t just painful, it was deadly. They wouldn’t have many of those left. Reggie looked at his band mates.

“If we’re supposed to crossover, it better happen soon,” the bassist said, rubbing his chest like the others.

Luke and Alex looked at him, they didn’t have the heart to tell him what they’d already realized, so they waited for him to work it out from the looks on their faces.

“Oh,” Reggie said.

They all shared a look, and without saying a word, they all poofed back to the studio. Alex and Reggie left and Luke took one final look at Julie. He etched her face into his mind, and then poofed out after the others.

Back at the studio, they didn’t say anything for a long time.

“We can’t stay here, what if Julie finds us?” Alex pointed out when he finally decided to be the one to break the silence.

They hadn’t even had to discuss whether or not to tell Julie that their plan hadn’t worked. She thought they’d crossed over and that meant she could move on in peace—none of them wanted to take that away from her.

“She thinks we’re not here anymore,” Reggie said. “She’ll probably go straight to bed.”

“She probably won’t,” Alex argued. “Luke, please, tell him we can’t stay.”

Luke, who hadn’t said a word since they got back, looked at Alex. “We don’t have anywhere else to go,” he said softly. He looked around for a moment and continued, “We’ll turn the lights out. If she doesn’t think we’re here, maybe she won’t find out. Right now, at the end boys, there’s no place in the world I’d rather be than here in this room with you two.”

Luke and Reggie moved over next to the grand piano and Alex walked over to turn the light out before joining them. The three of them huddled together.

“I’m almost glad we never got to play the Orpheum in ’95,” Alex said.

Reggie nodded. “I wouldn’t trade tonight’s show for anything in the world.”

“I love you, guys,” Luke said. They all had tears in their eyes now. “Family forever.”

He put a hand in the middle of their little circle. Alex put his on top, then Reggie, and Luke followed with his other hand and so did the others. They shared a look of love, and then another jolt hit.

They could feel it now, how much weaker the jolts were making them. Luke didn’t have the energy to stand anymore, so he laid down on the floor—Reggie and Alex laid down with him and they didn’t share another word.

In his final moments, Luke recalled the memories that he loved most. He recalled his best memories with his parents, before the arguments started. He remembered the first time he’d ever jammed out with Alex and Reggie, just twelve years old and all the hopes in the world of making it big. But mostly, he thought of Julie.

He thought about the first time he’d heard her sing, the first time they performed together. He remembered the moment he knew he loved her while they performed Finally Free. Then he thought about that last moment he saw her, that he had made sure to hold on to for this moment.

When the garage door opened, Luke stayed as quiet as possible. He and Reggie were going to get the biggest ‘I told you so’ from Alex if they still had the energy to speak after Julie left.

“I know I already said this,” she said, “but, thank you guys.”

That was it, it was all he needed and he was ready to go. He didn’t have to be scared of not existing anymore knowing that she was going to be okay.

You’re welcome, he thought, but didn’t dare say out loud. Thank you, Julie.

“You’re welcome,” Reggie said

“Dude!” Luke said, all his worries about Julie being okay suddenly returning.

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

Aaaaaaaaand you know the rest haha. So what did you think? If you want to bookmark it on ao3, the link is here

(and a tag for @perfectharmony)

Thanks so much for reading and for all the love! You guys are the best! X

#julie and the phantoms #jatp fic #ao3 #julie and luke #julie molina #luke patterson #alex jatp #reggie jatp #caleb covington #fic #band fic #stand tall #nothing to lose #thank you

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readbythestarlight · 4 years ago

Text

c2e130

I missed the ad except from the very end but RIP hacker Sam

This is amazingly awkward

“What have you done?!” the poor man’s having a panic attack

“You brought her HERE?!”

“You think I would just Willy-nilly bring her here?”

“YES!”

[[MORE]]

He knows you too well Jester

She’s laying it on a little thick

Anyway I love him

Jester

Darling

Not trying to set them up huh?

Oh no Nugget!!

Nugget can just poof himself wherever he wants tho it’s fine

“I look like my mom” oh my GOD I’m crying

By the time they come back from shopping all of the criminals are going to have adopted Luc

It’ll be like that meme “I’ve only known this halfling child for 20 minutes but if anything happens to him we’ll kill everyone in this city and then ourselves”

Oh wait

Going to Pumat’s is a BAD idea

Lmao he is NOT subtle

As bad an idea as this is I have missed him

That’s def an assembly spy

Cad trying to do Fjord’s southern accent xD

“Do you have enchanted oats?”

“...Is that a thing?”

Marion and Jester make me cry

FUCK your Trent

“For once in your very little life—“ hot DAMN, Caleb, what a burn!

Oh no oh god

OH NO OH FUCK

OH NO YUSSAH WHAT DID YOU DO

YUSSAH

Fuck y’all the city has him doesn’t it

Oh, Veth :(

Y’all are making me worried/nervous about Veth making it back okay stop

I forgot Fjord and Jester and Yasha had never been there

Gosh I love his family

The death flags are strong tonight and I don’t like it

Oh Calliope...

Oh Caduceus.......

Y’all this is crushing me

“I was gonna be the one who stayed” oh???

God can you imagine an alternate version where Caduceus stayed in his lonely home forever while his family all left him one by one

“I don’t wanna go. But I don’t want you to go either. Cause it has to be me. Cause ive already seen it, and it will just horrify me just a little less than the rest of you.”

God, they’re all so tired aren’t they? I think I’m just realizing how tired they all are.

They need a break after this. A few long weeks at the very least.

“Look at what the world has done to my hair.”

I’m gonna cry y’all if everyone doesn’t come back safe I’m gonna be a wreck

“If there’s a way for my body to get back here—“ SHUT UP

I’m literally so stressed out irl rn that I’m on the verge of crying over this but I’m also glad we got this scene with Cad. He doesn’t get to have these moments often enough I don’t think.

Oh fuck y’all

I hate this

Cas: “sorry I got angry. I don’t usually raise my voice and storm out.”

The M9: ?????? Bitch WHERE????

He had dreams about them and the eyes holy shit

I am so scared y’all

If Beau ends up with another eye from this I will quit

FUCK YOU LUCIEN

“Do you have like a manager I could speak to? I don’t really want to talk to you.” I love Beau and I’m crying thank god for that laugh

Fucking hell girl

Goddammit

Monk shit is best shit

Cad ships BeauYasha so hard

Can we stop having conversations that make me sad and just all go to bed please

God they all fully expect to die don’t they

I’m not emotionally stable enough for this rn

Fjord is just being so calm and positive about this and I’m just gonna cry about it

“We’re coming back” DAMN RIGHT YOU ARE

Fjord and Jester are so cute y’all I literally cannot handle them

Caleb having his goodbye moment with Frumpkin. This cast is determined to destroy me in every possible way.

“So much family...”

Shut UP Caleb I will not accept this negative energy

“We’ll do our best to keep families together” that sounds like some planned self-sacrificing energies there

“If we do make it back, you’ve been a good companion all this time. Actually it’s a win-win for you because if we all die out there you get to go back to where your home is. But if we do make it back, I’m going to let you go anyway. Because... you’re not my cat. My cat is dead.” Caleb please.

“But you’re a good boy anyway, and you’ve done a lot of good for me, so. One way or another you’ll be free soon.”

Caleb no

I’m gonna cry this is too much

I don’t want Frumpkin to go

Okay Yasha time

“A flower that seems kind” awww

Yasha’s attempts to reach out to the Stormlord are so soft and so sweet

Matt it’s supposed to be a kind flower don’t let it poison her

It’s about time he answer her

Oh hot damn that was good

I’m a wreck from this episode like emotionally exhausted but this is so good

“I wanted everyone to get high and find their gods” xD

#emi watches critical role #cr spoilers #critical role spoilers #critical role

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stillness-in-green · 4 years ago

Text

Part 2 of the response to this ask:

Part 1 was about where I think Geten’s story is going, and if I think it’s likely that Dabi will kill him; it dealt mainly with how those characters are set up in canon. Part 2 is far more about the fandom, and the assumptions people make that lead them to theories like the one above--specifically, the assumption that the League was always planning on bailing on the PLF. Hit the jump below with me and I'll go over why I think the common arguments for that are misguided at best, and willfully misreading the text at worst.

WARNING: Contains some generalizations about parts of the fandom that I have mostly taken steps to avoid seeing on my dash, so some of my characterizations may be out of date. I’ve tried to desalinate this post as much as possible, but as an unapologetic fan of the MLA and of Spinner (who I do not bring up incidentally), this is a topic I feel particularly strongly about. Apologies, but I Have Seen Things.

DISCLAIMER: I like Geten better than Dabi. I don't think he's better developed; I don't think he's a better character--I just like him better. This is largely down to the fact that I find the MLA fascinating from a worldbuilding perspective and its members compelling personally, whereas I’m less interested in Dabi personally than I am the Todoroki Drama on the whole, and have been tired of Fanon Dabi for approximately 83 years. I’ll also be the first to admit that my take on Dabi is pretty mercenary--hardly the irredeemable psychopath the Hero Stans on Twitter see, but nothing close to Secretly Soft Big Brother Touya, either. If that’s not your bag, you may want to skip this one.

So, here's a bullet point list of the reasons I have personally seen on why the League was always planning to turn on the MLA:

Dabi and Toga mention "getting started early," and Shigaraki mentions a plan, suggesting that the League had a plan in place independent of the one they arranged as the PLF.

Shigaraki says he won't forgive the Liberation Army for messing with peoples' feelings, so he would never really mean it when he forges an alliance with them.

The MLA is quirk supremacist, like Endeavor, so Dabi would never work with them.

Dabi is just using Skeptic against Skeptic's will; it’s not a willing partnership.

Mr. Compress rejects the PLF moniker for Shigaraki, ergo Mr. Compress didn’t genuinely associate Shigaraki and the League with the PLF.

Toga hated Curious, so she wouldn't want to work with the MLA either.

Twice would never forgive them for what they did to Giran.

[Error: argument about Spinner's opinion on the PLF not found.]

So, let's go over those, shall we? Note that a lot of what I'm going to lay out below isn't conclusive. What I want to establish is simply that the canonical evidence isn't conclusive, certainly not as much so as the people who support this view espouse.

|| Dabi and Toga mention "getting started early," and Shigaraki mentions a plan, suggesting that the League had a plan in place independent of the one they arranged as the PLF.

In responses to my recent Overhaul post, I defended Viz’s official translation as an accurate rendering of the dialogue in question. In general, I feel like Caleb Cook is pretty reliable in his translations, if sometimes kind of stiff or dry in localization. However, there are times he makes assumptions about lines--as indeed a translator for a currently-running series will sometimes have to--and sometimes, those assumptions don’t pan out. This is one of those times.

Dabi's line, "Shall we get started early?" is based on an assumption Cook made about a line that doesn't have an actual subject. In the original dialogue--Hayame ni hajimaru ka--there is no “we,” not even in the form of some implicit collective in Dabi’s grammatical inflection, nor is there a question of "should." All Dabi’s doing is musing that the start (again, there’s no subject, and so no indication of the start of what, or the start as initiated by who) is happening early.

Toga's line communicates much the same, save that she does specify that the schedule/plan/arrangement is happening earlier than expected--which is totally true, since her line is in response to Dabi observing that Machia moving must mean Shigaraki's awake, and Shigaraki was supposed to be down for another month.

Shigaraki's line, like Dabi's, lacks a subject to describe what exactly is supposed to start as soon as Shigaraki wakes. He's saying something that would, in a more stilted way, be, "I wake up and then it's the start, right?"

None of these lines suggest that the characters are necessarily talking about any plan other than the one the PLF laid out. Yes, it looks somewhat damning that Shigaraki's first action (after getting himself a cape, anyway) is to have Machia bring him the League, but heck, maybe that was always the plan. Just because Shigaraki wants to rejoin his comrades doesn't mean the rest of the PLF didn't already have machinations that they were supposed to set into motion the moment Machia left. After all, the plan as Hawks understood it did involve simultaneous attacks on major cities--maybe the League was going to be spearheading one of those attacks. Further, Shigaraki knew something was wrong from the moment he regained consciousness, and we don’t know how that knowledge affected the call he made. Hell, maybe the original plan was for the League to be brought to meet him somewhere in a chartered limo; we don’t know.

It's telling that this idea that the League had a Secret Plan to screw over the MLA rarely seems to account for Mr. Compress and Spinner being confused over the suddenness of events. The response to questions about this seems to be that the "villain trio" knew about it, so the ignorance of the rest of the League can just be handwaved--the important members knew, and that's enough. This is ungenerous towards both Twice and Mr. Compress, but I have got particularly little time for Spinner, the narrator of MVA and guy who decided to devote his all to Shigaraki, being disrespected in this fashion. More on that later.

|| Shigaraki says he won't forgive the Liberation Army for messing with peoples' feelings, so he would never really mean it when he forges an alliance with them.

Shigaraki does say he won't forgive the MLA, but consider what he did to the MLA and its leader. He destroyed most of their stronghold, killed scores of them, is directly responsible for Re-Destro losing his legs, and saw that vaunted descendant of Destro about six inches shy of full forehead-on-the-ground dogeza. The League Shigaraki commands killed a great many more of them, including one of their inner circle. He commandeered the Liberation Army, its resources, and its grand cause. I think it’s safe to say he’s more than responded in kind!

I'm not saying Shigaraki feels for the MLA the same way he does about the League, far from it, but I do think he's practical enough after two hundred chapters of character development not to throw them away out of spite. In Chapter 246, he tells Ujiko explicitly, "When someone offers me something, I take it," and, "I'm done taking the heroes lightly. I'll use everything I've got to obliterate the dregs All Might left behind." From a purely practical standpoint, if he intends to throw everything he has at the heroes, he has no reason to throw the MLA under the bus, and 116,000 reasons to keep them around. I'm altogether sure that, so long as they stood to be useful to his plans, he would have kept them around.

|| The MLA is quirk supremacist, like Endeavor, so Dabi would never work with them. + || Dabi is just using Skeptic against Skeptic's will; it’s not a willing partnership.

I hadn’t seen the second point in the wild, but I suppose it must be how the “The League will betray the MLA” theorists are getting around Dabi and Skeptic’s clear collaboration and how that collaboration totally scuttles the first point, huh? Hilarious.

Anyway, setting aside the fact that Dabi showed up to the one planning session we were shown when even Geten didn’t, there’s evidence in the canon that Dabi was working with Skeptic since even before the raid. Consider that Dabi’s video was filmed at the villa (the wall paneling and the style of the couch both match) and ask yourself where the camera he used came from. Once the filming was complete, where was the video stored such that Skeptic could access it from his laptop? If Dabi’d had it on an SD card and Skeptic was seeing it for the first time, why didn’t Spinner, Compress and Toga watch it alongside him? Surely Skeptic would need to watch it through at least once to know when to splice in the footage of Jin’s death for maximum dramatic impact? On that note, by far the most telling piece of evidence is this: if Dabi wasn't already working with Skeptic, then why was he wearing one of Skeptic's body cameras during his confrontation with Hawks?

Further, Skeptic's protest when he’s pulled onto Machia isn't that he doesn’t want to be with the League; it’s that he doesn’t want to leave Re-Destro behind. Once he's resigned that it's going to happen, though, he's cocky about his talents and complimentary of Dabi's big reveal, even if he is exasperated about the League's antics. It's ambiguous, I admit, but given that Dabi's wearing his cameras, he had to have known Dabi had a reason for them--and given that he is both abrasive and mouthy, I can’t imagine he wouldn’t have demanded to know what that reason was.

Hell, Dabi even thanks Skeptic for his editing work, which is more direct positive approval than he's ever shown anyone in the League (give or take the high-five with Twice, which, genuine or not, he would have known he was doing on camera). That much-vaunted panel of Spinner telling Toga to come back to the League? Dabi's grinning, which in isolation you could read as a certain rueful affection, but with the full context of the chapter, it becomes apparent that Dabi is grinning at Skeptic's laptop, seconds after telling Skeptic to "hurry up." Skeptic is, at that moment, probably gearing up the video to project nationwide, and Dabi’s more focused on that than he is Toga’s crisis, even when Compress directly appeals to him for aid. He tells Compress he doesn’t care, the same way he told Hawks he doesn't give a damn about the League.

Let me be clear here: I'm inclined to take Dabi at his word. I think Dabi hangs around the League because, for all that he says one man's conviction can shake the world, he also knows his own limits, and the League offers safety in numbers and an avenue to pursue his revenge. Maybe he finds them acceptable enough company, maybe he even does like them a bit despite himself, but I think any affection he might have for them is entirely incidental to his views on their usefulness. In the same way, while he's willing to bail on the MLA when the heroes attack, I don't think it was his plan to do so, especially not given his apparent immediate regard for Skeptic, as seen in the deleted scene here. Sure, he dislikes Geten, but ultimately, Geten is a stupid kid too tied up in his care for Re-Destro--who's now worshipping the ground Shigaraki walks on--to really be getting in Dabi's way.

Maybe if the MLA really were as quirk supremacist as Geten makes them out to be, Dabi would be actively looking for a way to see ‘em burn, but as I’ve said countless times before, Geten is not a reliable narrator vis a vis the MLA's doctrine. Now, obviously I don't expect Dabi to give them an unearned benefit of the doubt,(1) not after what he heard Geten say, but if Dabi has been working with Skeptic, it doesn't take a genius to realize that while Anthropomorph is a perfectly good quirk, it is categorically not what primarily defines Skeptic’s "worth" in the MLA societal microcosm.

Nothing that Skeptic does reflects the way Geten talks about "elevating one's ability" or "sheer strength" in the way that HeroAca fandom tends to understand as referring to flashy and offensive quirks. And yet, Skeptic is a ranked advisor warranting an introductory panel with RD's inner circle and Geten is not. Perhaps, just perhaps, this might have led Dabi to reevaluating his initial assessment just slightly?

|| Mr. Compress rejects the PLF moniker for Shigaraki, ergo Mr. Compress didn’t genuinely associate Shigaraki and the League with the PLF.

So, this one's pretty wild, because, in the same chapter that had people crowing about Mr. Compress's dialogue, Mr. Compress's actions show the exact opposite of the conclusion this theory would demand. Specifically, if it was always the League's plan to ditch the MLA, Mr. Compress would have darted right past Skeptic, ignoring the man's cries for help. He doesn't--he picks Skeptic up on the way past and (at least in the volume corrections) deposits him safe with Dabi in Spinner's scarf. Of course, Skeptic still stands to be useful, but if one acknowledges that Skeptic's usefulness is reason enough not to abandon him, then what exactly is the argument for leaving 116,000 perfectly useful warm bodies behind?

But let's set aside Compress rescuing Skeptic and focus on the actual point, because that point in itself is still flawed. Mr. Compress's thoughts on the PLF in the specific talk bubble in question are somewhat ambiguous. It's another case of the Viz translation making a couple of assumptions that are just that--assumptions.

Compress's words in the Japanese are as follows:

Chōjō Kaihō Sensen.… Viran rengo no Shigaraki Tomura ga…

Viz then renders the line like so:

The Paranormal Liberation Front's… No, the League of Villain's Shigaraki…

Note that in the Japanese, the possessive no is only included once, to indicate Shigaraki's association with the League. Further, the original doesn't indicate any negation in Compress's thoughts. Yes, he could be rejecting the PLF association for Shigaraki, but he could as easily be narrowing his scope to Shigaraki as the figure he represents to the League, rather than the figure he represents to the PLF--not rejecting wholesale, but rather becoming more specific. Compress might also be thinking first of the PLF as a general organization, then narrowing down to Shigaraki specifically.

Rather than reading this line as an indication that Compress regards the PLF as temporary, I was heartened by the fact that Compress thought about the PLF at all! If the League really had been planning to discard them this entire time, then there's no reason for Compress to have ever taken the Front seriously enough to have thought about them in that moment of crisis. You can carry this back further, too. In Chapter 258, when Twice is asking Hawks for help, he says that Spinner and Compress have been in meetings for days. Coupled with Compress's first thought about the entity that will carry out Harima's desired reformation being the Liberation Front (or possibly "the Liberation Front's Shigaraki"), this indicates to me that Compress was taking it seriously, not just gorging himself on sushi on the MLA's dime.

Indeed, back in Ujiko's lab, when it was just Shigaraki talking about his backstory and his dreams of destruction, Compress looks the opposite of impressed; we know from his narration in 294 that he liked the League because they didn't place any importance on one another’s pasts. Yet, at some point, his view shifted to believing that fulfilling his ancestor's ambition, his bloodline’s duty, really might be back on the table. We as readers don't quite know when that shift happened, but given, again, his initial mental invocation of the PLF, I think we can assume that it's tied to that alliance, those resources. And sure, when the moment of crisis happens and he's really defining who and what Shigaraki is to him, and where his values and priorities lie, it's with the League and Shigaraki as the leader of the League. But that doesn't mean he never had his hopes for the PLF at all, or was partaking in plans to ditch them.

Also too, this is a man who was lamenting the loss of their partnership with Overhaul, a man who personally maimed him, on top of killing a comrade. You're telling me the guy who shrugged off his animosity towards Overhaul would willingly allow the League to plot sabotage against even wealthier collaborators against whom he has even less reason to hold a grudge? Come on, guys.

|| Toga hated Curious, so she wouldn't want to work with the MLA either.

This one's easy: Toga pretty explicitly hated Curious, but she's even more explicit that she likes the MLA because she thinks the world they want to create is wonderful. She says this verbatim at the end of 225, after Curious has spent the entire chapter hounding her with explosions and intrusive questions. What turns her animosity on Curious is not some reveal that the MLA's world would be terrible after all, but Curious calling Toga's "normal" miserable and tragic. Essentially, she doesn't object to the world the MLA wants to bring about; she objects to being turned into a martyr for that world, especially when that martyrdom requires that the things that make Toga happy be characterized as horrific misfortunes.

Toga doesn't like Curious; she kills Curious. And then she comes into a position of leadership, and we don't know a lot about how that position takes her, but she seems delighted to be walking out onto the stage to be announced as such, and she makes active contributions to the discussion of the PLF's plans in Chapter 245. We are, again, given no indication that her lethal response to Curious means that she's planning to ditch the MLA on the whole.

Incidentally, Curious asserts what she does about Toga only in the context of the world as it stands. The world's rejection of Toga's normal, and the extremes that rejection drove Toga to, are what Curious considers tragic and miserable, not Toga's fascination with blood in and of itself. She clearly believes that, in the world the MLA envisions, Toga's life would not be so miserable because she would never have been oppressed to the degree that she snapped. And frankly, Curious isn't wrong. The only reason she is a villain in that scene is that she's willing to murder Toga to project that tragedy to the world. If she'd been willing to sit down and have a civil interview with Toga to print it in a relevant magazine, she would have been fine.

|| Twice would never forgive them for what they did to Giran.

You know, this is a totally fair point. It is, however, somewhat complicated by the fact that Giran himself never left the PLF. Now, there’s almost certainly something to be said about Giran’s whole information broker shtick being terminally compromised by his capture, his maiming, his client list being hacked, etc. He had a bunch of identifying items strewn all over the country that were covered in the national news, items that people who associated with him closely certainly would have recognized. Maybe he’s laying low for a while?

I don’t know why Giran was still around by the time of the raid. I can theorize about his pragmatism or what have you, but the canon really doesn’t give us anything to go on. Still, if he really hated the MLA all that much, as he would be totally justified in doing, it’s pretty bizarre that Horikoshi showed him twice in PLF crowd scenes post-Deika looking nothing worse than kind of confused and uneasy. Heck, you’d think he would at least have merited a better seat in the crowd for the big merger announcement.

Giran aside, the fact that Twice never does hit it off with anyone in his regiment is, I think, telling. If there’s anyone in the League that intentionally kept himself at a distance from the MLA because of hard feelings, it’s likely Twice. After all, if he had befriended anyone, he presumably wouldn’t have needed to go to Hawks for tutoring almost an entire month after Deika. That said, the fact that Twice does go running to Hawks for tutoring shows that he’s at least doing his best to act in accordance with what he thinks Shigaraki and the rest want. That doesn’t preclude the League having a secret plan that he’s either in on and playing along with, or hasn’t been told about because he might not be able to stop himself from vocalizing about it. Still, while absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, obviously absence of evidence is not evidence of presence. So, lacking any sign that the rest of the League is planning treachery, I’m not inclined to assume Twice’s lack of forgiveness is indicative of anything other than his own feelings.

|| [Error: argument about Spinner's opinion on the PLF not found.]

:: INCOMING SALT WARNING :: INCOMING SALT WARNING ::

This is the one that really gets to me. I have never seen an argument that the League is planning to betray the PLF that convincingly explains the fact that Spinner, to all available evidence, threw himself wholeheartedly into trying to make the PLF succeed. To be more precise, I have seen one explanation, and that explanation is that the plan to ditch the MLA was a secret that only Shigaraki, Dabi and sometimes Toga knew about, and to reiterate, that is bullshit.

In my experience, this is an explanation proposed by people who care about Spinner only insofar as he can be a Soft Gaymer Boyfriend or score them rhetorical points, but have little to no interest in his ongoing--and, indeed, increasing--importance to the League generally and Shigaraki’s arc specifically. The dude who talked about how Twice’s home was the League, who got through to Toga while still respecting her choice when no one else could, the guy who recognized the hollowness within Shigaraki but also bonded with him over video games, the man who Mr. Compress said was Shigaraki’s most devoted follower(2)--this man did not do all of that for people in this fandom to say, “Oh, well, the others probably just kept it a secret from him because they thought he’d be bad at lying.”

Really? “Bad at lying?” And that’s an adequate justification, is it, for Shigaraki letting Spinner toil for months under false pretenses? For lying to the man who adores him the most? Of course it isn’t, but the people who theorize this don’t really care about Spinner’s adoration for Shigaraki, or the fact that Shigaraki rewarding Spinner’s feelings by allowing him to dedicate himself unstintingly to something Shigaraki was planning to discard from the beginning would be a blatant abuse of Spinner’s trust.

I have never seen anyone try to argue that Spinner was in on a plan to betray the MLA all along. That’s because it’s patently obvious that Spinner--forthright, direct Spinner, who named the merged organization with Re-Destro, spends all his time in meetings, has a direct exchange with Re-Destro about the state of their plans, and is probably the reason RD started wearing polka dots--went all-in on the PLF. But for the people who propose the “the League was always going to bail” theory, Spinner and his labors are an afterthought.

Spinner is not an afterthought. Where Mr. Compress has been captured, Toga could hypothetically be peeled away from the League via Uraraka, and Dabi almost certainly will be peeled away via the Todoroki plot, Spinner’s driving motivation at this point is Shigaraki himself. He connected to Shigaraki’s nihilism, his hatred, but also his humanity--the humanity in Shigaraki Tomura, not in Shimura Tenko. His empathy didn’t spring from contrived psychic glimpses of crying 5-year-olds, but from long months of observation, doubt, and gradually deepening wonder. He’s the only person currently with Shigaraki that I can see caring enough about Shigaraki’s welfare that he might sacrifice his own goals and desires to help Deku save him.

Spinner is not an afterthought, and I refuse to build or entertain theories that treat him that way. So as to his opinions on the MLA? Despite having his own reasons to be leery of them based on how shabbily Trumpet treated him, he was obviously trying to make the Paranormal Liberation Front succeed, which means he must have believed that Shigaraki wanted it to succeed. Therefore, unless you’re prepared to assert that Shigaraki (and everyone else who was in on it!) was cruel enough to lie to Spinner about something he was devoting so much time and energy to, the inescapable conclusion is that Shigaraki also wanted the Front to succeed.

(Note: After letting a friend pre-read this, I have been informed that there is, in fact, one explanation offered for Spinner knowing the League was going to abandon the PLF but working his ass off on the venture anyway, and that explanation is, “Something something wants to prove himself because low self-esteem.” This is so ridiculous I can’t even bring myself to edit this post accordingly. Low self-esteem! Because nothing would alleviate Spinner's low self-esteem like toiling for months over something that holds no worth to the people he actually cares about, right? Right?? Bah. Humbug!)

And but so, to wrap all that up: I fundamentally disagree that the League viewed the Paranormal Liberation Front as a temporary arrangement, at least to the extent that they were actively planning to betray their newfound--new won--allies. The fact that I don't think the League intended to discard the MLA out of hand does, thus, influence my opinion that, whatever Geten's fate will be, I'm pretty sure it's not going to be, "He gets murdered in a way that resembles nothing so much as a sick revenge fantasy dozens of chapters after the last point when such a death would have been remotely tonally appropriate."

Thanks for the ask, anon! Sorry about-- *waves at all of this*

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

(1) Not that Mr. “Burns Random Delinquents Alive For Not Measuring Up To His Standards For Villainy” has any moral standing to criticize others for how they determine the value of peoples’ lives, mind.

(2) Other translations for the verb in Mr. Compress’s Japanese line of, “You are the one who ____s Shigaraki the most,” include yearn for, long for, pine for, miss, love dearly, adore, idolize, and revere. “Most devoted follower” is accurate enough, but considerably less homo than some of the things we could have gotten there.

#bnha #stillness answers #paranormal liberation front #league of villains #stillness has salt #spinner defense squad

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the-littlest-goblin · 5 years ago

Text

Everyone pretend I posted this on Monday for @shadowgast-week day 3: ritual

Also, I’m sorry.

_______________________________________________________________________

Everything about this is wrong.

It’s wrong that they’re doing it here, in the desolate ruins of Molaesmyr, further scorched and destroyed by the battle that took place.

Essek’s presence is wrong, a lingering shadow at the edge of the Mighty Nein’s united fellowship. What insufficient aid he was able to contribute to the fight, he is even more useless now.

And, of course, the most egregious inaccuracy that the universe has allowed to take place: the limp body lying in the thin dusting of snow, red hair and purple coat as bright as gemstones against the gray-white ground.

Someone has closed his eyes, Essek can see now, even from here. But he still knows what it looked like to see the life leave those eyes, the utter wrongness of dull vacuity where there should be a sharp spark of intelligence.

He will never be able to forget it.

The weak sunlight glints against the diamond that Jester produces from her haversack, almost the size of her fist. She exchanges a whisper with Caduceus, holding the gem out between them, uncertain. He inclines his head, touches her shoulder with a gust of warm, divine magic. Jester heaves a deep, steadying breath, and kneels next to the body.

“What the fuck are you doing.” The wet, raw voice is not asking a question. Essek didn’t notice Beauregard approach him, too focused on the scene unfolding a few yards away. A fist wraps around his forearm hard enough to bruise. He doesn’t resist as she drags him into the circle they have formed, but a distant part of him is idly curious that she does not understand what he knows so intrinsically: he should not be a part of this. This is a sacred, delicate ritual, and he is a blight on all that is holy and pure.

Still, once there, he can’t find it in him to argue the point, and none of the others protest as he stands among them.

He waits for someone to point out the obvious, because this is his fault, beginning to end. His actions led directly to this. Essek’s treason allowed Ikithon the dunamantic power that he’d wielded to such devastating effect before they could subdue him, and it was Essek’s spell that failed to bring down the mage before he landed the killing blow.

But no one speaks. No one even acknowledges Essek beyond a gentle pat on his shoulder from Caduceus.

Jester raises her hands, about to begin the ritual.

“Wait,” a voice cries. It is his. The others all look at him in shock.

He shuffles over to Jester, reaching into his components pouch for the pearl. Understanding dawns on her face as he holds it up to her forehead and murmurs the incantation.

She smiles at him weakly in gratitude, tears brimming in her eyes and falling over the well-worn tracks down her face.

Essek has never witnessed a resurrection ritual before. Apparently, this is a first for the group as a whole. While Jester continues the somatic motions, muttering a prayer under her breath, Caduceus explains,

“We can help her. The ritual requires three offerings - words, objects, whatever you can give to the soul to help it return.”

Veth steps forward immediately. She barely needs to lean her halfling body down to press a kiss to Caleb’s pale forehead. She slips the button necklace from over her head and clasps it around Caleb’s neck, then begins to speak.

Essek barely processes her words. He hears them, listens to them, feels them, but if asked to recall her speech later, he would be unable to quote a single phrase. The same for when Beau steps up, the unrestrained anger in her tone at odds with the tenderness of her words.

She finishes with a watery sniff and a swipe at her bloodshot eyes. The others begin to look across the group, exchanging silent questions of who will go next, who has something to coax Caleb’s soul back to them.

It takes Essek several seconds of dumb blinking to realize that all eyes have turned to him.

He doesn’t move.

It’s difficult to keep secrets when traveling with a party like this, as Essek quickly discovered. He knows that they all know, to varying degrees, about the unnamed, unspoken thing that has built between him and Caleb over the months. But it still feels wrong, because they are the Mighty Nein, and he will always be an outsider, and Caleb is first and foremost one of them before he is Essek’s... whatever he is.

Jester pauses her spell to smile up at him. “I think he would like it, if it was you,” she whispers.

Essek has never been able to turn Jester down. Even back when he was ingratiating himself with them only for self-preservation, she had opened her arms and gazed at him with doe-eyed expectance, and the notoriously cold and calculating Shadowhand of the Bright Queen had leaned in and let himself be hugged for the first time in decades.

Gazing back at Jester’s encouraging expression, he becomes aware of an idea in the back of his mind, percolating silently through the whole ritual without his conscious acknowledgement.

He steps forward. Dropping to his knees next to Jester, he opens his component pouch once again and summons his spellbook from its pocket dimension.

Tether Essence ends when one of the targets fall unconscious. He has never tried casting it on a dead person. Probably no one has, because it is clearly pointless.

Veth and Beau both said something as part of their offering, so Essek speaks as well, as he gathers the elements of the spell together.

“When I met you, Caleb Widogast,” it feels strange, addressing the lifeless corpse, but he forces himself through the awkwardness, “I thought that I had at last found an equal. Over our early conversations, I saw how smart you were, how capable, how adept with magic. After years of always being the smartest person in any room - as I thought, in my arrogance, that I was - I had finally met someone I could engage with on my level.”

Heat rises in his cheeks, aware of the Mighty Nein all listening raptly.

“Eventually I realized how wrong I was, because we are not equals; you are so far beyond me in every way. Smarter, wiser, kinder. You proved to me by example that intelligence does not have to mean detachment, that one can pursue the kind of knowledge that we do without cutting themselves off from the world. From friends.”

And here, he risks a glance around. Jester smiles at him encouragingly.

“My soul was damned long before you found me, and I thought that that was the end of the story. But you knew better. You took it upon yourself to guide me beyond my own myopic world and showed me that there was still more I could do. That I could balance the scales, if I wanted. And you were willing to show me how, when there was nothing in me that should have merited a second chance.

“I am still a mere student in the study of atonement. I am not ready to lose my teacher. Please. I can’t do it without you.”

He releases the spell at last. He submits to it willingly, feels it latch onto himself. He altered the mechanics slightly - experimental, probably not advisable outside of laboratory conditions, but needs must - so that it spreads not just to his physical body, but deep into the core of his soul.

He feels it fizzle and snuff out on the other end, Caleb’s body no longer capable of receiving that kind of magic. He sighs, dropping his hands in defeat. He knew it would happen, but that doesn’t stop him from being disappointed.

Except...

The spell is still up. It’s not supposed to work unless it holds on both targets. Essek can still feel the magic humming through him, which means that somewhere beyond this plane of existence, his spell has reached Caleb’s departed spirit, linking them across life and death.

He leans back, but stays kneeling, scared of somehow breaking the tenuous connection.

Jester’s voice grows louder as she reaches the culmination of the ritual, beseeching her god with a conviction in her voice that penetrates the very atoms of their surroundings.

They all wait with bated breath, trembling in fear and suspense. Jester brings the diamond down on the center of Caleb’s chest, and it shatters into a millions tiny motes of dust, glittering and joining the snow.

Essek has never witnessed a resurrection ritual before. He doesn’t know how to read this, if the component shattering means success or...

Caleb’s eyelids flutter. Once. Twice. They open slowly, drearily, like he is merely waking up from a deep sleep.

The spark of life in them is blinding. Essek would gladly stare at those sky-blue stars for the rest of his days.

#critical role #cr fic #shadowgast #shadowgast week #critrole #my writing #largely unedited (compared to my usual process)

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trulyhopelessromantic · 4 years ago

Note

Caleb Widowgast

I'mma answer this now and then I'll reblog with any new answer(s) after I finish the finale episode ^_^

Send Me a Character

And I will tell you my:

First impression: [I watched a video of him telling his backstory] Omg it's German Dustfinger :O Wait, I'd argue technically Dustfinger is kinda German since he was invented by a German author... Never mind all that I like this tortured angsty guy. But g'damn killing your parents and the name you gave your friends is not your name?! Dear God I'm gonna get in deep with this guy ain't I? [and I did. He's a great character!]

Impression now: LET ME HUG THIS MAN LET ME JUST EASE THAT INTERNAL PAIN. Also, what a creative guy. And he's so good to Luc.

Favorite moment: oh man uh... so many. But the moments where he's emotional or vulnerable always get to me. Also any time he speaks to Essek (I came into the campaign just as they were about to head to Aeor and caught up again with Essek, for reference. Well, shortly before they stole the scrying necklaces I should say...)

Idea for a story: Dang uh well I'm writing with a friend a private one with him on the run after the asylum. Past that though I haven't thought of much really...

Unpopular opinion: unpopular eh? Um... I've always thought (and was validated thus far by canon events) that he doesn't want to physically kill or torture Trent. If Trent died he'd be fine with it but he's not dead set on destroying Trent and causing the man pain and suffering. Despite seeing Caleb destroy those people viciously when they went for those necklaces that time ehehe *nervous laughter* That was a moment...

Favorite relationship: gosh it's hard because I love the little relationship with Luc by extension of Veth but I also think that he and Jester looking out for one another and his relationship to Essek are both so filled with great moments. The cast plays this so well.

Favorite headcanon: well once I had to come up with a favourite treat for him in my little fanfiction thing and I said some sort of apple strudel tart from his childhood and then I shit you not a day and a half later or something he (Liam as Caleb) said that in an episode and I lost my damn mind because my imagination brought something to life like Jester XD hahaha

THANK YOU FOR THE ASK I LOVED IT!!!!!!!

#CR2

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brooke0297 · 5 years ago

Text

Never Let You Go (A Julie and the Phantoms Fic)

Masterlist

Here it is! This came to me as I watched the show for the umpteenth time and wondered how the boys really got loose from Caleb. Plus, I'm a total sucker for Sad Boi Luke.

They didn’t disappear.

Luke fully expected to poof out like normal, be back in the studio dissecting the performance with the guys as they waited for Julie to make her human way back and join them. He expected to miss the thunderous applause like always.

They didn’t.

The constricting bow tie at his neck felt like it would cut off his airway but he didn’t poof away. The club goers cheered and applauded and they were still there.

He hated it.

His eyes caught Reggie, clutching his bass like a lifeline. The blood red of his suit jacket made his blanched cheeks stand out and his eyes, usually so mischievous and innocent were filled with absolute terror. They both instinctively turned to Alex, who was so far away from them. He’d never been more than a foot away, his platform an ideal jam area during performances. Now he was separate and scared. He caught their eyes and his mouth parted in confusion. Luke knew him well enough to read his thoughts: why aren’t we gone?

Suddenly there was a firm arm wrapped dangerously around his shoulders and Caleb was there, turning him and Reggie away from the drummer and back to the audience.

“Thank you! Let’s hear it for my new house band!” Then there was the back bending force that Luke had fought the entire song and he grunted as it forced him into a bow. Reggie panted beyond Caleb, feeling it’s effects as well. When they straightened, Caleb caught his eye and smiled evilly.

“Well done, Luke. I think we’ll make a great team…” And then he was poofed out of the ballroom.

He landed harshly on the ground in what appeared to be a large dressing room. There were couches and side tables along one wall and another had a large makeup mirror. Luke scrambled to his feet as he caught sight of the door and he rushed towards it, attempting to open it.

It wouldn’t budge.

“Luke!” Reggie’s voice came from behind him and he turned to see him and Alex appearing near the couch.

“Guys we gotta get out of here!” Luke spat, trying the door again. It still refused to open and he roared in frustration, He couldn’t let Julie down again. Not after everything they’d been through.

He could picture her sitting in the dressing room at the Orpheum, maybe even the same one he and the boys had sat in all those years ago. She would probably be talking to Flynn, worrying about them. God, he prayed she didn’t think they were standing her up again.

No, it was more horrific than that. They were trapped. They couldn’t get out.

“Wait, Luke. We can poof out of here. C’mon!” Reggie encouraged. He shut his eyes and concentrated, but nothing happened and the bassist remained in his spot.

“Reg…” Alex began.

“How are we going to make it? Julie’s waiting on us!” Reggie cried, opening his eyes.

“Reggie. It’s too late. She’s probably already going on.”

Luke wanted to scream. Why did Alex have to be such a pessimist? They could do it. They had to get to Julie. She was waiting for them.

“Luke…”

He was still pounding at the door.

“Luke! Stop it won’t help!” Alex tried.

“It has to. We cannot leave Julie like this!” he bellowed, turning on his friend. God it felt like he was suffocating. The suit was too hot and the room was too bright and his mind was racing.

He kicked at the door before collapsing in front of it, feeling the tell tale lump in his throat growing. He didn’t want to lose it now. He wouldn’t give Caleb the satisfaction. He rested his head on the wood of the door and let a few hot tears escape.

He’d broken his promise. Again. It seemed that was all he was good at. He’d caused his parents so much hurt when he’d left his mother screaming for him in their driveway that December night. He’d left them grieving for him when he’d died after eating a stupid tainted hot dog. He’d disappointed Julie by ditching her at the dance. And now, he’d break both their hearts by leaving her once again.

And the words I most regret

Are the ones I never meant to leave…

The boys sat in silence as the gravity of the situation settled in. Reggie peeled off his suit jacket and threw it across the room in a huff, holding back his own tears. Alex had unbuttoned his shirt and mussed his hair. Luke remembered how his parents had always made him slick it back like that when they were going to church. He’d always come home and destroy the perfectly swept strands before he’d head to the studio to whale on the drum kit.

Luke himself pulled his jacket off and tossed it away, flinging the bowtie in a corner somewhere. Now he felt like he could breathe. He took a gasp of air as his fingers ripped through the buttons on his shirt and pulled it open. Tearing apart the pristine suit made him feel only a fraction of relief. There was still no way out and Julie was waiting for them.

“What will we do now?” Reggie asked quietly from his corner. Alex shook his head and glanced at Luke’s heartbroken face.

“I don’t know, Reg…” he said. Luke hung his head. He’d let his brothers down too.

Luke had a pretty good idea of what would happen next. He and his brothers would be forced to play Caleb’s club music for the rest of eternity. They would be nothing more than his puppets. No more songwriting, no more impromptu gigs, no more Julie…

Julie. God his heart hurt when he thought of their fearless, superstar, frontwoman. She would be terrified for them if she knew where they were. Maybe it was a blessing that she had left before Caleb had appeared in their studio. No, it definitely was. He had no idea what he would have done if Caleb and Julie had been in the same room. The thought of that monster anywhere near her made a phantom shot of adrenaline shoot through his veins.

I’m so sorry Julie.

“Guys...do you hear that?” Reggie asked suddenly, standing up. Alex looked at him in confusion.

“It's probably the fifth encore. Caleb loves his encores.” he said drily. Reggie shook his head.

“No! Listen! It’s getting louder!”

By this time, Alex and Luke had stood and moved in towards each other. Suddenly, Luke could hear the sound of a keyboard amongst the hustle and bustle of the club. It was faint, but he would recognize it anywhere.

Don't blink, no, I don't want to miss it

One thing, and it's back to the beginning

'Cause everything is rushing in fast

Keep going on, never look back.

“Is that…?” Alex asked.

“Julie.” Luke breathed, a smile breaking on his face.

And it's one, two, three, four times

That I'll try for one more night

Light a fire in my eyes

I'm going out of my mind.

“How is that possible?” Alex asked, looking at Luke. But Luke just shook his head.

“I don’t know, but there might be a way out of here after all.” He looked over at Reggie and motioned him in.

He was thinking about his birthday: the day he’d been with his parents. He’d just watched them finish the cake meant for him and his father had offered to do the dishes. He’d been about to follow his mom into the living room when there was an incessant tugging in his chest. It had been different than the jolts they’d experienced thus far. It was almost like a line in his chest being pulled. It was insistent and he allowed himself to poof into the unknown and let the tugging pull him…

Straight into the studio.

As he’d flopped into the chair, he realized Julie was sitting at her keyboard and Alex and Reggie were in their respective spots. He jumped out of the chair.

“Woah, Julie.”

Julie had simply looked up at him with the hint of a smile on her face.

“Grab your guitar. We’ve got work to do.”

As they practiced for their gig that night, Luke hadn’t given much thought to the pulling sensation in his chest. But now, trapped in Caleb’s club and hearing Julie sing from beyond, he could feel it again. Getting stronger.

Whatever happens, even if I'm the last standing

I'ma stand tall, I'ma stand tall!

“Do you guys feel that?” he asked his bandmates, “The pulling?” Alex’s eyes widened and Reggie gasped.

“What is that?” the bassist asked. Luke shook his head and laughed.

“I don’t know, but I think it’s gonna get us to Julie.”

Whatever happens, even when everything's down

I'ma stand tall, I'ma stand tall!

“Focus on that feeling. Let it start to pull you in. Focus on Julie. We’re doing it for Julie.” Luke encouraged. The others nodded and closed their eyes.

I gotta keep on dreaming

'Cause I gotta catch that feeling.

“For Julie.” Alex vowed.

“For Julie.” Reggie echoed.

Whatever happens, even if I'm the last standing

I'ma stand tall...

“Julie.” Luke whispered.

I'ma stand tall!

They felt Alex go first. Suddenly in a flash of light, his energy was gone from beside them and then Luke and Reggie could hear the drums kick up. Reggie let out a whoop and then he was suddenly gone. The bass line began as Julie began singing again.

Right now, I'm loving every minute

Hands down, can't let myself forget it, no.

Luke could feel her voice, strong and confident, and he knew the boys were there. They hadn’t let her down. He hoped she knew he was on his way. He closed his eyes and focused on the music, feeling the beat where his guitar would come in. It was suddenly in his hands again and he tapped his foot to the beat.

'Cause everything is rushing in fast

Keep holding on, never look back!

He kicked his guitar in and he was almost there. But...no. He was back in...and out.

Damn it he was flickering.

And it's one, two, three, four times

That I'll try for one more night!

He was back in the club for a moment, trying to regain his balance. He kept playing, getting flashes of the club and then the Orpheum. He caught the worried look on Alex’s face and Reggie trying to play harder, as if he could bring Luke in himself. Luke looked at Reggie for a split second before his gaze moved to the person he’d been waiting for all night.

Light a fire in my eyes...

Julie met his gaze and past the worry and wonder of how he was going to make it, he saw relief. He knew she’d been worried for him. For all of them. But he’d kept his promise. He hadn’t let her down yet.

And now, with as much strength as he could muster, he pushed himself into the flicker and sang.

I'm going out of my mind!

Julie ripped her mic out of it’s holder as Luke finally--finally--pushed past Caleb’s magic and she bounded to the center of the stage. Luke felt the adrenaline and exhilaration at having escaped Caleb run through his body and he threw all the energy he had into the song.

Whatever happens, even if I'm the last standing

I'ma stand tall, I'ma stand tall

Whatever happens, even when everything's down

I'ma stand tall, I'ma stand tall

I gotta keep on dreaming, 'cause I gotta catch that feeling

Whatever happens, even if I'm the last standing

I'ma stand tall, I'ma stand tall

His and Julie’s voices weaved together in perfect harmony. This was how he was supposed to play music. Not forced into it by a malicious club owner who tried to steal their souls...and lost. There was no point in even playing music if Julie wasn’t in the equation. It was Julie and the Phantoms. Take it or leave it.

Julie and Reggie pranced down the catwalk for the next part. As he played, he couldn’t help but watch her shine. She was radiant. The brightest star.

Like I'm glowing in the dark

I keep on going when it's all falling apart

Yeah, I know with all my heart, ooh, ooh

Never look back!

Alex stood and spared a glance at Luke. The guitarist nodded as the drummer sang with vindication.

Whatever happens, even if I'm the last standing

I'ma stand tall, I'ma stand tall!

Reggie made his way back to his mic and he shared a look with the others. The smile on his face was back and had no intention of leaving.

Whatever happens, even if I'm the last standing

I'ma stand tall, I'ma stand tall!

Julie knelt down and braced herself for the note.

Stand tall!

Luke and Alex belted with them.

Stand tall!

The four of them began singing together once again, letting the music flow through them. Luke wanted to leave everything he could on that stage. The dream of playing the Orpheum with his best friends finally coming true.

Whatever happens, even if I'm the last standing

I'ma stand tall, I'ma stand tall!

Whatever happens, even when everything's down

I'ma stand tall, I'ma stand tall!

Julie approached him with her mic and he smiled. This was them. Their chemistry. Their friendship. A partnership. He followed her as she led him down the catwalk, his eyes never leaving hers as they sang their hearts out together.

I gotta keep on dreaming, 'cause I gotta catch that feeling.

Whatever happens, even if I'm the last standing,

I'ma stand tall,

The drums cut out and suddenly Alex and Reggie were there. The four of them soaking in the end of the song.

I'ma stand tall!

It was Julie who held the note the longest. Reggie and Alex were breathing heavily and taking in the audience. But Luke only had eyes for Julie.

You’re a star, Julie.

His words from the studio came to his mind. He realized this would be the last time they would share a stage and he felt the pang in his chest that was almost worse than the jolts. He’d never wanted to leave Julie now that they had the band. But he knew this was it.

He reached out and took Alex’s hand, feeling the familiar warmth in his palm. He hoped that when they crossed over, it would be together. He didn’t know if he could stomach losing Julie and the others all in one night. Julie smiled and nodded, a gentle nod of assurance. It said all she needed to.

It'll be okay. I’ll be okay.

With his phantom heart in his throat, the band raised their arms and took their final bow.

The sudden poof left Julie by herself on the stage. They had done it.

******

Luke wasn’t exactly sure what the crossover would feel like. Would it be painful? He didn’t think so. Back when he was little and his mom had tried to explain his grandfather’s death to him, she had made it seem like a beautiful nirvana where pain would be wiped away. Would he still have Reggie and Alex? Would he see Julie’s mom? Would he be able to watch over Julie from the beyond? He knew that if it was an option, he would volunteer as soon as he could to be her guardian angel. If that was even a thing. He’d seen a lot of movies that said it was.

What he didn’t expect was for him and the boys to drop back into the studio.

They landed gracefully, still in their performance attire and looked around.

“Wait...is this what it’s supposed to look like?” Reggie asked. Luke had no answer as he looked around.

He expected to see something to make it real. Something ethereal and beautiful. Maybe their heaven was the studio. Music had brought them back to earth. Maybe they had caught a break and music would be their afterlife as well.

“Luke? Do you…?”

Alex was cut off by the sudden, violent jolt as all three boys cried out in agony. As the pain faded, a new horror filled Luke’s body.

No. NO. It hadn’t worked!

The devastation in Luke’s expression was mirrored on Reggie and Alex’s faces. They’d escaped Caleb’s clutches and played the Orpheum...only to be dropped back in the studio at square one. They had run out of options.

“I--I thought… I thought we did it…” Reggie whimpered. Alex stumbled to lean against the piano and he bowed his head. Luke just wanted to throw something. Caleb’s words from the club, before the performance, rang in his ear.

“You don’t know that playing the Orpheum is your unfinished business…”

“We were wrong,” Luke murmured. “The Orpheum was never our unfinished business.”

Another jolt and Luke barely bit back the scream.

“We’re out of time.”

He could feel his energy draining. Alex and Reggie were more pale than they had been before the Orpheum. He knew he was probably the same.

“What do we do?” Reggie asked. Luke shook his head, a deja vu of the club. Alex wordlessly held out his hand and Luke took it, seeking that same warmth from the Orpheum. He extended his other to Reggie and the bassist took it, linking with Alex after that.

“Together?” Luke asked. Alex and Reggie nodded.

“Together.”

The three of them wordlessly slid to the floor and collapsed in a heap in front of the piano. Alex curled himself around Luke’s amp while Reggie spread himself out between Alex and the cushioned arm chair. Luke had slid down and rested underneath the piano. If he was going to disappear, he wanted to be as close to Julie’s favorite instrument as he could. It was an extension of her soul, like his guitar was his.

Another jolt rolled through them and they groaned. They were getting stronger and closer together. Luke could feel the end nearing.

“What about Julie? I don’t want her to see us like this.” Alex murmured, his voice weak.

“Maybe she’ll just go to bed. She might be tired after the show.” Reggie reasoned.

“I doubt it.” Alex scoffed.

Luke agreed with Alex. There was no way Julie wouldn’t come to the studio to say goodbye to them and thank her mother. He knew her too well. But a part of him hoped and prayed that Reggie was right. He didn’t know if he could handle Julie watching them fade away.

As the jolts came and went, Luke let himself think about his life before and after Julie. He’d made some stupid choices in life: running out on his parents, dropping out of school, eating those damn hot dogs. But meeting Reggie and Alex, forming Sunset Curve, digging in hard to make their dreams come true? Those were the times he wanted to dwell on.

And Julie. God, Julie was everything.

She had taken them in and turned them into a real band. Her powerful voice and her golden heart. She’d cared about him enough to help him find the courage to mend fences with his parents even in death. She’d pulled them from their misery and roused them enough to pull off their half baked plan to play the Orpheum.

She had taken three ghosts and shown them how to live again.

As he lay on the floor with his weakening bandmates, he began to do something he hadn’t done since he was a child.

He prayed.

He prayed that Julie’s mother would look after her and keep her safe when they couldn’t. He prayed that Julie continued to play music without them and found her voice again. He prayed Carlos and Ray and Flynn would be enough to take care of her after they were gone. And he prayed that Julie would have a long and happy life, even if he didn’t get to be in it anymore. He just wanted her to live.

“I love you guys,” he whispered into the darkness, his words getting caught in the lump in his throat. He felt Alex grab his shoulder and Reggie grab his knee.

“Love you,” Alex said simply.

“Ditto” Reggie responded.

Suddenly, they heard the sounds of Ray’s car pull up and park. Then the sounds of Ray, Carlos and Julie singing “Stand Tall” at the top of their lungs filled the air.

“Luke…” Reggie whispered.

“Don’t, Reg. Please” Luke sniffled. He felt the weak squeeze of his knee in acknowledgement. The sound faded after a moment and Luke wondered if he could feel both disappointment and relief in the same breath. Julie really had gone to bed. She would live her life thinking they had crossed over.

Until the footsteps came closer.

No. Julie, please go to bed… Luke thought vehemently. Please don’t make me say goodbye to you…

Julie pulled open the doors and stepped tentatively inside. He could feel Alex holding his breath and he found himself doing the same. She glanced around for a moment.

“I...I know I already said this but...thank you guys.”

Luke relished in her voice. He could disappear now, with it ringing in his ears until…

“You’re welcome!”

Oh he was going to kill Reggie. Again.

Alex sighed and Luke groaned out a “Dude!” Julie moved towards the lightswitch as Luke tried to sit up and the blinding studio lights illuminated the scene. Julie blinked in shock, taking it in.

“Why...why are you here? I…I thought…”

Another jolt, the worst one yet ripped through them and they groaned in pain, coughing. Luke just wanted it to be over. They’d already caused Julie enough pain.

“No. No!” Julie cried. “I thought you crossed over! Why didn’t you cross over?”

“I guess playing the Orpheum wasn’t our unfinished business,” Alex grunted as the three of them were able to sit up.

“Point Caleb,” Reggie spat from his place on the arm of the chair.

“We wanted you to think that we crossed over, so we pretended to.” Luke explained. Julie’s tearful gaze met his and he hated himself for hurting her so much. “We just…” He trailed off, shaking his head as the truth slipped from his lips.

“We had nowhere else to go.” A barely contained sob escaped and Julie’s face fell even further.

“We thought you’d go straight to bed…” Reggie whispered.

“Yeah, well…” Alex pulled himself up to lean against the amp, “I knew she was gonna come out here, but nobody ever listens to me-”

The most painful jolt hit them and they collapsed back to the floor. Julie rushed forward, frantically waving her arms at them.

“You have to save yourselves right now! Go join Caleb’s club. Please!” she moved beside Luke and he could hear the pain in her voice. “It’s better than not existing at all! Please just go. Go! Poof out! Do something please! Do it for me!” She gestured wildly to the doors as she begged and Luke wanted nothing more than to do what she asked. To spare her the pain of knowing they would never exist in any universe again.

“We’re not going back there,” Reggie shook his head.

Luke mustered as much strength as he could and climbed to his feet. He steeled himself to walk towards Julie, knowing he had to convince her to let them go.

“No music is worth making, Julie, if we’re not making it with you.”

He could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks. He felt like his chest would crack open. If the jolts were painful, then breaking Julie’s heart was worse than the most painful death he could imagine.

He wondered if it were anyone else, would it be as hard to leave? If it had been his mother and father standing before him, would he have accepted his fate for what it was? The answer, he knew, was no. Because it was Julie. The bright, radiant girl on the edge of great. The one who put meaning to his songs.

“No regrets.”

Julie seemed to absorb his words before she closed her eyes and flung herself into his arms. Luke clasped his around her back and held her as tight as he could. Maybe now, after the roller coaster of a night they were having, he could finally slip into oblivion with the feeling of Julie Molina safe in his arms. She would have one last memory of him to hold her. He buried his nose in her shoulder and tried to memorize how she felt and smelled.

“I love you guys.” she whimpered into his shoulder.

We love you too, Julie…

Suddenly, Julie began to pull away and Luke was sorely tempted to pull her back. But then he realized there was a soft, golden glow illuminating his skin. Julie’s hands ran down the flesh of his arm and he suddenly registered-

Julie was touching him! He could feel her soft skin against his arm for the first time. He briefly thought back to when they’d tried to touch each other’s hands after seeing his parents, when she’d phased right through him.

Now, though, her small palm landed in his and it was warm and soft.

“How can I feel you?” she asked, looking up at him.

“I...I...I don’t know.” he stuttered.

Julie gasped and her hand left his to gently cup his face. The same warmth caressed his cheek and he reached up to place his own palm against her face. As he looked into her eyes, he felt the supple skin of her cheek in his calloused hands and he let his thumb trace the curve of her cheekbone. He felt his lips draw up in a smile on the realization that he really could feel her and she could feel him. He chuckled as her other hand came to his other cheek and his face was framed in her hold.

There was an unparalleled sense of joy in her gaze as her hands gently fell to his neck and shoulders. His hands pulled away from her face to grasp hers and hold them against his chest. He gently folded her fingers over his and held tightly. He wasn’t sure when or if he would become intangible again, so he didn’t want to waste a moment. But he could feel the strange glow filling him with energy. Maybe more energy than before the first visit to Caleb’s club. It was as if he’d been recharged.

He turned to the boys to see their looks of wonder.

“I feel stronger.” he murmured, still holding onto Julie’s hand. When he turned back, Julie glanced around him.

“Alex, Reggie, come.” she said. As the others came over, Julie and Luke reluctantly separated and pulled them into a tight hug. Luke rested his head against Reggie and Alex’s, feeling the warm glow begin to expand and cover the other two. It was brighter and seemed to fill every corner of the studio in radiance. As they pulled apart, Luke was astounded to see Reggie and Alex glowing as brightly as he was.

“Woah…” Reggie gasped, taking in the light, “I...I...I don’t feel as weak anymore.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Alex added and Luke felt his heart swell. “Not that, you know, I was ever that weak…”

They laughed gently until a stinging sensation made them grunt and hold their wrists up. They watched in fascination as a small beacon of light illuminated their wrists and the purple club stamp from Caleb rose from them and disappeared into the air.

“What do you think that means?” Julie asked, looking back at the boys. They glanced down and around at each other, their hope growing tenfold. Luke grinned before meeting Julie’s eye. There was a promise in them that Luke hadn’t allowed himself to see since finding out about Caleb and the jolts and he knew there would be a lot more time and music coming with Julie and the guys. So, to put it simply:

“I think the band’s back.”

******

Thanks for reading everyone! Let me know what you think!

#julie and the phantoms #julie and the phantoms fanfiction #julie and the himbos #jatp #jatp fanfic #julie molina #luke patterson #julie x luke #alex mercer #reggie peters #b’s fanfics

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