#the implication is that he’s so much of a powerhouse that he could end us with a thought if he wanted

[wall-maria-around-ba-sing-se]

totally just spitballing here but I feel like it might be because Z was actually posed as a threat for a lot of the game and so the difference between his implied threat and his actual threat is disappointing;

meanwhile Luxar has a ballasack neck for the entire game, talks like a Saturday morning cartoon villain, and flip flops between cutscenes on whether or not he actually believes in the “human DNA is poison” legend that his entire anti-human crusade is based on

Kind of baffles me that people think Z is the worst Xenoblade main antagonist when this guy exists.

[cerastes]

I know Chalter somehow is still a touchy subject in this game but I wanted to know something. So people are really gonna complain that much about her to end of days and yet just shit on new casters for being created because Eyja gets a pass? And haven't kept up but I think Eyja got a medic alt? So now she's there as well.

Mmm I think this is a case of A Pretty Widespread Opinion (Chung being disliked) vs prevalent opinions in different circles (Casters in a game with Eyja). And they have different flows to each other enough that I really don’t think — and have never before seen — they should be discussed in the same breath unless it’s to compare and contrast them. So let’s do that.

Long story short, Chung the Hung isn’t just a strong unit, she’s a strong unit that is also a one trick, one skill pony, that trick being Fucking Everything — DEF decrease, insane damage, true AoE, skill cycling & effective uptime, ease of use — you’d need to severely crush most maps or at least significantly reduce their difficulty. This unit is also a bikini-clad alternate version of a lore-heavy character armed with what basically amounts to a poluted water Super Soaker. On top of that, she completely outstrips the existing members of her type instead of being a stronger but not objectively superior alternative. Furthermore, her availability is limited. And finally, she very well set precedent that HG could start releasing lazy, gamebreaking limited units as much as they wanted. Chung isn’t just a case of “unit strong”, she carried with her implications. Opinions on her were mostly unified.

Eyja is a different case: She’s a powerhouse from launch, and while she does invalidate a lot of other Casters as the objectively superior option — worse of all Splash Casters, in conjunction with how undertuned Splashers were even without being compared to Eyja — it’s vastly different to look at a unit from launch be weirdly overtuned, likely not intentionally, than it is to look at a unit after more than a year into the game be weirdly overtuned and limited, definitely bloody intentionally. What’s more, Eyja is strong, for sure, but the opinions on her vary depending on who you ask: A Gamepress brainrotted zombie will probably parrot to you that she’s the best of the best forever, while other player groups will tell you, well, yeah, she’s strong, but Goldenglow and Ebenholz are probably more relevant nowadays. Ebenholz was called a garbage Caster for a while because he wasn’t as fire and forget as Eyja. Nowadays, anyone with the ability to rub braincells together will tell you that Eben is an insane boss killer and also helps a ton with general use with his S2.

Yeah, you’ll keep hearing “Eyja is better tho” forever, doesn’t mean it’s true, and it’s not really an opinion that is necessarily championed by everyone. Probably Gamepress zombies or y*utube grifters will parrot that and thus cast a wide web of influence, but, I mean, you can also look at high risk/max risk clears or runs of high waves IS3 or any sort of high end content, and you’ll find a lot of other units. Eyja included, of course, since she IS good, but not an untouchable — or untouched — god in the way some people might say she is, which is not everyone. “Eyja is the only good Caster forever” is something I personally hear from people that don’t play the game anymore but feel like bitching about it, personally.

Mind you, I like Ch’en a lot and don’t care for Eyja, so these aren’t biases, it’s simply what I’ve observed.

[the-antiapocalyptic-man]

A daughter of the dark dimension; a man who loves peace so much, he’ll kill for it; a master martial artist with a metahuman aversion field and a love for flaming hot cheetos; a quantum superman re-discovering his own humanity; a detective who has no answers, but merely a Question; and a genius inventor with a legacy to uphold and a mystery to solve

These are the Living Assault Weapons; this is the L.A.W.

a disparate group who often found themselves at odds with each other, none of the weapons strictly like each. Zelda Zanetti took a spot on the insistent of her mother Senator Eve Eden. Peacemaker seeks to atone for the crimes of his white supremacist father, the White Dragon. Sonia Sato is on a quest of revenge against the man who killed and betrayed her father...supposedly. Nate Adams is the ostensibly leader and powerhouse, but his eyes look towards other worlds, journey that will lead him and Zelda down a strange route. Renee Montoya does what she can honor her friend, Vic Sage, and seek true justice in a world of corruption and half-measures. Ted Kord is just trying to survive the group of violent, unstable weirdos he’s found himself involved with.

Among this group are a couple odd companions: Goff, an alien butterfly with good intentions but extremely questionable methods, the strange angel on Chris’s shoulder; and Skeets. Ted isn’t sure what’s up with Skeets, but the thing can’t ever seem to get dates right, and almost all of them seem to be future events. It also seems to miss someone very much.

Things came for a head for the group during an altercation with a competing team, Waller’s Task Force X, in which Chris murdered the Suicide Squad’s handler, setting off a chain of events that would change all of their lives forever. At least, those it didn’t end.

[notes]: so some of the takes here are a bit more obvious than other, but let’s run through them real quick.

Nate we’ve seen, but here he’s got a new “paint job” so to speak, as well at the implication that he eventually takes on the identity of Tim Zanetti (Breach in canon), linking him to...

Zelda! So this is Nightshade, with a couple drastic tweaks: Eve is pushed up a generation to serve as senator in place of her own father, while Zelda is technically an OC, but also very clearly a composite of Nightshade with HBO!Watchmen’s Sister Night. Tim Zanetti is now the equivalent of Cal Abar.

Chris is literally just John Cena, though now he’s part of LAW when he kills Rick Flag instead of betraying him from within the same team, since the Starro incident is much earlier and tied to Wonder Woman’s proto-JLA instead.

Sonia Sato is basically her canon self in a version of the DCEU costume, thought I revised her backstory so “Rip Jagger” was Yoshio Sato’s student who betrayed him, and she’s on a quest to avenge her father...kind of. There’s a twist on that I want to noodle on a bit, but otherwise Rip is now at very least a traitor, sidestepping the white savior trope unfortunately baked into Judomaster’s original concept.

Ted’s also pretty simple, though I wanted his costume to look a little more comfortable and homemade, almost Venture Bros-adjacent. Skeets is obviously a nod towards Booster Gold, but I thought it would be fun for him to find a malfunctioning version first and then meet Booster some time after leaving LAW and taking a spot on the League.

Renee’s inspired by her Final Crisis costume she wears on like five pages? Idk, I really love that look. I was originally going to use Vic because he maybe fits the time period this is taking place a bit better, but decided against it so I could give him a different kind of story later. (Or sooner. Technically his design is already done, but I might rework it since he’s not on this team anymore).

Also, idk if it needs to be addressed, but I did give everyone except Nate and Sonia guns. Zelda, Ted, and Renee have more sci-fi ray guns that do weird stuff, but Chris does have a straight up desert eagle. I actually didn’t realize I’d done this until I was uploading the initial sketches to color, but I think it makes sense for differentiating LAW from the League and its offshoots. This is essentially a Suicide Squad competitor drawn from a different pool of candidates and working for General Eiling instead of Amanda Waller.

Given the nature of the team and personalities involved (as well as LAW’s irl comic being fairly short-lived) it shouldn’t be a surprise that this group does uh...not stay together long.

[yuta-nakamots]

misfit - j.sc

Pairing - Sungchan x Reader

Genre - Horror/Thriller, Angst, Fluff

Warnings - serial killer, character death, violence, murder, implications of sex

Summary - A murderer is on the loose, killing with no regret and ending the lives of more than just a few people. No one knew who it was, turning against each other upon even the slightest bit of doubt. Maybe you should’ve been more careful with who you chose to trust. 

Word Count - 5.3k

A/N - this is inspired entirely from a dream I had a few days ago. I've added very little to what I saw in my dream aside from Sungchan as the male lead. yes, I am freaked out by this and yes, I am scared of writing for Sungchan bc I don’t know his personality all too well but as an ‘01 liner myself I have faith in us

Written for the #NeoHalloween writing festival hosted by @nct-writers​. Check out the masterlist here.

For five months now, your town has lived in fear. A serial killer was on the loose and he was known by the name of Hickleback Jack though no one knew where the name came from or who had started it. Each month, the population of your town voted on the local community board to have one person executed who they thought was Hickleback Jack. So far, not a single guess was right leaving five innocent people dead. Well, five plus an extra thirty, give or take.

See, the thing about Hickleback Jack, was that every time the votes came in at the end of the month, he could see just who voted for him and targeted them as his next victims. He killed six of those people over the following month, adding up to seven dead each time the town guessed incorrectly. It was getting to a point where no one trusted each other, no one dared to say anything against each other in fear of being accused or in fear of being the next to fall mercy to Hickleback Jack.

Not much was known about this killer other than his appearance. He’s male with a tall and broad figure though he always covers his face with some kind of mask. His common weapon is known to be an axe. People have claimed to have seen him late at night under the dim orange glow of the street lamps but he was never caught by the authorities, leaving everyone restless and waiting for the next kill.

The night was still young when you had gotten home from school and it was a Friday night which was basically an open invitation for you to call over your boyfriend, Sungchan. He had transferred in to your university at the start of the school year, and had ended up sitting next to you during your sophomore seminar class, leading to the start of your friendship with him.

A simple friendship soon blossomed into a relationship after Sungchan’s bright personality began shining through his somewhat intimidating exterior. You lived without fear when Sungchan was around, the love you had for him blocking out anything else in the world that wasn’t him.

You sat on your bed, your homework spread out in front of you while you held your phone up to your ear. “Do you want to come over tonight?” You ask as soon as he picks up your call.

You hear rustling on the other end of the call before Sungchan clears his throat and speaks, his voice husky from sleep. “Sorry, can you repeat that?”

“I said, do you want to come over tonight?” You paused and heard him yawn. “You fell asleep after class didn’t you?” You smiled to yourself thinking of your boyfriend’s handsome face as he napped after getting back to his apartment once he finished with his classes for the day, which was a common occurrence now that the semester was in full swing.

“Mmm,” he hummed in thought, “as much as I’d love to, I really shouldn’t have taken that nap because of how much homework I have.”

“Oh, that’s okay, do your homework first,” you reassure him, “maybe we can hang out some other time this weekend. It’s only Friday after all.”

“Definitely. Are you starting yours right now?” Sungchan asked.

“Yeah, I’d rather not wait and end up cramming on Sunday night.” You laughed, knowing that said event has happened more times that you’d like to admit.

Sungchan let out a noise of agreement. “I’ll let you know when I’m done with my homework though.”

“Same here.” You promised.

“Alright, let’s get to work and I’ll talk to you soon.” He told you.

“Sounds good, love you.”

“Love you too.”

With that you hung up, eager to start on your homework in hopes of getting to spend more time with your boyfriend. You actually had a lot of it this weekend thanks to molecular biology, and you figured that if you couldn’t talk to Sungchan, who had yet to take the course, you called up your study group discord instead. Luckily, many of them were in similar situations as you, faced with the daunting task of completing all the worksheets assigned during class earlier in the day.

“Okay so was anyone paying attention during the lecture today?” Your classmate Chenle asked.

“I know Yeji fell asleep so you’re in the same boat as her.” You interject, recalling the sight of both of them knocked out in their seats as the professor droned on about the functions of the structures inside cells.

Yeji let out a gasp of shock at how blatantly you called her out. “I may have fallen asleep but at least I still know that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.”

“Everyone knows that, Yeji.” Your other classmate Jaemin said, his voice void of enthusiasm.

“Okay, Jaemin, we get it, Mr. Serious.” You teased.

“Yeah, this is a biology study group, not a bible study group, lighten up a little.” Chenle jokes.

Jaemin scoffed, “sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who’s trying to do well in this class.”

“Well not all of us enjoy the taste of coffee with six shots of caffeine in them.” Yeji argued back.

“Guys,” you called out as Jaemin and Yeji started arguing, “guys!” They finally stopped to hear what you had to say. “Let’s just get this over with sooner rather than later because I know none of us want to be awake at 2am trying to figure this out alone.”

“Agreed,” Chenle said, “so question three, the one about the DNA mutation, how is missense different from nonsense?”

“Missense is where one of the bases mutates and changes to something else, therefore changing the protein level,” Jaemin explained, “nonsense is the same theoretical concept except it spells out one of the stop codes.”

Yeji let out a groan, “can you slow down, or like, I don’t know, use easier words or something?”

Most of your night passed by like this and before you knew it, it was already nearing midnight and you could tell your classmates were just as exhausted as you. “I think we should call it here.”

“Definitely,” Yeji confirmed, “tomorrow morning at 10?”

You all let out similar answers of acknowledgement before Chenle spoke up. “The poll closes on tomorrow night so make sure to vote if you haven’t already.”

Because of how long this has been going on for, everyone was already on the same page once someone mentioned the poll or voting. “There were only five kills this month so I wouldn’t be surprised if the last one is announced tomorrow or Sunday morning.” Jaemin chimed in.

“All the recent kills were related to the university so I know a lot of people are suspecting someone in our age range.” Yeji informed the group.

Jaemin let out a chuckle, “if the killer actually is a college student, I wouldn’t be surprised since it is getting close to the last wave of midterms and then finals so that would explain why the victims fall into the same category.” The chat fell silent at that. “I’m just saying that he’s getting a little lazy by grouping all his kills like this.”

“Jaemin, are you sure you’re not the killer?” Chenle asked with a laugh at the end.

“Guys, I can promise you that I’m not the killer, I swear on my life.” Jaemin promised.

“Alright, that’s enough detective work for tonight, I’ll start the call again around 10 tomorrow. Sounds good?” You conclude, wanting to curl up under your covers already, which is exactly what you do once everyone wishes each other a good night and hung up.  

Morning came a little too quickly for your liking, the bright sunlight flooding into your room through the window and forcing you awake. Checking your phone, you saw that it was 9:30am, meaning you had some time to spare before your next meeting with the bio study group, along with a notification from Sungchan that he had sent well after you had fallen asleep.

Sungchan > y/n

2:14am: Just got rescheduled to work opening shift tomorrow.

2:15am: Didn’t finish my homework but I can stop by at your house after work with my stuff and we can hang out and have fun once we’re both done?

Your heart warmed at how he stayed up late trying to finish his homework for you and that he suggested the idea of coming over after his shift at a small local restaurant finished just so the two of you could be together even if you’d be focusing on your own tasks for a while.

y/n > Sungchan

9:32am: Sorry I didn’t text back earlier, I just woke up!

9:32am: But of course you can come over, I might even be done with my work by then ;)

You plugged your phone to let it charge and left it on your nightstand as you made yourself breakfast downstairs. The house was quiet since your mom already left for work and you dad worked a night shift job and was probably sleeping at the moment. It was strangely serene as you prepared yourself a bowl of cereal though the calm was rudely interrupted by the sound of your ringtone coming from your room.

Deciding to get it after eating breakfast, you poured the cereal in first, thinking about the way Sungchan had told you before that he liked to pour the milk first and let the cereal soak up the milk. “It makes it super soggy and I like it.” He tried reasoning with you, to which you only raised an eyebrow at.

Just as you put the milk carton back into the refrigerator and was about to take a bit of your cereal, your phone started going off again. You placed your bowl onto the kitchen table and made your way back up to your bedroom to see what it was that was so important this early in the morning. Checking the notifications, it was Yeji who had been calling you so you shot her a message.

y/n > Yeji

9:39am: What’s up?

Yeji > y/n

9:40am: I just dreamt that it was Jaemin who was the killer

9:40am: please call me right now I feel like I’m going to go insane

You heeded her words and called her immediately. “So what happened in the dream?”

“I don’t know, I just remember being chased by a man with an axe and I was running to the school to try to see if I could get help but then I tripped and when I turned around, it was Jaemin.” Yeji blurted out without a single breath in between.

You paused, trying to take in all the information she just threw at you. “Do you have any reason as to why you think you dreamt this?”

“The way he was talking last night,” she stopped to catch her breath, “he spoke so in detail that I couldn’t help but overthink like, what if he is actually the killer? What if we’re next?”

“Well, you can vote for him in the poll if you want but personally, I don’t think it’s him.” You think of your next words carefully. “I’m not trying to invalidate your thoughts but Jaemin does come from a reputable family-”

“Y/n, it could be anyone. Family doesn’t matter. We have no information on the guy, we don’t know what economic class he’s in or anything.” Yeji interrupted.

You took a few seconds to gather your thoughts before speaking again. “That is true, but we all know Jaemin wants to be a surgeon right? He’s in all these difficult classes and he maintains such high grades-”

“Okay but how is that relevant?” Yeji interrupted yet again.

She was getting on your nerves but you held yourself back. “Listen, I’m just trying to say that with the amount of time and effort he puts into school, I don’t think he could be the killer. The killer plans his kills well enough that we just can’t find him and that probably takes just as much time as school does for us.”

Yeji took a while to respond though when she did, her words surprised you. “Now you’re starting to sound like the killer.”

“Yeji, I can promise you that it’s not me. I’m just as scared as you are in this whole situation,” you reasoned, “I’ll even vote for Jaemin if it makes you feel better.”

She let out a sigh across the line. “Okay fine. Maybe a kill will happen while we’re on the call and it’ll clear Jaemin’s name.”

“I think you’re letting it all get to you, just try not to think about it for a bit.” You advised.

“But am I really overreacting y/n? We live every day in fear of being the next victim. Tomorrow is not promised to any of us, so am I really overreacting?” You look over at the clock on your wall as she spoke, realizing that it’s already 9:55 and you should probably start the call already.

“No, I don’t think you’re overreacting, I’m just saying that constantly thinking about it to this extent isn’t good for you. We still have school to pay attention to,” you explain, “speaking of, I’m gonna start the call now.”

“I can’t just stop thinking about it that easily but whatever, let’s just hope that we’re not associating ourselves with a murderer by doing this.” You can only shake your head as you start the call.

Chenle joined immediately followed by Yeji. “Good morning ladies, President Zhong here. How are we doing on this fine day?”

You rolled your eyes even though a smile spread across your face. “I’m doing good, Mr. President. Ready to finish off these worksheets.”

“Good, good,” Chenle affirmed, sticking with his act, “and you, Miss Yeji?”

“Fine.” She shot out.

Chenle let out a quiet chuckle, “someone’s a little grumpy this morning. Maybe we should’ve met a bit later.”

“No, let’s just get this over with.” Yeji grumbled just as Jaemin joined.

“Great! Now that the head brain cell is here, let’s get this meeting started.” Chenle exclaimed.

Four hours into your meeting and eight out of ten worksheets later, your phone begins to ring with an incoming call from Sungchan. “Hold on guys, I gotta take this call. Hello?”

“I’m downstairs, come pick me up.” You couldn’t deny the butterflies that spread throughout your chest upon hearing your boyfriend’s voice. You got up to let him in though you certainly didn’t miss the teasing coming from your laptop as your classmates yelled about you and Sungchan.

As you made your way downstairs, you froze halfway down the stairs, seeing Sungchan already in the kitchen eating the bowl of cereal you forgot about. “I’m guessing you made this for yourself earlier and forgot to eat it.” He said through a mouthful of food.

“Babe, no, don’t eat that, it’s like five hours old. The milk is probably stale.” You exclaimed, worried about his health if it really did go bad.

Sungchan only shrugged as he took another spoonful into his mouth. “Tastes fine to me.”

You rolled your eyes before turning to head back upstairs. “Join me in my room once you’re ready, you cereal monster. Leave the dishes in the sink too.” As you returned to your room, you couldn’t help but wonder how Sungchan got in though you figure he’s probably seen you use the spare key under the doormat a couple times since you often were too lazy to get your own keys out of your bag most of the time.

When you sat down in front of your computer again, Jaemin had just finished explaining the answer to the problem you guys were working on earlier so you chimed in asking him to go over it again though he was quickly overrun by an excited Chenle. “Is Sungchan there?” He practically yelled.

“No, not yet, he’s eating some soggy cereal downstairs.” You inform him.

“Alright, let me know when he comes in.” Chenle says, unphased by your boyfriends’ odd preference of cereal.

Halfway through Jaemin’s explanation, Sungchan came into your room, placing his bag down at the foot of the bed before he took his jacket off and stripped out of his work uniform. “I heard a door open, is that Sungchan?” Chenle shouted over Jaemin once more.

“I never get to fucking speak in this group.” Jaemin huffed, at which Chenle muttered a quick ‘sorry’ back.

“Yes, Chenle, Sungchan is here,” you announce, looking over at the boy in question who had just finished pulling a shirt over his head and winked when he saw you staring at his body, “he seems very flirty today, must be because of you, Mr. Zhong.”

Sungchan sits down next to you and places a kiss on your cheek, smelling oddly of cleaning supplies, but you pay no mind to that, figuring he must have used them at work. “How’s it going Chenle?” He asks, though his attention is only on you and he places his hands on your cheeks and leaves a quick kiss on your lips.

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t just hear the two of you kissing,” Chenle remarks, earning a laugh from Sungchan, “but anyways, you should come back to the basketball team. We miss our giant point guard, you know.”

“Nah, I’m too busy these days. I already have work and school plus I still want to spend time with y/n.” He commented as he shifted to lie on his stomach next to you.

“Man, who knew a girl would be all it took to make this dude throw his love for basketball out the window.” Chenle taunted.

“Love makes you do things, you know how it is.” Sungchan replied, resting his head on your thigh.

Running a hand through his hair, “anyways,” you divert, “back to what Jaemin was saying about meiosis.”

“Thank you, y/n, I thought I’d never be able to speak again.” Jaemin uttered pointedly. “As I was saying, the main difference between meiosis and mitosis is that it creates four daughter cells instead of two like mitosis does.”

“Hey guys, wait, did you see the article that just came out?” Yeji inquired. “It’s another death.”

There was a moment of silence before anyone said anything. “No but you can read it to us.” Chenle concluded.

“Okay,” you could hear the deep breath Yeji took before reading the article, “it says here that the body was found at around 1:20pm in an alley between the lower-income housing apartments, the cause of death is assumed to be by Hickleback Jack using his axe, and the estimated time of death is anywhere from 12 to 1pm.”

“Wow,” Jaemin began, “so he just killed out in broad daylight.”

“Not gonna lie Jaemin, but I thought you were the killer.” Yeji let out blatantly.

You were mildly shocked at her bluntness, but not surprised given how stressed everyone was. “Me?” Jaemin gasped, “Yeji, you know I’m pretty much Rapunzel with how much time I spend in my room studying. And when I’m not studying, I’m either editing pictures or playing video games.”

“It’s true,” Chenle confirms, “he really doesn’t leave his room. We had a sleepover once and I felt like I was becoming a hermit like him.” Sungchan slightly wheezed at that, sending Chenle over the moon. “Did you hear that? Did you guys hear that? Sungchan thinks I’m funny!”

“Yeah yeah, enough about me being a hermit. But Yeji,” Jaemin addressed, “why did you think it was me?”

Yeji hesitated before responding. “I just- the way you were talking the other night...I don’t know. It just sounded so specific and detailed that I couldn’t help but think that it could have been you.”

“I don’t think a murderer would simply reveal his plans like that, you know.” Sungchan proposed.

“Well yeah, but it’s just the way he spoke, it was like he had things organized...you know what? Let’s forget I said that, but I know the four of us are clear.” Yeji resigned.

Sungchan sat up, “wait, why am I not cleared?”

“Y/n, what time did he call you?”

“Like 2-ish.”

“Exactly. Sungchan, you don’t have an alibi, as far as we know, until 2 and the time of death is stated to be 12 to 1pm.”

“I was at work earlier in the day, though.”

“Can you prove it to us?” Yeji pressed on.

“Yeah, my coworkers can vouch for me.”

You were quite surprised at how aggressive Yeji was being towards your boyfriend but you didn’t see any reason to stop her since she had very valid arguments. “Send a screenshot of it to Chenle and we’ll verify you from there.” Yeji commanded.

Sungchan slouched down a little next to you. “I don’t have the numbers of my coworkers though.”

“Alright, then you’re still on the list of suspects.”

After finishing all the worksheets for microbio and ending the call around 3:30, Sungchan pulled out his laptop and started typing away at a half-finished lab report for his human A&P class. You fell asleep curled into his body, his warmth and the constant tapping of his keyboard lulling you to sleep.

When you woke again, you immediately noticed the absence of a large boy next to you and frowned to yourself. As you came to, you heard noise coming from the kitchen and identified your mother’s voice followed by Sungchan’s. Noticing the time on your phone, you guess that he was probably helping her prepare dinner since it was already past 6 and your family ate around 7 before your dad left for work.

By the time you made yourself presentable and came downstairs, your mom and Sungchan were already setting the table. “Looks like our sleepyhead finally woke up.” Your mother exclaimed, making you grimace. “You didn’t tell me Sungchan was staying over,” you were about to open your mouth to say that you didn’t know that either but you weren’t given the chance to do so, “it’s okay, especially with that killer still on the loose, it makes me feel better knowing there’s someone around to protect my baby.”

You looked at Sungchan as if asking him for answers though he seemed to only avoid your gaze, reluctantly taking the seat across from you at the dining table. Your father walked in, delighted to see your boyfriend. “Sungchan! Good to see you, how are things at school?” He asked as he joined you all at the table.

“Okay for the most part, I haven’t taken to my writing class all that much though I enjoy my other science classes.” Sungchan answers.

Your dad hums in approval while you stare down Sungchan, trying to get him to look at you. “Remind me again what you’re majoring in again?” Your mom asks, Sungchan whips his head around faster than you can make eye contact with him.

“I’m majoring in forensics.” He states.

“Interesting, interesting,” your father contemplates, “you know, y/n here wants to become a pediatrician. The two of you are practically opposites in the science field, one dealing with crime and the other dealing with children.”

Sungchan let out a laugh, “I guess opposites really do attract then.”

You hated how well he entertained your parents and you hated how much they liked him. For the rest of dinner you tried to pin him down through your stares and even played a game of footsie with him but nothing seemed to work. It was only once the two of you were back in your room getting ready for bed that you were able to talk to him.

“Look, I’m not mad at you or anything, I’d just appreciate it if you talked to me first before just telling my parents that you’re staying over.” You told him as you went through your skincare routine.

Sungchan jumped onto your bed as he apologized. “Sorry, I just thought that since both of us finished our homework and with the killing today, it would just make sense for me to stay over.” He opened his arms, inviting you in as you stood up after finishing your night routine.

You copied him, jumping into your bed straight onto Sungchan, effectively pushing the air out of his body. He grunted as your weight fell onto him though he still wrapped his arms around your waist and shifted you up the length of your body so your face was level with his. “Hi” you giggle, shy from the sudden close proximity.

“Hey.” He says back with a smile as you slide off him, leaving an arm and leg slung over his body. “Tired?”

“No, not really, I took a nap earlier since someone didn’t care to wake me up.”

“You looked too cute, besides, you need all the rest you can get.” Sungchan explained, using his free hand to squish your cheeks. “If you’re really not tired then I know a way to make you tired.” His hand found its way down to your butt to further emphasize his point.

“Ew, no, not now.” You quickly refused, moving his hand up to your waist. “Just go to sleep and I’ll probably fall asleep after you anyways.”

“Oh wait,” Sungchan said, reaching over you to the nightstand for his phone, “did you vote on the poll yet?”

“No, I almost forgot.” You groaned, lazily reaching for your phone as well.

You pull up the local community board and enter your information, looking at the list of all the citizens, pondering on who you’d give your vote to. “Who are you voting for?” Sungchan asks, looking over at your screen.

“I really don’t know.” You tell him, though truthfully, you had someone in mind.

Thanks to the nap you had, you really couldn’t fall asleep no matter how hard you tried. You ended up dozing off occasionally but you’d wake up half an hour later only more irritated than when you first fell asleep.

You don’t remember what time it was, but at some point, Sungchan had removed himself from your grasp, unaware that you were still awake, though you made no effort to stop him thinking that he was just going to use the restroom and come back. Five minutes passed, five minutes turned into ten, then twenty, and you decided to check on him once thirty minutes had passed.

The house was completely dark, not even the light from the bathroom was on. You checked inside in case Sungchan had maybe gotten hurt and passed out, but he was nowhere to be found. After searching almost all the rooms in your house, you had yet to find any sign of him. After a bit of thinking, you had wandered out to your mothers’ greenhouse thinking that maybe some time with the plants would help to calm your mind.

It did anything but that.

Not long after setting foot inside of the small shed, you heard screams coming from nearby, getting closer and closer. You watched from the inside of the tinted glass as three girls ran through your backyard and into the next property. You couldn’t help it that you were frozen to your core, knowing who was coming.

You saw his frame as he jumped over the fence from the other end of your yard, axe in hand, running through the open grass and you thought he might have noticed you until he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes glued on you. You should’ve ducked down as soon as the girls ran past but it was too late now and there was no second way out of the greenhouse.

You knew you should have tried to run, maybe smash through the glass panelling but something in you told you that maybe, just maybe, you’d be able to stop him. Steeling your nerves as he crosses the threshold of the greenhouse, you call out to him. “I know who you are.”

“I’m well aware of that.”

It was as if your world was crumbling before you, the once so comfortable relationship you knew felt fake, even though Sungchan, your loving boyfriend stood right there. The only difference was that you knew who he really was.

“Why?” You start, “why did you kill all those innocent people?”

“It’s all for fun, y/n.”

“What do you mean ‘for fun’? Those are real people you know, people with families and friends who miss them dearly.” You nearly cry out as he continues to approach you.

“You see, life is a game.” He paused his words as he came to stand in front of you. “Laws are nothing but a social construct that us humans follow mindlessly until our own demise.”

He takes a step closer to you, but you stand your ground. “Laws are what keep us safe and keep us happy. They allow us to lead our lives peacefully with others-”

“They are nothing but limits.” He closes the distance between the two of you, an arm wrapping around your waist, pulling you towards him, and you allow him to do so. “My dear, sweet, y/n. If only you weren’t so smart, I wouldn’t be faced with this dilemma.”

“You wouldn’t kill me.” You were trying to persuade him just as much as you were to yourself. “You’d never.”

“Oh? And what makes you think that?”

“You love me.”

“I do, I love you so dearly, but now that you know who’s behind all the killings, there’s no way that I can let you go.” You felt his axe nudge the back of your leg as he brought both arms around you. To an outsider, it would look as if a couple were having a conversation, but for you, this was a fight for your life.

“Take off the mask.”

“Why should I?”

“So I can talk to you properly.”

He took off the mask without much more convincing, his normally handsome face now distorted by the crazed look in his eyes. People often say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and if they really were, then Sungchan didn’t have a soul.

“I swear to you that I won’t ever tell anyone about this, about you.”

“I don’t believe that you’ll keep that promise, my dear.”

“You know how much I love you. As long as we can stay together, I will not say anything.”

“This is not a tale of beauty and the beast. I am no beast to be tamed and there is no happy ending to this story.”

“Sungchan, no. You don’t mean that.”

“Do I really not mean it, or is that what you would like to believe? Something tells me it’s the latter.” He held you tight against him with one arm, the other raising his axe. “It’s truly a shame that your beauty must go to waste, you were truly a wonderful person both inside and out but I’m afraid that your life must end here.”

Before he could prep his swing, you pulled away and grabbed the nearest pot, launching it at him, the ceramic breaking against his head making dirt rain down upon both of you.

Not even a second passed before his axe was flying at you, lodging itself into your neck, nearly severing your head from your shoulder. You should’ve been thankful really, thankful that Sungchan had given you a quick death, not his usual route since it was so painless and easy for both the victim and the assailant.

He liked a struggle, but for you he made an exception out of love so that the last thing you’d see was him, your lover, before everything stopped.

[worstloki]

Part 1

--[official naming and legal rights ceremony for Morgan]--

Tony: you know what would be really funny? Pepper: Tony... Tony: THINK about it Pep- how can you say no to this once in a lifetime opportunity? Pepper: Rhodey and Steve. We already decided. Tony: ok fine. FINE! I'll just give up the chance for our daughter to have two literal powerhouses watching over her Pepper: one of them isn't even alive! Tony, signing the paperwork: he was the dodgy one anyways! Pepper: oh g*d tell me you didn't Tony: too late. our daughter's got 1 thunderer and 1 deceased trickster listed as her ~*godparents*~ and no punishment you come up with will ruin this moment for me Pepper: its fine, this is fine, it wont even be legally binding since you can't have two male godparents listed so its invalid anyways, haha this is fine, everything is fine,,, Tony: i actually heard from Thor that Loki could be female if they wanted... Pepper: ... Pepper: TONY!! -- [later] -- Rhodey: dude did you seriously put LOKI down as a legal guardian for your kid instead of me Tony: well I wanted Thor but he insisted that I put Loki down too... something about honouring Asgardian tradition...? Rhodey: tradition is fine but isn't he DEAD? Tony: sure Thor thought he was dead 5 years ago, then again 4 years ago, and then again 2 years ago... but if he was alive he would have already, statistically speaking, shown up by now Rhodey shaking his head fondly: okay i forgive you for replacing me with Thor and his deceased brother, but the next kid has my name on it. I've already called dibs with no takebacks, okay? Tony: one kid is already keeping me busy enough, honeybear... 

---[3 years later]---

Tony: And. I. Am. Iron Man... *snaps* Thanos' army: *disintegrates* Tony: *taking his last breathes* Pepper: you can rest now... Loki: *shoves Pepper aside and pulls the gauntlet off Tony* Pepper and Rhodey and Peter who were standing around tony: LOKI ?!? Dr Strange: no SToP you cant juST do THAT- Loki, taking out the time stone: why not Dr Strange: if you change anything now it'll ruin the timelines!!! Loki, reversing time on Tony and bringing him back to life: that's not how time works, Dr. Supreme Dr Strange: It’s Strange, and- Loki: Yes, I agree, it is strange that you decided to let Earth's best hero die when literally every infinity stone is rigHT HERE Dr Strange: but its wrong to misuse their pow- Loki: Then it’s a good thing I'm evil and don't care Dr Strange: buT- Loki: no need to worry, I'm only helping you heroes out this one time because apparently while I was stardust Tony chose to give me partial ownership over his child so now i am bound to care for it  Pepper, remembering that Loki is legally Morgan’s godparent: oh my g*d   Rhodey: well, I bet Tony didn't expect this Tony, speaking in his sleep: frickity frackity Loki, looking at Tony disapprovingly: I agree.  --[a week later]-- Tony: okay, so like, i don't want to seem ungrateful for you saving my life, but i only wrote your name down to get Thor - Loki, annoyed: Yes I figured as much Tony: -yes but if you've saved my life I was wondering exactly how bound you are to help and how far you're willing to go to watch over her Loki: does this have anything to do with the 18+ end-of-the-world-celebration party at the end of the week? Tony: maybe Loki: *stares at him* Tony: ...okay, yES… do you think you could make sure Morgan is alive and well and safe while I go? It’s clear you don't appreciate being forced to be her godparent so if you do it I'll even get your name off the legal documentation by the end of the week and you can leave after Loki: If you so much as try to remove my name when it is THOR that has been neglectful of his duty and has been ignoring the implications of having a child under their name then I will have no choice but to hit you over the head with stormbreaker Tony: oh. okay. no name removing then that's cool i guess just please don't smite me or i'll dob to thor that you're going to try touching his shiny axe and have are regressing on your journey to goodness  Loki, pulling stormbreaker out of his pocket dimension: I’m afraid you’re too late to warn him about the potential theft of his favourite beer opener. I will, however, watch Morgan over both days of the party, IF I also get put in charge of the spider child and Wakanda's princess Tony, doing his best to ignore the huge axe: how do you even know about them, weren't you snapped for the past 5 years?? Loki: I understand that they're not allowed to attend the party either and will not have any parents or guardians available to care for them at the time... Tony: you're not going to try any funny business right...? even if you wont hurt Morgan how do i know you wont lay a hand on the others?? I cant just trust you to watch over a bunch of kids no matter how much bruce and thor vouch for your sanity Loki: you can trust I wouldn't risk scarring Morgan like that if you don't trust i wouldn't intentionally attack a bunch of literal children Tony: hmm okay I guess I’ll just cross my fingers and hope you don't relapse into villainy  Loki: wonderful. inform the children that I will pick them up 2 hours before the time of the party. Tony: need me to get you a ride? Peter lives close but Shuri lives just a tad bit out of walking range Loki: no thanks I'll be fine

---[at the party]---

Pepper: YOU LEFT HIM ALONE TO CARE FOR MORGAN?! Tony: he’s been doing a fine job of it while we’re around, and besides, it’s not like I left her with him alone or anything! Pepper: No, of course not Tony, that would be too simple, no, you left LOKI in charge of not JUST our child but also Peter, and the PRINCESS of Wakanda too Pepper: do you have any idea how badly this could work out?! putting aside the political disaster that would occur if something happened to Shuri the ethical considerations alone make strangling you very tempting right now Rhodey: Pepper, Tony would never do anything to put Morgan or Peter or even Shuri in danger... he knows they're kids, right Tony? Tony: Peter can benchpress a mag-lev and Shuri can design one in 60 seconds flat. I’m not concerned because they'll be fine even if he does try to pull off anything even 2% evil! Pepper: *not impressed* Tony: some sort of Asgardian binding magic was involved so he literally cant try to inflict any harm on Morgan, and that includes emotional distress just for the record, believe me, i checked Rhodey: what do you mean 'i checked', what did you do man Tony: Morgan wanted ice pops the other day so i told her to ask Loki Pepper: TONY he's a WAR CRIMINAL Tony: so anyways Morgan went up to the ally we’re kindly hosting - who literally takes residence on whichever couch is closest to Morgan by the way and it’s super funny to watch him move between couches every time she leaves the room - and he's reading when she asks if he'll get an ice pop with her Tony: and I've tried talking to him when he's reading and it does NOT end well Pepper: and you sent MORGAN to do it anyways?? Tony: and he said no at first, which was predictable, right? but then Morgan got sad and a bit teary-eyed and she asked again and when he saw she was sad he literally jolted in pain and he put the book aside and got up so fast to immediately lead her to the freezer to get some  Rhodey: so, what? he physically cant say no to Morgan or some wacky voodoo thing compels him? Tony: That is the conclusion I have come to with my findings, yes. It seems he can’t intentionally do anything to hurt her in any way. So Morgan and her new friends are completely safe, sweetie. Pepper: I'm leaving to make sure she's doing okay... Tony: I also installed cameras just to make sure no one gets murdered without thorough evidence to convict him, if that helps? Pepper: If you can get the live feed to go to my phone I'll consider staying Tony: deal.

--meanwhile, in Tony's house--

[Peter Shuri Morgan and Loki are wrapped up in blankets and watching The Hobbit. Loki is doing some paperwork and Morgan is drinking orange juice while Peter and Shuri share some popcorn] Peter: so are we going to talk about how we're watching a movie with the person who attacked New York with an alien army a few years ago or not Shuri: he was not acting of his own volition so i thought we were excusing that Loki, looking up: you are literally the first person to have mentioned that Peter: but Mr. Stark said that-- Shuri: footage of the 2012 attack conclusively showed that his eye colour changed before and after he had been subdued the final time, which was a phenomenon associated only with being under the influence of the sceptre containing the mind stone  Peter: he does magic though! it could be a trick or the cameras could've been too grainy to tell Shuri: They weren't. But the changes in his behaviour and speech patterns also indicate that he was being controlled or at least coerced to some extent. He's also sitting next to us doing paperwork and watching Bilbo sneak around a dragon. Loki: Congratulations, you are officially the only person from this planet for whom I can confidently vouch is not a- *covers Morgan’s ears* -complete imbecile. Shuri: Thank you. Peter: well, she is a genius Shuri: Yes I am, in fact I'm a genius that has the approval of Loki, which is even better, because I'm assuming he'll have some neat ideas on how to make a fool of T'Challa in my lab on camera more often Loki: I may have some experience in the making-a-fool-out-of-my-brother department Shuri: wonderful! we can brainstorm after the movie :) Peter: I don't have a brother to prank :( Loki: I can fix that Peter: ...what Shuri: yeah, what?? Loki: oh I meant that if you wanted I could legally become your godparent and then you'd have Harley and Morgan as prankable siblings Peter: you know what? I'm actually considering it Shuri: how angry do you think T'challa would be if I made Loki an official Wakandan by saying he's my godfather because I think that would get a hilarious reaction out of him Loki, nodding: According to Asgardian tradition claiming a godchild forms an irrevocable bond and he would have to accept that his sister has someone who pulls off legendary pranks keeping her safe from any attempts at his retaliation Peter: that’s so cool and i'm definitely accepting your offer Shuri: and I'm joining in because i have a folder filled with evidence that Loki was mostly innocent of the New York attack but some videos of us together pulling off harmless pranks would make fine contributions to it Loki: wonderful! Loki, holding out documents and a pen: just sign here, there, and there, Peter: wait you've been sitting next to us filling out godchild adoption forms this whole time??? Loki: well actually I started out filling out the godparent-removal forms because Thor is an irresponsible buffoon and i refuse to share custody with him Peter: do you think i could get ~*Thor*~ to adopt me- Loki: Nopity nope. Too late. You've already signed the forms so you're stuck with me, and I refuse to share any of my friends with him Peter: aww you called us your friends Loki: you have no proof i said that Shuri, pointing to the camera in the corner of the room: but that hackable camera does >:) [peter jumps over the sofa and is going to retrieve the camera for shuri to get the blackmail material when he gets hit by a pillow. shuri says 'hey that was not nice' as she hits loki with her pillow. peter throws the pillow he has at loki. morgan yells 'PILLOW FIGHT!!' before joining in, and by the time they settle down again all of them have missed the ending of the film and have to rewatch the last 20 minutes before drifting off to sleep together on the floor in a patchwork of all their blankets]

---[later at the party]---

Tony: sorry pal, I'm a certified genius and even I don't know how she managed to carry around and slip Morgan’s papers to you when that dress has no pockets and her purse is barely large enough to fit a small-to-medium-sized wrench Rhodey: it was probably the same way she switched your drink for Thor's godchild renouncement forms when you weren't looking Tony, whispering: I think she has CEO paperwork powers Rhodey whispering back: you're only noticing now?

[pepper and tony get home the next day]

Pepper: i still cant believe you left Loki near the kids Tony: and i still cant believe you didn't know how to check the live feed and decided to ignore me the entire night instead of bothering to ask. clearly deep down you trusted my judgement and the decision to leave the kids in Loki's capable, mischiefy, slightly-insane but apparently reformed hands.

[yelling is heard from the living room and Tony and Pepper run in to find Loki Peter Shuri and Morgan sitting around wrapped in blankets and playing Mario Kart and exclaiming their thoughts very vocally. when they are noticed all the kids freeze and stare at Tony. Loki mumbles something about telling Tony he lost the bet since he did in fact manage to keep everyone alive and at that point even Pepper is staring (glaring) at Tony.]

Tony, realising the kids have bonded™: oh no. what have i done.

[stillchaoticlogic]

Falling: Chapter 4

Pairing: Raihan x Reader

Falling in love is easy…

It’s falling out of love that’s the hard part.

As you try to run from old feelings you meet someone who is determined to bring the spark back into your eyes. Raihan isn’t sure what happened in the past and he doesn’t care. He’s got one shot to make you his and he’s going to take it.

First Chapter: Here

Second Chapter: Here

Third Chapter: Here

Lose You to Love Me

*One Year Ago*

Five challengers…

You had five challengers today and that last one almost got you. Pure exhaustion is the only thing your body processes at the moment. Your team is exhausted and you are beginning to wonder if you asked too much of them today. 

You couldn’t relinquish your title though… Not yet…

Kukui walks into the locker room with his usual smile and excited greeting. 

“That was amazing! You were insane out there!” He praises and you preen under his words. 

“Thanks, Kukui! That last one almost had me…”

“Nah! I knew you wouldn’t lose, that’s why you’re the champion!” he walks up to you and puts his hands on your shoulders giving them a gentle rub.

“You’re really tense though… Maybe you need a spa day or something?”

“Yeah, I think that would be good for me and my team.”

He nods, “I’ll set one up for you! I can’t have my champion getting burnt out!”

In your head, you heard something else entirely. That had been happening a lot lately, you wish he would refer to you as his. You want more from him than just friendship and the immense guilt that comes with those thoughts. You adore him, but you know he’s married. Happily married. Also, his wife is awesome and she’s a friend of yours. Which only amplifies your feelings of guilt.  

“Want to grab dinner? Burnet is staying at the lab tonight. We could get sushi?”

And then he does that…

“Yeah, let’s get dinner! I’m starving!” you readily agree. 

How can you say no to him?

“Great! Get cleaned up and then we’ll head out! We’ll go to our favorite place, yeah?”

“Yeah…”

It’s not even anything big that you miss, it’s the little moments like sushi with your best friend, that you had fallen in love with, that you miss the most. You roll over onto your side and heave a sigh gazing at the red numbers of the cheap alarm clock. It’s not even 11 O’clock and you can’t sleep. You tap Rotom to wake him up and apologize as he buzzes sleepily to life. 

“Call Ku-” you stop yourself short, you can’t call him anymore.  

“Call Raihan.”

“Hello?” questions a sleepy Raihan, “Evrthin’ okay?”

“I woke you didn’t I?”

“S’okay….”

“I can’t sleep…”

“What’s wrong?” His voice sounds clearer as he begins to shake the sleep off. 

“You want to get a pizza?”

“Are you inviting me over?”

“...yes…” you murmur hesitantly, unsure of what you want from him exactly. 

“I want meat lovers and I’ll be there in about 20 minutes.”

You smile to yourself as you pull up the pizza app and place your order for two pizzas. You aren’t surprised when Raihan shows up at your door with the pizzas in hand. 

“He was in the lobby so I just thought I would grab them for us.”

“Thanks… for coming… for everything…”

“No problem! Now, what do you want to do.”

You love that he doesn’t ask what is wrong. That he’s ignoring the way your eyes are a little puffy from crying earlier. That he doesn’t ask questions that you don’t want to answer. He is just here. 

The two of you walk over to the little sitting area in the suite you are in and flip through the new releases. You both eventually settle on a comedy and you don’t really think about it as you rest your head on his shoulder as he drapes his arm around you. You don’t think about the way you curl into his side and you don’t think about how peaceful it is to just sit next to him and laugh at the absurd movie playing before you. You don’t think about the entire pizza the two of you devour each. You don’t think about anything at all except how nice it is that he’s beside you. 

You feel peace for the first time in a long time. 

You wake up the next morning to the sound of a phone ringing. You glance up at Raihan as he stirs and you both blink into the early morning sun shining through the curtains.

“Hello?” Raihan’s voice is gruff with sleep and you suppress a shiver as you bury your face into his neck. You try to convince yourself it’s from cold and not the way his voice sounds coated in sleep. The arm that is already around you gives you a squeeze and you glance up at him. 

“Yeah… Umm…. I’m with (Y/N)...”

“What?! What do you mean you’re with (Y/N)?” You hear Leon say through the receiver.

“She called me last night and asked me to come over so I did. We fell asleep while watching a movie.”

“Okay…”

You pull the phone from Raihan and hold it up to your ear, “What time are you coming? Do you think you can bring Raihan a change of clothes and his toiletries?”

“Umm… yeah… I can… do that… What is happening?” Leon asks in confusion.

“Nothing is happening Leon, we just had a movie night.”

“Okay…”

“Don’t say that like you don’t believe me,” you grumble to the man on the other end. 

“Yes, ma’am!” Leon says somewhere between jokingly and seriously. You aren’t quite sure where he lands, you don’t think he knows either. 

You untangle yourself from Raihan and stretch before you head into the separate bedroom.

“Once I’m done showering you want to go?!” You yell from the bedroom. 

“Sure! You want breakfast? Coffee?”

“Yes to it alllll! Could you get me oatmeal though? That pizza isn’t as good of an idea this morning.”

You hear him laugh, “You got it, my queen! Anything else?”

You smile to yourself at the nickname, or is this a pet name? You aren’t sure at the moment. 

“Nope, I’m good!! Just hurry back! We have to catch a Dreepy today!!” You exclaim all traces of last night washed away in the morning light. 

“Of course, we have to find you a couple of new powerhouses today.”

You giggle at the thought. “I really need to let Cerberus and Luna out for a run today too. Joker too…” you muse aloud to yourself as you pick out your outfit for the day. You can’t help but wonder if Raihan would like it. 

Pulling on a pair of fitted black jeans and a deep blue top, you grab your belt and head out into the living area where Leon and Raihan are whispering among one another. 

“Are you keeping secrets from me?” You ask with a smirk making the duo jump in surprise. 

“Nope! Just guy stuff!” Leon answers his hand rubbing the back of his neck self consciously. 

“Okay…” you murmur before addressing Raihan, “The shower is all yours.” 

“Thanks!” He says with a smirk as he passes you on his way to the bathroom. 

You fix Leon with your gaze and notice the way he swallows subtly. He just might be intimidated by you, this could be fun.

“So what were you two talking about?” You ask as you make your way over to the table and pick up the oatmeal and latte Raihan picked up for you. 

“Nothing… you know just… stuff…”

“Ummm hmm…” you hum as you hold his gaze bringing the coffee to your lips and taking a sip. Your favorite drink swirling on your tongue. The first few times Raihan brought you coffee was a generic order, but this is your order. You blink in surprise as you gaze down at the cup in your hands. 

“You look surprised,” Leon says a sly smirk sliding onto his face.

“It’s my order…” you say as you regard it with surprise.

“Raihan is pretty perceptive if he cares about someone he likes to show them.”

“Cares about them?”

“Yep, he really likes you, just remember that when you call him late at night…”

“What are you implying Leon?” You ask with an edge to your voice. 

“Nothing,” he says as he holds his hands up in surrender. 

“I’m not using Raihan if that’s what you're worried about.”

“I didn’t say it was, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Perhaps think about your implications than before you voice them.”

“Why did you call him last night?”

You pause for a moment as you gaze into your food in thought. 

“Do the thoughts in your head ever get so loud that the only way to quiet them is to pull yourself from your head and into reality?”

“...Yeah…”

“Things got too loud with my past last night and Raihan’s been really sweet about things so I figured...maybe… just him being there would make me feel better… and it did. It’s been so long since I haven’t had to hide myself or feelings from people and it’s just nice. He’s a great person and I really like just hanging out with him.”

Leon blinks at you in surprise. 

“I see… I really didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine, you were looking out for your friend,” you say dismissively as you take a bite of your breakfast. 

The silence that settles over the two of you is heavy as you check the news. You know you will be able to release your team for some much-needed training today, they aren’t used to being this inactive. Once Raihan has finished his shower you all head out into the Wild Area. The minute you step onto the grass you release your team.

Havoc your Garchomp, Ember your Ninetails, Aurora your Aloan Ninetails, Joker your Zoroark, Cerberus your Houndoom, and Lunatik your Midnight Lycanroc are all excited to be out and about. Both guys release their respective teams and you watch in amusement as they race around or play fight. You all leisurely make your away towards the Lake of Outrage.

You are surprised when a storm begins to brew out of nowhere and suddenly you are caught in the rain. Cerberus and Ember are especially displeased with the water and demand to be put back in their homes with Aurora following along quickly behind. The change in weather doesn’t seem to bother Havoc, Joker or Lunatik as the three of them rush ahead of you all only to run back a few moments later. 

“This is perfect!” yells Raihan.

“Perfect?!” you yep back holding the hood of your jacket over your head against the wind. 

“Yeah, the perfect storm for a Toxel…”

You smile as you rush towards the tall grass and begin to look around, it isn’t long until you stumble across several of the little guys all pouting about. You squeal as you take out your poke’balls and throw a few at the surprised baby pokemon. You check the stats to find out the information after deeming them acceptable you send them to your box. 

“Why did you catch three of them?” questions Leon as he comes up behind you. 

“I’m going to send one Hau to congratulate him on being the new champion.”

“You’re pretty close to the kid aren’t you?” Raihan asks. 

“I’ve known him for several years and I have trained him on many occasions.”

“Did you train him to take your place?” Raihan asks. 

“Smart boy,” you say with a smirk as you glance behind you. 

“So you knew you didn’t want to be champion anymore?” Leon throws the questions over his shoulder from the lead. 

“I did. There was a point last year where I knew I needed to start grooming my successor and I chose Hau. I don’t know that he ever really caught on until he beat me in that official match. It’s hero worship you know? You always feel that those you look up to will always be better than you.”

“Yeah... well... you’re still the queen in my book,” Raihan says with a wink as he glances over his shoulder at you. His canine winking at you with his smirk. 

“Thanks, Raihan… The question is: when are you going to ask for that battle you’ve been itching for?”

“How do you know I’ve been itching to battle you?”

“I’ve seen the way you look at Havoc. You want to battle him so badly.”

He laughs, “You caught me! I do want to battle you! Maybe when you’re settled we can go to the ring? Make an event of it?”

“You want your crushing defeat on national television? I can roll with that…”

He barks another laugh, “I may not be so easy to beat…”

“You’re cute when you’re optimistic… I bet you’re downright adorable when you’ve been defeated…”

“I know this is technically supposed to be trash talk but you just called me cute and I’m going to leave it right there. Small victories you know?”

You threw your head back and laughed at him right as a large lake comes into view. You aren’t surprised when a Gyarados pops up out of the water and roars before diving back under. You feel the adrenaline kick up and you love it. 

 “This is crazy!” you yell as you peddle on the water bike racing the guys to the other side. Once there you look around at the pokemon in the area and you squeal in excitement. Several types are wandering around that you have never seen before. Quickly you begin to poke around the area with the boys following close behind you. Raihan is leaning against the wall as he watches you hang out in the tall grass. You are very still as you take in the pokemon and the new surroundings. You spend the next few hours asking Leon and Raihan about the pokemon that you come across that you don’t recognize. That is until you see a Dreepy floating close to a nearby rock peeking out at its surroundings. 

Cautiously you creep up on the baby dragon and giggle before you engage it with a pokemon suited for catching it. It isn’t long until you’ve worn it down enough to capture it. 

Pleased with the two baby pokemon you’ve caught today you all decide to continue your trip to Hammerlocke. You head back to the lake and hop onto the bike before you head across the lake. Gazing into the blue sky you feel that new feeling of peace that you are slowly getting familiar with. You aren’t prepared when out of nowhere a Gyrados leaps from the water right below you and sends you under in a matter of seconds. You are disoriented and you aren’t sure which way is up as you tumble about below the currents and the sea snake circles you. You can feel your chest tighten as what little air you have is slowly depleted. Vaguely you are aware of the Gyrados getting closer to you until an attack hits the water and it rears back before rushing towards what you assume is the surface. A blinding light catches your attention in the water and you notice floating beside you is Joker your Zoroark. He quickly grasps your hand before he makes his way to the surface. 

The moment you break the surface of the water you inhale the biggest breath of air of your life. You are dazed and disoriented as you notice Raihan’s Flygon battling the Gyrados as the trainer himself rushes towards you on this bike. You see pieces of your own floating in the water near you, but you brush them away as Raihan hauls you onto this bike. His arms wrap instantly around you before he checks for injuries. 

“Are you okay?!” he asks as he hugs you to him once more satisfied you aren’t in any imminent danger. 

“I am…” you wheeze out. 

“Are you sure?”

“Not really… I’ve had many life or death situations on my travels but this was the best yet…” You lean against Raihan in an attempt to rest and before you really know what happens, your already foggy brain shuts down and you pass out in his arms. 

Notes: So sorry for the delay in stories! I’ve finally found my stride again and I’m feeling better about life. Thank you so much for checking on me and the well wishes for my kitty baby! If I didn’t answer it’s because I had a lot going on for a while that I needed to deal with, but you all made me smile nonetheless! Please comment or send me a message to let me know your thoughts! 

[azdoine]

"you can't write a kickass training montage to prepare to win someone else's heart" to be honest, I wouldn't mind reading a fanfiction where instead of toning down Sakura's crush to make her "take training seriously", it is amped up a bit and she's just a bit more unhinged she gets tunnel-vision about being strong enough to take care of any threat to Sasuke or anything that might come between them, and it has the same effect. Girls in her class are competition for potential future Sasuke girlfriend? Crush the competition by being stronger, or by intimidating them. Slightly older girls seem to think Sasuke is cool or cute? Clearly she needs to up her game. Sasuke's whole clan was wiped out? Instead of "I need to date him so we can repopulate the clan" or "I'll just stand by his side being supportive uwu", she immediately starts to try and figure out a way to eliminate that threat first, somehow. Clearly it wouldn't be healthy for her or for Sasuke but adults in that world would probably just chalk it down to "girls being girls" and think it's cute or funny that he's got a very dedicated "fangirl", but at least there would be room for character developement as she either grows out of that phase by herself or someone manages to get through to her that she's basically treating him like an object without feelings or she becomes so obsessed with her goal of getting stronger to help get rid of the threats that she ends up forgetting about Sasuke altogether, idk

I know I say "getting stronger" but since she clearly can't compete with chakra powerhouses, maybe she could pull a Kabuto and use medical chakra in unethical ways or something

HELL YEAH

pedantry ahead, though, because tbh, aside from the Senju and the Uzumaki, IDK if the concept of a “chakra powerhouse” even exists in canon - b/c chakra is just a mixture of physical and spiritual energy. so Sakura having low chakra reserves is just an expression of the fact that she’s not very fit, and the Senju/Uzumaki having super-chakra is just an expression of the fact that they have overwhelming levels of vitality.

the disconnect between physical ability and chakra reserves is pretty much fanon, and ppl typically point to Lee to justify it, but he’s just “talentless” (i.e. intellectually or learning disabled) at ninjutsu, not physically or metaphysically disabled. really, he shows that anyone can get ridiculously buff (and thus get ridiculous reserves of physical energy in return, by implication)...

lmao im sorry anon, i can’t commiserate with you about sakura badfic without losing track and deep diving into naruto fanon. my bad

[classpect-crew]

Class and Purpose

I’ve heard a lot of people theorize about the purpose of each Class in any particular session. As you can probably imagine, I have a few thoughts about that. Let’s get into it, shall we? (Edit: this took me nearly two hours to write. It’s almost 7am. I need to sleep.)

First, we ought to start with the Witch and Heir. Now, all the Witches we’ve seen in canon seem to have a very similar beginning. They start off fairly passive (lowercase “p” this time) and have quite a lengthy maturation arc, not unlike Pages. However, once they hit a certain breaking point when they come into their powers, there’s a sort of “oh, shit” moment when everyone else is forced to reckon with one of their most unassuming players swiftly transforming into a powerhouse. With this much power at their disposal in such a short period of time, you may be wondering what they’re going to do with it. Well, historically speaking, they’re going to massively fuck things up for the session, whether intentionally or not. If the game determines that a brick shithouse of a player is required for some ultimate endgame, that means things are going to go very, very wrong. Ironically, the Witch may very well be the one to save the team from total catastrophe. It will usually work out in the end. Usually.

Now, the Heir is a bit of a different story. As one whose Aspect coddles and protects them in desperate times, the Heir is destined to become their Aspect in one way or another, for better or worse. After all, when a sullen, hungry Aspect like Void was influencing Equius, he ended up vanishing into irrelevance. Even his blood was used to obscure information in Rose’s tome. A similar fate befell Mituna, and he became the embodiment of sacrifice—of Doom. Heirs are doorways for their Aspects to affect the universe. They are the closest any living being can get to a distilled, pure form of an Aspect. If your session has an Heir, pay very close attention to the implications of their Aspect, because this will almost always determine how they’ll be used most effectively. An Heir of Blood, for example, is going to be your hard-working people-person, and you’ll want them in the center of your team, keeping everyone grounded and focused on the task at hand. Take heed: the appearance of an Heir is a sign that one Aspect in particular is going to have a strong influence on the session.

Next, we’ll discuss the Mage and Seer. A Mage’s role in a session is to unravel the mysteries of their Aspect, which means they’ll take on an advisory role. Their appearance marks a significant need for in-depth understanding of some kind. Every session has its riddles and puzzles, but those which possess a Mage need the mind of a scientist in order to parse out the most convoluted secrets. Perhaps the session is filled with difficult or confusing Aspect-related mysteries that must be taken apart and examined for an endgame victory to be possible. Unfortunately, we just don’t know enough about Mages in canon to speculate a whole lot more about what their presence in a session might mean.

The Seer has a similar purpose as the Heir, though to a lesser extent. While the Heir embodies their Aspect, a Seer is guided by theirs in subtle ways. The appearance of a Seer as an adviser ensures that the ultimate path to success will be either helped or hindered by their Aspect, and it’s up to them to figure out the extent and purpose of their Aspect’s sway in their session. This Passive Class tends to be assigned to otherwise active players who wish to exert their will over the universe, but must learn to step back and take on the role of a guide. Many will balk at this, but most will eventually realize that their true strength comes from trusting others to take their advice and push the team forward.

Now, onto the Maid and Sylph. The Maid, as I’ve discussed previously, begins their journey at the mercy of their Aspect’s most negative qualities. As you can imagine, a Maid’s purpose is to gain control of their Aspect in a way that allows them to “tidy it up” and maintain its integrity. The appearance of a Maid in a session almost guarantees that their Aspect is going to be fraying and torn, in need of their mending expertise. You can certainly expect a lot of difficulties to arise in the realm of their Aspect at the beginning, since they’ll lack the ability to smooth out those bumps for quite some time. Once the Maid realizes their potential, however, stand back and allow them to do their work. Chances are, they know what needs to be done to succeed, and you don’t want to stand in the way of a Maid and a stitch to be fixed.

Ah, the Sylph. As one myself, it’s fairly easy to imagine what my purpose in a session would be. Similar to the Maid, a Sylph’s job is one of restoration and healing, though they tend to start out with much more confidence toward their Aspect than the Maid. The presence of a Sylph in a session is a handy sign that their Aspect is likely going to be lost or broken at any given point, and therefore in need of restoration. This could be metaphorical, or quite literal, depending on the situation. As a Sylph of Time myself, it’s easy to imagine bringing back an amnesiac’s memories by “restoring” the time they lost, or healing a wound by speeding up time around it. Beware, however, as a Sylph’s energy isn’t limitless, and even the most dedicated healers need time to recuperate, or else they risk overexerting themselves and burning out. (Trust me, “Sylph Burnout” is a very real thing.)

Well, the first half is over, so now it’s time to talk about the Prince and Bard. As destroyer Classes, one might wonder what these might mean for their Aspects. That’s quite simple: both indicate an overabundance of their Aspect that must be pruned away. The Prince, in particular, is infamous for destroying their Aspect within themselves before turning their crusade outward. Too much of one Aspect upsets the balance, after all, so it must be purged to allow its opposite to rush in to fill that gap. If your session has a Prince, buckle up tight, because any semblance of their Aspect that exists is going to be an irresistible target for their princely purge. Although this is probably a good thing overall for the session, it’s going to be rather painful at the onset. Princes may “get the tumors out,” so to speak, but they’re likely to leave the patient bleeding on the operating table afterwards.

Having a Bard in your party is a little bit like inviting a chimpanzee to a D&D session: it’s exciting and unpredictable at first, but after a while, shit really starts to hit the fan and you’re left wondering “who invited this guy in the first place?” Truthfully, though, the Bard can be both a game-changing player and the one who dooms the entire session. In rare cases, they’re both simultaneously. Their Passive nature makes it difficult to predict what they’ll do next, since they act based on the whims of both their Aspect and its opposite, but it’s fairly certain your session will be rife with discord and conflict, due in part to the Bard. It’s sort of the universe’s way of throwing a curveball in the form of a player to challenge the team even further. A Bard is both a buff and a nerf to your team. Use them wisely, and never, ever turn your back on the Bard.

Well, well, it’s about time we talked about the Knight and Page. A Knight’s appearance has a very obvious consequence: whatever their Aspect is, that’s what your session will be lacking. Dave’s session was very, very short on time, Karkat’s had virtually no natural cohesion, and Latula’s was filled with big personalities with no regard for the consequences of their actions. This is because the Knight’s job is to use whatever they can get of their Aspect and exploit the hell out of it. Give them an inch, and they’ll turn it into a mile without breaking a sweat. This is especially handy when there’s precious little of their Aspect to go around.

Now, having a Page in your session may sound like a recipe for dead weight, but that would be an incredibly unfair assumption. Rather, a Page has access to a great deal of exploitative power as they reach the climax of their development. The presence of a Page is a very good sign indeed, as long as the team is willing to put up with their very slow and steep maturation arc. Their Aspect is one that will be opened up to be used by their teammates in game-breaking ways, provided they’re patient and encouraging toward the Page. Good things come to those who wait, and wasting the potential of a fully realized Page is not a mistake you want to make.

Last but certainly not least, we have the Thief and Rogue. Thieves get a bit of a bad rap in canon, but it’s safe to say that the Thief will become a powerful player in any given session. Their appearance signifies great conflict and strife, which they’ll almost certainly cause in the first place. Thieves begin much like Pages in the sense that they lack their Aspect and seek to obtain it. For the Thief, this Aspect-shaped hole is too much to bear, and their schemes to take it at any cost will likely be the source of the session’s woe. This isn’t necessarily all bad, however, as knowing your Thief well enough can help you predict the nature of this unavoidable conflict, allowing you to prepare well in advance. Remember, the Thief can make an incredible ally, but their interests won’t always fully align with those of the party.

Finally, we have the Rogue. Ultimately, the Rogue is in charge of balancing their Aspect by redistributing it from areas of abundance to those of scarcity. Too much of one Aspect upsets the universal balance, and as we’ve covered previously, there are quite a few Classes whose purpose involves tipping the scales back where they’re supposed to be. The Rogue is the most intricately tied to this delicate dance between their Aspect and its opposite, since the presence of one necessarily negates the other. Their job is to facilitate this natural order, ensuring that their Aspect doesn’t become too concentrated in one form or another, ultimately supporting a natural sense of order over chaos.

If you’ve read all the way to the end, congratulations! You’ve officially read through nearly two hours of my creative process. I’m actually really impressed.

[starwarsnonsense]

Top 10 Most Anticipated Films of 2020

Now I’ve got my embarrassingly late ‘Best of 2019′ list out of the way, I can finally proceed to the list that’s probably more exciting - my most anticipated films of 2020!

This list excludes films that have already been screened at festivals (otherwise, stuff like Saint Maud would be here). It’s also somewhat analogous to groping about for a light switch in the dark - these lists very rarely accurately predict my ultimate favourites for the year, so it’s more of a fun speculative exercise. Hopefully this puts some intriguing-looking films on your radar for the year ahead! 

1. Dune (dir. Denis Villeneuve)

Plot: The story of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people.

Why be excited? The reasons to be excited about Dune should be pretty self-evident - it’s directed by one of the greatest filmmakers working today (Villeneuve’s Incendies and Blade Runner 2049 are all-timers for me), and is based on one of the best science-fiction novels ever written. The cast -  Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem, Charlotte Rampling, and more - is absolutely stacked with talent. There’s every reason to believe that this will be something special, and I couldn’t be more pleased that Villeneuve is the man responsible for filling that Star Wars-shaped hole in the December release schedule.

2. Annette (dir. Leos Carax)

Plot: A stand-up comedian (Adam Driver), and his opera singer wife (Marion Cotillard), have a two-year-old daughter with a surprising gift.

Why be excited? You may not have heard of him, but Leos Carax is one of the most exciting directors working - he only makes around one film a decade, but the films he does make tend to be very special. I’ve only seen one film of his - Lovers on the Bridge - but that was filled with such ecstatic romance and wondrous visuals that it made me tremendously excited for Annette. Annette is a top-to-bottom musical with songs by American duo Sparks (if you know them for anything, it will be ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us’), and said songs will be delivered by Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard. It goes without saying that both actors are extremely talented performers with great voices (see Driver in Marriage Story and Cotillard in Nine for evidence), and I’m looking forward to seeing how they demonstrate their talents here.

3. Last Night in Solo (dir. Edgar Wright)

Plot: A young girl (Thomasin McKenzie), passionate in fashion design, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters her idol, a dazzling wannabe singer (Anya Taylor-Joy). But 1960s London is not what it seems, and time seems to fall apart with shady consequences.

Why be excited? I’m not the biggest Edgar Wright fan, but I admire him greatly and the premise of Last Night in Soho is like cat-nip to me. Speaking to Empire, Wright explained the story as follows: “I’m taking a premise whereby you have a character who, in a sort of abstract way, gets to travel in time. And the reality of the decade is maybe not what she imagines. It has an element of ‘be careful what you wish for’.” I’m a sucker for a good, old-fashioned high concept, especially when said films play with genre and really challenge the viewer. The two female leads - Thomasin McKenzie (JoJo Rabbit, Leave No Trace) and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Emma) - are among the very best young actors working today, and the supporting cast features absolute legends such as Diana Rigg and Terence Stamp. Whether it’s successful or not, this film feels like a genuinely original prospect and I’m eager to see how it turns out.

4. The Green Knight (dir. David Lowery)

Plot: A fantasy re-telling of the medieval tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Why be excited? There has been a sad lack of films based on mythology in recent years - or, to be more accurate, there has been a sad lack of films that attempt to honour what the myths were actually trying to convey. The stunning trailer for Green Knight promises a film that genuinely engages with its source material, and is just as interested in the psychological truths of the tale as the spectacle of its fantastical scenarios. Dev Patel is an extremely talented actor coming off another great movie in The Personal History of David Copperfield, and the supporting cast (Alicia Vikander!) appear to be fully committed to their parts. I’m excited to see a true myth on the big screen again, and David Lowery (A Ghost Story, The Old Man & The Gun) can be trusted to give an old tale a new sense of vitality. 

5. The French Dispatch (dir. Wes Anderson)

Plot: The staff of a European publication decides to publish a memorial edition highlighting the three best stories from the last decade: an artist sentenced to life imprisonment, student riots, and a kidnapping resolved by a chef.

Why be excited? It’s a Wes Anderson movie! Of course I’m excited! In all seriousness, the trailer was all I needed to get hyped about this. It’s clearly Anderson’s quintessential style, but it also shows flashes of some very bold and striking compositions (yes, I’m thinking of Chalamet on the back of that motorcycle) that you wouldn’t necessarily think of in relation to him. I’m intrigued by the prospect of there being stories nested within a story, which feels like the perfect choice for the structure of a film about a newspaper. The cast features all of Anderson’s old favourites (Swinton! Murray! McDormand!), as well as some exciting new additions (Timothée Chalamet, Elisabeth Moss, Christoph Waltz, among others) that feel so well-suited to his style it’s surprising they haven’t worked together before. Bring on all those immaculately composed shots and exquisite colour palettes.

6. Tenet (dir. Christopher Nolan)

Plot: Unknown. The project is described as an action epic revolving around international espionage.

Why be excited? I hate to sound repetitive, but ... it’s a Christopher Nolan movie. That alone is enough to be hyped about this. Details of the plot are vague for now, but the teaser suggests the sort of intelligent, high-concept film-making we’ve come to expect from Nolan. John David Washington - who impressed in BlacKkKlansman - is a great choice for the lead, and I also love that Tenet will feature Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Debicki (among my favourite actors) in prominent roles. There’s not much else to say given how little we know about this, but suffice to say I’ll be there on day one!

7. Wonder Woman 1984 (dir. Patty Jenkins)

Plot: Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) comes into conflict with the Soviet Union during the Cold War in the 1980s and finds a formidable foe by the name of the Cheetah (Kristen Wiig).

Why be excited? The original Wonder Woman was an absolute delight, and I couldn’t be more pleased that Patty Jenkins is back to continue Diana’s story. The decision to pick up with Diana in the 1980s is most intriguing (and paves the way for all kinds of exciting choices when it comes to the music and the fashions), especially since it looks like the film is actually going to explore the implications of being an immortal being in a mortal world. 

8. Raya and the Last Dragon (dir. Paul Briggs and Dean Wellins)

Plot: A lone warrior from the fantasy kingdom of Kumandra teams up with a crew of misfits in her quest to find the Last Dragon and bring light and unity back to their world.

Why be excited? The animation scene in 2020 looks kind of ... blah at the moment, with the notable exception of Raya and the Last Dragon. The setting was described by the film’s producer as  "a reimagined Earth inhabited by an ancient civilization that venerated the mythical dragons for their power and their wisdom”, and that alone is enough to fire up my imagination. Off the back of Moana and the Frozen films (which I all unabashedly love), I trust Disney Animation to instil this with plenty of colour and verve.

9. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (dir. Charlie Kaufman)

Plot: An unexpected detour turns a couple’s road trip into a terrifying journey through their fragile psyches.

Why be excited? Directed by Charlie Kaufman (writer of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), I’m Thinking of Ending Things is based on a prize-winning novel. However, despite the pedigree the main reason I’m looking forward to this is Jessie Buckley. Buckley gave a star-making performance in Beast a few years ago, and has since proven herself an actor of immense talent and skill (see Wild Rose for proof of what a powerhouse she is). I’m excited to see her career continue to go from strength to strength, and I’m Thinking of Ending Things seems poised to be a great showcase for her.

10. The Last Duel (dir. Ridley Scott)

Plot: King Charles VI declares that Knight Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) settle his dispute with his squire (Adam Driver) by challenging him to a duel.

Why be excited? Ridley Scott is a bit of a mixed bag for me, and has never come close to reaching the heights of Alien and Blade Runner with his recent work. Nonetheless, against my better judgement I can’t help but be excited by the prospect of a medieval epic with Scott at the helm. The acting talent attached to The Last Duel is top-notch, and I’m particularly fond of Jodie Comer (of Killing Eve fame) and Adam Driver (do you really need me to say more?). There’s a very real danger of the highly sensitive plot (the ‘dispute’ at the heart of the story concerns an accusation of rape, the truth of which is to be determined with a duel) being mishandled by Scott, but the involvement of screenwriter Nicole Holofcener gives me some hope. This could turn out to be a misfire, but my hope is that it will, at the very least, be interesting.

[autumnsky]

That transcription and sociolignuistic analysis of the “does running water hurt vampires” scene! Under cut because it’s a whole short paper. The transcription is done with a simplified version of the Jefferson transcription system.

I still can’t believe I not only handed this in for marks, but got 100% lmao. Prof’s only comment was “I didn't know you could sociolinguistically analyze the speech of a vampire coven until I read your assignment.” 

Transcription

1   Dracula:     Any city (.) built over running water is a place that we (.) as vampires should approach carefully.

2   (3.0)

3   Isaac:         Running water,? (.) I’ve never heard of that affecting vampires.

4   Godbrand: Death by running water hasn’t happened in ma?ny centuries

5   Hector:      Why not,?

6   Godbrand: Look arou?nd. We moved into the middle of countries.

7   Hector:      I’d been told that vampires couldn’t cross running water

8   Godbrand: I’ve been on boats (.) I’ve had baths.

9   Isaac:        When. ((Godbrand gives him a look but does not verbally respond))

10 Hector:      Baths aren’t running water though. are they.

11 Godbrand: Course they are

12  Isaac:        How can baths be running water. The water’s stopped being poured when you get in.

13  Carmilla: The Greeks used to bury us on small islands because the graves would be surrounded by running water

14 Godbrand: I think I would feel (.) like running water would probably kill me.

15  Carmilla: Really? (.) Do you feel like poison would kill you? Of course you don’t <it’s a thing you learn.> It’s not like we’re given a manual for being a vampire=

16  Dracula: =ENOUGH!

Short Paper

           The above dialogue transcription is from Netflix’s Castlevania, Season 2: Episode 2: “Old Homes” and the speech situation is a war council between Dracula and his generals on which city they should focus their troops on, which gets side tracked by an argument over if running water affects vampires and if so, what that affect is. The setting is the throne room of Dracula’s castle. The participants are Dracula, Isaac, Godbrand, Hector, and Carmilla. Each participant has their own agenda in the surrounding conversation but during the part that is transcribed the only ends are the generals to exchange their knowledge of running water affecting vampires and Dracula to make them shut up. Act sequences include line 1 as a warning, line 3 being a statement used as a prompt for explanation, line 4 as either a barely related statement or an explanation for why Isaac hasn’t heard of this vampire lore (rather than elaboration on said lore, which Isaac seems to be prompting), lines 5 and 6 are a question/answer adjacency pair, lines 7 and 8 are a statement and denial, lines 9 and 10 are both criticisms phrased as questions (the implications being “you are unhygienic” and “you’re speaking nonsense���), line 11 is another denial and line 12 is another questioning criticism, line 13 is an unrelated statement, line 14 is a sort of suggestion, line 15 is another criticism (first as a question before being outright), and line 16 is a demand. The key/emotional tone is annoyance and confusion. The mode is spoken, and the type varies between characters but is generally informal. Conventions of interaction are broken multiple times with barely related statements but there are also instances where conventions are followed, such as questions being answered, and statements being acknowledged. The genre is conversational.

           This segment is meant to be comedic, which at least partially explains why it is very informal compared to the formal setting of a throne room in which the conversation takes place. Further explanation may be that the generals are expressing a subtle disrespect towards one another by consistently no-naming instead of addressing others with their proper titles, in addition to their thinly veiled insults. This is in notable contrast to how they usually address Dracula with variations of “Lord Dracula” and “my lord” though it is not evident in this short segment, effectively establishing him as having the highest status but refusing to address other generals in a way that might reflect more than equal or lesser status. Dracula’s power status is evident in this segment specifically by the way he does not involve himself with the side-tracked argument except to put an end to it with a command of a single word (line 16) which the generals obey. Despite being a fair distance from most of the other people in the room, Dracula does not raise his voice or speak quickly in line 1. This may be in part because most of his generals presumably have heightened senses, but it also shows that he is confident that the rest of the room will stay quiet and listen closely. There is also a noticeable beat after Dracula’s statement in line 1, where the generals wait to speak longer than they do with each other, possibly in case he will say more. The generals are much less worried about making sure other generals are finished before speaking, although they do not have a high enough involvement style that they overlap their lines.

           That said, one might interpret the way Isaac and Hector both incredulously question Godbrand (lines 9 to 12) as a show of solidarity. They never directly address each other but they both express doubt about the same subject which might count as an indirect agreement. Isaac and Hector are together second in command to Dracula while also being criticized for being the only two humans in Dracula’s inner court, and therefore have the most reason to get along.

Hector is implied to have lived in the Mediterranean before moving to the castle, so Carmilla’s seemingly random fun fact about old Greek vampire burial traditions (line 13) may also be an attempt to gain Hector’s approval as part of her plan to manipulate him into betraying Dracula. By switching the topic right after Isaac asked a question, even something as unimportant as why Godbrand would think baths count as running water, Carmilla may also be using a positive face threatening act to undermine Isaac’s authority and create a rift between him and Hector.

Overall, the conversation is referential with much expressive, and some phatic, subtext. It is also worth noting that the segment transcribed does not have a very solid opening since the transcription does not start at the beginning of the scene but rather at the beginning of the off-topic tangent.

 References

Ellis, W. (Writer), Deats, S. (Director), & Wan, S. (Director). (2018). Old Homes [Netflix series episode]. In Castlevania. Powerhouse Animation Studios.

Herk, G.V. (2018). What Is Socioloinguistics? Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

[ktlsyrtis]

Conflicted. That’s the only word that comes to mind when I think about tonight’s episode. Serena Campbell has left the building, and with it comes the end of a era in both the world of Holby and my life (and the lives of plenty of others).

And now I find myself here with a glass of wine and a whole mess of feelings.

The good:

Tonight’s episode was truly a gift for Serena fans. After over a year of her being reduced to beautiful set dressing and everyone else’s agony aunt, it was a pure delight to see the fiery, passionate, funny, capable powerhouse of a woman who captured my heart from the moment she declared her love of a bargain with a wink and a smile.

I was rewatching some old episodes yesterday, and to see Serena go from a surgeon who was considered by others to be a bit of a soulless paper pusher, that preferred a world of well-ordered electives and financial targets, to the woman touting the joys of thriving in chaos, and performing surgery on her office floor with a pocket knife, is something I will always treasure.

It was also so satisfying to see so many of Serena’s colleagues acknowledge her as the badass she is. Serena has always been one of the emotional backbones of the show, and that really shone in this episode.

The part that made me happiest was the ending. After everything she’s been through within the walls of Holby in the last eight years, seeing her walk out that door with her head held high and a smile on her face is honestly all I could’ve hoped for. It does my heart good to see her go into a future full of possibility.

The bad:

This is where the conflict comes in. Because there were some aspects of this episode, and Serena’s larger storyline, that are hard for me to reconcile.

To start, I hate the entire Max/Ric/NHS conflict story at its core. I hate that, once again, Serena’s story revolves around her abuse and betrayal at the hands of the institution she’s given so much of her life to. When Max fired her out of hand (no matter if it got reversed), it damn near broke my heart. And don’t get me started on Holby’s apparent belief that professional women can only be competitive backstabbers, rather than supporting each other. Max has been a deeply wasted opportunity.

Also, while I’m glad to see her leave, Holby beating Serena down to the point that she seems to be honestly considering giving up medicine? Doesn’t feel like a victory to me. It feels like just another thing she loves that’s being taken from her.

The Bernie:

You could technically file this under ‘the bad,’ but I thought it warranted a separate conversation.

Let’s start with Bernie in this episode. Because she was definitely there, in every corner. From the conversations with Alex and Cam, to the glare Serena gave Max when she sat on the edge of Bernie’s desk, Bernie was present in a way that was almost palpable. All of the scenes with Alex were just...ugh. Uncomfortable, off-putting, and infuriating are a few words that come to mind. 

I actually like the idea of Serena and Alex being friends, in theory. It would make sense that they would share a strong bond and be able to connect in a way they can’t with anyone else. Shared grief will do that. But does Alex have to be so fucking creepy all the time???? And just because they’re two queer women doesn’t mean there automatically needs to be the implication of some thing romantic there. Literally no one wants that. (Quick shout out to Catherine Russell for not ever leaning into that for even a second. I’m convinced she had our backs on that one!)

The part that upset me the most was their conversation after Alex’s surgery. Watching Serena have to comfort Alex about her sadness over losing Bernie...I don’t think I have the words for how upsetting that was. Like, what kind of fucking slap in the face. She doesn’t even really get to grieve the love of her life, and now she has to hold the hand of the woman Bernie moved on with? Thanks, I hate it.

Which takes us back to the core issue, the one that irrevocably tainted the whole proceeding from the start - why on earth did it have to be like this? 

I honestly don’t understand the logic behind killing off Bernie, and I doubt I ever will. I’ve tried to make my peace with it as best I can, but this episode really hammered home what nonsense it truly was. Because from a narrative perspective, it did nothing? Except to make Serena’s life that much more miserable, and to give Cam even more mommy issues. But nothing about it really impacted the plot in a way that couldn’t have been done another way.

The whole episode, all I could think of was how very easily they could’ve given us the happy ending we deserved. They didn’t even have to get them back together! Imagine if instead of the whole death plot, Cam had just occasionally mentioned all the good Bernie was doing in Africa, how it made him feel like what he’s doing is so much less important. They even could’ve had Alex show up injured, and let slip that she and Bernie are engaged. Think of the drama! And then when Serena is finally fed up with it all, and she’s standing with Ric and he asks what she’s going to do next? She just smiles That Smile™, and says she’s heading to Africa. That she’s going to try and win Bernie back. 

But of course that isn’t what happened. And there’s a part of my heart that can’t get past the idea that while she may find peace, Serena is never going to be truly, fully happy.

The tl;dr:

At the end of the day, with everything that came before, I think this is the best possible ending Serena could’ve gotten, and for that I’m extremely grateful. It’s just going to take me a while to process the end of a character who’s meant so very much to me, and all they ways it could’ve been so much better than we got.

[prism-sakura-s]

Gingerbread Houses

Chapter 1: A Night of Decision

Prompt: Fake Relationship for the Holidays

Warnings: sympathetic remus and deceit (his name is Nathaniel here), pressure, mentions of murder, decapitation, and gutting

Pairings: Eventual romantic Intrulogical, (background) established queerplatonic Prinxiety, (background) pining Moceit

 <   >   AO3

A/N: Here it is! My second fic for @sanderssidescelebrations‘ ts holiday month! Finished just before the last day of Christmas (in America). As such, this whole thing is pretty much raw and... unpolished. Sorry about that. Hopefully y’all find it decent lmao

~

“Oh yes, how could we have seen that one coming?” Nathaniel drawled sarcastically, lounging on the couch and exasperatedly watching Logan pace across the living room. “It’s not like your mom, who birthed a brainy powerhouse, also has a strong memory of her own, as she has demonstrated many times before.” 

“Come on, Nath, give Logan a break,” Patton urged in a kind but firm tone. “It was a simple mistake.”

“A simple mistake I should not have overlooked!” Logan hissed desperately. 

“See? He agrees anyway,” Nathaniel said, shrugging. 

Patton sighed.

“Well, what are you going to do?” Virgil asked, zir feet draped across Roman’s legs. “You just gonna tell your parents you lied?”

Logan paled. “Oh, definitely not,” he said. “They hate it when I lie.”

“So then what, Single Bell?” Roman inquired, clearly entertained by Logan’s befuddled state. “Perhaps say you broke up with your mysterious lover. Holds up the lie while eradicating it completely at the same time.” 

“No, just tell them you accidentally murdered your boyfriend!” Remus suggested gleefully. “And then make up a sob story as to why exactly you did it, along with a graphic description of how! I suggest gutting and decapitation.” 

“But what if they find out you lied in the future?” Virgil asked, ignoring Remus completely. “You eradicate their trust that way.”

“They are…  rather sensitive souls.” Logan grimaced. “There isn’t much I can do about this situation, is there?” 

“How about feeding the lie?” Nathaniel proposed. 

All heads in the room turned to him. 

“What do you mean?” Patton asked. 

“Bring someone along for the stay, tell your parents he’s your boyfriend,” Nathaniel elaborated. “And then say you broke up after, so you don’t have to keep up the act. Easy peasy.”

“You’re just stealing a very popular fanfic trope,” Virgil pointed out. “I believe that’s called a ‘Fake Dating AU’, wherein the two characters in a fake relationship almost always fall in love by the end. If you’re looking to avoid that, I don’t think that would be the best way to go.” 

“Ah, but that’s in the fanfic world, dear Vee,” Nathaniel countered. “We-- wipe that scowl off your face Roman, it’s just a simple nickname-- We are not in a fanfiction, as far as I’m aware. And I think you’re forgetting that Logan here is a master at not feeling extreme emotions. Who says it won’t turn out differently? We’re just employing the tactic, not the plot.” 

“That is a good point,” Patton agreed. “What do you think, Lo?”

“That could be a solution,” Logan mused. “But… are any of you available?”

Silence fell upon the room... for about a second before it was quickly broken by Remus.

“Ro-ro and Virgey-poo are busy platonically smooshing booties, Patton’s family are kidnapping him so they can go to the Philippines to talk with unfamiliar and uncomfortably prying relatives, and your mom loves eye-murdering Nathaniel, so I’d say most of us are unavailable.”

Logan stared at Remus for a while, carefully putting together the information. “So.. all are unavailable… except for you.” 

Virgil coughed into zir sleeve several times. Patton’s eyes widened. Roman looked genuinely panicked. Nathaniel merely smirked. 

Logan considered his option. Truth to be told, although Logan has hung out with everyone a decent amount of times, he’d say Remus was the one he was least close with. Remus was... endearing in a certain way, although Logan couldn’t really pinpoint why. The guy was honest, observant and had a very expanse knowledge of murder techniques, but that’s about all Logan knew about him. 

“I’m a little worried you might… unnerve my parents,” Logan admitted. “Er, no offense but, your interests are very… disturbing to most.”

“Not to Jeffrey Dahmer they wouldn’t be.”

Logan sighed quietly. Was Remus really his only option?

“Aww, pwease Newdy Wowvewine?” Remus cooed, pouting and trying to make puppy eyes. “I pwomise I’ww be a vewy good boy in fwont of youw mommy! And even behind the doow! And on youw be-”

“Okay, you definitely cannot take him with you with that kind of behavior,” Roman protested. “Just tell your parents the truth, Single Bell Twunk!” 

“You just made the same joke as Single Bell,” Virgil said. 

“It was a variation! Logan, you are a very dear friend to me, and I will not see your dignity and reputation spoiled by my rabid gremlin of a brother!”

“Don’t listen to him, Tech Weenie!” Remus scoffed, casually raising his foot to behind his head. “I sincerely, candidly, earnestly, unequivocally-- you like that last word? It’s a big word, turns you on doesn’t it-- promise to pretend to be your boyfriend for your one week visit to your parents, in an appropriate manner, so their hearts will not be torn to shreds. Rip my heart out, cross it, and-” he giggled, “-swear to die.” 

On that note, Logan needed a fake date to please his mother, and he supposed this would be a good opportunity for some bonding with Remus Reule. 

~

Nathaniel sipped some sparkling wine begrudgingly, as the others did not want him to get drunk the night before he drove Patton to the airport. He still drank it out of a wine glass though, because that’s exactly the kind of bitch he was. Nathaniel listened to the clinking of the kitchenware and the stream of water from the faucet as Patton washed the last of the dishes. Everyone else had headed off to their respective rooms, except for Roman, who stayed with Virgil. 

“Is it really a good idea?” Nathaniel heard Patton mumble from the kitchen. 

“What is?” 

Nathaniel saw Patton flinch a little, as if the latter wasn’t expecting someone to actually hear him. 

“Er, the plan with… Logan and… Remus…” Patton trailed off. 

Nathaniel hummed and took another sip of his drink. He savored the fizziness before swallowing, then went on to swirl the sparkling wine for fun. No, he totally wasn’t trying to buy more time so he could continue to stay in the room with Patton. That would be ridiculous. 

What was Patton concerned about again? Oh, right. 

“Logan can handle Remus alone for a week,” Nathaniel reassured. “Have you seen the man? Hardly anything disturbs him. He could find a corpse and go, ‘Oh someone was murdered here. That is normal. Better call the cops and assess the body for research. Bleep bloop.’” 

“Naaaaath, that’s not nice,” Patton berated, though Nathaniel could hear a smile in his voice. 

“I’m just saying, if anyone can stay with Remus for a week with no other company but their parents and not go crazy, that person would be Logan,” Nathaniel said.

"Although…" he continued, "I’m a little curious to see if there will be a sort of… romantic outcome, in the end. It is certainly a possibility.”

Both of the persons in the room knew the implications of what Nathaniel was talking about, but none bothered to voice the shared knowledge.

“If there is… it’ll be quite surprising,” Patton chuckled breathily. 

Nathaniel raised the glass to his lips only to find it empty, not to his dismay at all. He sighed and brought it over to Patton, who proceeded to wash it as well. Small “goodnight”s were exchanged between the two, and Nathaniel headed off to turn in.

“Oh boy,” Patton said to himself as he heard Nathaniel’s door close, “Logan’s gonna have an interesting week.”

~

Taglist: @omgsomeonesomewhereonearth

[a-crimson-lion]

Strengths... and Weaknesses

I think an appropriate phrase for this post would be:

"Lord forgive me... I'm back on my bullsh*t."

Anyone who's been viewing my tumblr recently knows of my excessive hatred for one Katsuki Bakugo. I have stated time and time again that he's a gigantic asshole who only managed to tone it down a notch or two as of late. He might be the slightest bit more tolerable then he was at the start (I'm not the type to say that Katsuki had no development; I'm the type to say his development is there, but it's slow and poorly executed), but he's still overall an asshole.

In fact, before I start this post, I want to make a few things clear on where I still currently stand with Katsuki, as a person who has only seen up to Season 3 of the anime and read up to the Shie Hassaikai Arc in the manga.

First off, let's address one of the more triggering parts of the series: Katsuki's suicide instigation. Horikoshi has apparently stated that he "went too far" with Katsuki in the first chapter of the manga, and for me and maybe a few others, that sounds like if Horikoshi was given the option, he might have written out that scene entirely. Well, okay then, I understand that much; I mean, Katsuki was never that level of harsh once the story started to really kick off. So what does that change?

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

From where I stand, even if you ignore or flat out rewrite Katsuki telling Izuku to kill himself out of the story, that still doesn't change the fact that Katsuki is still a terrible person with very little development. He still bullied Izuku since they were kids. He still burned his notebook and threatened Izuku while burning his school uniform to not go to U.A. He attempted to harm Izuku on their first day at U.A., and during the Battle Trial, used a highly dangerous piece of support gear which could have very much killed Izuku (instead of, you know, using the capture tape?). He's still anti-social as all hell, which isn't a crime in and of itself until you realize that being a hero requires at least some form of cooperation. Even Eraserhead, an underground hero (which is probably as potentially anti-social as you can get) still at the very least has to work with other Pros and the authorities with some level of respectful communication. Katsuki's on his way to becoming the second Endeavor (which, depending on how the latter's redemption pans out, might be even worse than before).

That last bit is probably more the fault of my second grievence: the narrative coddles him too much. Yes, being consistently kidnapped by villains is very much not okay and is probably very traumatising, but that doesn't mean he's realizing he's becoming a better person. After the sludge incident, he didn't bother Izuku because he was too occupied with his own inferiority complex; he was angry at himself for not being "strong enough," and spent his time up to the entrance exam stewing in his insecurities. While at U.A., he gets no form of proper addressment for his actions. Eraserhead is willing to restrain Katsuki, but he won't expel him, or at the very least talk to him. Katsuki goes volatile during the Battle Trial, but no one discusses and addresses how much excessive force he uses. During the final exam, Katsuki isn't docked for his initial inability to cooperate and the fact that it took a literal punch to the face to begin doing such, and even then, Izuku caried his already beaten body past the gate, which means he technically passed. He should have been failed for his actions, maybe the villains wouldn't have been able to kidnap him during the Training Camp arc. Speaking of which, why doesn't he go back to camp and save his classmates the trouble? He just wants to fight, and this simple-minded desire ends up getting him kidnapped. And what does he learn from that kidnapping? Again, "he's weak." No introspection on his behavior except for a minor one before Deku vs Kacchan 2. No discussing his actions because he can't bring himself to be the bigger man and just talk to All Might. No, he has to bring out Izuku in the middle of the night and pummel him, and we're supposed to feel sorry for the kid because he's going through an existential crisis. Which I would feel bad, had it not been for the fact that it could have been avoided, AND his behavior aside, he's going through all the wrong coping methods. I don't care if he only knows how to express himself with violence, that fact alone warrants heaps upon heaps of propery therapy, NOT FURTHER VIOLENCE.

Before I officially take a complete dive into "anti" territory, let's look at one last thing.

Remember after Kamino Ward when Katsuki had Denki electrocute himself and he gave Eijiro some money as compensation for spending it on some fancy binoculars. Well, some of the antis I've seen have claimed the money was stolen from Denki. Personally, I don't see it. I can see Katsuki causing Denki to electrocute himself to show his begrudging care for his fellow classmates (even if it's still trying to grow). I can see Katsuki giving Eijiro money for his troubles, even if it's a blow to Katsuki's pride. I just can't see Katsuki stealing money from other people. Sure, he's an asshole, but he's not a thief. His morals are warped, not corrupted beyond the point of redemption.

Okay, so what dud I really want to talk about? Oh, right: Katsuki's obsession with strength.

We see this about three times in the manga. The first time is when Katsuki is saved by All Might at the USJ. He quickly dismisses Izuku's praise of him dodging because he didn't dodge: All Might pushed him out of danger. He won't take credit for a feat he didn't do. This segues into the second instance: his fight with Shoto. He wants Shoto to go all out in order to prove once and for all that he's the strongest in their class. Only Shoto is going through personal issues that Katsuki knows about because he eavesdropped. Even when Shoto manages to releaae his flames, he quickly snuffs them out because change is gradual; he still has to get used to the new implications of using his fire. (Sidenote: not an excuse for Katsuki's dickish behavior. Tenya and Shoto were initially percieved as assholes, and they managed to bridge that disconnect eons before Katsuki has.) Of course Katsuki's pissed at this, but I feel like he completely ignores Shoto's personal baggage and instead focuses soley on his physical strength. We'll get back to that later, but for now, let's move on to the third incident I can recall from the top of my head: Katsuki vs Setsuna. Remember that part of the Joint Training Arc where Katsuki saves Kyoka, because he FINALLY understands that saving people is important? Well, yes, but partially no. Katsuki didn't save Kyoka because of whatever goodness there was in his heart; he saved her because he thought getting a 4-0 victory was something worthy of the strongest heroes, and he even explicitly stated this. He's still focused on strength, and completely ignoring the more social aspects if heroism aside from prestige.

Remember after Deku vs Kacchan 2, where All Might says he focused too much on Katsuki's physical strength and not his emotional strength. Yeah, he's not the only one...

Katsuki himself never pays attention to the emotional side of himself. Years upon years of praise and his own decisions have led him to believe that his strong quirk and overall strengths are all he needs to become a hero. His brutal and excessive technique makes him a powerhouse to be reckoned with, but it also makes him predictably stubborn. Running away isn't an option, he has to duke it out with no remorse. The Number One Hero is about to curb stomp you? Don't run away and pass the test, try beating his ass and end up losing your lunch! Potentially dangerous villains trying to kidnap you? No worries, just keep fighting because you're a badass and no one tells you what to do- and oh, you got kidnapped. Even when confronting Izuku on his quirk, the possibility of Izuku getting his quirk for something other than physical prowess is a foreign concept for Katsuki. He ignores any and all chances of it being possibility, going so far as telling Izuku to shut up when he tries to explain himself, and even outright attacking Izuku after he tries deescalating the fight multiple times, only conceeding to Katsuki because he believes he's responsible for Katsuki to some extent (because Shonen Protagonist).

His obsession with strength is in character, but dear God it's getting old... and it's selfish.

Virtually everyone else trying to be a hero has a reason for getting stronger that isn't inherently to flaunt their superiority. Ochako? She wants to make money so her folks can rest easy. Tenya? He wants to live up to his family's legacy. Shoto? He wants to be able to protect his mom. Eijiro? He wants to be like his chivalrous idol, Crimson Riot. Izuku? He wants to get a better grasp on his quirk so he can save more people. Katsuki? He wants to prove that he's better than All Might from a physical standpoint, using the title of "Number One Hero" to elevate his status and earn the attention of everyone around him.

...see the disconnect?

I don't have a well thought out conclusion to this mess, so I'm just gonna close with this tidbit: Katsuki and Izuku sometimes do the same things for different reasons. Getting mad at Shoto? Izuku wants Shoto to go all out because everyone else is going all out, and he wants Shoto to move past his father's control; Katsuki wants Shoto to go all out because he wants to prove he's undoubtedly stronger. Idolizing All Might? Izuku admires All Might's ability to inspire and save people; Katsuki just pays attention to the physical strength and prestige, electing to ignore everything else. Saving people? Izuku saves people selflessly, with no inherent regard towards himself (he will gladly break a few bones or risk doing so just to save kids, for crying out loud); Katsuki only saves people because it strokes his own ego (the only time he ever truly went beyond was in an unnecessary fight against All Might; Two Heroes is the only exception). I'm pretty sure the list goes on.

I just hope that Katsuki learns somehow, some way, that physical strength isn't everything. Victory isn't everything. 'Cause if he doesn't, he's in for a world of hurt...

...and it's not gonna be something he can just explode and be done with.

-Crimson Lion (6 September 2019)

[realm-sweet-realm]

What would it be like if the others be in Henry’s spot in the game? ((Hope that makes sense))

From would handle it worst to best:

Couldn’t get through one loop:

Susie: She’s 95 pounds and weak as a hummingbird, combat would be a disaster. Lots of screaming and running away, lots of getting killed. Would never get past Brute Boris. Having the pedestal she put Joey on be destroyed this thoroughly would be hard on her emotionally.

Jack: would not go well. He lacks speed, agility, and stamina, so he’d get killed a lot. He’s also easily bewildered and would have a ton of empathy for the ink creatures. Definitely couldn’t get past Bertrum.

Could get through a loop. but wouldn’t escape:

Wally: easily startled, gets killed a lot at first. He’s fairly adaptable, though, and could fight decently. The puzzles would be a problem. Wouldn’t think about the deeper implications of things until he was a few loops in, but would get very upset and give up hope once he’s realized that everyone is dead.

Bertrum: combat would be a problem because he’s old (pretty strong and steady for his age, though, and is physically large). He has a solid will on him, and not much attachment to these people, so mentally he’d take it well.

Shawn: Good at combat, pretty average otherwise. Would continuously worry that Boris is Wally.

Might eventually escape:

Grant: he’s nervous, rigid-minded, and not going to take this well. He’s also pretty weak combat-wise. Even though he’s smart, once he realizes he’s in a time loop, he’d fall into despair and repeat endlessly without trying to think of a way out. Would probably figure something out eventually. (Though he’d take a long time and die more than anyone but Susie, Bertrum, and Jack.)

Allison: would be less scared of it than most, and would be above-average at fighting. Would almost enjoy the opportunity to find out all of these cool supernatural secrets until she found out how much harm they’ve caused. Would be very nurturing and kind to friendly ink creatures like Jack and Boris. Would try to talk Joey into releasing her from the time loop, and even if that didn’t work, she’s clever and might be able to come up with something.

Joey: reliving all his past mistakes has him despairing. Assuming he’s young, he’d be pretty average at fighting. He’d obviously know his way around. Might have a clue about how the time loops work and thus be able to break it.

Sammy: is emotionally strong and has a powerful will. Wouldn’t be the best at fighting, but would be one of the better ones at mentally handling it. Creative, would probably put a lot of thought into how to escape the loops.

Would escape:

(Henry would be here)

Norman: this is his game. He’s big, strong, fairly fast, can use stealth, and has a bizarre ability to turn off his emotions when need be. He’d show far less shock than most since he knew half of this was happening anyhow. Would be clever enough to find a way to break the time loop.

Thomas: powerhouse. It would be a massive guilt trip for him, but combat and puzzle-wise he’d be great. After one loop, he’d smash Joey’s face in and then call the police. 

Lacie: very good at combat, not easily phased. Would knock Joey out to end the time loop on her second loop. Wouldn’t die once.

[calliecat93]

Top 10 Favorite Female Characters

Happy International Women’s Day everyone! For many years now, there have been a lot of strides made in women’s rights. It’s still far, FAR from perfect, but we’ve still made many strides and fiction is no exception. So I thought, in celebration of today, I’d talk about some of my favorite female characters of all time. I had a LOT of options and narrowing it down was tough, but I think I made a pretty good list. So let's get on with it~

10. Kimberly Hart/The Pink Ranger (Power Rangers)

I don’t talk about Power Rangers a lot on here, but let me tell you all. Kimberly is one of the first female superheroes I ever saw, and I love her so much. She begins as a one-dimensional valley girl type, though still a good-hearted person. She’s the token girly-girl while Trini was more of the token tomboy. But Kimberly over time developed form being the least willing to be a Ranger, to devoting herself full-heartedly to her duties. She could kick just as much ass as her fellow rangers, and look pretty while she did so.

Kim was a fantastic character, especially in a boy-aimed tokusatsu adaptation. There have been many other great Pink Rangers since her time. Heck my actual favorite Pink Ranger of all time is Jen from Time Force. But the reason Kim is on here and not here? Kim is the one who started it all. She and Trini defined kickass female Rangers and none of the ones we have now would have existed without the original ladies. And as much as I also liked Trini.. well... I think that Kim is the clear stand-out among most female rangers, especially since she lasted so long. I was so sad when she left and especially how Zeo screwed her character over with that stupid Dear John letter to Tommy as well as how the 2017 movie wrote her because it just made her incredibly unsympathetic and unlikeable. But she left one Hell of a legacy and I love her.

9. Hermione Granger (Harry Potter)

Despite my feelings about the author in recent years, Harry Potter is still a series I grew up on and love. Albeit I’m one of the few who got into the films more than the books, but still. The one thing that got me into the series? Hermione. She begins as a bit of a snooty know-it-all, always rubbing her knowledge int he faces of others and coming off as kind of a brat. But we soon see that she really doesn't know how to make friends and is a serious student and good person. Once Harry and Ron befriend her, we see how much of a brave, loyal, and determined girl she is, using her brains and talent in academics to get all the info they need. They would have died multiple times without this girl.

Hermione is someone we grow up with and kind of the representative of young girls. We watch her as she struggles with her status as a Muggle-born witch, how her pursuit of knowledge can overwhelm her, and of course what happens when she realizes her feelings for Ron. I... am not a huge fan of the pairing for many reasons, but her frustration and struggle feel very real. She makes mistakes, some more called out than others, but she does genuinely strive to do good And through it all, she is loyal to Harry and to the fight against Voldemort, growing to be proud of who she is and of her heritage as a ‘mudblood’. Even n the final book, where she’s forced to erase her parents memories to protect them, Ron abandoning her and Harry, and getting tortured by Bellatrix, none of it stops her from fighting for what she believes in.

Looking back now, Hermione has her problems both in the books and the films. Some of Ron's better moments got lost because the writer favored her which I can see whyt hat annoyed many people (I’m not one of them, but still), and the whole House Elf plot in the book has some... not great implications. But it doesn't stop Hermione from being a strong female character who is intelligent, brave, and Emma Watson’s strong performance really helped bring her to life. She ain’t perfect, but I still grew up watching her and I will always be grateful for that fact.

8. April O’Neil (TMNT 2012)

Screw the people who hated on her, April is awesome!

Really April in any incarnation of the Turtles is awesome. 2k3, Rise, the films. heck despite her being kidnapped every episode, even OT April was determined as Hell and you wouldn’t get in her way! But since I’m only picking one here, I gotta go with her 2k12 self. Her 2k3 self is also a close contender, but this was the version I spent the most time watching and for any of you who have follow me long enough knows, I spent a LOOOOT of time defending her from ship haters.

Looking back now, yeah there are some problems. Her limited screentime in S1, some of the Kraang stuff got rushed/crammed in, her missing mom story went nowhere, her being Donnie’s love interest. there’s plenty of problems. But those are more story issues than actual character issues. The last one especially si more an issue with Donnie’s character than April since she herself was NEVER defined by the ‘love interest’ card. She never existed for that purpose, and it shows especially by the end.

April began as a helpless, but very determined girl hoping to save her father after their abduction in which only she got saved. She spends most of her time getting intel for the Turtles while undergoing training from Splinter. She slowly, but gradually, grows into a capable kunoichi who can hold her own and gradually becomes an equal to her reptilian companions. She’s friendly, takes shit from no one, and she is probably the biggest Determinator in the entire series where ven when utterly helpless, she will STILL be defiant until the bitter end. he goes through Hell, and every single time she finds a way to pull herself together and forge on.

Despite how I fell off the series by the end, I was very happy with where April ended. From a girl just wanting her life back, to accepting her reality and making it her own. She trains herself in both ninjutsu and her new psychic abilities and becomes a kunoichi in her own right with them. She was even able to hold her own against Shredder! This girl became a badass and while there are issues here and there, I think she by far had some of the best development in the series. She remains my favorite character in 2012, y favorite April, and she has more than earned her spot on this list.

7. Avatar Korra (The Legend of Korra)

Another character who got unnecessary hate! Oh wait, that happens to every female character ever. Silly me!

Korra is what made LoK so great to me. She is a bull-headed, somewhat arrogant girl who has devoted her entire life to being the Avatar. She is the anti-Aang, so much so that she is terrible at Air Bending. But she’s also a very determined girl and went to Republic City to make Tenzin train her. Over the course of the series, we see how despite her arrogance, she is a good person who is truly devoted to her duty and genuinely wants to protect everyone. But she’s faced with her own vulnerabilities and flaws as a person as she has to learn to allow others to help/guide her and learn from her mistakes. And HO BOY does she make MANY mistakes.

Over four seasons, we watch Korra grow.  She’s faced with the fact that she is vulnerable in S1 and while she doesn't fully overcome it, she does so enough to face Amon despite knowing what’ll happen to her. In S2, she faces the worse of herself but in doign so, truly improves herself and puts things right while letting go of most of her arrogance. S3 has her a much more well-rounded person trying to do what’s right, but it ended in her torture, poisoning, and she is just broken by the end. S4 has her slow recovery both physically and mentally and the road is long, hard, and just painful. But by the end, she accepts what happened and is able to find the balance to restore her power, return to her duties, and save the world from utter calamity.

I related so uch to Korra, moreso than I did Aang. She got a lot fo hate for her attitude and... well, not being Aang. But she grew so much and I loved how much of a badass and fully layered character she was. Yeah, she wasn’t Aang, that was a good thing. I loved her form the beginning, and I loved her even more by the end. She’s a great example of a female protagonist and shows that yes, a female action heroine CAN work. The Avatar franchise has many outstanding female characters (Katara, Toph, Suki, Azula, Asami, Jinora, Kuvira) but to me, Korra beats them all and I love her.

6. Wonder Woman

Well I couldn’t leave off the most well-known female superhero of all time now, could I?

Wondy is awesome. I first saw her on Superfriends back when Cartoon Network reran it. While it is a super campy show, Wondy was a true hero who stood equal to her male companions and was just as capable of saving the day as them. She was pretty much the only main female, so of course she was the one I was drawn to and I loved seeing her in action. But she could fall into the Damsel in Distress role cause... well, girl and lie I said, Superfriends is super campy. But I took what I could get int hose days!

Fortunately, Wondy has had much better media rep since... and in fact before with the Lynda Carter series. I hadn’t seent hat when I was a kid and while it’s cheesy, Wondy was still a badass there who easily held her own. Her Justice League DCAU self was when I really fell in love with her. Kind, beautiful, righteous, and an utter powerhouse. Seriously, I think she kicked more ass than anyone in both the original and Unlimited series. She has two animated DC films, which are both pretty dang good. Bloody, but good!

But of course, we have the Gal Gadot film. This was the film that arguably has saved the DC Cinematic Universe, and for good reason. While I’m not a big fan of Wondy being a demigod, she still showed why he’s so good. She’s a true hero wanting to do good, and in a setting like World War One, that is hard to find. She’s caring, devoted, strong, and is just a shining example of a true hero. She inspires hope in a cinematic universe that thrived off of grittiness, and Thank God we have her. I can only hope that the sequel holds the same quality, but nothing will take this away.

Wonder Woman is awesome. They screw her up sometimes, both ina nd out of comics. But there is no doubt that she earned her spot as a beloved feminist icon, as well as her spot here on this list.

#5. Kim Possible

You do not know how obsessed with this show I used to be. It is probably my all-time favorite Disney animated series of all time. Why? Because of it’s clever writing, fun humor, great action, and of course it’s characters. Kim especially.

She is the girl who can do anything, and she lives up to that claim. She’s a cheerleader by day, crime fighter by night, and she handles those worlds flawlessly... for the most part. She’s tough, smart, and a badass who uses her cheerleading skills to aid in her crime-fighting. She faces mad scientists, monsters, and everything in between and she ALWAYS comes out on top. 

She’s now flawless, mind you. She’s bossy, smug, and can over-react when she faces things that she can’t do such as cooking or.. really anything normal/standard teen problems. She’s especially bad at maintaining dates. But whenever she faces a problem, she finds a way tog et through it whether it be with help from Ron, or finding her own way in solving it. She doesn't cry or mope about things like... well, the live-action film has her do. No, she gets up and finds solutions while still saving the day in the process. That is what makes her great, she’s a character before she’s a girl. Hence why she is a great female protagonist 

Kim is someone I strived to be like when I got that age... with varying success. But hey, it just proves that Kim Possible can indeed do anything. Call her, beep her if you wanna reach her, and she’ll be there. just like how she’s here for this spot.

4. Ruby Rose (RWBY)

MY DAUGHTER!

When I first got into RWBY, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But the first character I fell in love with? Little Red here! I adore this girl to pieces. She gets a lot of flack form some for being ‘flat’ and ‘underdeveloped’ and I don’t have time to go into every reason why that’s not true. You can read this for some examples of why shes awesome. But let me summarize the gist of it as best as I can.

Ruby is a teenaged girl striving to be a Huntress like her mother, wanting to do good in the world like the heroes in her storybooks. Over time, as he overcomes her own flaws and the burdens of leadership, she learns how colossal of a task doing good truly is in a world that is harsh and cruel. She loses friends, her school gets broken apart, and the world seems to become more and more divided. And she’s right int he middle of it. So what does she do?

She gets up and continues on.

She decides to fight because she wants to help. She wants to make the world a better place because that is what a Huntress is supposed to do. She puts aside her own feelings in hopes that she can help do something. Even as she is pulled more and more into the true realities of her world, she stands firm and continues on. And when everyone else seems broken and on the verge of quitting? She grabs the reigns and pushes everyone forward herself.

Ruby may be a somewhat standard protagonist, but her determination and quirkiness help her stand out. She’s goofy, naive, and a socially awkward klutz. But she’s still a good-hearted person who always tries and in a world full fo monsters that thrive on despair, this is a very admirable trait. She’s gone from a girl afraid of being viewed as special, to taking the lead int he war against Salem all because it is her duty as a Huntress to protect everyone. She inspires those around her and also inspires me. She’s what got me to stay with this show, and I have yet to regret it.

RWBY has MANY great female characters. Weiss, Blake, Yang, Maria, Nora, Penny, Winter, and many others. But Ruby was always going to be my first pick. What can I say? I adore this girl~

3. Blossom (The Powerpuff Girls)

The Powerpuff girls was, and remains, my favorite cartoon of all time It was funny, action-packed, great characters, and great animation. I adore all three of the girls. Bubbles is cute but certianly no pushover, and Buttercup can be a jerk but she kicks a LOT of ass. But the one who I always loved the most was the commander and leader of the group, Blossom.

Blossom is the most mature of the girls, being very intelligent for her age. She’s smart, confident, and a natural leader. She’s also rather bossy, full of herself, and can be obnoxious at times with her egg-headed nature. From what I can tell, she was the leat liked... which sucks for me. I loved Blossom because of how smart she was and because of how good of a leader she was. Sure she had the occasional slip, but she was usually fairly reasonable, strategic, and always tried to look after her sisters and break up their spats.

I still remember the episode that made me love her. It was Princess’ introductory episode. In it, Blossom tried her best to be as reasonable with her as she could, trying to give her the benefit of the doubt since she was new and probably didn’t know how to make friends. It especially makes since if you’ve seen the movie and know how much the girls themselves struggled. But once it became clear that Princess really was a despicable little brat and she pounded her sisters, Blossom was pissed but still calm unlike the other two. Due to this, she easily thrashed Princess, destroyed her power suit, and gave her the mother of all The Reason You Suck speeches, telling her what being a hero truly means and how she’s nothing but a spoiled brat. It remains of my favorite PPG moments ever and after how much Blossom tried to give her a chance, it was very deserved.

Sadly, Blossom hasn’t gotten the best rep in other incarnations. Her PPGZ self while fine... wasn’t Blossom. Like... at all. And the less said about the 2016 series the better. Still, I remember how much I looked up to the original Blossom and enjoyed seeing her kick butt every Friday. I even still have one of my old dolls that I cherish to this day. Allt he Powerpuffs are great, and I will love them forever.

2. Sailor Moon/Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon)

Speaking of childhood heroines!

Ah Sailor Moon, We’ve had a long history, you and I. The first show I ever kept up with. The first fandom I ever got into. The first anime I ever got into. nd of course, the first heroine I ever truly loved.

Usagi (well... Serena when I was a kid, as the 90′s) is someone I still hold close to my heart. She is a klutz, crybaby, and far from an ideal heroine. She can be rather immature and at times selfish, preferring to sleep or eat sweets than worry about her Sailor Senshi duties. But as he grows, we see that through it all, she is a pure, caring young girl. I think the manga/Crystal anime did a MUCH better job at portraying that side to her, though the 90′s anime presented her more heroic side as well. They just sometimes forgot that he was past being a crybaby...

Usagi loves everyone. Her lover Mamoru, her fellow Senshi, just everyone. She doesn’t like fighting, but she will if she has to. She goes from crying in the middle of fights to being able to face God-like entities with just a magic crystal. Despite not having wanted to be a Senshi to begin with, she accepts her destiny and tries to save everyone, even her enemies. It just shows how despite her flaws as a person, she is a true hero who can always be relied on.

Sailor Moon did a lot when it came out. it helped revolutionize the Magical Girl genre, helped give anime a standing in America, and showed how femininity is not a weakness. There’s many other great female characters (Ami, Rei, Makoto, Minako) and all are their own character. But Usagi has always been the one I loved most and so she claims the Number Two spot.

Honorable Mentions

Sakura Kinomoto (Cardcaptor Sakura) Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender) Twilight Sparkle (MLP:FIM) Agent Carolina and Kaikaina Grif (Red vs Blue) Lois Lane (Superman: The Animated Series) Hawkgirl/Shayera Hal (Justice League/Unlimited) Gosalyn Mallard (Darkwing Duck) Webby Vanderquack (Ducktales 2017) Rapunzel (Tangled franchise) Anna (Frozen) Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Tiana, Moana (Disney Princess) Kida (Atlantis: The Lost Empire) Meg (Hercules) Esmerelda (The Hunchbakc of Notre Dame) Jane (Return to Neverland Princess Elena (Elena of Avalor) Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuuzaki, and Fuu Hohouji (Magic Knights Rayearth) Nami (One Piece) Misty (Pokemon) Winry Rockbell (FMA) Ran Mouri (Detective Conan) Kagome Higurashi and Sango (Inuyasha) Pretty much all the Pretty Cures Nancy Drew Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games) Ms. Frizzle (The Magic School Bus) Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley (Scooby-Doo) Calico ‘Callie’ Briggs and Felina Feral (SWAT Kats)

And I’m sure there’s more, but we’re gonna be here all day if I keep going. So let's go ahead and get to Number One. Which tbh... this was a no-brainer.

1. Mulan

Yeah, this probably shocks no one. I’ve talked about Mulan like... a billion times by now. But there was no other option for me.

Mulan is my favorite movie of all time, and the title character is my favorite character of all time. She’s a young woman who wants to bring her family honor, but struggles to do so in the ways she’s expected. She goes to war in her father’s place to save his life, and she struggles even more. She’s someone who doubts and is ashamed of herself, but over time she decides that she’s done hating her refection and tries to prove her worth. She not only becomes a better soldier and earns the respect of everyone around her, but even after she’s unmasked, she goes on to save all of freakin’ China! The whole country, including the freakin’ Emperor, bows before her because of this. You do not get more respect than that.

I’ve only grown to love and relate more to this story as I’ve grown older. I’ve learned to not define myself by society expectations, but just as who I am. Mulan struggles with expectations, family, warn, and most of all her own insecurities. She wants to see something worthwhile when she looks into the mirror, but she always just feels shame. But by the end, she puts it aside and becomes the best version of herself. She returns home with more than enough to honor her family... and her father tosses it aside to hug her. He’s just grateful to have her home, the greatest girl and honor. She’s someone who we watch grow and her journey hold sup even today. Argubaly even moreso.

Mulan was a film that changed me. Shaped my beliefs and values into what they are now. Even today, I see it as a flawless movie, and Mulan a flawless heroine. he’s a perfect example of a female protagonist, or heck just a protagonist in general. I love her and because of how much she shaped my five-year-old self into who I am now, se is my favorite female character of all time.

And that’s that! Well that was fun! Thank you all for reading and to all thw women out there, whether you were born as one or made the choice to identify as such. Whether you love men, women, or whoever. Whether you care about love or not. I hope you all have a lovely day and stay true to who you are. Happy International Women’s Day everyone~!

[the-light-followed]

MORT (1987) [DISC. #4; DEATH #1]

“‘Why did you have to save me?’  The answer worried him.  He thought about it as he squelched all the way home.  …As he lay shivering in bed it settled in his dreams like an iceberg. In the midst of his fever he muttered, ‘What did he mean, FOR LATER?’”

Rating: 6/10

Standalone Okay: Yes

Read First: Sure, why not!

Discworld Books Masterpost: [x]

* * * * * * * * * *

I’m just going to get it out of the way right off the bat: as much as I hate to admit it, the Death books are my least favorite of the Discworld sub-series.  (I mean, I still love them, a lot, but I don’t love them as much.)  And I know, I know—Death is an excellent character, and I love all of his cameos in the other Discworld books.  I love Susan Sto Helit, because I’m a sensible human lady with eyes and I recognize a brilliant, beautiful powerhouse of a woman when I read about her.  But the Death books just…aren’t my favorite.

And it’s doubly strange that I still think that’s true, even though Reaper Man might be my favorite Discworld book, depending on the day.  It’s definitely top three.

Mort, though, is—kind of boring.  Actually, no.  Let me rephrase that, without the italics this time: Mort is kind of boring.  The story itself is unique, and the concept is fantastically interesting, and I’m almost sad about that.  Because Mort, the character, is unimpressive.  I spend half the time reading this book wanting to grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him.  It might just be that he’s a teenage idiot—I do sort of have the same feeling with him (and especially all his interactions with Princess Keli) that I do any time I’m forced to read Romeo and Juliet. It’s a sort of constant, high-pitched, internal shriek of rage and distress.

Stop that!  Stop what you’re doing right now!  Grow some common goddamn sense!!

But he never does.  I am continually disappointed.

Even beyond his regrettable life choices, the kid is just dull.  Some early text flavor we get for Mort includes gems such as: “Mort was interested in lots of things.  Why people’s teeth fitted together so neatly, for example.  He’d given that one a lot of thought.  Then there was the puzzle of why the sun came out during the day, instead of at night when the light would come in useful.  He knew the standard explanation, which somehow didn’t seem satisfying.”

Yikes, buddy.  Yikes. Might as well be interested in watching paint dry.

It’s wild to me that of everyone and everything involved in Mort, Pratchett picked—well, Mort—to be his main character.  Mort, who complains that he’s not an ordinary human being living an ordinary human life.  He’s got a super awesome thing going for him, given that he’s Death’s actual apprentice, and he wants to be normal and boring?  By the time he makes this complaint, he’s already messed up reality and, frankly, a very easy job by being a lovestruck twit over a girl whose eyes he met exactly once across a crowded room—just before her father was brutally murdered.  He’s clearly already the king of bad decision-making.  It’s baffling that he wants to be even more boring, too.

We’ve got so many cool and interesting characters that we could have focused on instead!  Actual, literal Death!  Ysabell, his immortally teenage daughter, who’s been sixteen for thirty-five years!  We’ve even got Albert, a formerly great and terrible wizard so terrified of death (and Death) that he chose to become Death’s eternal servant rather than die!  Any one of those would make a cool as hell main character.  We could have had it all, but instead we focus on a dunderheaded teenager, distracted by hormones and totally lacking in common sense.

I get that Mort is acting as a sort of audience surrogate, coming from a vanilla human background, learning as he goes, and only just beginning to move in the occult and magical circles.  But I would be about one hundred million times more interested in following Ysabell’s journey from normal human orphan to the never-aging daughter of Death, both rescued and trapped by her father in his land outside of reality, where time never moves and there’s no one to interact with except the stories of the outside world as they write themselves in the library.

She’s a cool goth romantic trapped in the body of a sixteen-year-old for decades.  Her favorite thing to do is read real, historical accounts of love stories where everyone dies horribly.  Death is her dad and why is this book not about her?

Mort, I’d argue, doesn’t really get interesting himself until he and Death start picking up some of each other’s traits.  And even then, if Mort-going-inhuman is cool, it’s overshadowed entirely by Death becoming a person rather than simply an anthropomorphic personification.  It’s, just, damn.  Death’s arc is beautiful and poignant and has lasting implications for the Discworld. Meanwhile, Mort’s whole…thing…will soon be fridged so that his daughter, Susan Sto Helit, can begin her reign as unstoppable badass and also queen of my heart.

Susan is great.  On second thought, I wish this book was about Susan.

Conceptually, everything about this story is wonderful.  I love the plot elements, the concept itself is so unique and executed well, and Mort does an amazing job of setting up the rest of the Death series within the Discworld.  It’s impossible to read Mort and not think about what it means to be a person—recognizing that everyone must and will die, that there’s no rhyme or reason to it, but also knowing that fighting back against that inevitability is built into us on a fundamental level.

Not yet.  Not today. Fairness might not matter; justice might not matter.  But part of what makes us human is that we think they should.  We want them to.  

And, by the end of Mort, Death agrees.

Part of the reason I keep coming back to Mort is that I do like seeing the seeds of what Death will become in later Discworld books. Mort, Ysabell, and Albert—and eventually Susan as well—all give Death the experience and the space to become more than what he was meant to be.  Rather than just an anthropomorphic personification, just a thing, Death becomes a person.  He has wants and desires and needs, and he acts on them, sometimes despite the fact that it causes problems with The Duty—his literal, actual reason to exist.  He grows and changes.  He cares.

Compared to the Death we see in The Colour of Magic, who seems relentlessly antagonistic to poor Rincewind—who implies, several times over, that he is actually, actively, trying to kill people himself—the Death we meet at the beginning of Mort is already a relief. He’s perfectly neutral, not threatening at all.  He’s an entity who performs a necessary service without any sort of emotion at all.  But by the end of Mort, the Death we see is—well, I find him flat-out comforting.

It’s the little things.  He goes fishing.  He makes jokes, even if they’re creepy and morbid and so specific to his field that most people don’t understand them at all.  He likes cats.  He’s a good cook.

[Death’s Glory, by Paul Kidby, off his website. Shit, I love his official Discworld art. This, I think, shows his attempt at making a fishing lure that Pratchett describes in a way that seems—nightmarish at best.]

And it’s the big things, too.  Death makes mistakes.  He plays hooky from his work, which is a bit more impressive when you remember that it’s the literal reason for his existence.  He knows right from wrong, and when it comes down to it, I think it’s less important that he chooses to do what’s right over the letter of the law (though I also appreciate that he does), and more important that he can choose at all.

“THERE IS NO JUSTICE,” Death likes to say, “JUST ME.” But when Death is a person, and on top of that, a good person, it almost feels like the same thing.

You have to love the see-saw of Mort and Death going wrong in equal but opposite ways, both of them fascinating (and horrifying). Mort starts losing his humanity as he picks up aspects of Death, leaving him with more and more of the power and knowledge, but none of the steadiness and impartiality that Death has shown so far. And as Death gains humanity, gains personhood, he starts to feel and to understand those feelings.  

It’s beautiful to see, but it’s also desperately sad.  I think it’s almost cruel to give an emotional range to an undying being who must be there for the end of every life, who must be alone for most of time.

But he gets the good things out of existence, too. Over the course of the Death books, he seems to think it’s worth it more often than it’s not.  So it’s a good thing that even after everything’s sorted out and the humans have been given back their normal lives, Death keeps what he has taken.

One of my favorite quotes:

“WHAT IS IT CALLED WHEN YOU FEEL WARM AND CONTENT AND WISH THINGS WOULD STAY THAT WAY?  ‘I guess you’d call it happiness,’ said Harga.  Inside the tiny, cramped kitchen, strata’d with the grease of decades, Death spun and whirled, chopping, slicing and flying.  His skillet flashed through the fetid steam.  He’d opened the door to the cold night air, and a dozen neighborhood cats had strolled in, attracted by the bowls of milk and meat—some of Harga’s best, if he’d known—that had been strategically placed around the floor. Occasionally Death would pause in his work and scratch one of them behind the ears.  ‘Happiness,’ he said, and puzzled at the sound of his own voice.”

While Death moves more and more towards being a person, Mort goes the opposite way, and I, reluctantly, have to agree he’s right to give it all up and go back to being purely human.  As conceptually cool and interesting as it is to be apprenticed to Death, to be more powerful and more real than any other living person, people aren’t meant to live like that, and certainly not meant to live forever.  Mort understands that.

As Death says, “YOU COULD HAVE HAD ETERNITY.”  

And in reply: “‘I know,’ said Mort.  ‘I’ve been very lucky.’”

Honestly, in the course of writing this all out, I’ve almost talked myself back around to really loving this book.  It’s got everything we all want from a Discworld novel: exquisitely crafted and delivered puns, punchy and memorable quotes, unique and well-written characters in a unique and well-crafted setting, a perfect blend of humorous absurdity and heart-wrenching sincerity.  And unlike the first few Discworld books (especially The Colour of Magic, but I’d include all of the previous three novels), Pratchett is clinging less to established High Fantasy tropes and relying more on Discworld-specific flavor. Ankh-Morpork feels more and more like a real place with every visit, and even the other regions of the Disc come across less as never-explored, baffling and bizarre foreign lands (Here There Be Dragons!) and more as places that really do exist, even if we haven’t seen them personally just yet.

And, if nothing else, Mort is so, so important to the rest of the Discworld books from this point on because it establishes exactly what and who Death is on the Discworld.  He’s a person.  He is, at his core, good.  And maybe, as Death says, “THERE IS NO JUSTICE, JUST ME,” but I think it’s incredibly reassuring while reading the series to know that no matter how badly things go wrong, no matter how much danger our Discworld heroes are in or how nerve-wracking things get, the absolute worst thing that could happen is that they end up in Death’s hands.  And Death will treat them as they deserve.

I will always appreciate Mort for that peace of mind.  (And I can appreciate Mort for it, too, even if I still want to grab that ding-dong dumbass by the shoulders and just shake—ahem.  Sorry.)

* * * * * * * * * *

Side Notes:

I need everyone to read this quote about a party at the Patrician’s palace and join me in my confusion: “In fact some two hundred of the Patrician’s guests were now staggering and kicking their way through the Serpent Dance, a quaint Morporkian folkway which consisted of getting rather drunk, holding the waist of the person in front, and then wobbling and giggling uproariously in a long crocodile that wound through as many rooms as possible, preferably ones with breakables in, while kicking one leg vaguely in time with the beat, or at least in time with some other beat.”

Vetinari let them do WHAT

Sure, he’s not technically Vetinari yet, he’s never been named at all, but that’s still proto-Vetinari’s guests at proto-Vetinari’s house and he’s letting them do WHAT

Rincewind pops up briefly in this book, serving as an assistant to the Librarian.  Is this an important cameo?  No, probably not.  Does it make me smile down at my book like I’m seeing a long-absent friend, even if there’s only been one book so far in the series that does not include him? Absolutely, yes.  Hi, Rincewind!  Missed you, buddy!  See you in a minute, Sourcery is coming up next!

Ysabell and Mort have such a strange love story.

“‘I don’t want to get married to anyone yet,’ he added, suppressing a fleeting mental picture of the princess.  ‘And certainly not to you, no offense meant.’  ‘I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man on the Disc,’ she said sweetly.”

“‘Obviously we shouldn’t get married, if only for the sake of the children.’  Mort nodded.”

“DAUGHTER, EXPLAIN YOURSELF.  WHY DID YOU AID THIS FOOL?  Ysabell curtsied nervously.  ‘I—love him, Father.  I think.’ ‘You do?’ said Mort, astonished.  ‘You never said!’  ‘There didn’t seem to be time,’ said Ysabell.”

Teenagers. Honestly.

We get a lot more discussion about belief and reality in this one—Mort himself kind of embodies the point as he becomes “more real” and begins to stroll through walls, or doors, or arrows.  Nobody can see Death wandering around the mundane world (with the exception of cats and the magical community) because nobody expects to see him; they don’t believe he’ll be there, and so they don’t see him.  Princess Keli died, according to history, so even though Mort “saved” her, history (and the population of her kingdom) start to write her out.  Belief = reality.  We change the world with the force of that belief.

Favorite Quotes:

“I?  KILL? said Death, obviously offended. CERTAINLY NOT.  PEOPLE GET KILLED, BUT THAT’S THEIR BUSINESS.  I JUST TAKE OVER FROM THEN ON.  AFTER ALL, IT’D BE A BLOODY STUPID WORLD IF PEOPLE GOT KILLED WITHOUT DYING, WOULDN’T IT?”

“Let’s just say that Ankh-Morpork is as full of life as an old cheese on a hot day, as loud as a curse in a cathedral, as bright as an oil slick, as colorful as a bruise and as full of activity, industry, bustle and sheer exuberant busyness as a dead dog on a termite mound.”

“‘How do you get all those coins?’ asked Mort.  IN PAIRS.”

“‘Are you going to send me home?’ he said.  Death reached down and swung him up behind the saddle.  BECAUSE YOU SHOWED COMPASSION?  NO.  I MIGHT HAVE DONE IF YOU HAD SHOWN PLEASURE.  BUT YOU MUST LEARN THE COMPASSION PROPER TO YOUR TRADE.  ‘What’s that?’  A SHARP EDGE.”

“They’re always telling people how much better it’s going to be when they’re dead.  We tell them it could be pretty good right here if only they’d put their minds to it.”

“It had been a long afternoon.  The mountaineer had held on to his icy handhold until the last moment and the execute had called Mort a lackey of the monarchist state.  Only the old lady of 103, who had gone to her reward surrounded by her sorrowing relatives, had smiled at him and said he was looking a little pale.”

“Logic would have told Mort that here was his salvation…Logic would have told him that interfering with the process a second time around would only make things worse. Logic would have said all that, if only Logic hadn’t taken the night off too.”

“‘Why did you have to save me?’  The answer worried him.  He thought about it as he squelched all the way home.  …As he lay shivering in bed it settled in his dreams like an iceberg. In the midst of his fever he muttered, ‘What did he mean, FOR LATER?’”

“‘I mean, friend or foe?’ he stuttered, trying to avoid Mort’s gaze.  ‘Which would you prefer?’ he grinned.  It wasn’t quite the grin of his master, but it was a pretty effective grin and didn’t have a trace of humor in it.  The guard sagged with relief, and stood aside.  ‘Pass, friend,’ he said.”

“The sword burned icy cold in his hand, dragging him on in a dance that would not end until there was nothing left alive.  And that time came, and Mort stood alone except for Death, who said, ‘A fine job, boy.’ And Mort said, MORT.”

“‘I think there’s something you ought to know,’ said the princess.  THERE IS? said Death.  (That was a cinematic trick adapted for print.  Death wasn’t talking to the princess.  He was actually in his study, talking to Mort.  But it was quite effective, wasn’t it?  It’s probably called a fast dissolve, or a crosscut/zoom. Or something.  An industry where a senior technician is called a Best Boy might call it anything.)”