#the second gif is my villain origin story

[chinzhilla]

BON’S 1K + BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

@spicyvampire asked: Manner of Death or The Sign - premiered Nov. 25, 2023

[ultralightpoe]

Buy The Book - Bucky Barnes

Authors Note: I got inspired by that movie, idk what to say

Warnings: Kidnapped

Word Count: 2393

Requests:OPEN

[Thank you for the gif @bill-weasley ]

Enjoy!

Something was off about the day and no one believed you. 

Maybe it was the morose hotel room your agent had put you in for the week, or maybe it was just the gray foggy weather. Either way out you felt like something was wrong, you felt like you were being watched. 

“Honey, I needed you ready like 30 minutes ago.” Your agent, Santana, stresses the second she enters the hotel room with her own key copy. She attacks you quickly, pulling you from the bed and pulling you to where you had laid out your shoes the night before. “This is ridiculous and you know it.”

“I just have a bad feeling.” You mumble, letting her slip the heels on you as if you were a child. She pats your calf solemnly before standing to fix your hair and check your makeup one more time. 

“I know, you’ve told me all of this before. . You feel as though you are being watched, Michael Jackson style. You don’t feel good. You forgot to eat breakfast. You forgot to wash your laptop.” She rants, snatching both your ids for the event before grabbing both your bags and leading you out of the room. 

You turn at the least second, needing to see the door shut for your own sanity before you allow her to lead the way. 

“I think you are just stressed. You have always hated large crowds and you hate talking in front of people but this is a necessity. You have a terrific book out and you need to own it.” Terrific is definitely not how you would describe the book. Not in the slightest. But Santana had always admired your books far too much. 

It had started years ago, 8 books exactly, and you had been up on an all nighter the day the original project came to mind. 

You had been taking a publishing class and among 24 other aspiring authors you were sure the dream wasn’t worth it anymore. Especially after you had all received the project for the next month, write your own novel. 

There were hundreds of ideas that came to mind for you, heroes and villains alike, and you were sure that no matter what genre you picked from the suspense bucket your professor carried around you would have it down. Then you unrolled it you saw in the neatest handwriting you had ever seen….ROMANCE. 

And you knew you were screwed. 

Up all night, page after page of ideas you can do, all of which you hated. You hated the genre, the least romantic person alive and of course fate would have you be the one to choose the subject. You had always wanted to do fantasy, with epic battles or sci fi. 

Anything but romance. 

You were just about to give up, hyping yourself up to march to your professors class and demand a new one, but then on the way out of the library in an attempt to hide from the sun like a forgotten demon you ended up running into the campus crazy. 

Redmayne, an old man that swears his family was murdered one night by a man with a metal arm, that he had stolen something from his family. “THE WINTER SOLDIER! HE’S COMING FOR US ALL!”

And he had sketched the face onto the sign he carried around. 

You remember stopping short, nearly stumbling from the sudden stop as your bag swung around and you took in the sketch. You were a terrible person to say that the sketch was one of the most attractive men you had ever seen. 

Just a black and white coal sketch and your heart was beating through your chest. 

“Sir,” You called, already feeling like a fool. “I have 40 dollars in my pocket and I’ll give it all to you for that sign.”

And thus your new world was created. 

‘The Frost Warrior’ was born, weeks of pouring over your laptop as you created the story of a man named Jameson Boone, a man who once fought for his country and now served as a brainwashed assassin. And no one could forget the leading lady, the spy that met him on a mission and have continued to work together since, with tension and heat keeping them close. 

Your teacher had loved it so much she recommended it, and you received an agent. And the series became real. 

Soon enough the ‘Frost Warrior’ and his true love were being snatched from every bookshelf as people followed along with their journey. 

“I think it was the last book.” You mumble, watching the elevator doors close you both in as she whips her head to glare. 

“What? What do you mean?” She snaps out. “Jameson just got freed from their captors!” 

“So? Now what will he do?” You laugh bitterly, pulling at the awkward outfit you were wearing. “The Frost Soldier is out in the real world. There is no more story.”

“Bitch, revenge.” Your publicist snaps, hands out in the hair from shock. “I want him to get his revenge. To…… to find that person. The head of it all. I want Jameson to come back and prove himself. Last book? We have built an empire off these novels and you want it to be the last book?”

“I don’t know. It seems weird. With all the fighting on the news, did you see that captain america footage? It just feels like there are more serious things to-”

“We will talk about this later.” She snaps once the doors open, pulling you with her to meet your awaiting fans. 

Minutes go by and soon enough you're blinking to try and see through the amount of flash photography there was, smiling a tight smile as it all begins to die down and the questions start coming in. 

“What was your inspiration?” 

“A sign, years ago, with a drawing on it.” You smile. 

“Did you inspire Stephen off of Steve Rogers?” 

“No. I actually have no clue where he came from.”

“You mentioned on your last tour that the rare amulet the Frost Warrior had gone to find was inspired by the ‘Amulet of Ronav’ which was just recently given to a museum after being missing since your book. Were you excited about the news?”

“Yes.” You admit, nodding. “Though I am so curious as to who randomly decided to return that.” 

“Do you think the ‘Frost Warrior’ will try and find some of the weapons that ‘Baskilisk’ was making him hunt down? Maybe assassinate the monsters that hurt him?”

And you drew blank on that question because truth was you could see it, you could see the man of your imagination crawling through vents and tunnels to find the weapons before they could. You could see him growing his relationship with his old best friend and joining the new world with his leading lady. 

But you didn’t want to anymore. 

“If you’ll excuse me.” You rush out, standing quickly to walk out of the conference and rush to the bathrooms. Nauseated and tired. 

This was never what you had imagined. 

In your rush to run some cold water and pour it on your face you missed the man coming into the bathroom right behind you until you stood at full height to look in the mirror. Jumping quite a bit when you see him. 

“OH MY-” You whirl, kicking out and managing to hit his thigh before his own hand reaches out to grab your throat, pushing you into the wall beside the sink and cutting off your circulation as you scratch and claw at his hands. 

His eyes were red, not bloodshot but the pupils of them were red, like a demon and by the way he didn’t even flinch when you scratched across his face you were sure he was. 

“Easy now pet.” He mumbles, pushing you up by your throat until your feet were no longer on the floor. “I ain’t gonna kill ya. I just need you to…..”

And the words were missed by the way your vision blacked out, body going limp. 

- 

“Oh, can we get the bag off her head please?” A voice breaks out, sounding a bit slow as you blink in a pitch black nothing, until someone roughly pulls the bag over your head and you are forced into a new light. “Oh, she does not look well.”

“They drugged her in the car.” Someone behind you mumbles as your head sinks forward, trying to close your eyes again. 

You must have passed out for a couple more minutes before a bucket of freezing cold water is splashed over you, snapping you awake in a panic. You struggle to catch your breath as you fight against the restraints on your wrists and ankles. 

“WHAT THE FUCK?” You manage to scream out, your voice scratchy and dry as the bondages scratch and pull at the skin. But you can’t stop the panic, can’t stop the way your body struggles and your breaths shorten, can’t stop the tears from falling down until you can taste the salt of them. “What. The. Fuck.”

“I’m sorry, really, about all of this.” Someone sighs out, wearing an overly expensive tux and far too much gel in his hair. “I’m a big fan and it was never meant to get this far.”

“What the fuck.?” You gasp out, looking around you in attempt to process what was going on. Every wall was gray and metal, with what looked to be bolts sticking out, the floor concrete. Nothing to recognize. 

The men standing around you all stood with guns at their hips wearing black on black, all looking a bit bored at the moment which was a complete contrast to how you were feeling. 

“Am I in a warehouse?”

“GOOD EYE!” The gel hair laughs out, clapping his hands together. “You are just absolutely marvelous.Didn’t I tell you guys?”

“You’re going to kill me!” You cry out, fighting against the restraints a little more. “Please please please, don’t! I’ll give you anything!”

“We don’t want to kill you lovey.” He sighs out, coming to pull a bit of your hair between his fingertips. “We just need some information.” 

You stay silent in hopes that he will explain more, closing your eyes to try and even out your breathing, making your body go still to try and ease some of the burn you had given yourself from fighting against the zip tie. Only he doesn’t keep talking, instead he watches you as if you were stupid. 

“Information….on?” It felt silly, pulling an attitude while being tied up to the chair. 

“The Winter Soldier.” The man smiles, still looking confused that you didn’t already know, tilting his head as he awaited your answer. “Oh. right. I apologize, you probably prefer to call him that code name….. The Frost Warrior.”

It’s silent for a moment while you blink at him, finally coming to terms with what he was saying before you burst out into laughter so hard that your ribs started aching. You couldn’t stop laughing, the tears less of panic and more so of humor now as you tried to calm down. 

“Excuse me-” Gel hair tries to interrupt before you shake your head. 

“Okay, where are the damn cameras?” You blurt, laughing as you turn to look for them. “This is a prank, right?”

“I can assure you-”

“Honestly Santana did too much this time.” You laugh. “You want to know about the Frost Warrior, well hate to break it to you bud, that was my last book.”

“Last book?”

“Yes, Last one.” Your laugh dies down a bit. “No more Jameson Boone, no more searching for lost and ancient weapons. Or being an assassin.”

“Well….Jameson Boone has stolen something from me. And I think he needs to be handled. So I would disagree.” Gel hair bites out, taking a couple steps forward in anger, and you begin to realize that he was being completely serious. 

“You have been publishing stories that have actual information in them for years and now I;m currently being HUNTED by that fool and I know you know his next move so you NEED TO TELL ME!”

“Wait-” You gasp as you catch the glint of a knife right before his body slumps down quickly, everyone not tied to a chair moving forward to see what might have happened. You angle your body to look to see what happened and you notice the bullet hole the same time they do. 

A scream tears through your throat as the men around you all raise their guns in their own panic. 

More pops ring out and more bodies slump before a hooded figure marches into the room. Every move is one done in grace, when they smash their foot in someone's face they don’t miss a second before throwing someone over their shoulder and smashing a gun. 

You take this opportunity to try and escape, throwing your body in an attempt to get rid of the zip ties only for the chair to fall back, your body with it, both landing with a heavy thud as your head cracks into the concrete. 

“Oh…” You whine out in pain, wanting nothing more than to hold your head as the hooded figure comes to stand over you. “Wait, please I beg you-”

“Don’t.” The figure grunts out, reaching up to remove the hood, the face from the sign years ago. The same jaw and the same eyebrows pinched together in anger. “And maybe next time you’re kidnapped you shouldn’t offer to give them everything.”

“Oh my god.” You gasp out, blinking twice as much to erase the image. “This isn’t real. I’m dreaming.”

“Come on.” He grunts, lifting the chair to slice the zip ties with his knife easily, hauling you over his shoulder. 

“You’re not real.” You mumble, feeling something warm leak down your face. “Oh my god I hit my head and I’m bleeding out. I’m dying.”

“You’re not dying.” 

“I am. Because I’m talking to a fictional character right now.” You’re set down then, on your feet so the man before you can assess the damage with an angry glare. 

“We haven’t been formally introduced, I’m Bucky Barnes…. I think…. And you’ve been writing novels about me.”

-

Part 2?

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

About the order of the dormitories.

Is it confirmed that Heartslabyul is the first because it's inspired by Alice in Wonderland? (I always thought it was that, but now I'm in doubt).

And about book 2 initially being book 6. This creates a pattern in which 2nd graders are the first to overblot and then 3rd graders.

(I don't know if my age calculations are correct).

And, following this logic, it would also be from the youngest boy to the oldest: Riddle (birthday in August, and if the school year starts in September, he turned 16 (minimum age) just before going to the NRC), Azul, (birthday in February), Jamil (born 12 days after the start of the school year in September, so he had to wait a bit longer to go, (I think I saw somewhere that this is canonical?)) Vil, (birthday in April, before September, so probably didn't have to wait an extra year to turn 16) Idia, (birthday in December, after September, so probably should have waited longer to turn 16). So we have Leono aged 20 and Malleus aged 178.

And with the current dorm order, the Disney villains vary: Female (QoH), male (Scar), female (Ursula), male (Jafar), female (Evil Queen), male (Hades), female (Maleficent).

I'm not sure if that makes sense?

Any chance it's deliberate?

(Sorry for any mistakes, I don't speak English and I'm using a translator).

[Referencing this post!]

Again, I couldn’t find any confirmation as to why the dorm order is the way it is; that is inclusive of Heartslabyul. I think you may just be assuming Heartslabyul is first because it’s the one inspired by Alice in Wonderland (for which the franchise is named, hence Twisted Wonderland). (Personally, I would think that a franchise named that would feature the Alice in Wonderland dorm as the final one, not the first.)

Your calculations are correct; if we assume the dorm trailer reveal order is the original “intended” order, then the story would progress in order of youngest second year to oldest second year (Riddle, Azul, Jamil), then youngest third year to oldest third year (Vil, Idia, Leona, Malleus). While there isn’t strong evidence that this is deliberate, I think it’s interesting to consider the pattern of gradually aging through the lens of book 7, whose conflict kicks off because Malleus is so afraid of change and losing his loved ones to time. When the main story itself is subtly posed to indicate a student slowly aging up into adulthood and leaving their peaceful school days behind… Yeah, it’s melancholic in a way 😞

With the current order, we do in fact see an alternating pattern of female-male Great Seven members. It’s unclear whether this pattern was intentional or not, as TWST doesn’t really have a strong gender-based theme to its overall narrative.

What I do think is slightly more believable is that the manga!Yuus may have intentionally been designed as the opposite gender of the G7 member whose book they feature in. Male Yuuken is the Yuu for Heartslabyul (Queen of Hearts), female Yuuka is the Yuu for Savanaclaw (King of Beasts), and male Yuuta is the Yuu for Octavinelle (Sea Witch). We’re going to have to see if this pattern keeps up for future Yuus, as it’s possible that they mix things up (for example, maybe we’ll get a nonbinary Yuu!). Right now, I think an argument could be made that they “flipped” the genders for the manga!Yuus to “mirror” their respective G7 member. (TWST has a LOT of mirror imagery.)

[brooooswriting]

hey babes. what about prompts 4, 20, 23, and 69 with tara carpenter. just looking for some hurt comfort with reader taking care/being protective over tara. thanks

4. “If I could, I would kiss all your scars away”

20. “How did you get this scar?”

23. “If even one of them touches you again, I’ll make sure they aren’t able to ever again”

69. “You’re not your past”

When you first met Tara you’d never heard about the ghost face attacks. Since your parents had a clear plan for your life, ace all your classes, do football to get a scholarship etc., you were living in your own small world.

You met Tara a bit after college start, she was in her first year while you were in your second. She was helplessly wandering around one time which was the first time you had seen her without her ‘bodyguards’ as you liked to call them. These two brunette people were always with her making it nearly impossible for you to make a move. At least until that day. You finally talked to her, offering her to walk her to her lecture.

You were the first person in months that had talked to Tara that did not want to know about the attacks and ghostface which was honestly quite refreshing. And that is how you two ended up in a relationship.

Sam doubted your innocence at first, not believing that you didn’t know about the attacks but Anika, who always knew everybody, talked to some of your friends who told her that you really were just that clueless.

So Sam started to accept you to the point where you were allowed to sleep over. That was the first time you had seen the brunette in shorter clothes as you met in the winter but the apartment was quite warm especially under the thousand blankets Tara wanted to sleep under. After you also changed into some shorts and a shirt you laid down flat on your back, Tara coming to lay against you on of her legs on top of yours, her arm wrapped around your middle and her head on your shoulder. You were quick to wrap your arm around her middle, your hand rubbing over her side and back while you watched a movie.

At some point your hand went over some scars making Tara tense up noticeably. To calm her you pressed a soft kiss to her head before sitting up a bit, you had seen the scar on her hand even before you started to date and you had counted at least four more on her back and it started to worry you.

“How’d you get these scars love?” You asked once you were leaning against the headboard. Your voice was soft and reassuring as your hand rubbed over her arm in a comforting manner.

The deep sigh tara let out and the way she sat up told you that this was going to be a long and uncomfortable discussion. But once you saw the look in her eyes you knew that it was a hard topic for her, so you opened your hand closest to her and put it on your leg giving her the opportunity to grab it for comfort whenever she wanted. “So you know where I originally come from right?” She asked you and you nodded, she had told you once very briefly before changing the topic.

“Okay, have you ever heard of ghostface?” She continued to ask, giving you a moment to think.

“Isn’t that like the villain of a horror movie or something?” The brunette in front of you chuckled lightly, wishing that she was as innocent as you were.

“Kinda yeah, but the movie is based on an actual story. All of these attacks happened in my hometown, the first ghostfaces were Billy loomis as Stu Macher. They tried to kill Billy’s girlfriend but ended up dead, since then every couple of years new people try to.. you know” she explained, her eyes fixating on the blanket that rested on top of her legs.

“Oh god, Tara. I’m so sorry, were you…?” You weren’t quite sure how to formulate what you wanted to ask but luckily for you Tara knew what you wanted to know.

“Last year it turned out that Sam’s father is Billy loomis and that made us to the top victims. So many of my friends died as… Sam’s boyfriend and my best friend decided to be the new ghostfaces. My own childhood best friend tried to kill me several times by stabbing me several times. Hence the scars” you could see some tears rolling down the younger girls face while yours was red with anger. Now it finally made sense why they wouldn’t leave Tara alone and why Sam was suspicious of you at first.

“I’m so so sorry my love, you should have never had to live through something like this. You’re so strong I hope you know that” you reassured her, your hand carefully stroking her leg.

“That isn’t all” she paused making you stop caressing her leg as you didn’t want to overwhelm her “I killed her. She tried to kill Sam again and I- I just… I shot her” she chocked out making you immediately take her into your arms, softly shushing her cries.

“It’s okay, you’re okay and Sam is okay. Everything’s fine” you whispered over and over again.

“Please don’t leave me, promise me you won’t leave me” she mumbled into the hug making you tighten your grip on her and place soft kisses on top of her head.

“I won’t. You’re not a bad person Tear bear, you’re not your past alright?! You did what you had to do to protect your family and there’s nothing wrong with that. You didn’t want to shoot her because you thought it would be fun, you did it in defense” her sobs started to calm making you take a deep breath in relief.

“And you know what?” You asked as you titled her head up so she would look at you “I’ll even do you one better than just promising you not to leave. If even one of them touches you again, I’ll make sure they aren’t able to ever again. I will promise you that too” you shot her a soft smile which she returned making your heart beat even faster.

Once she was better you laid back down and pulled her with you so she was in the same position as before. But this time you grabbed her hand with the scar on yours and brought it to your lips, pressing soft kisses to the length of it. “You know, if I could I’d kiss all your scars away” you both grinned at each other with a love sick smile before Tara leaned up to press several soft kisses to your lips. Once she was done she put her head back on your shoulder and closed her eyes, you doing the same.

And for the first night in forever, Tara felt save. Your strong arms around her made her feel like she was invisible. Oh how she hoped that you weren’t just a second Amber…

[randomimaginesideas]

Let me rage part 2

Summary; Finally reunited Valtor and (Y/n) can get back to conquer the magic dimension. (Y/N) gets to meet the Trix and shows why she is Valtor’s right hand. Deciding to infiltrate Alfea she meets the Winx, and becomes an important player in this battle. 

This work is also published on AO3 under my username Acourtoffanficsandfeelings, if you prefer to read it there.

Continuation of Together again, and second part of let me rage.

A/N; First, I am incredibly sorry for the delay. I was having an intense writer's block for a certain part in this chapter and didn’t really know how to continue.

It seems that to this day Valtor is still a beloved character, and this fic still gets kudos, and comments. And that motivates me to write. So even if it has taken a while I hope I’ve managed to write a chapter you’re all very happy to read, as I did my best to make it as long as possible to make it up to you guys. While writing this chapter I concluded that this part of the series will be 3 chapters instead of the original two, as I felt it would have the story flow more. 

Also because I hope this way to fetch out the character of the reader more, to give her some emotions, and struggles, while still remaining an badass amazing villain lover. And to show you some more moments between Valtor and (Y/N).

So I want to thank everybody again for sticking around,and reading this after my long absence, and if you just found the fic and this was already out when you found my fic, I hope you also enjoy everything that I’ve written so far.

Monday morning. Idle chatter could be heard filling the classroom as some of the Alfea students were waiting for their new teacher to make an appearance. A teacher who was ten minutes late. When the wooden doors started to creak, and announced the arrival of somebody the chatter slowly faded out, and silence filled the room.  “Sorry class, I know I’m late, but as I’m sure some of you would agree with me, this school can be quite a maze.” The students, including the famous Winx, watched as the new teacher made her way towards the desk, and placed her bag on it before turning around to face her students. “Hello class, I’m Professor Whiteshade, and I am your new teacher specialized in Enchantix.”

While she was introducing herself (Y/N) could feel the eyes of the students observing her. They took in the white floor length dress that she wore, with the black belt across her waist. She could feel their eyes looking at her blond hair that was so pale it almost looked white when the lights hit it in a certain spot. It had been pulled into an intricate bun to keep the hair out of her face. (Y/N) didn't like the look she had currently on, but there have been worse faces she had turned into.

One of the students raised her hand, gaining (Y/N)’s attention who smiled at her. “Yes,-” She glanced down at one of the papers on her desk, pretending not to have seen Bloom before. Valtor had shown her some of the winx in his scrying orb and explained the most important facts she needed to know: like the fact that Bloom was the fairy of the dragon flame. “Bloom, is it?” The red head nodded, before asking her question. “Not to be rude professor, but why are we now suddenly getting this extra class in our curriculum?” 

“Not rude at all, and an understandable question at that. I understand you’re not looking forward to more homework, so I will try to keep it at a minimum. As you all are well aware there is a new threat trying to conquer the magic dimension.” (Y/N) voice got serious as she looked across the room, seeing multiple defeated faces of the fairies who’s home had been affected by Valtor. A good person would have felt bad when she looked at those faces, but (Y/N) knew that sometimes things had to be destroyed for a new world to rise again. A world in which she and Valtor ruled the magic dimension.

“Headmistress Feragonda has asked me to come to Alfea, and teach and guide you students as you learn more about Enchantix in these troubling times. From the information I’ve gotten, two of you have already received your Enchantix.” (Y/N)’s eyes found those of Aisha and Stella, whom she gave a reassuring smile. “You should be proud of yourselves for earning your Enchantix, despite how grave the situation was in which you’ve gotten them.” (Y/N) focused on the class again. Aisha’s and Stella’s expression grew dark as (Y/N) could see the memories of those moments come back to the girls.

“Enchantix isn’t easily gained, it requires great sacrifice. I know of fairies who’ve nearly died in their efforts to earn their Enchantix. And sometimes you need to sacrifice your own happiness and choose to do what’s right because not everything that makes you happy is right.”

~~~

“Are you sure this is the only way?” (Y/n) asked as she looked at the beaten and locked up form of professor Whiteshade, who was currently lying unconscious on the floor. “You know that there is nobody I trust more with this than you.” (Y/N) felt Valtor place his hands on her shoulders as he stood behind her. The two of them were standing in front of Whiteshade’s cell, which was located one floor above Griffins, where Valtor had told her his plan regarding Alfea. “We need to have an inside source, and find the hall of enchantment. They will notice if I or the Trix slip by but they won’t notice you.” (Y/N) rolled her eyes, knowing he was right, but not really agreeing with the plan.

“I’ve only just returned to you, and you wish to have me leave again.” She muttered, feeling rejected. Valtor quickly turned her around, guiding her by her shoulders. One of his hands grabbed her chin gently between two fingers, and tilted her head up. “That is a cruel thing to say, for you know that is not my intention. I’ve missed you with all my heart, and I dislike this plan as much as you do, but there is nobody I trust more with this than you. And the sooner this is over with, the sooner you can return to me.” Valtor said as he looked into her eyes, and pressed a brief kiss on (Y/N)’s lips. 

A sigh left her lips afterwards as she enjoyed the closeness between them for a moment, knowing that she would have to part from it again so soon, and then she relented. “Alright, I’ll do it.” Valtor smiled at her as he slowly released her from his hold. (Y/N) turned to look at the real professor Whiteshade again, as she whispered a spell, closing her eyes. As soon as the spell had crossed her lips the shadows around them in the room seemed to twist and turn as they started to glide across her body. Through the glimpses of shadow Valtor could see her clothing change from the black dress she wore to a red sundress. Her (Y/H/C) turned into the lightest of blondes. And when the shadows moved away, and (Y/N) opened her eyes, even her eye color had changed. 

She looked almost identical to the professor Whiteshade in the cell, only the trained eye would spot the differences. A mole that wasn’t there where it usually was, a scar that wasn’t there, perhaps a bit more weight on the arms or legs.  (Y/N) had always been able to manipulate the shadows, to make things seem different from what actually, but only small things like books, trinkets or furniture. But during her years with Valtor he had taught her to think bigger, to practice her spells, and now she was almost able to place the spell on almost anything. For everything in the shadows is not what it seems.

~~~

It had been two weeks since (Y/N) had arrived at Alfea and she was annoyed. She knew she was doing important work for Valtor, passing along information from the room of enhancement to Valtor, but those types of things took time. It turned out that Alfea had finally invested in a librarian who took her work seriously. Although it wasn’t difficult for (Y/N) to charm Barbatea, and learn all about the library. But it also meant that Barbatea  knew every nook and cranny, and would know it if things disappeared. So (Y/N) was forced to make copies of some of the lesser important spells, and tried to find substitutes for the more important books and scrolls. (Y/N) was particularly proud of the erotic romance novel she had managed to look like an ancient spell book. Now she just hoped that nobody would open the book. 

After spending seventeen years as a statue, her powers were still on the weaker side. Each week she felt her power grow, and Valtor had helped her by sharing his power. But from the moment she had woken up she had used her magic continuously. Pretending to be Griffin when anybody would try to contact her to keep up the appearance that Cloud Tower was still standing. Or that one time they had intercepted a call from Feragonda to King Radius to ask how things were regarding the fountain, and King Radius had replied that; everything was quiet but they would keep an eye out for anything strange and notify her when they did. And now, (Y/N) had to continue to keep up the appearance as professor Whiteshade, and keep the illusions of the books going even if she wasn’t anywhere near them.

And on top of all that she had to actually teach the students something about Enchantix. The first couple of days (Y/N) had mostly placed the focus on introductions in the class, and to Enchanctix, telling what she knew of Enchantix, but she was running out of information. So one day she had made a parkour course for her Enchantix students, before letting them race the others. To make the students see how much stronger they would become if they earned Enchantix, and why it came with such a heavy price.

But the thing that kept (Y/N) going was the fact that she knew Valtor was growing stronger every time she sent him something through the shadows. And Valtor also seemed to know when to say something to her, even when he couldn’t speak with her.

~~~

It was dark in the library, most of the Alfea students were in bed, as were most of its teachers. Barbatea had just wished (Y/N) goodnight, after (Y/N) had promised the librarian she would lock up behind her, but just wanted to research one more thing before her class tomorrow. (Y/N) had turned off the lights, preferring the light from the moon shining through the windows. (Y/N) always waited half an hour after everybody had left to make sure that Barbatea wouldn’t just reappear. 

When the half hour had passed (Y/N) slowly rose from the chair she had been vacating, and she closed the book she had been reading. From her bag, which was filled with her students' homework to keep up appearances, she grabbed a gardening book that she had taken from the greenhouse earlier today. After placing it on the table right next to the one she had been reading previously, she placed her hands on top of the books, one on each. (Y/N) closed her eyes, and tried to focus. “Mirror image.” She whispered as she felt her magic move beneath her hands. The headache that had been slowly growing bigger these past week, grew stronger with the new spell she casted. 

When (Y/N) opened her eyes she let out a sigh of frustration. It almost looked like the spell had only taken half effect. The title of the spellbook had been transferred to the gardening book, but the flowery cover could still be seen underneath.

(Y/N) lifted her head to look at the ceiling as she took another deep breath, trying to soothe the headache, and focus on the shadows she was already controlling. Her image of professor Whiteshade, and covers of around fifteen books she was trying to keep up, while focusing on creating a new one. If she focused, she could feel the shadow connecting the books together, although weak as it was, it was there. (Y/N) tried to imagine Valtor standing behind her, his hands on her shoulders, placing a kiss on her lips as she had her head tilted backwards. And his words he had whispered to her long ago that fateful day; that she was strong, that she was capable of anything, as long as she remained by his side. 

“I miss you.” (Y/N) confessed to the quiet library, with only the moonlight and the shadows as her company. It had been two weeks of no contact with either Valtor or the Trix. And after only a week with Valtor,before she had gone to Alfea, after being stuck in stone for seventeen years felt like a short time to be together again. But (Y/N) also knew that they would have all the time in the world together once Valtor and her conquer the magic dimension. 

Thinking with their end goal in mind (Y/N) returned her attention back to her task at hand. “Mirror image.” She said again, and this time when she opened her eyes, she had two identical books. Or at least when you didn’t look too closely. Perhaps a tear wasn’t in the place it always was, and maybe the letter R was a different font but didn’t look out of place at first glance. 

(Y/N) stood up and placed the duplicate copy back in the place it belonged, before grabbing the original and walking to a shadowed corner of the library, a place where the moonlight didn’t reach. (Y/N) squatted down and waved her hand, the shadows twisting underneath into a calm whirlpool of shadows. She imagined Cloud Tower, more specially Valtor’s desk, next to the scrying orb as she pushed the book into the shadows, and dropped it. 

(Y/N) stood back up again, and went to turn around when she heard a small thunk, and something hitting her ankle. The shadows had gone quiet again, no longer moving as their mistress had no longer any use of them. But that wasn’t what caught (Y/N)’s attention, for she had expected them to be quiet. No, on the ground near her ankle she saw a small circle with something sticking out of it. 

After picking it up, (Y/N) made her way towards the window. In the moonlight she saw she was holding onto a ring with a small note attached to it. Before (Y/N) studied the ring she opened up the note. It was a small letter, one that would sometimes have been tied to the foot of a bird. The only message on it was; As promised. Two days.

(Y/N) turned her attention towards the ring. It was a ring that was on the wider side. The first thing that caught her attention was how blue it was. When she looked closer she recognized the blue to be some type of coral, from andros more specifically. The whole inside of the ring was made of polished blue coral, the sides inlaid with gold to give it a more delicate effect. A smile came on (Y/N)’s face as she brought the ring to her chest and held it there for a moment. 

Seventeen years ago Valtor had promised her all the jewelry her heart desired when they were rulers of the magic dimension. (Y/N) had mentioned how her sister had gotten a ring from Andros, which had used coral instead of diamonds, and how she had always wanted a ring like that. And how some corals from Andros were worth more than some of the most expensive diamonds. So that was why her sister only had one small part of her ring infused with the coral. In response Valtor had promised she would have the most beautiful ring of Andros one day, even prettier than her sisters. 

(Y/N) remembered how Aisha hadn’t been in class today as there was another attack on Andros. Seemed like Valtor had remembered his promise. With a smile (Y/N) placed the ring around her, or rather professor Whiteshade’s, finger. She tore up the paper and threw it in the trash, making sure nobody would be able to read it, and even then it couldn’t be traced back to her. With renewed strength (Y/N) made her way out of the library, and towards her bedroom.

~~~

That had been two days ago. It was now Saturday, and everybody, teachers and students, were free to do as they pleased today. But (Y/N) had been on edge the whole day, just waiting for something to happen. She kept herself busy by making sure all her shadows were still where she needed them to be, and keeping her head ache to a minimum. But she did all that from the solitude of her bedroom. (Y/N) was in the habit of keeping her curtains almost closed, not a fan of the burning daylight. 

Her attention was pulled when the small streak of light that came from the crack in between the curtains turned dark. Opening her curtains she could see storm clouds gathering above Alfea as it started to rain. If (Y/N) hadn’t suspected something was amiss, the fact that the magic barrier was going up was a definite sign.

Relief and excitement coursed through (Y/N)’s body. Relief that her stay in Alfea would finally be over, and excitement to know the future that will be waiting for them. (Y/N) stepped out of her room and ran into professor Palladium and professor Wizgiz who had also been residing in their chambers. The tree of them ran up towards one of the rooftops, knowing that Faragonda had gone there to activate the barrier. “Miss Faragonda!” Professor Palladium called out to her, gaining her attention.

“Brace yourself. The lighting is bewitched, and clearly the work of Valtor.” Faragonda warned them as she turned to look back in the sky. Up in the storm clouds the mark of Valtor had appeared, whenever the lighting struck it grew brighter. Faragonda turned her attention back to the professors at her side. “Keep your eyes open, be prepared,-” “Look, he’s using the witches from Cloud Tower.” Professor Wizgiz said, pointing towards the storm cloud. Professor Wizgiz was right. From the storm clouds, they’re hands outstretched came the lighting that had previously been in the clouds. The lighting struck the magical barrier, and with Valtor controlling them the magic of the witches was a lot stronger than they’d normally had, making the barrier fall apart.

Faragonda turned back around to face her colleagues. “Alright, get the girls. They’ll need our help, and we’ll need theirs.” Faragonda said with confidence before she was hit with lighting from behind. Luckily with everything going on it just seemed like professor Whiteshade stepped away from the blast to protect herself, and certainly not because she didn’t feel the need to catch the headmistress. (Y/N) had to give credit where credit was due, and Faragonda quickly got back up again. “Alright, you two,-” Faragonda looked in the direction of the professor's Palladium and Wizgiz. “Gather all the fairies and prepare for battle.” The two professors ran off as the barrier fully broke, and tiny glittering pieces fell down the sky. 

Then Faragonda looked professor Whiteshade in the eyes. “Go to the library and don’t let any of the information get into the wrong hands.” (Y/N) turned to walk towards the library when she heard Faragonda call out her lover’s name, which made her stop in her tracks. Faragonda was way too focused on Valtor who came down from the sky to notice that she had stopped.

Valtor landed with two feet on the ground, arms folded together in front of his chest. “We meet again, Faragonda, it has been a while.” Valtor smiled as he tilted his head slightly sideways, almost as if he pitied the woman standing in front of him. “You’ve grown old.” He added chuckling. For the briefest of moments (Y/N) saw his eyes go over Faragonda’s shoulder in her direction, before returning towards the furious headmistress.

“You’ve bewitched the girls from Cloud Tower.” She accused before throwing a spell at him in her anger. Valtor managed to easily catch the spell with his hand, before throwing it back in Faragonda’s direction, which managed to hit her in the chest. Faragonda flew backwards towards the edge of the roof, hitting the brick wall. She landed close to (Y/N), who was now calmly inspecting the spectacle. Now that Faragonda could see that professor Whiteshade had remained standing, (Y/N) could see the clogs in her head turning. “I’ve always been known to be rather persuasive.” Valtor said, walking closer towards them as (Y/N) slowly started to make his way towards him. “No, no!” Faragonda muttered, almost shocked, as realization slowly started to dawn on her.  “Or should I say, we are very persuasive.” 

“I suppose we are.” (Y/N) chuckled, as she let herself drop the image of professor Whiteshade for a moment. With each blink of Faragonda’s eyes a different person was standing next to Valtor. One moment in her place stood the professor, then Griffin, and then King Radius , and with the next blink shadows circled around the woman standing next to Valtor, revealing the woman lying behind the shadows, beneath all the false faces she created. A smile on her lips that Faragonda knew all too well from many years ago, then the professor was back in place but the smile still remained. “Well, as fun as this little reunion is, I was under strict orders to make sure the information in the library would not fall under the wrong hands.” (Y/N) told Valtor, who matched the smile on her face. 

“Well then, you better get going. Faragonda and I have a lot of catching up to do anyway.” 

[vanellopes-mun]

Vanellope VS. Turbo: A Mini Analysis!

There are a million reasons why Turbo’s reveal in Disney’s Wreck-it Ralph is such an iconic and memorable scene. A scene that I and many others have replayed ever since 2012 and its impact has never left our minds. It solidified King Candy/Turbo as one of Disney's top villains ever created, surprising and shocking viewers with a plot twist that Disney hasn’t been able to overthrow with their other movies before they abandoned villains until King Magnifico but he sucks so. He WISHES he was as charismatic as King Candy plz-

But this analysis isn’t just about King Candy/Turbo, it’s also about Vanellope Von Schweetz. She’s the most important ingredient to making this scene work and play out the way it does and ultimately why it’s so fucking cathartic. ( More so than Ralph’s fight against Cy-Bug Turbo in my opinion) After watching how it was originally story boarded, the crew behind WiR perfected this scene with a specific detail that they changed. In the early storyboard, Vanellope causes King Candy’s vehicle to crash, causing him to glitch and transform into Turbo in front of the cameras. While I love love love the extended race between Vanellope and King Candy and sort of wished it could have been longer in the actual film, I am content that they didn’t go with the direction. In the movie, King Candy is revealed after trying to beat/kill Vanellope with his horn rod/pole thingy from his kart, she grabs it and glitches due to stress/adrenaline/her emotions, her blue glitch traveling through the cane and making contact with King Candy, finally putting down the facade he had on for 15 years and revealing him as Turbo to the characters in the film and the audience. It’s such a small detail, it only happens in a second, but it’s all it took for the start of his downfall and his eventual demise. 

And this is why it brings me catharsis every time I watch this scene. I could never put it into words before, but it’s beyond satisfying that the end of King Candy’s horrible reign starts with Vanellope and her glitch. The very same glitch that he caused trying to delete her code and remove her place from the game. The glitch that he used as an excuse to turn everyone in Sugar Rush against her. He usurped her throne and tried to ruin her life. Despite this, he still had the audacity to shout “Get off of MY track!” earlier. It brings his Roadblasters incident back up, it was his choice, trying to steal the thunder of another racing game that just got plugged in because he couldn’t stand the idea of anyone taking his place, only for Turbo Time and Roadblasters to be unplugged. All of this circling back and biting him in the ass. Vanellope was the key all along and he knew it, he feared her despite never really having a conversation with her as far as we know (Vanellope asking Turbo “What the-?! Who are you!?” leads me to believe that if they did converse in the past, it was not in his true form and he was most likely already King Candy. Plus it just goes to show how fast he hijacked Sugar Rush), but you can just tell by how desperate he was to keep her from racing, he didn’t want anyone to take his place ever again. 

So the scene continues and his famous line and breakdown goes as this: “I’m Turbo! The greatest racer ever! And I did not reprogram this world to let YOU and that halitosis riddled warthog TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME!” It’s just so ironic, unfair and hypocritical of him it makes my blood boil! And the way he’s raising his voice, jabbing his finger at her and Vanellope’s trying to shrink away from him as he yells at her face before he tries to murder her I just- So cruel, scary, wicked and disturbing! But Vanellope, this brave WARRIOR, is reminded of her glitch after Turbo calls her for what he believes is the last time. “End of the line, Glitch!” She takes a moment, everything slows down around her as she tries to control her glitch to escape Turbo. She glitches away, missing the wall and It ends up saving her life! I just cannot stress enough how beautiful that is! She used her disability, that everyone thought would simply doom her and the game, and embraced it when she needed it most. Her glitch, while it was suddenly given to her by circumstances she couldn’t control or prevent, she took control back. It’s her beautiful superpower and it’s empowering. After this scene, it’s the “end” of Turbo before he gets nom’d by a Cy-Bug. ( I want to note that he later says “I’m the most powerful VIRUS in the arcade”, part of me wants to believe he said that because clearly Vanellope bested him as the greatest racer ever but I doubt that was their intention lol)

They’re the embodiment of Selfishness vs. Selflessness. While Vanellope had everything taken away from her, she didn’t follow the same path as him. Turbo had everything taken from him, but it was his fault and he only ever thought about himself, never about the destruction he left behind. Hell, all she ever wanted was to be one of the racers, no matter how much they bullied her and ostracized her, she never ended up being evil like him even though it would be a perfect recipe to become a villain, this is also what makes her a mirror to Ralph.  (Remember in that one deleted scene where she said she wanted to break the racers’ legs but come on can you blame her!?!?! She was so real for saying that.) VANELLOPE IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER EVER AAAA. 

Before I ramble any further, I will forever love the choices that the writers made for the climax and it just ends up being an absolutely perfect and brilliant scene and I will continue to rewatch for the millionth time. 

[writing-with-sophia]

Describing a villain's appearance in a natural way

Someone asked me how to describe a villain's appearance in a natural way, so today I take a little time to write this post.

One of the first factors to explain when a character emerges is their appearance. To make those descriptions more natural and less restrictive, you should combine them with other positive aspects such as personality and behavior. Here are some tips:

Use sensory details: Consider the five senses when describing the villain's appearance. What do they look like? What do they smell like? What do their voices sound like? What texture do their clothing or skin have? Is their appearance pleasant or unpleasant to the senses?

Focus on physical features: Describe the villain's physical characteristics such as their height, weight, body type, facial features, hair color, and eye color. Use descriptive language to give the reader a clear image of their appearance. However, you should just chose and describe what is most prominent, noteworthy, and can be considered a unique feature of that character. If you describe everything, including hair, face, eyes, lips, clothes, hands, etc., it will be incredibly long and uninteresting, and it will not impress the reader.

Use metaphor and simile: Using metaphors and similes can help create a vivid image of the villain's appearance. Comparing the villain's appearance to something else can help create a clearer image in the reader's mind. For example, you could describe the villain's hair as "wild and unruly, like a tangled forest."; their eyes as "cold as steel" or their skin as "pale as death."

Consider clothing and accessories: The villain's clothing and accessories can also give insight into their character and background. For example, a villain who wears all black and has a lot of leather might be perceived as more menacing than one who wears bright colors and flowing fabrics. Or, if the villain is very well-groomed and dressed in expensive clothing, it might suggest that they are wealthy or have a high status.

Use context: The context of the story can also help shape the description of the villain's appearance. For example, if the story is set in a medieval fantasy world, the villain might have a more archaic appearance, while a modern-day villain might have a more contemporary appearance.

Avoid cliches and stereotypes: While it's important to give the reader a clear image of the villain's appearance, be careful not to rely on cliches or stereotypes. E.g. describing a villain as having a scar on their face or a hook for a hand can feel overdone and lacking in originality.

Consider the impact on other characters: The way the villain looks can have an impact on how other characters react to them. For instance, if the villain is very imposing or intimidating, other characters might be scared or intimidated by them.

Don't forget about body language: The way the villain carries themselves can also be revealing. E.g if they are slouching or have a sneer on their face, it can suggest that they are arrogant or dismissive.

And here is an example of how to describe the appearance of my character who is a villain:

"As soon as he stepped into the room, he commanded attention. With his broad shoulders and imposing stature, he seemed to fill the space with his presence. His suit was impeccably tailored, the fabric hugging his powerful frame like a second skin. But it wasn't just his appearance that made him stand out - it was the air of confidence and authority that surrounded him. He moved with purpose, his gaze sharp and calculating, and his voice dripped with honeyed charm that was as dangerous as it was seductive. It was clear that this was a man who was used to getting what he wanted, and he was willing to do whatever it took to get it."

In this example, the villain's appearance is described in a way that reflects his personality. His imposing stature and tailored suit suggest power and wealth, while his air of confidence and charm hint at a ruthless and manipulative personality. By using description that reflects the villain's personality, the reader can get a better understanding of who the character is beyond just their physical appearance.

Remember that ultimately, the way you describe the villain's appearance should serve the story and help create a clear and compelling image in the reader's mind. By using a mix of descriptive language, sensory details, and context, you can create a vivid and memorable villain that readers will love to hate.

[lilybug-02]

They have an AVA popularity poll!

Who are u voting for?

Don’t make me choose 😭😰😢😔

Personally I gotta say The Second Coming and basically every “villain” Alan Becker has made are my top.

Purple’s visual and musical masterpiece, King Oranges inane backstory, The Chosen One’s awesome powers, the Dark Lord being so evil, and Victims soul crushing origin story. HOW DO I CHOOSE!?!??

And then there’s the mercenaries being so bad ass it makes me jealous. Also Corndog man being funny af.

[erinwantstowrite]

just saw your post about the aus in your draft and the most ominous one is definitely "psych". my current theory for "clone" is that it's a peter is dick's clone story like the bats originally assumed and even if that's not right the thought hasn't left my head.

now for the actual question: what's your favourite story in your drafts? and what part do you like the most? (any fandom!)

hit the nail on the head for the Clone AU!! that one is gonna be interesting for sure. but the Psych AU is actually heavily based off of the TV show:

with Harry Osborn and Peter as a dynamic duo causing problems in Metropolis (giving Kon grey hairs)

Ahhhhh if I had to pick a favorite draft story.... probably the AU where Tim's parents supply weapons and stuff for rogues? They're villains and Tim doesn't legally exist, it's probably the most interesting to me. Or the figure skating Tim au, I love that one.

My second favorite would be the one where Tim is targeted by a serial killer and the Bats are trying to keep him. like. alive. But Tim (a kid) misinterprets the attention as "they fucking know I stalk them" and is doing his damndest to avoid them. It's so fucking funny while also being so sad LFMAOO

[symphonyofsilence]

Jin Ling & his Xiao Shushu appreciation, 'cause I don't see enough of it.

Remember that Jin Ling avoided LWJ like plague 'cause he was scared of him shitless, to the point that when WWX fake called Hanguang-Jun he ran without even looking back literally seconds after WWX pulled the same trick on him with JC 'cause he didn't want to risk looking back just in case it was actually HGJ, but he stood against Hanguang-Jun AND sect leader Lan when he thought they were invading his Xiao Shushu's room? Only Jiggy's own intervention made him back down.

& IDK maybe the reason Jin Ling was there at that time was that it was the family section. But since Fairy wasn't with him, maybe he was visiting his uncle. & I find it hard to imagine, like, say, WWX visiting Jiang Fengmian or Lan Sizhui visiting Zewu-Jun or the Lan brothers visiting Lan Qiren in the middle of the night in their private chambers unless something very important has happened. I think according to the standards of their time, they must have been very close for this visit to happen.

Running to Xiao Shushu 'cause JiuJiu is angry with him & adorably hiding behind him 'cause Xiao Shushu spoils him.

Defending Xiao Shushu and having a firm belief that whatever he says is for Jin Ling's own good even in the face of his cool uncle after the rush of winning a fight against a group of his all-time bullies.

Still using the affectionate term "Xiao Shushu"even when confronting him about why would he kill his father, begging him to "say something". Give him anything to make it a little bit less painful.

Jiggy wanting to comfort Jin Ling even when he's crying because he just realized that Jiggy has killed his father.

Jin Ling looking so hurt when Jiggy says that JGS didn't let him hold Jin Ling as though he can't imagine a world in which his uncle is not allowed to hold him. Not being allowed to hold JL being a notable part of JGY's villain origin story.

Jiggy pushing Jin Ling out of danger.

Jin Ling screaming for Jiggy to run even after Jiggy took him hostage. And all the other shit.

(It's worth mentioning that in the books, Jiggy doesn't push JL out of danger and JL still screams for him to run, and he still calls him uncle instead of Sect Leader as he does in the show. It's also worth mentioning that the show made some stunning choices in the Guaniyn temple scene regardimg JGY & JL. As half of the things I'm saying about that scene here only happened in the show.)

Jiggy looking so worried as Wen Ning goes towards JL even though he himself has lost an arm and is bleeding to death. And only looking relieved when Wen Ning holds the blade.

Jin Ling being scarred for life here. Oh my poor, poor baby.

With much difficulty, he coughed up some blood. Everyone present heard a crack that was abnormally clear and brutal.

A whimper of a last breath left Jin GuangYao's throat.

Jin Ling's shoulders shivered. He shut his eyes and covered his ears, too afraid to keep watching and listening.

And my favorite scene that emotionally crushed me: Jin Ling remembering when his uncle gave him little Fairy & mourning his uncle & becoming the hero of the nation who finally told Sect Leader Yao to kindly go fuck himself. 'Cause he told him that his uncle was not worth his tears. Jin Ling thinking that they wouldn't dare to tell him such bullshits if his uncle were still alive. Baby Jin Ling feeling so comfortable around the sect leader and the Chief Cultivator that he could break things beside his feet and scream at him, and his uncle just understanding that he needs to leave him alone at that moment, his Xiao Shushu being the only one who could comfort him and make him happy at that point, his Xiao Shushu giving him his spiritual dog & one of his rare actual, geniune smiles that was so warm & kind that Jin Ling remembers to that day, this happy memory being the one that Jin Ling remembers Jiggy with after all the things he learnt in the span of two days. Him acknowledging that Jiggy's love for him was geniune and real & still choosing to continiue to love his uncle despite everything. Him learning that he can't really resent JGY, WWX or WN 'cause though they gave him reasons for that, they also gave him reasons against that. They gave him reasons to love them. And why choose hate when you can...not choose that. Him breaking a cycle of hate that few of the adults of the story did not drown in. And it must mostly be Jiang Yanli's legacy, but it also proves that Jiang Cheng & Jin Guangyao, despite their own numerous issues did something right raising such a child. He feels so secure in their love. And he's right in that feeling.

[imagineanime2022]

S/O With Powers Like Raven

Tokoyami Fumikage X Reader, Shoto Todoroki X Reader, Hitoshi Shinso X Reader, Keigo Takami X Reader, Dabi X Reader,

Requested: @supernatural-hunter1

Request: I had this cute little ideas stuck in my head and I thought it was a really cute What if Tokoyami, Shoto, Shinsou, Hawks Dabi and Shigaraki had an S/O who’s quirk similar to Raven’s powers from original teen titans and I know, for a fact that TokoYami would fall harder in love than the others😂 I also did a story about it to if you want to go check it out sometime but I just thought it was cute. BTW, you did an amazing job with that Danny Phantom story😁 AND What if the class 1A students have an S/O who quirk is the same powers as Raven from “Teen Titans” (the original version)

Warnings: Bullying, Bad parenting, injury, any others let me know

Fumikage Tokoyami

🌙 You both sensed the other's energy from the moment that you walked into the classroom, well you kind of just appeared and he registered the change in the room. 🌙 You seemed to automatically stay away from people, you avoided talking to people or getting too close to them. 🌙 It wasn’t his excitement that felt from across the room, but Dark Shadow’s the demon took a liking to you the moment that she saw you so you had to address that because it was slightly distracting. 🌙 You were both fast friends but he fell for you the first time that he saw you interact with Dark Shadow when the villain attacked the training camp.

The moment that the villains made themselves known, you worried about the class mates that had already been sent out into the forest but honestly you were more worried about Tokoyami after having spoken about your powers, you knew that the darkness was going to make controlling Dark Shadow difficult. You took about 2 seconds to locate him and then teleport to where he was, you found him hands pressed to his head as he tried to contain Dark Shadow. “Tokoyami!” You called as you fell to your knees in front of him. “What are…you doing…here?” He asked as he managed to look up at you. “I came looking for you, I knew that Dark Shadow would be hard to control.” You explained. “You have to go, she’ll hurt you.” He reached forward trying to push you towards the trees. “She wouldn’t hurt me, I can help, trust me.” You pleaded, he doubled over again seemingly trying to contain the power that Dark Shadow harboured. You didn’t get a verbal answer from Tokoyami but you continued anyway. The moment that your power activated Dark Shadow seemed to focus on you. “Hey Shadow, I know that you feel a lot of power right now but you're hurting Tokoyami, you don’t want to do that do you?” “I don’t mean to.” Dark Shadow answered and you nodded as you lifted your hands drawing her closer to you, when her head finally rested in yours you started to slowly calm the rampaging emotions for both of them. “I’m sorry.” “Don’t worry, we’re okay now… All we need to do is find our way back now okay?” You asked. “Thank you.” Tokoyami said softly and you looked at him and smiled. “Of course.” You nodded, taking his hand and pulling him over with you.

🌙 From here on you both became very close, you were never seen far apart and you worked together well, with your ability to control and enhance the shadows and by extension Dark Shadow you became a formidable team. 🌙 It didn’t take long for you both to realise that the feelings you had extended past friendship. 🌙 Tokoyami fell hard for you, he made sure that you were safe and happy no matter the condition that he might be in. Kissing was out of the question given his beak, you pressed kisses to his cheeks and hands but he often showed affection by nuzzling you or running his hands through your hair instead. 🌙 You spent a lot of time together and it was usually in yours or his room at the dorm.

It had been a long day for both of you, you weren’t sure that you wanted to sit in the common room with the rest of your friends so you made your way to Tokoyami’s room which was closer than yours, you fell face first on his bed, he didn’t seem to be there yet so you closed your eyes for a moment hoping to get some rest before he got back.

When you opened your eyes again Dark Shadow was fliting around the room as Tokoyami sat at his desk. He seemed to be doing homework that you didn’t care to entertain at the moment. “You didn’t wake me.” You mumbled. “You seemed tired today, it’s better that you rested, you can go back to sleep, I’ll wake you when it’s time to eat.” He said as he turned to look at you, you shook your head sitting up and rubbing at your eyes. Tokoyami walked over to you sitting on the bed, you moved over and rested your head on his thigh. “What were you doing?” You asked. “Maths homework.” He answered as his hands started to run through your hair, Dark Shadow settled in a smaller form on your chest as you gently ran your hand over the entity. “Mm.” You hummed as your eyes started to close again, he knew that you were still tired and it wouldn’t take much to send you back to sleep, your rooms were very similar so you had already admitted that your felt safe enough to sleep there, but as he run his fingers through your hair he could see your face relaxing and he realised that he would do anything for you to always have this look on your face and you became a new reason for him to become a hero, to make a world where he could see you smile and relax this way all the time.

Shoto Todoroki

🔥 You and Shoto barely acknowledged each other at the start of the school year, you both had your goals and would stop at nothing to achieve them. 🔥 You guys got closer after the sports festival, after finding out that you both had Daddy issues that you needed to solve, you didn’t really need to talk when in each other's presence. 🔥 Shoto was super curious about your quirk, he’d never really seen anything like it, you were in some way able to mute most quirks that you came into contact with and despite the fact that it came from your father you weren’t afraid of using it. 🔥 The first time that he saw your father was during the Stain incident, while Iida, Midoriya and himself were dealing with Stain. You were dealing with your father.

“You really think that you can be a hero!?” Your father asked as you dodged yet another attack of pure energy. “You don’t know what I can do.” You glared at him but he was quick this time and the next attack that he sent out hit you, you fell over the side of the building that you had been fighting on, you couldn’t catch yourself before hitting the ground, you laid there dazed for a second before you rolled to the side avoiding yet another attack from your father. “(H/N)!” Your head turned to where Shoto was standing with Midoriya and Iida. “What are you doing here!?” You asked as you kept your eyes on your father. “Those are kids from your class?” He asked “well then shall I get rid of the distraction.” He lifted his hands towards them, you didn’t think twice about creating a shield in front of them but it left you vulnerable to another attack, which it seemed your dad had counted on, you saw the blast of energy and almost felt it before the ice came up around you protecting you, it was then that you all heard the pros that had been looking for the others heading down into the alley way, you stepped into the shadows and portaled out near Shoto and the others. “Are you guys okay?” You asked. “We’re fine, what about you?” Shoto asked. “I’m fine thanks to you.” You smiled. “Who was that?” Shoto asked. “That’s my Dad.” You answered as you looked at where he had been. “That’s your Dad?” Shoto asked. “Yeah I told you we both had family issues.” You nodded and he looked down the alley at Endeavour running towards them all and he thought for a second that at least his Dad cared about his safety.

🔥 You and Shoto were very much traumatised children so he recognised boundaries that you never really talked about but they were there. 🔥 You were part of the reason that he decided to try and repair his relationship with his Dad. 🔥 Stood with you no matter what you said or decided, you guys were a power couple without the couple part, you were both a little oblivious to the fact for a little while. 🔥 That is until you met his siblings, who loved you by the way.

“So Mum was asking when you're going to bring your partner to see her.” Natsuo teased, they had never seen Shoto shocked or caught off guard but the moment that he started choking Fiyumi leaned forward to pat his back Fuyumi leaned forward to pat his back and help to stop the coughing. “Natsuo you could have phrased that differently.” Fuyumi muttered as she handed him some water. “Mum just said that she was curious about the friend that you write about all the time is all.” “She did?” Shoto asked. “Have you told (Y/N) about Mum?” Natsuo asked. “Mmm, we talked about it.” He answered. “We’ve talked about our family a lot.” “You have?” Fuyumi asked. “Yeah, they said that they wished she had a brother and sister like you guys, they’ve been alone since their mum died so…” Shoto trailed off as his phone vibrated. His siblings watched as he picked up the phone and smiled, answering the text message immediately. “You should really think about that partner thing, you seem happier when you're with them almost like our Dad didn’t take everything from you.” Natsuo said as he stood from the table and carried his bowl to the sink where he washed it and then left to get on with the rest of his day. “Wait!” Shoto called out “how would I know that I like them?” “Well I mean I’ve seen you with them, you care about them right? You want to protect them from anything that might hurt them.” Natsuo shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. “You also want to give them anything that they might want right? That’s why you introduced them to us, to a family.” Fuyumi added, Shoto bit down on his lip as he looked down at his Soba, they were right but did that mean that he liked you and if it did? What about you? Did you like him? “Shoto this is something that you have to talk to them about, knowing how they feel is important too.”

That was how Shoto found himself sitting in the small apartment that you called yours “something is bothering you, it has been since you got here.” You said as you looked at him “what's going on?” “I was talking to Natsuo and Fuyumi this morning and they said something.” He started explaining, you nodded to signal that you were listening without interrupting him. “Well we were talking about you, they said that my Mum wants to meet you since I write about you a lot when I send her letters.” “If that’s what you are worried about then I’d be happy to see your Mum.” You said. “No that’s not it… Well not all of it.” He said “there was something else, Natsuo called you my partner.” “Is that bad?” You asked. “I had to ask him what he meant but when he explained it to me, I realised that everything that he said was true for me… But then Fuyumi said that this isn’t something I can decide on my own, what you think is important, so I guess I wanted to know what you thought.” Shoto explained he gripped his trouser legs tightly as he waited for you to speak. “You know I told myself for the longest time that you couldn’t want me and that if my feelings for you were that strong that I should let you find someone better for you.” You explained. “What!?” He asked. “I don’t want someone else!” “I know that now… but that was hard to tell before.” You shrugged. “So the way I feel is the same as you and I wouldn’t have a problem with being your partner if you think that I’m good enough.” “You're more than enough.” He nodded. “As are you.” You said softly, pressing a shy kiss to his cheek.

Hitoshi Shinso

🧠 Hitoshi didn’t actually take much note of you for the first couple of days, actually the first time that he ever really took note of you was when people started badgering you about your quirk. 🧠 He noticed that you didn’t seem to want to talk about it, at first he thought that you were quirkless but realised that for you to be in the same class as him you had to have some kind of quirk so he then decided that you had to be ashamed of it for some reason. 🧠 He never asked you about your quirk, you were paired together for school projects and quickly learned that you liked the same things and understood each other's boundaries well enough without having to spell them out. 🧠 The first time that Shinso saw your quirk it was out of control, he had walked into the room after realising that you were late for lunch.

Shinso walked into the classroom that he was sure you last lesson before lunch was, his eyes found you first with your hands over your head as you cried, his eyes moved around the room where it seemed that shadows reached out to grab three girls who must have been in the room with you “(Y/N).” Shinso called out to you and sighed when you looked up at him but your eyes widened. “You have to leave, I can’t stop them… You’ll get hurt.” You muttered “they’re right I shouldn’t be here, I should be locked up somewhere.” Shinso felt the flare in your quirk as the shadows darkened and tightened around the girls. “They said that?” He asked, stepping forward. “No! Don’t do that!?” You pleaded, the shadows receded from the girls and they all fell to the ground. “Go.” He ordered as you curled in on yourself, you hands pressing to your head, you were mumbling to yourself, he hated seeing you like this. If he had been here instead of training with Aizawa this wouldn’t have happened.

Aizawa! He could help but he didn’t know how he was going to get a message to him, he was in the process of figuring it out when someone called his name “Shinso, you know them?” He looked over at the entrance to the classroom and saw that Aizawa was standing there with Present Mic and Midnight. It seemed that someone must have told them about what was happening over here and they rushed over. “They’re my friend, their names (Y/N), those girls were teasing them. I think it caused her to lose control of their quirk.” Shinso explained. “Not completely.” Midnight muttered as she directed Aizawa’s eyes to Shinso’s feet where the shadows circled him but didn’t dare touch him. “Mmm.” Aizawa hummed as his attention turned to you and nullified your quirk, Shinso moved quickly crouching in front of you. “Are you okay?” He asked, he didn’t get an answer but he could feel you shaking and your breathing was out of control. “(Y/N), look at me.” When you looked up he repeated his question. “I don-'' You stopped a blank expression across your face as you looked at him. “Calm down.” He ordered, he watched as your breathing went back to normal and only then did he let control go, he waited for you to be angry at him or push him away but instead you launched forward wrapping your arms around him. “Thank you.” You breathed and he stayed stock still for a moment before his arms wrapped around you and pulled you closer. “Anything for you.” He answered.

🧠 From there on Aizawa insisted that you train with him and Shinso if only to learn control of quirk so you don’t have to be afraid of it. 🧠 You watch Shinso grow and become stronger and you wonder if he was always going to think of you as a friend or just a burden. 🧠 You started pulling away after that, it was getting to the time where Shinso would show his quirk to the rest of the hero course and then he’d be leaving you, you know that he’ll get on the hero course no problem, he’ll make new friends and leave you alone. 🧠 Shinso noticed the moment that you stopped coming to the training with him and Aizawa, you didn’t answer any messages and seemed to be actively avoiding him, that is until you couldn’t anymore.

Shinso showed up at the classroom earlier than you had expected, he waited for all of the other students to filter out, he realised after a while that you had been eating your lunch in your classroom so you didn’t have to see him so when he was sure that you were on your own he walked into the room closing the door behind him. You looked like you were ready to run but your body was frozen. It was then that he realised that you weren’t avoiding him because you wanted to. “Where have you been?” He asked. “I’ve been here.” You answered “always here.” “You stopped coming to training.” He stated, as he pulled the chair out from in front of you and sat down. “I didn’t want to hold you back.” You mumbled but your eyes moved from him and he knew that he was getting to the bottom of the issue. “Hold me back?” He asked “you aren’t doing that and we both know that.” “Mm.” You hummed as if you weren’t actually listening to him. “There’s something that you're not telling me.” He accused and you looked at him now, he saw a number of different emotions flash across your face before you finally spoke “I’m just getting used to not having you around.” You finally said and he leaned forward taking your chin in his hand and directing your gaze to him. “What do you mean?” He asked. “You’ll be moving to the hero course and I’ll have to get on without you.” You explained. “We don’t know that I’m going to be on the hero course.” He argued, it was your turn to give him a look of disbelief “look it doesn’t matter because me being on the hero course won’t change anything.” “It changes everything!” You argued. “You won’t be here, you’ll make new friends, better friends and then you won’t need me anymore.” “Your overthinking everything again-” “Overthinking!? Shinso you're an amazing person there’s no way that you're not going to make friends, hell you made friends after the sports festival right!?” Shinso knew that he needed to do something to get you to calm down and listen to him so with his grip still on your chin he leaned in quickly connecting your lips and effectively stopping you from talking, it took a little while for you to kiss him back but just as you were relaxing into the kiss he pulled back. “I told you overthinking, we might not be in the same classes anymore but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to forget about you, that’s the hardest thing for me to do.” He explained. “You’ll be my first and highest priority no matter what.”

Keigo Takami

🪶 Keigo had heard of you before, people talked about your work as a hero all the time but he had never seen you around, he wondered how you could do all this work without ever running into him. 🪶 Turned out that you worked on opposite shifts, he kept everyone safe during the day and you kept everyone safe overnight, that answered a lot of his questions. 🪶 He liked your look, your hero name, even saw some of the footage from your arrests and your quirk was interesting too. Some would say that he was kind of a fan, 🪶 Keigo actually cast you out of his mind assuming that you were never going to work together, he couldn’t have been more wrong though.

Keigo didn’t know who he was supposed to be working with but it had to be someone worth his time considering The Commission never really asked him to complete missions with the other pro heroes. It was late into the evening when he found himself balancing on the ledge of the building waiting for the hero that was supposed to meet with him. He didn’t hear them until they were standing right next to him “Oh it’s you.” He said as he looked at you “you're the one that I’m working with. Can’t say I’m disappointed.” “I didn’t know you knew who I was, mighty No.2.” You said as you gave a sarcastic bow. “No need for that.” He waved you off “they said that you’d tell me what’s going on.” “Mm.” You hummed. “There’s a group of smugglers, they smuggle everything from weapons to people. I've foiled a good number of their plans and taken down their branches but I can’t seem to take down the core of their operation.” “They’re slippery then?” He asked. “No, the core branches operate during the day, my quirk is pretty useless when there's no shadows around.” You explained as the shadows circled around your wrists “I can’t move as quickly or as stealthily so my agency asked the commission for a team up since you're the only hero fast enough to keep up with me at the moment, you know without drawing attention.” “Endeavour is a little flashing in the dark.” Hawks laughed and you rolled your eyes. “Not to mention difficult to work with, his quirk basically nullifies mine with how bright he is.” You shrugged. “First things first we need to get here, I’ll meet you there.” You informed him and he nodded. “Do you need a lift?” He asked. “No, I'm good.” You answered as you stepped over the ledge disappearing into the shadows below you both, he smirked as he glanced at the location one more time before flying high above the clouds he was going to enjoy working with you.

🪶 You guys became close friends after working together on that mission, the success only made you both more popular and you were probably the only person that Keigo could call a real friend. 🪶 You often woke up to him in your house, you started leaving the window open for him, he then started showing up when you were out on patrol and you would come home and find him on the sofa, you don’t know when it started but you always pressed a kiss to the top of his head before shuffling off to sleep for the day. 🪶 He’d often play with your shadows when you gave them the free will to do as they pleased, he was the first person that had not been afraid of the power that you had. 🪶 Neither of you noticed that you had grown closer than friends until you were forced too, you had unfortunately been caught in a fight with Dabi who had targeted you after watching the two of you together.

You groaned as you opened your eyes, your body felt heavier than it ever had before, you looked around, the room was bright, too bright. A hospital room, you couldn’t remember what happened, you know that you were in so much pain that you passed out, you tried to remember more but in the end your eyes slid closed and you gave into unconsciousness.

Keigo sat perched on the roof of a building watching people milling around, he heard someone behind him and he immediately turned one of his feathers poised for attack.

Dabi.

“What are you doing here?” Keigo asked. “I don’t suppose you checked on your little shadow ruler before you came out today?” Dabi asked. “What are you talking about?” Keigo asked. “I ran into them last night, they weren’t moving when we were done… I don’t know if anyone else found them, they might still be lying in that alleyway.” Dabi shrugged. “What did you do?” He asked. “Do you really have time for that, shouldn’t you be looking for them?” Dabi asked, Keigo knew that he should fight Dabi but he couldn’t ignore the fact that you might be hurt somewhere, he at least knew that the League hadn’t taken you based on the way that Dabi spoke about you. Keigo opened his phone ready to call your agency when a notification for a news story popped up.

Breaking News: (H/N) brought to hospital after gruesome fight with Villain Dabi

The hospital you were in was not in the article for obvious reasons but that information was only a phone call away and he had no intention of letting anyone get in the way of finding you and making sure that you were safe.

When you opened your eyes again you recognised the bright red wings “Hawks?” You asked. “Even when you're hurt you're so careful.” He said softly as you reached out for your hands. “Why didn’t you call me when this happened?” He asked. “I’ve hardly been awake, I remember waking for a second but it wasn’t long.” You answered. “Do you know what happened to me?” “You don’t remember?” He asked. “No really.” You answered, “I remember passing out and a whole lot of blue.” “Dabi.” Keigo said. “That makes sense… But if it was only him then.” You reached around unwrapping the bandages as Keigo watched you curiously, when you finally unwrapped your arms, your skin looked completely healed. “You can heal?” He asked. “In certain circumstances I can.” You answered as you flung your legs over the side of the bed however as you turned you realised that Keigo had not moved and instead he seemed to move closer his wings shielding you both from any prying eyes. “Do you know how worried I was?” He asked. “Worried?” You asked. “Dabi found me just to tell me that you were lying somewhere hurt and alone, I didn’t know if I was going to find you.” He said “we were both lucky the Eraserhead was on patrol that night too.” You’d have to thank him later but as your mind wondered Keigo leaned in closer “I realised something.” “Really?” You asked. “Yeah, I realised how hard it would be to live without you, how much I want to be with you every second of every day and how much I really want to do this.” He leaned forward connecting your lips, the kiss was charged and almost messy, he forced himself to pull away “let’s get the doctors to give you the all clear, then we’re going home.” “Sounds good.” You hummed. “You’ll have to come back to my place this time, we don’t know if he knows where you live so for now what’s mine is yours.” Keigo said as he walked out of the door to find a doctor.

Dabi

💀 You and Dabi operated in the same areas and ran into each other a lot, so he had seen you in action and was not surprised that people feared you. Took the time to find out what your name was, where you came from, and anything else worth knowing. 💀 He never really said more than 3 words to you at a time and you never pushed for a conversation, something he was fond of. 💀 You were a formidable force even when faced with someone who could have been far stronger than you were. 💀 He didn’t think of you as much of a team player though so he was surprised when you showed up at the bar to speak to Shigaraki.

“You made it.” Giran cheered. “I distinctly remember you saying this was a team, they all seem to be at each other's throats.” You noted. “Well they’ve just met.” Giran shrugged. “Bodes well.” You mumbled. “Who’s this?” Shigaraki asked as he turned his attention to you. “(V/N) what are you doing here?” Dabi asked. “Probably the same as you.” You answered. “You believe in Stain’s message?” He asked and you shook your head. “Of course not, I couldn’t care less about him, he showed his hand.” You answered waving off the suggestion only stopping a second to use your telekinesis to create a shield as Toga hurtled at you, flinging her to the side when her knife connected with the table you were using as a shield. “So tell Tomura Shigaraki why I should follow you.” “I don’t want to, nor do I have to sell myself to you.” Shigaraki growled out and you shrugged. “Fair enough, until next time Dabi.” You waved before you disappeared. “You just lost one of the strongest pieces on the board.” Dabi muttered as he turned to leave “call me when you know what the plan is.”

Dabi headed back to his apartment, he wasn't sure how long it was going to be before he heard from Shigaraki but he couldn’t care less the only thing that he could think about was you, the way you appeared, ran the show and left. “Didn’t take you for a team player.” He didn't know how you got into his apartment but he wasn’t going to show you that. “I’m not.” He answered as his head lazily rolled towards you “I didn’t think that you paid me much attention.” “Good.” You mumbled as he stood, he walked as if he was going to walk past you changing direction at the last minute and caging you against the wall. “What are you doing here (Y/N)?” He asked, he moved his face closer to yours, trying to draw you out but you just looked up at him and closer still. “Just wanted to know I’m going to have this place all to myself?” You asked. “What and leave you the mysterious little shadow ruler, now why would I do that? There’s still so much I don’t know.” He teased as leaned closer to your ear “so much I dont trust.” “Smart little arsonist.” You smirked before disappearing into the shadows and appearing at the window on the other side of the room. “Until next time, Dabi.”

💀 From there on Dabi paid more attention, you were there all the time, just outside of everyone’s view, everyone except him. 💀 Eventually conversations became easier and your home became his home, at first it was because your place was closer to the bar then his and slowly developed into him wanting to be there because you were there. 💀 You were probably the only person outside of the league of villains that had his number and that regularly contacts. 💀 He kept an eye on news when you both had to be apart for long periods of time to make sure that you were okay and nothing happened to you.

After the issue with the heroes when they kidnapped Bakugo, you hadn’t heard from Dabi, it worried you, so you started staying out longer and travelling farther to try and even catch glimpse of him, you had sent him messages that he wasn’t answering so you assumed that either his phone was broken or lost.

You sighed as you unlocked your door another night with no sign of him, it had actually been 24 hours since you had been home so you were pretty tired that might have been why you didn’t realise that there was someone in your living room “where have you been?” You jumped at the sound of his voice before turning to the sofa where he was sitting with his arms stretched over the back, your eyes widened, he looked like he was okay, you didn’t even think about answering his question instead you moved across the room and wrapped your arms around his neck straddling his waist without even thinking about it. “You're okay…” You breathed, you could feel that he had tensed beneath you, until his arms started moving and they wrapped around your waist. “I’m fine.” He answered, his hand rested on the back of your neck, gently guiding your face back after a while so that he could look at you. “Are you?” “Me? I’m fine.” You answered softly, he gently ran his thumb over the apple of your cheek. “Why didn’t you answer my texts?” “Lost my phone in the attack.” He answered his voice was low as if he was scared of ruining the moment. “I was worried about you.” You said. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” He smirked and you narrowed your eyes. “We’re not together.” You reminded him and he leaned forward his lips a breath away from yours. “We could be.” He suggested before connecting your lips in a rough kiss, his teeth grazed against your bottom lip, guiding your mouth open for him to take control of the kiss, the hand on your cheek slid to the back of your neck to hold you where he wanted to keep you for a long as possible.

Request Here!!

[moviewarfare]

A Review of “Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)”

It is crazy to think about how this movie franchise originally started on such bad footing with that ugly Sonic design. However, they listened to fans and altered the design to a more game-accurate one. Now here we are with 2 surprisingly good Sonic movies. The 3rd one finally introduces the iconic Shadow the Hedgehog! My favourite character! Is this another great Sonic movie entry or is another in the 3rd movie curse?

Firstly, Shadow is handled wonderfully in this film. The film does a great job of illustrating Shadow's strength and making us feel like Sonic has met his match. Keanu is just doing a Keanu voice but it does work very well for Shadow. Thankfully, they keep the core of his character and backstory in the film. He is menacing but also sympathetic which I find the most important aspect of Shadow which the director also understood. Our main trio is great as they have always been. We do finally get more of them working as a team and I like that the story shows how each of the team has different strengths and weaknesses. They all have incredibly fun chemistry!

Jim Carrey also returns but this time, as two different characters. He returns as Dr Ivo Robotnik but also plays the grandfather, Gerald Robotnik. It seems like the director gave Jim Carrey more freedom to go nuts because Jim Carrey goes full Jim in this film. He steals every scene with his wacky performance! There is an amazing makeup design that makes Gerald look very different from Ivo. However, Jim helps differentiate the two by giving Gerald a distinctively different voice as well. The movie does a great job of making it feel like both characters are there at the same time. Funny enough, both characters have great chemistry which means that Jim has great chemistry with himself!

The movie has some fun action set pieces as well that really show the speed! The first 30 minutes contains many excellent ones including a Team Sonic vs Shadow fight and an awesome chase sequence too. The final act set piece feels like it was pulled right out of Sonic Adventure 2. My one gripe with previous Sonic movie entries was the lack of actual music from the games. This entry remedies this a bit by including a fair amount of notable songs such as "Live and Learn". There are a lot of jokes just like previous ones but this one thankfully is less pop-culture reference galore. There are a fair amount of jokes that actually gave me a chuckle. I think the one standout is how much heart there is in the story. There is the obvious one with Shadow but there is a surprisingly great arc with Dr Ivo Robotnik and his subordinate Agent Stone that might tug on some people's heartstrings.

There is less human character involvement in this entry, which is for the best. However, that doesn't mean the human characters aren't involved as G.U.N is a big part of this story. Krysten Ritter joins the cast as a high-ranking officer in G.U.N but her character is bland and under-baked. Her character leaves the story in a weird anti-climatic way. Gerald Robotnik is also a very one-dimensional villain which is a shame as there was a lot to him in the games. The movie doesn't explore the extent of his grief or even show enough scenes of him with Maria to make him interesting. The pacing also drops a bit in the second act when it becomes exposition heavy and the plot slows down to reintroduce Dr Robotnik and introduce his grandfather.

Overall, it is crazy to see the Sonic movies get better with each entry. The movie is respectful of the source material and provides enough fan service to please fans while telling a solid story. There is an exciting mid-credit scene that is making me look forward to the inevitable 4th entry. I hope it continues to be this good!

For more reviews like this visit:

https://moviewarfarereviews.blogspot.com/

[nthngtoseehere-blog]

15 Day BL Challenge

Original post

#7: Fave villain

I don't knooooow. I have several faves, I can't choose.

Chalothorn - The Sign

He wins the scenery-chewing-villain award. I loved every second he was on screen.

Gif by @thisautistic

Jin Guangyao - The Untamed

This guy was SO good at being evil, partly i think because he felt justified in everything he did. But also because his strategizing was almost flawless. He managed to make the world dance to his tune for more than a decade, and then only failed because someone smarter than him hated his guts.

Image from @thatswhatsushesaid

Lee Jung Seok - Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo

Dohoe's dad wasn't a great villain for who he was, but for the complicated place he filled in the main character's lives. Dohoe tried to leave him behind, pretend he wasn't affected by him, but he couldn't. Juyeong was abused by him, but still managed to have more of a parent-child relationship with him than he had with his own parents. And yet I'm not convinced Juyeong truly grieved him so much as he grieved losing that last (he thought) connection to Dohoe. Lee Jung Seok was awful but had such an impact on the story.

Yada - Kidnap

Evil but stylish as fuck. And so slippery! She's one of those characters that was so good at what she did that she literally had to die to be stopped. But mostly, stylish as fuck. I wish I could have found a good picture of her.

Ming - My Stand-In

I know he's a main character, and I'm sure it could be argued that he was redeemed by the end, but if you ask me Ming was the villain of the story. It was amazing. I LOVED Ming, he was so selfish and toxic, and Joe could not help but fall in love with him twice. I don't believe he will ever change, he'll just not do creepy things until something upsets him again

I really felt like i was watching a show where the angel fell in love with the devil, and they sold it so well.

Gif from @alienwlw

[tristomisto]

So I’ve been running a Hatchetfield game for my friends using the Kids on Bikes system. I love the system and that parts going great, and I absolutely loved the episodes we’ve done so far. I’ve been framing them as episodes where they play the same characters in different timelines, against different Lords in Black.

The first game was against Nibbly, they played their two high school characters, whose friend and student council president was possessed by Nibbly at a young age, and as she reached her 18th birthday, had less and less control of herself. It was a lovely little story, and in the end they triumphed freeing their friend from Nibbly’s clutches.

The second game was against Wiggly, who was using a film being made in Hatchetfield as a ritual to be brought forth into the world, with Wilbur Cross being the main villain. They played their adult characters in this game, and lost to Wiggog. But the way they lost made for probably one of the best and most interesting games of a ttrpg I’ve DM’ed. It also felt like a true Hatchetfield ending in my eyes. I wanna make a full post about this episode later bc it is wild.

We are on our third game of it now and this is my reason for making this post to begin with. They’re playing their high school characters again for this one against Tinky. And I will tell you, writing for a plot about T’Noy Karaxis is the hardest thing I’ve done for this game so far. I hate the Time Bastard so much. And I feel like I have the same trouble for a Pokey episode, they’re really hard to come up with an original idea for them.

That said I feel like the choice of Kids on Bikes was perfect for the game, and would be excited to hear if anyone else has attempted a similar thing for Hatchetfield. Blinky is also the main overarching antagonist rather than Wiggly for my games… bc I love Blinky. All these timelines and stories are building up to what will be a major confrontation, but I know my players might see this post so I can’t say anything about that yet…

[starleska]

welcome to...starleska's f/o round-up 2023! 🥳🥳🥳

below the cut is every single character i've had a crush on in 2023...and there are 30 in total!! 🙈💖 these are given in chronological order of fixation, and they are all new crushes (so re-entering a fixation for a character i've simped for previously doesn't count 😂) now be warned, this is a genuinely unhinged list. they are largely villains. one is a mushroom. one is a vehicle. one is a casino-themed duck-shaped robot. my autism is indiscriminate in the characters it fixates on, and they are all suitably embarrassing 😭💖 without further ado, here we go...

1. James the Red Engine | Thomas the Tank Engine

...shut up 😂💖 at the start of this year i truly lost my mind and fell headfirst into the Thomas the Tank Engine fandom (everyone there is so lovely and creative!!)...and of course, the vain train is my favourite 🙈💖 James is cute okay!! i don't need to justify myself!!! 2. 'Big' Jack Horner | Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

there's no way anyone missed this one - we are quite the tight-knit and dedicated group in the 'Big' Jack Horner fandom 😳💖 come on, look at him...a huge, powerful, obsessive, fancy-bastard collector with an affinity for magic??? he's stunning 🥴💖 i made so many lovely friends through gushing about this horrible man!!! we had so much fun making OCs to ship with him 🙈 one of the most intense fixations i've had all year, and one of the best villains we've seen in years...he is fantastic 🥰 3. Pizzahead | Pizza Tower

i don't know what's in the water of Pizza Tower but it's impossible to be normal about any character you like from that game 🙈💖 of course the evil sentient pizza slice took the top spot, he's so cartoony and ridiculous!!! the amount of power he exerts is also quite the draw 🤭💖 i'm not gonna lie there's a couple other characters from this game i may get into later...we'll see 😉 4. Fingers | Dead End: Paranormal Park

have you heard this guy's voice. can you blame me. deliciously evil fruity monstrosity with supernatural powers? sign me up to whatever sinister scheme Fingers has going on now or in the future 👉👈 he hits a lot of boxes...between the cabaret-style makeup, the posh, dismissive and manipulative personality and the inexplicable Eldritch body, he was always gonna be a crush 🤭 5. M.O.D.O.K. | Marvel

wheeze okay, this was originally a JOKE!!! @thelighttasteslikelasagna sent in this message joking that i look like i'd find M.O.D.O.K. hot, and i was really angry about it for five minutes...and then i discovered the stop-motion cartoon where he's exactly the kind of cringefail malewife villain i enjoy (in the Augustus St. Cloud vein), and the rest is history 🙈💖 definitely one of the silliest crushes i had this year, but he holds a special place in my heart :3c 6. Gargamel | The Smurfs

nah man i was on some serious mental illness at the start of this year 💀 i just can't help it when bad guys are like this, alright!!! Hank Azaria's performance as Gargamel is sooo silly and over-the-top, i couldn't help but love every second he was on screen 🙈💖 Gargamel's just a whole lot of fun!!! who doesn't love a magic-wielding freak hellbent on the destruction of a group of little creatures?? (i cannot and will not be taking any questions at this time 😶) 7. Wally Darling | Welcome Home

my God, the Wally Darling fixation hit the entire Internet like a train 🤭💖 soft-voiced, ambiguously-moraled rizz puppet that he is, how could we not all fall head-over-heels? i have to thank this guy for throwing me headfirst back into fanfic writing, as the whole Welcome Home story really inspired me...not to mention all the lovely folks who wanted to imagine different ways of getting to hold Wally's hand 🥰 hooray for our pretty puppet boy!! 8. Killa Harkan | John Wick: Chapter 4

...yes, i know, it's funny that Killa's the first of two cartoonishly evil German-accented bad guys with sleight of hand tricks and gold teeth on the list this year 😂💖 sitting in the cinema, the second he opened his mouth my partner just turned and stared at me, because they knew. i refuse to apologise for appreciating a really awful bastard - especially one who dresses so sharply 😉 9. Ian Hawke | Alvin and the Chipmunks

yet another member of the 'it started off as a joke...' club 🤭💖 listen, Ian serves!!! we can't resist a smarmy music producer/manage type, can we? Ian's in the same camp as Gargamel for being a deeply evil man whose capacity for doing harm is directed at little creatures. all i'm saying is, he can sign me up for a dodgy deal any day 🥴 10. Myc Cellium | Inside Job

i can't tell if it's my monsterfucker tendencies or my consummate attraction to Brett Gelman but the crass sentient mushroom got me down bad 😭💖 he's just such a menace!! he's got that intoxicating combo of being horribly socially inappropriate and an actual outcast...fellas, Myc was fixation bait for me 😭 11. Klaus Kickenklober | Sing 2

i don't care if you think you're not a furry, someone can and will get you from the Sing franchise, and that is a threat 🙈💖 yesss laugh it up, Star's got another stern and vaguely European cartoon villain added to the list 😂 i just find Klaus so impossibly delightful!!! he'd be a terrible teacher to have in real life, but in fiction, i think i could fix him :3c 12. The Spot | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

ohoho, i know you guys were living for The Spot fixation because i remember your reaction to the x Readers 😉 look at him and his incredible design!!! the transformation of The Spot from weak laughable villain to reality-bending monstrosity had me by the throat...and i can't wait to see more of him when the next Spider-Verse drops 👀 13. Mad Mod | Teen Titans

MAD. BLOODY. MOD!!!!! i think our favourite British bastard has to take the crown (literally and figuratively) as my strongest fixation out of the whole of 2023, i lost my mind over this guy. he just consumed my every waking thought!!! 🙈 the style, the voice, the unbelievable engineering skill...Mad Mod is one of those once-in-a-lifetime f/os that you know you'll be obsessed with for a very long time 😳💖 i look back so fondly on those wonderful few months of Mad Mod fandom resurgence, and how that still continues today...here's hoping even more people find out about him and develop their own crushes 😉 shout-out to the lovely @iriso-page who suggested him and Music Meister to me 🙈💖

14. Control Freak | Teen Titans

sdfgdf okay back on form with the fat dweebs, i know, i know!!!! my ravenous Mad Mod fixation wasn't enough to ignore Control Freak, one of the most delightfully stupid villains in Teen Titans...!!! he hits all my buttons (ha!) and i genuinely think his design and powers are kind of epic. would love to see him utilised in the future 😉 (i am never beating the Discord kitten allegations...) 15. Ken | Barbie

well, this particular blond himbo was quite the surprise!! 🤭💖 i'm not usually the one to go for such a stereotypical hottie, but Ryan Gosling plays Ken as so unhinged and...off for the whole movie, he activated the same neurons which come with the weirdest of my crushes 🙈💖 Ken's a misguided sweetheart and i'd love to help him feel a little bit wanted;;; 16. Buck Ruffler the Duck Shuffler | Toontown: Corporate Clash

fell into the wonderful world of Toontown: Corporate Clash and imprinted on this fucker like...well, like a baby duck 😂💖 is this not the most spectacular design for an original Cog you've ever seen?! i love that Buck is an absolutely scrambled robot with a gambling addiction, and i think he'd be lovely (and hilarious) company 🥰

17. Barnaby | Billie Bust Up

ohhhh yesssss Billie Bust Up caught my attention with this sinister goofball!!!! fancy, flamboyant and very into murder...Barnaby has all the traits for any Tumblr Sexyman, and i cannot wait for the full game to drop so we can see even more of him 👀

18. The Mad Hatter/Jervis Tetch | Batman

Jervis Tetch my beloved!! this has been the year of fancy blonds in top-hats, as well as deeply silly hypnotists, and Jervis kicked off this trend with a bang 🙈💖 i'm a Mad Hatter fan generally but B:TAS Jervis is a special kind of pretty stalker, and that voice is delicious 🥴 thanks to him for kicking off an Alice in Wonderland fixation and for finally getting me into drinking tea...the things we do for our crushes, eh? 🥰 19. Music Meister/Darius Chapel | Batman

and here is the first character played by Neil Patrick Harris who made it onto this year's list!!! 🙈💖 another camp, theatrical Batman villain to add to my collection...gorgeous voice, such an immense sense of style, and wonderfully good fun!! i think more people should get a little obsessed with the Music Meister 😉 20. Buggy the Clown | One Piece

none of you can judge me for this one - i remember all the TikTok edits!!! 😂💖 Buggy is pathetic and so much fun - i wasn't expecting to enjoy him as much as i did!! although my fixation for him may have been short-lived, my love for him certainly isn't 🥰 21. Pat Butcher | BBC Ghosts

ohhhh, every now and again a little sweetheart will get me right in the feelings, and Pat Butcher is added proudly to my f/o collection as the second Yorkshireman (next to Salad Fingers 😭). i just love what an upbeat, lovely man he is!! he's so soft and warm to everyone he meets and tries his best to do everything right by his friends...i'd love to cuddle with him 🥺 22. Josh Levy | The Eltingville Club

a classic return to form with Josh Levy, à la Comic Book Guy and Control Freak...really telling on myself by collecting these horrible greasy nerds who would 100% call me something derogatory if i tried to talk to them 💀 i appreciate every last one of The Eltingville Club but Josh, as a failed writer who remains just as toxic as he was when he was a teen, is my undisputed favourite 🙈💖 23. Swan | Phantom of the Paradise

oh God, reawakening my crush on Paul Williams by discovering Swan damn near killed me!!!! 😭💖 i was so obsessed with this man as a kid and the moment i saw him as Swan in POTP i felt intense attraction and gender envy in equal parts;;;; Swan's whole aesthetic and demeaning, inhuman approach to people is impossibly sensual, and i can't overstate enough how little evil dudes in tinted shades will always get me down bad 🙈💖 24. Kinger | The Amazing Digital Circus

my love for Kinger was such a pleasant surprise!! 🤭💖 sweet, anxious fella that he is, all i want to do is get him out of that digital hellscape and ensure he can wrap up in as many blankets as he likes!!! i love his always-on-the-edge-of-a-breakdown portrayal and am so eager to learn more about him and his backstory 👀 25. Peter Gregory | Silicon Valley

ahhh, kicking it the old-fashioned way by getting extremely invested in the most autistic character on the show (and that's saying something, given the high neurodivergent coding of everyone in Silicon Valley 🙈💖). Peter's style and methods of communication are traits i simply find attractive in real life, and although he sadly wasn't with us long, he absolutely stole the show ✨ 26. 'Action' Jack Barker | Silicon Valley

given my love of nerds it's no shocker that Silicon Valley hit me with two f/os, and 'Action' Jack Barker - the tech-field Colin Robinson - was a surefire entry 😳💖 what is it about these milquetoast men who are so whitebread yet are capable of such terrible things which gets me every time?! Jack is such a fun character and i'm glad we got as much of him as we did 🙈 27. Avery | Pokémon: Sword and Shield

i cannot believe none of you guys told me about Avery, the most amazingly dressed character i've ever seen in the whole of Pokémon 🙈💖 shhhh he is so very pretty and petty and his powers are incredibly cool. i just love everything about him and would delight in helping him develop a real sense of self-esteem, because he does not deserve the dismissal he receives from his family 😭💖 28. Matthew Patel | Scott Pilgrim

oh my God, heart in my MOUTH seeing Matthew Patel get the glow-up villain arc he so desperately deserved!!!!! 😭💖💖💖 Matthew is just the epitome of style and power in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, and it was so fantastic getting to see him grow as a character and get self-actualised. plus his fight scenes were some of the coolest things i've ever seen. Matthew can i have your number please 🥺 29. The Toymaker | Doctor Who

!!!!!!!!!! i don't know if you guys can tell, but i really love the Toymaker...and even predicted that he'd completely consume my mind months before we got The Giggle 🙈💖 e v e r y t h i n g about him just gets me so bad. his reality-bending, his teasing attitude, his ridiculous accents, his gorgeous costumes, his emotional inconsistency, his tragic backstory...god, if i so much as look at him smiling i melt 🥴💖 characters played by Neil Patrick Harris really get me!! i'm so proud to be modding a server dedicated to the Toymaker now, and have met so many brilliant, wonderful friends through him and falling back into Doctor Who!!! i think we're all going to be brainrotting over him for quite some time 😉💖 30. Dr Mark Fry | Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

Dr Fry, rushing in at the finish line!!! 🤭 the second my pals saw this guys they were all spamming me, begging me to watch Dawn of the Nugget!!! and ooooh i was noooot prepared for the specific brand of soft creepy genius he is 💖 even if they'd played Dr Fry purely as your run-of-the-mill mad scientist he would've gotten me bad, but they just had to make him equal parts freaky and brilliant with just a touch of arrogance, didn't they?? Melisha scored well 🤤 (also, three whole Yorkshiremen in my collection now!! is it the accent? 😭) aaaaand that's everyone!!! phew, is anyone else out of breath? 🥵 what a wonderful, silly year of fixations this has been 🤭💖 thank you all for being here, brainrotting happily alongside me for some of these characters, and for all the other characters you love!!! i hope 2024 is awesome to you, and that many more fictional characters are around the corner, ready to make you smile 😉

[kamenstranger]

Castlevania Nocturne Season 2 Review

You know, it's funny. At the end of my Nocturne Season 1 review I mentioned that I felt the series was in good hands, that the trepidation of starting from scratch with a new creative team on a whole new entry had been calmed. And yet, going into season 2 it almost felt like I had to be won back over again. Why was that?

For me, the trouble started in mid September when the first trailer dropped and I realized I had not thought about Nocturne since the original review. We had an entire Castlevania DS collection come out and I never even thought "Oh yeah, there should be another Castlevania season on Netflix soon." That's probably not a great sign, is it? It's not even that I forgot about the show entirely, I still remember it. But it completely skipped my mind upon seeing the Dominus collection. The association simply wasn't there.

And looking back it's kinda easy to see why it skipped my brain pan. I still maintain Nocturne was a solid season with a lot of bold ideas, but frankly so much of it is "Maybe they'll get to explore this more next season" with Richter being the only one with an actual character arc. The lack of a strong villain also hurt the show. That last part was so bad that I forgot the villain's goddamn name. I forgot that the main antagonist of Nocturne was the second most popular name and historical figure used in vampire fiction. I called her "That lion-faced countess" when conversing about it to my girlfriend. And why not? Sure, they say her name constantly in whispers throughout that first season, trying to build her up as this great menacing force of nature. But we never see Bathory until very late in the show and she… has no personality. Her character in Nocturne in busting down a door and being strong. That's it.

She didn't have a fun presence like Doltra with her snarky innuendos and style, or the slithering unnatural calm of Olrox and his incredible homoeroticism, and she certainly wasn't tragic like Dracula. Hell, she wasn't even Carmilla. Bathory works in the moment and as a cliffhanger for the next season as something to be contented with-- but it also doesn't lay a foundation for a personality. A lot of season 2 was going to have to make good not only having a satisfactory vendetta story with Maria, but also making Bathory into an actual character we enjoy seeing on screen since, let's face it, Emmanuel wasn't gonna stick around and Drolta was dead. Well, until the second trailer hit, which did look considerably better. Still, the fact Nocturne was missing an October release for the media dumping ground that is January did not provide me with optimism.

Compounding this is during the year long gap from Season 1 we've had a number of other animated shows that have been shockingly good. I don't even mean major game chargers, but simply well made art that were above mediocrity and pleasant surprises. X-men '97 is the obvious example, which I have thought more about than Nocturne despite how big of a Castlevania fan I am. But maybe it's not fair to make a comparison to something that has the advantage of using stories with decades of hindsight. All the same, '97 did more with its cast, had better balance of interpersonal character stories with a broader narrative, and had more biting commentary with fictional stand-ins for marginalization than Nocturne did drawing from very real examples of French imperialism and slavery. That's just a tad embarrassing. (Although maybe not as embarrassing as Disney's animation being a fraction of what Powerhouse 51 was pulling off, so take that for what it's worth.)

Just to be clear, I'm completely for taking the appropriate amount of time to write and animate something of quality. I find most of the turn around in the modern landscape incredibly egregious, and having other things to watch in-between shows is an objectively good thing. Regardless, as time wore on, season 2 was going to have to contend with making good on a follow up in a crowded streaming landscape. But, I digress. I'm ignoring the main meat in this castle wall, so let's get to it. Spoilers ahead.

I'm going to be approaching this a little bit differently from the previous Nocturne review. Instead of going an episode by episode basis, I'm going to focus on the different story threads until they intersect, similar to how I did with the last seasons of the first Castlevania series.

That said, we pick up where last season left off, everyone is surprised when the Eclipse comes to an end. Despite the intention of an endless night, it seems Bathory's ability to make it last is not as strong as was believed. However, that doesn't make her weak. Alucard informs the four that the Egyptians believed the soul resided in two places; the blood, which Elizabeth has already consumed, and the heart contained within the Mummy. Having been to Egypt, the tomb was empty. Sekhmet's mummified remains have been moved and Alucard has been tracking it across the globe for three years, with the presumed location being Paris, hence the convergence there.

This is where the story starts to split off, with Alucard, Richter and Annette heading to Paris, while Maria and Mizrak stay behind. Maria is no condition to fight after losing her mother and she blames Richter for running away like he always does.

Suffice to say, we're not getting that family bond between her, Richter, and Annette-- they actually do something more clever. As such, I'll be taking a look at Maria's story first. One thing to get out of the way is the deal with her mother, Tera. She isn't a warped vampiric thrall. She retains her will and is almost killed by Bathory because of this. The loss of Drolta certainly exacerbating matters-- Tera clearly not even a fraction of Drolta's power. And Tera is… just sorta forgotten by Bathory after being sent on a suicide mission in broad daylight. She survives and goes off on her on from there.

Eventually, Maria heads back home to gather supplies, Mizrak in tow. Here, she encounters her mother, which has all the trepidation you might expect. But they also avoid anything hokey, or cliche. In fact, throughout all of Tera and Maria's scenes there's a tendency to be put at ease. Tera shows no signs of malevolence, to the point it's easy to forget or even fall into believing that she might not be vampiric at all. Very little is presented to indicate such, aside from the obvious visual cues and the fact Tera is always cast is shadow, while Maria is in the faintest of light. No sly smirks, no dramatic music, no entendre. And yet, from the audience perspective, we've seen Tera kill to feed early on in the first episode, she can give into Vampiric tendencies. Being privy to something Maria isn't aware of, you can't help but question what exactly it is Tera is after. Is it as simple as spending time with her daughter? Will she maintain her will?

Hell, Tera isn't even all the violent when Mizrak notices her and attacks. She's going out of her way to not be monstrous. It's that which ultimately makes Maria part with Mizrak and go with her mother.

By nightfall, the two return to where Maria first learned to summon her animal buddies, although they are currently twisted and all together different when she's angered. Tera begins encouraging Maria to summon the darker creatures that are conjured, to harness their rage and control it. Even this doesn't feel wrong, despite how much it should.

Her practice however is interrupted by Juste, who was requested by Richter to also look after Maria, and, yeah, a Belmont crossing paths with a vampire goes about as well as you'd expect. Tera's skirmish with Juste is the closest hint Maria sees to her mother losing control and going berserk. All the same, Tera refuses to harm him. Neither get a chance to reflect on this before an additional interruption occurs; the stirring sounds of a night creature platoon in the distance. The revolutionary national guard sent to fend off the vampiric threat has been slaughtered and transformed. This becomes the tipping point for the already mentally unstable Maria, whose anger reaches a fever pitch. She flies off to kill Emmanuel. As dawn is breaking, Juste is the only one capable of stopping her now. But that's easier said than done. Maria is on a completely different level now and is going completely mad with that power, finally summoning the dragon Seiryuu.

They're a lot bigger than the ROB version.

I'm not gonna lie, this confrontation with her father is incredibly cathartic. Maria berating him for the monster that he is, a man willing to sell out both a former lover and the child has with them, a betrayer of his own beliefs. Juste pleads with Maria to stop, that she doesn't have to go through with it…

Welp.

That motherfucker burns. And it is glorious. But it's not lost on me- or the show, that this is kinda fucked up. Even if the bastard deserved it, it didn't need to be by her hand. Maria just committed patricide by burning a man alive.

But there is a problem, two problems, actually. One is that a strange indecipherable shadow figure emerges from the cathedral walls and whisks Emmanuel's extra crispy body away. The other more immediate problem is that the Dragon doesn't want to go back, nor is is listening to an exhausted and clearly traumatized Maria. It's rather pissed off at the very notion and instead chooses to turn against its master. Conveniently, Juste's powers return, just as Richter's did when he needed them most, shielding her from the flame. A follow up with an ice spike to the mouth is enough to force the dragon back to whatever plain it emerged from.

Much later, Tera approaches the former location of the Abbot's body and smirks. Don't think too much about it, Tera has but one more appearance and a small cameo in the finale. In a wise decision, Nocturne seems to have taken a page from fellow streaming series Arcane and focus on an arc for the here and now, with smaller incremental hooks to build next season rather than big cliffhangers. All that matters for now is after a very tense scene, Tera removes herself from Maria's life, realizing her presence is only making things worse-- Maria even tempted to become a vampire to live with her mother forever. Tera needs to find her place as much as Maria does, and it's simply not something they can do together. It's a gut wrenching scene.

Tera exiting the picture means we can switch focus to Juste and Maria's dynamic, a very fascinating direction given Juste's track record with raising kids. Now he's paired with a girl who's extremely troubled and sick of oldmen pretending to know what they're doing. That's a great concept. One that, if I'm being perfectly honest, I do wish got more time in the spotlight. But what's presented is still pretty good.

After the incident, Maria's powers are in someway tainted and her animals stuck in their darker form, some even more twisted and almost cosmic in their horror, and all are out of control. This season never delves into what or where Maria's Animals originate, but Juste expresses concern over that very notion. Fact is they're something very different from any magic they're familiar with. Although answering that question is not as pertinent as Juste trying to make good on his past failures by helping Maria overcome her grief and anger. The story knows what's important and focuses on that, which I applaud… Even if Juste's advice amounts to little more than "Think happy thoughts."

Before I tackle the other big story half, I do want to mention the smaller ones interspersed throughout, such as the Night Creatures. The Night Creatures are downplayed considerably compared to the previous season. We still get Edouard's lovely arias and we even get another night creature who retains their memories; a captain of the revolutionary army, who is turned into a Frozen Shade.

There's still tinges of the themes present regarding free will and the parallels with the hypocrisy of France's political climate. But other than leading a rather isolated revolt against the more obedient creatures near the end of the series, they don't do much.

The most noteworthy occurrence that's tangentially related is with Drolta. Bathory realizes that she could be revived by the forge and retain her sense of self, and it works. Drolta comes back, albeit mutated, stronger and capable of walking in broad daylight. And you know what? Drolta was one of the best parts of Season 1 and this was as good excuse as any. Speaking of, we get multiple flashbacks of Drolta before she was turned vampiric- something which ultimately was her own choice after killing and drinking the blood of a vampire that slaughtered her entire temple. We witness the centuries following as she searched for the perfect vessel to reincarnate Sekhet before landing upon Bathory.

Outside that, we still have Olrox up to his usual routine of slinking around. He's likewise downplayed, having a handful of scenes with Mizrak and a few other characters. Brief, but frequent and impactful. Curiously, he encounters the shadowy being that took the Abbot's body, and Olrox recognizes it. Calling him a tempter of many names, Mephistopheles, Old Man Coyote. Which-- I have several questions about using the name of the Crow Deity as being synonymous with a devil, but we don't have time to unpack that. There's also a line that reveals Olrox and Alucard are familiar with each other, and Olrox has even gotten Alucard out of a bind more than one. They don't elaborate on that, just something to possibly explore later.

This brings me to the main narrative through-line with Alucard, Richter and Annette. How would these character play off each other without retreading familiar territory? Richter and Alucard's dynamic is thankfully quite a bit different than with Trevor. Whereas with Trevor it always felt like two immature shits taking the piss out of one another, this Alucard is much more mellow, wiser, and worldly. This offers a fun contrast to Richter being a well to do kid with a chip on his shoulder. That's further emphasized by Richter's willingness to follow his moral compass over practicality, albeit with the added baggage of still being arrogant, much to Alucard's understandable chagrin. Annette defends Richter from the admittedly warranted beration, perhaps even a bit too much. But it does serve as an extension of the two's growing relationship, which is pretty adorable this season.

On the more down to earth side, the two continue bonding over their shared trauma of losing their mothers, their struggle to live up to their family legacy, the very obvious chemistry between them etc. The season gives the two a lot of scenes together discussing their experiences and getting flustered to really drive home that connection.

And that brings to me Annette herself. Along with Maria, my biggest interest was what they were going to do with Annette's story and I'm happy to say that they expanded upon it considerably. I've always found the wider cultural implications of Castlevania's world fascinating. From a game perspective is has very little impact on the admittedly bereft narrative. It's simply to add an exotic flare to the bestiary containing a deluge of global folklore so we're not stuck with the stereotypical European monsters of yore. Which, hey not for nothing, I also love. But the animated series? Now that's a spot to dive into more than just designs. I was disappointed that last season they barely scratched the surface with Annette's cultural roots. That's rectified quickly here.

From the first episode Annette is seeing ghostly visages. First, sporadically and only vaguely humanoid in shape. Over the course of the season and their journey to Paris, they become more numerous and better defined, even overwhelming. By the time they do reach Paris, just in time for Louis the whatever (XVI) to be beheaded, Annette sees his spirit rise from the body and taken in by a three faced demon not dissimilar to Dante's depiction of Lucifer.

It's never clear if this is just a manifestation of Annette's fears and uncertainty regarding the spirit world, but I think we can presume this to be "Old Man Coyote" given his province in appearing around death throughout the season.

Eventually the trio make it to the Louvre, the spirits helping Guide Annette to the precise location of the mummy. Unfortunately, it doesn't help much because the trio are set upon by two night creatures and Drolta, who is far more of a challenge than previous encounters.

Which I might as well take the opportunity at this point to discuss how goddamn amazing the animation is, because this is a standout moment. I'm legit surprised how well the quality has been maintained. There are still some classic animation tricks here and there-- like panning across still images rather than animating an entire crowd for 5 seconds of screen time. But even stuff like that is far and few compared to some other shows. Part of that is no doubt the shorter episode to budget ratio not requiring it, but the other is simply being very clever about what's shown without it feeling as painfully obvious as other productions. All this is to say that it looks good to begin with and when the show goes hog out for its fight scenes, it's going hard. Even now, Castlevania is still delivering on both fluid animation and impeccable storyboarding.

Take Richter binding this night creature and icing the floor, only to lightning skid across to meet the monster's spine with his foot. That is awesome. It takes what otherwise could've been a standard fight and makes me point out all the little fun and clever things they do. Such as a three headed lizard monster which gets its middle head stuck in a plank of wood and the other heads start biting the wood off. (Although I will note, the wood comes back later, so that's either an error or that head is very unlucky) I laughed either way. This entire sequence is wonderful and it comes at only the halfway point.

In the end, Drolta makes off with the Mummy, Alucard gives chase but ultimately fails. At wits end, they have little choice but to do all they can for the inevitable turn. Alucard heads to the National Convention to meet with freaking Robespierre to prepare for the coming assault from Bathory's forces, while Richter and Annette take care of any vampire stragglers before the sunsets. All the while the ghosts haunting Annette refuse to leave. But, that gives her an idea; what if there's a third Soul, what if Sekhmet herself is in that spirit world?

Indeed if you know about Egyptian mythology, this is called the Duat. So as the Revolutionary army prepares for the coming battle, Alucard and Richter stand watch over Annette as she enters a trance and begins her spirit journey.

Without going too overboard with the details, as we spend quite a bit of time here (almost an episode and a half) it delivers more of what I wanted without bogging down the story with heaps of lore. She has a heartwarming reunion with her mother and she meets with Ogun directly, who gifts her a shield and sends her off to Sekhmet's Realm.

Interspersed with this journey are cutaways to little character moments between Richter and Alucard, the latter encouraging Richter not to wait around on telling Annette his feelings. We also get a rather telling and sweet moment when the topic of Alucard's lineage comes up and if he would change it. But as Alucard puts it, you can't remove one name without removing others. And for as long as he's been around, aren't the Belmonts just as much of a family? Of course, Richter falls asleep before hearing this. Cliche but cute.

Meanwhile Annette's trip is a treacherous one beset by powerful monsters. But she manages to make it to Sekhmet all the same, the goddess in tears over the desecration and abuse she has suffered.

A nice visual detail being the scales of Maat out of balance.

However, Annette's presence is unwelcome, if not by Sekhmet specially, then the very realm itself, as Ammit attacks Annette. Seeing Annette put up a good fight, Sekhmet takes advantage of Annette's soulless body, possessing her as a vessel, while Annette continues an endless battle in the spirit world.

The transformation is taxing on Annette's body, the longer Sekhmet stays and uses her powers, the more likely Annette's body will just burn away. But it's the best shot they have against Bathory, who, having consumed the heart, is even more grotesque and powerful. Another eclipse is called fourth, signaling the final battle.

Sooooo, let's talk about Bathory, shall we?

We're at the penultimate episode and the reality is that she's simply a boring villain. Sure, the narrative goes to great lengths to make her a powerful threat, but even now she's little more than a boss, an obstacle. On one hand it's sort of hard to complain when so many other angles of the season work; Maria, Tera, Juste; Annette's spirit Journey and the relationship with Richter, even the handful of Olrox and Mizrak interactions, and, of course, Drolta and the backstory with the goddess Sekhmet. Make a note of the last bit.

That being said. This powered up Bathory is a great excuse to give one of the best fight sequences in the entire series. With Sekhmet able to weaken the other two souls, Bathory is finally vulnerable. Not that she's a push over by any means. It still takes the arrival of Juste and Maria (Who has a cute moment reuniting with Richter) to actually do some damage. But boy do they go for it. I could spend multiple paragraphs simply describing the shit that goes down in a matter of seconds. Bathory's left arm being chomped on by Maria's Dragon, Richter lassoing her other arm and ripping her out, only to freeze his own arm and clothesline Bathory's neck.

What's impressive about all this isn't just the fight itself, but how impeccable the pacing is. This easily could've devolved into a mess of noise and indecipherable editing. In fact, that pacing is a benefit of the entire season. Every episode we're hopping across multiple different stories, but it never feels exhausting or frivolous. It's the same in this final battle with just enough quick character moments sprinkled throughout to break up the action.

Speaking of, we have multiple other battles going on at the same time, Mizrak dealing with various vampires, Alucard and Drolta fighting. Even Olrox decides to get in on the fight against Bathory's forces and helps Alucard out with Drolta. And don't forget, Annette's soul is still in battle elsewhere. We're bouncing all over. Amongst all the hard fighting, Mizrak is gravely injured, distracting Olrox enough to let Drolta escape. Once again, Old Man Coyote is lingering near by.

Bathory meanwhile is at the end of her rope. She's putting up a fight still, but her arm is gone, and she's having to face the reality that the real Sekhmet is in front of her. She is not a reincarnation, just someone in possession of something that was never hers to begin with. Sekhmet offers a chance to make things right and forgo the two other souls. But Drolta has other plans, taking off with with the badly weakened Bathory.

But the lioness clearly isn't what she was, and maybe never was. Pondering for a moment, Drolta makes a decision she felt she should've made centuries ago-- simply become Sekhmet instead, as she drains Bathory and mutates into an abomination that no doubt has even more teeth in every orifice.

I have to just laugh at this development. It's like they realized Drolta was the far more interesting personality and instead of trying to make Bathory work they just built more upon Drolta at the last minute with a good enough excuse. Like, Drolta isn't deep, don't misunderstand. At best she's sort of a dark reflection of Richter, Annette, and Maria. Someone that had survivors guilt and took a dark path. Though that's kind of a stretch. Regardless she was clearly more fun and a fan favorite, so pulling this off is sort of amazing.

If you can believe it, get another goddamn amazing fight scene with plenty of moments that pop off.

Although Drolta's new found power doesn't last long, Sekhmet forcibly adsorbs the two souls, almost killing Annette in the process. But it works, just leaving an incredibly pissed off and still very powerful Drolta to contend with.

And Richter, oh they make up for Richter being over shadowed by Alucard last season. I thought he was going to go Hokuto no Ken on Drolta at one point with how many punches he was tossing out. Hell, he even manages to break through an attack that sends Alucard flying. They're very much giving Richter his due here, even if, of all people, Olrox comes to assist. No Grand Cross or Hydro Storm, but they do something interesting. Richter gets tossed Alucard's sword and kinda creates the Dark Moon greatsword from Elden, splitting both Drolta and part of a building in two.

Fuckin' A. And they don't ruin it with with a forced one-liner or subversion of such! Amazing. All the happens afterwards is Richter turns to Olrox saying he'll kill him, just not today.

In the aftermath, Olrox saves Misrak by turning him; Richter and Annette confess to eachother, departing to Saint-Domingue along with Edouard. Juste comes out of retirement, Alucard decides he's tired of traveling and will stay in France for the time, and Maria is a little all too keen on the continuing beheadings-- as she's watched by Tera, the shadowy hand of Old Man Coyote on her shoulder.

And That's Castlevania Nocture Season 2. It's freaking good.

It's a legitimately well written story that does just about everything I wanted with these versions of the characters, with even a few surprises thrown in. Is it better than season 1… That's a hard call. I think Nocturne Season 1 was more ambitious in some ways, with stuff like how Edouard and night creatures were handled, Richter's PSTD, and actually giving Annette a character. Very intriguing and different stuff. On the other hand, I think season 2 is better paced and does more for most of those characters. Not ending on a huge cliffhanger is also a boon in me eyes. The creative team simply seems a lot more comfortable having both season 1 under their belt and established characters to work with.

If I did have a notable criticism of this season, Bathory having spies follow Alucard to find out that Sekhmet's mummy was located in the "place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences and arts" is probably the goofiest plot detail. I understand the Louvre wasn't firmly established as a museum yet, but that still seems like the place you should check first.

Also the music kinda just washed over me. I've always tried to give the series some leeway when it comes to music, even if I do find it very annoying you only get one game track per season, if that. But man, even as far as atmospheric stuff goes, I couldn't recount much. A very "yeah the music there that fits the mood at any given time." And that's rather backhanded, isn't it? I feel bad saying it, but I just don't remember much. We get Divine Bloodlines again, but it's the same version as last season so hearing it is a little less special, if albeit used appropriately in the finale battles.

Other than that I don't have a lot of criticisms with season 2.

As for the next season? Well, I'm certainly intrigued by the implications left hanging for this one. But I'm not sure if I'll bother reviewing it when it comes. I've thus far kept up with reviewing all the Castlevania seasons, but this is also the first time a season has dropped where I haven't had Netflix. This very well might just be a one off simply because I don't think Netflix is worth it year round and it's troublesome just for one show.

Other than that obvious caveat, absolutely check out Season 2 of Nocturne. Next time I'll be getting back to Tokusatsu with a review of Ninja Sentai Kakuranger.

B. Sky

Ko-fi