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writingintheshadowsforever · 3 years ago

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Imagine Wanda stopping Pietro from attacking Bucky when he flirts with you

Everyone on the team knew you were off-limits being Wanda and Pietro's younger sibling. You weren't related to them by blood, but was the only other test subject to survive Hydra experiments. And when the Avengers attacked the base they found you huddling in your cage terrified. Neither had the heart to leave you behind so they took you with them, and from there on out. The bond between the three of you was unbreakable.

When the twins joined decided to join the team. You were right behind them even though the whole being a superhero thing scared you more than anything. You spent most of the Battle of Sokovia hiding until you finally gained the courage to use your powers to save a family from incoming debris. After that Steve put you on evacuation duty to keep you out of the fight. Wanda and and Pietro made it clear if you wanted to leave and pursue a different path instead. Like a semi-normal life then it was okay with them, and they would understand.

But you refused telling them that wherever they went you would go as well. Now here the three of you were six months later your training with Natasha was going well. She was assigned to be your combat teacher because not only did you need combat lessons, but also a huge confidence boost. Steve figured that Nat would be perfect for the job, and he was right.

Today she was on out on solo mission leaving a list of moves for you to practice, and a training course to run. You thought you were alone in the gym, but the twins were watching you train from a distance. In a dark corner of the room where no one would see them unless they were really looking.

"She's come so far Piet hasn't she?" Wanda said a proud loud on her face.

Pietro flinched as he witnessed you take the dummy's head with a telekinetic slash. "Yeah she has remind me not to prank her anymore."

Wanda let out a chuckle shaking her head. Usually when Pietro messed with you she would be your bodyguard and get him to stop. But the last few times you handled the situation yourself. Memories of walking into the kitchen and finding him covered in head to toe in a honey-like substance whining. Because he couldn't escape the cocoon no matter how hard he tried flooded through her mind.

"Hey who's that?" Pietro asked bringing her attention back to you. Wanda leaned forward to get a closer look at the person who just walked in the gym.

Bucky was on his way to his room to wash up after a long sparring session with Steve and Sam. When a whistling noise made him pause by one of the gyms. He wandered over to just take a quick peek in the window to see what was going on. It was you throwing out a series of telekinetic attacks taking out surrounding dummies. Your movements were light and quick it was almost as if you were dancing. Bucky fell into a trance watching you.

Steve and Sam finally managed to catch up to him after almost two years of searching. It took a lot but eventually they were able to convince him to return to the compound, and give the whole Avenger thing a chance. At first he was skeptical thinking the government would eventually swoop in to take him to jail. It was impossible for him to relax his first night staying. Bucky waited till it was late and everyone would either be sound asleep, or winding down with a movie. Then he snuck out of his room and went outside on the roof to just keep watch. Just in case a team of agents ascended on the compound.

Little did he know the roof was also your hiding spot. You were on the other side laying on a blanket counting the stars. When the sound of the door opening filled your ears making you sit up to see who your company was. Sometimes Wanda, Pietro or even Nat would come up here to check on you, and make sure you weren't skipping out on needed rest. You reassured them that wasn't the case, being outside under the night sky with fresh air helped calm your nerves. And sometimes it was easier to fall asleep here than in a nice cozy bed. Most of them Pietro would wait till you dozed off, and then would lift your body into his arms to take you inside.

Although it was neither one of them tonight instead it was the dark-haired stranger who came with Steve and Sam. You remember him joining the team for breakfast and not saying a single word the whole time. There was something about him that made you want to get close to him, but the twins didn't really trust him, so you kept your distance as well. But now here you were being drawn to him again as both of you seek comfort from the night sky.

"Hi" you spoke up taking a tentative steps towards him so that he wouldn't be startled by your presence. It didn't work though Bucky swung around pulling a gun out his jacket to point straight at your head.

A few months ago you would've screamed and took off running to one of the twins. But your training kicked in with a wave of your hand an invisible force knocked the gun from his grasp to the ground.

You held up your hands in surrender "hey relax I'm a friend or an ally at least you can trust me. I'm not going to hurt you, or snitch."

Bucky held a look of intensity on his face as he tried to figure out if you were telling the truth or not. When you took a seat on the edge of the roof letting your feet dangle in the air. He decided that maybe you really did mean no harm, and your demeanor did make him feel a bit more safer.

"I know what it's like to not be able to sleep any a place filled with people that are supposed to be make you feel secure. When I first got here I would crash with the twins all the time, but then Vision caught Wanda's eye, and she wanted her own room. Pietro is good at making me feel safe to but he's a restless soul himself. He likes to go off on late night runs leaving me to wake up alone and panic." You paused to look up at Bucky and patted the spot next to you.

He didn't know why you were sharing your story with him, but he was interested in the rest maybe it would help him find some solace tonight. Bucky walked over to sit down crossing his legs together.

You gave him a small smile and continued on with your story. "Eventually I find myself just wandering around the compound every night expecting to find an old enemy around every corner. I mean this place is nice and all but at night it's quiet and empty reminds me of the old bases. I use to kept in so I started to come up here to escape it all, and it helped because Hydra never let me go outside even at night. I found it easier to relax and fall asleep out here than in here. So if its hard for you to relax or get any peace you're always welcomed to join me on my blanket." You jerked your head in the direction of the other side of the roof.

Bucky gave you the tiniest of nods, and the two of just sat there for a little while longer. Enjoying each other's company with your presence making him feel more and more safe by the minute. Although he wouldn't admit it aloud a silver streak shot across the ground below so fast he almost missed it. Before he could freak out you laid a hand on his arm.

"Easy there buddy its just Pietro getting back from his night run. Listen I should go he's going to be looking for me, so I bid you a good night if you want help yourself to my blanket. I'll leave it since I'm pretty sure you won't be coming back in till the morning."

You left him on the roof alone that night convinced you'd tried and failed at helping him. But your story gave him hope that he could fit in here and make this work. Your blanket kept him warm and gave him the security he needed to stay.

The two of you hadn't talked to each other since that night. Heck you didn't even know his name because he was too nervous to approach you. When Sam saw your blanket in his room he made a joke that if one of the twins knew. He had been on the roof alone with you that night they would kill him. Bucky just ignored Sam's comments until he saw Wanda in action, and how protective she was over you. With the twins as your bodyguards mixed in with his introvert ways kept him away from you.

But now he was comfortable and a little bit of his old self was starting to show. You were alone in the gym not a twin or Nat anywhere to be seen. If he was going to make a move on you now would be a good time. Bucky pushed open the door and walked in. At the sound of the door opening you paused your movements to see who was interrupting. Your eyes lit up with joy and a blush even crept up on your cheeks. When you saw just exactly who it was.

"Hi I don't think I properly introduced myself last time I'm Bucky." He said stopping just a inches in front of you.

In the dark corner of the room Pietro frowned watching Bucky grin and hold out his hand for you to take. He let out a huff and moved to speed down there, and put a stop to whatever was going on. Wanda threw her arm blocking him before he could though.

"Pietro wait" she demanded

"Hey what gives? That guy is dangerous and never talks to anyone but Cap and the bird guy." He complained turning his glare back on Bucky.

Wanda didn't answer him right away her eyes focused on you smiling and laughing. In a way she never witnessed before she knew it wouldn't be fair to interfere. "Just let them be Pietro."

"But he's-" Pietro started again throwing his arms up.

Wanda cut him off "Look at her she's fine if that changes we're right here. Okay for now let them have this moment."

Pietro shut his mouth watching the two of you interact more closely. A few minutes went by before he spoke again "I guess he's okay."

When night fell you met Bucky on the roof where he was laying down on your blanket. The one you had been looking for since your first night on the roof with him. "You had it this whole time" you laughed sitting down beside him.

"It made me feel safe" he replied with a shrug lifting his arm up, so you could move in to cuddle up to him. His arm came back down to wrap around your waist.

"I was hoping it would" you murmured resting your head on his chest. The two of you fell asleep in each other's arms, and under the security of the night sky.

Tag List: @wandanatvoid @yelenabelovasgf @romanoffomixam @xxromanoffxx @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @mellowladyangel @shayzulia @musicinourlips @natashasilverfox @be-missed @catswag22 @jokertgkk @lizlil

#marvel imagine #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky imagine #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x reader #bucky barnes #wanda maximoff imagine #pietro x reader #pietro maximoff #pietro maximoff imagine

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spideyyboii · 3 years ago

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The Third Maximoff

warnings: mention of death and abandoment

||main masterlist||wanda maximoff masterlist||

Being the third Maximoff had always been extremely difficult, considering your two older siblings were twins and had an unbreakable bond. You were always pushed to the side by them.

The first time you remembered being pushed away by them was the day your parents died. After the explosion Pietro was quick to grab Wanda and hide the two of them under the bed, whilst leaving you stuck under all the rubble that the explosion caused. In the two days that the three of you were trapped you never heard the twins mention you or ask if you were safe.

Once the authorities got the three of you out your siblings didn’t seem to care that you had also survived. “We’re going to have to take all of you to the hospital to get you checked for any injuries especially your sister as she was trapped directly under the rubble.” The paramedic informed the three of you. “Make sure Wanda get’s checked over properly.” Pietro said as he was loaded into an ambulance once again forgetting about you.

As the three of you recovered from the explosion, the twins again forgetting about you. Wanda and Pietro healed faster than you and weren’t interested in your recovery. “Hi sweetheart, have they come to see you today? Your nearly ready to go home.” Your nurse asked with a sympathetic smile, knowing you were struggling with the loss of your parents and what also seemed like the loss of your siblings.

As you grew up this treatment continued and soon the twins wanted to join a group called hydra, you couldn’t understand why your siblings would want to join this organisation that were clearly doing wrong. However, you were too scared to leave your siblings and found yourself joining the group with your siblings.

Hydra began to experiment on all of you and the group were extremely interested in Wanda, the group kept the three of you separated and would threaten to hurt both of your siblings if you ever misbehaved. This threat made all of you behave but you knew Pietro and Wanda were only behaving to keep one another safe. In the years you were stuck with hydra your siblings never tried to speak to you and would ignore your questions.

When the twins escaped hydra they happened to forget about you once again and you were forced to endure years of abuse and tortue on your own.

This tortue only ended when you were saved by a group of people who called themselves the Avengers, “Hey sweetheart, don’t panic, we're here to get you out and get you help.” A kind woman told you as she helped you stand and took you to a plane where you got medical attention.

The Avengers were quick to take you in and train you so you could be a part of their team. For the first time in your life you felt accepted and included. Natasha became like a sister to you and taught you how to do hair and make up. She made sure you knew that she’d always be there for you.

It’s safe to say you were shocked when your siblings came back into your life and began to try and hurt your team. It hurt more when you came to the realisation that your siblings didn’t recognise you which confirmed your biggest fear that they had never loved you.

“Wanda, Pietro if the two of you don’t leave us alone then I swear to god I’ll kill the both of you!” You shouted fuming that they’d just hurt Natasha. “You're alive?” Pietro questioned looking shocked “Yes I’m alive because of the people you're currently attacking. My family.” “We’re your family, not these disgusting people that are creating weapons that are killing people. Weapons that are the reason for our parents death!” Wanda shouted at you, her hands glowing red confirming her anger. “No. Tony doesn’t create those weapons anymore and he isn’t at fault for our parents death. The Sokovian government is at fault as they allowed those weapons into the country. Your crazy friend Ultron is no better as he plans on destroying humanity.” You explained

Soon your siblings were fighting alongside yourself and the Avengers in an attempt to take down Ultron and keep the world safe. “Pietro get everyone onto the ships and keep an eye on Clint.” You told your brother and continued to fight off Ultron's army.

The fight was harder than any of you expected and it seemed like it went on forever, which caused exhaustion to hit you. Whilst you took a second to breathe you noticed Pietro was in the line of fire and were quick to act. “You didn’t see that one coming.” You told your brother as you began to bleed out from the multiple bullet wounds. “Why would you do that for me?” Pietro asked close to tears “You can’t leave Wanda she’s been through enough heartbreak and pain. I wouldn’t be enough for her. She needs you.” You explained to your brother as you took your last breath, a smile on your face as you noticed the tears in his eyes which showed he had some love for you.

At your funeral the Avengers were heartbroken as one of their team members and someone they viewed as family had died for an individual that continuously hurt you and acted as though they didn’t care.“The both of you don’t deserve to be here. You broke her heart time and time again, I’m just happy that we were able to show her what love looked like. I pray that the both of you feel guilty forever as you missed out on knowing the most amazing individual.” Nat spat at your siblings with nothing but hatred.

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percy-ils · 2 years ago

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Percy you have any headcanons for childhood friends c!Rivals because I'm always thinking about them -Beloved

Finally answering. Alright. I have lots so.

I know so many people have headcanons of them meeting in an arena and being the best child fighters there and fight for money and yeah that's cool and all but I have so many other headcanons that intervene with this one so I'm not gonna talk about that.

First, let me say that I have a long long list of headcanons of cNiki and cTechno being twins but it's for another post just know that.

Techno and Niki survive on their own, fleeing from one place to another and camping on forests and sometimes villages if people are kind enough. Then, one day while taking a walk at night just close to their camp place, Techno stumbles across someone else. Another kid, seemingly the same age as them, with a small torn backpack and a blanket by his side on top of a tree, looks like he made home on one of the branches.

They're pretty young and curious, and despite knowing not to trust people - it's hard to survive on your own out in the world when you're not even ten - Dream jumps down the tree, and in front of Techno.

They're wary at first, but slowly let their guards down, and start talking. They're both surviving on their own, no one to turn to, no adults and no parents and no home, and Techno takes him back to their camp, where Niki is. They decide to stick together, the more they are the better chance of protecting themselves.

So it's the three of them, out in the wild, stealing weapons and food and clothes from villages and hunting themselves, moving from place to place for years. They grow up together, the trust and their bond unbreakable at that point, having survived so many things and the only constant being each other.

During all their travels, they meet new people - Dream meets George and Sapnap who he quickly becomes close to, Alyssa and Callahan, Sam and Bad who are all lovely people. Techno meets Wilbur who is slightly older, then Philza who is an Angel of Death and Techno feels a strange closeness to, and this little annoying kid called Tommy. The small family they made grows, slowly but surely, but despite it all, Dream and Techno are just different in themselves, they shared too much and know everything there is to know about the other.

this ask has been sitting just this way in my drafts for MONTHS and it’s kinda killing me with guilt. i will add on later probably.

#c!rivals

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janushawkins · 5 years ago

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American Wand Cores: The Big Four (Canon)

While in Britain the “big three” are nearly the only wand cores seen, the american “big four” are more accurately the most powerful and often held in highest regard, but they are not even remotely the only cores used.

Horned Serpent Horn

An exceptionally powerful core, horned serpent wands are quite rare, and unheard of outside the american continents. Horned Serpents themselves are quite diverse, but may usually be grouped into either saltwater or freshwater serpents.

Horned serpent wands of any variety are very powerful in all areas of magic, they have a knack for magics to do with water and perform especially well in transfiguration and divination.

Horned serpent wands are capable of warning their owners of danger by emitting a low musical tone. They are also unique in the behavior between twin cores, if two wands of horned serpent horns from the same serpent work together for a singular goal (often in combat) their power is increased exponentially.

Rather like the Ilvermorny house named after the creature, horned serpent wands prefer owners who are intelligent and quick-witted. However, their preferred owners are not bookish scholars who stay shut in a library all day, but rather creative and innovative individuals who enjoy exercising their mind and putting things they learn into practice. Absorbing information like a sponge, these wixes brilliant in subjects they find interesting and above average in those they don’t. They are constantly thinking. Wixes chosen by these wands are absolutely brilliant and fiercely independent.

The type of horned serpent has some bearing over what they look for in an owner as well. Horned Serpent horn wands from a salt-water horned serpent are playful in nature, and look for owners who share that lighthearted playfulness, these are extremely imaginative, spirited and outspoken wixes.

Fresh-water horns, on the other hand, seek owners who are pragmatic, secretive and a bit slow to trust. These wixes are often very cunning and patient.

Horned serpent wands are sensitive to Parseltongue and vibrate when it is being spoken. It is possible they favor owners capable of speaking in parseltongue.

“I like to keep a special eye on students who are chosen by these wands. I keep track, in a notepad in my desk drawer--right next to my paints and emergency bertie botts--of what individuals have wands from the same horned serpent, and watch patiently for the day when they discover the peculiar connection of their twin wands. Interestingly, if they do not already know each other, it seems they always naturally gravitate towards one another, becoming incredibly close and often becoming the best of friends or incredibly close partners.” - January Hawkins, Resident Wandmaker, Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Thunderbird Tail Feather

One of the most powerful cores available, Thunderbird feather’s are somewhat rare, and make for mighty wands with power and range rivaling that of the british Phoenix feather wands.

Thunderbird feather core wands are incredibly powerful in most if not all areas of magic, and are especially good for transfiguration magics and any magic to do with weather, air and travel. Owners may have an exceptional talent for flying.

As powerful as these wands can be, Thunderbird feather wands are uniquely difficult to master, perhaps retaining the original creatures independent nature. However, once mastered they bond with their owner for life, and their allegiance is almost certain to never change.

Like Thunderbirds themselves, these wands can sense danger and may preemptively cast curses to protect themselves and their owner, acting independently.

It is very rare to be chosen by a thunderbird wand, even most of those that match up to the cores preferences aren’t chosen, these wands wait for someone truly extraordinary, with the potential for greatness. Thunderbird feather wands seek owners with an adventurous spirit, as extraordinarily free and independent as the creature they came from. These wixes are natural travelers and loath having to stay put, always aching to explore the next horizon. Daring, adventurous and curious, they refuse to hold still or conform to any stifling rulesets. With the soul of a wanderer and the skills to seek the unknown, these individuals were born to run.

“When I say they’re picky, I mean it. I’ve gone 3 years in a row without a single thunderbird feather wand choosing a student, I’ve still got over half my original stalk! But when a student is chosen by one of these wands, I know they are destined for truly great things, those kids will see the world over and make a huge impact on it. I also know their restlessness is going to give the teachers hell.” - January Hawkins, Resident Wandmaker, Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Wampus Cat Hair

Though a very powerful core, wampus hair wands are rather uncommon due to the incredible difficulty and danger of procuring the hairs.

Wampus wands are quite powerful. They are renowned for their flexibility, becoming very strong in any forms of magic their owner favors. This core is also very good with magics to do with the mind, especially legilimency, and it can produce mind altering effects both dazzling and horrifying.

Enchantments and charms created by wands with this core are known to be very long-lasting.

Wixese chosen by this core are often bold and always enigmatic. Possessing a somewhat nebulous view of good and evil, these individuals reject simple dichotomies of light and dark. However, this does not mean that they are evil or without conscience. Rather, they prefer a more complex morality that bases right and wrong on cause and effect rather than convention and idealism. Because of this they are more willing than others to use dark magic. They are also often fiercely protective of those they have accepted on their own, using any means necessary to defend what they hold dear.

Dripping charisma, these wixes have an intense presence, able to grip the attention of any room they enter. They have an air of unpredictability, as they fluctuate between decisions and emotions based on feedback from their environment. Constantly adapting to the current situation.

Wixes chosen by Wampus hair wands also tend to be incredibly resilient, able to survive more than most. There is a trend of some level of magic-resistance in these wixes, It is unknown whether this is a pre-existing trait or one gained by bonding with a wand with this core.

“Just how a student chosen by a wampus hair wand will turn out is, ironically, black or white. While it is true that their complex and adaptable morality does not necessarily lead them down a dark path, I have seen many wixes chosen by a wampus hair wand become truly evil individuals. There are, however, a great many who have become heroes and healers, genuinely good people. One thing is absolutely certain, Owners of wands with a wampus hair core will always, ALWAYS go on to do great things, whether good or bad they will always be extraordinarily powerful, very likely passing into legend.” - January Hawkins, Resident Wandmaker, Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Snallygaster Heartstring

A somewhat fickle wand core whose tendency towards change can make it difficult to master, Snallygaster Heartstrings are nonetheless the most powerful of the four major wand cores in North America, and have been highly prized in the american wizarding community.

However, Snallygasters are not as plentiful a species as dragons, and the fact that taking this wand core requires killing one is causing a decline in their numbers, and as consequence a decline in snallygaster wands. There have been petitions to have this core banned in order to protect the species and many young wixes have taken a disliking to it.

Similar to Europe's dragon heartstring wands, wands with this core create some of the most dazzling and powerful spells. They can be considered a jack of all trades, as they perform admirably in every area of magic. It also excels at combat magics, and offensive spells often pack quite a punch. This wand does seem to be easier to turn to the dark arts.

For some reason, the visuals of spells cast with wands with this core are heightened. Light’s are brighter, colors are more intense and flashes are more erratic. These wands are also often incredibly sturdy for the wood they use, and almost impossible to break, no matter their flexibility.

Owners of wands with this core should have a firm hand to temper the wands fickle nature. This wand’s preferred owners are driven, ambitious and often focused on uncovering hidden truths. With unbreakable resolve and a deep curiosity, these wixes are natural born investigators, almost unstoppable in their pursuit of truth.

This core suffers no fools, and refuses to work for individuals it sees as dim, lazy or lacking in sufficient drive. Wixes it chooses are often wise and animated, but if something doesn’t effectively capture their attention they will grow bored quickly and become restless, wishing to be anywhere else but where they are.

These wixes are superb spellcasters who take very little time to master new magics, but this gift is more often attributed to being a natural with magic than an excellent study. It can seem that they were born with a wand in their hands.

“Even I’m growing uncomfortable with this core, I’ve been considering refusing shipments of it, or even snallygaster wands donated by other wandmakers… maybe the feather? It wouldn’t be as power-... but… we wouldn’t need to kill any… Um… So this is the last one we’re talking about today? I can just go now? Great, I’m gonna go find some… uh… I’m gonna try something-- bye!” - January Hawkins (he just started rambling about feathers and disaperated, wtf is with this guy?)

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howtohero · 5 years ago

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#276 The Self-Help Guide for Child Sidekicks

It has come to our attention that despited our best efforts and repeated attempts to prevent such things, many superheroes are still employing child sidekicks. (Read: child soldiers in their war on crime.) This is, obviously, still a horrible idea as most supervillain attacks are home to poison fumes, fear toxins, zombie carnivores and lots of loose knives, all things that children are famously not supposed to be around. And yet, we’ve seen time and time again that superheroes will actively recruit children, usually orphans, to help them fight crime. (I guess you can still call it a “one-man crusade on crime” if the person you’re waging it with is not a man but a child.) So, we’ve decided that it’s time for a new approach. Today we’re going to reach out directly to the children... Children still read advice blogs right? (Definitely.)

So, hello children, how are you today? Gleefully beating up henchmen in dark alleys? Kicking terrorists in the shins? Fab fab fab. Now, how would you like to stop doing all of that because, as it would turn out, all that stuff is extremely dangerous and you are a child and that is not the kind of stuff you should be doing at all. And look, I get it, you’ve got incredible powers, or a knack for kick flips, or an insatiable thirst for justice, and that’s great. Your heart is definitely in the right place. Nobody understands the desire to use your incredible powers for good at such a young age better than me. (Except, probably, for people who actually have superpowers at a young age.) But you’re simply not ready to go out into the field and busting skulls quite yet. Instead you should take this time to hone your abilities so that when it comes time for you to enter the crime fighting world you can start out as an experienced and professional hero who doesn’t accidentally blow up a school or get gross webbing everywhere.

As a young superhuman it is important that you don’t allow yourself to be swayed by the rhetoric of established superheroes. They’re going to tell you that you can be a valuable asset in the field, and that many supervillains are actually terrified of ten-year-olds in tights but don’t listen to them! They are most likely lying. (There is, admittedly, a thirty percent chance that they’re actually just stupid, lotta stupid superheroes out there. More than you’d think.) Trust me, all they’re thinking about is securing their legacy. They just want you to train you to be just like them so that you can take over their superhero identity when they retire or die or get shunted into another dimension. And I’m gonna let you in a little secret, they’re never going to retire and pass their mantle on to you. It’s a false promise! You’re just going to be another in a long line of proteges, apprentices, and sidekicks that get led on until you somehow grow older than the hero you’re working for. Don’t believe me? At the time of this writing there have been 388 different Hatboys. Anyone have a guess as to how many Hatmans (Hatmen?) there have been during that time? It’s 1. Hatman has always been Hatman. Still don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at what’s happened to some of those Hatboys.

Hatboy #1: Went to college. (Nerd.) Hatboy #2: Was turned into a crowbar by a wizard. (Was then lost in a big pile of crowbars that Hatman used to keep lying around.) Hatboy #23: Asked when Hatman planned on dying so he could become Hatman. Was arrested for “threatening the life of a beloved superhero.” Hatboy #46: Stung by a wasp and decided he was not cut out for the superhero life. Hatboy #73: The only female Hatboy to date. She left Hatman’s tutelage pretty quickly and struck out on her own. She goes by the name Helm Lady now and she’s actually doing quite well for herself. Hatboy #74: Eaten by a shark. Hatboy #79: Beaten to death with Hatboy #2. (Hatboy #2 was subsequently lost again. Nobody involved realized that he was the crowbar used to kill Hatboy #79.) Hatboy #86: The “forgotten Hatboy”, only showed up on one mission with Hatman and was never seen again. When asked by How To Hero about this Hatboy Hatman told us “there was never an 86th Hatboy”. Hatboy #100: The hundredth Hatboy! Can you believe some people actually thought this guy would be the one to take over Hatman’s legacy. Ha! Joke’s on them. He turned out to be a cyborg sent from the future to kill Hatman. Technically the closest any Hatboy has gotten to taking on Hatman’s mantle. Hatboy #115: Sprained his ankle and was told by a doctor that he couldn’t fight crime for a few months. Hatman promptly returned him to the orphanage from whence he came (can you even do that?????) and had his memory erased. (What??????) Hatboy #166: Stung by bees, had an allergic reaction, taken to hospital, hospital ended up being a front for evil bees, every doctor was actually several evil bees in a lab coat, Hatboy stung several more times, has several more allergic reactions, quits. Hatboy #167: Hatboy #166′s twin. He got annoyed that Hatman kept calling him his brother’s name. Quit. Hatboy #173: Accidentally launched out of a cannon. Never seen again. Hatboy #180: Lost in enchanted woods. Hatboy #182: Actually a tiny supervillain. Hatboy #193: Trapped in Opera House of Doom. Hatboy #195 and Hatboy #196: The first and only time Hatman decided to employ two Hatboys at the same time. They killed each other after a dispute about which of them Hatman loved more. (A stupid argument, Hatman didn’t much care for either of them.) Hatboy #203: Turned into a crocodile. Is doing just fine now. Hatboy #209: Cloned and then fired for violating Hatman’s strict but fair “no clones” policy. Hatboy #213: 213... 2 13... 13 twice... that’s unlucky two times. Like hell was Hatman going to keep a guy like that around. Shortest time as Hatboy at three seconds. Hatboys #214-233: After 213 failed Hatboys the local orphanage banned Hatboy from adopting anymore orphans so the next 20 Hatboys were imaginary. Unfortunately, not even nonexistence was enough to protect these brave Hatboys from suffering horrifying and grisly fates. Hatboy #234: The first new real Hatboy in three years. In an effort to show the rest of the superhero and orphanage community that he could keep a Hatboy safe, this Hatboy was never allowed outside until he turned thirty. By this time he was too large for the Hatboy costume, so he was fired. Hatboy #235: Hatboy’s back bay-beeee and cooler than ever! This Hatboy had spiked green hair, cool sunglasses, a skate board, and pet monkey. Easily the coolest Hatboy ever. Shame about the thing with the immovable mass of dark thoughts though. Hatboy #266: Eaten by that same shark from before. Apparently it acquired a taste for Hatboys. It now goes by the name Sidekick Snapper and it is still at large, so if that doesn’t turn you off from being a sidekick I don’t know what to tell you. Hatboy #272: Accidentally run over by the Hatmobile. Hatboy #279: Part witch, melted when it rained. Hatboy #280: Part ice pop, melted in the sun. Hatboy #283: As part of an attempt at synergy between this blog and the superhero community, this Hatboy was actually our very own Curly! {It was not fun let me tell you. On day three he had me scrubbing out the(All right nobody wants to hear it let’s move on to the next one!) Hey!} Hatboy #294: Tried to push Hatman in front of a train to avenge his predecessors. It didn’t work obviously. If Hatman had a dime for every time he got pushed in front of a train he’d be three times as rich as he already is. He’s trained for this. He knows how to survive being pushed in front of a train. (We can’t give away all of his tricks, but it essentially boils down to “not letting the train hit you.”) Hatboy #300: The three hundredth Hatboy! A party was thrown in the Hat Cave and all of the still living Hatboys were in attendance. (All 32 of them!) At the party they cornered the new Hatboy and held an intervention during which they convinced Hatboy 300 to get the heck out of there and never return. Hatboy #315: Fell in love with an elf princess from a magical realm in New York’s sewer system. Hatboy #330: Ended up on the wrong side of a superhero civil war. Hatboy #349: Stared directly at an eclipse, was temporarily blinded, and was then kidnapped by a giant bird. Hatboy #355: Tripped and fell onto a landmine. Hatboy #368: Brainwashed into becoming a terrifying assassin. Hatboy #379: Struck out on his own and became the superhero Dark Brood to reflect his new mature and humorless disposition. Hatboy #380: “Misplaced.” Hatboy #388: The current Hatboy, he’s doing quite well actually... for now.

If the horrible fates of these Hatboys aren’t enough to dissuade you from a career as a sidekick, what’s the matter with you!? The life of a sidekick is not as glamorous as it’s made out to be. You’re essentially an unpaid intern with a high mortality rate. You’re going to be getting coffee, picking up dry cleaning, preparing meals, waxing and buffing and repainting hat-shaped vehicles, fighting the gross and weird henchmen that your boss doesn’t want to deal with. It sucks! And for what? So you can get eaten by a shark or lost at the nightmare mall? It’s just not worth it.

Instead what you should do is band together with other superpowered children and pressure one of the older heroes into mentoring you as a group. It’s like forming a sidekick’s union. You’ll look out for each other in a way the adults won’t. You’ll make sure nobody is put into situations that are too dangerous for them to handle. You’ll grow as a group and forge unbreakable bonds, and when you all grow up, you’re going to be a generation of superheroes the likes of which the world has never seen!

Right now you’re in a great position. You have powers, and you know you want to do good with them. So take some time now, find others like you, receive proper training and when the time comes, you and your team will take the world by storm. Don’t rush into things. Don’t fall under the spell of a charismatic older hero that doesn’t care about anything but himself. Don’t rob yourself of the change to be truly great! (We regret to inform you that Hatboy #388 was just hurled at a lava giant in a failed attempt to slow it down.)

#superhero #superheroes #comics #comedy #humor #funny #advice #sidekicks #child sidekicks #Hatman #Hatboy #The Sidekick Snapper #magical realms #supervillains #self-help

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vugheadisendgame · 5 years ago

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What Is A Twin Flame?

We all are walking around this planet with relationships that nurture us, challenge us, and cheerlead us on our path for growth and evolution. Each one of us come here with a soul group, a bunch of souls who have agreed to help us as we help them learn our planned earthly lessons, make our mistakes, release our karmic debt and journey through this life. Soul mates can be our sister, brother, mother in-law, spouse, co-worker, best friend, ex-boss or someone as unassuming as a homeless person on the street. We have so many soul mates or soul friends that come and go in our lives and even when one might come in & break our heart into tiny bitty pieces they are still serving us and helping us on our path towards growth and evolution. Then there is a Twin Flame. This relationship is something far different, far deeper, extremely powerful, and something only a few of us might experience in our lifetime. Because we as a species are evolving (waking up) at a faster pace and in record numbers, we are collectively changing the purpose of relationships. Instead of getting together and staying together for the purpose of procreation, safety & survival, we are moving towards more spiritually based relationships that can foster rapid soul growth. More and more twins are finding each other. And NOT because they are looking. Twin Flames or sometimes referred to as Twin Souls, are thought to be two parts of a soul that split and would incarnate into Earth or other realms to learn, grow, and experience duality. They would rarely incarnate at the same time as one would typically stay behind to help the other. The diverse experiences they gather when they are away from each other help to create their separate identities as souls. When these reunite, they form an ultimate relationship- and the most fulfilling one. All other relationships before serve as practice for this ultimate one. All twin soul relationship are between a male and female energy of the same soul. This does not mean it has to be between a male and female. The Twin relationship does not have a gender, race, or age barrier- it can be either heterosexual or homosexual. The purpose of this Divine relationship is to help you face yourself.

The definition of a Twin Flame in LightWorker speak; is a soul connection between two people that come together to unite in the full embodiment of the divine masculine and divine feminine. On the bright side of meeting a Twin Flame; there is an instant intense bond that is off the f*cking charts the moment you connect through the eyes, and this person will play a significant role in your life. The dark side of Twin Flames; they will abruptly leave your life without warning after saying, “I love you.” or they will ghost; poof-be-gone, run, and keep you on-the-vine-of their our timeline. When meeting a Twin counterpart there is an inner knowing that feels fated upon meeting them. This is the spiritual bond connecting energetically through quantum entanglement and once formed; the connection is unbreakable. (you’ll wish it was at times) You’ll not meet your Twin by chance either; this fated pre-destined soul contract was put in place to serve a higher purpose for spiritual advancement, creativity, learning, and personal growth. Dating a soul-mate is easier than trying to date a Twin Flame, because meeting your Twin…is never without pain, and the cycle can continue for years if you allow it. Not everyone is destined to meet their Twin Flame in this lifetime, though every person on the planet has a Twin counterpart in the present time, or passed-on to the other side. Upon meeting your Twin, it feels like nothing you’ve experienced before in any other relationship. (this is how you get hooked-in) There is a familiarity upon meeting your Twin that can seem rather odd. Before, during, and after meeting your Twin counterpart, synchronicities start manifesting into your physical reality, and this is where the fun begins. The signs as I call them, will connect back to the Twin in some odd way. Perhaps things like number sequences, seeing the number 1111 on everything from clocks to receipts. Songs on the radio that connect to your twin counterpart, or seeing their name in places that are out of the ordinary like menus and billboards. I’ve experienced a power grid go down upon defending my Twin. Twin’s share commonalities that are highly unusual in so called “normal or organic” relationships. (example: birthdays that match house numbers, friends, and parents birthdays) But one thing is certain, all of these synchronic events will be out of the ordinary. Twin Flames are not to be confused with fated love or soul-mate type relationships. Soul-mates have more to do more with choice, love, and lust. Twin Flames have-to-do with fate, and the spiritual awakening simultaneously, and not orchestrated by choice or freewill. It’s designed as a learning/teaching relationship. The hard part about meeting a Twin is that one or both people are usually involved in other relationships, and one of the Twin’s are typically not emotionally available in some form or another. (married, girlfriend/boyfriend) Some Twin’s can get into relationships right away, however; most do not, because it’s not designed to be that way unfortunately, and this is where many people get super depressed to the fated part of the journey. This does not mean you can’t have a relationship with your Twin; it’s just harder to get one going due to the template design.

The Chaser Twin ( the one who understands the relationship template) waits for the return of the runner, having the patience of a saint while working on self as each day goes by. This is not pinning away, it’s different. Only a Twin Flame can understand this process. The chaser is hoping that the runner wakes up to his/her spiritual call to enlightenment, while dealing with their own healing of past relationship wounds during this period. Twin’s may share only a brief moment in time, but one Twin keeps the faith that one day that their counterpart will reach out again. Months and months go by…and then… they call. It can feel like your being used as narcissistic ego supply when they come back into your life, and in some cases that’s what it is. This experience is called the Twin Flame runner/chaser dynamic. The runner and chaser dynamic is common in a Twin Flame relationship. The runner and chaser dynamic can change roles during the relationship. It happens when one partner may or may not be spiritually aware of what is happening in their own lives, and becomes very confused after meeting their counterpart, which can lead to the the runner escaping the confusion, by leaving abruptly. If you were to ask the runner “why they run?” They wouldn’t know, they’ll just feel that something is “off.” The running Twin does not understand what’s happening to them on a spiritual level, and feel like they’re losing control over their own emotions. They don’t know what to do, so their natural reaction is to run away, and chasing after them, only makes them run even more. Completing your own inner healing is crucial for this type of journey with a Twin counterpart to even have a chance to work out, and it requires patience, and doing all of the necessary work on self that must be completed. Not doing any inner work on self creates a continuous cycle of running/chasing with the Twin counterpart.

There is a certain fated element to this type of connection. The template of a Twin Flame seems very fated in many ways. It’s one of the most complicated; or most beautiful connections that we can experience in a lifetime; depending on how you want to view that. Some will question the validity of this type of connection, or think that it’s BS, however, the concept is present in many cultures and has been for thousands of years. Perhaps the story of Adam and Eve is the original Twin Flame connection. Other examples of Twin’s are; John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Linda and Paul McCartney, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Ron and Nancy Reagan and fictional characters Harold and Maude that depict Twin Flames with major age differences. In Chinese culture the name for Twin Flames is the red string of fate, it’s an invisible red cord, tied to those destined to be together. Time can stretch or tangle the red cord, but the thread can never be severed. We all have a other half. The term “finding our other half” comes from that concept. The term Twin Flame is derived from Greek mythology. It was said that humans were originally created with four arms and four legs, but Zeus, fearing their power, split them in half, sentencing them to spend the rest of their lives searching for their other half. Whether we believe in the concept of finding our other half or not, the theory of being split in half is a belief that reinforces the Twin Fame concept. The Twin Flame experience will be nothing like anything you will have been through before. You’ll learn the meaning of unconditional love for another human being and more compassionate love for yourself. How you choose to navigate the lessons you learn, messages you receive on your Twin Fame journey, is entirely up to you. How each person will process “signs” is also up to each person who experiences them. Each Twin has a different trajectory they’ll be on, and no two Twin couples will likely walk the same path in life; how could they due to the dynamic of meeting a Twin in the first place. However, one thing is certain, once awakened by such a connection, your life will never be the same.

Some have questioned the validity of the Twin Flame concept, calling it evil, the work of the Devil etc…I get it; unless you’ve experienced an abnormal amount of synchronicity surrounding another person, it’s hard to digest the concept of a fated meeting of your carbon copy with synchronic signs unless you’ve experienced this for yourself. Not everyone in life will need to go through this type of relationship design. I do believe in the Twin Flame model, because I‘ve experienced it and speak about my experiences. Like so many who’ve experienced this relationship model; it came with a spiritual awakening, finding one’s life purpose, and a heart full of pain because of the running Twin who was not emotionally available for you or anyone. This is the hardest part of the Twin Flame journey; it ain’t easy. A Twin Flame is one of the most challenging relationships to navigate. There is an inner knowing that comes with meeting that they are your Twin, but be-not-fooled; not all Twin’s wind-up together in “romantic” situations just because of the fated-ness that persist with synchronic signs after meeting them. Fate does-not-a-relationship-make. A relationship must have 2 people in agreement to said-relationship to make it so, the law of freewill has much to do with that. There is no Universal law that states; “a fated meeting is forever.” Life is not a Helzberg Diamond commercial. But one thing is for sure; anyone who experiences a Twin Flame relationship will be changed forever and ultimately rewarded by spiritual evolution. Working on self first and detachment from the ego mind of the fated-ness part of meeting a Twin Flame is what moves you forward on your spiritual path. Detachment means: TO HAVE ZERO EXPECTATIONS OF BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR TWIN. I can’t emphasis this enough. You and your twin will no doubt be working on issues through each other to evolve as people. The meeting of the Twin is always for a much higher purpose. Divine timing will determine if you will be in a “union” or relationship. The law of freewill; choice in choosing a partner, prevails over fate and destiny.

Twin Flame Signs

You will experience a strange “feeling” and “knowing” of something happening behind the scenes before your first encounter with them.You will get this feeling that something is brewing but you have no idea what it is, or why you feel this way.

The moment you encounter them, you will feel a strange and unusual spark within your being. “There they are!” is a simple yet accurate way to describe this feeling. It is an instant recognition on a soul level, your logical mind will not recognize them, but YOU will.

Synchronicities will become very apparent. The number sequence 11:11will be the inital sequence that you encounter. Once you acknowledge it, more will come. They will be in your face, all of the time. This will range from repeating numbers (222, 333, 444, etc.) to your thoughts synching perfectly with your reality; you will be thinking of a word or phrase, and you will then hear this exact word or phrase in the physical. You will see personalized messages on billboards and on the TV, telling you exactly what you need in order to keep moving forward. The biggest mistake you could make is to ignore what these numbers and signs are telling you. They are signs and directions laid out for you by your Higher Self. They are your path to Union.

Your outlook on life will change. You will prefer complete solitude for awhile in order to collect your thoughts. You will question everything you have ever known and you will rid your life of what no longer serves you. Some of this will even happen on a subconscious level; For example, you won’t be able to afford cable TV any longer, as this is your Higher Self directing you AWAY from the false beliefs that no longer resonate. Things can seem as if they are falling apart, but they are being cleared for a higher purpose, you are making room for the new to enter.

You will give up habits that no longer serve you. Drinking, smoking, even unsatisfying jobs. You will suddenly drop these things as they no longer serve a purpose for your Union.

You will be absolutely swarmed with thoughts of your Twin Flame. By swarmed I quite literally mean 24-7. There are days were you will just want to lay in bed and think about your Twin, and tune into your heart connection. You can not and will not escape this, the more you attempt to push these thoughts and feelings away, the more they will overwhelm you. This is set in place for a reason. You are not MEANT to push these away, you are meant to embrace them, as your Twin will be a part of your life for the duration of your time here on Earth, and thereafter.

Your lives will synch up. Everything about you will synch and match, yet you will ALSO be complimentary opposites. This is put in place as a recognition mechanism. Your lives before you met will match, so much that you may discover that you received the same items for Christmas years ago. You will have worked the same types of jobs, and your family history will match. You will show up in person together and be dressed alike. If one Twin gets a nosebleed, the other will follow suit shortly thereafter.

As for the complimentary opposite aspect; what one Twin lacks, the other will make up for. If one of you is bald, the other will have a beautiful head of hair. If one of you excels at math, the other will be a magnificent writer. If one is older, the other maybe decades younger. Your aspects will be a perfect puzzle, all will be matched, synched, and what one is “lacking” the other will fill in. It is human perfection.

The Love you feel for this person goes beyond anything you ever thought was possible. You will absolutely LOVE this person with such a fiery passion that nothing and no one would ever be able to change this feeling. It is a complete imprint on the others soul, you have permanently merged yourselves. And the only reason for loving them is simply for who they are. No matter what your “type” is, your Twin will become the most amazingly beautiful and fantastic human being that you have ever encountered. You will have a longing and lust for them that does not fade. You want to merge with them on ALL levels of their being.

If you are married at the time of meeting your Twin, your marriage will slowly become more and more unappealing. You will feel as if you are cheating on your Twin whilst being with your spouse. You will only have eyes for your Twin, and being intimate with your partner will become increasingly more difficult. Your soul wants nothing to do with this lower vibrational act of love, regardless of how much you care for your spouse as a person. They will never, ever hold a candle to your Twin Flame. Your mind will try and convince you of the human made laws of marriage, but your soul and heart will put up the rigorous fight to this core value which no longer serves you.

You will dream of this person, and many times this will be a lucid dream. You will be able to manipulate the dream into whatever you wish, and these dreams are the prerequisite of what is required of you in order to come into Union. Just like a dream, your waking reality requires and allows you to manipulate your circumstances into whatever you wish. (I will get into this in another article). The more harmonious your dreams are that involve your Twin, the closer you are to Union.

Your physical appearances will merge. This is a huge sign, and especially apparent if you are a Twin couple with an age gap. At the time of the younger Twins birth, the older Twin will begin to evolve and change physically. The older Twin will begin to shed their “old looks” in order to match his or her Twin. They will be able to look back at pictures of themselves and be unrecognizable. At the time of meeting, you and your Twin will be “identical”, regardless of age or race. You will be able to take a split screen picture of each face and put them side by side, and they will match perfectly.

You will find synchronicity in; your names (one of your names will be found with in the other’s), your birthday’s, the day you met, and even in your phone numbers. This requires a little bit of detective work, but if you are curious, you will be aligned to see it. Everything is pre-planned for you to be able to recognize this person as your Twin, this is all set up by your Higher Selves pre-birth.

Your Twin will test your faith, patience, and emotional stability. They do this completely unknowingly, and you agreed to this before you incarnated here. Everything that you need to work on, your Twin will put on display. This will be extremely exaggerated through them, and it is there once again to catch your attention. Whatever you need to work on within yourself will be magnified exponentially so you can get the picture and fix it. Your Twin is your greatest mirror, everything that you accuse them of being, you are accusing yourself of. You yourself are the only one who is with-holding your Union. Your Twin is ready for you as soon as you Align yourself.

You, or they, will have a strong urge to run for the hills. Notice here I said strong urge. If you do become physically separated, it is never for long, and it is always guided. This connection can be very overwhelming, especially in the beginning, and one or both of you will want to retreat back to “your old life”. However, you are here for a higher purpose and the Universe and your Higher Selves were prepared for this. This statement may upset some who feel they have met their Twins and have lost them, however this is important, and I want to make this very clear. Should you and your Twin separate, this is not permanent. If you have met your Twin Flame in this lifetime, the two of you WILL be together, permanently. There is no “maybe in the next lifetime, we met too soon.” If you have encountered your TRUE Twin Flame, you will reunite as a couple in the physical here and now. Should you have lost your Twin for an extended amount of time, this person was a soul catalyst, and NOT your Twin Flame. You and your Twin will never stay apart long, it is impossible and it goes against the whole reason you incarnated here together and met in the physical. Do you truly believe all of these signs and preparations for the two of you were all for nothing? You will both fulfill your purpose here TOGETHER, United in love.

How To Recognize A Twin Flame

There are many signs and characteristics that the twin relationship has that can help you decide if you’ve met your twin. Chances are though, if you’re awake, aware, and have been doing your inner work, you already know. Twin relationships aren’t necessarily harmonious; in fact twin flames when uniting can go through a lot of cleansing, purging and energy releasing within the chakra system. The biggest sign is the amount of energy that is created when they come together. Do not be confused by emotional or physical attraction, this energy that is created is something completely different. When and if you experience this amount of energy you will know. It is thought that only graduate souls are finding their Twins souls/Flames on Earth as their purpose is to do healing and spiritual work on the planet at this time.

The place of meeting. It was as if they fell out of the sky and into your lap. Neither one of you were looking for each other, it was Divine timing and circumstance that brought you together. Sometimes it is quite symbolic.

They are your mirror. They will mirror back to you everything in your life that you need to address. Everything that has not been healed. They are there to show you YOU. Sometimes your entire life can change upon meeting them.

The amount of energy created when you are together is magnetic. People around you will notice and feel the power between you. When you are together you can be an unstoppable force!

You psychic and intuitive senses will be heightened upon meeting.

There is usually something significant about their birthdate. They do not have to be born on the same day, month, or year, but there is just something peculiar about their date.

The deep respect and love for each other means you will never want to hurt each other, and if there is a fight or disagreement between the two of you, it can feel devastating.

You feel an almost immediate bond or connection with them usually right after meeting them. Like you’ve known them before or their energy feels very familiar.

You will both complement each other. Your skillsets or abilities will work perfectly together because you’ve developed what the other one lacks or needs in your separation. And together you can work Magic!

You can feel each other even when you are apart. You have a hard time getting them out of your mind. It could feel like an obsession but it is not. It is that you are so closely connected that you literally FEEL each other. Sometimes the time apart feels unbearable.

You feel as if you are Home, that time stands still when you are with them; in other words, you have the ability to collapse time. And sometimes they might feel like a dream or unreal to you. But although you remain separate beings with your own individual life path you feel a sense of completeness with them.

Even something as small as a hug can carry an intense surge of energy.

They have similar beliefs and a life path to yours.

You will want to give to them without ever wanting in return. Giving is the nature of this relationship.

One of the most important signs that you have met your twin is that you have a feeling that this is something very different than any other relationship you have encountered before. The feelings you have for them sometimes cannot even be put into words. Total unconditional and complete love and acceptance. There is a special sacredness about your relationship that transcends anything you have ever experienced before. In essence, you already know, you will feel it with your whole being. No other relationship will be as life changing.

You are aware that the purpose of your relationship is to bring something extraordinary to the world for the betterment of the planet.

And lastly, one of my personal favorites is noticing the numbers 11:11. This number can appear anywhere. You may see it on clocks, receipts, computers etc. and in my own personal journey seeing 11:11 has always been a confirmation that I was on the right path, or a “Yes” to a thought I was having right before I noticed the time. It appears a lot when we are going through a growth stage. There are other meanings for 11:11. But that’s another whole topic on its own.

These are some of the biggest signs of a twin relationship. Sometimes, however, one twin may not be ready for the other one, either because of their unwillingness or fear of dealing with their own issues and emotional baggage and maybe a “Flame Runner”. They may want to run away from the amount of energy or intensity of the relationship. Or if when they look into your eyes the reflection back of themselves is too much to deal with. If that is the case, have patience and trust in knowing that you will be together again when both are ready for the cleansing and clearing necessary. This intense repelling and magnetic attraction is a common theme among twins and the reunion will take place when both are ready to be fully healed. If you have been lucky enough to find this once in many lifetimes relationship, cherish it and know that it is here to bring you to your utmost spiritual growth. The twin flame relationship changes your life. It challenges each soul to grow and expand into their highest potential to fulfill their mission and purpose on the planet and in each other’s lives. If you are still searching, stop the search outward and go inward and focus on you. You won’t find them by searching, they will find you, through Love. That’s all. Through time and space, they will find you through Love.

8 Major Twin Flame Stages

Twin flames are said to be beings that aid our souls in finding completion. Ancient Greek philosopher Plato first created the idea of souls “split in two” that eternally yearn to find their “other halves.” These days we still carry around this idea of “find our other half,” but unfortunately we believe that it is absolutely imperative for us to find another person to be complete. Please keep in mind that while twin flames do help us to experience unconditional love and grow immensely as people, not all of us find our twin flames, and not all of us need twin flames to feel complete. Please read “7 Common Myths Embellishing Twin Flame Relationships” to read more about this. Also, it helps to remember that the degree to which you can experience harmony in your twin flame relationship is dependent on your level of soulful maturity. For example, two old souls will have a much easier time at “holding it all together” than two young souls. You can read more about soul ages. So keeping this in mind, what are the eight major twin flame stages that you’ll likely experience in your relationship?

Stage One – Yearning for “The One”: In this preliminary stage, you have spent your entire life pining for “The One” that doesn’t yet exist in your life. You have this strange sensation that someone who is perfectly molded to you is “out there” but you don’t quite know where or when they will appear in your life. Although you ache for your twin flame, you have a feeling they will appear to you at some point. This stage is also sometimes spent “preparing” for the arrival of the twin flame on an unconscious level. In my instance, I had to learn how to love myself before I met mine. For others, this stage of preparation involves the development of self-awareness, discovery, and understanding.

Stage Two – Glimpsing “The One”: At some point, you will have a brief glimpse of your twin flame. Whether this is through a dream signal, or through a real-life meeting, suddenly the Beloved can be sensed. The result is profound. Wonder, joy, anxiety, and intoxication quickly ensue. For those cautious among us, a lingering sense of intense curiosity and desire to get to know the person better is the result. You don’t know what it is exactly, but this person is extremely special. Like me, you may even sense that this person will play an immensely important role in your life – even before you know them properly.

Stage Three – Falling in Love: When you fall for this person, you will fall very, very hard. You will fall harder than you have ever fallen for anyone – and the impact will knock the breath right out of you. In fact, as you get to know your twin flame better, you will fall more and more deeply in love with them. As a result, you’ll find it hard to stand with two feet on the ground. You might feel disorientated, lovesick and “unlike yourself.” You may even try to resist the attraction, but eventually, you’ll accept the reality that you’re deeply and madly in love.

Stage Four – The Fairy-Tale Relationship: As both of you eventually make your feelings known and enter into a relationship, life will feel like a fairy-tale. Your relationship with them will be perfect in every possible way. It will seem as though your twin flame fulfills every single need you have and everything you ever possibly wanted. This taste of “paradise” is what the matured twin flame relationship looks like after the next few stages of turmoil.

Stage Five – Outer Turmoil and Inner Purging: In this stage, there is trouble in paradise. As the ecstasy from the initial meeting period wears off, egos start to flare up. Suddenly differences in opinion, taste, and personality arise, and old core wounds emerge out of the gloom. While our twin flames share and mirror our deepest needs, desires, and dreams, they also tend to mirror our shadow selves. For example, if you are an emotionally repressed person, your twin flame will likely be emotionally explosive. If you tend to be arrogant, your twin flame will most likely be uncertain and quiet. In this way our twin flames challenge us, riling up our insecurities. This can be infuriating, devastating and very painful. While all the arguing and fighting in this stage may seem disastrous, the truth is that it is necessary for our growth. Without being provoked, without seeing ourselves for who we “really” are, we live in illusion and fail to grow soulfully. But this is certainly hard to realize while you’re going through such turbulence in your relationship!

Stage Six – The Runner and Chaser: As tensions mount it is common for one partner (or sometimes both) to emotionally or physically withdraw and “run” away, and another to pursue in a game of cat and mouse. Sometimes this involves emotional shutdown and silent treatments. Other times this involves physical separation and in extreme cases, the permanent termination of the relationship. In this stage, twin flames experience a trial by fire. While some relationships last and are strengthened, others crumble to pieces. As I mentioned at the start, this is all dependent on each partner’s soulful maturity. Sometimes one partner leaves for many years and then returns, only to repeat the cycle once again. The chaser, on the other hand, tends to be the more mentally and emotionally mature partner of the two, trying to sort everything out and make amends.

Stage Seven – Surrender and Dissolution: Once the shadow of your relationship has been revealed, you may experience a period of surrender. After so much anguish, distress and provocation, you both begin to open up about your wounds and insecurities. In this stage, it is common to experience a lot of ego dissolution and soulful expansion. As the ego relaxes, powerful lessons are learned about the nature of oneself and the nature of the “other.” As you begin learning how to work through your differences, the maturity of your relationship deepens and thus strengthens.It is common to go through stages six and seven many times throughout your relationship.

Stage Eight – Oneness: As the problems in your relationship become increasingly easy to deal with, you will enter a period of soul reunion. In stage eight it is common for you to both find a shared meaning, passion or cause that brings you a mutual sense of fulfillment. As the ego continues to relax, virtues such as forgiveness, understanding, empathy, and patience are learned. The more you both work through each issue that comes your way vigilantly, the more you experience the sensation of “Oneness,” or ego death.

Common Twin Flame Difficulties

Now for the famous Twin Flame Obstacles. Quite a few of you will see these as “blocks” to your Union, but they are not, they are in place for a reason. As soon as you see them as “blocks”, or “obstacles”, that is exactly what they become. These characteristics are here for you to transcend them, because Love doesn’t see anything other than itself. The soul does not care about the human standards of “right and wrong”, as there is no right or wrong. There is only Love. You are meant to bridge the gap between percieved, man-made separations and belief systems that serve nothing but egoic standards. You can choose to either notice them as obstacles, or you may transcend them, which will catapult you into Union. When twin souls first meet even in their final incarnation, some of them will have differences in physical, emotional and intellectual content of the two personalities. Firstly, one soul has to adjust his difficulties within himself. Then he has to match whatever he has to the other. That means he has to clear all his own foibles, needs, cravings and ill will before he meets his twin as a fully satisfied individual. He should be ready to serve the other by putting the requirements of the other twin before his own. And vice versa. The struggle between themselves and together will definitely go to enhance the twinship. This is so because they have different psychological background and different personalities with emotional divergence. There will be normal conflicts when the two have such a close relationship, but the conflicts will be rapidly resolved. This is because their goal is the same. The emotional conflict is almost unbearable because they are twins. So in order not to see the other suffer, they tend to solve the problem as soon as possible.As they have been travelling by themselves, they have earned good and bad karma of their own. Once they meet and work together, they must now try and clear both karmic debts jointly. Similarly, good karma earned by both independently will be enjoyed by both. In fact, as karma is created at the soul level, both have been influenced by the other’s karma imperceptibly. There will definitely be stress in some couples, and in these they may even break up temporarily. Some couples will have to suffer together because of joined karma. There are so many possibilities in so many combinations and permutations. In some, the different backgrounds and karma would have brought together two very different individuals. This fact does not bother them at all. In this instance, “opposites do attract”. All the differences go to complement their lives. So differences in physical, emotional and psychological make up do not tear them apart irrevocably, because their souls are joined together like Siamese twins. The compatibility here is at the spiritual level. That alone counts. The obstacles within the individual should mostly be solved by the time of the meeting. However, there may be few external obstacles that present themselves. One or both twins could have already been married when they meet. The eternal triangle is usually dealt by the almost enlightened individuals with accommodation to the existing families. If one were to hear that someone has walked out on the family to be with his or her twin soul, one can rest assured that it is not a twin soul union in their final incarnation. The already committed twin is too responsible and would continue to honour the pre-existing marriage. The twins will know that there must be a very good reason for this inconvenience. It could be a test or because of unresolved karmic obligations. The twins would then remain as loving friends or colleagues without marriage disruptions. This is due to fact that they are no more powered by passionate physical sex, as their love is above that. They may meet at night in spirit for the purpose of uplifting a common cause. They may meet in either the astral or mental world. They know that their separation is temporary and nothing in the world can stop their final union. Of course very occasionally their meeting could precipitate a marriage breakup, but this is with a marriage that is already collapsing. The breakup may induce some benefit to the aggrieved members, who can start anew with their own new partners. With this in mind, the twins who are uniting in this last incarnation, would have cultivated fidelity, joy, love and trust, and their union would be as solid as a rock. However, there may still be a few cases, where one soul has not reached the same level as the other. One partner may outgrow the other, and the demands of the less developed may be irksome to most other partners. However to the developed twin this mild set back must be met with tolerance and patience, otherwise the growth may be stunted. At this juncture it is a shame to let the stunting be a deterrent for further growth. For instance, if one soul were to suffer from some neurotic illness, this fact may be detrimental for both. So the care-giving partner has to sacrifice his smooth progression to confront the neurotic partner with the truth of the difficulty. This may rock the marriage, but it has to be done.You do not spare the rod because you are afraid to hurt the naughty child. The soft stance will hurt the child more at a later date. This self-sacrifice must be persistent and long standing otherwise it will not work, for most neurotic diseases are brought over from past lives. One example of a twin flame is the relationship between Jughead Jones and Veronica Lodge also known as Jeronica, although these two people haven't realized yet they are twin flames and are destined for each other.

#jeronica #riverdale #twin flame

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theorynexus · 5 years ago

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59: The Continuing Adventures of Dave and Roxy, as well as the concerns assailing them.

Yay, the Charleston! (Boo the fact that if Jake’s targeted by a sniper, Dave can’t so easily react by slowing down time and tackling him out of the way, or whatever!)

***sagenods, despite never having had anything like his own experience, myself***

It’s good to see that in quantifiable terms, there. Also good to see Dave’s awkward insecurity on the matter never faded away during those recognition stages. It makes it at least 1000% funnier. Ask Colonel Sassacre.

HA! Also: I love to see that paranoia in action, ramping up the comedy value even more and legitimizing my previous statement that this was funny, which some people would consider incredibly rude, probably! It is also interesting to think of the fact that the 30-70% enumeration suggests he goes back and forth as far as which of the two sexes he is apparently considering legitimate “targets” of his interest (troll biology/sexuality didn’t cease to be probably quite different from human reproductive systems, or anything, and Calliope/cherubs in general may very well be hermaphroditic either in a simultaneous or sequential manner, so I obviously have to recognize them here). Obviously, there’s also the possibility he’s just not thinking of such other sexes due to is human upbringing on earth, were intersex members of society are relatively rare, and thus the idea that there are only two sexes tends to widely be embraced by (most, but increasingly not all) members of the Western society/civilization he dwelt in. I don’t blame him for his upbringing: everyone brings their own baggage into their later life.

Yeah... the Stralondes bring some interesting genetic factors to the table. I am not sure how much that actually directly influences things. Part of the issue is probably Bro’s impact on his life, which exposed Dave to a great deal of sexual material and almost undeniably stunted his growth in weird ways. (Note: I do not suggest that his apparent self-labeled bisexuality is a result of his growth being stunted, regardless of the fact that one’s early life does indeed have an impact on one’s later identity; rather, I am merely suggesting that Bro’s influences, while dramatically increasing his capacity for survival in SBURB, and thus technically being instrumental to everything that followed, gave him psychological issues which everyone must admit made him struggle quite a bit over the years. It may be likely that he would have developed the same sexual dispositions regardless of the scars Bro inflicted on him [both emotional and physical], but we can never truly know, for Time is weird: issues are entangled.)

Dirk, you named yourself after a Platonic work! How can you not understand how great and important relationships which reach to the point of bonds between souls and transcend the physicality of sexual relations can be?!?!?!

GAH, I just... sometimes, you really can’t expect reasonable thoughts from this guy, can you?

On the other hand, let’s just all take a moment to celebrate the irony of “... even my harshest critics would never accuse me of such cruelty” from Dirk Strider. Best. Fricking. bundle of words that ever emerged from his mouth, probably.

I would argue that even without the opposition, displays of gender are by no means culturally vestigial in the same way that fashion generally is not. It’s a direct reflection of the soul, projected outward. (Like a person’s hat, or shirt. [Dirk having a hat on his shirt was not just a reflection of the fact that he was “kid bro,” or whatever, but was actually an early suggestion of his Heart aspect.]) Obviously, this is limited by the resources, imagination, and environment/occupation of the individual involved, and there are in fact numerous things which are more important for a person in reality, but that doesn’t mean that it’s something to be dismissed like that altogether.

***cough projected future dramatic irony, cough*** Also ironic insofar as I am not 100% sure he actually cares about Roxy’s identity/gender issues so much as he might find them annoying and boring to be dragged through. Somewhat ironic+hilarious for a fellow Heart player to find this kind of thing unbearable, if so. Maybe it’s just the Prince in him.

It is good of you to be concerned for her well-being, I suppose. Considering it is your own identity that is at issue, here, I would suggest you hold a little more weight, but regardless, this is good. As for the matter of your transformation and dissatisfaction with your hair as it is now: I suppose Dave’s step by step relation of his own journey as made quite an impression on you. Hopefully, you do not feel jealous, but rather, patiently continue to contemplate your own path and, as Alt!Calliope suggests you might think, head toward a more potent and firm+real understanding of your own identity+self. It is okay to be uncertain and questioning, for now. I’m sure the shakiness of first steps will give way to confidence naturally in due time. These things are not easy, obviously, but reaching out to someone who’s had similar struggles is a good choice: it will likely make things easier, especially since he’s someone you can dependably put your trust in, despite his flippant, awkward attitude in general. (Also: on a more abstract note, it is interesting to see Roxy ascribing meaninglessness to her hair choice, and expressing lack of understanding on her identity issues. Very tight writing, on Hussie’s part, making the kids reflect their aspects and struggle so keenly with things relating to them.)

Given the fact that Cherubs naturally have very violent sex and spend eons before their first (and only?) sexual encounter, that’s not really much of an insult, if “virgin” should ever be considered one to begin with. Pompous is definitely more accurate and applicable, though. Also: Hooray, actually saying things, and getting the size of his text back again! (I am not actually really cheering for Dirk so much as I am finding it interesting for the sake of the ongoing conflict acting as an undercurrent to the storytelling, right now. It’s truly fascinating to see two narrators fighting amongst themselves like this! )

Everything about this (especially Alt!Calliope’s confidence and her “’human tanties’” line) is incredibly amusing. I love it.

Lil Cal might beg to differ. But that is a complicated tangent which does not deal with this version of Dirk directly. (Preemptive Edit: Also funny because of the fact that Doc Scratch is literally a walking, talking puppet with a Dirk inside.)

Yes, justifying toying with your friends because you know them and have investment in their lives therefore is indeed very logical, reasonable, and highly rational of you to do. Thank you for this brilliant insight into the human condition.

Oh, so this is now a reference to the Charles Whitman shootings at the University of Texas? That is a very interesting and curious choice to portray Dirk’s derangement with, especially considering the earlier statement about Dirk knowing solitude in a similar manner to Alt!Calliope’s own knowledge of it. (Almost appropriate, considering she basically destroyed the fabric of Paradox Space to kill her brother in cold blood [the way revenge and Eternity are best served], but I guess this is a digression~)

I wonder if he really intends this, or if it is in fact a ruse in order to time things perfectly such that he can in fact shoot Alt!Calliope in Jade’s body without her initially expecting it. Particularly since, if I am thinking of the correct gun, it actually shoots portals that allow for ridiculously long range shots that would normally be impossible.

Wow, that is cold, Alt!Calliope, throwing Rose under the bus like that. Also: I suddenly have “ Do the impossible, see the invisible. Row! Row! Fight the power! Touch the untouchable, break the unbreakable. Row! Row! Fight the power!” playing in my head, as if this were a flash animation. That thought process really puts things in perspective, if this is supposed to be (at least to him) a tale of Dirk fighting against causality and the will of Paradox Space to make things become irrelevant and to fade out of perception.

Guaranteed to blow [somebody’s] mind.

She warned you about---

History repeating itself.

Such anime. Such wonders. Man, this is really fricking interesting, seeing Dirk and Calliope actually going at it on a twinned physical and metaphysical battlefield! It’s like we’re finally being shown a cherub predomination contest in action! (I wonder if Alt!Calliope will eventually fall into caliginous attraction for him. This would be quite amusing.)

Wow, that was probably a bad move taken at an inopportune time. The question is: Is she forced to make that by laws of narrative relevance, or is it a purposeful decision on her part to spitefully turn away from him, despite the likely imminent consequences. On the other hand: This could be a very powerful and shrewd tactic on her part to recruit Dave to serve her purposes. Given his presence at the event, he could either intercept Dirk (I almost called him Bro-- gah!) or save Jake, if led properly. If she is particularly spiteful, she could use him as a sacrificial piece and have him take the bullet instead of Jake, which could be very, very painful to Dirk.

Huh. Despite Terezi’s comment about onions not making people cry, Trolls are inherently averse to them in the same way that dogs are to chocolate, huh? Also, people are Ogres, and Homestuck is Shrek. This is definitely the unadulterated truth. Additionally: Pffft. It seems that the idea that the Green Sun Black Hole’s presence making Roxy’s own void less effective for everyone might be true! Or, alternatively, Dave just knows enough to make the guess. Or both, possibly.

Pffft. She’s oblivious to her own inscrutability! Perfect. XD That said: YES! HECK YES! HECK FRICKING YES, ROXY SHADES!!! :’D (Oh, and shades are a symbol of the Void [not just because they keep out light, but because they block the eyes, which are symbolic of Light and Heart, but more importantly for this, Light], the same way that alcohol and oceans are. Somewhat surprising that she didn’t have a pair of them already, at this point, if we’re being totally honest.)

Yeah, if it was not obvious that the method of Alt!Calliope informing Dave of this threat would be subtle like that rather than a direct statement/command, then I don’t know what is obvious to you guys.

This, psychologically+sociologically, makes a great deal of sense, considering humans seem to have a natural propensity for feeling distasteful towards some sort of “other,” regardless of what it is. Thus, there’s a double-edged sword involved, quite logically, and somewhat saddeningly, to the otherwise open and accepting mentality that humans seem to have socially adopted in their new environment. At the same time, the way that this is delivered is horribly hilarious (tragi-comically so), and I’m barely sorry that I find that to be the case.

Yes. Yes, it was cute, indeed. Sad to see it go, somewhat. But his question is incredibly silly and very awkward, just as is natural for Dave. Thus, I find it acceptable and in-character, not insulting or narrow-minded, as some might.

***laughs alongside them, for indeed, this has all become quite funny, despite the fact that it is a “distaction [sic.]” from the seriousness at hand***

FRICKING... DANGIT, ALT!CALLIOPE, IF THIS TURNS OUT THE WAY YOUR WORDING IMPLIES IT WILL, I SWEAR...!!!

Okay, so you seem to have just used it as a convenient threat, and worded things such that he had time that he didn’t necessarily clearly have in order to basically take two actions instead of one. (His jump to save Karkat could have cost Jake his life, or Dave his.)

As I was going to say, but was prevented from doing due to a belief that it would be better to include these lines too: His statement about her being right about many things clearly, while initially making it seem that he was indeed going to take the shot, heroic death chance or no, almost certainly ensures that this is actually a subterfuge on his part (similar to but a reversal of Caliborn replacing the hats on the king and queen: in this case, he is switching his OPPONENT’s chess pieces’ appearances, making her think he’s targeting one, but is actually going for the other, more crucial target [as should be obvious, given the thematic similarities between Dirk and Caliborn, and the tendency of events in Paradox Space to rhyme with one another]).

Check.

Indeed, indeed. Alt!Calliope senses a similar pattern, quite sensibly, which is fitting with her role as Muse, and her understanding of it. Unfortunately, while she picked up correctly one one such similarity/resonance, it seems she’s missed some others. I do appreciate this comment on immortality, though. I had not actually thought about that, and this makes his potential actions somewhat more benign. (Not that it would render his later actions as such.)

I really fricking appreciate the “no guts no glory” comment coming right before this extremely gutsy reveal on his part. By saying as such, he could easily be ruining his plan, but he just goes ahead and says it anyway. XD BEAUTIFUL writing, right there.

It was less intelligent of him to narrate his own action so long-windedly, but completely in-character. It gave her the time required to interject like that. That said: I bet he’s going to fire via voice command or something like that.

And THAT, my friends, is why you don’t underestimate your opponents, and you should not announce your belief in the futility of their actions to their faces like a stereotypical villain would! Also: WILLPOWER!!!

... Yet this does not end the page, and despite the fact that it would be a magnificent point to end the post, I will not do so. I will first say that I was almost certain Dirk was actually in fact successfully hiding something from her when he was messing with his equipment/tech there [and great foresight on his part, to think this far ahead, by the way], and secondly, shall end the post with the actual page’s ending:

I appreciate his continued devotion to realism in sound effects and whatnot.

To be fair, he could be using that term technically and literally, here, but I also very much do believe that he was not, which is unfortunate. v.v Thus, Alt!Calliope’s question is quite valid. Though my guess is that Dirk’s response will be something along the lines of, “She chose death and you over life with me.” This might make her a “bitch” in the same way that men in prison who are raped are reported to be one, rather than the typical insulting-particularly-to-women version of the phrase. Regardless, this is uncalled for. ~~~ It is nice to see the fact that Alt!Calliope’s text is getting smaller, now, by the way.

I don’t appreciate this mockery/show boating. It’s quite abrasive and distasteful. I do see it as being rather in-line with what I’d imagine his character would do, given the frustrating situation he was previously put in, though. Also: This very much resembles what happened when he was first suppressed. There is much hilarity to be found in that, all things considered. Alt!Calliope was definitely a bit more benign in some ways and objective (most of the time), but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t some major similarities between narrators. Additionally: I do quite love this example of narrative vs. physical action. I only remember Caliborn/LE and Hussie ever engaging in that sort of contest before. Well... you could say that there were a few examples of it with the Exiles and Kids/Trolls (like what Bec did to PM’s station, or Sollux’s defense against CD), but they don’t really feel like they were quiiitee substantive enough to count. Regardless!: Very refreshing and interesting, this style of conflict is! Thanks, AH! ... Buuuut there is just a liiitttle tiny bit left over on the page to comment on, so I’ll get to that. (Oh, also, I totally imagine Jade falling asleep in the classic manner she used to before entering the session, just slumping over with her hands splayed out under her~)

Okaaayyy... if you say so. The fact that tranquilizers can be lethal in doses that are too high does not jive well with your uncertainty, though. Oh, and also: WHAAAAT?! You’re going to leave?! This is a completely unexpected--- Okay, I can’t and won’t keep up that charade when admittedly the couple of pages I read of Homestuck^2 before freaking out and stopping showed a weird-shaped ship that looked vaguely like a flying fish. I had tried to forget about that, but the memory suddenly rushed back to me as I read that bit of narration.

Ehh? Is this suggesting that the Candy epilogue is chiefly narrated by Alt!Calliope? I mean... it would sortof work out logically, given her very pro-Free Will stance, and the association of Calliope with preferring Candy as food... .

Hmm. This further supports that notion. Iiiif that is the case, Dirk stands as the proxy for LE/Caliborn even moreso than otherwise was clearly the case. In retrospect, this makes it pretty gosh darned funny that his head got chopped off along with Jack English and Jack Noir (who, holding English’s “lordly sceptre,” and holding reign over the Felt, was OBVIOUSLY an English stand-in, as well [I still giggle at his sudden use of it like a horse {hitcher} in the middle of the fight]). Very, veeeeerrry interesting. ~~~ I wonder if Dirk was testing the idea of interjecting himself back into the narrative when he said, “Jake’s ass is mine,” twice, earlier. Oh, and credit to Forgotten Homestuck Facts for the pic compilation, earlier.

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chenanigans-draws · 6 years ago

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Finally got around to doodling my Hollow Knight characters. The Inseparable Twins Leffi and Rinnu.

Both are said to have come from the same egg, thus creating an unbreakable bond. Not having that desired emptiness made them a failure upon birth, so they were discarded. Despite that, the two still managed to survive and make their way out of the Abyss.

Leffi:

They’re adventurous and a bit impulsive.

Out of the twins, they’re the worst at wielding a nail, but they try anyways because they wanna protect their twin.

They took longer to learn how to speak and read. They prefer that Rinnu speaks for them, since they can express both of their feelings clearly.

Rinnu:

They’re observant and level-headed.

They’re better at wielding a nail than Leffi, but with rather assess a situation than go fists-flying. They usually get their sibling outta there before they go ham.

They learned to speak and read faster than Leffi. They usually speak on behalf of the two.

Some more facts about them:

Even if one gets killed, they can easily find each other’s Shade due to their unbreakable bond.

Both of them look up to their siblings Ghost, Hornet, and Hollow. Rinnu wants to speak eloquently like Hornet, while Leffi wants to be great at the nail like Ghost.

They get very upset when they’re separated and will only calm down if they’re together.

They used to live in one of the small houses still left in Forgotten Crossroads. When the Radiance was destroyed, they moved up to Dirtmouth.

#hollow knight #hollow knight oc #fan art #leffi #rinnu #traditional

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ayearofpike · 6 years ago

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Black Knight (Witch World, Vol. 2)

Simon Pulse, 2014 441 pages, 9 chapters + prologue and epilogue ISBN 978-1-4424-6734-7 LOC: PZ7.P626 Bl 2014 OCLC: 1065025018 Released December 2, 2104 (per B&N)

A month after her connection, Jessie Ralle starts dreaming about a young thief who mysteriously disappears in a flash of light. On the ninth night of the same lucid dream, she herself sees the flash, and wakes up next to the thief and four others in transport to a deserted jungle island. There are no ideas, no instructions, no obvious goals. There’s just a clue, a plaque mounted near their drop-off point that indicates that six groups just like theirs are here, but only one will make it out alive.

In other words: Remember that world-building we had in the first book, where it was implied that Jessie and her baby daughter were going to be integral components to the new and evolving leadership among the witch council? Remember the difficulty and heartbreak of Jimmy only being alive in one half of her life? Remember the potential new bonds of realizing her father was active in her upbringing, and could be again in both worlds? Well, fuck all that — let’s have a Hunger Games.

OK, technically this is more like Battle Royale, and Pike actually makes a reference to it as the young adults acclimate to their surroundings. But it is undeniable the influence that Suzanne Collins had on YA fiction, and certainly YA sci-fi/fantasy/analogues. In the wake of Katniss Everdeen, the market felt like it made a hard shift from doomed supernatural romances to dystopian future societies. It would be irresponsible of Pike to not try to cash in on that.

But this book ... is lacking in this regard. Collins’ success was not just that she made us care about Katniss, but that we cared about the bigger problem endemic to her (and all the other contestants’) situation. And Pike doesn’t give us enough to care about here. We don’t know what the stakes are, beyond survival. We don’t know who these people are, where they come from, or what they have to live for. We don’t even know where they are or why. I’m assuming there was another book or two planned for this series that would eventually get us to the meanings and revelations of this battle and why they were chosen to fight it and what ultimately was to come out of it. But this shit was so unsatisfying and we care so little about anyone or anything here that I can’t imagine we’ll ever see resolution.

(Like, does Pike even care? He claimed when the first one came out that it was going to be his “finest work,” and that the series could go “over ten books.” But it’s been almost five years and we haven’t seen another one of these. He didn’t mention his newer works at ALL in that recent Electric Lit interview. So who knows?)

The biggest problem is that the characters and setting we already know makes such a drastic shift to accommodate this story. And, like, I get it. The model of the industry, especially when this book came out, almost requires that you have established characters and an ongoing storyline before you ever publish anything. But it doesn’t feel connected to what’s come before. At all. It’s a new place we’ve never seen, everyone in the action except Jessie is a new character (and remember there are thirty-five of them), and there is almost zero resolution or explanation for what’s happening. There’s no reason this couldn’t have been literally anybody. Like, this could just as easily have been a Sita book, and maybe it would have actually made more sense, except that there’s no other vampires left. It probably shouldn’t have been a book about Jessie, who has a uniquely important position in witch world in light of the high-profile deaths she’s overseen and her responsibility to the Special. None of what happens in this story fits with anything that’s led up to it, and we are left a) wondering why the hell we’re reading this and b) ultimately unsatisfied.

I don’t even necessarily feel like there’s much to summarize, but I’m gonna do it anyway, because I’m dedicated.

We start with a chapter about the thief — Marc — whose MO is to hide in the trunk of a fancy car he’s valet-parked, wait for the owner to take him home, and then make off with the jewelry she (usually it’s a she) was wearing after she falls asleep. This heist is going to be his last job, because he doesn’t want to risk someone putting together a pattern that these high-profile thefts all came in the wake of the victims having been at his theater. So he steals the lady’s necklace and then her car to safely get out of Dodge, but when he stops to take a leak the light appears.

This is the dream Jessie has for over a week. The rest of the story is told from her immediate perspective, in first-person present tense just like a good little dystopian. She’s wondering about the dream, but she’s more concerned about who she just saw in the mall: the Highlander and President Coroner, just sitting there eating ice cream like they didn’t both get fatal holes in their chests last month. And yes, this is in witch world, where they died. She tails them and discovers they’re staying with (of course) the Alchemist, who tells Jessie there’s a reason for this and she needs to be prepared for ... something big, he isn’t clear on it. The Council has more info, maybe: the bad witches need to replace their leadership, and Jessie is first in line because she facilitated the killing. But what about the fact that she just saw President Coroner? The Council has an answer to that as well: one of the witch genes allows its bearer to control time, and so probably the Alchemist has that and has brought her and the Highlander forward from the past for some reason.

So Jessie goes home and has the dream again, only this time when the light appears she feels as though she’s yanked from her bed. She wakes up in the real world (and yes, I have expressed my hate for these names, but I’m sticking with them for consistency’s sake) in some kind of a shipping container with five other dudes, all of them wearing identical green outfits and matching unbreakable bracelets. And yes, one of them is Marc. The others are a precocious genius who’s going to MIT at 16, a quiet and scared Korean girl, an Israeli military fighter, and a Sudanese farmer who exudes strength and just seems to accept the situation. All of them were snatched at about the same time, globally and not locally — morning for the Americans, evening for Africa and Israel, middle of the night in Korea. But as far as Jessie can tell, she’s the only witch. So what is this about?

They don’t get very far before the next chapter, where Jessie wakes up in witch world and realizes she’s in some deep shit. She spends all day trying to find Marc, but like ... if he’s not connected, how is this going to help? She ends up not doing anything about it, and awakens again in the real world on some kind of volcanic jungle island. They find the aforementioned plaque and immediately realize that they’re going to need to work together and find a place to defend. They also need food, and so Jessie has to start showing her hand when she catches a bunch of fish just by grabbing them out of the water. They find a cave to hide out in, but they also see some fast-moving people in gray outfits, presumably another set of contestants.

The Israeli wants to hunt them down — kill before we get killed, she says — and so everyone except the brain and the Korean go tracking. What they find is a grotesque death scene: five bodies in various states of dismemberment. It’s not the gray people there, though: it’s a giant Swede who has a deal for Jessie. He wants her to kill her humans as a show of faith, and he’ll do the same, and then they can team up against the other witches. Because of course he’s gotten all the information already, having made better use of his interim day in witch world than stalking some boy. Jessie refuses, and they fight, only the Swede has a healing factor that works almost immediately. Luckily some of Jessie’s time-controlling gene kicks in and she manages to run away, but her teammates aren’t so lucky. Another witch shows up and throws motherfucking LAVA at them, killing the Israeli and spearing the Sudanese to a tree.

So her next day in witch world needs to be more productive than the last one. Jessie calls up the Council, who is all pissed off that she didn’t come to them already. To survive, they say, she’s gonna have to go back to the Alchemist, because obviously this is what he wanted to prepare her for. So she shows up and talks to the Highlander, who starts working with her on fighting. Specifically, he forcibly activates her telekinesis power by throwing her off a cliff. So after this she’s gonna want to unwind with her family and enjoy their time together, right? Nope — she goes straight to Marc’s house and tells him the world’s least believable story, ending in the prospect that she might want to try to kill him so his witch powers activate in the other world. But haven’t we already said that killing someone in witch world means they’re totally dead? Technicalities. So she gets home and, oh shit, Jimmy’s mad that she went on a date with some random dude without talking to him at all about her troubles! What a silly boy!

When they wake up in the real world again, the Sudanese warrior is totally healed. Apparently the Korean girl has a super-powered healing factor even though she’s not a witch, tied somehow to the death of her twin sister, who presumably channels the power through her. They’ve also been offered a truce by a couple of other witches, not the ones who tried to kill them last night. So they partner up, but the Korean girl’s healing factor is instantly undone when she tries to fix one of the other dude’s teammates but they die randomly on the walk. (Probably actually secretly strangled by the lava-thrower, who Jessie learned yesterday can also make herself invisible.) They talk about the bracelets, which have some kind of weird stone inside, and one of the other witches says he’s found the source: a giant wall that blocks off half of the island they’re on, which you can only see if you climb to the top of the volcano.

As they’re walking, the gray team attacks ... sort of. These people are short and pale, almost albinos, but they move faster than any human can and Jessie knows they have some kind of group mind that allows them to work together. They surround the group and lure them into a battle with the giant Swede, and while they’re fighting him the invisible lava thrower murders all the humans except five: Marc (who does take a poisoned knife to the back), brain boy, Korean healer, and two dudes on a new witch’s team. Jessie manages to lop off her hand and collect her bracelet before she totally vanishes and gets away. Oh, and the other witch has captured the leader of the albinos, and is holding her hostage to attempt to lure in the rest of them. She doesn’t talk, but her telepathy is unsettling at best.

Jimmy shakes her awake in witch world and tells her to do whatever she has to in order to survive. If that means blowing another dude, whatever. So Jessie calls up the Council, which gives her a little more info on the two witches she’s teamed up with. Watch out for the second one, they say (not the one who’s tied up an albino), because he might have choked his last boyfriend to death and successfully covered it up. She goes back to the Alchemist’s house, where President Coroner pins her down about why their present selves can’t help Jessie train. So she has to limit just what she says about their deaths, and in turn they limit telling her that they traveled to Jessie’s funeral in the near future.

Fuck this training, then, right? Jessie figures the only thing to do is help Marc live, and to do that she’ll have to activate his witch genes. But to convince him to die she’s probably gonna have to give up the booty ... only she can’t do it, she’s too busy thinking of Jimmy for a change in this novel. He wants to go through with it anyway (the death, I mean) but she has second thoughts and isn’t ready to put him through it. So they fall asleep next to each other and wake up in a cave on the side of the volcano, where the other two witches are fighting. It seems the first dude had his teammates on watch, but they mysteriously choked to death in the night while the second dude was backing them up. Huh. But they have to keep moving, climbing to the place where the second dude said he saw the wall, for ... like, reasons.

They find another cave near the top of the volcano, and inside there are drawings showing a woman who looks suspiciously like the Council president touching a bracelet to a giant wall. They have to learn more, but the second witch isn’t eager to reapproach the wall. Brain Boy wants to go, so they agree that Chokey Witch can watch Healing Girl and Slowly Dying Marc while the rest of them investigate. Brain Boy touches the wall and freezes, and even though Jessie knocks him away immediately he senses that a lot more time passed, and he’s seen things that happened in witch world but not the real world. So Jessie wants to try, and when she touches it she’s suddenly playing red queen with the dead gambler from the first book, who reminds her that there’s more to the game than just the next card in her own hand. What? I don’t know.

She comes to on the ground with a lot of screaming going on. The Swede is back, so she and the first witch have to fight him. But he forgets Jessie’s plan and attacks weird, getting stabbed in the gut by one of the flying spears Jessie is controlling with her new telekinesis. Oh, and here’s Invisible Lava Thrower too, about to kill Brain Boy! He acknowledges that there’s nothing he can do and succumbs so Jessie has enough time to grab the Swede’s head and crank it around 360 degrees. Lava Girl vanishes, and Jessie picks up our other witch and carries him back to the cave, which is suddenly being guarded by all six albino dwarves. The other witch says that in this proximity, killing the leader will cause all of them to die because of the group mind, so Jessie sneaks up and lops off her head, and then goes inside the cave by herself.

Sure enough, there’s Lava Girl, holding Chokey at machete-point. Marc is mostly submerged in a freezing stream, and Healing Girl is just, like, there. Chokey fights free, but of course Lava Girl hits him with ... you know, because they’re INSIDE A FUCKING VOLCANO. Only Jessie has realized something: these bracelets with the rock inside that matches the wall control their physical connection to the island. Lava Girl looks sick, pale, and weak since she’s lost hers, and when Jessie casually chucks it into the lava she drops dead.

And now Healing Girl comes to. She wants to try to help revive Marc before it’s too late, and wants to study the poisoned knife. Only she then tries to stab Jessie with it. Turns out that when she was alone with the first witch, the one hiding outside with a spear through his guts, he used his strongest power: mental suggestion. He turned Healing Girl into a slave, designed to kill those who weren’t expecting it. Jessie uses all her mental powers to break the hold, upon which Healing Girl ... jumps right into the motherfucking lava herself.

I don’t know, I guess because we’re getting close to the end.

So Jessie disguises herself as Healing Girl and goes to confront the last witch standing besides herself. Who, surprise, does NOT have a spear through his guts. Apparently he can disguise himself too, in addition to the hypnosis. So he tells her to kill herself with the knife, but she stabs him in the lungs just before dropping her disguise, and then ... slits her wrists.

So Marc can live.

Because only one can survive, and of course it should be some dude we just met rather than the main character of the LAST TWO BOOKS. THE ENTIRE SERIES THUS FAR.

But as Jessie’s soul is floating away, she sees something. She sees herself, only older. Even though I thought once you were connected you stopped aging. And she tells herself that it’s not over, and they can go wherever they want to go ... or whenever, rather.

The epilogue takes place at Jessie’s memorial service (not actually a funeral, because there is no body, Jessie’s just been missing for a month but because Marc is now connected they think they know what happened) where Jimmy approaches Marc and they talk about what they know. In particular, Jimmy asks Marc to watch after his real-world son, who oh yeah there was an unfollowed thread where they got a DNA report that said he wasn’t actually Jimmy’s kid but it was also prepared by Jessie’s still-mostly-absentee father who has an agenda in ascending the ranks of the Council so its authenticity is questionable. But then they talk about Jessie and ... neither one thinks she’s actually dead.

And that.

Is the end of Black Knight.

I can sort of pick out the seeds that Pike is sowing in this story. I can start to sense the coming trails and paths the characters might walk in the supposedly potential ten-book series about witches. But like. You just essentially killed your MAIN CHARACTER. Your NARRATOR. And we don’t actually care about this jewel thief guy, who by all appearances is a BAD PERSON. But you went ahead and put him in the forefront.

Is it any wonder this series fizzled out? Part of why I (and maybe a lot of us) got tired of dystopian fiction is that so many authors felt the need to keep raining shit on their protagonists. And yeah, this is another Hunger Games thing, but there’s a reason there — the dictatorial leadership fighting to keep rebellion down. To be perfectly honest, even though I see that reason, I didn’t like it there either. At some point, I wanted Collins to HELP Katniss rather than repeatedly jamming a boot in her face. We want to trust our authors to care about the protagonist the way we’re supposed to care. So when writers keep making their characters climb uphill, for no reason other than to try to get readers to buy the next one and see how they get over the obstacles, it becomes stale. If they obviously don’t care, why should we?

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Marvel’s WandaVision: Vision’s Avengers and MCU History Recap

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WandaVision has been considered one of the more unique concepts for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The new Disney+ show takes two members of the Avengers and puts them in a new setting with a sitcom motif that is intended to be a comforting status quo but is anything but. As the layers begin to peel back on reality, this story of a wise android and his magic-wielding wife is more of a bonkers horror mystery than anything else.

To have this as the first step in the long-awaited Phase 4 of the MCU is a ballsy move. A move forced because of the worldwide COVID situation, but a ballsy move regardless. How do you even explain the concept of the show to someone who is taken in by the commercials or sees the icon on the Disney+ menu? Avengers: Infinity War also had a lot of baggage going in, but even that was easily explained as, “all the heroes team up to stop the big villain from gathering all the special power-ups before it’s too late.”

To help you prepare for WandaVision, I’m going to focus on the MCU history of Vision, as played by Paul Bettany.

THE JARVIS LEGACY

To understand Vision, you have to go back nearly a century to the life of Edwin Jarvis. A member of the British Armed Forces, Jarvis eventually left the battlefield to work as a butler for millionaire inventor Howard Stark. A loyal friend, Jarvis worked for the Stark family for roughly 50 years. Howard and Maria died in the early ’90s, leaving Jarvis to act as a father figure to the orphaned Tony Stark.

While the details of Edwin Jarvis’ death are unknown, Tony would ensure that his name, wisdom, and work ethic would live on. Tony invented an artificial intelligence called Just A Rather Very Intelligent System, otherwise known as JARVIS. With a voice and personality similar to Edwin Jarvis, JARVIS acted as a disembodied security system and information hub for Tony Stark.

This proved especially helpful when Tony Stark created the second incarnation of the Iron Man armor and installed JARVIS as his co-pilot, offering advice and information when necessary. JARVIS aided Iron Man in Iron Man’s trilogy of solo films, as well as the first Avengers movie.

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

The first Avengers movie involved the team fighting off an alien invasion led by the mad god Loki. Despite winning, Tony Stark retained a lingering fear that there would be bigger and more destructive aliens on the way eventually. Earth would never be truly safe. As he was in the process of leaving his Iron Man duties behind, Stark felt that Earth needed its own worldwide security system. As he put it, a suit of armor around the planet.

The Avengers defeated the terrorist cell HYDRA and, in doing so, obtained the Mind Stone. Previously, in Loki’s hands, the Mind Stone was a tool to conquer the minds of enemies and turn them into allies. In HYDRA’s hands, it was a tool to awaken latent abilities in those who survived intense exposure to it, such as twin siblings Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Tony Stark and Bruce Banner decided to play God by creating a brand-new and incredibly advanced AI out of the Mind Stone that would have the capacity to protect the entire human race and fight off any potential invaders.

While Stark and Banner were gone, the Ultron AI awakened. JARVIS attempted to coax it, but Ultron’s tabula rasa form being bombarded with so much information was too overwhelming. The Ultron AI immediately went mad and tore apart JARVIS’ programming. Ultron created a series of bodies, attacked the Avengers, and declared war on the world.

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Since Ultron was able to extend his consciousness to various robotic bodies, he intended to create the ultimate android body to make himself truly unbeatable. This host body, which included the special metal vibranium, synthetic tissue, and the Mind Stone, was stolen away from the Avengers.

What Ultron didn’t realize was that pieces of JARVIS’ programming still existed and were able to keep Ultron from spreading his AI to the internet or government nuclear programs. Stark chose to upload what was left of JARVIS into the android body and Thor gave it life with a blast of lightning.

A red, flying humanoid sprung to life, calling himself Vision. Other than flight, he could fire lasers out of his forehead and alter his mass so that he could phase through matter or turn himself so dense that he was borderline unbreakable.

While he had JARVIS’ voice and demeanor, he was not quite JARVIS…albeit not quite Ultron either. Explaining that he was on “the side of life,” he offered his assistance to the Avengers and proved himself noble and pure-hearted by picking up Thor’s hammer Mjolnir, a feat only possible to those considered worthy.

Then again, Captain America and Iron Man would later argue that Vision wasn’t so much “worthy” as his machine biology allowed him to bypass that magic (ie. an elevator could theoretically “lift” Mjolnir despite its lack of sentience). Thor refused to agree with their logic.

Thor also realized the true meaning behind the Mind Stone on Vision’s forehead and how it was part of the six Infinity Stones, which were otherwise scattered across the galaxy. Due to his powers and proven worthiness, Thor felt the Mind Stone was in safe hands.

Vision helped the Avengers defeat Ultron in the final battle in Sokovia. Ultron’s main body, as well as countless drones, were completely destroyed. Vision tracked down the final, mangled Ultron drone. This drone, the last home to Ultron’s consciousness, debated with Vision about the fate of mankind. Annoyed by Vision’s optimism, Ultron charged and was quickly vaporized. The Age of Ultron was over before it could truly begin.

In the aftermath, a new Avengers team was put together. Vision joined Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, War Machine, and – most importantly – the Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

An Avengers mission, that Vision is for some reason not part of, went horribly wrong when Scarlet Witch tried to move a suicide bomber away from the area with her telekinesis. The explosion went off before she could clear it from the area, causing many deaths. This controversy helped create the Sokovia Accords, which decreed that the government had oversight in the Avengers’ duties, else they would be considered criminals.

The various heroes had differing thoughts on the matter. Vision felt that the increase of superheroes and supervillains meant that the chaos would also increase and that government oversight was the right way to go. He also agreed that it was in Wanda’s best interests to remain at Avengers Headquarters and refrain from appearing in public until everything blew over. The two bonded during this time, but Wanda was not entirely comfortable with the pressure to stay in the complex, guilty feelings or not.

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The split over the Sokovia Accords led to everyone taking a side with either Captain America or Iron Man. Hawkeye entered Avengers Headquarters to get Wanda to join Cap’s side. Vision easily defeated Hawkeye in combat, but Wanda was able to overpower him with ease. She had enough of living in fear and wanted out.

The two met again on the battlefield as the two warring sides fought it out at an airport. Vision was indeed a heavy hitter for Iron Man’s side, but he wasn’t without fault. His feelings for Wanda muddied his robotic sense of accuracy. As he tried to blast a laser at Falcon, he missed and instead hit his ally War Machine, accidentally causing him to crash and lose the use of his legs.

Regardless, Iron Man’s side won. Wanda and some of the others on Captain America’s team were put in a special prison. Soon enough, they were sprung free by Captain America himself, now a fugitive.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

Even though Wanda was part of Captain America’s covert team (existing in spite of the government’s wishes), she still found time to be with Vision. The two became romantically involved and Vision even figured out how to morph his appearance into something more human-looking. As they vacationed in Scotland, they quickly discovered that Vision was in the crosshairs of a major plot to annihilate half the universe.

The sinister alien villain Thanos had wanted to bring together all six Infinity Stones so he could wish away half of all life and therefore – in his twisted logic – prevent overpopulation. Having just discovered a lead on the Soul Stone, he then knew the whereabouts of all six and prepared and all-out blitz to capture them all over the course of a couple days.

That meant that Thanos wanted Vision’s Mind Stone.

A few of Thanos’ most powerful soldiers ambushed Vision and Scarlet Witch and came very close to removing the gem from Vision’s head. Luckily, Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon arrived to ward them off.

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At first glance, the answer was simple: if Thanos needed all six Infinity Stones to succeed, then they could just destroy the Mind Stone. Scarlet Witch’s powers were linked to it, so she presumably had the ability to break it. Considering that would kill the love of her life, she refused. Instead, they would go to the advanced African country of Wakanda, where the super-smart princess Shuri would be able to remove the Mind Stone from Vision’s head without killing him. Then Wanda could trash the gem and Thanos would be thwarted.

Thanos’ forces raided Wakanda, as expected. Eventually, Scarlet Witch and Vision had to take part in the battle rather than wait for Vision to get the gem removed. Although badly wounded in the process, Vision was able to kill Thanos’ henchman Corvus Glaive thanks to Captain America’s help.

Vision begged Wanda to destroy the Mind Stone, even if it would cost his own life. Reluctantly, Wanda did so while Thanos (armed with the other five Infinity Stones) arrived and easily dispatched the other heroes. Wanda succeeded in blowing up the Mind Stone. Vision was dead and Wanda broke down.

Thanos showed compassion for her sacrifice, but it meant nothing in the end. Thanos had the Time Stone, which allowed him to rewind the clock and bring the Mind Stone back. Thanos brutally tore it from Vision’s head and left the lifeless husk behind.

At first, Thanos succeeded in his mission and erased half of all life from existence. This included Wanda Maximoff. Five years later, the Avengers were able to bring everyone back and Wanda even meted out some form of vengeance against Thanos for a moment.

While all those snapped away returned, Vision was not so lucky. Not only was he still dead, but the Infinity Stones had been destroyed and there was virtually no way to rebuild him.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

So then…what’s he doing in WandaVision?

The post Marvel’s WandaVision: Vision’s Avengers and MCU History Recap appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/35HGalO

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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scurvgirl · 7 years ago

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Asha’thylgar

The woman of blue fire.

Sylmae, Nimronyn, and Daern’thal belong to @justanartsysideblog

@feynites for Athimel, Falon’din, Dirthamen, and Mythal

note: the spirit of fear mentioned is not in any way related to Uthvir or Dirthamen.

Seeker of Rebellion AU

There is a lone rider coming up the path towards the pup-up camp. The lieutenant narrows his eyes then holds out his hand towards his servant for a scope. He focuses on the rider to see not one but two elves, one of whom wears unmistakable garb but it horribly burned…

“Summon the healers, now,” he snaps to the servant before turning away, heading through the camp, readying them to receive their Lord.

He calls for the way to be cleared from the entrance to the lord’s tent.

“Call for Mythal…and Dirthamen,” he says, striding through the camp, waking everyone even if they have only just now been allowed to rest. This is not a time anyone wishes to be caught resting.

“Yes, sir. But what does Dirthamen have to do with this?”

“Bonds such as theirs are not dissolved just because they have taken bodies. Now instead of questioning my decisions, how about you do what you are told?” Efficacy bows low before taking off. Good, efficiency is important. So is obedience, particularly when you work for Falon’din and look the way she does. Certainty makes sure she’s protected, out of sight or shifted, but she knows quite well what predicament she is in. Fear can breed loyalty is stoked properly, and if presented correctly.

“Bring the wards down, let our lord in,” Certainty calls to those tending the gate wards. He stops by the cooks, ordering them to begin creating soups and stews for recuperation, maybe even regeneration. The attendants manage the lord’s tent and by the time Certainty makes his way back to the tent, the hart is barreling through the camp.

It is chaos as people help Athimel, the rider, and Falon’din off the run-to-death animal. Falon’din is swept into the tent and away from prying eyes. He is a sobbing, wailing wreck that has Certainty tossing up silencing wards all around the tent before taking Athimel aside. His wounds can be seen to later, after Falon’din’s health has been ascertained.

Certainty takes him into his own tent, activating his own silencing wards.

“Sit,” he commands, pulling up healing potions laced with truth serums from his personal stash. He must be sure of the truth of the matter, and he will be unable to do this with Falon’din, and he suspects any others of the raiding party.

“Drink this, it tastes foul but it will help,” he tells the now shaking man. Athimel downs it then gags at the taste but his tongue is loose as the serum works its way through his system.

“It was a standard raid, we had received word that there was a strong keeper guarding a clan that would serve the empire well if brought into the fold. We engaged with the Keeper, but it had brought fighters with it.”

“That is standard, they do not simply let their keepers die,” Certainty comments, writing quickly.

“We had divided the party, there was the initial engagement group and then our lord was in the flanking group. I had been assigned to the first. The flanking group was set to come in when fire erupted.”

Certainty’s brows furrow and he pauses, “The dragon breathed fire, surely you have encountered this before.” But Athimel shakes his head slowly, horror written clearly on the dark planes of his face.

“The Keeper breathed fire, we were prepared for that. But the Keeper must have had a daughter. It was blue fire, Certainty, it burned hotter than anything I have ever seen. Our lord was about to slay this…this asha’thylgar but she burned him, opened up her mouth and…. It was horrible, Certainty.”

Blue fire? Certainty has heard of some being able to conjure up such flames but they’re often unstable and result in either killing the person or them vowing to never use the fire again. To be able to fully control the fire is, as far he is aware, unheard of. But…that doesn’t mean it isn’t unstable naturally. He simply needs a way to exploit that instability, because he knows that the lord will not let this go. He will hunt this asha’thylgar and her clan until they are all dead. Which is unfortunate in a way, he’d love to have an asset than can actually control blue fire.

He turns to Efficacy, “Do not disturb our lord or the healers, but make sure to find out how long it will be until he is healed enough to be in a right mind. Then using that time, summon the lord’s father.”

Athimel scowls, “And why summon him? This is our –

“Because the only way to fight fire is with fire, and the lord’s father is a skilled fighter and with him come other skilled warriors and tacticians. I want to catch this bitch, don’t you?” He glances up from the formal request for Elgar’nan’s presence, scowling at the still wounded Athimel.

The man is an idiot, a total sycophant, incapable of having any thought that deviates from their lord’s. Certainty is at least aware to keep his less agreeable ideas silent, but he knows that his value comes from his work and from positioning Falon’din into victories over the stubborn elves who insist on remaining apart from the burgeoning empire. They fail to understand logic, and that is why the empire will win, at the end of the day.

Certainty rises from his seat and instructs Athimel to use his tent to rest while he goes to see how his lord is fairing. He cautiously enters the tent with aid of one of the guards, immediately lowering himself to the ground to appear smaller than his lord, even now.

“Donotlookatme!” Falon’din screams. Certainty immediately averts his eyes but he has already seen enough. His lord is stripped and burned, the entirety of his face and head is burned to a potentially irreparable point.

“Please, my lord, your emotions will only worsen the scarring,” a healer gently pleads.

“Then act faster!” Falon’din hisses. The healers attempt what they can, the tent hums in energy as they try to restore the lord to his beauty. All energy has been leached from him, he is not even able to maintain a shifted height.

This…will not do.

“I vow to use everything I am and that I have to bring this bitch to heel, my lord. She knows not the privilege it is to be in your presence. I have summoned your brother, he should be able to aid in your recovery. You will rise from this, my lord – a great phoenix rising from the ashes.”

Falon’din roars in pain and fury, his emotions a whip in the small space. A healer flinches, weak. Certainty retreats from the tent then rights his clothing. He must prepare for Dirthamen’s arrival. There are those who do not like Falon’din’s brother and they must be dealt with. Whatever Certainty thinks of Dirthamen is irrelevant, he is Falon’din’s twin soul, birthed from the same source, forever entwined.

He tugs on his own connection to his brother, feeling a twinge in response. It is a curious thing, this bond, but it is one that is undeniable and unbreakable. And it comes with certain benefits.

Twenty years ago, there was an attack on one of Falon’din’s camps. While the attackers had been thwarted, largely thanks to Certainty, many of Falon’din’s attendants had been caught in the fighting. One of whom was Clarity. He was gutted and dying, the bond disintegrating within Certainty. But Certainty had rallied, calling upon his blood and bond, forcing life and healing into Clarity. It gave him enough of a push to survive with the healers.

He thinks he can recreate it with Dirthamen here. It is…painful, but Certainty is sure that Falon’din’s twin soul will do everything he can to save him.

When Certainty returns to his tent, Athimel has passed out on his cot. Efficacy hovers over him, wrapping his wounds in elfroot salve soaked bandages. All of the healers have been pulled to tend to Falon’din, leaving Athimel and others unfortunately neglected. But the health of their lord comes first. Thankfully for Athimel, Efficacy is a jack-of-all-trades assistant.

“How is he?”

“He was growing delirious so I cast a sleeping spell. He’ll be fine, it was mostly fear and exhaustion causing his delirium, and perhaps blood loss. If he survives, I am sure he will receive accolades for saving our lord’s life.”

Certainty frowns, “I doubt he will. He did what he was supposed to do, you don’t get rewarded for that.” And you shouldn’t, Certainty thinks. But Athimel should be given a period of leave to relax and properly recover from the ordeal. Falon’din will be bound to his tower with healers and guards for some time, and that time will be plenty to plan a course of action.

“Where were they?” He asks, returning to his desk to the maps of what Falon’din had planned earlier. Raiding parties had their place, though the lord has been quite…taken with them as of late. The majority of his forces are required west with his father’s forces, repelling several clans that have banned together to oppose expansion of the empire.

“East, by the mountains, in the valley.”

Certainty shakes his head, resisting the urge to swear.

“That means the clan that did this fled into the mountains.” Sending soldiers into mountains they do not know on a mission to take out a clan that somehow eviscerated a raiding party is not a good idea. Dammit, they’ve already turned this into a waiting game. And neither Falon’din nor Eglar’nan are known for their patience.

Certainty spends the rest of the night plotting potential routes into the mountains and valleys, mostly on covert exploration trips to gain understanding of the area so an assault will be possible.

Morning brings with it Dirthamen and a few of his people. There is no anxiety to him, no pressing need to see his brother even though Certainty knows he must be feeling some pain on his end.

“Thank you for coming, Lord Dirthamen. It is urgent, the Lord Falon’din could use your aid.”

“I am not trained in healing,” he says simply.

“But you are connected to him.” Certainty then explains to him what happened with him and his own twin soul, how he was able to save him even without being trained in healing. It is difficult to determine how the lord feels about the situation with his mask, but after a moment he strides towards Falon’din’s tent. He disappears for several minutes before leaving the tent and approaching Certainty.

“What is involved?”

The aravel rattles, waking Ashokara up from her rest. She winces at the pains still lingering in her body, even days after the battle. While she is healed, she spent so much energy that her exhaustion has manifested physically. While her muscles aren’t technically pulled or in spasm, her magic is making her feel like it.

Despite the soreness, Ash pulls herself up, dressing as quickly as her body will allow before opening one of the shutters in the aravel. She sticks her head out to see Halanidor hammering away on his anvil.

“What’s with the racket?” She calls. His head snaps up and he raises his hammer at her.

“You! Running off like that, damn irresponsible like that, you could have died.” He swings the hammer down again.

“Kids these days, not listening to their mothers, their Keeper. They take you in and what do you do?”

“I save them from getting killed, that’s what,” she spits back.

“Girl goes off trying to be noble not even wearing proper armor – you could have died!” He shouts, dropping the hammer. He curses then steps away from his anvil and the hot steel. Oh, he’s not really mad at her, just….

“But I didn’t, I’m here.” She ducks inside the aravel quickly, only to pop back out to round closer to him. He’s a short, strong man, trusted with almost all of their weapon-making. And he is scowling, brow furrowed in unhappiness.

“Kids going around disobeying the Keeper, never heard of that in my day. That puny spear, so easily broken.” He picks the hammer up and continues to mold the steel on the anvil…a decidedly long and pointed piece of metal.

“Are you making me a new spear? So soon?” She asks dismayed.

“No, I’m practicing for your spear. We need to be better, I need to be better. You are not dying, you hear me?” He waves the hammer at her again and she smiles. “Now, stoke that fire would you?”

Ash does as she is requested, gently flexing that magic muscle in her. The fire flares blue for a moment before mellowing to orange and red. It’s like walking after running for miles and miles, but it also carries a modicum of relief.

“I have no plans on dying any time soon, Halanidor, don’t worry,” she tells him but he frowns at her.

“The children may not have heard your little speech to Daern’thal, but I did, little miss.” Yes, that…it’s difficult to explain and she does not even attempt to. The point is that she didn’t die and neither did her adoptive mothers or anyone else. She saved them, and kicked Falon’din’s stupid ass so bad he’ll wear the scars for the rest of his life.

She walks away from Halanidor’s anvil and heads towards the center of camp. The children remain close to the center rather than running around. Everything has changed, and this freedom that they had thought they had….

They need to adapt faster than what the empire can anticipate.

Memae will not like it, she wants to keep to these ways as do most of the clan. It will take some convincing to build rather than travel, particularly since there are benefits to traveling. But she knows that you can only run for so long before you run out of territory to run to.

But she can let the idea go for the day, they are all still recovering from the battle, and the empire certainly is as well. Falon’din has automatic allies in his family, and resources beyond anything the clan could find on their own. They are alone, and lone lions do not survive.

All around her she sees change. There is a wariness suspended in the air save for when they look at her. She does not need the clouds of emotions to tell that there is hope, awe, and fear. The direction of that fear is a bit more difficult to place, but Halanidor’s outburst gives her an idea. It is difficult to reassure them, though, particularly when whispers of how she defied her Keeper circulate.

They all look to Nimronyn who is resting as Arselah works more healing magic into her wings.

“Memae,” Ash greets, raising her hand to rest gently against her nostril. A low rumble and a slow blink respond. She is tired as well, moving the clan so much while still recovering herself…. She did what she had to, getting the clan as far away from the battle as possible, keeping their movements as erratic as possible to make it difficult for anyone to follow. It has exhausted her.

They are currently positioned a hundred leagues away from where the battle had taken place, thrusted here by a determined keeper manipulating the dreaming to hurtle them fast and long. Nestled into the side of a great mountain, they hide, recovering and waiting for what they should do next.

Mamae is also exhausted, taking more and more watches, always ready. But she shows it less than her wife. It is a hot, lazy day, and danger feels so far away that the clan seems to finally allow themselves to relax. Mamae walks into the camp, bereft of her heavier armaments, her hair up to keep her neck cool, and promptly plops down next to Nimronyn and Ash.

“Spirits say that all is quiet from where the raiding party came from,” she exhales, her eyes closing seemingly involuntarily.

“Good. We can take some time then, we cannot fight in this state. Rest, Mamae, the empire is licking their wounds and is trying to get ahold of what to do as much as we are.” Ash says gently. Mamae makes a sound of agreement

The day continues on in a restful manner. Only the hunters who feel up to it hunt, bringing back various birds that are roasted by a fire Ashokara tends. Nimronyn and Sylmae sleep in a heap, both snoring softly as they recoup.

Daern’thal takes a seat next to her by the fire for the first time since the night before the battle. His hands are quiet and his eyes still don’t quite meet hers. She is silent while she eats, for once unsure of how to proceed with him.

They haven’t spoken since she flew out to join the battle and as upset Halanidor had been about it, she suspects that Daern’thal is having a similar reaction. She didn’t do anything wrong, she saved her adoptive mothers – shit, she saved his parents. While she doesn’t blame him for his reaction, she certainly doesn’t feel bad for what she did. Necessary things are often scary and risky and are met with a certain amount of resistance.

So they remain quiet, neither willing to give an inch.

At the end of dinner, she takes care of her plate and returns to her aravel. Mamae has not slept here for the last few days, making the space seem inordinately large for just Ash. She curls up in on the pull-out ledge that is her bed, wondering how exactly saving everyone turned into everyone either yelling at her or just shunning her.

Sorrow and confusion well up in her. She is reminded of how this isn’t her time, and these are ultimately not her people. Even though she has spent more time with them than she did the people from her original time…she is out of place. She is not an elf, she is not a dragon, or a spirit. She is a vashoth qunari, and alone.

Her sleep is restless and tumultuous. She shucks off Nimronyn’s magic and recedes into her memories. She is seven years old again, crying into her mother’s tunic.

Ashokara wakes with the sun and sets to helping set the camp up for the day. She is worn and tired and feeling the weight of years more acutely than normal. After she eats breakfast, Mamae taps her on the shoulder and jerks her head towards the woods where Memae is waiting.

“Your mother and I want to talk to you,” Mamae says. There is a harshness to her voice that unsettles Ash, but maybe it’s just about the general ill feeling that lingers over the clan from the battle. She follows Mamae into a clearing. Memae’s forms shimmers and changes quickly into her elven form. There are dark circles under her eyes, and she is paler than normal. Even in this form, she wears the strain of travel and the exhaustion of the last four days.

Ash feels strangely cornered. Memae pulls Ash into a hug.

“You were very brave to do that,” she begins, “and we love you so much. We love that you are full of passion and a need to protect, but what were you thinking?” Nimronyn pulls away and Ash blinks in confusion.

“You disobeyed your Keeper in a reckless dive that could have not only killed you, but it left the rest of the clan vulnerable,” Nimronyn’s voice is sharp and scolding. It cuts into Ash and for a flash second, she feels as if they’re ungrateful, but she can feel the lingering fear in both of them. There is anger and dismay, but the fear is what gets her.

Still, she steps away from Nimronyn, her face drawn.

“I did what I had to do,” she says. But Sylmae shakes her head.

“You did what you thought you had to. You looked, but did not see.”

“Were you not bleeding profusely from a spear? Was there not a flanking party ready to charge in?” This feels more than a little absurd. She helped them. It was a raiding party engaged with the clan down in the valley, the mountain was safe, they had no reason to be up there…

“I was taken by surprise, yes, but we had the situation under control. That doesn’t change the fact that you disobeyed direct orders to get the clan to safety,” Nimronyn says, her posture more rigid and her emotions suddenly being completely restricted.

“It was reckless and short sighted,” Sylmae continues. So, this is what this is.

“The clan was safe; the raiding party was restricted to the valley -”

“You could not know that. You saw something that scared you and you acted. You didn’t think it through. You need to stop letting your emotions guide your actions.” Sylmae takes a step towards Ash and Ash steps back. Sylmae tends to loom, and Ash hates it. It’s not the act of being taller than her, but just the effect of being forced to feel small. She is younger, she is shorter, but if they are going to scold her for not taking in all viewpoints, they need to at least consider hers.

“Kassaran, Melarue, Aili, Uthvir, the Iron Bull, Cassandra Pentaghast, Dalish -”

“What are you doing?” Sylmae demands.

“Listing the people I saw die while protecting me or the group I was with. I wasn’t done, by the way. I was done watching people I care about die, I am still done with it. I can’t do that anymore.” She bites her lip, stopping herself from crying. She’s cried enough. Sylmae exhales, her face stern.

“You need to see reality -”

“You’re right, it was a mistake thinking you would be able to stand back like that. But that doesn’t change the fact that you disobeyed your Keeper and endangered your clan,” Nimronyn says.

“Do you understand how lucky you got? Those men could have easily killed you -”

“I wouldn’t say easily -”

“Easily killed you. They weren’t expecting you, that is the only reason why that worked. You need to get ahold of your emotions, step back from them, and fight freely of them.”

Ash shakes her head in small motions, resisting. She understands Nimronyn being upset at disobeying her, but they’re acting like Ash is the bad guy here. Their emotions are shut away from her, their expressions are tough, and she can’t help but feel defensive at this whole thing.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” she says.

“You don’t need to tell us anything, we understand where you’re coming from. You need to understand where we’re coming from. You don’t disobey your Keeper, you don’t leave your clan vulnerable,” Sylmae continues. Nimronyn sighs, running a hand through her hair.

“When we saw you come down, we were terrified for you and for the clan. Suddenly our plan of defense was gone and we were scrambling. I wasn’t thinking about fighting them, I was terrified that they were going to kill you and get to the clan.”

Ash turns her face away, her mouth dry, and her chest hurting.

“I didn’t…want any of that to happen. Yes, I acted without thinking, is that what you want to hear? That I got so scared that it was happening again that I couldn’t stand the thought of living through it again? So I flew down, very fine with the idea of me dying. I know I’m not invincible, but I want to do what I can.” She shifts her weight from foot to foot. The tension lingers in the air and Sylmae steps forward, gently cupping Ash’s face.

“We want you safe, we want to hear that you won’t take these risks, that you are able to reason even through the memories.” Ash doesn’t resist when Sylmae pulls her in, holding her against her chest.

“I will train you to be better, we’ll…figure it out.”

After a moment, Ash leans into Sylmae. They will figure it out, and she will get stronger – she must.

The lord Dirthamen reels back in pain as the bond between him and Falon’din ignites. It draws on his own life force, pouring into Falon’din, urging his body to heal. There is a very fine line to this, Dirthamen must give enough energy to help heal Falon’din, but cause too much anguish to Dirthamen, and Falon’din will be injured from that as well. And damage from this can be unfortunately persistent.

Certainty observes closely, and snaps the magic to cease the transfer right before it hits that point. When he catches the lord Dirthamen, there are…tentacles and feathers and oddly enough even scales all pressing down against him. But Certainty’s ears are tuned to Falon’din, and his breathing is more even, and the pain surrounding him is greatly reduced.

A cot is provided for Dirthamen and Certainty guides him down to it. There are tears in his clothing where he has manifested his extra appendages. It’s odd, but he’s seen worse. While he is not bothered by Dirthamen’s mutable shape, several of the healers appear to be put off by it.

“What are you doing? Your lord’s twin soul is in pain, fetch him healing!” Certainty barks, sending them scrambling. For what it’s worth, Certainty casts his own meager healing spells over Dirthamen, mostly for pain. He moves then a hand over Falon’din to aid with his own pain.

It is slow, tiring work, he doesn’t understand how healers can stand it.

The night is long, and Falon’din does not allow Certainty to leave even to relieve himself. He does not trust these healers now, and he is leery of anyone getting close to Dirthamen. When the night finally ends and the sun begins to light the sky, there is a trumpet and a flurry of activity.

Mythal has arrived it seems.

She is equal parts furious and concerned, bringing her own contingent of healers to fuss around her sons. Athimel is brought forward to recount what happened again and with the number of healers now at least doubled, he is given some healing.

Mythal situates herself between her sons, her eyes alight with a vengeful fire as she listens to Athimel’s story.

“I got him here as fast as the hart would take us,” Athimel says. A heavy silence permeates the air. Mythal’s head is heavy with her horns and her red rimmed eyes, but Certainty has not seen her shed any actual tears. She turns to him, her face hard and exacting.

“The area may have lingering memories, spirits - investigate.”

“Of course, my lady. I have scouts scouring the area right now to ensure that it is safe for investigators to proceed.”

She gives him a single nod before turning to Falon’din. Certainty takes this as his cue to quietly depart from the tent. After relieving himself, he heads back to his own tent.

“Efficacy!” He shouts.

She appears in short order, ready to do his bidding. Good, he likes obedience almost as much as efficiency.

“Any word from the scouts?”

“One, sir. ‘Clear on the mountainside,’ which would indicate that the rest of the area is clear. Athimel said that the Keeper and her people came down from the mountain, suggesting their clan was in it. If the mountain is clear, it is probable that the clan has since left.”

Certainty stares down at the map on the table and nods. He’d like more confirmation that the area is secure, but the longer they wait to investigate, the more likely memories may be warped or spirits may leave. He pens a note requesting a small contingent of warriors to travel with him and investigators then sends Efficacy off. He prepares his things and changes into his riding gear, donning a heavier piece of plate just in case.

Efficacy returns and he has her prepare herself as well. She pulls back her dark frizzy hair into a bun and he helps her with the plate he had commissioned for her. They are not of a romantic sort, but he does like having her around, taking his notes, carrying out his bidding – she augments him. And without a setting, an augmenting stone is practically useless.

“It will be better if you shift into a bird and ride atop my shoulder while he head out,” he tells her.

“Yes, sir,” she says then complies, turning into a non-descript finch. She chirps then flies to his shoulder, holding onto a small protrusion with her tiny talons.

They are on the road towards the battlefield within the hour.

The ride is long, but it’s good to be out of the camp. He hasn’t been on the field since last year’s battle with a rather large clan. An injury to his leg has kept him relegated to tactics, and Falon’din has since preferred smaller raiding parties.

The field always has the advantage of feeling crisp and exhilarating, though this investigation less so. Being on the wrong end of the battle is never something you want to experience, and in Falon’din’s experience, it rarely happens. And it’s never happened like this.

It takes them the rest of the day plus a good portion of the next to reach the battlefield. It is a long valley, probably once full of greenery and small happy critters. Maybe there were even a few nice spirits calling it home. But now…there are large swaths of blackened and burnt earth. There are two distinct areas of battle, one that has the burn pattern presenting in a conical spread – classic dragon fire. But the other is circular, and tighter. The earth there is charred so completely that there are no corpses – only bones and charred pieces of armor.

Blue fire. Supposedly nearly uncontrollable, and yet the pattern is so neat that there is nothing but control suggested. It is…concerning. What’s more is that one of those savages clearly wiped the area of memories and either shattered spirits or got them to leave because there is nothing in the Dreaming. Neither dreams nor spirits flit around, ready to recount the tale of the Falon’din and the Asha’thylgar.

“Sir? There’s a spirit over here.” Or perhaps Certainty thought too soon.

Certainty makes his way over to the border of the wood where a soldier is holding up a dark, broken looking spirit. It is sputtering and reeling, clearly trying to get away. Ah, a spirit of fear then. Most likely corrupted from the events here.

“Let me go!” The spirit sobs, vibrating in terror. Certainty sighs, it’s a small thing, probably corrupted from some light happy emotion, like Sympathy. He pulls his sleeve up, revealing his spiked gauntlet, glowing with enchantment. He reaches out and grasps the spirit, pulling it forward trapped in his grasp.

It screams in pain.

“You are going to tell me everything that happened.”

The spirit whimpers and Certainty tightens his grip.

#my writing #seeker of rebellion au #certainty #efficacy #athimel #falon'din #dirthamen #ashokara #sylmae #nimronyn #halanidor #daern'thal #fic #justanartsysideblog #feynites #i extrapolated some words from elven to create ash's moniker #figured she'd need a 'boogeyman' title for the empire #and asha'thylgar sounds pretty badass to me #clarity is one of falon'din's attendants if that wasn't clear

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aragakisan · 8 years ago

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[ i’ve seen several complaints about the fact that atlus decided to give shinjiro a route in which he doesn’t die in portable’s femc version if you max his social link. all this talk about how it ruins the game’s theme of death and its inevitability, the myth between castor and pollux, how it’s a cheap cop out etc etc etc and while for most of these i can definitely see where people are coming from, i’d like to talk about why i personally love it a lot, aside from just the fact that, well... my favorite character lives.

...under a cut because i ramble so damn much, as always.

so let’s look at the first argument. death is definitely a huge theme in p // 3, you could even say the main theme, especially after the plot twist with ryoji. and while this is true, it’s good to not reduce the whole game to just that one theme. because aside from this, the persona series as a whole is also very heavily focused on the power of bonds. protagonist having just enough strength to stay alive until meeting everyone at the rooftop, thanks to the promise these friends made? bonds. the forces holding the protagonist together in their battle with nyx? power of bonds. “the power of friendship surges into you” or whatever. it’s cheesy, sure, but what persona game isn’t at some point? c’mon.

it’s been confirmed that shinjiro’s survival, though made possible thanks to the pocket watch, was actually mainly based on the bond you form with him as femc. it’s not a coincidence you have to max his social link for him to stay alive - you have to form that “unbreakable bond” for it to happen. in the p3.p fanbook i bought a while back there is a section in which theo and elizabeth talk about this particular difference in the femc route, stating that this bond was what had the power to “raise him from the abyss” (i know, i know it’s really funny and over the top but bear with me here) which clearly implies this bond being the key element of why he kept holding on during that seemingly-impossible-to-recover-from coma. i mean, even the stuff he says during his social link about her “messing things up for (him)” when “(he) thought his life was the way it was supposed to be” kind of tries to hint that this bond is slightly faltering his preparedness to die and thus, when given a chance to hold onto life (coma) he does. now, this brings on the question why in the hell would this particular bond then be so damn significant but that’s a meta post for another day. and while it obviously kind of is ship fodder, i personally believe it can make a lot of sense regardless. i think there are good reasons someone like the femc (romantic or not) could have caused a reaction this strong. but that’s beside the point of this particular post.

--- either way. bonds. bonds being strong enough to have the ability to defeat death. hate it all you want, but you can’t say that the persona series hasn’t used this explanation before. and tbh i myself do enjoy it. give me that tasty cheese.

secondly i want to dissect the “cheap cop out” argument. and to be honest, i ain’t even denying this one. but at the same time, putting shinjiro in a coma is pretty much the only way you could keep him alive in the plot without changing it so significantly that it would collapse on itself. there’s really no other logical way to dish out similar impact as his death provokes in akihiko and ken, to keep him out of the story for the rest of the game ... without killing him.

now, why am i so against killing him then, besides the fact that he is my favorite character? because! shinjiro’s death route reduces shinjiro to nothing but a plot device! i am not even kidding, he’s literally the textbook definition of a plot device in canon. “ah, let’s just put this character here for the sake of killing him off so he can provide these other characters with some character development! now that that’s over, let’s mention him a couple of times afterwards but other than that act like he pretty much never existed in the first place!” even as early after p.3 as FES’ the answer he is barely mentioned anymore and he doesn’t even appear in the end credits with everyone else and now metis is here to “replace” him as the axe-wielding hierophant. do you see why i would have a problem with this?

shinjiro as a character, in my opinion, has too much potential to let go to waste like this. have you ever considered that ken’s change of heart after the october 4 incident literally would solve shinjiro’s biggest, deepest problem did he get the chance to be aware of it? sure, the accident with ken’s mother is trauma he will never 100% recover from, but i personally believe reconciling with ken could stop the poor boy from obsessing over it, with some time. even enough to give him a new resolution and with that a new persona, as it would provide him with the change needed in order to gain one. a new chapter in his life, in a way. and i’ve also talked about how i think shinjiro wouldn’t be on suppressants nor need them anymore after his recovery (more about that here & here)

so, would this not be the biggest character development you could possibly give shinjiro? and you have all the ingredients for it, put right there ready, set, go -- yet you still think his death route is better? well, to each their own, but i would personally be much more interested to see shinjiro’s character in its fully developed form. he deserves it. and thinking about how having shinjiro there even after all of the events would affect akihiko and ken etc differently is also interesting as hell, imo. i mean, their initial resolutions still remained the same despite the differences in the femc version and the original... so, how would having him back change things? and i mean, ken and shinjiro reconciling..... i think this could give ken some additional character development as well. closure.

lastly, i’ll briefly look at the castor and pollux (polydeuces) thing. so, twin brothers - castor gets killed, so obviously shinjiro needs to die too, right? no more castor, so polydeuces also disappears as akihiko gains caesar. but what if instead of thinking about death in this case literally and directly linking shinjiro to castor and castor’s plot we thought about it symbolically? i talked about how i could see ken’s forgiveness being that one thing, if anything, that would cause a new resolution and a new persona in shinjiro. gaining this new persona would be as if turning a new chapter in his life. symbolical death of castor, no longer chaining him to his past. and thus, the twin brothers both move on together - like in the myth they were cast onto the sky as the gemini constellation. castor’s literal death in the myth was by a spear anyway, like shinjiro’s was supposed to be by ken’s spear, but wasn’t. this already made stuff a lot more symbolic than literal. so i dunno... i just personally feel it all doesn’t have to be so literal. it’s not like akihiko and shinjiro literally did all the things pollux and castor did in their mythology, despite sharing some obvious similarities with the mythological twins and there being a good reason the two of their personas took this form.

...more than anything if i had to give just one reason why i need shinjiro to not die is the plot device thing. he’s too good of a character to let his story end there, at least with how little development for his own sake atlus gave him, giving everyone else a ton of it! it’s just not fair. he was here just to serve a role. and god dammit if he doesn’t deserve more. he has so much potential and he’s a pretty complex character despite the little screen time he was given. this is just how i feel and i feel it quite strongly. shinjiro survival route ftw. ]

#[ youre free to disagree with this of course whatever but this is just my thoughts on this whole thing ]#ooc; power charge #[ idek what this is but have it aHSDJASK it's something ive wanted to put out there for a while anyways ]#;save #[ idk what else to tag this as but i might need it as reference ... ]

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