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lunar1an · 1 year

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while i tend to be uncharitable towards pale (seeing a story you really like go directions you don't want that you think actively hurt it while watching people uncritically praise every new development and meme character for three years tends to make you jaded!) i do think some people get a little silly about dissing a web serial they haven't read so like. to just put it down here.

i do think early pale is objectively one of wildbow's best works. like. the rotating three perspectives are used extremely well. the characters read as convincing and likable children, the cast is excellent, especially the starting Others. it's an alternate, lighter look at a dark setting and it works. the fact that the mystery isn't the premise so much as figuring out the problem of "how do we handle that some of these Others want to get rid of us". or later "how do we properly confront these people without being too cruel because society's already done that to them".

that's like. arcs 1-3. arcs 4-7 are also, i think, good, even if it's ultimately a diversion and some of the simplified messaging around Other treatment is a bit eh. alexander and bristow have a lot of character and while they're more straightforward pure antagonists it's fun to watch them be petty. the trio interacting with traditional practitioners is fun.

8-10 is like. pretty good. but some of the cracks start to show with arcs 9-10 dragging on a bit (it has melissa though so thats good). the new cast members are fun and interesting and tie into the conspirator plot. 9.9 is excellent if a hard read.

11-13 is like. where the dragging on elements intensify. a lot of Diversions happen that kind of get in the way of the trio Solving The Mystery(tm) and while a lot of those diversions are chocked down to one conspirator's work it feels more like it takes screentime away from the main plot and core cast which you're Really invested in. 12.z and about half of arc 13's chapters including the Break interludes are really good though, bringing a kind of like. pact-y vibe and atmosphere to the story which was sorely missed.

after arc 13 though its like. at this point it's less three rotating perspectives that each lay their eyes on the main plot at specific points with an intent to highlight certain aspects of the story (avery focused on connections, lucy focused directly on the mystery, verona focused on the Others). and more three separate web serial protagonists with their own plotlines loosely connected. and things get bloated. and start escalating beyond reason (70+ practitioners attacking kennet???). and the Practitioner = evil colonialist oppressor stuff gets silly. but i think like. at least the story still cohered. musser still continued the trend of jerk practitioners who abuse the system even if he's just a TwitchPlaysPractitioner stream that does things arbitrarily like a ghost or a dog. the founding sequence towards the end of arc 17 was cool even if i was a bit disappointed with how kennet found turned out.

i think if you were really invested in the trio and their story you could probably stop sometime around there and be satisfied. not a good or a clean ending, and you probably were better off stopping at arc 13, but it works.

but then pale keeps going and does a complete paradigm shift to make the literal Red Menace Revolutionary the antagonist. and has to justify the also purportedly revolutionary kennet opposing that antagonist and shit just goes sideways. and by now you start running into the more ridiculous stuff like "avery compares goblins to human minorities" (yes. i know the intent of her statement. it was still silly).

like. it just stopped cohering or being consistent or anything. plots and characters get introduced and discarded just as quickly and have little to no impact despite how hyped up they are initially. it's not good, and it actively hurts the material that came before it (retroactively making charles worse, for example).

even the setting stuff is like. early pale had some silly things like a technomancer being able to set up a worldwide magic jstor or this one glamour-drowned dude being wayyy too powerful with glamour for someone who wasn't even a fae or practitioner. but it was like. you could excuse or justify or ignore it if it didn't agree with you because at least the rest of pale was good. but then every Path turned into a whimsical video game level (among many other less ignorable things) and pale stopped being good.

and like. man. even despite that i still think about the carmine alcazar chapters and the story of a Beast who lived in a world that had long left her behind. and the trio in the back of a truck practicing runes with their magic hat. pale was good. it was good! but then it had to keep going.

#long post

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thebookwormfairy · 5 years

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Captain the Retired Police Dog Part 4

Back by popular demand here's Part 4. I just want to thank everybody for reading this. Also Shout out to all the Mummy fans and Maribat discord users thank y'all for hyping me up!

The next morning Damain met Marinette and Captain bright and early

He was determined to make this day one of the best in Marinette’s life

He was so excited that he didn’t notice his brothers’ strange facsination with his plans

Jason: So what’s your plan for today? How are you going to top last night’s movie marthon?

Damain: Not that it’s any of your business, but Marinette, Captain, and I are going to the park where she met me as Damain, then the botanical gardens, and then we’re going to explore the city some more.

Dick: Not bringing Titus with you this time, Baby Bird?

Damain: He’s still exsahuted from the late night last night.

Bruce *drinking coffee*: You should bring Ace with you then. She needs a day out.

Ace who’s been sitting at Bruce’s feet shot her head up to look at him

Like she really wanted to be stuck with two love stuck teenagers and Titus’ friend

Damain: Not a bad idea father. Come on girl let’s head out

Ace just rolled her eyes but went with Damain either way

At worst she’ll get some exercise and out of the manor

At best she’ll make a new friend

Once Damain and Ace were out of the house and the other Wayne boys got to work

Dick: Alright men we can do this, all we have to do is decide when to ambush the happy couple.

Jason: I say we do it right when Demon Spawn picks up his Angel

Tim: No too dangerous. He’ll spot us before she even gets out of her hotel

Dick: What about after the botanical gardens? We can trail them from a distance until they get in the building then all we have to do is wait outside until they come out.

Jason: GENIUS! And there’s no way for him to avoid us.

Alfred: Don’t you have jobs to do

Dick: We’re pulling a Bruce

Bruce glared at his 3 boys unamused

Bruce: Just make sure to get plenty of pictures

Jason *saluting*: Will do

With that the 3 adopted Waynes ran out to inact their plan

Alfred: Are you sure this is wise sir?

Bruce: If they don’t push Damain we may never meet Marinette

In the hotel Marinette was getting ready for her date with Damain

Tikki: Don’t over think it too much Marinette, Damain really likes you I can tell.

Marinette: I know Tikki, but I can’t help but be nervous. What if I do something wrong and he never wants to see me again?

Tikki: That’s just Lila getting into your head don’t let her. You are one of the greatest ladybugs I have the priviledge of working with. Anybody would be lucky to have you as a friend or a romantic partner

Marinette: Thanks Tikki. Your right like always.

Marinette head her phone ding with a notification

Marinette: It's Damian he's waiting for us in the lobby let's go Captain

Down in the lobby Damian was getting a taste of Lila

Lila was holding trying to get a hold of Damian's arm, but Ace was doing a good job at keeping the annoying girl at a distance

Lila: Oh what a beautiful dog. You know I do a lot of volunteer work in animal shelters with Damian Wayne. You know Dami's such an animal lover

Alya: Oh really Lila that's so giving of you.

Damian: You know Damian Wayne?

Lila: I know not many people know. But you probably think the worst of me thanks to Marinette. She's so cruel to me for no reason

Lila started to pretend cry making Alya and the rest of her sheep flock to comfort the "distressed" girl

Damian was in disbelief about how gullible Marinette's class seemed to be.

He was a little relieved to see that some of the class didn't see it buy it.

A blonde girl, pink hair girl, and Asian boy stood at a distance and just rolled their eyes

Chloe, Alix, and Kim have been disillusioned to Lila's lies

Chloe new from the very beginning just didn't see a reason to say anything

Alix and Kim found out over time, they felt like it was too late to do anything and feared ending up like Marinette

So they are biding their time waiting for the best time to exposed Lila

Damian was happy that they didn't fall for this girl's lies, but not so happy that they didn't speak up

Lila tried once again to grab onto Damian's arm, but Ace being the good girl she is growled a little at Lila who once again jumped back

Damian: Sorry about that Ace isn't good with sudden movements. As for Marinette she actually hasn't mentioned you. The only she she told me about anybody in her class was that she was here with them. She does speak a lot about her friends Luka and Kagami though

Lila was surprised she was sure she could use Marinette's whining against her

Lila: Oh how rude of Marinette-

Damian: Actually I don't see anything rude about not mentioning somebody who clearly wants to but her down.

At this point Marinette and Captain walked into the Lobby

Damian: Hey Angel

Damian pulled Marinette into a side hug and giving her a kiss to the side of her head being careful to keep the two dogs at a distance for now

Marinette *giggling*: Hey Damian. Who's this

Marinette looked down at the German Sheperd connected to Damian

Damian: This is Ace. Titus was still tired from last night and I didn't want Captain to get lonely and she could use a day out

Marinette: Well hello Ace

Marinette bent down slightly and let Ace sniff her hand

Ace gave her hand a little sniff, she decided to let the girl give her a pet

Not to mention Ace could sense that she was a lot better then that sausage hair girl

Marinette gave Ace a nice little head rub

Marinette: Well aren't you a pretty girl

Lila seethed in her place she tried to get that stupid dog to let her pet it 10 times, and Marinette just has to let it sniff her hand and it'll let her touch it

Damian: Come on Marinette I got a big day planned for us

Damian wrapped his arm around Marinette shoulder leading Marinette and their dogs out of the hotel, but he stopped right before the door

Damian: And Lila maybe you should make sure you know what a person looks like before you lie about them. I would suggest you look up what Damian Wayne looks like.

With that Damian, Marinette, and the 2 dogs left the hotel

Alix intrigued by Marinette's mysterious boys comment looked up Damian Wayne and burst out laughing

The others in the lobby looked at the pink hair girl in confusion

Alix: No wonder he warned you about looking people up.

Alix showed the picture on her phone to her classmates

Kim: Omg he was Damian Wayne!

Lila faced grew red and quickly tried to cover her tracks

Lila: Oh I must have gotten him confused with someone else. Haha you know I meet with soo many people

Lila's sheep laughed with her, but Lila could sense that she lost a little bit of her hold on them with that slip up

At the park

Marinette: You didn't have to do that Damian?

Damian: And why wouldn't I Angel. She tried to threaten you and she was stupid enough to try and use me to impress ME she deserved to be called out a bit.

Marinette and Damian kept talking while Captain and Ace got to know eachother

Captain had to admit he was a bit smittened by this German sheperd

She looked gorgeous and had a good head on her shoulders

But most importantly he could tell she loved her humans just as much as he loved his

Ace: So you really us to be a police dog?

Captain trying to impress Ace: Yep and I still remember all my training. My girl and I run through courses on the weekends to keep it up, but enough about me tell me about you.

Ace in a bit of a flirty tone: Well I don't mean to brag, but me and my humans go through a lot of training too. I actually have a couple of humans. Though inhave to admit my favorite one is the leader of the pack. He's called Alfred. I didn't have the best puppy hood. Alfred's pup, Bruce, found me and helped other people take me to a shelter. Alfresco came a couple of days later and picked me up. He helped me overcome my past and convinced Bruce to keep me. Now I have a pretty cushy life.

Captain: I can relate to that.

Marinette watched as her big tough retired police dog cuddle with Ace. She could already tell her boy was starting to fall for Ace.

Captain laid his head over Ace's and Marinette couldn't help but aww

Damian wrapping his arm around Marinette as they sit under a tree: What's on your mind Mari?

Marinette: It seems like Captain had fallen for Ace

Damian: I'd have to agree with that and it looks to me like the feelings mutual

The two couples stayed in the park for 2 hours alternating playing and cuddling

Damian: You're going to love this next stop Angel

Marinette: Where are we going?

Damian: You'll see when we get there. Don't you trust me?

Marinette with a small smile: Yes

Once they got to the botanical gardens Marinette loved it!

All the flowers and planets gave her plenty of inspiration and Damian let her stop and draw as much as she wanted without getting impatient or annoyed

He even commented and gave feed back and suggestions to some of Marinette's designs

Damian was just enjoying watching Marinette's face throughout the whole experience.

Her face was so open and showed every emotion that she felt and Damian just couldn't turn away

The dogs also had a great time getting to see new sights and smells.

But in Damian's opinion all that was ruined when they walked outside and saw his brothers

Jason: Hey Demon Spawn

Bonus

Dick: Omg they're both cuddling hurry get a pictur!!!

Jason watching Damianwalk out with his arm around Marinette: Damn I didn't know demon spaw could be so smooth. Hurry get a picture

Tim: Look at them playing with the dogs! Hurry get a picture

Both Dick and Jason gave him a weird look

Tim: Oh right I'm holding the camera.

Okay I can feel y'alls annoyance with the cliffhanger, sorry.