#this is mostly exposition tbh

[blueeyesking]

Duel for the World! Yugi & Kaiba vs. Dartz! Part 1

Seto and Yugi had the good fortune to draw extremely powerful opening hands, making their first turns give them a strong start: Seto already has one Blue-Eyes on his field, and the other two are already in his hand; Yugi was able to summon his equally powerful Black Luster Soldier. Facing down both mighty creatures, Dartz doesn't seem remotely intimidated. He draws, and plays his Seal, that ominous blue-green symbol encompassing their Duel and changing Dartz from a gracious host

to a sharp-eyed predator.

Dartz wears a wicked grin as he continues his turn, playing two monsters that seem useless and weak to Seto; Yugi warns him of one's ability to come back stronger every time it's destroyed, but Seto isn't concerned. Dartz doesn't play anything else; clearly, Seto thinks, this man doesn't know who he's dealing with.

Seto's next draw confirms this. He lets out a hearty laugh- Polymerization! Absolutely perfect.

Seto had intended to use all three of his dragons to create Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon... but looking at Dartz's field, why should he summon a Fusion Monster with no abilities, when, objectively, Blue-Eyes Twin Burst dragon has fantastic abilities that will allow him to clear the board, leaving Dartz completely defenseless against Yugi's Black Luster Soldier? Even if Dragon Master Knight is powerful enough to finish this Duel immediately, Seto doesn't know Dartz's deck- he could have any number of counters to their powerful monster, or one of these monsters could have a trick to it that he doesn't know. After all, Seto doesn't have every Duel Monsters card memorized. Kris had suggested well; Twin-Burst would come in handy.

Kaiba reveals his Polymerization and the two Blue-Eyes in his hand, discarding all three in order to summon his great Twin Burst. Its heads rise and roar at the temple's interior, briefly joined by the solo Blue-Eyes next to them, who, to Seto's intuition, seems a little disappointed not to be included. But she's grateful to be here and fighting beside her sisters, which is more than enough for them.

With Twin-Burst on the field, Seto orders her to attack both of Dartz's Orichalcos monsters- but suddenly, the Seal flares with light and closes Yugi and Seto off from their supporting friends, casting a beam of cyan light high into the clouds.

Seto and Yugi recoil, shielding their eyes from the light- and when it fades, they find themselves on the Seal, high above the clouds. It's not long until Dartz appears with them.

Seto rushes forward to grab the man's collar, lifting his feet off of the ground with one arm. "What sort of party trick are you pulling now, bastard?! I won't be fooled by any more illusions!"

Dartz smiles at him, patting his forearm with all of the condescension one might show a small child throwing a tantrum. "Don't worry, Seto; the Seal is reacting to your powerful attack. It's showing us a memory held within the Orichalcos."

Seto scoffs and tosses Dartz to the floor. "We don't care about your dark memories, Dartz- we're here to end you."

Dartz shrugs. "I have no control over what the Orichalcos does in this capacity."

The clouds beneath the Seal reveal a grand city, alight with electric lighting and seated upon an island. Dartz stands, brushing off his robes, while the two Duelists gaze down at the sight.

What follows is a ten-minute exposition dump about Dartz's past, as the ruler of Atlantis. How the Orichalcos came from their volcano, along with the serpent of darkness that blotted out the sun. They used the stones to bring their society into a grand age of prosperity.

However, the stones also slowly corrupted people with darkness in their hearts. Eventually, it tested their wills- and turned those with great darkness inside, into monsters. When Dartz was given a piece of the Orichalcos, he was also told his purpose: to start the world anew, and create one without darkness.

He has Orichalcos Soldiers descend upon Atlantis and tells them to kill the unpure, taking their souls to revive their God! And in response, an aurora shines across the sky, bringing the Legendary Dragons out of their slumber to combat Dartz and the Orichalcos. The fight ended in a draw, with the Dragons sealed by Dartz's magic and Dartz leaving his ruined kingdom.

After his spiel and show, the Duelists are returned to themselves on the field, the light of the Seal fading back to normal. Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon destroys Orichalcos Gigas, then Orichalcos Kyutora...

[constellation-em]

'You Never Asked Him What It Meant' - Din Djarin/Reader

This is a snippet from a WIP of mine- reader has lost Din, and a wandering woman has just asked if they would like her to wait with them. I'm not so good at writing full blurbs but want to practice more, so I figured I would get this small piece out. Please leave feedback! I need it lol, writing fanfiction is a lot different than the literary analysis like I'm used to.

words: 1.1k

warnings: language

feedback wanted!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No, I just- He'll find me but- I don't even know where the ship is, oh Maker I'm screwed!" Your sobs returned, it felt like the air had been pulled out of your lungs by the fear that always sat in you when Din went after a bounty. What if he didn't come back? You couldn't fly the ship. You couldn't fight. You were just a glorified engineer and medic, basically kept on to keep the ship clean. Why did Din even keep you around?

You liked to think it was because he had taken a liking to you. You had been working on his ship with him for over a year at this point- hired off Nevarro when Karga decided you needed something better to do than slinging drinks. Din hated you at first. He ignored you, and just let you do your own thing. It wasn't until he came back with a stab wound in his dominant arm that your talents came to light.

What he had been told: You could fix a ship in a pinch, and do housework. Not to mention your cooking was not too shabby. "She'll hold you accountable," Karga had said.

What he hadn't been told (and what Greef Karga didn't know, and would never know): You had been getting paid under the table to patch up bounty hunters when things went awry for them. You knew your way around a medkit with your eyes closed.

Din couldn't fix his own arm, much to his demise. He tried, you heard his grunting from inside the cockpit. To be honest, you had been a bit concerned at first that maybe something… less than savory was happening.

"Hey," He had yelled, "You know how to cauterize? Or even use a kriffing bactapad?" You had walked in, and he was a sore sight. Like… a really sore sight. He was sitting in the pilot's chair, facing sideways from the door, hunched over into almost a ball. There was a deep laceration on his right shoulder, and blood caked all around it and his hand.

His hand. That was the first thing you saw, his gloveless hand. This was the first time you had seen any of his skin. Up to this point, you weren't sure he was human. Hell, you didn't even know his name. The next thing you saw was his beskar armor, thrown onto the ground. Normally he was gentle with it, almost reverent. Then you noticed his flight suit.

Pulled down off his shoulder, down his arm, and hanging half off his back. Unzipped and his chest in full view. This couldn't be compliant with his Creed. Could it?

"I- yeah. I'll grab my medkit."

"No need." He grunted, pointing at the box sitting next to him.

"Mando, there's no numbing spray in there. Mine has some, let me grab it. Keep pressure on the wound."

"I said. No need." You could hear the anger in his voice. It wasn't meant to be directed at you; you knew that. It still stung though.

"Alright. But it's gonna hurt." You moved towards him, kneeling on the ground at his side. There wasn't a lot in his medkit. It seemed well-used. There was at least enough to disinfect, cauterize, and cover with a bactapad.

"Good." That made you pause. What did he say? Did he say good? Maker, did Karga stick you on a ship with a psychopath? Or… was it something sadder than that? Did he feel like he deserved it? As you moved to grab his arm, he stiffened up. "Sorry. Not used to… this. Getting help."

"S'okay. Just let me do my thing, Mando, and you'll be good as new." He relaxed a little bit, shoulders falling as he let out a breath. "This spray is gonna be cold. Just a warning." You grabbed the small bottle, giving it a small shake. Good. Mostly full. Although you figured you wouldn't need much, seeing as he literally said good to it hurting. You pointed it at the cut, giving it a spray.

"Dank Farrik! Fuck!" He jerked out of your grip, grabbing his arm and hissing with pain.

"Shit shit shit shit I'm sorry Mando I tried to tell you-" Fuck you had warned him right? He paused, and tilted his head towards you.

"Keep going."

"Say again?"

"Keep. Going." So you did. You gave him another spray, and you grabbed the cauterizer. Every sound you made caused him to stiffen up, and every time you grabbed his arm again he relaxed. It was a never-ending cycle of cusses and hisses and gentle shushing.

By the time you finished and applied the bactapad, his breathing had settled down to a normal pace. You looked up at him from your place on the floor. He was silent, which wasn't uncharacteristic of him, but you were worried. What if he was mad at you for helping him? He had asked, but still. What if he fired you, sent you back to working at a shitty guild bar and dealing with flirtations of douchey bounty hunters? You couldn't go back there. You wouldn't.

"Thank you." It was a small sound, a barely heard sentence. You weren't even sure you heard it come out of his mouth, until he turned to face you directly. His hands reached out and grabbed your shoulders, thumbs lightly stroking them.

"It's nothing, you were hurt… I couldn't let you suffer like that Mando." He tilted his head towards yours, the cold beskar of his helmet pressing against your forehead. You weren't sure, but you thought maybe this meant he was warming up to you.

"My name is Din. You should know that… if you're going to be my medic." Oh. Oh. You weren't even expecting a thank you out of him. And he gave you his name? You didn't ask for it; he bared it to you, just as he bared his soul when asking for help, when showing you his scarred and wounded skin. "Will you? Be my medic? I wish Karga had told me about your skills before… that piece of bantha shit keeps so many secrets." This was a new side of Man- Din. You had never seen him so talkative.

"I- yeah. Yeah Din. I'll be your medic. From now until you get tired of me. If that's okay?" You chuckled against his helmet, and if you heard right, he did too.

"Of course. Of course it's alright cyar'ika."

You never asked him what that meant.

thank you for reading!

[shantechni]

Just rewatched the first episode of Samurai Jack after a literal two decades of not doing so and man I kinda wish it got a whole movie like the PPG origin being turned into a movie.

Like, it's so beautiful in the way it's illustrated and moves. There's a perfect level of simplicity to the art that doesn't take away from the grandeur of the world and the story surrounding it all. And the scenes with little to no dialogue?? Where the audience is left to their own devices to pick apart who's who and what's going on???

Peak cinema fr.

[bottombaron]

ranking the Thunderbolts characters by how likely they are Zemo in disguise

some context: a character being revealed as Zemo in disguise in a genuinely unexpected twist is somehow hilariously common for the character in the comics (if i had a nickle for each time i’d have at least four, and that's almost a whole quarter!). most notably however it’s in the very first introduction of the Thunderbolts team. the Thunderbolts are kind of synonymous with a Zemo related twist at this point. basically, with the DC not-alive-anymore-by-choice squad you can count on the team having their implanted neck-bombs and with the Thunderbolts you can count on Zemo being hidden somewhere like a murderous purple Where’s Waldo.

SO, while everyone is like “where is Zemo?” and “why isn’t Zemo in the Thunderbolts movie?”, i remain steadfast in certainty that he’s going to show up in the third act,,, despite there being literally no evidence to the contrary. also this is just for fun so don’t take it seriously unless i’m right then i told you so.

these rankings go from least to most likely

0 / 10

Ava Starr

-because Zemo knows better

——————————————————————

1 / 10

John Walker

-he would have to dress up in an American propaganda outfit

-Zemo might have to intimately deceive Walker's wife and child and that's creepy

-he has the Super Soldier Serum

-calls Bucky “Bucky”

-even Zemo wouldn't ignore Walker's crying child like that, comeon man

——————————————————————

2 / 10

Yelena Belova

+surprisingly not completely unthinkable???

+like maybe as a gag it could play?

+i think it’s because they both have that tiny stabby assassin energy

-obviously it would be super weird, confusing, and narratively unsatisfying for both characters

-Yelena and Florence deserve their spotlight and i wouldn't want anything to detract from that

——————————————————————

3 / 10

Alexei Shostakov

+only slightly above Yelena in believability simply for him being more expendable narratively (so the character not actually being himself in the movie wouldn’t be as much of a let down)

-he’s not particularly similar to Zemo in any way

-like Walker, he has the Super Soldier Serum, so it’s unlikely Zemo would disguise himself as Alexi by choice

-it seems exhausting just being Alexi for any length of time, even for Alexi

+bonus: in the trailer, Alexi b-lines for the bar the instant they exit the elevator in the former Avenger's tower. total Zemo behavior

——————————————————————

4 / 10

Taskmaster

+same height

+non-powered (if you don’t include mimicry but i think Zemo could fake it for a short amount of time)

+wears a mask and doesn’t talk much, making for easy impersonation

+scarred face is similar to Zemo’s scarred face in the comics

-their builds don't match up to a passing glance and unlike Yelena, with her more baggy clothes, Antonia is wearing a fitted outfit, making it more difficult to pass (i don't need it perfect mind you, just enough to suspend believability juuust a little)

-mostly it's just the vibes tbh

-idk man im not feeling this theory anymore and i used to be a Zemo in the Taskmaster suit truther

-maybe it's the suit redesign 🤷‍♂️

——————————————————————

5 / 10

Bob/Sentry/The Void

now we’re getting to the ones where i start to vibe with, but also would need a whole lot of exposition

basically, if you wanted to give a guy like Zemo brain scramblies, make him forget who he is, do some experiments (possibly à la Hydra on Wanda/Pietro? finally pulling on that dropped thread of Sokovians having a higher rate of manifesting powers -specifically Wanda’s reality warping powers- when exposed to the Mind Stone than the average human?) and try to corrupt him into an American branded superhero with a mild-mannered personality, you usually give him a three letter name. like Bob. or Jim.

turning to a comic that i can't believe more people dont talk about in relation to Zemo and the Thunderbolts: Welcome to Pleasant Hill

there's a lot in this comic that gives precedent to the twist of Zemo (and the audience) believing they're just a common, good-natured, all-American before finding out it's a lie in an elaborate supermax prison system. (this will definitely come up in almost all other thoughts and theories i have, including the character on this list that i'm most interested in. i'm kind of obsessed with this comic tbh) the story even involves Bucky, the Thunderbolts, the Cosmic Cube (which is the Space Stone in the MCU - related to the Mind Stone) and reality warping/memory altering similar to the Sentry’s own comic twist. and yes, it’s basically the plot of WandaVision before WandaVision except that the warden wasn't a grief stricken Wanda but a surprisingly Valentina Allegra de Fontaine-ish Maria Hill (put a pin in that similarity). there's also the fact that the MCU loves to merge characters into one, like the upcoming Doom-Stark combo.

so how does this work? hell if i know. Zemo could be forced to change his appearance with that Black Widow spy mask thing? maybe the only ones who see Bob as Bob are the ones who don't really know him + Walker who's easily deceived?? idk. it's a pretty big stretch (but not as big the next one on this list!) the most probable scenario of this one happening is Zemo somehow being tied to Bob’s alter, The Void. again, not probable at all unless the movie does some trippy stuff, but it’s fun to imagine the possibilities.

+the trailer seems to suggest said trippy identity/mind stuff, which you would need to pull this off

+Loki’s staff that once housed the Mind Stone in Sokovia could be a reference to Kobik/the Cosmic Cube that creates Pleasant Hill in the comics

+uhhh Bob and Joe are both three letter names??

+in the Pleasent Hill comics Zemo kind of looks Bob/Sentry like?

-a major thing that holds this theory waaaaaaay back is the fact that Steven Yeun was going to play the part of Sentry first and its highly unlikely they would Plot Twist him into a white man (or god i at least hope not)

-ultimately, there's just not a lot of places this reveal could go imo so /shrug

——————————————————————

8 / 10

Countess Valentina Allegra de Fontaine

look ok hold with me here bc we both know that when those heels started clacking outside the Senate hearing in TFATWS everyone was thinking that it was Zemo rocking them for a whole hot second. I KNOW. I REMEMBER. I WAS THERE.

does this make sense? no, not really. should comedy legend Julia Louis-Dreyfus unmask as Zemo in drag in the third act of a big, multi-million dollar franchise movie made by The Mouse?? absa-fucking-lutly.

i even think it would go over with audiences for the most part. they’d see Zemo, Zemoing about, and go, oh yeah ok that tracks.

+Bucky kind of looks like he’s playing the role of Val’s bodyguard/muscle and his demeanor reminds me so much of TFATWS when he was playing the same role for Zemo

+Bucky knowing this whole time that Val is Zemo and is reluctantly going along with his grift for whatever reason is so funny to me idk why

+Bucky saying “what's the plan” in the trailer just feels better if he is saying it to Zemo

+Bucky is wearing some of his old WS gear and who put him in that last? Zemo

+her line about there being bad guys and worse guys is very on par with Zemo’s pessimistic mentality, maybe justifying an Avengers team up as a necessary evil?

+there should only be one unpowered, tiny, bitchy, manipulative, mastermind serving cunt in a purple jacket in the MCU and Val is crowding Zemo’s throne. solution: Zemo uses Val as his public identity (you know, because of all the war crimes. Val has almost certainly done similar war crimes but they were for the U.S. government so she’s safe to masquerade as) and leads the Thunderbolts with nobody being the wiser

+this also means keeping Julia Louis-Dreyfus around and thats worth like, a hundred '+'s

+the purple. the royal titles. oh, it’s all coming together

+totally think that JLD and Daniel Brühl could pull this off i’m not even joking

+it would delight and entertain me

+Zemo would be leading the Thunderbolts team as he should be

-i fear a shadow of transphobia looming around this idea (with a female character being revealed to be a man in disguise) and that instantly sucks any fun out of it

-Zemo’s ideology would have to do a complete 180 hairpin turn or be a very elaborate plan to sabotage things from the inside, kind of making it difficult to buy into the whole thing in the first place

-its never going to happen

——————————————————————

8/10

Bucky Barnes

ohhhhhhh kkkk

here we go

here’s all that twitter stuff abt how there’s reason to believe that the person shooting at the limo isn’t Bucky at all or that he’s being brainwashed again:

personally, i don’t feel WS here but maybe that's because Seb is doing a little bit of his Judge Dredd scowl and there’s too much going on behind the eyes? it still feels like Bucky still imo, even if his actions are like, a bit extreme. it’s that whole “i had to go to work today” energy that Bucky perpetually puts out lol. basically i didn’t get the vibe that he’s Winter Soldiering, or even that he’s trying to kill the team, i just get the vibe he was tasked with rounding up and escorting the group back to Vale and he’s doing it his usual undelicate way. of course, this is only 3 seconds from a teaser so all those details could be right or wrong in the film, only time will tell.

BUT this reasonable talk is counterproductive to this crackpot theory, so…

The Zemo being brainwashed or otherwise manipulated/reality altered into believing (or pretending to be) he’s Bucky/WS theory:

+if i had a nickel for every time Zemo in the comics was brainwashed/tortured into believing he was Bucky/Bucky adjacent and/or the narrative obfuscating which one was which, i’d have at least two nickels

+and that is purposeful btw, in the comics Zemo and Bucky have a strange thematic connection. it’s not a coincidence that when Steve was still grieving Bucky, here came a guy with ties to his past (specifically the son of the man who ‘killed’ Bucky) that would have been roughly the same age as Bucky if he didn’t ‘die’. Steve then commits to saving Zemo time and again, dispite what a complete fuck-up he is. so, Zemo hating Bucky but also kind of having this deep inner desire to be him at least has thematic presence in the comics

this motherfucker literally keeps a shrine of Captain American memorabilia, including putting Bucky’s old costume in a lit glass display case

-on the other hand, MCU Zemo is almost nothing like his comic counterpart and certainly doesn’t hate Bucky or want to be him

+on the other-other hand, there’s far too many similarities to MCU Zemo and the MCU Winter Soldier to ignore and the text of the movies/show seem to continuously remind us of that in little ways

+so in this theory Zemo wouldn’t be impersonating Bucky Barnes per se, he’d be the Winter Soldier

+who, conveniently, has Sebastian Stan’s face so Daniel Brühl wouldn’t have to be on set as much nor have to do any stunt work. good for him

means, motive, and opportunity:

+Val most definitely has access to the raft (and by extension Zemo) as the head of the CIA

+we also know that Val must have access to some form of the Super Soldier Serum if the Sentry is involved, and the clutter of Sentry related branding in the trailer seems to indicate Val/OXE/the U.S. government has been trying to create their own superhero, Homelander style

+Val also has access to all sort of means of manipulating Zemo's sense of identity. chemical memory alteration, use of off-world artifacts, the old fashioned WS programming way, or even all that Stark tech that was confiscated by Damage Control…remember B.A.R.F.?

+the whole choice to use Zemo could even be out of convenience. he’s already had extensive military training, was a successful black ops commander, he literally has nothing left, not even citizenship to a country

+nobody would look for him or wonder where he is or if he’s even still alive

+even if they did, would they care? to most people, he's a super villian. even people who might object morally, like Sam or the Wakandans seem to be too busy with their own shit rn anyways

+Bucky is literally the only one left who might object and if they're using his identity to carry out clandestine missions then they have leverage. keep quiet and you have a job, prestige, perks, etc. without having to actually do any of the dirty work. don't, and we spin this like you went off WS style and there's nobody to keep you from being locked up anymore. plus Bucky hates Zemo right? why would he care if he's America’s Winter Soldier

+this also allows for a built-in deniability for Val/the government if Bucky!Zemo was ever caught on a mission. that can't be the Winter Soldier doing assassinations in Europe if you can see Bucky Barnes at a Congress meeting on public tv at the same exact moment

+as to motivation, other than all the reasons stated above, it's clear that Val doesn't want a Captain America. she said as much to Walker in TFATWS. while it might work to her advantage to have a controlled Avengers team for her public image, it helps her far more to have someone reliable to do her dirty work

+creating a black ops assassin à la the Winter Soldier, but for America, would be her goal

+and sure, she had Walker and Yelena under her payroll already (and we assume Ghost and Taskmaster as well) but they don’t have that living action figure, perfect soldier rizz. in various ways im going to assume they've disappointed her, questioned orders, or just generally was too human

+so why Bucky's identity? easy. he's already got a whole brand. i can hear the sardonic lines out of JLD mouth about how hard it is to create something new when you can just reboot it. Bucky has a legend as the Winter Soldier, one that still carries a lot of clout. she wouldn't even need to deploy him for assassin reasons, just use him for negotiations and fear tactics. the Winter Soldier is already a verified threat at an international level, you can't buy that kind of marketing. using Bucky's face and WS identity would be essential to her

+wouldn’t just brainwashing the real Bucky again be easier? well, other than the advantage of having Bucky and the WS be separated people as mentioned above…the last two times Bucky Barnes was brainwashed to be the Winter Soldier and otherwise held against his will, an empire fell (S.H.I.E.L.D./Hydra and The Avengers). so, while i’m sure Val has a fondness of the Rule of Three as much as i do, i also think she’s smarter than that

+i’m sure she’s even approached Bucky directly and has probably tried to manipulate him with a job that looks legit on the outside and gets him a nice private house. but Bucky isn’t going back to the WS role, it’s not going to happen. and he’s already side-eyeing Val pretty hard in that trailer so her perfect soldier he won't be

so Val has means, opportunity, and motivation to take Zemo and turn him into her very own super assassin. but lets take this a step further.

this post by magnitothemagnificent brings up a great theory that Bucky here could actually be Jack Monroe, more importantly brings up one of Jack's alter egos, Scourge.

this same guy from the comic page above

(for my theory, obviously, instead of Jack, it would be Zemo as a Scourge-like character)

+we know that there is a version of the serum going around to create the Sentry, and that the Sentry's #1 personality trait in the comics is his mental instability

+we know that, in the comics, Jack Monroe was driven mad specifically by the Super Serum he was given. it messed with his sense of reality and identity in big ways including making him believe he actually was Bucky, instead of just taking up his mantle

+possibly, this version of the serum is responsible for the mental instability of everyone who takes it, creating delusions and hallucinations and this is what affects the Sentry’s mental stability and warps this hypothetical Bucky!Zemo/Scourge's sense of reality

+this could even tie into Walker's story, as it seemed like he escalated in his instability after taking the serum (you know, there's actually a fairly large connection between Walker/US Agent and Monroe too hmm…)

in the comics, Monroe is being controlled (through nanites, so idk maybe Stark Tech?) by a very Zemo-type motivated guy who hates supers and even works for the Commission on Superhuman Activities (basically the same people who created the Sokovia Accords in the MCU, led by Ross and the UN). being controlled by this man, Monroe, as Scourge, is forced to attack and kill super powered people and targets the Thunderbolts. Comic Zemo is literally beheaded by him in a page that definitely tries to make the reader think that it is Bucky Barnes attacking Zemo (this was before the Winter Soldier Brubaker run that brought back Bucky Barnes, so at the time Bucky was still thought to be very dead for over 50 years)

and the Scourge suit would explain other parts of this theory, such as why is that literally Sebastian Stan’s face?

+the suit comes with a camouflage feature and image inducer so looking just like Bucky wouldn't be a problem (in the comics, previous versions of Scourge, one who i actually believe was Jake Monroe, just used latex masks, even disguising himself as a woman more than once -go Val=Zemo theory!- but the most important detail is that Scourge has always been a master of disguise, so that element is already built into the lore of the character)

how would Zemo be able to mimic the Super Soldier Serum?

+if he's not being dosed by Val with a version of the serum, the suit has various means of mimicking increased strength

but unless they really committed to amputating an arm and have a Wakandan prosthetic laying around, how would Zemo have the metal arm?

+from what i can tell, we don’t actually see Bucky’s metal arm in this scene? i believe it’s covered up with a jacket. and even if some of it shows, that could be a CGI misdirect. otherwise the Scourge suit would answer this too, specifically the metal-looking high-tech gauntlets that he wears could be made to at least look like Bucky’s arm and do the same things Bucky’s arm can do

but what about real Bucky?

+we have to first buy into the two Bucky’s theory, which i don’t actually hate. there’s Bucky trying his best in the trailer and then there’s an impersonator out there doing his best Winter Soldier. this way we don’t run into the same problems of a third act reveal like with the others (not actually following the real Bucky Barnes). we would be, hopefully with a confrontation between the two in the climax, getting almost an out of body visual of Bucky’s inner turmoil. him vs the winter soldier identity and everything that represents to him

even having Bucky wearing the Winter Soldier gear would have a cool call back to the Scourge suit:

+the suit in the comics has two gauntlets that can access various tools and weapons by simply voicing a code. they appear as if from thin air but in reality it is a clever use of pym particles

+these weapons aren't even just regular ‘ol things but rather he has a whole arsenal taken from other heroes and villains

+so a suit that carries the whole Winter Soldier arsenal, despite us having every reason to believe Bucky wouldn't have those things anymore, could be a fun way to reference that

speaking of the WS arsenal:

+I know its just a coincidence, but its worth noting that, as others have pointed out, Bucky is predominantly carrying the Škorpion vz. 61 (also known as the Sa vz. 61 Skorpion) in the trailer and in the poster. which was the gun that used to attach to the harness on the WS suit

+Zemo's paramilitary team from Sokovia, EKO Skorpion, was, at least partially, named after the Serbian Skorpion paramilitary force. the real life Serbian Skorpions named themselves after their favorite gun, you guessed it: the same Škorpion vz. 61 that is used by the WS

+additional fun(?) fact: the real life Serbian Skorpions had a secret relationship to the CIA and the CIA might have had a hand in the Yugoslav wars (shocker). if we follow this trajectory, it's possible that Val could have had connections to Sokovia and Zemo as early as the 90s/early 2000s, working as a CIA agent involved with the Sokovian Civil War

+if Hydra was involved with instigating the civil war in Sokovia (as they almost certainly were as it gained them a great advantage in establishing their base there) and Val truly is Madame Hydra, then that would establish pretty strong connective tissue between Val, Sokovia, Zemo, and the WS/Bucky

taking us to Pleasant Hill again:

i love this panel in relation to the Thunderbolts bc this is everything that Yelena is struggling with and seems to be the central theme of the movie, these broken people finding purpose in a world that they’ve been alienated by

+now the major twist in the comic wasn’t just that Zemo is really mild-mannered Jim, but rather the readers were manipulated through various means into believing that Jim was actually Bucky until the end reveal

+combining these things (the Pleasant Hill comic run and the Jack Monroe/ Scourge comic run) creates a story where the audience is led to believe Bucky is Winter Soldiering about, attacking and possibly trying to kill the Thunderbolts team

+but in reality it is actually Zemo, being manipulated and controlled by Val thru various sci-fi means to make Zemo just appear as Bucky

some other things:

+the last person to imitate the WS specifically? Zemo

+and he literally did it with just some prosthetics and theater kid energy

+their height difference is concealable with some heels and Zemo would know how to run in them

+this might even explain Bucky's bad hair:

+like ok hold with me here but Daniel Bruhl had this same exact hair cut for his role as Karl Lagerfeld

did he keep the hair during Thunderbolts filming? i have no idea. but its fun to imagine

and finally,

+the popular Bucky/WS left hand theory. while i’m not necessarily convinced just by this trailer (even tho i really like the theory and the visual importance of Bucky using his metal/left arm), this would gain added legitimacy if it’s actually Zemo impersonating the WS

+because, while Bucky may not be left handed,

+Zemo is

——————————————————————

10 / 10

this gerbil

+100% Zemo, he’s not even in disguise here that’s just Daniel Brühl on set

[flightfoot]

Tbh I disagree that the situation is morally ambiguous. That would imply that there isn't a right or wrong option here. Fact is, there is a right thing to do in this situation and Marinette isn't doing that. Her having sympathetic or well-intentioned motivations for doing so doesn't make the fact that her actual actions are wrong and horribly harmful any less cut and dry. By that logic, Gabriel too is morally ambiguous, since he had sympathetic motivations and only wanted to protect Adrien as well and bring his wife back. But we rightly call him an abuser. And Marinette is also doing more or less the same thing (not calling it abuse, but it is similar). It's pretty straightforward imho.

Eh, there are degrees to moral ambiguity. Gabriel and Marinette are both on the "well-intentioned but their methods are bad" scale. Gabriel's worse because of how he treats Adrien even outside of cases involving his sympathetic motivations. Like, both movie!Gabriel and show!Gabriel have the same sympathetic motivations, but movie!Gabriel isn't a complete asshole to Adrien and also, when Adrien's revealed to be Chat Noir, he actually stops attacking him because Adrien being safe and happy is genuinely something he cares about, as opposed to show!Gabriel, who on both occasions when he learned that fact, instead of showing remorse, decided to akumatize him and force him to do his bidding. In Chat Blanc, he even hit Chat Noir upwards through the ground and into the Eiffel Tower first, RIGHT AFTER having exposited about how he's doing all of this, in part, for Adrien.

So I'd say that Gabriel's lack of moral ambiguity is more due to all the horrible stuff he does that can't be explained by his sympathetic motivations. As for Marinette... I mean, I definitely think she's in the wrong, but she's not as clearly wrong as Gabriel. She IS, at least, mostly sticking with actions that she can reasonably think will make Adrien happier, even if she's wrong (she really needs a crash course on how to interact with child abuse victims). Her motivations and her actions line up.

Let me reiterate, I DO THINK THAT MARINETTE LYING TO ADRIEN ABOUT HIS FATHER'S DEATH IS WRONG. He deserves to know the truth and to decide how to feel about it or himself, and the way she chose to lie to him is likely to make him feel even worse than the truth would. But there IS genuinely a moral values conflict here, since Marinette values Adrien's emotional wellbeing (which is a good and fair thing to value), even if she's not good at telling what's actually likely to harm him more, and that I think she should value Adrien's right to know and decide things for himself more than she currently is.

[agentoffangirling]

Ranking AoS ships (canon & non-canon) bc I can:

FitzSimmons. If you don't have this as your top, I DON'T TRUST YOU. They are the blueprint, the very epitome of romance. If someone doesn't dive through a space rock to reach me on another planet, I don't want them

Dousy. Ik some people much prefer Sousa and Peggy, and they have a great relationship, but I don't know, I just like Dousy more. Maybe bc I want Daisy to be in a healthy relationship for once? But for only appearing in around half the episodes of s7, they don't feel rushed, and Chloe and Enver have great chemistry. They're so sweet together, I can't say much else other than I love them

Skimmons. Okay okay ik what a lot of people are gonna say, but I just think they're wonderful together. I've drifted a bit from shipping this, I do see the sisters aspect of them (I don't see them as sisters and romantically at the same time, that is WEIRD), but I still have a small soft spot for it. I think it's mostly Chloe and Elizabeth's love for the ship that sells it

Philinda. Tbh this and Skimmons could be switched, they're very close in my brain. While I don't necessarily feel too bad about them splitting up in s7, I like both the platonic and romantic versions of them, I think they were really great. They so obviously love each other, and what more can I say to that?

Huntingbird. 100% compatible 50% of the time, as Hunter puts it. I don't believe this to be the healthiest of AoS relationships, but not everything has to be perfect all the time. One moment they could be making jabs at one another, the next they're making out. Who knows? Their moments are a fun time either way

MackElena. I think what this ship needs is more time. Compared to the other relationships, MackElena doesn't get to share the screen all that much. I do love how they learn from one another, and they've always given me a kind of comforting type of vibe. They're just cute together

Simmorse. This feels like a relatively newer ship in the fandom, and I am all for it. I don't ship it massively, but I 100% see the potential, I think it's very easy to see that Jemma was crushing on Bobbi a couple times

QuakeRider. Just like Simmorse, I do see it, but I've never really been a big fan of it. Not that there's anything wrong with it, it has great vibes, I love the rogue x rogue type ship, I just don't ship it that much. I personally see them closer to older brother, younger sister type of dynamic. But I do see the potential

Staticquake. HEAR ME OUT OKAY? I used to like Staticquake a lot, but on my rewatches I see myself getting farther and farther away from it. It's not that they don't have good chemistry or that I don't think they're really in love, oh no, they have all of it, it's just not the best relationship for Daisy. There are more than a few moments where they're arguing, majority of the time Lincoln being in the wrong, and later Daisy apologizing for it? It always struck me as odd. I also feel like resolved too many issues behind the scenes, relying on exposition to make the audience believe they had gone further in their relationship

DekeDaisy. Idk if they have an actual ship name, so I'm going with this one for now. It's just wayyy too one-sided and doesn't seem like it would work anyway. Daisy was not in the right frame of mind for a relationship, and she seemed relatively blind to Deke's advances. Also considering that Deke sold her to the Kree earlier... yeah, it was never gonna work

Skyeward. It might get up one spot for the Framework version of them, but as it stands, the real life version of them is AWFUL. Ward lied to Skye on almost everything, hurt her, hurt her loved ones, kidnapped her, became obsessed with her, and countless other things I can't remember rn. They're so toxic and if you ship them (not Framework or pre-betrayal), I have genuine concern in your love life

[namazunomegami]

Into the Void

Pairing: Geto Suguru x gn!reader

Synopsis: Geto is so succumbed to his ideals that you have no choice but to run. But the hunt for you is more than a simple chase. It's resurrection. It's repentance. Just like in the parable of the lost sheep.

CW: canon compliant, established relationship, predator/prey, injuries, blood, toxic dynamics, heavy religious symbolism, emotional distress, dissociation, tiny bit of hurt/comfort, yandere behavior, Geto is a manipulative ass how surprising

WC: 5.2k whoops

Credits: my dear @notveryrussian for proofreading but tbh I should start calling you my editor from now on lmao. I'm glad you enjoyed my sneak peeks so much 💕

Song rec: since I can't control myself, I picked 3 songs by Nine Inch Nails that gives the perfect vibes to the story. For the exposition, I recommend Heresy, mostly because the lyrics resonates with the reader's thoughts about Geto. For the escape/chase part, I picked Eraser for the creepy vibes and reader's slowly deterioriating sanity. For the closing part, I picked A warm place because it's a comforting yet a bit gloomy track

A/N: Saying that this idea possessed me is an understatement. Initially I only wanted to put effort into the whole chase scene but obviously I started to add lore into the whole thing. And since they grew on me and I simply love their dynamic, a part 2 is on the way yaaay.

Minors shall not interact unless they wanna get punched.

And a usual warning for dark content. I wanted to keep it mild but I couldn't. Maybe I'm a lil bit too skilled when it comes to writing about fear.

It’s all too painful to think that maybe running away with Geto wasn’t the best idea.

Of course you loved him, you loved the twins too and the makeshift family you created, it really healed some of the wounds you received in the past. But you wished it would’ve stayed that way. Living together, somewhere far away, isolated, in peace. Have a fresh start, build a nest for the four of you and fill it up with love.

But he had other plans.

There were a lot of improvements in the initial phase of your plans. Building community, uniting the herd. You enjoyed some reverence from the followers too. Eventually the initial number of breakthroughs began to stagnate, despite all the effort. It became routine, like you were being dragged through the same day for years and years without end. When you were faced with even more setbacks, you started to realize that you basically never left the temple and it soon began to feel like a cage. Golden and holy. It was draining to see people lose their sense of individuality and how he became their only source of validation. It was torment. Living life as an idol of worship tucked into a forgotten corner of a church. Praised like a twisted Gothic Madonna with a blue cloth over your head, but in reality you weep, you’re their Mater Dolorosa, with swords piercing your sorrowful heart.

The most devastating thing about realizing you’re not fit to run a cult, is the fact that you lack the most understated yet important aspect of it: believing in the agenda you want to spread. How could you guide all those helpless, simple-minded sheep while questioning whether your destination is real or not? Maybe that Canaan has nothing to do with milk and honey, instead it’s just a pile of rubble.

You soon got tired of it all. His drive, his goal, all too impossible to achieve. Maybe he knew he could never make it happen, but it consumed him regardless. You’ve lost the most cherished parts of him to his hatred, his deeply repressed rage against any injustices he had to deal with after the infamous Star Plasma incident.

You weren’t sure about your feelings towards Geto anymore. Were you afraid of him? Angry at him? Bitter? Disappointed? Worried? It all turned into mush, a grotesque, black liquid as the thin walls of the temple slowly made you feel like they were closing in on you. You had no idea how much time you had, until your unresolved feelings will taint the whole place.

You always circled back to the worst possible action to protect your soft, aching heart… When you thought that nothing will change for the better, you wanted to run away. You wanted to hide. The ambivalence of your feelings towards him weighed on your heart and conscience, like a thousand stones. You loved him, yet you loathed what has become of him. Despite that you trusted him with the map of your soul, made it through all the highs and lows of your relationship so far, all the deep abysses of pain and suffering.

Maybe you should run, just for the sake of it. To test how it will make you feel. Will it make you feel freed? At ease? Will it lift the weights on your chest? Will this sense of incoming doom vanish?

Maybe you should find Gojo. He wouldn’t condemn you, but he would be disappointed. If you set your judgement and resentment to aside, he’s the only one who can talk with the higher ups to scratch your name off the list of curse users who are on death row.

How much time did you need to forge your plan? Not even a single minute. It was only natural for you to memorize everybody’s routine, how to distinguish the sound of their steps, to pick a timeframe when nobody is lurking around the halls. The first (and probably last) time you were glad those who have hurt you gave you a skill, besides the ability to harness cursed energy of course. They made you stealthy, alert, observant.

And when Geto left you to cater to his followers, you decided to put your plan into action.

Your body is strung tight with the tension of waiting, agitation making you feel as if you were unraveling at the seams - but something deep inside of your mind pleaded for you to stay. Agony and anxiety were plaguing you until you’ve found enough courage to get up and sneak out. Now, you had the chance to show off everything you’ve learned: sliding the doors shut so slowly that they don’t make a noise, walking down the corridors with socked feet, carefully putting the middle parts of your feet on the floor, instead of your heels, easily avoiding those parts that creak.

Sometimes, when he was immersed in his thoughts, he was amused by how faint your steps sounded.

An involuntary instinct warns you. It’s trying to convince you that he can see you through the eyes of bodhisattvas residing in the thangka paintings decorating the walls. You almost give up your quest as you glance at the depiction of Vajrabhairava. In all its anger, with its six faces and twelve limbs. A dreadful beast that defies death itself.

You don’t want to do this to him, do you?

You look away from the painting, focusing on getting your shoes on and climbing out through the window. As you’re squatting on the windowpane, you can see all of Tokyo stretched out beneath you. You’re a little bit annoyed that all temples are built on a mountain. A long way to go, but you can never know when this place will turn into a funeral pyre.

It’s a little bit too easy. There’s no sign of surveillance curses nearby, you only need to slide down on the wet tiles, jump up high, land in the mud and let yourself be swallowed by the darkness of the forest. You specifically picked your least conspicuous clothes to blend into your surroundings perfectly. And the cold and murky night will let you go safely. The leaves will conceal your tracks.

So many things are working in your favor tonight.

You know there’s no need to rush. You can only draw attention to yourself if you are running around, creating noise and disturbing the wildlife. You don’t even use a flashlight, you have to get used to the darkness, the full Moon will guide you with all her dazzling light. And after that, Tokyo will do the same, with its crowded streets and all its places to hide.

There’s a weird kind of tranquility in your heart. How the cold prickles your skin, the moisture in the air, the faint noise of the creatures dwelling under the leaves, up in the trees, singing, chirping, crawling. The scent of wet soil, the gentle caress of the wind…

Now, you feel free.

As you walk deeper and deeper into the woods, you feel lighter, you feel like you could fly away, like you could dance all the way towards your destination. You’re thinking about actually doing that, as if you got possessed by a strange spirit…

But the uneven, slippery ground makes you fall right into the mud. You squirmed a little, trying to get hold of a tree trunk and then…

Silence, dead silence.

Your heart sinks deep in your chest.

You know what it means. When nature falls silent. There’s…

There’s a threat nearby.

A primal instinct tells you to run.

There’s no way, there’s no fucking way that he already noticed you were gone.

Twigs whip at your skin as you’re running mindlessly. Wherever you end up, it will be fine, as long as you can enter the outskirts of the city. The cold night air stings your throat, your heaving breath leaves your mouth in puffy clouds. You feel the urge to cough, deep from your bone-dry lungs.

The ground beneath you turns soft and steep. You lose your poise, stumbling and rolling all the way down until you fall from a high clod of rain-washed soil. Your body collides with a cold, wet, yet incredibly hard and flat surface, fraying the skin on your palm and face. Your back and shoulders will be bruised by tomorrow, painting your body with black and blue spots. The pain ripples through your entire being, paralyzing you for a couple of moments.

As you slowly gathered your battered self from the ground with a grunt, you realize you landed on a road. It’s a good sign, you’re not so far from civilization. But instead of following the road, cutting through the forest is the wiser decision.

Your relief is short-lived, just like a may fly.

A sinister feeling takes hold on you. It makes you freeze, squeezing your insides. Like you’re sitting in the jaw of an eldritch beast. You slowly turn back to the direction of your fall.

The lights are flickering.

You grab on the guardrail for dear life. You try to fill your lungs with shaky breaths, your heart desperately beating against your ribcage. Your trembling knees barely keep you upright, yet nothing can make you move. You have been found, you’re defeated, there’s no point in running away from him. The injuries, the already forming bruises will only deplete your strength.

How could you fight him? You’re aware that if he wanted to, he could break your bones and twist your body at the joints with an arm behind his back.

How could you outrun him? He’s capable of summonning a swarm of curses before you even take a step.

How could you make war with him?

Three of the lamp lights were already out, you stared into the darkness, the boundless abyss right before your eyes. You can’t even force yourself to blink.

And when the lights came back on, he was just standing there. Without breaking a sweat. Your pulse feels non-existent.

What infuriated you even more was that he wasn’t wearing his gojo-kesa. The motherfucker even gave you a head start by changing into something comfortable before he came to fetch you. Or simply he noticed your absence later than you expected.

Whatever, both is bad news for you.

He doesn’t utter a single word, he merely walks towards you. Slowly cornering you. Feasting on the terror on your face. Meanwhile you can’t unravel what could possibly be going on in his mind. The only thing you notice is that those violet sparks in his eyes are so sharp they could cut yours out of their sockets.

Should you give up? Should you beg for forgiveness?

But then, an idea blooms inside your mind.

You don’t hide your fear, you let your body tremble freely, fingers desperately clinging onto the metal, with your shoulders hunched to protect your neck and your wide, frightened eyes stare back at him. Letting him believe that you won’t fight back. That he can take you back to the temple and throw you back into your cage.

And when his foot hits the bisector, you jump. Right into the nothingness behind your back.

You fall on leaves and broken twigs again. You roll and roll with such speed you can’t comprehend the growing distance. Not even having an idea of how far you’re from him. Small rocks, branches, hardened roots of trees, bones all cut, scratch and pierce you. But you endure it, you’ll undergo any torture if it meant you’ll be freed. Your only hope is that the adrenaline will deal with the pain.

Suddenly, you violently crash into a tree, the ridged texture imprints deeply into your stomach. Acid bursts from your throat. Your diaphragm didn’t avoid the hit either, breathing is not unlike Sisyphean task as you try to get your shaking limbs to stand. Your mind is disturbed by the lack of air and your desperate attempts at getting yourself together. You’re wheezing like a dog. You must look pathetic, you think.

It takes almost all of your mental strength to calm down and slowly breathe through your nose, your lungs finally opening. But Geto won’t let you recover, you hear the fallen leaves getting crushed under his feet. You take a few sharp, ragged breaths, like it’s the last drag of a cigarette before the train comes and then, you move.

You hide behind a thick pine tree, palms covering your mouth and nose. The lack of oxygen is just another frustrating hindrance to your successful escape plan. Dizziness fills your head like a thick fog and sucks the strength out of your shins, needing to lean against the trunk to keep yourself standing. You try to conceal your cursed energy with all your might. A tracker who’s untraceable is a useful pawn in the hands of the higher ups, this skill made you a cherished student back in the day. Back when everything was so… no, it’s only the nostalgia making you wistful, it wasn’t any better.

The rustling gets quieter, you wait until the sound eventually dies. An almost muted sigh of relief leaves your lips in a thick cloud, dancing in the cold air.

From the corner of your eye, a floating form cuts through the pale moonlight.

Looking closely at its shape, you realize what kind of curse it is. The beetle looking one that attacks instantly once it senses movement. You can’t believe it, you’re going to -

The curse drags itself into your aura, scanning your form that is fused with the pine. Every muscle is tensed, you’re stiff as a board, you suppress every reflex in your eye and empty chest. You’re just like a statue, a corpse, showing no signs of life. Only an agonizing scream echoes inside your skull. A scream that puts mental breakdowns to shame.

It’s like an eternity until the curse finally disappears from your sight.

You definitely look exhausted, your body is limp and heavy like lead. But you must keep going at all costs, even if you have no idea how many curses are sent after you. You walk around the mountain instead of going down like he’d expect it.

Slowly yet surely, you calm yourself down. You know that you’re still in his grasp, but you still have a chance to outsmart him. You go deeper and deeper, you’re near the heart of the forest now. The moonlight barely crawls through the leaves, it’s easier to navigate according to what you hear rather than to what you see. The surroundings are growing eerie, you ache for light and warmth. And the longing sucks a bit of spirit out of you.

Before you can start questioning yourself, the sound of running water fills your ears.

A narrow, yet fast running stream plowed through the forest. Though you were unsure of staying close to the stream, going through it and getting to the other side sounds like a smart idea. As you take a reluctant step, you realize the water is ice cold. And when you dive into it further, enduring the strong current, it’s not as shallow as you believed. You’re submerged all the way up to your thighs. At its deepest point, the stream hugs your waist. The cold makes your movements slow and rigid, your teeth clang together in a frenzy. The bottom is filled with smooth, flat pebbles, they make it easy to - 

You slip on the rounded, polished stones and fall into the stream. The freezing temperature makes your skin shrink, it prickles you like a thousand needles. Scared, you crawl around the bottom, trying to get a hold of something and emerge back to the surface. A sharp, burning pain wakes in your palm, tears streaming down your cheeks. You try to swallow your scream, but it wants to burst from your lungs, you grunt and whimper until you can bite down on your sweatshirt, letting the material muffle your shout. Your gaze fixates on your hand and even in the darkness of the night, you see blood oozing from the deep cut, from your own torn flesh. The urge to retch is strong.

You palm is plunged back into the cool water, in hope of easing the pain.

He calls out your name right behind you.

You crawl out of the water, running from him, just as before. It doesn't matter how many times you trip, fall, stumble. It doesn’t matter how your fresh wounds end up in the mud, you don’t have it in you care about the pain or the looming threat of an infection. You hear him trying to reason with you. You must come back home, you’re injured, you’re bleeding. He must take care of you.

Why are you running? Where could you go? Who’s going to help you recover?

No, you mustn’t let your determination crumble. But oh… it sounds so easy. Giving in to your hopelessness.

An evergreen bush becomes your shelter to collect yourself and check on your wound, which is aching from all the dirt and is still bleeding. Water is dripping from your hair, your clothes are soaked, makes it easier for the cold night air to bite into you, to shake the whole length of your body. Your fingers are hardly moving and have no strength in them. The adrenaline is starting to wear off. You feel alone, small, and vulnerable. You’re freezing, scarred and aching. All the things you see in the dark twist into creepy, threatening forms. Everything that surrounds you is suddenly dangerous. As a lonely spider crawls within your field of vision, you flinch. The world around you is evil and everything is after your flesh.

And the only person who can save you is the one you’re running away from.

What are you going to do now? Fight, flight, or freeze? Which instinct is going to win this time? Because comprehensible thoughts won’t work on you. Every little layer of a fully-fledged human with a conscience has been stripped from you. You left them scattered everywhere in the woods. You’re nothing more than a primordial shell of a being.

Ceremonial horns wake in the distance, soon followed by howling. They let the dogs out to hunt you down. Poor, little hare. Your own stupidity has woken up the beast.

Who is like unto the beast?

You defeat the paralyzing dread and decide on flight. You dash out from the bushes, but - Oh… your eye. Your soft doe eye. There’s something in it. And your tears have an oddly metallic taste on your tongue.

And power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

You wish you could see yourself from the outside, but you’re probably nowhere near as majestic as you think you are. Right now you feel like you’re the fastest, stealthiest creature who’s ever lived, even if your muscles are almost torn, weak, and tensed. This is the last crumb of your strength, this is your all.

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him.

You don’t dare to look back. You know he’s there. He’s so close, he’s orbiting around you like a moon does with its planet. As if all of this is a dance. A hunt is a dance with a coital rhythm. And mother nature is the audience to your deadly waltz.

And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.

He takes your hand in his. Gentle and kind. To not scare you any further. You snap like an electric current under his touch, but you break free and zigzag between the trees.

He grabs your waist. Forcefully. It scares you this time. You escape from his embrace before he can swallow you whole. But he might have bit your throat during the process, you feel something trailing down your collarbones. You hear your bones crack.

It was all a mistake. You are a mistake. But mistakes can be forgiven, right? He has forgiven you so many times, you can’t even think of a number.

You slide down on a slope, leaves stick to your clothes, and you drop onto a thick trunk of a fallen oak. Tensive pain ripples in your side. You should stand up and run, but you can’t move. You won’t move. What’s wrong with you? What kind of prey gives the fight up before its last breath? But you think about your frozen limbs, the pain in your palm, your back, your shoulder blades, everywhere. You think about home… you want to go home or be left here to die. But the thought of dying here, alone, makes your heart palpitate rapidly, like there’s not enough air to fill your lungs. Your breathing becomes desperate, panicked even. Your chest hurts, your ribcage is ready to break apart by your racing heartbeat. You press your palms against your head, clawing into your hair. Every little morsel of you is bursting into a tremor. The connection between your mind, your body and the world cease to exist. And that lovely, unlimited stretch of space inside your consciousness is shaken, it’s in utter chaos. Breaking into tiny little pieces, like glass, like porcelain. Tears and plucks like paper and fabric. Shrieks and wails, rejecting the only thing that makes all creatures on this plane of existence agitated over their own mortality.

You’re doomed.

Unconsciously, your limbs curl into the very same position you took when you saw the world for the first time, protecting your belly and face, making you seem small. Geto knows you only do that when you fear what might happen to you, despite being unaware of the kind of terror your brain had subjected you to. That’s why he approaches you slowly, making no sudden movements as he picks you up gently, like one would lift a porcelain figure from the ground. When you open your eyes, he had already settled you into his lap as the manta ray curse lifts the two of you up to mount the skies.

You have no idea if he hunted you down or saved you from your own demise.

What a defiant, ungrateful creature you are, you think. You tried so viciously to run away from your burden, and now you feel safe with him again, you dare clinging to him, you dare seek his warmth. The contradicting thoughts and desires torture you on the way back. There’s only one faint voice inside your head that’s capable of calming you down, able to keep your sanity intact…

You’re the lost sheep, and he’s the shepherd who searched all over the world to find you. And he’ll bring you back to the flock, and he’ll love you more than the rest of them.

Your false god. Your fallacious savior. Will he forgive you if you repent on your knees? Until they get bloody and bruised?

Back at the temple, he refuses to let you take even a step on your own. You weren’t born to run, to soil your soles with the ground that filthy monkeys walk on. You’re meant to be worshipped, to claim the whole world as yours beneath dainty, soft feet.

The warm lamplight and the comfort of your shared room helps you unwind. To shift back into a much more civilized, humanlike state. And as you practically glue yourself to the heater, you notice more dirt, more cuts, more blood marring your flesh than you expected.

When you take off your grimy sweatshirt, shoes, and socks, Geto is towering over you. There’s nothing imposing about him, he looks rather troubled as he sighs.

“What do I do with you?”

You roll your eyes. Oh, the good old rhetorical question. He has no idea if he should treat your wounds first, bathe you or break your leg just like the Gospel says.

“Come, let me take a look at your hand.”

You see your reflection in the mirror, and you’re horrified. Your right eye is bloodshot, a deep cut is splitting through your lower lip. You’re drenched in mud, already dried on your face along with some patches of wine dark blood. Together they seal the scraped skin on your cheek, makes your hair stick together into thick strands, accessorized with pine leaves and other remains from your little hike. You’re blistered and torn, you can barely recognize yourself.

It's pleasant to rinse your hands with warm water at the sink, but the sight makes your stomach twist. That nasty wound is too deep, it has to be sewn shut. A shiver races down on your spine when you see the first aid kit. He soaks a fresh gauze pad with wound solution and guides it towards the gaping cut with a pair of tweezers. The sting is horrible, the burning sensation rivals acid being poured straight into your flesh, it makes you grunt and hiss. He gives you a moment to breathe and collect yourself then he continues, despite your whimpers and twitching, tensed fingers. But the pain pales in comparison to when he swipes a new, clean pad inside your wound, cleaning it of all the filth. A pathetic cry erupts from your throat.

“Stop.” you sob, pulling your hand away to hug it close to your chest. You’re too distressed to realize that the temporary discomfort is necessary. But maybe this whole act is nothing but another one of his silly little games.

He places a finger under your eye, close to your lashes and collects your tears. The sight of you crying is somehow not worth of savoring to him. Before any little drop of your sorrow and regret can roll down your cheek like diamonds, he smears them, as if they could make your misery vanish. Well, they can’t. It frustrates you that you can’t let your feelings manifest because he’s ready to devour them just like his curses.

He doesn’t care that your face is caked in dirt, blood and tears, he lifts your chin up to kiss you. Deeply. You’re not reprimanded for not kissing him back.

You were right, he’s definitely toying with you. He makes it hurt before he soothes the ache. He creates a connection in your mind. Like you’re the dog of Pavlov, slowly conditioned to associate him with anything that makes the human heart fill with delight.

The tiles attract your attention much more than watching how the curved needle dives into your skin, how the thread closes the wound proficiently. Your features soften for a moment. Shoko would be so proud of him... Not for the reason he got so good at it though. He learnt to treat his wounds for the sole purpose of not letting a non-sorcerer doctor ever touch him.

He’s crazy. Vile. Petty. And delusional. It drives you crazy too.

But when your stitched hand is wrapped up in bandages, you seriously think about thanking him for putting up with you. For not being angry at you.

“Maybe this will make you reconsider your actions next time.” he remarks in a flat tone, concealing what’s going on in his mind.

You keep your gratitude to yourself.

But it’s not an easy task when he continues spoiling you, with so much care that it rivals motherly love. How he rinses all the grime out of your hair, how he gives you a moment of peace in a tub filled with plain, warm water, no bubbles or scented oils to irritate your scarred, sensitive skin. He dries you, brushes your hair and fills the whole bedroom with the calming notes of lavender and cedarwood coming from the incense burners. But he’s just so fixated on your injuries… every scratch, every surface level cut is thoroughly sanitized. It’s still humiliating, even when you’re the one sitting comfortably on the bed and he’s kneeling on the floor.

You’re afraid the extra pampering will twist your reasoning and resolve. That’s all part of the mind games he plays. You know he’ll go out on his way to prove that the world outside is cruel, that this is the only place where you’re safe, loved. In his proximity, under his hand.

And somewhere, deep down, you admit that he’s close to convincing you.

It makes you mad, you want to tear him to shreds, you want to weep for him just like Mary did under the cross. There’s still care, there’s still love under all those layers of burning hatred. What remains is twisted though, but it is there.

After you’re patched up, he glances up at you, thumb brushing your lip right next to that nasty cut. His other hand is resting where your thigh and knee meet. It’s a sign, a warning.

“Was it worth it, little lamb?” his tone is soothing and playful. So close to being outright mockery.

You reflect in silence, averting your gaze from him. All those scars and discolored skin, your disturbed mind, and the ache in your bones - you realize that your stupid little plan was futile. Totally unnecessary, it’s no achievement you can be proud of. At least if you’re not as masochistic as to pride yourself on your injuries. But the fact that he can recognize the parallels coats your answer with bile.

“No.”

Because you know that you can be so much more… There’re unlimited possibilities to a repented non-believer. And now you know that being his doubting Thomas has no benefits.

Maybe you did lose your faith in him, like the lamb in that story, to eventually realize how much you need him and vice versa. But you’re not satisfied with being a lost sheep. You just haven’t decided on your role in his Gospel yet. This is your call, you don’t know exactly which part of him calls out to you, but you’re satisfied with either of them. Whether it’s a prophet, a messiah, a beast, or the devil itself. The fallen Morningstar who used to be the favorite.

This can be your true Genesis.

“Go on, break my leg if you want to. There’s meaning in that, at least.” you dare echo his last words to Gojo, clean and low.

And your bones remain whole.

You’re relieved. Though you’re sick of his maneuvers with your mind, you’re aware their purpose is not to hurt you or punish you. These aching limbs of yours go limp as he crawls into bed next to you. The arm you were scared of coils around your waist. Viciously tight, much like a snake. The snake that corrupted Eve in the garden. The one that made her sin, got her cast out of paradise, the one that turned her whole world upside down. And maybe Eve did fall in love with the serpent, the worst creature that God had ever created. But even though he caused the fall of mankind, the serpent freed you from the clutches of a jealous, ungrateful god who denied knowledge from his own creations. Now you have the passion to rebel, to prove your creator wrong, to avenge his mistreatment. Give in to the temptation of your snake, believe his honeyed words, accept the fruit for a second time. Because you still remember the taste, oh so sweet and luscious. And with all the power he wields, you can win back your lost Eden or re-build it on earth, the home you’re both yearning for. It’s a promise between the two of you, silent, because words are not needed, only closure.

Something warm blooms inside your chest. Yes, that’s it! You can finally feel it now…

The very first ounce of belief.

[vanmarkus]

Did you like the first episode? I think it felt a lot like older opening eps, all of them involved in the shenanigans and less hectic editing than s7 (also yay for showing buck is smart and competent thank you very much)

hii~

i liked it very much, yes!! and as you said thank god for the editing cuz after 7x01 my head was spinning lmao

tbh the best way to describe this episode would be "effortless" in my opinion; we caught up with everyone (a bit too much exposition for the new viewers, but even that wasn't too bad tbh), we saw some seeds being planted for future storylines and we had fun with bees and triggered half the viewership with needles, allergies and insects lmao

all in all, i liked it and as much as season 7 gave us and as dear it is to my heart, i can already tell that season 8 will be much more re-watchable than season 7 was, mostly because of how tired i was of the cruiseship storyline thanks to the channel-moving promo before it even aired and the incredible amount of secondhand embarrassment provided by darling Buck lmao

i feel like we're truly back in the saddle now <3

[universe-prime]

At long last it's finally DONE😩

For anyone who's been following my old Fugitoid doodles, you'd probably notice that the design has been quite inconsistent between each drawing, so I finally made myself solidify just HOW I wanted my Rise iteration to look. It's kinda funny tbh because I originally started this entire journey thinking "man I like Fugitoid, it's a shame that it's only used as a plot device or exposition machine" to essentially building up an entire new backstory and lore as if this were my own child LOL

Anyway, here are some of my doodle notes and concepts for this lad, as well as other notes to expand even more!!

○ this version of Fugitoid doesn't possess any weapons, except for the tazer-like attachment that their hand can turn into. This is mostly for self-defense and as a last ditch effort because(for obvious reasons) they aren't physically very strong

○ speaking of self-defense, although they don't/can't fight, the Fugitoid is INCREDIBLY bendy and agile to the point that you gotta question if there's even any solid mechanisms in there at all. They can extend and shorten their limbs to an unknown length, all in an effort to be as hard to grab or hit as possible

○ along with these mechanisms, there are so many other attachments and configurations that the Professor is capable of!! What I've drawn is merely a fraction of what they can do, and the stuff I've thought of is about 80% practical and 20% just comedic effect. For instance, the built in skates and extending eye-microscope is totally a daily use thing, but I imagine if it was on the show, there would be gags where a button would be pressed and it'd have a toaster oven in its chest or a full knitting set stored away. My reasoning is mostly that A) the Fugitoid has had a lot of time with this body and wants to be prepared for any situation and B) I just think it's funny°☆

○ on the topic of being in this body, this Fugitoid is WAY older than they might seem. I can't accurately say if they're older than other iterations, simply because I'm not sure if an exact age or time was ever given for those bots, but I can say that the Professor has been dealing with this for many, many, many years. Too many to even count on one hand. It can't stay in one place for long or else it'd risk being found out, but its travels span across many different plants across many different galaxies, all with their own sense of time and distance. Not to mention the time dilation that goes on in travel like that, but needless to say...this bot is incredibly old LOL

○ for those that are curious, "my" Professor goes by any pronouns! They/he/she/it, it doesn't really care at this point. Maybe in its early life it did, but by now, there's bigger things to worry about

○ for any of those also wondering about how this Fugitoid looked before this whole...robot body situation well..👀 I plan on making a separate post for that, but for now just know that they won't look humanoid in the slightest. It always irked me a little seeing the Professor "alive" and he's just...a human or some pointy-eared guy because!! Come on!!! This is an alien! Let it look freaky!!! Where is the spice!! The flavor!?

○ Lastly(and this is mostly just notes on the design) but I added more teal/green to the look cause I liked the color and thought it was such a shame that the only use of it on the Fugitoid was in the face. I just thought it'd be nice to use it more to kinda break up the monotonous white and grey of their usual body

[chaifootsteps]

I have very mixed feelings about Rose Quartz, tbh? Like I think if the brief was 'very morally grey female character' they definitely succeeded

it's more the way the writing goes back and forth that gets me

the big twist is Rose Quartz = Pink Diamond and it works mostly because it recontextualizes the whole show

now RQ is no longer the brave rebel leader but a runaway from an abusive family

and that could work, but the problem is the writers didn't seem to like the idea that people might dislike her even if they still found her interesting

so the episode literally right after the reveal has Pearl exposition dump about how Pink tried really hard to save Earth and it was her meaner older siblings who didn't let her manage her colony planet the way she wanted.

Pink is a Diamond, one of the most powerful and privileged in the Gem hierarchy but she's written like a 15 year old who keeps getting grounded by her older siblings. and that's kinda, idk, boring and weak?

even under that characterization she kinda sucks. She whines and demands a colony of her own and then when she gets one, complains that running it is boring. She's bad at handling any kind of responsibility but she's simultaneously protected by the writers from having any real responsibility for what she did or who she is

And the worst thing she probably does is creating Steven because she knew full well the Diamonds weren't just going to leave Earth alone. She started a war that got a lot of Gems killed then once they'd all been slaughtered by the Diamonds she left any sympathetic stragglers on Homeworld at the Diamonds' mercy and the remaining Crystal Gems on Earth to clean up her mess, including her innocent son who didn't even know who she really was (and neither did Greg, the supposed love of her life, which at least makes it make sense why Pearl had such a superiority complex about being Rose's ultimate confidant) even though everyone would treat her son as being responsible for everything Rose did

But I think the thing that bothers me most about the way the writers framed everything is with Bismuth. When she comes back and Steven fills her in on the RQ=PD situation, she briefly gets angry but then acts as though it makes sense Rose wouldn't want to shatter her siblings. Which it kinda does, but why doesn't Bismuth ask the obvious next question - which is 'then why did Rose start the rebellion in the first place if she knew she wouldn't be able to go through with shattering the Diamonds?' Like Rose set them up for failure from the start here and Bismuth isn't even the slightest bit mad about it?? Why is this kids' cartoon insisting on galactic warfare as a plotline if it's so averse to the possibility of the space dictators dying???

Agreed with most of this, with the exception of "the writers didn't seem to like the idea that people might dislike her even if they still found her interesting." As the show wore on, pretty much every character who wasn't a friend or family member of Rose actively hated her. They had multiple episodes about how shitty and selfish Rose was. Even Steven's mixed feelings on her lean more towards "dislike."

[twst-hottest-takes]

I don’t get Malleus.

What I mean is, I don’t like how the game is basically treating him and MC as BFF’s when I barely know the guy?

I just started the game like, 3 months ish ago, and have gone through the story up until the start of chapter 7. So I’m going off the main story alone here.

And??? I don’t get his character???

Cameo in book 1, during lunch I think? Exposition is cool I guess. But the goes for literally any of the dorms. And honestly the Diasomnia introduction felt more like a Lilia introduction than Malleus’s?? (I can’t recall if Malleus was physically present during the Heartslabyul-gang-introduces-us-to-the-other-dorms-scene. I actually think he was just mentioned by name now that I think about it)

It might just be my awful memory but I do not remember what he did in book 2. I know the Diasomnia guys were there at the end at Leona’s overblot. But I really only remember Lilia being there.

(I don’t even remember what book it was but)

My guy was just taking a stroll down by Ramshackle as he did before we moved in (fair enough)

Makes small talk while being oh so mysterious (you shall call me whatever you like, and MC decides to be funny and go with Tsunotarou because we can, and he goes along with it because he finds it amusing ig)

We’re apparently friends so we invite him to the VDC (sure?? I guess?? Not the first person to come to mind tbh? The game kinda makes us give it to him regardless of how we feel behind the screen)

So coolio, he’s invited to the VDC. Is intrigued to learn that Vil and Kalim (fellow housewardens) are taking part.

Then post-Vil-Overblot finds the stadium in disarray so he uses some magic to fix it up. Then says he looks forward to seeing a good performance, menacingly?? What is with his tone of voice??

He makes another cameo at the end of book 6, where he reverts Vil back to his younger self. (I have thoughts about that, but for the sake of not letting this ask get too long I will hold my tongue.)

Oh and the scene with him and Lilia in Ramshackle? Lilia sharing that ‘this might be the last time I see this star’?? Or something. Dude. You don’t just drop death flags like that?? Hello?? Malleus is reasonably suspicious and concerned.

Then book 7 starts. Lilia’s farewell party and Yuu offhandedly mentioning that maybe they might find a way to get back home. (FINALLY. I was wondering when that would become plot relevant again! I have thoughts of Yuu as a character—or lack-thereof. But again. For the sake of not getting too off topic.)

Then he overblots.

Malleus and the Prefect’s relationship doesn’t feel as fleshed out as it could be. If the readers were self projecting onto MC during their reactions I see how they could get Malleus’s character. But. It doesn’t feel like enough?

I know Malleus practically has no friends and we’re the first person to actually be normal around him ig. But??? The story pivots to him when he was not even in my periphery at times and I guess I didn’t like the forceful ‘hey. I’m here too’ approach the game has with him.

I know the little moments across the books are important to make his presence feel less jarring during book 7, because let’s be honest, Malleus as a character is a lot.

So I get why it’s happened during the course of the series. But the execution is lacking?? Or I’m just not reading into it the way the writers intended.

TLDR : I don’t get Malleus’s character. Malleus is treated like a cameo character in game and does big important things sometimes so it’s hard to grasp how central he is to the story as a whole, especially when the game refers to him as a ‘friend’ when a lot of their interactions in the main story is just pleasantries.

Now this I can understand a bit more.

I'll repeat what I've been saying from the get go:

"Malleus is too important for his own good."

Thank you for your take.

What I mostly mean by this is that he's written to be so powerful and crucial to the overarching plot that it's basically impossible to justify his importance via the superficial writing of the main game. There are so many elements they try to include with his character (more than most of the other cast members honestly), that it becomes hard to parse exactly what you're supposed to think about him sometimes. There's too high a standard to really give him the development and payoff that he needs to justify the setup they tried to go with.

I mean, he is "twisted" from Disney's MOST ICONIC Villainess. How is anyone supposed to reach that standard? So basically the story just does the bare minimum for most of the characters and a little bit more leg work for Malleus, but in the end whether or not people think it's enough will vary. I can at least say with Malleus that they tried, unlike with a lot of the other cast.

I do actually understand the stance that Malleus just might not make sense to some people. But in his defense, for Malleus, he and the MC have a unique relationship to him so it does make sense that he really values them more than they realize.

(Also quick correction, he did not in fact show up in book 1 at all. Only Silver, Sebek, and Lilia appear at the Diasomnia lunch table in that scene.)

[aihoshiino]

A character I wish got more attention was the crow girl. Like we saw she got a role in the movie and that’s it nothing else. Haven’t seen her be cryptic or anything.

I wanna know what your thoughts are on this, especially since she supposed to play as the twins!!

I'm super curious about her! I think it's kind of weird that her inclusion in the movie ended up being so Nothing when it was presented as such a big deal but I guess we'll see more of her if we ever get to the scenes of baby AQRB. Though wtf does it even imply about her existence in the world that they were able to hire her.

As a feature of the story, I don't necessarily disagree with the fandom consensus that she's mostly an exposition dispenser but tbh I don't mind it THAT much. There's been some capital I Implications from hour zero that AQRB's reincarnation was no accident or coincidence so I think having a supernatural character who is in the loop end up guiding them along in certain directions for unknown purposes is pretty interesting. I also think there's some really juicy thematic Vibes in the idea of there being a dubiously antagonistic force who, rather than lying, manipulates and beats the twins around with painful truths they don't want to acknowledge.

As a CHARACTER... I definitely think she suffers a lot from Akasaka's reliance on mystery box storytelling. She was definitely just introduced to be spooky and weird and to imply greater secrets about her existence but none of that has really resolved into anything meaningful or even that engaging about her, because she's just held together with exposition glue and mystery tape. Not that I dislike her or anything! It's just a case of like, wow the guy writing you really isn't sure what to do with you lol

In fact, I have a secret suspicion that Akasaka changed his mind on who and what she was supposed to be partway through the manga?? Like, the corvid associations and general spookiness had pretty much everyone I know going "so she's Yatagarasu? OK" from basically hour zero only for him to hit us with the Tsukuyomi steel chair out of nowhere!!! I don't think she was even associated with the moon imagery wise at all until the heavy handed mention of it just prior to her name getting dropped so I really do think Akasaka just. Initially wrote her as Yatagarasu and then changed his mind HAHA

On an unrelated note, I've been playing Okami again and one of the plot coupons in that game is a sword named Tsukuyomi and every time it got name dropped I went

[sadalmostlesbian]

directors cut of just as it was!!!!

i remember genuinely screaming out loud when i first saw it pop-up in sejanus's tag because i'd been wanting to see a fic of that specific concept for SO LONG (and it definitely did not disappoint!). so i'm dying to know what inspired you to create it and what gives you the ideas to keep expanding on the story!

Ahhh thank you sm for the ask!

I didn't get super into TBOSAS until I saw the movie, even though I read the book beforehand. I liked it, but after I watched the movie... I just knew it was something I was going to get SUPER into. I immediately looked for TBOSAS content on TikTok and the first thing I saw was actually one of your Sejarcus edits! Then I started thinking more about the ship, went to ao3, only to find there were like 14 fics under the Sejanus Plinth/Marcus tag. I was getting a little annoyed at the focus on Coriolanus on ao3 so I thought... might as well write what I want to read. And I did!

When I started writing, I knew I wanted to explore Sejanus's childhood and family dynamic, and that he would escape to D13 with Marcus. But honestly, the rest of the fic I came up with while I was writing it.

I think the majority of the chapters had a certain scene/line/dialogue piece I was super excited to write, and in planning them out I would focus on the build up to that. (Also, I'm very focused on logistics and wanted to make the fic somewhat realistic, so I spent a lot of time plotting milage and train routes on google maps.)

Here's a list of my favorite scenes/lines from each chapter or the point I was trying to establish in each chapter.

This was mainly exposition, I just wanted to show the Sejanus and Marcus snow scene how I imagined it. Also introduction to Strabo Plinth's A+ parenting.

I wanted to kind of explore why Sejanus still acted so "district" even after living in the capitol for 10 years, and I thought the best time to cement an ideology was in childhood.

I just wanted Sejanus and Tigris to interact tbh

The beginning part of this chapter was to establish Sejanus and his father's dynamic in adolescence, the rest was a plot device to explain how Sejanus knew about D13

10th annual reaping scene from Sejanus's perspective

Zoo scene from Sejanus's perspective (not much else to it tbh)

Domestic/child abuse angst, Strabo Plinth being consumed by fear but not knowing how to express it, and an excuse for Sejanus's house staff to hear about Marcus and tell him about the tunnels

This chapter was ANNOYING. OMG it took me so long I did NOT want to write it. It was mostly just planning thier escape. I think the only thing I enjoyed writing was Sejanus's interaction with Marcus at the very end.

Two things I was excited about here. One being Sejanus's conversation with his father (specifically the line "but you don't care, right. As long as your family name isn't tarnished, whether I live or die is of no consequence to you.) And secondly, the paragraph at the end where Sejanus kills the peacekeepers at the border.

"You really believe that?" "I'm trying to."

I was totally inspired by Roman Roy from Succession at his father's funeral for this one, him looking down at the grave and saying "can we get him out?" Just totally reverting back to a childlike state during a traumatic time. That's what inspired Marcus saying "Can we get her down?" I was... far too excited to write that line.

I like writing characters with accents, and Mr. Hadley is inspired by my grandfather (kinda), so he was fun to write and develop as a character.

The kiss scene. That's it tbh i was literally giggling at my OWN writing while writing this chapter.

I love this chapter SO MUCH. It's my favorite by far, but I'd say the part I was most excited about was when Marcus is begging the ppl in D13 not to take Sejanus away because I think it's just a clear moment of vulnerability for a character that tries to come off as very tough and unemotional. But in that moment he can't be because they're taking away the only person he has left.

"Your father’s legacy destroyed my home, my people. It is a disgrace to those who died to allow his heir a place here when they were denied it." Also I love Levee and it's always a delight to write him.

I was just world building 13 here tbh

I really like this chapter but I'd say my goal was to let the teenage characters finally be teenagers. I liked writing Sejanus's internal monologue when he's in the cafeteria and kinda delving into how bullying sticks with someone even when it doesn't make sense.

The goal was to let Marcus be vulnerable (and in conjunction, let black men be vulnerable)

For this chapter I really focused on using small details from canon and working them into my fic. Like how Coriolanus says that Pluribus is good at keeping a secret so I made him a rebel informant. Also I just love Tigris, and shitty Coriolanus Snow verging into insanity.

[arcadia-of-pluto]

I'm making a checklist for Divsia right now and 😳 I absolutely adore this fic—

Like the five separate endings are going to be so mf good!! They're all gonna be happy, bc the only angst I'm good at writing is existential dread which I feel on a daily basis

I've already got the children for each ending planned out (sorry if you don't want children, I wanna see the LADS men be fathers– mostly girl dads but I gotta put some sons in there too). I've also got a neat plan for how I'm going to do the endings!

I wouldn't count this as a spoiler but, for once in my stories, grandma and Caleb are alive and well. 🥺 Allowing them to finally be happy. Gemini (the original protag) is just chilling. She's a lovely gal tbh.

The reader is gonna have a bestie!! An original character! Might fuck around and make her a parallel to Tara– even if she isn't she's going to act similar to Tara since I like her bubbly personality.

I might also let Gemini have Estelle 🤔 or Leonardo da'meowci (aka Leo from ToF, Xavier's cat).

Ezekiel doesn't play a huge role tbh, he's just there for exposition and plot purposes 😎 I'm not even gonna describe his looks bc even if he's got a different name, he's your dad 🤷🏻‍♀️ I'm like halfway through chapter two, so I might work on it tomorrow 🤔

I keep coming up with fire ideas– I wanna talk about them so badly 😭 but I can't. Just trust <3

I'm hoping I can fit it all into like 15 chapters plus the five endings 🤔 also, I'm not going to post the masterlist for Divisa until I get a few more chapters out just so it's not a basically blank post– you know? Kinda like how I did with ToF's masterlist!

(Also I'm not like dropping ToF or anything. I'm basically doing Divisa now so that I have stuff to post in-between ToF! 🩷)

Also since I don't want to make a second post, i just wanted to let you guys know that I can and will take requests! <3 It might take me some time if they're on the more mature side (since I'm on the ace spectrum, I have to be in the write headspace to write smut lmao). But if I like the idea enough, I'll definitely take the time to write a bit for it! 🩷

[were-wolverine]

percy jackson ep1 live reaction

(spoilers obviously)

nope i still hate how they animated nancy falling into the fountain. like it just looks like he pushed her in with telekinesis or smth not like the water grabs her. like it would’ve been soooo easy to just make it look like the water surges up and pulls her in but whatever

why does the mrs dodds scene happen so fast??? they really could’ve (and should’ve) made it longer / accurate to the books. just have her bring percy into the museum alone (upping the creep factor) and use her for exposition. the whole scene happens in like less than a minute and you don’t really have any time to be freaked out by her.

(in the book, reading as they walk into a deserted area of the museum, her saying weird & accusing stuff to percy, it’s soo good and suspenseful)

also why is she speaking to him telepathically tf

and like! they have the time! it’s such a big part of that chapter, it’s literally the title! and she’s only in about a minute of the episode!

ALSO THEY ADDED A WHOLE SCENE RIGHT AFTER IT THAT WAS TOTALLY UNNECESSARY (grover has always been a great friend he doesn’t need to dramatically take the blame for percy. also who tf cares if she was pushed into the fountain, that does not need to be told to the principal tf.)

OH WHAT. HE FUCKING BLAMES PERCY??? no that’s stupid i hate it. plus we don’t get the scene where percy overhears grover and mr brunner talking which ALSO gives us important exposition agh im annoyed. my boy grover would never do that to percy i stand by this

“wanna bet?” very percy energy i love it

gabe isn’t greasy/smelly-looking enough. he’s literally called ‘smelly gabe’ and it’s the whole reason sally married him. he should look like he hasn’t showered in years

sally ur so real for that. sitting in the rain listening to olivia rodrigo

BLUE CANDY YAYYYY

i’m still mad about what grover did to percy tbh, book!grover would never

“who’s Yancy” lmaooo

the whole “why should i let you” is a perfect example of gabe’s abuse ngl

i think they could’ve aged show!percy up a year to thirteen. it wouldn’t really change anything plus it’d be more accurate to walker’s age (he does NOT look twelve, but he could def pass for 13)

we missed the whole three fates scene! and grover being a good friend to percy! i’m upset. so much info and amazing foreshadowing (and grover scenes) were skipped out on

if i was sally i would burst out laughing at “like jesus?” she’s so strong for that

why ‘half-blood’ not ‘demigod’?

grover ily. he’s so cutie pie

mythomagic 💪

“i’m actually 24” i literally adore you goat boy

okay i like that the minotaur fight scene stays mostly the same

HELLO THEY JUST LEAVE HIM IN THE DIRT UNTIL SUNRISE????

[genesisgijinka]

Hiya, did you miss me? Because I have returned to suck out more world building from your brain.

Question 1: Egg.

I am almost certain about what the answer will be, but I'm gonna ask it anyways.

Where do the pokébabies come from? Do they follow the same rules as our world?

Question 2: What's Arceus' IQ (the answer is "yes")

This is kind of a follow up to my Pokéspeak question. In its answer, you spoke about Red's Alakazam, Pythagoras, being able to use sign language. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that that was inspired by Washoe the Chimpanzee. WIth most of Red's mons knowing some sign language.

Relevant Exposition: Pokemon in the anime are mostly at a level of intelligence/demeanor where you could genuinely model swap them with a human and have there be no difference and vice versa (like what you did with your April Fool's post) the prime example is this one [IMAGE-ID: A snapshot from the first season of the pokemon anime. In the scene, an Eevee is seen holding a cup of what looks like juice.]

The question: Is this level of pokemon intelligence/demeanor still present in your world, and if so, where would the line be drawn between human/gijinka-replaceable and actual animal.

Question 3: Programing.

This one is a simple question with a less than simple answer.

How do Game mechanics like Base Power, PP, EV's, IV's, Base stats, Accuracy, and Most importantly: Stat Boosts work in genesis?

Question 1: Eggs Yeah, the whole egg thing I'm throwing out the window as a game mechanic designed to avoid having to explain the birds and the bees in a video game that's marketed at children. If it lays an egg in our world, it still lays an egg. But if there's live birth here, then it's live birth in the world of Genesis.

this now brings to mind, do the people in pokemon games have eggs suddenly appear too?

Question 2: Pokemon Intelligence and Language It varies a little bit on the pokemon individual, tbh. Some are better at picking certain things up than others.

I've heard of several instances of not just our great ape cousins learning to speak sign language, but also some species birds and I think there was a whale that figured out human speech? But that last one might have been more mimicry than actual language comprehension and also brings in the physical capabilities of each pokemon species and their ability to transcend the pokemon/human language barriers. I've also seen several videos of people with big mats covered in buttons for their pets to convey wants and needs to their owners, which the pets do use!

As for swapping out pokemon for people level of swap, the answer is not quite. The April Fool's joke page was just that; a joke. I mostly ignore the anime bc I was not allowed to watch it growing up, plus there's a lot of weird things that don't follow the game rules. But for a long time, as we've underestimated the intelligence of animals in our world, so too have people underestimated the intelligence of pokemon and it's a widely studied subject nowadays.

Question 3: Programming I'm going to be honest, the most I understood about things like EVs and IVs is that number go and number go up when level up. I'm a competitive player's nightmare in that no matter how many times I've tried to learn what these things do, it will not stick in my brain so I'm just, ignoring it in Genesis :'D

As for some of the other stuff, I've actually shown PP running out in comic before:

and Aiden running out of PP is also why he passed out during the battle with the champion squad, ending that fight (iirc I did run him out of moves in-game and he was using Struggle)

For stat boosts, it kind of depends on what I narratively need to happen. We've seen 2 kinds of Barrier; the glowing sheets that Aiden uses, and the blue bubbles that Prime uses (the differences are mostly personal preference). They're physical barriers that block attacks.

Some other instances of stat boosts we've seen are

Light screen

String shot

Will-o-wisp

Me First

Calm mind

and a few others scattered throughout the comic. I mostly go with the in-game text that explains what the move does and find a way to translate it into a visual representation, to show the readers that something happened.