#we have come so far from revolver dragon!

[shishikusas]

“[distribution starts 11/27!] the new song BLACK BISHOP will be available at various stores from november 27th. it will be available on sales stores and streaming services, so please be sure to check it out ^ ^ the start of sales is based on japan time, so it may be a little later in some areas and stores overseas. ‘i take full responsibility’“

hey! masa new song! releasing at midnight 11/27 in whatever timezone u are in! for EST thats in like an hour B)

[floatyflowers]

Hola como esta disculpe la molestia pero por favor podria crear una historia de Jacaerys X Reader "semilla de dragon"x Dareon algo asi como que Dareon lastimara a rader y ella se fuera de antigua y años despues conociera a Jacaerys y se enamorara de el luego en una vatalla se encontrara con Dareon y este intentara recuperar su amor y la ventaja de 1 dragon pero ella ama a jacaerys y no se deje manipular por dareon por favor le deseo lo mejor disculpe por molestar

Translation: Hello, how are you, sorry for the inconvenience, but could you please create a story about Jacaerys In a battle she will meet Dareon and he will try to regain her love and the advantage of 1 dragon but she loves Jacaerys and do not let herself be manipulated by Dareon. Please I wish her the best. Sorry for bothering you.

You have been married to your twin, Jace, right before the war for duty, but before marriage, you were in contact with Daeron through letters.

Both of you are best of friends since childhood, and this is a secret you both kept from your family.

After war, you didn't answer any of his letters in fear of your mother and husband finding out.

However, you answered one letter where he requests that you both meet up in secret and try to end this war and achieve peace.

You always wished for peace from the beginning, so you agreed to the meeting, taking the chance where Jace was off to the Battle of the Gullet

As the sun started to set for the day, the sky turned into a mix of soft pink and orange.

The sea breeze caressed the shores, bringing up the salty scent with it.

Daeron stood at the beach, in a spot that wasn't too far from Oldtown and hidden behind rocks, just as the letter requested you both to meet.

A smile appeared on Daeron's face as he saw you walking towards him, his violet eyes locked with yours and the wind blew his silvery hair.

"I half expected you to not show up, I'm delighted to see that you disappointed my expections."

He said while holding his hands behind his back, a few feet away from him stood his she-dragon, Tessarion.

"I have missed you dearly" you confess with a smile, as you stop right infront of him.

He stood there for a moment, just looking at you, taking in your beauty and the way your irises shined.

"I missed you too"

Daeron said, placing both of his hands on your cheeks, you hold into his hands in fear he might lean in further to place his lips against your.

"Daeron... The war"

You remind him about the real reason for the meeting, already starting to feel uneasy.

Daeron clenched his jaw, his eyes darkened as his voice became serious.

"I brought you here to open your eyes and bring you to the right side of the war"

Your eyes widens in shock, trying to pull away from him but his hold was too tight.

"Jacaerys doesn't deserve you nor your love" Daeron begins.

"I love him-" he cuts you off.

"You love him for duty as you have been always dutiful, but you know that the love between us is beyond duty or lust"

You shook your head in disagreement.

"Daeron, we are nothing but friends, I truely love Jace" You exclaim.

Your Targaryen uncle smirks, tilting his head.

"But does he love you?"

Hearing that, you frown in confusion.

"You know that there is some truth to rumors revolving around Jace having a relationship with Baela"

Knowing very well what Daeron is doing, he is using the information you revealed to him in letters about how Jace used to have a crush on Baela when you were children.

And you aren't stupid to fall for such manipulation.

"I still love Jace, and if you have brought me here to change my mind, then let me make it clear I will always support my mother as the rightful queen of the Seven Kingdoms"

Your declaration didn't faze him at all.

"You are naive to come here alone"

Realizing what he meant, you tried to rush to your dragon but it's too late when you see an army marching behind the beast, they hit your dragon with large arrows directed at the wings to stop it from flying.

"You have tricked me" you wail out in distress and betrayal.

Daeron places his lips against your before pulling away and placing his forehead against yours.

"I have done what is best for you, my heart"

[dwellordream]

Books Recs of 2024

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. Mystery/fantasy centered around Din, a young assistant investigator assigned to help an eccentric and infamous detective, Ana Dolabra, solve a series of murders. Din is an engraver, his brain altered so he has a photographic memory. However, no one is quite sure how he got his current position, since he failed every single one of his final exams except the combat portion. Ana is an exceedingly odd woman who refuses to go to any crime scene in person and often performs mad science experiments in her spare time. As Din struggles to keep up with the case, which revolves around a bioweapon being unleashed on a series of the empire's best engineers, he also worries what will happen when Ana finally uncovers his secrets.

Highfire by Eoin Colfer. Urban fantasy (very comedic fantasy) about a dragon called Vern (short for Wyvern), who teams up with a juvenile delinquent named Squib (real name Everett Moreau) to take down a corrupt sheriff who is plaguing the Lousiana bayou. Vern is a very small (seven feet long) dragon who is the last of his kind (as far as he knows). When he is spotted by a local troubled teen, his first instinct is to hunt Squib down and kill him, but he quickly realizes the two of them have a common enemy- the murderous sheriff who is running drugs through their territory.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi. Magical realism about a romantic-minded art historian who is swept off his feet by a mysterious and charming heiress. After a whirlwind courtship, the happy couple return to her childhood home; a Gothic manor on a lonely island. The more time our narrator spends around his wife's past, the more questions are raised- increasingly sinister ones about who she is and what exactly she is capable of. Once upon a time, she was best friends with an equally odd and dreamy little girl named Indigo. But no one has seen Indigo for many years now- and the Flower Bride may be behind her disappearance.

Chlorine by Jade Song. Horror/magical realism. Since childhood, Ren's entire identity has been wrapped up in swimming. If she can be strong enough, fast enough, special enough, success is sure to come her way. As the end of high school approaches, Ren's passion for swimming becomes less about her future, and more about past legends of mermaids and sirens dragging sailors into the deep. School, friends, and her parents' expectations all fall away- Ren will make her home in the water, no matter what she has to do.

We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride & Jo Piazza. Realistic fiction. Jen and Riley have been best friends for as long as they can remember, despite their vastly different childhoods. Riley is from a middle class Black family; Jen was raised by an impoverished white single mother. After twenty years of doing almost everything together, their lives are at a crossroads- Riley is a news anchor about to take Philadelphia by storm, while Jen is expecting her first child with her police officer husband. When Jen's husband is involved in the murder of a Black teenage boy by a fellow officer, Riley finds herself expected to cover the story- and Jen finds herself expected to answer for her husband's actions- and her own beliefs about what racism looks like.

Queenpin by Megan Abbott. Crime thriller/noir. Our nameless heroine lives a mousy existence working as a bookkeeper for a rundown local night club, but her life is turned upside down when the infamous Gloria Denton, a gun moll and smuggler, takes her under her wing. Gloria transforms her young protege from a timid girl to a sophisticated, cunning woman capable of handling gangsters, conmen, thieves, and bookies, but when she falls for the wrong man, her relationship with Gloria is strained, and they must decide just how far they can trust one another.

Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen. Historical fiction. Based on the real life trial of Katharina Kepler, mother of the famed Johannes Kepler, Imperial Mathematician to the Holy Roman Empire. Katharina is a busybody, a domineering and devilishly clever woman with a particular talent for healing. She is also a fiercely loyal mother to her adult children, but when an old neighborhood grudge flares into accusations of poison and witchcraft, Katharina is determined not to meekly confess and beg pardon. The more she lashes out at her neighbors and the authorities, the more charges begin to pile up against her- despite her son's desperate attempts to save her from torture and execution.

Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott. Crime thriller/noir. Based on a real life murder case in 1931 Phoenix Arizona. Naive and sheltered Marion Seeley is deposited in Phoenix by her disgraced doctor husband, who is forced to take a job with a mining company in South America after his medical license is revoked. Marion befriends the vivacious Louise and Ginny, two fellow nurses, who introduce her to the underground party scene in Phoenix. Politicians and businessmen flock to the secret parties held by them, and it's a quick way to make money on the side. Drawn in by the luxury and thrills, Marion falls in love with Joe Lanigan, a powerful local politician, but as their affair intensifies, her friendship with the other women fractures, culminating in a gruesome crime.

[inactivewattpadauthor]

Erron Black x Reader: Overwatch-Coded

~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Is that the last of it?" Erron Black's muffled voice asks. Kabal had just loaded up the possible last bag of gold and goods in the truck. He wants to be sure none of Kano's men left even a nugget of gold down the ransacked mine.

"Sure is. I already ran through the damn shaft twice." Kabal sharply replies. "We should get the hell out of here before trouble comes. Start telling them to wrap it up and go to the mark-"

A loud noise boomed nearby, cutting the fast man off. Speaking of the devil, huh? Everyone went silent, focused on the direction of the racket. Erron takes his step forward, nonchalantly prepared to light anything up if they dare to intervene the heist.

"Hurry up and get out of here! If they don't kill us and take our score, Kano surely will!" Kabal orders the driver of the storage truck to leave. Kabal steps up to where Black is, prepared to hold off whoever was coming. He readies his hooks. In the back, men shout and prepared guns and got to cover quick, ready to partake in a possible fire.

Showing up a little too late, you and your gang made quite the entrance. Though, you were already irritated that your score as just drove off. Putting that aside, your eyes looked at the competition, then you saw him. Ditto timing with him.

"Erron."

"Y/n."

"You know that chick?" Kabal looks at the cowboy, whom gaze was deeply focused on yours with some sort of visible tension.

"Y/n is a... former partner, a kindly way to put it." The gunslinger rests his hand on his revolver, eyes narrowed at you, not cutting off your eye contact. "Lassie is a wild one, so stay sharp on what she does."

You couldn't help but chuckle at that, slinging your beloved rifle over your shoulder. "That's rich coming from you, Black. Because if I remember correctly, I'm the one not interested in drinking yer' blood." You would never get over that fact. After leaving you, came some vampire woman, then a blood mage. As much blood as you spilled, you never consumed it like those two broads did, but it became clear Erron had a type, and you never had a chance to begin with.

Erron groaned and rolled his eyes. "Women like bringin' up stuff in the past a lot, don't they?"(Author is female fyi.)

Offended, you aimed your rifle at him, his side getting more cautious, which makes your side cautious as well, tension rising anxiously. "Watch yer' mouth, cowboy! Or I'll jam my gun so far up your ass, you'll be spittin' bullets for a hot minute!"

The threat definitely made Kabal grimaced, but Erron was completely used to the creative threats you spewed. "You haven't changed a bit, darling."

"I would say the same for you, but I guess that's what happens when you deal with some weird ass sorcerer. Ain't that right, cheater?!" You spat, flicking him off.

"How many times do I oughta tell you, Y/n? It ain't cheatin' if I left you prior!" Black states. He does recall trying to let you down as gently as possible, but you were a little too crazy in the head to take the breakup well. Poor man almost became Erron Blackeye.

"Forget about all that. I believe one of your men drove off with my score!" You lowly growled. "Be a doll and tell him to bring it back so no one has to die." Cooing with condescension, you raised a hand to gesture for your squad to get ready for a fight. Being truthful to yourself, whether you get the gold or not, someone was getting hurt today just for the sake of it. Maybe definitely the dickhead of your ex-boyfriend. But you wanted to be the one that hurts him.

"Kabal," Erron speaks lowly just for the fellow kombatant to hear. "Take out whoever from that side, but leave the lady to me." Kabal nodded. He wouldn't want to get in the way of a lover's quarrel. "Not possible, Y/n." Erron speaks up to you. "He's already gone back to the Black Dragon camp as far as I know. And you sure as hell ain't gonna follow him."

"Heh, have it your way then." You coldly delivered.

Atlas, the showdown is arriving. Everyone was dead silent and anxious. Only the sound of the wind and the swivel of the typical tumbleweed between rivals roll by. And when the sun is blazing just above, you made the first fire at Black. All hell has broken loose.

The old gunslinger was quick enough to jump out the way and start firing back. Both sides fired at each other, Kabal dashes around, avoiding getting shot and looking for a lacking target to pick off. But you and Erron were too focused on each other, ignoring everyone else.

Realizing his uncovered position, Erron gets back up and scrambles off to try and get some cover, but you jumped to his level, aiming your rifle and completely missing your shots. You growled and chased after him, making sure to dodge any bullets he fires back at you. He gets to cover shortly, and you had to reload, growling as you take the time to. "Give it up, Black! I ain't leaving until your riddled with more holes a trypophobe would dream of!"

Erron makes sure to duck and hold his hat on tight as you fire at his shield of cover. "This really isn't necessary, ya know?" His voice is drowned out from the background barrage of gunfire. Conveniently, he spots a belt of flashbangs at his foot, and he knew this was a game changer.

"Look on the bright side. No women, whether it be a normal girl, or some ugly beast you hooked up with, will never have to deal with yer ass again!" You exclaimed eagerly, readying your rifle and taking steps forward.

"Y'know. I just might look at the bright side, just like you're about to!" What you saw was a bunch of flashbangs hurled up in the air towards you. By the time you realized what they really were, it was too late.

"OH SHI-" Everything was white, fading black as the ringing in your ears were treacherous. You were knocked out.

...

"So what do you want to do with her? Someone like her definitely has a juicy bounty on her head." Kabal watches the tired cowboy lift you carefully on the back of the horse, making sure your wrists and ankles were tied securely.

"She's stayin at a tavern." Erron decides with no debate. Kabal questions it though.

"Then what? A crazy chick like her will definitely come back after she realizes her whole crew is gone. Most anyways. Unless you want someone at the tavern to take her out-"

"Nah, I don't want anything to happen with her. She will be safe at the tavern." The cowboy gives a side glare at the speedy male, hinting his seriousness on it.

Kabal shrugs. "Whatever. It's your woman."

eHe walks off and Erron focuses back on you. "Gosh, I miss you and yer wildness." He searches your person, and finds a folded up, ruined picture. It was of you and him happy together in the old days. He smiles under his mask and tucks the photo in his pocket for himself. Next, he slaps the horse for it to take off with you, watching you become distant. ~~~~~~~~~~~~

[bumblesimagines]

A not so brief summary on my thoughts on House of The Dragon S2:

This finale makes me want to go outside and reconnect with nature 'cause why the hell did they make us wait so long just for a bunch of filler episodes and what was basically a trailer for season 3?

Spoilers for the show AND book which includes the deaths of characters and the arcs they had in the book.

Right off the bat, I'm just going to say that this post, this post, and this post sum up some of my thoughts. It truly feels like Ryan Condal (as well as others in production) had someone else give him a rundown of what happened in the book and just went off on that alone. I admit, I like some changes made from the book specifically with Alicent being Rhaenyra's childhood friend but at some point it just diverged from an adaptation to a fanfiction.

I know people whine and complain that it's 'nOt GoNnA bE eXaCtLy LiKe ThE bOoK' but if that's the case, stop calling it an adaptation and start saying it's based off the book. Of course, people are going to be annoyed when changes are made when they step in with the expectation/hope it'll be like the first few seasons of GoT.

Season 1 was good but rushed and had far too many timeskips that skipped needed character development. We never got to see Rhaenyra shift away from 'I don't want children' to learning of her first pregnancy. We never got to see Alicent fully turn away from Rhaenyra and stew in her resentment over being stuck in a marriage she never wanted while watching Rhaenyra be free enough to have multiple sons with a man who wasn't her husband. Laena, Laenor, and Harwin had little impact because we saw so little of them. We never got to see if Rhaenyra loved Harwin or if she saw him as a fwb.

It was rushed but the characters felt alright.

And then in comes season 2 and we can see that they were too afraid of being called out to write proper female characters. I've said this before when answering an ask but HOTD only has two types of women: rebellious, headstrong, stubborn, warrior girls and sensitive, withdrawn, submissive, rule followers. This is Arya vs Sansa all over again. Women can be multiple things at once. Not every Team Black girl has to be a fighter, not every Team Green girl has to be quiet and faithful.

Why wasn't Rhaenyra angry about Luke's death? She left S1 looking enraged and started S2 off strong in her grief but then Luke was never mentioned by name ever again. I understand burying down the grief and anger to rule but we should've seen her continue to break down in private throughout the season. Her SON was MURDERED and you're telling me she's not going to continue grieving him when she didn't even do anything for half the season? All she did was run off leaving Jace and the Council scrambling to stay together or get consistently spoken over again and again and again. And now suddenly Ryan wants her to be this calculated meticulous cult leader? Rhaenyra's downfall is descending into paranoia and letting her emotions and worries get the best of her (WHICH NETTLES WAS A BIG PART OF). She loses and flees King's Landing because of it.

Why was Alicent's plot mostly revolving around Cole? Why did they choose to have her sleeping with him while B&C happened? In the book, Alicent is essentially taken hostage because B&C knew Helaena took her children to visit their grandmother and say goodnight. She watches her daughter be forced to choose between her two sons only for the son she chose to save be killed. Instead of feeling grief for her grandson's death, she feels guilty for... having slept with Cole. No real thoughts or feelings over her GRANDCHILD being MURDERED. Look, I love the Rhaenyra x Alicent ship but it was doomed from the start. Instead of trying to make it seem like there's a chance, complicate it more! The complexities is what makes the ship good! But no, let's have Alicent, mother of the king and a big part of what started the war, mope around and fuck this dude. Hello?? Are they also setting her up to poison Aegon at the end when she spent half of season 1 saying she needed to protect her children from Rhaenyra???

Why did Helaena mourn her son for an episode and then move on? Are ya'll seeing this pattern or am I crazy? Helaena is supposed to descend into madness over her grief and guilt. She can't look her remaining son in the face because she'd chosen him to die. She's so consumed by this that she ends up impaling herself in spikes after throwing herself from a window. Are they setting her up to be murdered? To do it just because? And what do you mean 'Helaena doesn't ride. She has no taste for it'? Helaena LOVED to ride. Her love for her dragon is the reason Dreamfyre breaks free from her chains in the Dragonpit when she senses Helaena has died. But of course, Helaena is a Team Green girl and only warrior girls ride dragons, right Ryan? And she's Team Green so obviously unlike in the books, the smallfolk despise her as much as the others? They took the devastating choice of B&C and gave it to Alicent in the last episode which makes the death of Helaena's son's absolutely meaningless and unneeded as well as her own death. And also? all of a sudden Helaena can now understand her prophecies and speak them clearly? So why didn't she tell anyone of B&C? Surely a mother would try to break away from fate to save her children?

Aemond, Aegon, Cole, and even Daemon were given more complexities and plotlines than the main women, Alicent and Rhaenyra, were lmao. While the faces of the war were cast aside to be one stereotype or the other, we got to see the men be messy and chaotic and full of emotions. Aegon got to be angry and defensive over his son's death but not Rhaenyra. Cole got to be conflicted over his doings but Alicent was just meh about it. Daemon had so much unnecessary hallucinations lmao. Was it even character development if after every hallucination he still beat his chest and called himself king? He learned nothing but suddenly he sees a horribly CGI put together vision of GoT and he's fine putting away what he's been saying all season long? Come on now.

Jace, Baela, and Rhaena were massively underused. In the posts I linked, it explains my issue with Rhaena taking over Nettles. It's stupid and unneeded. We get to sympathize with Hugh and watch Daemon bang his mom but there's no need for the ONLY WOC IN THE BOOK to be seen? Not even his clear bias for Team Black will allow him to bring in Nettles and let Rhaena be one of the few Team Black girls who isn't a fighter and a Strong Female Lead? Okay.

Jace and Baela were. there. I guess. We could've cut back a lot more of Daemon to show Jace in the North winning over Cregan or even having him return mid-season. He did nothing but serve face and have a few lines of being annoyed. And, it was his idea for the dragonseeds, both highborn and lowborn. And Baela was just there to be his voice of reason. The rational girlfriend who pulls her boyfriend out of his head. She had one good scene where she wasn't just Daemon's daughter or Jace's love interest (they never even did or say anything remotely romantic. They feel like friends over two people in love) and then she just. existed to be there for Jace.

The dragons were great and I loved their designs. I loved that their dancing is based on the birds of prey death drop(?) and I clocked it instantly when I watched Rook's Nest. However, I really hope Aegon belives Sunfyre is dead because of a weakened bond and not that he's actually dead considering Sunfyre burns and eats Rhaenyra alive?? That's his whole thing??

I did not care for Tyland and the pirate chick. We had a full fledged BATTLE be offscreen but we had to see Tyland get tossed around in mud? Okay. Sure. Uh huh.

Like... what was this? It was like hours long filler episode. 'It's setting up for season three!! that's why it sucked!!' but we still had needed action and characters that were brushed over? We could've had the battle between the Blackwoods and the other idiots, we could've had Nettles taming Sheepstealer, we could've had the women feel like real people instead of being one dimensional characters, we COULD'VE HAD RHAENYS HAVE EMOTIONAL SCENES WITH HER BELOVED GRANDDAUGHTER(S) BEFORE FLYING OFF TO BATTLE.

Anyways, honestly, 4 or 5 out of 10 for this season. I was bored for most of it and it was massively underwhelming. I expected this season to end with the Gullet and Jace's death being the straw that finally broke the camals back in Rhaenyra which would've had her take King's Landing in a fit of rage and grief. I also expected Daeron to at least have some sort of appearance? He gets mentioned twice and we see Tessarion briefly but no sign of the missing TargTower son and no Maelor? Okay. Sure. Let's just call this House of The Dragon: The Poorly Written Fix It Fic Brought To Life Instead Of Being Left On AO3. No wonder GRRM isn't going to be involved anymore.

This doesn't read like an adaptation brought to life by a passionate fan. It reads like an adaptation created purely to reach Game of Thrones level of fame and popularity. GoT earned it's popularity in the first few seasons. HOTD is merely piggybacking off it's success and failing at being anything other than a boring high budget show that happens to have dragons.

[cheemscakecat]

Refrigeration

A little fanfic about BLU Spy.

TW: BLU gets confronted about the pictures he took. And why he shouldn’t have been so causal about showing them to Scout

When becoming a mercenary, one had to prepare for the worst case scenarios. Failure, torture, death… death of a loved one. All things that Spy had spent years preparing and accounting for. But RED team still found ways to push the envelope.

It all started with the 1st battle against the nearly identical looking RED team after his nemesis stole their intelligence. And the pictures. Spy kicked himself for falling for the Scout disguise and showing the enemy Spy the pictures. Pictures of said Spy and the BLU Scout’s mother having sexual congress.

BLU Scout was far too outgoing, too trusting. And very annoying, once he got tired of Spy trying to give him a taste of reality. So, those photographs of his two-faced mother were indispensable. The perfect way to wise him up, and now they were gone, wasted. Soldier stupidly shot him, his own teammate in an attempt to out the RED.

The team’s intelligence? Taken by RED Spy. The evidence of Scout’s mother acting treacherously? Most likely destroyed, and now Spy had no recourse for proving the truth to the boy. And of course, the whole team was angry about a singular Spy crippling them and getting away.

But he could use that anger to his advantage. It didn’t take much convincing to get Pyro and Demoman on his side. For one thing, they had been the last two killed in battle, distracted when RED bolted out of base, Scout struggling to catch up. For another, Scout was Pyro’s best and only friend. If anyone would want payback for that Spy outrunning him, it would be the dragon.

—————————

They caught the RED Spy off guard. Together, Demoman’s bombs and Pyro’s fire incapacitated him. Spy watched his RED doppelgänger writhe with a satisfied smirk. Then he noticed the earpiece, which was now visible because fire had burnt a small hole in the Spy’s mask. He grunted an angry, desperate “NO!” as Jacques snatched the device. Demoman pressed his foot down on the RED’s belly to keep him from making any surprise attacks.

Spy heard a voice on the other end and slid the tiny microphone into his own ear, being careful not to reveal his face as he pulled up the mask. “Ay! I’m talking to you ******* , pick up!” It was RED Scout. Spy smugly turned towards his doppelgänger. “Alright! I’m not deaf! Just had to deal with those ****ed BLUs for a moment.” RED Spy gaped and wordlessly mouthed the word “No”.

Good. Now he knew how it felt. Even Pyro seemed to be holding back a hearty laugh. “We’ll hurry up and get to the control room. I ain’t waiting all day.” The RED -thoroughly beaten and helpless- struggled to free himself like he wasn’t going to respawn anyway. How stupid. “Don’t! You can’t-“ He pleaded. Spy merely aimed the revolver at his forehead and pulled the trigger.

He found the RED Scout slouching about near the control room. “Took ya long enough! Thought’ ya planned ahead!” Spy frowned. “It’s not my fault! Those BLUs were paranoid as Hell.” RED pursed his lips and glared like a spoiled child. “Whateva. I bet they’re halfway to the intel by now. We gotta get movin!” Spy tilted his head and jerked it towards the hallway.

Scout blinked at him incredulously. “Don’t change your plan now! Ya said you wanted to lead!” Curse that lousy RED Spy, he planned ahead. “I was just making sure you remembered. Keep your voice down boy, they could be here any minute.” Spy hissed urgently, pretending to be concerned. The Scout stared at him with an unreadable expression. “Well come on! You’re the impatient one.” He urged. The Scout put his hands in his pockets and meandered forward,

Spy didn’t like having the enemy behind him. It was supposed to be the other way around. He’d have to come up with a good reason to pull out his revolver. Maybe pretending a member of his team was-

Something heavy hit him square in the back of the head. His RED Spy disguise disappeared. **** it! He caught himself haphazardly before his head could hit the floor. Scout was just snapping out of his shock when he turned to face him. “I KNEW IT!” He roared. Jacques glared up at him and lunged with his knife, but the Scout easily dodged. He got smacked upside the head again with a red baseball bat. Scout must have pulled it out of his bag with an absurd lack of sound.

Before long the relentless RED Scout had pummeled Spy with the bat until he was unable to move. He was still awake though, which meant he could be taunted. Scout squatted down with a satisfied goonish grin. “Hard to stab a guy in the back when he’s beatin your fricken head in, huh?” Spy refused to respond to the man-child.

RED cocked his head to the side and sneered with disgust. “Our Spy’s a lotta things, but an idiot ain’t one of ‘um. Like Hell he’d call me boy.” Spy cursed himself in his head. Of course they didn’t call him boy, he had a bad attitude the size of Texas! How could he forget…

“Ah! Scout! Can you refrain from killing that Spy, please?” No. Not him! Spy looked on in horror as the RED Medic strode towards them, holding some strange device. The Scout shuffled in confusion, his shoulders tensing. Even the REDs fear him. “Thank you! I have a vunderful new machine I’d like to try.” “Oh! Uh, you wanna use this Spy?” The Scout relaxed, realizing he wasn’t the target.

“Yes! It’s so lucky I caught you like this, we usually kill the BLU team so fast..” Spy tried not to panic, especially since the mad Medic was staring. “Uh… Yeah man. Do what’cha want.” From his tone, Spy could tell that Scout was just as surprised as him. No, no NO! “I’ll leave ya to it then, doc. I gotta go fight n… all that.” The excuse fell on deaf ears, for the Medic was too busy with his device and bone saw to listen. Spy watched hopelessly as the enemy Scout left him alone with the freak.

——————

Decapitation. That’s what the Medic went with. Under normal circumstances it would have been fine. Spy would merely die and respawn back at BLU Base. But RED Medic was anything but normal. And that’s why he was still alive, hooked up to the device and being carried around like a trophy. Spy forced himself to keep a poker face, to try to conceal his fear. He didn’t want to give the Medic any sick kicks or new ideas. Whistling, the Medic trotted into RED’s respawn room with him. The other teammates froze in surprise.

There were rumors about this Medic. Rumors that were not unreasonable. They knew for sure that he experimented on his own team, replacing vital organs with the animal equivalent. There was much speculation about what such a mad-man was capable of, what his end goal could possibly be, and how insane he was. But one of the worst rumors was that he was cannibal. It made sense, what else could he be doing with the discarded organs? On second thought, Spy didn’t want to know.

So he wasn't really surprised when the RED team spoke cautiously with the mad-man. “What’cha got there, Doc?” The Engineer asked. He spoke with the cadence of a mother or school teacher. With underlying unease, of course. The Medic shifted in excitement and held him out further, so they could see.

“I’ve designed a machine to keep heads alive! There’s a vindow of opportunity after the spine is severed, and I wanted to put it to use! Say something!” He shook Jacques’ head like a toddler with a Christmas present, then paused to let him speak. It was risky, but he knew exactly what to say. In French, he viciously insulted Germany; their food, their leadership, and their women. A short but appropriate phrase he learned back in occupied France.

The RED Medic laughed loudly until he was nearly out of breath. “Oho! Ho-ho, that is true!” He UNDERSTOOD?!

———————-

Nicotine was the only tool getting Jacques through the stress of what was happening. Thankfully, the RED Medic provided him with a steady supply of bitter, cheap American cigarettes. It was cold in the fridge. He felt light in a very uncomfortable way; like a balloon that a child failed to hold onto, rising into the sky with the knowledge that he’d pop from the air pressure. He missed his hands, and he missed his heartbeat, and he missed the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. He missed eating and he missed warmth.

He didn’t hate all Germans, but he sure hated this one. He liked the BLU Medic well enough, and looked up to the escaped artists and filmmakers who made it to Hollywood during the war. But he hated RED Medic and his stupid feral grin.

Over the next few days, Spy heard incomprehensible voices through the fridge walls. He could discern the number of people in the room, but never what they were saying. RED Medic was always chortling and talking to his birds. This time, he could tell that the Medic had left the room, leaving him with one other enemy teammate. It turned out to be the RED Spy.

It was an embarrassing situation, being a disembodied head in a fridge and all. But the RED surprisingly didn’t taunt him or gloat about the situation. It actually looked like he didn’t know what to say.

But Jacques knew that RED had a score to settle with him. He had gotten pictures of him and the youngest BLU Teammate’s mama having intercourse. No Spy or man in general would take that invasion of privacy lightly. RED was probably there to interrogate or torture him, since he hadn’t come to gloat.

BLU prepared himself for whatever might come next, strengthening his poker face and praying that the RED would accidentally detach the battery on the device under his neck. He may just be put out of his misery.

RED Spy sighed in frustration and looked away. He paused, still bent down with the fridge door open. Evidently being a decapitated head wasn’t enough punishment for what had happened. Wait. My mask. What if he’s here to take my mask? Jacque himself had only bothered to take the dirtier pictures to see if he could get a picture of RED maskless. But he’d been planning to give it to the Administrator, and had no idea who RED might reveal his identity to. Or who in his family would be in danger.

He tried not to balk at the idea. “Look” RED started. He sounded tired. “We both know what you did.” Spy forced a poker face, hoping he wouldn’t give RED the satisfaction of seeing him fearful. Hoping he wouldn’t slip up. “But it would be childish of me to pitch a fit. You snuck past me fair and square.”

Jacques blinked in surprise, the first reaction he had shown since getting trapped here. He’s not planning revenge? Why? The RED teammate kneeled down closer, frowning grumpily as he did. He stared at his foe with a heavy exhaustion dimming his eyes. This was unexpected.

”You still have more of those pictures, I presume?” “Yes.” He replied without hesitation, feigning confidence. The truth was he might have one or two more of the photographs left, buried under files or tucked away somewhere. But the RED Spy had taken the majority, if not all of the pictures when he stole their intelligence that day. Disguised as poor, naive little Scout.

It was a shame that he’d probably never find another one of those photos, the boy needed to know. He needed to stop trusting his mother with whatever information she knew, so she couldn’t consort with this enemy teammate. But Spy could play the part of someone who still had a collection of evidence, at least long enough to fool RED Spy.

“When we let you go, there won’t be any way to stop you showing him.” The RED Spy sounded almost defeated in addition to exhausted. He looked away, putting his hand over his mouth and letting it fall. When he looked back, his eyes were pleading.

“Can I just make one request?” “What sort of request?” “Don’t show him the pictures of her naked. I saw that you had photographs where she’s clothed, and those will get your point across.” Jacques blinked up at him dully.

“And why should I be so discerning?” You two are the ones going behind the boy’s back for cheap pleasure. RED inhaled and exhaled with a slight shudder. “It doesn’t matter if he hates me. I’m an enemy teammate that he’ll fight regardless. But it matters if he’s estranged from his mother. They’re family.”

Spy felt a burning, deep anger swell in his veins, even without a chest. Family? “Oh, so she can keep mining his naive *** for information? So she can keep lying to him and playing with you? Please, don’t make her sound so innocent.” RED Spy glared at him suddenly, before his expression softened and he looked away. He sighed softly.

“She’s not a double agent. For all you know, I could be lying to her.” Jacques hadn’t considered that. “Look, it’s going to be hard enough when he confronts her over the clean pictures. She’s not the type who’d document her bedroom activities.” Red swallowed. “It’ll distract her, make her stumble over her words thinking about her son seeing things he was never meant to. I’m sure the pictures are an issue she’d like to discuss calmly with him.”

Spy though for a moment. He really didn’t know how guilty Scout’s mother was, or how the real boy would react. But now he knew that RED Spy cared about it. He could take advantage of that, but something held him back. The way the enemy Spy talked and his body language reminded him of something. He couldn’t place it, even with the gnawing familiarity.

But more than that his thoughts drifted to his own mother, and what would happen if there were dirty pictures of her. If he were young, and hormonal and stupid. If some creep showed him pictures of her private business, blaming her for a crime she didn’t commit.

Mrs, Murneau was a cheerful, upbeat civilian who kept her private matters private. And it would be hellish to put her through something like this. To have her son barge in with 500 questions and a file folder of disturbing content, questioning her integrity. And he could picture her horror and difficulty in defending her name, even if she was innocent. He felt a sinking pang of guilt.

If RED Spy wasn’t lying, Scout’s mother was the same way. In fact, Scout might have gotten his overly friendly and trustful personality from her.

“That is something to consider..” RED Spy stared. “Alright. I’ll sort through and find the clean ones. You have my word.” The RED sighed with relief, relaxing his tense shoulders. He’d been expecting his rival to remain unyielding.

“Thank you.” This time when he looked away, it was more casual. “Before I go, would you care for a cigarette?” “You keep a cyanide handy?” “Thankfully, there’s no need. The others are ironing out the details with Medic, but you should respawn sometime this evening.” He stared in shock. They were going to set him free? He’d get his body back! He’d finally be back at BLU base and away from that freak doctor!

Jacques tried hard to conceal his excitement and remain somewhat professional. “If you wouldn’t mind, then.” RED pulled the nasty, cheap cigarette out from between BLU’s teeth and replaced it with one of his better quality ones, lighting it before he closed the fridge door. He savored that good cigarette, which wasn’t the same brand he preferred but tasted delicious and smooth. It was sweeter and lighter in flavor than the ones he bought, which meant the hidden cyanide would stand out less.

——————-

When he spawned back at base, the rest of the team was caught off guard. Apparently he’d been gone for four days, but everyone assumed that he’d taken vacation time. It was his habit as a Spy not to announce his days off ahead of time, so he couldn’t be mad at them for the assumption. When he told them that that RED Medic had decapitated him and kept his head alive, they were horrified.

BLU Medic, who unfortunately looked almost identical to RED, was gibbering and tutting like a hen whose babies jumped in a puddle, and examining him already. Jacques repressed the urge to fight the poor Medic as he got up in his face looking for injuries. He’s only doing his job. It’s not his fault the freak has the same face as him.

The last thing he wanted was to be examined by another German, and that feeling boiled over when the doctor unexpectedly pulled up part of his mask. Before he could think, Spy found himself violently pushing Dr Ludwig and tugging his mask back into place. There was a very awkward hush as Scout and Pyro helped the doctor to his feet.

“I’m sorry. I should have told you what I was doing.” Still shaken by having more gloved hands on his neck, Spy could only nod curtly. Fritz couldn’t blame him for being jumpy and lashing out. “What were you checking for?” He asked apprehensively. “Um… Respawn complications on your neck. Or anything that the crazy Medic might have.. left?” He was not terribly surprised when Spy decided to head to bed for the night without a checkup. He wasn't ready.

———————-

after excusing himself to go to bed and rest, Jacques throughly checked for anything wrong with his neck. He’d insisted that Medic leave him be, but had no intention of dying or getting an infection from an unseen wound. Thankfully there was nothing suspicious, which soothed his nerves and the paranoid itch he’d been feeling. Then he was free to appreciate having his body.

He flexed each of his fingers in turn and balled his hands into fists. He put a hand against his chest to feel his own steady heartbeat and breathing. Jacques felt like sprinting through a field of tall grass - no, wheat- actually tulips, tulips and hyacinths. And then he wanted to roll around the warm grass, not that he’d let his team know that dirt didn't bother him. He had an image to uphold.

But here in his room, with its kitchen and amenities, he was free to celebrate.

Spy set a large pot of water to boil and grabbed a hefty serving of frozen cheese stuffed pasta from his fridge. He chopped and fried up some salty ham, and made a really good béchamel sauce with white wine, cheese, and heavy cream.

When his meal was ready, he devoured it like a starved animal and emptied half a bottle of brandy. After about 3 cigarettes and a glass of wine, he finally got into his pajamas and tumbled into bed. And even as someone who preferred to avoid sleep, he was content to curl up in the bed in the safety and comfort of his own room and body.

[dailydemonspotlight]

Slime - Day 59

Race: Foul

Arcana: Chariot

Alignment: Dark-Chaos

June 20th, 2024

...What is there even to talk about here? It's- it's just a slime, man!

Vee-ho, come on! There's gotta be something there! Just look beneath the surface!

I'd rather not?! Look at this thing! It's disgusting!

cOme OooN mAn.. yoU doN'T gotTA Do mE liKe thaT...

Don't you dare insult my friend, ho! Look, even with all generic monsters, there's stuff to dig into, right? Besides, this skit is get-hee-ng annoying! Vee-ho, just go ah-hee-d and start!

...Jesus Christ, okay. How do I even begin with this? SMT has plenty of classical monster tropes that it has its own spins on- whether it be werewolves, vampires, or, well... slimes. Especially in the earlier games in the series, when the concepts of demons were far less well refined, fantasy monsters that some would call generic were dime-a-dozen, and slimes were no exception. In fact, they were everywhere! Sludge Slimes! Green Slimes! Blobs! However, as the series went on and the identity of a demon was given far more thought, most of these extra slime variants began to fade, leaving us only with the classic Slime and his big brother, Blob.

The thing is, nobody is really sure where the concept of Slimes came from, as there has been no single mythological mention that can definitively trace to the idea of a slime itself. This leaves us with a big issue, though! What the hell is this things deal?! I think I have an idea, but it's a bit strained. Slimes as we know them today originally appear all the way back in the first edition of D&D, back in 1974, but it's believed that the idea can be traced back even further, into the 1930's.

In fact, I think I have an idea that has been attested to by... Reddit. Yeah. Slimes may be based originally off of a type of monster described in the Lovecraft book 'At the Mountains of Madness' called a Shoggoth, combined with ideas of slime mold, and a general need for a generic enemy type. Shoggoth are described as massive amoeba-like creatures that glow gently and have eyes blinking all over them, able to form any organs and limbs they need at will. To quote,

It was a terrible, indescribable thing vaster than any subway train—a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and un-forming as pustules of greenish light all over the tunnel-filling front that bore down upon us, crushing the frantic penguins and slithering over the glistening floor that it and its kind had swept so evilly free of all litter.

This idea can be further traced back to the idea of the Demiurge in the Hyperborean cycle, a series of short stories written by Clark Ashton Smith, but... that's when the trail runs cold. Clark was good friends with Lovecraft at the age, and they took many cues from each other, and I couldn't even find a good date for the original story that Ubbo-Sathla, the deity I'm referring to, originates from. What makes this even more frustrating is that I can't find a good hook to go into with this! What do I focus on? What do I circle around?!

Just think! C'mon!

You're not helping... but okay.

Slimes could also be based on the classic movie 'The Blob,' and combining that idea with Shoggoths could have given rise to this classical idea, but the thing is, linking an actual origin is difficult. It's incredibly possible that slimes are just the brainchild of a bunch of nerds who wanted to come up with an enemy for their very first TTRPG, and it stuck around ever since, becoming a staple of the fantasy genre for years upon years to come. Shit, slimes are insanely popular everywhere you look! There are entire manga revolving around them, the Dragon Quest series's main mascot and icon is a slime, the first boss in Terraria is a slime, and it's the most popular enemy type- shit, Gelatinous Cubes are some of the first things most people think of when they think of D&D! I gotta respect the fact that, in spite of the frustrations in researching these things, they're both cute and incredibly popular.

OoOoooO, dO I haVe faAns?

I'm getting a headache... I'm gonna go lay down.

She-hee left her computer on... I guess I'll wrap this up.

Overall, in the see-hee-ries, Slimes actual-hee have a rather unique disposition, especially in the Devil Summoner games! I really do enjoy the fact that they don't look too fri-hee-ndly in a lot of the games- as opposed to the marketable mascots of several other series, slimes in Megaten can be downright gross looking. Sorr-hee for the BTS drama in this one, I promise we'll get right back to it soon! Slimes are just a bit hard to look into, y'know.

...dO I gEt My caNdY noW?

Yeah, gimme a sec.

[tobiasdrake]

Any love for the beginning of the anime, the Dragon Ball run? I just started and it's pretty charming honestly.

The original Dragon Ball hunt has its ups and downs. The biggest down, of course, being the uncomfortable handling of Bulma at times (as well as Chi-Chi's entire character design).

But setting that aside, it also serves as the foundation for the series to come. Dragon Ball wouldn't be what it is if it hadn't built on top of this goofy little Journey to the West parody that started it all.

When I think of iconic Dragon Ball relationships, Goku and Bulma's friendship is the number 1. Everything Dragon Ball is, has ever been, or will ever be, all started right here with a teenage girl shooting a little boy in the face with a gun.

Goku is unmistakably the main character of Dragon Ball. Characters come in and out of the series based on who is in his orbit at a given time. Even when the series tries to be about Gohan later on, it still winds up being about Goku. The universe revolves around him.

Bulma was the first to enter his orbit, and remains arguably the most important to this day. Characters compete over and over to be the other important Fighty Guy or Guys in a given scene, battle, or storyline. But there has never been another character like Bulma. In the Dragon Ball mythos, she is irreplaceable.

The strength of their lasting relationship is built on the foundations set up in this arc. Bulma is the driving force of the story, with much of its interesting character development coming from the growing dynamic between the self-absorbed and amoral Bulma, and this feral creature of a child she manipulated into accompanying her.

The later context that Bulma's a privileged heiress to a megacorporate fortune explains a lot and only makes things like Goku offering her centipede-flavored roast wolf even funnier.

Seriously, I know I'm harping on about this but I cannot stress enough how much the interplay between these two characters carries this arc.

But it's not just Bulma. This arc also sees the introduction of the Muten-Roshi, or "Old Heavenly Master of Martial Arts" - and the source of Sun Wukong's Somersault Cloud, Kintoun aka the Flying Nimbus in the dub.

Bulma laughs, but Greatest Heretic in the Universe fares little better when it's her turn.

Bulma, you're the best. But you are right this moment manipulating a naive and unassuming child to trick him out of a family heirloom. You have about as much chance of getting on that cloud as Tony Stark has of ever being worthy to lift Mjolnir.

...of course, in about a year's time, she'll have an answer for that. It wouldn't be Bulma if she wasn't using her genius super-intellect and irreverent science to bypass your mystical buddhist gunk. Bulma once managed to fly to God's Temple in Heaven in a plane. Fuck you.

It's hilarious that the character she's based on is a monk.

This arc also sees the introduction of Yamcha and, by association, our first real glimpse of the martial arts battles that the series would become known for.

Yamcha has the distinguished honor of being the first person to ever seriously threaten Goku in a fight.

Granted, it doesn't last long before Goku breaks him so hard he bounces Yamcha's face off of the fourth wall.

Though it's ultimately Bulma who vanquishes Yamcha.

Between the Muten-Roshi and Yamcha, everything that is the Tenkaichi Budokai and the martial arts crew grows out of these early introductions.

The mini-venture to Mt. Frypan sees the introduction of the fearsome barbarian Gyumao or the "Ox Demon King", terror of the realm, famous for looting and pillaging the surrounding territory.

It goes surprisingly well. We also get what may be the biggest and most far-reaching moment for Goku's future from this arc. He doesn't even know it at the time, but Goku takes a critical step at Mount Frypan in defining the course of the rest of his future. After this moment, his life will never be the same again.

He learns the Kamehameha. The biggest staple of his martial arts career, and something he will carry with him for years to come.

Also he gets engaged.

But that's less important. Goku doesn't even know what they're talking about. Some thirty or forty years later, I'm still not sure he truly understands what they agreed to here.

Sorry, Chi-Chi, but Goku is an ace. Despite Toei's best efforts to heteronormalize him in anime filler.

Toriyama had no real long-term plans for Dragon Ball when he was first writing all of this. But he laid the groundwork of so much that was to come. Mind you, not everything that happened on this journey would ultimately carry future weight.

This is just about the only time Oolong is ever relevant to the story. For the rest of the series, he winds up hanging out as an artifact of the first arc, but rarely amounts to much ever again.

Puar doesn't get off much better, but he does get a moment of relevancy at the Uranai Baba tournament so that's something, at least.

Though while his time in the spotilght is slim, Oolong does serve to give us a solid moment of characterization for the vastly more important Bulma.

That is, of course, when Bulma one-ups her previous manipulation of Goku by enslaving a sentient being. Holy shit.

It's easy to overlook this because Oolong's a little terror. He was a ten-year-old kid masquerading as some sort of ancient monster beast in order to kidnap village girls.

A story, I should note, that the dub does no favors to on account of Oolong being voice-acted like a forty-year-old man. One of the weirder consequences to come out of Z getting dubbed before the first anime. He is actually supposed to be younger than Goku.

So there's a punitive angle to Oolong being karmically forced to come with Goku and Bulma. But. Still. Y'know. Bulma.

The final mini-arc introduces us to the closest thing this arc has to a villain: The utterly ridiculous Pilaf-Daio or "Great King Pilaf", ruler of approximately two subjects.

Pilaf doesn't have a lot of staying power, but he does come back from time to time simply because... Well, he's Dragon Ball's most harmless villain. Pilaf is effectively a self-important child with delusions of grandeur. Aspiring to world domination via Shenron and yet surprisingly innocent and naive.

As an aside, I've always found it funny how much Mai sticks out like a sore thumb in their group. Pilaf is a weird little monster elf clown boy. Shu is a dog boy who is also a ninja. And then Mai is an utterly normal woman wearing a trenchcoat.

There's this thing in character design where male characters can be anything under the sun, any sort of eldritch or monstrous or cool or glamorous or wicked design under the sun, but then female characters are often just things like "Woman with hat" and "Woman in skirt" and "Woman in plate armor".

Like you'll have male orcs who are these huge beastly monsters with sharp tusks and grotesque bald heads with horns. And then female orcs who are female humans but green.

The Pilaf gang shine a bit of a spotlight on that dynamic, don't they? XD

But I digress. Point is, the Pilaf Gang are goofy fun. So much so that the anime tried to give the arc more connectivity by adding Mai and Shu to a lot of the preceding mini-ventures too - Although, since they were filler, they weren't able to influence the plot in any meaningful way.

These characters keep coming back because there's something that's just fun about a set of recurring troublemakers. They're the Team Rocket of Dragon Ball.

Of course, this opening arc also has one last piece of groundwork to unknowingly lay for the future: A major hint at what will become Goku's Saiyan heritage.

This is one of the biggest recurring plot points in Dragon Ball. If Goku looks at a full moon, he becomes the Oozaru; A horrifyingly powerful monster that killed his Grandpa Gohan.

Goku doesn't even know that the monster is him; That he, Goku, killed his beloved grampa is a piece of information that dangles over him like a Sword of Damocles as the series progresses.

Though there's also a really interesting implication here buried in the fact that Gohan warned Goku about this in the first place.

Gohan used to warn Goku against ever looking at the full moon. The implication being that one day, Goku messed up and saw it. Then he became the Oozaru, destroyed his home and the surrounding area, and killed Gohan.

But it's interesting that Gohan knew about the full moon and could warn Goku in the first place. The only way he could have known is if it had happened before. The day Goku killed Gohan must not have been the first time he saw the full moon and turned. Gohan had survived at least one Oozaru incident before the one that killed him.

I dunno, that's just interesting to think about.

When Goku does finally turn, this is the most serious the arc's ever been.

FURY OF THE MONKEY KING, THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING

The fight with the Oozaru is short-lived but will have far-reaching ramifications for Goku going forward. This is probably the biggest thing to be set up in the whole arc.

It's a goofy little tale through a silly little world, that unknowingly planted so many seeds and laid groundwork for so much of what Dragon Ball would become. The (failed and yet sort of succeeded) mission to get Bulma a magic dragon-granted boyfriend almost feels like a minor footnote compared to all the storylines that would follow in its wake. But Dragon Ball would never have become what it did without this opening act.

[izunias-meme-hole]

Can we just talk about Ganon in the Era of Wilds? Primarily his surprisingly large presence in all three of the games in this era.

Okay first off, we have this thing.

This is the first time Ganon has been mentioned in this era, and its as a rage beast. Aside from that, Calamity Ganon basically won in BoTW and while it isn’t actively chasing Link, its monsters and malice are spread across the entire land, the Blights, literally extensions of itself, guarded the divine beasts, and it also had a dragon under its control by just infecting it with malice. As for its origins, its hinted and established that this thing WAS a man before it just became a force of nature. So yeah, this thing has an unbelievable amount of presence, but it never once felt like a fully functional creature. It just felt like a desire to destroy Hyrule with no ambitions.

As for Age of Calamity and its altered timeline, Calamity Ganon was stationary, due to lacking its full power after a piece of it time traveled with a guardian, but it had an agent if it’s will.

Astor is supposedly the oracle who told the Kingdom of Hyrule that Calamity Ganon would return in BoTW, and he’s also a servant of Ganon’s will for one reason alone; the power that comes with it. Astor was doing all that he could to ensure his “Masters” return thoughout this entire game, even going as far as manipulating the Yiga. And he did all of this, thinking that he would have a place at his side. Oh how wrong he was…

Calamity Ganon this time around is actually being a manipulative entity, preying on Astor’s detication to him, and his desire for power. Once that was done, it literally ate him and returned in a more humanoid form than before.

Despite not having a more physical presence than it did before, the entire story revolves around preventing its return and a terrible future, and it sees Astor as a way to ensure that EVERYONE dies this time. Still, despite being less of a beast in this game, Calamity Ganon still doesn’t reach an all time high as a villain, primarily because it still is just rage and desire to destroy.

So far, Calamity Ganon, while lacking in any type of personality, it so far has a large presence in both games. But what if I were to tell you that this thing was a small part of a greater power that has been sealed away for generations?

Surprised? Well, then let me introduce you to the overarching antagonist of this entire trilogy.

Meet Ganondorf Dragmire I, Gerudo King turned Demon King during Hyrule’s Founding, the first canonical incarnation of Demise’s hatred, and the origin of The Calamity.

Despite being a recently introduced incarnation of Ganondorf, he somehow manages to weave himself into the narrative of this game and the previous two so well. He’s been sealed away by King Rauru underneath Hyrule Castle for literally generations after his attempt to destroy Hyrule and rule a hellish “survival of the fittest” landscape built on its ashes. Still, as the years went by, his power slowly leaked out of the seal and somehow formed Calamity Ganon, which acted upon his desire to destroy Hyrule and none of his other ambitions. In other words, The Great Calamity was indeed nothing more than the rage and power of this old corpse, and Ganondorf himself was literally a vegetable, only being kept alive via his own Malice, which eventually converted into its more controlled state, Gloom, once the seal on his power began to break.

Then we enter Tears of The Kingdom the exact moment he is revived. Then within seconds he destroys the Master Sword and nearly kills Link with the Gloom, and throughout the entire game he’s busy rehydrating underground in an ecosystem made of Gloom, while also being active through a copy of Zelda, several monsters, and literal copies of himself that scout the area as HANDS with EYEBALLS that will DRAIN the life outta you.

Y’hear that? THESE THINGS COVER THE LAND!!

Ganondorf’s presence as just himself is a step up from Calamity Ganon, yet it also hammers in that Calamity Ganon was just a mere piece, and extension, of Ganondorf rather than the real deal. The writers pulled a Vecna on everyone by establishing this.

TL;DR: BoTW and AoC basically introduced a mindless beast, dropping bits and pieces of its origin, and then ToTK fully introduced the man behind that this beast.

I hope that I’m explaining my thoughts clearly on this matter, because holy shit Ganon’s been around 24/7 this time without actually going anywhere!

[10blue10]

The Hidden World Themes

(Rediscovered this on my computer and decided to dust it off and post it here on Tumblr XD)

The intended themes of HTTYD: THW, as far as I can tell, are about maturing, letting go, accepting change and standing on your own. These are all good themes and I agree with them in theory. The problem is the way they were handled. I’m sorry, but if the themes have gotten mixed up with implications about segregation and ‘otherness’, romantic vs platonic relationships being portrayed as a binary or one better than the other, and looking for a quick fix solution to avoid problems rather than face and solve them…then something has gone very wrong. I’m sure many of you may insist that Dean didn’t intend for these implications to be in the movie, but they are there regardless. If anything, the fact that Dean apparently didn’t notice or dismissed these issues with his script makes him more culpable, not less. Furthermore, does a franchise based on the premise ‘Vikings who ride dragons’ really need to be realistic? I’m not expecting a play by play of how history would change, but when you put dragons, or any supernatural element, in the ‘real world’, that changes things by definition. ‘Realism’ means addressing typically ignored consequences, not ‘copying’ reality (I recommend Overly Sarcastic Productions ‘Trope Talk: Realism’ for a more comprehensive exploration). That’s what reality TV is for. As I was saying…

Theme One – Coming of Age Dean wanted HTTYD to be Hiccup’s coming of age story, but he also projects onto Hiccup, and therein lies the biggest problem with the movie (and really the franchise as a whole). It revolves entirely around Hiccup, to the point that the other characters feel like NPCs, and Dean is simply ‘playing’ as Hiccup. Snotlout, the twins and even Fishlegs are all portrayed as being way more immature, irresponsible and ignorant than Hiccup ever was, but their complete lack of development is used for ‘comic relief’ (and I use the phrase very loosely). They don’t actually matter, because this is The Hiccup Show, aka The Dean Show.

What gets me is the fact that the movie seems to equate ‘coming of age’ with “get married”. Right from the start Hiccup is told he should marry Astrid, and then at the end when he sends the dragons away he’s rewarded for this ‘mature’ decision by… marrying Astrid. Something that was going to happen anyway, because of course it was. There was no way the franchise wouldn’t end with a Hiccstrid wedding scene. Let’s give the ‘coming of age’ arc to Snotlout instead, shall we? After all, he’s had development before regarding his dad Spitelout, so we can run with that. Instead of flirting with Valka (eww), we can have him be overly competitive towards Eret, to the point it’s affecting missions. Snotlout blames Eret for leaving Ruffnut behind, and Eret asks what Snotlouts’ problem with him is. To which Snotlout responds that he’s jealous, because Eret is tall, strong, handsome (wait what?), talented… even Spitelout likes him more! So Eret tells Spitelout that if he really said he prefers a complete stranger over his own son, he’s a shit dad, and then he punches Spitelout in the face. Because who among us hasn’t wanted to see Spitelout get punched in the face? Seeing this would give Snotlout the courage to stand up to his dad later in the movie. / Theme Two – With Love Comes Loss Oh boy. I get it; Dean was going for a classic ‘if you love them, let them go’ message and used this flashback scene to foreshadow/parallel it. But Stoick and Hiccup’s situations are completely different! 1) Stoick thought Valka was dead. It’s not like she decided to go and live with dragons, and he respected her decision to do so. They were separated by something outside of his control and he had to come to terms with that. 2) Stoick didn’t expect the other men on Berk to give up their wives because he’d lost his. Now then, who shall we give the ‘with love comes loss’ arc to? How about Valka and Gobber, who are also mourning Stoick. Perhaps they both unintentionally put pressure on Hiccup to be like his dad, trying to vicariously have Stoick with them through his son, if that makes sense. We could replace the flashback with a scene of them worried about Hiccup. One thing leads to another and they realise that they’ve been so focused on wanting Stoick back in some way that they haven’t just mourned and reminisced together. / Theme Three – Embracing Change “Look at you, embracing change. I’m proud of you” – says Astrid, to… I’m sorry, who? Hiccup? As in Hiccup ‘changed the whole of Berk’ Haddock? Hiccup ‘first Viking to ride a dragon’ Haddock? What the fuck? This line is stupid and makes no sense. Actually a lot of Astrid’s lines are stupid and make no sense, but I won’t get into that. The point is, Hiccup is the last person who needs to learn to ‘embrace change’. In fact, let’s just cut this theme entirely. There’s such a thing as having too many themes crammed into one story. / Theme Four – Stand/Fly on Your Own

Now for the theme that even the marketing played up. Hiccup thinks he’s nothing without Toothless, so he needs to let Toothless go. That’s the only way for him to stand on his own… or is it? Yes, in real life circumstances change, friends and even families drift apart, and people should be able to ‘stand on their own’ as independent individuals, absolutely – but we do this all the time without having to cut off ties to those we care about. There are hundreds of people in healthy, balanced relationships who still have friends beyond their significant other. ‘If you love them, let them go’ is a nice sentiment, but to me it applies better to unhealthy, imbalanced relationships i.e.: a parent who can’t deal with their child growing up, or an ex-lover struggling to accept that their partner has moved on.

As a real world example, if someone is dependent on another (often a romantic partner) for self-worth, the solution would not be to have them cut ties with their source of affirmation. It would be better to help them find self-worth within themselves, so they can ‘stand on their own’, without having to rely on another person’s approval or support…but that other person can still be there. So let’s address the Buffalord in the room; Hiccup’s apparent dependency on Toothless. For the sake of argument, we’ll assume he is too reliant on his best friend as a source of self-worth. The issue that needs addressing isn’t his reliance on Toothless, it’s his lack of self-worth without the dragons. Sending the dragons away didn’t need to be the ‘solution’ to this problem. He and Toothless had an equal, healthy partnership, shown through their matched missing limbs, similar personalities, and the way they treat each other.

HTTYD1 gives us a perfectly valid reason for why Hiccup would associate his self-worth with Toothless and the dragons. After all, if it weren’t for training Toothless, he would have stayed an outcast in his own tribe. People tell him “You’re nothing without your dragon”, but these people are usually the villains. As in the ones he has no good reason to listen to. If he believes them on some level, then that means neither he, Stoick, Gobber or Astrid ever addressed the issues that led to his lack of self-esteem and his need for an emotional crutch (which ends up being Astrid). That is the real problem, not his friendship with Toothless. If we want to give Hiccup an arc about ‘standing on his own’, let’s pick up where the second movie left off and have him still be torn between his duties as chief and what he actually wants to do with his life. At the end he understands that he doesn’t need Toothless or the dragons to define himself with, but he wants to keep studying and rescuing the dragons regardless. He chooses his own path rather than trying to follow in his father’s footsteps, thus culminating the arc of individualism/self worth that started in the first movie. I’ve also come up with a parallel negative arc for Grimmel that can tie into this ‘rewrite’, but that can be it’s own post, since this one is long enough as it is. So, how would you guys improve on the themes in THW?

[oneatlatime]

The Deserter

How is this the first time anyone's had the bright idea to try disguises?

Sokka's sarcasm coming dangerously close to breaking the fourth wall here. Some pretty strong lampshading.

(edit: going through this just before posting, I realised this line is pretty much a sarcastic thesis statement for this episode, maybe this season.)

This is too cute. This episode both Appa and Momo understand english.

Saviour of the World, everybody.

There must have been a Gang goes to the Mall episode I missed where Sokka and Katara bought their stealth cloaks.

Say what you like about the Fire Nation, they do have gorgeous architecture.

Katara perfecting non-verbal burns with the mask-switching.

Flaming Fire Flakes have the honour of filling this episode's Beat Up Sokka quota.

This is actually less violent than the actual Punch and Judy. Poor puppeteer has to sew a new earth kingdom soldier for every performance.

Dovebending!

I know Aang is characterised as fun and fun-loving, but maybe don't take off your disguise in the middle of a group of your enemies? Is this going to devolve into an "Aang is stupid" episode? Because we just did that last episode.

And now he's sulking because he missed the chance to be outed in front of the whole crowd? Aang has no brain this episode.

Of course the fire nation would have fireworks. I find it interesting that the more artistic methods of bending have survived a century of war. Unless there's a combat style where soldiers bend dragons at the enemy, you'd think that bending for fun and entertainment would have been condemned by now as useless to the advancement of the fire nation.

Raise your hand if you didn't see this coming.

I have very little patience for Idiot Aang, especially when his idiocy revolves around needing to be the centre of attention.

Appa just murdered those guys.

How did Sokka figure out that Chey was a fire nation soldier just from looking at his face? Everyone in this world so far is borderline faceblind, what with the number of times that our main three have passed unnoticed. And yet Sokka gets one look at this Chey guy and clocks him as fire nation? How? Chey doesn't have a different accent, or a giant F on his face, or even a helpful identifying Zuko scar.

"Some say he's mad. But he's not. He's enlightened." Regardless of what he is, this is not how you ought to sell him.

Why doesn't anyone ever listen to Sokka? He's always right when it counts: they did get clocked at the fire nation festival, the fortune teller was a crook, Jet was untrustworthy, Katara was going to get them in trouble with the pirates. Hasn't anyone in-universe noticed the pattern yet?

So Chey is a cross between a fanboy and that one awkward kid that no one likes, and Aang is this episode's idiot. But who are the hat guys? Are they like the third through ninth deserters from the fire nation? They don't seem anything like the people at the festival, so they aren't the locals.

Zhao the asshole is back. An idiot and an asshole this episode. I suspect this episode won't be a favourite.

Ever so fed up with having your good advice ignored that you involuntarily plank?

I have no idea if this deserter guy (NOT going to try to spell that one phonetically) actually has the ability to tell what disciplines someone knows by the way they walk, or if that's Chey's fanboyish tendencies coming out. But if it's true, being able to tell someone's abilities and skill level at a glance would be an incredible advantage in a fight. No wonder they promoted the guy a bunch.

And so rather than do the sensible thing as Sokka suggests and leave, Aang leans even harder into his idiot tendencies. Sigh. You should absolutely go talk to the firebender who just told you to fuck off by proxy. What could go wrong?

I'm grasping about 40% of this fish speech. On the other hand, I'm getting the discipline speech 100%. And agreeing with it too. This episode's whole opening vignette was about how Aang lacks self-discipline. Setting aside the fact that going to the festival was a bad idea in the first place, they could have attended unnoticed if Aang had mastery over himself. This deserter's got Aang clocked.

Do you get the feeling that this deserter's negative experiences with fire are perhaps colouring his view a little? He does make a good point though: mess up with airbending and someone has a bad hair day. Mess up with waterbending and someone gets wet. Mess up with earthbending and someone gets squished. Mess up with firebending and someone gets roasted. There's a bit of a jump in the seriousness of the mistakes between air/water and earth/fire. And we already saw Aang mis-bend water and send all their supplies down the river, so it's not like the deserter is wrong to think Aang's not ready. Plus, of all the elements, only fire does its own thing when you're not looking. I bet the very first thing firebenders learn is not how to make fire, but how to control/snuff out an external fire.

Love this visual. Roku's statement is true, which once again calls into question how much of Aang is a unique person as opposed to a conglomeration of previous avatars. But the deserter's right here - Aang doesn't have the self-discipline to learn fire right now. I don't know if learning water and earth first would get him that discipline, but it would certainly buy him a few more months of maturing.

If I had to be an army deserter on the run from an evil imperial power, this is certainly the place I'd choose to hide. So pretty.

Sokka isn't an oaf!

This is going to go so badly. This deserter guy is 100% right to start with the basics, but Aang is the opposite of a willing student. He's happy to learn, if they do it his way, which is jump straight to flashy fire and burn everybody's eyebrows off. Not to say the deserter is a good teacher - he's certainly not suited to Aang. But people strong armed by spirits generally don't bring their A game.

It seems to me like bending fire is almost more about leashing fire than using it.

Wasting his time? Didn't it take Aang his whole life so far to master airbending? And he thinks spending a couple of hours on the basics of firebending is wasting his time?

Dear Avatar writers: My comment about Aang burning everybody's eyebrows off was supposed to be facetious. Could you dial down Aang's idiocy this episode just a little bit please? Feeling really sorry for the deserter here.

This deserter's got sighing down pat. I get the impression that he's had decades of dealing with hotheaded idiot students.

Zhao was his student? That's a neat way of doing combined backstory and parallel story in the present. I thought it was a flashback but it's actually what's currently going on. Neat.

"Learn restraint or risk destroying everything you love." Good lesson even outside of a bending context.

This golden forest throughout this episode is absolutely gorgeous. Although it seems to be stuck in eternal sunset (not complaining).

I was right! Firebending lesson number one isn't making fire, it's leashing fire.

"But I'm ready to do so much more" Hell no you aren't. The fact that you say that with a straight face after A DAY of lessons proves you aren't.

You mean you failed the lesson. Congrats.

Hey look. Exactly what the deserter said would happen is happening. And so an innocent pays the price for Aang's hubris. Ain't that always the way?

Hell yeah Sokka. You tell him.

Here's a good lesson for Aang to learn, unfortunately at the expense of Katara's arms: sometimes sorry doesn't cut it. Since Katara's arms are injured, is she currently unable to bend? With the amount that her self-image is built around her bending, this is going to double suck.

Katara can auto-bend?!? Instinctively? That was lucky.

Hey deserter guy: while your insight into waterbending healing and the firebending mindset is certainly valuable to Katara and the audience, maybe a recently-burned teenage girl is not the best target for your talk therapy?

Master indeed. That's got to be the single most impressive firebending move yet. Look at that. That's one guy!

See Aang? If only you squatted a little lower, you'd be able to pull this off.

Aang still hasn't learned his lesson. Impulsively firebending should have taught him to be less impulsive. Instead it teaches him to make dramatic blanket prohibitions on firebending and throw himself head first at Zhao with no plan.

If Zhao is an admiral, and the deserter's former student, does that settle Chey's admiral/general debate on the side of admiral? Or do fire nation military branches do cross training?

Now it's Zhao having the hubris problems. Does he really think that 8 guys, only 4 (?) of whom are benders, can take down Mr. Firewall?

The way Zhao's voice actor delivers the line "until I got bored" very nearly redeemed his whole character. Suddenly not just an asshole, but a human too. Given how abrasive the deserter is, I'm almost sympathetic.

Who wins in the fight of Aang's hubris v. Zhao's hubris?

This is a very cool move. It seems that Aang only has hubris problems when he's trying to bend fire - he's back to his usual self when he bends air. Can the element have that much of an effect on the mindset?

I'm really liking this delightfully one-sided fight. Aang really redeeming himself for his early-episode idiocy.

This should not work on a well-adjusted adult.

"I don't know why, but I thought you'd be better than Zuko." Tragically, Aang has no idea how savage that line is.

"Jeong Jeong said you had no restraint" says the kid who, up until this scene demanded it, had no restraint. A stinger of a line that is undermined in context.

Literally.

How many outfits did Aang pack? Because air nomad tailors aren't exactly thick in the air these days.

Was that a whole camp of deserters? And they've all gone into hiding?

Getting the first fishhook out with a second fishhook: when logic goes too far.

Final Thoughts

Zhao really screwed up this time. He and his men are going to have to walk back to their ship.

Roku really screwed up this time. Katara wouldn't have been burned if Roku didn't intimidate the deserter into teaching Aang.

Chey really screwed up this time. If he hadn't brought Aang back to his camp, he'd still have a settlement to live in.

Aang really screwed up this time. If he hadn't insisted on both attending the festival and outing himself at it, he never would have led Zhao to the deserters' camp.

Just a thought: maybe spiritually bullying a scarred veteran into teaching combat basics is a bad idea?

I really want to like this episode. Beautiful setting. What Sokka and Katara stuff there is, is great. Appa and Momo even get a funny joke, and Appa gets to murder some people. And most importantly, the deserter is RIGHT. THE WHOLE TIME. And he was right to insist on not teaching Aang. Roku really blew it. Everything the deserter knew would happen if he taught Aang did happen, because he knows firebending, and he knows how students like Aang approach it (and let's be honest - he's not the right person to teach Aang anything). Now Aang's thrown up a mental block around firebending that will have to be surmounted no matter what he says he will or won't do. At least Katara uncovered a new skill.

I have not seen Apocalypse Now, but this is Apocalypse Now, right? In which case I know why Aang doesn't work for me this episode: he's in the wrong genre. This episode is actually quite serious. Chey may call the deserter enlightened, but Chey's an idiot. What the deserter is, is broken. He's another victim of the fire nation. He's also easily the most skilled firebender we've seen so far, with deep insight into at least part of the nature of his element (I say part because the episode itself suggests that his view is overly negative by having him point out the sun as a source of fire, which isn't inherently destructive - it just is). The deserter is a person you absolutely should listen to, saying things Aang absolutely should hear, albeit he says them rather harshly. But Aang is in peak kid's cartoon mode this episode, and the deserter (and most other characters actually) are in Vietnam-era War is Hell movie mode. It makes Aang jarring throughout, to the point that I was mad at him for most of the episode.

That being said, Aang almost (almost) completely redeemed himself in that last brilliant fight. 'Hoisted by his own petard' has got to be one of my top three favourite narrative devices, and that Zuko dig was the icing on the cake. As I said above, it's a goddamn tragedy that Aang doesn't have the necessary context to know how much that dig hit home. Then again, Sokka and Katara would probably appreciate it more than Aang. I feel like they're more appreciative of petty vindictiveness.

Speaking of Sokka, great to see the continuity from last episode's lesson: ride or die for Aang until it's family on the line. Sokka will gladly take Aang to the north pole until Aang steps between him and his father, at which point he's on his own. Sokka will gladly take Aang to the north pole until he hurts Katara, at which point Sokka will rub his face in the dirt. And, honestly? At that point of the episode, Aang's flaky hubristic 12 year old idiot side was so annoying to me that I was rooting for Sokka in that fight.

We know Aang's a bit of a softie, but someone who didn't know that just saw Sokka face down the Avatar for the sake of his sister. Takes courage.

It was also nice to see Sokka and Katara more united than usual in their opinions. While Katara was willing to give things a chance, neither of them was all that enthusiastic about anything that happened this episode. Usually Katara blindly follows Aang and blindly opposes her brother, so it was nice to see her more (not fully) aligned with both sense and Sokka.

It's not really touched on, but Aang really screwed things up for the various deserters. They weren't exactly comfortable where they were, but they seemed settled, safe, and provided for. Now they're presumably on the run. Oops.

If I could excise Aang from all but the last fight of this episode, it would be a serious contender for my favourite so far. But as I cannot excise him, this one is thoroughly middle of the pack. This episode had some serious stuff to say about the horrors of war from a perspective I defy you to find in any other kids' show, if only Aang would sit down and shut up for a minute.

[felixcloud6288]

Fullmetal Alchemist Chapter 30

We've had one traumatic death, yes. But what about second trauma?

Y'know how Greed said Ed was the type who doesn't mind getting beat up but will lose his cool when others get hurt?

Greed is also that type of person. This is the only time he's been furiously angry, and it's after seeing Loa and Dorchet killed in front of him.

I wonder if Bradley knew Martel was inside Al's armor before she tried to kill him. If she had kept quiet and let Alphonse quietly sneak her out, I wonder if the scene would have ended with Bradley saying something like "Before you go" and then running his sword down Al's chest.

The scene transition after Martel is killed implies Al lost consciousness from the shock. I wonder how that works though. I know falling asleep and being rendered unconscious are two different things, but I'd assume there are some overlapping characteristics that should cause Al to be unable to fall unconscious because of his condition.

I wonder if Martel's blood spilling on Al's bloodrune might have momentarily disrupted the seal and disconnected Al from his armor and if maybe Ed pulling Al's soul might have had something to do with Al not having his memories to begin.

I've got no real ideas with that. If something comes up later, I'll talk about it then.

But Al managed to reach that silhouette of his mother and that's what caused him to lose his whole body.

Bradley demands to know if Ed and Al traded any information or made any deals with Greed and threatens to kill them if they did. Considering what Bradley is, it's pretty wild he'd make that threat. He was willing to kill one of their sacrifices to ensure their plan wasn't found out. Or maybe he was intimidating them into silence.

Al being a suit of armor was probably known to the Homunculi long before this point. Greed found out because of the rumors in East City after the fight with Scar, and Lust was on the train to Resembool. Bradley asking about why Al is a suit of armor might be the first time they considered him as a sacrifice candidate though.

I'm glad Ed pointed out the inconsistency from Bradley saying he wants to find out what the military conspiracy is but then killing a bunch of people who could have been potential leads. Of course we as the readers understand it's because the conspiracy goes all the way to the top at this point.

Wouldn't it suck if you bought a house in Central and there's a window that allows one of those searchlights at Central HQ to beam into your house?

The scene with Riza is playing out like that scene with that white girl in every horror movie, right up until she pulls out a gun and shoots Barry.

I just love how she hid a gun in her grocery bag. Did she put it there after leaving or does the grocery store stock fully loaded revolvers next to the pet food? And where did that other handgun come from? She's not keeping a holster of any kind and just before this panel, she was using her right hand to hold her groceries.

Her grocery bag also had dog food so she canonically has Black Hayate at this point.

There was a missing person flyer for Yoki.

We can still see the bullet holes Danny and Maria gave Barry.

We see the military banner. It's a horned(?) dragon(?) with a winding tail.

It must suck for the people whose office windows are behind the banner.

back

Spoiler Discussion

Bido being established as not at the Devil's Nest during the raid shows how far ahead Arakawa had the story planned.

Arakawa planted a little seed here which would bloom into a major plot point dozens of chapters later. Hindsight and this scene proves she planned to have Greed return and have him betray Father a second time.

[mudora]

unnnghhh, I just need to get this out of my system before it gets stupid.  I promise, it is a -very- silly and light criticism of current totk discourse revolving around the three Goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore. Honestly I shouldn’t even be negatively affected by just some fun theories being thrown around, but clearly I’m bothered by it for some reason. And I can likely explain why. (This isn’t to stop fun fan theories from being made or me being an old codger and saying NO to fans, because that’s completely rude. If those developments are genuinely exciting to you, I getchya.) 

Current talk is that at least in BoTW and ToTK, the dragons that are roughly named after the three goddesses (not my assumption) (and are referred to as she) by the Goddess statues, are Zonai who consumed their stones. So at least in this universe that BoTW and ToTK decides to be in, these goddesses were mortal in some way or somehow turned their secret stones into the triforce or... something along those lines. I don’t inherently like this line of thinking, for a few reasons. Sort of the same reasons I don’t inherently like the idea of Zelda basically being the Virgin Mary figure in skyward sword and onward. It’s just opinion, and shouldn’t affect your fun times. And for some dumb reason it bothers me and I just want to explain why. The Golden Goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore, were not sideliners when it comes to the entirety of Zelda lore. They made the world, full stop, and possibly other worlds that also appear in the Zelda series. They -made- the kingdom of Hyrule, and left the Triforce behind after their creation was complete. They have no official appearance in any game (these are not the oracles), but their hand is -felt- in certain ways. Even if their presence is subdued, they still call the shots on their creation. Just like them, their respective Triforce Pieces represent their philosophy. Din is most comfortable in their Power. Nayru has ageless Wisdom, and Farore gives courage to all she holds dear. Together, they represent The Legend of Zelda’s whole philosophy: As one, they are perfect, working in tandem. Apart, they are still powerful, but become imbalanced and that imbalance throws the world into chaos, as it has time and time again since the Triforce’s original separation in Ocarina of Time. The Goddesses Themselves continue to have namesakes within the series, which is where the Dragon’s names in BoTW and ToTK will become more familiar. At least since Twilight Princess, the Light Spirits that protect the world of reality from shadow, are named subtly after their creators. Faron (Not Farore), Lanayru, (Not Nayru), and Eldin (not Din). They bear the responsibility of protecting creation and the Sacred Realm from the shadow the Twili created, and naturally were eventually banished to the Twilight Realm due to their sacrosanct acts. This is, as far as I remember, the first time we hear of these names. They were created by Din, Nayru, and Farore, but they themselves are not the gods incarnate, and never were. They simply had a purpose, and carried their namesake due to who mothered them into existence.  Now, again, I don’t really subscribe that much to a timeline, and never really have regardless of the “Official” timeline existing. BotW and TotK feel wildly different in terms of what is included in them. We at least know there are *stories* of the Hero of Time, the Hero of Winds, the Hero of Twilight, etc, etc. or they are at least vaguely mentioned in ancient rites and likely moldy tomes that haven’t seen the light of day in thousands, if not tens of thousands of years. Most of this ancient era has come and gone, to the point where the Sheikah tribe of old developed frickin computers with magic powers, and by the time THAT was featured in BoTW, it was already ANCIENT Sheikah tech. But with the events of ToTK, I’m completely complacent in thinking this could be a completely different -universe- then the actual “Official” timeline.  Much like how Termina exists, It’s not really difficult to imagine several different Hyrules existing in many alternate realities, dimensions, planes, what have you. And just because the Zonai exist does not inherently mean the Triforce and the Goddesses don’t also somehow exist in this set universe. I don’t believe the Goddesses would suddenly decide to become Zonai, when perhaps they are the ones who created them anyway, much like the Hylians, the Gorons, the Zora, etc. And even if there are multiple Hyrules, The Goddesses literally made it. I doubt, in any timeline, plane, reality, dimension, that fact would somehow be different, as they are literally the ones responsible for its actual existence. The Zonai, after all are said to be -descended- from Gods, and are only seen as gods themselves due to how these Gods GIFTED these guys with Secret Stones.  This of course, brings us to the dragons in question: I do understand where people believe these three dragons could be the Goddesses. Though the Zonai consider the process of Draconfication forbidden, I don’t really think it’s as forbidden as we think it is. Where I differ from the current discourse, however, is that I don’t remotely think Din, Nayru, and Farore were somehow Zonai, and partook of their sacred stones and it became the triforce. This just doesn’t make sense with the very little we have to go on, for a lot of  reasons. 1, we have to presume Din, Nayru, and Farore already exist, and have existed for Milennia. Otherwise, the Kingdom of Hyrule -would not exist-. Neither would the Hero, Neither would Princess Zelda, Ganondorf, etc.  However. I have a theory that the Dragons are the God forms of the Zonai. Though they are a bit goat like, they also share... quite a few draconic traits on their own, no?Sharp teeth, hair that more serpentine dragons have from Japan and China. They came from the literal sky and wished to bring their bounty to the races of the land. The Zonai -revere- dragons and dragon kind. The Secret Stones themselves obviously don’t just turn Zonai into dragons, as we can see from Zelda consuming hers. I presume, that these gifted Secret Stones likely come from the God-like dragons that the Zonai likely descended from. When swallowing a stone, you are inheriting the power of presumed God-hood as defined by the Zonai. You become immortal. You lose yourself. Because mortals and Gods are profoundly different. Now, whether or not Dragons are capable of becoming mortal on their own is a good question I can’t answer, but I suspect the Zonai have -way- more relation to the concept of the dragons then they do Din, Nayru, and Farore. The same goes for the Dragons that are already within Hyrule: Dinraal, Naydraa (Wtf that isn’t even close to Nayru), and Farosh.. These guys have way more in common with their other namesakes, the light spirits of twilight princess, then they do with the actual Golden Goddesses. And they presumably also share something with their Light Spirit Namesakes. They are guardians of the springs of Power, Wisdom, and Courage respectively. However I picture this relation to be more of these dragon gods wishing to protect creation from ages long past. Perhaps these Dragons never became Zonai. Perhaps these dragons are Zonai who wished to fulfill a purpose in protecting these springs. But being the Golden Goddesses themselves? I highly doubt it. There is plenty of room within the Zelda universe to have the Golden Goddesses remain as such, and to have other gods and spirits fulfill myriad roles deemed important to the Cycles.  If anything, I would say the Zonai are an interesting addition to the many races of Hyrule, and their story is a more compelling one, when viewed in a lense that encompasses their relationship to dragonkind. Not God-kind. Or... at least DragonGod Kind. I also feel like viewing it this way is -way- easier to swallow then somehow relating the Secret Stones to the Triforce. These are their own unique goodie. ToTK, more or less, is a lesson that the Triforce has already taught many times, but through a different lens. Might and Power can obviously come from many different things in Hyrule, and a DragonGod’s essence? Well.  How could Ganondorf, one who seeks power with relentless force, resist?  In her Wisdom, Zelda chose to seek this power to protect her Kingdom from the plague she so feared.  And Link, once again, is the edge of the sword, stuck within the power struggle. Yet his courage and valor lead to the destruction of the Demon Dragon.  I don’t know about you, but the Goddesses are definitely watching. And not as dragons. 

[ilikekidsshows]

The impeccable timing of this series, following up an episode of Casey at his worst to Casey at his best. Really bringing in that “if you love Casey, you’ll love everything about him, bad house guest and all” energy, and we are loving it. True Casey fans will love him regardless if he’s trashing the place and causing sympathy cringing or if he’s being the local big bro to misguided youths and having a deep personal grudge with the main villain’s most badass enforcer (so far).

Casey episodes also just tend to be really funny. Last time most of the comedy came from Casey’s hijinks, but this time the Turtles get to bring the comedy hour while Casey is busy with developing his pathos further. I genuinely didn’t remember that Hun knew that the Masked Vigilante is the same kid whose dad’s house he torched in his youth. And yeah, Casey does yell his name a lot and all the Purple Dragons, who Casey specifically targets, report to Hun, but we saw in this very same episode that the Purple Dragons aren’t the brightest bunch when it comes to recognizing their arch foe. That means that Hun has been thinking back on this particular crime he committed to remember the shop owner’s kid.

There’s significance here. Fanfic writers should get on that and elaborate on it, if they haven’t done so already. Was Hun targeting his old stomping grounds and that’s why he remembered it so well, or did the burning of Casey’s dad’s store have some other significance? It could have even been his initiation, since this episode revolves around a Purple Dragon initiation.

[littleshysheep-at-da]

Hello, I hope you are well. Can you please share some headcanons and canon reflections about Karnatia and Schlain? I really loved the ones that you did for Wrath. Thank you so much!

Thank you so much for the well wishes! I’m still VERY ill but have a support system trying to get me help ☺️ so we keep chugging! Still won’t be super active here but I LOVE answering these asks 💕

And THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE VALIDATION ❤️?! Like I am so incredibly happy people enjoy my ranting and want to hear/value my opinion, it’s wild and super enjoyable.

Still considering just posting my whole current Kumoko Headcanon (I have expanded some points from previous Kyouya/Wrath one too haha) but it’s suuuper long and I am CONSTANTLY adding too it. Let me know if anyone is interested.

Kyouya is def my fav so I have waaay more for him but I do have some for Katia and Shun (probably more on Shun just cause we get more from his perspective in the Novel)! As a massive Shipper again most of them revolve around my OT3 (I have no shame there haha).

Heads up for Spoiler Warning (I think I give mostly vague Spoiler for the entire series but except the Kumoko/Wakaba thing is directly said).

(Again I’m ripping this from my KumoDesu Fanfic ideas Doc so if some of the wording is wonky that’s why because it’s older and I write this just to get my thoughts down).

Trans Katia: Update: 16 novels we get two chapters from Katia’s perspective but I think there is one or two more shorts from her perspective in the Ex-Ex2. Okay so far in all 12 novels we get one (1) chapter from Katia’s perspective so there’s not a lot to go off but Katia was definitely closeted/uncracked egg Trans Girl in her past life fight me. Cracking the egg/getting outed via isekai lol. Out of roughly 30 reincarnations Katia is is the only one that switched gender and it’s explained (aside from Oka which D did just to cause trouble) the system puts them in bodies that best fit their soul this being why some characters reincarnated as not humans and why Katia is a girl. So the only characters who changed gender or race are Katia, Fei, Sophia, Kyouya, and Oka who doesn’t count in this. Shiro was always a spider thus why she is a spider. Kyouya deeply agreed with the Goblin’s mentalities and morals. We see later that Fei’s personality and morals really fits with the dragon's code of conduct. Sophia being a vampire isn’t super explained and more how people viewed her. So like failing in line Katia must be a Trans Woman basically.

Katia Anxiety: I think Katia is very protective of her boys. It’s kinda obvious when she meets Shun again and then when they get in dangerous situations. She’s so scared of losing the people she cares about (I think she’s often the most aware of how different and how dangerous the fantasy world is compared to their previous lives). I think the realization Kyouya probably isn’t on their side (because of how Oka kept avoiding the topic) probably hurt her a lot, because she doesn’t want to abandon him but also is too scared about losing Shun as it is (and I feel like when she puts everything together after the fact she feels super guilty for not pressing more). It kinda seemed she really didn’t have many people she was close to in her past life and the fact that Shun (and I’m gonna Headcanon here later Kyouya) still accept her despite everything that’s “different” (cough cough eye cracked) is huge to her. I’m glad in the Novel Shun always does a very good job conveying how much he appreciates, relays on, and trusts her because god she needs it.

Shun and Julius: The fun part about Shun as a Character is he is painfully aware how much of an NPC he is and that he doesn’t fit the role of Hero. Which is why I think he looks up to Julius so much and later on tries to emulate him. He quite frankly knows he has NO IDEA what he is doing and wants to be as level headed and smart as Julius. I think that his idol-like obsession with Julius comes from his own insecurities.

Shun, Katia, and Kyouya are Weird (aka Poly):“They're weird about each other” is one of my favorite Shipping reasons because it’s so true. I mean Shun and Katia are pretty solid in Canon and I would say I’m just adding Kyouya to it to make it an OT3 but also once I see it I can’t unsee it. Just the fact that all 3 of them single out their “Friendship” as something special. I don’t think Katia super had other friends in her past life (being an uncracked egg will make that hard) but Shun and Kyouya did and they never really mention it. Shun was peak NPC and was not super close but friendly to most of the guys but he NEVER mentions it until running into them again (apparently he was on a soccer team and just, never thought it was important or that big a deal). And it’s Shiro who mentions it seems like Kyouya and Shinobu were friends in their past life, Kyouya barely mentions it even after seeing him again. Just the “you're weird about each other” being a way of saying “that’s a little more than a friendship I think” basically.

Polyamorous not having Legal Marriage: So at the end of Volume 16 they mention that nothing is know about Shun’s love life, which might mean he never legally married. Now I like think Shun and Katia legally married and then Kyouya is their lover (they have a non-legal marriage for the 3 of them in private). But I am just saying this can support my Ship because Polyamory isn’t really that accepted publicly so they keep it secret (open secret among their friends though). It’s sort of an AU but I’m just saying.

Shun Salaryman: So it says at the end of Vol 16 Shun goes back to help his Brother and all I can think is he’s finally becomes a Salaryman. Imagine he helps with all the paperwork instead of decision making. And he’s really good at it to the point of everyone’s surprise. He finally realized JUST how lost he was trying to be a Hero (he always sort of knew but now that he’s found his calling it’s super obvious to everyone else as well).

Shun’s Accidental Rizz: So we see that Shun is always ridiculous earnest about his feelings and has no qualms expressing his appreciation (we see this most to Katia early on where he always thanks her for helping him). So I like to think for my OT3 he accidentally says the most romantic shit to Katia and Kyouya all the time unprompted because he’s just being honest about it (Kyouya Bluescreens because he’s so unused to verbal affection (he likes it he’s just used to the Demon Army’s brand of nonverbal love) and Katia goes Tsundere Mode when flustered).

Shun Perception Check: Shun is both really perceptive and an idiot at the same time. So he is able to perceive all sorts of little subtle tells that others can’t but at the same time has no idea how to process what they actually mean.

Shun: Shun is an Emotional Support Dumbass. And anyone who hates him (usually people who only saw his botched Anime version) can meet me in the pit. I also think his general easy going-ness probably helped both Katia and Kyouya a lot in their past lives (because it seemed like neither of them had the easiest home life’s and then they have it rough again after being reincarnated rip).

And that’s all I have at the moment! I’m always adding more though haha. Feel free to keep sending KumoDesu Asks I love them!

[psychewritesbs]

Hello, Gege's unpredictability aside (cause they might decide to just up and kill Megumi or Sukuna next chapter🥹) given the recent developments in jjk regarding Sukuna and Megumi, I'm curious as to what you think of the old theory that Sukuna might be grooming Megumi to be the next king of curses?

Cause tbh I can kinda see it but at the same time not. Sukuna's too elusive for me, and I'm confused whether it's just my interpretation clouding my judgment but in the earliest parts of the manga, Sukuna and Megumi's dynamic (though interactions happened sparingly) gives me a pseudo mentor/mentee vibe. And we see Megumi taking Sukuna's words as advice and even improves on his technique because of it. I find it esp. interesting that during Megumi's first deployment of Chimera Shadow Garden, despite the flashback to Gojo's training, it wasn't until he remembers Sukuna's words during their fight at the detention center that Megumi decided not to use Mahoraga. In a way, he kinda responds more to Sukuna's observations than Gojo's. So yeah I can see it.

But then we get to the current stuff in the manga and it seems that Sukuna's fixation with Megumi is a lot simpler than what I had in mind. Megumi had potential as a vessel but he is not a cage like Yuji, Megumi's 10 shadows is a good counter to Gojo and then there's Mahoraga. So maybe it's as simple as that.

But then there's Sukuna. He still remains a mystery to me. Idk how to perceive him. Gege, despite writing Sukuna with the typical one-note villain traits, it's flashbacks like Yorozu's that offers the possibility of there being something more to this 4-armed godly figure than what is initially presented to us. And I'm stuck between dismissing it as Yorozu's own wishful thinking or entertaining it as an intentional narrative hint from Gege. Cause if this turned out to be some sort of vague misdirect just to milk a reader's curiosity and tendency to look for meaning in everything then I'm up for another disappointment. This wouldn't be the first time Gege made an emotional or narrative build up towards something only to throw it to the side and proceed with the story as if nothing happened.

I guess, in the end, this theory relies heavily on whether or not we've seen all of Sukuna. But nonetheless I'm still interested on your thoughts cause I need someone to overthink things with 😅.

HOLA anon!

Well... regarding your comment about Gege's unpredictability and the possibility of him deciding to "just up and kill Megumi or Sukuna next chapter🥹"... considering you sent your ask before chapter 236 dropped, I gotta say your concern aged quite well 😂.

Anyways.

To be honest, I didn't know that such a theory existed! It makes so much sense that it does. I thought the theories regarding Sukuna and Megumi mostly revolved around Megumi getting eaten, which we all saw how that went.

But a theory about Sukuna grooming Megumi, as you say, does and doesn't make sense it actually pains me to say that it reminds me of Orochimaru/Sasuke. It is actually something I had speculated in private conversation with moots myself.

Let's taco'bout it and overthink the hell out of it further under the cut.

Why it doesn't make sense that Sukuna is grooming Megumi as the next King of Curses

I think Sukuna is far too selfish for that.

Not only that. The mindset that Heian sorcerers have around power is specifically based on their desire to come alive in the face of death. Like in Dragon Ball Z, Heian sorcerers take great joy and honor in battling stronger opponents.

Based on what we do know about Heian sorcerers and their desire to battle to the death, it would make more sense to think that Sukuna is grooming Megumi as a worthy opponent. Therefore, you could say it would be in Sukuna's best interest for Megumi to get stronger. This is actually what I mean when I say Sukuna is too selfish.

From my perspective, I don't necessarily think that Sukuna is selfish in the sense that he wouldn't want to hand over his title, but rather that Sukuna would want to fight someone who can challenge him and make him smile like only Sukuna can smile when he's enjoying himself in battle.

In other words, Sukuna would want to fight Megumi to death.

I also think at this point it's safe to say Sukuna's interest in Megumi was primarily 10s, more specifically because he saw an opening to take it by force.

As for Megumi, I wonder if more than seeing Sukuna as a mentor-like figure, he took his words (and Gojo's) as validation that his sense of self was limiting what he thought he could accomplish--the pinnacle of sorcery, Domain Expansion.

The way I see it, if this calamity, the King of Curses himself, told you that you have wasted your potential, it is sure to make you think twice about how you see yourself and what you can accomplish.

And here's the kicker...

So why does it make sense that Sukuna is grooming Megumi?

I wonder whether your intuition isn't picking up on one possible outcome for Megumi's fate.

I personally hope that Sukuna taking 10s from Megumi will backfire on him as it has likely given Megumi the opportunity to learn how to master the technique considering Sukuna is doing with it what Megumi had yet to accomplish.

In other words, Megumi is learning from Sukuna. It's not a formal mentor/mentee dynamic in the strictest sense of the word, but there may be an exchange of valuable learning happening regardless.

The thing is that Megumi and Sukuna share an inner domain, so we can assume Megumi is watching everything from inside the domain since Sukuna specifically killed Tsumiki with the express purpose of having Megumi witness her death at his own hands.

Anyways, that's my hc and specific hope for Megumi, as well as my interpretation to your question.

Sukuna, the one-note villain

I think we're in for a treat regarding his character. That's how I see it anyways since I am a Sukuna simp.

Also, part of the issue with Sukuna is that Gege has kept his symbolism and his philosophy rather tightly guarded. He only reveals bits and pieces about him, but it's always enough to make me want more.

I also have to admit I love that Yorozu's words just keep reverberating, so I'll probably write more about it for chapter 236.

Here's to us getting a payoff on "ultimate strength and the loneliness that it brings".

Thanks for reaching out overthinking-anon!