#weird ships have nailed their own coffins

[nickel156]

I went to Tumblr and Reddit after reading the entire series of ACOTAR + the bonus chapters and saying that I was SHOCKED when I saw that some people still ship Elriel so seriously is an understatement. Ok they have a low reading comprehension, but reading Azriel's bonus chapter and not seeing the obvious signs that Elriel isn't happening is just… I'm at a loss of words for this. I feel bad for them in some way. May the Mother protect their mental state after the next book is published🙏

I read ACOTAR years ago.

I never actually knew how popular they were until fairly recently. I must have been living under a rock fr..

But then I had my own theories and I'd look something up and it would always lead me to a tumblr post.

Then I went to Reddit and realized the sheer number of Elriels.

This was before I read the BC. (Again with the rock)

I never thought Elriel was an actual ship. Not once did I question if Elucien was going to happen.

It felt like a weird culture shock to see that so many people shipped them.

It still doesn't make sense to me. It's so obvious that SJM is going another direction. It's laughable.

The BC was really just a nail in the coffin, I don't know how Elriels see that BC as being romantic towards Elriel at ALL.

I feel badly for the naive Elriels who just want their ship to work out.

But all the other Elriels screaming at us.. they don't know what toxic is. Not once the next book is announced.

I will become unbearable and feel no shame dancing on the Elriel grave saying "I told you so"

[charmac]

Okay so, I got high for the first time in awhile and I'm thinking about Sunny just, It's weird that I always do, near obsessively, have since October of 2022. It's just like, my favourite thing to love and to think about, but I have been watching for a lot longer than that. I'm just gonna delve on my pipeline from casual fan of this show to stan, cos I think it's interesting and I'm high so nothing is stopping me:

For over three years I've been watching this show on repeat, whenever I didn't have a scheduled show to watch, I'd pop it on. But I just watched it casually, normally, like haha funny bad people show kind of way (I am sorry). All I did was watch it over and over, sometimes see a funny viral Sunny Tweet and like it, and then the Podcast came out.

And it weirdly made me more into the show, more introspective about the characters. So I would interact on r/IASIP but they just, didn't really get it properly.

And then S15 aired and Reddit really didn't get it and Charlie Kelly was just this massive presence in my mind, and I wrote a silly little kidfic about him because I was just thinking and thinking. And Reddit didn't get it.

So I I tried to come onto Tumblr, but everyone shipped Macdennis and I. Did Not. like Dennis. I saw him how your average r/IASIP commenter sees him. (So sorry.) I thought shipping Macdennis was fun in a, like, asking Mac to get completely used and fucked over kinda way (again, so sorry). Imagine my shock walking into Sunnyblr with that idea. Tumblr liked Dennis.

So I just kinda did the Episodes on repeat/Podcast/Subreddit kinda vibe for awhile. And then I met Meg and talked to her, and I stood two feet away from Rob and I know it's cringey, lmfao, but something shifted further. I was talking obsessively to my bestie @macdennissurvivor and Twitter started showing me Dennis edits. And then I made a silly little Macdennis edit of my own.

Then I went to the live show in Philly. And the audience was miserable and oh my god none of them get it. But there's so much to get . And Glenn, wow, weird, interesting guy. (And he weirdly kinda clarified that Dennis wasn't straight.) The show was fine but the audience was miserable because none of them get it. They throw out lines and references and it's all a joke. But it's not all a joke, there's so much to get. They're not getting it. Please someone else get it.

And so I dipped my toe back on Sunnyblr. And I got more involved with Sunny Twitter and Nat (legal last name Paddysroyco) Tumblr user @boysareouttonight's Dennis edits were like the final nail in the coffin of being a stan.

I think something shifts when you are able to look past Dennis' facade and actually see the person inside, the character they won't let you see unless you really get it.

And the obsession begins, and continues, and is good to me, keeps me happy and everything here just tickles my brain and makes me engage and talk. And like there's real, actually insanely intelligent discussion on here and meta and analysis and theories and then there's the most cracked out post you've ever seen and then there's something that's somehow both and it's just something else.

I'm at an all-you-can-eat buffet after reaching into the depths of my cupboards for a month straight. And we're getting more, and a lot, and whatever it is is more content. Every frame, every title, every crumb we find, there's other people here who get it all and make it fun, in a way that's not tiring or eye-rolling or completely off the mark, in a way that keeps me full-steam rolling ahead and coming back.

This devolved a little, as thoughts do, but I am happy to be here, I guess. I'm looking forward to this fucking season and whatever lies ahead: whether it's dry for Macdennis or overwhelmingly wet, whether we get solid character development or some weird backsliding, a mix of both, if there's strange retcons or really fucking-good ones, any unexplained moments or looks or props, or expressions, I'm experiencing it all with people who get it. Maybe in a completely unhinged way, maybe in a crazy smart way, or a reasonably sober way, but always from a place of getting it.

We're getting Season 16, it's real, more to the story, more to piece together and layout and pick and prod and compare and re-tell (and re-write if you really want). In, like, 18 days. Fuck me up.

[stupendouspeanutstarlight]

Undiscovered future - pt. 1

Jake Sully has been on Pandora for one year, and has no knowledge of his daughter on Earth (Plus his five years in Cyro). Heather O’donald and Jake Sully, long time friends, never had any romantic relationship besides comfort between one another, after the trauma of war together, but from that comfort brought Savanna Sully. 

Getting lung cancer at only the age of four and fighting the disease for two years the RDA approached Savanna’s mother, who has been highly sought after for her highly decorated military career and expansive knowledge on trauma surgery in the field. Up until this point she had no reason to accept the RDA’s propositions. She was unable to bring her daughter along with her in cyro if she wanted, so she never had a reason to accept. Before dying on Earth, Savanna Sully’s consciousness is transferred into an avatar's body, when her mother agrees to join in the RDA’s mission of Pandora's destruction.

(In the story people will refer to Savanna as her mothers last name to hide her identity, but high ranking RDA officials know her official last name is Sully)

Also eventual aonung romance! Will take a bit, story will be mainly family related for awhile.

__________________________________________________________________________

Heather O’donald was a nothing if not a loving mother, as a highly decorated veteran and as someone revered in her field she had extensive connections. She fought tooth and nail to provide for her daughter all on her own on a dying planet, but unfortunately not everything could be solved with connections. After being diagnosed with lung cancer, repeated hospital visits since the age of four and intense drug intervention, Savanna’s condition didn’t seem to be improving, but deteriorating rapidly. In desperation Heather did the only thing she could do, reach out to the company who had been trying to get her skills and co-operation in a last ditch effort to save her daughter's life. In return for her mothers service Savanna’s consciousness and memories would be copied and put into an avatar's body. Having to keep the existence of a child avatar's creation confidential the agreement was to grow Savanna’s body while her mother was in cyro on the trip to Pandora. In order for the plan to be enacted Heather would have to withdraw care from her child and watch her die. There ended Savanna’s first life, her human life and began the push for her future.   

Aboard a ship about to make contact with Pandora was the new avatar body of Savanna Sully and Heather O’donald. Waking up to a blinding light was the first thing. The second was the unusual strength of new strong lungs. Blinking rapidly and accessing the surroundings, scientists with lab coats poked and prodded, machines buzzing, and beeps rapidly indicating the sound of her rapid heartbeat. A sound that was familiar, but sharper appeared to the right, “Savanna, baby, can you hear me? Look at mom.” There stood Heather O’donald, who was in the hospital only five minutes ago, but she had a different haircut and she was tinier. Going to rub her head to figure out what was so weird and why her mom was so different when it had only been a short time, Savanna brought her hands up to her face. Upon seeing blue she stopped dead in her tracks. Blue hands! hands were blue! Why are they blue! 

(Time jump)

Thinking back to the first step, the first inhale, the second life as an avatar, memories and fondness of the beginning of a new life sprung to mind as Savanna watched her mothers coffin being sent into cremation. Life was simple when they had arrived, being a six year old and learning to navigate in a child navi body had its struggles, but her mom was her rock and shoulder to lean on. That all changed after Savanna’s eighth birthday, the new RDA base camp was settled and General Admore demanded more of Heather and Savanna began military training; although she was a child Savanna was considered highly valuable and was expected to join the ranks of RDA soldiers when she was ready. Years of grueling Navi training in their language, customs, and weaponry along with General Admore’s intense military training by the age of eleven Savanna was participating in small routine military activity around the base. Savanna having lost her first life to cancer it was a sad humor that Heather O’donald also suffered the same fate, but her illness being in the brain, making a mind transfer impossible. Now at twelve years old Savanna was orphaned.

Savanna Sully knew of her father and his past, but nothing of his present other than the information offered by the RDA, simply he was a traitor to the human race. Growing up Heather would tell stories of her friendship with Jake and how wonderful he was, which was why Savanna always felt so torn thinking of her dad. Gaining the favor of scientists who disagreed with the RDA’s path, but wanted to research Pandora, Grace and Jake's video logs were open season. Watching and re-watching all the logs made the past seem so complex, and annoying. Wishing to just meet her dad and get straight answers, but knowing that could not happen was torture. 

“O’donald! Time to suit up, we're out of here by O’six hundred. Time to finally meet some of the locals kid!” A new team member that was previously a soldier of the RDA, but brought back named Linc hollered. Normally Savanna was to remain strictly to base operations, but being an incredibly gifted soldier and fluent in Navi she was beginning to get more intense missions. 

“I’m almost ready just grabbing some ammo!” Grabbing a couple mags and stuffing them in her pack Savanna sprinted out to the helipad. 

The ride was uneventful. This was just a routine mission for most soldiers to go to the outskirts of native territory to get information and get out. When the small deployment of two avatars and Savanna touched ground the helicopter returned to base camp to await the pick-up information. Nothing particularly interesting was happening, and no locals had been spotted. Linc was about to call for evac, but a cry in the distance was heard. Slowly in a triangle formation with Linc at point the group follow the noise to discover a very injured and pregnant Navi woman. “Well look what we’ve got here sweetness!” Only receiving a hiss back Linc chuckled. “I guess we should put the bitch out of her misery then folks!” Sabrina the other marine chuckled, egging Linc on, and began circling the woman. Frightened and scared she began to pray to the great mother.

“Linc! This isn’t right! She’s not a threat, our mission is data recovery and then to leave! Not kill a pregnant woman!” Moving to stand defensively in front of the Navi woman, everyone went silent. 

“What do you think you’re doing kid? She’s a native, it doesn't matter if we have a little fun right!” Linc was trying to be humorous, but his eyes and tail betrayed his anger. Thrashing out of control he approached and whispered into Savanna’s ear, “I won’t have a tree hugging thirteen year old get in my way!” Throwing her to the side he began his taunting steps towards the woman along with Sabrina. Raising his gun two decisive shots rang through the air. As Savanna’s supposed comrades' bodies hit the dirt she could only think about how screwed she was. 

The Na'vi woman stared at her stunned before speaking after several silent minutes, “Why? Why did you help me?” 

“I-I, I couldn’t just let them kill you! You haven’t done anything wrong! Omg, Omg, I can’t explain this to the general! Where do I go Now!” Pacing, the ground beneath began to warp from the intense steps. 

“My father is the Olo'eyktan of the swamp people. Would you be willing to learn sky demon?” 

“Of course! I Can’t go back!” How could this be happening? A routine mission gone so wrong. Why is a Navi who is supposed to be vicious and inhumane offering me help? 

“Then come, if you assist me my village will only be an hour's travel from here. I was only to gather today, so my mate will notice my absence. My people will find us on the way, do as I say, or you will die.” Stumbling a little still shocked from the sudden events of the afternoon, Savanna approached the Navi woman and assisted her movements. How the hell am I going to survive this.  

__________________________________________________________________________

Please give me feedback! I didn’t read anything over and am trying to make everything line up time wise, but honestly probably going to be a lot of creative liberty on that part. Quartich isn’t here yet and my character is supposed to be a year older than Neteyam in her body, logistically she should be older, but having her avatar grown she wasn’t aging with her mind just being on a file so she’s only a year in her mind and body.  masterlist

[pepplemint]

I don't know for sure how many of these are actual parallels and which I just made up but

Here's a list of all biblical references I remember in Trigun

Story-wise:

Vash & Knives acquiring "forbidden knowledge" and bringing the literal downfall of humanity (Adam & Eve eating the forbidden fruit of knowledge and getting thrown out of Eden)

The city preying on travellers being destroyed, only a girl who had been out of town left alive. (The City of Sodom; God sends two angels to carry out his judgement on the town of sin. As all the men in town rally around to kill the angels, only Lot is left alive as he leaves the town.)

Knives getting all the dependent plants that are largely being abused by humans in an attempt to bring them all to a new promised land, bringing out revenge on those that oppose them (Moses bringing the oppressed israelites out of Egypt, "and the Lord said: But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them.")

More literal:

The plants being created by humans (God creating humans in his own image)

The plants virgin births (The Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus)

The dependents being referred to as "angels" and having wings (the most typical depiction of biblical angels)

Wolfwood carrying a giant cross (Jesus carrying his own death sentence)

Vash forever wandering from place to place unable to make a home after shooting Knives and Knives cutting his arm off (Abel being sentenced to forever wander the desert, unable to settle down or grow anything but unable to be killed, after spilling his brother's blood)

The Eye of Michael (Archangel Michael, the right hand of God and leader of God's people in the endtime battle between heaven and hell)

The Seven Cities, two of which had Vash angel-out on them (The Five Cities of the plains - Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela - Sodom & Gomorrah famously destroyed by two angels for their sins)

The independent plants created as a bridge between humanity and plants, created by plants but raised by a human mother (Jesus as half divine/half human)

12 Gung Ho Guns (12 Disciples of Jesus.)

Vash's unhuman levels of forgiveness (Jeezy boy taking on the sins of mankind through his suffering)

Elendira fighting with nails (Jesus being nailed to the cross rather than tied which was custom)

Legato being "found" chained to a forked cross (Y-shaped) (Symbolic cross seen in the middle ages generally representing the Tree of Knowledge)

Legato having a weird long tongue, as well as having his back broken and being confined to a metal brace/coffin (The serpent's punishment for the involvement in tricking Eve to eat the apple is losing its legs, and being thereafter forever an enemy of mankind)

Knives ship where he brings all the saved plants being called "The Ark" (Noah building an ark (large boat) and housing a pair of every animal on it as God sends a flood over the earth, drowning all the sinners, only the people and animals on the ark being left alive)

Vash & Wolfwood arguing about the righteousness of taking a life, Wolfwood's death at the orphanage and Vash burying him (Job 6:26-27 "Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind? (Do you reprimand those that are desperate for their views and call their words meaningless?) Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.")

The bottle of "The Bride" Wolfwood brings out before his death (Jesus referred to as a groom and the church/priests as his bride)

Vash promising Meryl that he will be back walking into what looks like a suicide mission (Jesus telling his followers that he will come back from death)

Meryl & Milly as reporters following Vash (The Prophets and their job of spreading the word of Jesus/the lord)

The appletree (the symbol of Eden)

Quotes that appears inspired by the bible:

Vash saying "we should never have been born" (Job, God's specialest little boy, curses his birth as misery befalls him, Job 3:1)

Elendira comparing humanity to maggots (Job 25:5-6 "The stars are not pure in his eyes, how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot? A human being, which is a worm!")

[hebezunet]

also, since i am... 100% certain that the chip twitters aren't coming back, i wanna take a few minutes to talk about my experience as a mod for one of the characters (since i doubt it's any surprise that I was one lol)

firstly, i'm not revealing anybodys identities here other than my own, because everyone has fully moved on from the project and don't wanna be assocciated in any way with it anymore. i'm making this post mostly for myself and maybe 2 other people so even if you have inklings of who the other mods are, don't look for them. they will not be happy

with that out of the way-

if it wasn't supremely god damn obvious by this point, i was the most recent mod for bert. from like... what, may 2020? that whole big arc where he got out of the bertputer, that's when i started. definitely a lot of weight on my shoulders with that one.

despite how much i had fun writing for bert though... this whole project was really a nightmare from beginning to end behind the scenes. before we (the new team) could even start actually posting and writing stuff, there was a whole kerfuffle getting the keys (account log in info) from the old team. had to even get david involved for a few things, which we really hated doing just cuz we didn't like bothering him. the old team was also... well, its own thing. i've kinda blocked out most of what happened regarding that but what i do know was that it was very mentally taxing trying to get rid of the old guys and get us logged into the new accounts.

people also certainly had... mixed feelings about the direction we tried to take things in. we were handed a story that was already extremely jacked up with its own weird baggage attached and had to make do with what we could. the story beats set up by the previous team were really hard to work with and we genuinely just did not agree with some of the characterization that was happening. namely bert and otto, they were... something. so, we tried our best to work with it and find justifications or explainations for certain behaviors and actions. i do know for a fact that there were people that did not like what we did with bert, especially. remember seeing stuff saying that we 'aged up' bert for the sole purpose of shipping him with rotten which... is not at all what happened. he was already a grown up character, in his late teens or early 20s, but the previous team had infantilized him to such a degree and for so long that that was just what people knew. we ended up justifying this by basically diagnosing bert with trauma induced age regression. it's a little complicated and a little fuzzy to recall, but that's the intention we were going with, at least.

we did originally have bigger plans for these characters and their arcs and everything, but the team was losing interest and everything surrounding it was genuinely sending some of us into mental crisis. it made us all distance ourselves really far from the project and not wanting to touch chipspeech as a whole with a 10 ft pole. a lot of this stemmed from the sovereign station server too, it was fine like 80% of the time, but shit got weird in there. if you weren't in there then like, good. you've saved yourself the headache. but overall, pretty much everyone has moved on and is doing their own thing now. there's been a few mods that I don't talk to anymore due to other circumstances, but I'm still good friends with a handful of them. they're doing much better now, too.

long story short, the characters just... aren't gonna be coming back, as far as I can tell. it's been pretty obvious due to the 2+ years of radio silence, but just to put the nail in the coffin. i still believe that the twitters are a great springboard for your own interpretations, and that's kind of another reason why we stopped. these characters can honestly be whatever the hell you want them to be. making a rigid sort of canon to apply to them is a little silly, especially when it's a bunch of young adults roleplaying that canon on twitter dot com. do whatever you want. it was a fun enough ride while it lasted.

that being said though, i personally still hold chip near and dear to me. strong interest has definitely faded, but i still like making covers occasionally and drawing the guys and silly stuff like that. i have a lot of myself to thank for chipspeech, and that's not changing, despite the horrors that we faced. thanks for reading all this if you did lol.

and bert is best boy im DYING ON THIS HILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lostinwoods]

I have to rant a bit about how weirdly marriages of main couple in Boruto is being portrayed.

Naruto x Hinata

This ship, having no major development in the Naruto series, made little sense of being made into a couple. But whatever. We can go along with the fact that Hinata loved and looked at Naruto from a distance from a long time and Naruto felt touched about that, married her and had kids. It’s still barely digestible till this point. But then, Naruto is a hokage. He loves his village, his people. Cool, cool! But then he ignores his family. Stays out of house for so long that his kid starts to detest the position of a hokage, doubts whether his father loves him, and starts having his daddy issues. Minato was a hokage, Sarutobi was a hokage... were their family ever so neglected? Are the duties so different for Naruto? Yes, maybe he has to rebuild a new village, less time and work overload. But then what? Throughout the series, it is shown that Naruto is half-dead tackling his duties and keeps getting further away from his kids. For a guy who knew how it felt to grow up without parents, I still think he should have given more time to his kids. I am completely not even touching the facts about Hinata. She is being as ignored as she was in the first series. Where is the family life everyone was promised?

Sasuke x Sakura

The worst and the most toxic relationship in Naruto and Boruto verse. Fuck this pairing...fuck it! The creator himself does not love the pairing. With how mentally unstable Sasuke had been in the first series, trying to kill Sakura and doing things to get through his own version of pain. But then what happened? She was still a salivating dog after Sasuke, barking and drooling all over him. From what I can gather, he might have just married her to shut her yapping. Had a kid, probably only from a one night deal and then left, like his ass was on fire. He so hates the prospect of being with her, he runs away and returns only when Konoha is in danger. I mean what more a relationship could you expect? Sarada, the kid who is suffering the most, doubts whether she is even their kid. And the bullshit with Karin never helped. But really, Sarada was suffering the most. And that bitch of a Sakura had a fucking mental breakdown. This absolutely delusional, Sasuke obsessed, pink troll. I swear she makes this relationship the most toxic. I agree that Sasuke is doing Sarada dirty, he might not like Sakura being clingy but the kid is his, he should be responsible at least. He loves the kid. But when you do not like your partner and in a society like ninja villages where divorce and separation is not really a thing looked highly upon, it becomes hard for Sasuke to return home and have a peaceful life. Even when he returned, he stays out of house most of the time, spends days on with Boruto and returns home only when Sarada is desperate.

Now,

Naruto X Sasuke

These two have not changed since Naruto, even in Boruto they look out for each other and honestly spend more time in each other’s presence as compared to their wives. Lol, they even look after each other’s kid like their own. Otherwise Sarada’s wish would not be to become a Hokage and Boruto’s to be a shadow Hokage like Sasuke and support Sarada from the shadows.

I swear what their mother could not have done for them in like thirteen years of their lives, a non blood uncle did for them. Naruto for Sarada and Sasuke for Boruto.

Now tell me, what do you think makes sense in the family lives? Honestly, I think they should have never married wives who love them so much if they were about to leave said wives so lonely. I feel pity for the girls too. But really, SS and NH would have never happened in a better way especially when Naruto prioritises the village and Sasuke more and Sasuke sees his whole world in Naruto.

SNS should have happened (romantic or just plain family) and forced coupling of SS and NH has ruined all of their lives and turned it completely toxic.

If at least anything, the two couple should have dated for a while instead of directly jumping into a marriage.

[destinyc1020]

i’m with you on your opinion of kaia and austin. to each there own and my opinion truly does not do a single thing but i’ve always kept a hope that him and vanessa would get back together. it’s not like they were a fling.. they were together almost a decade! they must of had something good going for themselves and cliqued with each other to be together that long. obviously things change and they’ve both changed and are doing different things, but you never know!

on the other hand, you have people like my mom saying “i hope zac and vanessa get back together” 🤣 THAT was a while ago

Awww......Aunessa lol 😭

Yea, when I look back at all of the old pictures of Austin and Vanessa together through the years, they just looked SO in love, and almost like soul mates. 😔 You could really tell the love btwn those two, and they just seemed so comfortable with each other. I guess after 9 years together you would! 😂

Anytime ppl would bring up Austin's name in interviews, Vanessa would just gush all over him... even in year 8 of being together lol 😂 So obviously he was making her happy if she only had nothing but great things to say about him, and vice versa.

It's almost hard to imagine that two people who seemed to love each other THAT much could break up and now be with other ppl.

But oh well! C'est la vie I guess? 🤷🏾‍♀️

You know, I too was wondering if they would ever get back together at some point (I wouldn't be surprised tbh), but after he recently unfollowed her on IG, I've quit with that type of wishful thinking lol 😆

I think that was the final nail in the coffin tbh. While it's still kinda weird how Vanessa is somehow linked to most of the other women Austin has dated after her (ie. Olivia, Kaia, etc), I really do think they have gone their separate ways and have officially moved on long time ago. Vanessa seems blissfully happy with Cole, and Austin seems genuinely happy with Kaia. 😊

In fact, now that I look at it, A & V do seem to be very different and in different places in life right now. So maybe the split was for the best? 🤷🏾‍♀️

Re: Zanessa

Omg your poor mom lol 😆 What decade are we in again lol? I honestly don't see Zac and Vanessa ever getting back together again lol, but hey.... who saw JLo and Ben Affleck getting back together married to each other after 17 years, multiple marriages, multiple divorces and several kids? 🤣

So never say never I guess lol. 🤭

Omg I just remember how Austin got such an insane amount of hate from Zanessa shippers cuz HSM sweethearts Zac and Vanessa had broken up and she was now dating Austin lol 😆

After 8 or 9 years of her dating him though, shipper fans gotta just accept that their ship has long-since died and their fave has moved on to someone else! 😄

Don't be rude!

If TZ ever broke up again and seriously dated other respectable ppl, I sure hope the fandom wouldn't jump on their new SO's necks just cuz the new person isn't "Tom" or "Zendaya", coz that wouldn't be cool either. 👀😔

[ultraviolet-ink]

How do you feel about Miles Edgeworth? He might be my fav so I like to hear other people’s opinions!

He's definitely my favorite! I enjoy writing him a lot (As seen on my Ao3 haha) I really find his arc to be interesting; you see this asshole in Turnabout Sisters and you think "God, why does anyone like him?? he's a huge dick!" and then in Turnabout Samurai when he turns on Dee Vasquez I lost my shit! I think that's why I actually really enjoy Turnabout Samurai, it's when I really started to get into the game and I think it's really when Edgeworth's redemption arc starts, he could have totally won that case (even by a slim margin) and put Wright back in his place but he saw that something was weird and despite his own philosophy, he opened that window so that the truth could be exposed. I can't mention Turnabout Samurai without talking about "unnecessary feelings", I am a NaruMitsu shipper after all, the Darcy energy is strong in this one XD. But shipping goggles aside, I think this is a really interesting insight into Edgeworth. He willingly lost the case this time and there's a lot going on inside. The previous defendants were innocent, they were villanized by the system, the culprits took advantage of the three day trials and status quo of the Prosecutor's office... how many OTHER defendants were actually innocent, and conversely, how many CRIMINALS walked free, which brings me to my next point... Ofc, Turnabout Goodbyes is my favorite case of all time, Edgeworth is one of the characters I like to put through the angst wringer, prime hurt/comfort material (hence why I have a tradition of writing about DL-6 every year lmao). This is definitely one of his lowest points, the moment he's forced in the hot seat, especially under the eye of his mentor, he is forced to see what he put countless others through for his "perfect record"-- he's also forced to see what he COULD have become had he kept going on his path, and he was ashamed (extra angst points if all he could see in the mirror was von Karma and he was terrified to try and face his father~). RftA is also a really good case that gives me a lot of fodder for Edgeworth characterization. He's trying to get back to his old life pre-Goodbyes, get back to some semblance of normal. I like to think that the King of Prosecutor's award was some kind of practical joke that was particularly scathing-- oh, how the oh-so-high-and-mighty Edgeworth has fallen, especially with von Karma's name appearing so many times. I feel like there was a lot of bitterness in the Prosecutor's office at that time and it was only a matter of time before they tried to put Edgeworth back in his place. Edgeworth finding out the truth of how they were able to pin Joe Darke, finding out that he unknowingly presented falsified evidence and sending a man to his death, that was just the final nail in the coffin. Considering everything that had happened in AA1, I truly think that "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth Chooses Death" was legitimate. The rest of the trilogy doesn't really go into the rest of Edgeworth's character arc as a primary detail. It's still there (with a banger theme), especially in Bridge to the Turnabout when he and Franziska face off against each other, but I think all of his characterization is masterfully built upon in the Investigations duology, but mostly in AAI2. I truly love AAI2 so much, the fan translation is so good and I also got to take a picture with ProZD last fall at Youmacon, and he signed a picture of Gregory and Edgeworth for me! ANYWAY, back to Edgeworth, I found a really amazing meta post by blogalias here! I think that AAI2 is one of the strongest games in the series because of how it tackles Edgeworth staying a prosecutor despite the corruption and his own errors in the past. He makes it his own, and that there are two sides in court; the defense, to protect the people, and the prosecution, to bring charges to light. They are both necessary in the court system and SOMEONE has to weed out the corruption, and it might as well be the Demon himself. I have a lot of thoughts lmao

[bartramcat]

CSI/GSR: Long vs. Short Term Arcs

Okay, this is very off the cuff and inspired to some degree by @addictedtostorytelling and the discussion of Morgan and Greg and Hodges. Some stray things:

We know that the only thing decided about Sara Sidle pre-show was that she was meant to be Grissom's love interest.

At some point, before CSI continued to be a ratings juggernaut that Zuiker figured Grissom would go deaf, and that would be how the show would end.

When Grissom turned Sara down in Play With Fire, TPTB had decided that was going to be the end of that.

Things no one could have predicted:

The overwhelming worldwide success of the show, necessitating a workable resolution to Grissom's deaf storyline.

That no matter what, whenever Grissom and Sara are onscreen together, there is "something" there.

Billy and Jorja both were invested in GSR.

It seems to me the combination of the above is what gave us Season 4. In terms of GSR, a case could be made that they were starting all over again in a serialized novel sort of way.

Now I confess to knowing absolutely nothing about the Harry Potter novels, but, in my youth, thanks to Masterpiece Theatre, I did read all of The Forsyte Saga and Trollope's Palliser novels. What serialized novels have in common is that, for the most part, each novel stands on its own, but the author feels the need to continue to explore aspects of his characters beyond the original scope of the original novel.

In that regard, I suppose we could see 1-3 as a kind of GSR entity on its own. Grissom gets promoted and brings the girl he loves to Vegas, only to discover he can't have both the job and the girl. Beginning in 2, Grissom has two simultaneous arcs: the fear of going deaf and his unresolved feelings for Sara, with the first further compounding the complications associated with the second. What he doesn't discover until season 3 is that his "push me/pull me" relationship with Sara drives her to another man, a fact which utterly devastates him to an extent he could never have imagined.

Still, it is the deaf arc that is of more overriding concern: if he can't hear, he not only loses his job but also his entire sense of self at that point in time. Resolving his feelings for Sara will have to be backburnered, so he decides not to punish her for getting a life, as, at that point, he has no life to offer her, since he's not even sure what his life will be.

Meanwhile, back in Saraland, she discovers Hank is a dog and ends the relationship. If GSR were bad soap opera, the fact that Sara was seeing Hank would have been seen as a primary impediment. The thing is it never was. To me it's just one more nail in the Sara low self-esteem coffin. Also, if it were soap, the lab explosion and Grissom's unconscious revelation of his feelings for her would have led to some kind of positive resolution. The problem is that Grissom's deaf arc is still in play, not to mention all of his other relationship with Sara fears.

Sara misreads the situation; she thinks, finally, he might be ready to take the plunge, but she's completely wrong. By bringing their relationship to an either/or position, she basically pushes him into outright rejecting her, thus ending this phase of their arc. Ironically, Grissom's deaf arc gets resolved in the very next episode, but, by then, he really thinks it is "too late."

The thing about 4, besides it being incredibly hard to watch Sara descend into the abyss, is that, for the first time, the show makes it unequivocally clear that Grissom is both sexually attracted to Sara and in love with her. (The first doesn't always imply the second, although we learn later, for Grissom, it does.)

While Homebodies explores Grissom's fears that he won't ever be able to keep his loved one (Sara) safe--perhaps foreshadowing--Invisible Evidence certainly spells it out that his attraction to her is as physical as it is intellectual and emotional. I doubt anyone could watch those "pin me down" seconds out of context and not think that was a man who was about to fuck the shit out of her. (Of course in context it can't happen, but the desire is certainly there.)

Overall, however, outside of that, Grissom goes out of his way to distance himself from Sara: that "too late" thing again. Then the show throws Butterflied at us (and him), wherein it is made abundantly clear he is in love with her and regrets turning her down. What he doesn't know is that she hears everything he says, which twists the knife. She wasn't wrong: he does have feelings for her, only those feelings aren't strong enough for him to risk it, to take a chance on love.

So what we have for the rest of 4 is Grissom continuing to distance himself from Sara under the misguided belief that he has killed any feelings she had for him, while she continues to sink into depression and alcohol dependence. Given his distancing, he seems unaware that something isn't right with her until late in the season, and then it hits him between the eyes and in the gut in Bloodlines.

In a weird way, 4-6 is the inverse of 1-3. If Season 1 begins with a lot of light-hearted flirtation (and off the charts sexual chemistry) and ends with a seemingly insurmountable rift between them, 4-6 begins with the rift and works its way to their becoming an actual committed couple in a seemingly stable relationship. Of course the frustrating part is that the show neglected to tell us when, where, and how, although it's pretty evident that, for Grissom, Bloodlines is the catalyst for him to try to rebuild their relationship. I do not think he did so thinking the end result would be a "beautiful life" with Sara. More than likely, the best he hoped for was for them to be friends again.

As an aside, in the middle of 1-3, we have Cassie James, Grissom's personal Cassandra, telling him "You don't know what you need until you find it." While Grissom's "need" for Sara is couched purely in work terms throughout 3, season 4 into 5 shows a man who has seemingly come to terms with the fact that he both loves and needs her. The first half of 5 shows him far more in tune with her, and they begin to be comfortable together again. While I think he is perhaps at a place where he might occasionally daydream about the possibility that someday they might be together, I also suspect he thinks that ship has sailed.

And that is why he is completely floored in Snakes. Seemingly out of nowhere, she more or less tells him she's still in love with him, although, unlike in Play With Fire, she has no expectations that he can ever reciprocate her feelings. She, too, thinks that ship has sailed, but, now, she is reconciled to that fact.

I suppose the question for me has always been whether or not he goes to her in Nesting Dolls and tells her that it matters to him, not as her boss but as a man, why she's so angry, if Snakes doesn't happen. A large part of a believable narrative is that one thing must naturally lead to another. As a narrative arc, from 4 to mid-5, we get the following:

Invisible Evidence makes it clear that these two people are still sexually attracted to one another, even though neither one would consider acting on it at this point.

Butterflied confirms Grissom is in love with Sara and regrets turning her down.

Early Rollout tells us Sara may have a serious drinking problem.

Bloodlines is Sara at her lowest point, having been pulled over for a DUI, which signals to Grissom just how miserable she is.

In early 5, they begin to rebuild their camaraderie, with Grissom occasionally kind of sort of flirting with her, in his fashion.

Snakes confirms that, despite everything, she's still in love with him.

After her meltdown in Nesting Dolls, Grissom goes to her and coaxes her to tell him her deepest secrets, after which he comforts her, although what transpires between them after he takes her hand, like so many things GSR, is left vague.

It's always been curious to me that after their conversation in Unbearable that the curtain is drawn on exactly what the nature of their relationship is. I have always read, from Big Middle on, that they act like a couple, albeit a couple in the workplace. We get very little entree into their private interactions, so when and how they became lovers is open to individual interpretation. It isn't until the final scene of 6 that the show bothers to tell us they are lovers, and, judging by their interactions in Way to Go, have been a couple for some time.

I don't know about anyone else, but I think they seem married in that scene: completely comfortable with each other in a way that more or less screams that scenes like the one we are finally privy to have been occurring for a while.

In any event, 4-6 is a pretty remarkable journey in GSR land, as the two characters move from barely being able to speak to one another into a full-fledged love affair.

The amazing thing to me is that both the 1-3 and the 4-6 segments follow a logical progression, with each small insight or revelation explaining both choice and behavior--and leading into the next arc in their relationship.

It really is good stuff.

[soup-du-silence]

If you are comfortable with it, I'd love to hear your critiques of the finale, ESPECIALLY with how they handled Webby and Lena's final interactions with each other. I'm seeing you talk about it a bit on twitter, and I'm vigorously nodding my head to much of what you and others are criticizing the finale for. Obviously, if you'd rather just ignore this whole fiasco, I completely understand, and I look forward to the stories you continue to make about Webby and Lena!

god. okay.

ducktales spoilers below

SPECIFICALLY the weird webby and lena moments -- Lena calling team magic sisters and Webby snapping at Lena for her strong reaction to getting her string on the board cut -- mean absolutely nothing to me. i simply reject them. i dont know where they came from. Lena and Webby havent called each other sisters since their first episode together. It feels...unlike Webby to snub a Lena apology like that.  

And then they didnt really....interact again much, after that, right? unless im forgetting. there was a lot to be mad about.

and I guess, like. Here’s the thing. aside from some really powerful moments in season 2, the romantic subtext surrounding webby and lena was EXTREMELY dialed back. we had Lena’s hyper-powered jealous freak out in friendship hates magic and...what Ive always counted as an indirect kiss in nightmare on killmotor hill, but there were no more leslie-knopisms. Far less of Webby waxing poetic about lena’s virtues. Adding Violet meant less shared capital-L Looks or hugs or hand holds. So By the time season 2 wrapped up and a lot of that stuff wasnt as apparent, and they never bothered mentioning Lena ONCE before she came back, it became kind of clear that this was not a thing that was happening any more.

Then we got Penny’s “outing” which was not at all an outing. And seeing that penny not wanting to date earth men was a “compromise” that needed to be “fought for” really nailed that coffin shut for me. If we couldn’t get an openly wlw totally original tertiary character, we weren’t going to get it from Webby.

I dont know if they got unhappy executive notes about season 1 or if there was someone around championing the relationship early in production who left to work on other things, or if they just decided it wasnt important, but any hope held out for it after late season 2 was just me being delusional. I wanted to believe, I really did.

maybe I was delusional all along. Had my shipping goggles on. I dont know. I mean, it happens. it wouldnt be the first time and it wont be the last. 

I just really, REALLY wanted it, you know?

we couldnt have gotten like...one last ...something? Something just for them, to harken back to the energy they had in season 1?

sigh.

i havent written in a long time because i dont really have any stories left to tell, but I do brainstorm many projects with PCS. while I, and especially he, have often taken canon reveals in stride (when he first started writing Longest Shadows, we did not yet know about Violet. He was able to add her in fairly seamlessly, i think) I dont think we’ll be paying attention to any of this, ESPECIALLY some shit about Webby being Scrooge’s clone. (dumb dumb stupid dumb) I mean, you can ask him about it, but I know we’ve already shared some choice words, lol. Even if I operate under the assumption that the clone thing is and has been true all along, I’ll simply be working in a universe where it never came to light.

i can’t believe we would take this story about found family and make it about genetics in the 11th hour. what the holy fucking fuck is this nonsense. ugh.

I dont want to say I cant believe i wasted the last 5 years of my life on ducktales, because I didnt. It meant a lot to me. I had a lot of fun, i met some really awesome people, and in particular one person I can count among my very best friends in the whole world. so it wasnt a waste. And im not going to go on one of these weird tirades against frank where I try to hold him accountable for my emotional damages or whatever because Im an adult and not delusional. Thats the story he wanted to tell, for some reason I will never understand. We’re going to keep writing and daydreaming our own. And maybe, if Im lucky, I’ll live long enough to see the next reboot headed by some queer kid who grew up seeing themself in little baby gay webby vanderquack and makes it canon. N...not that we need another reboot. But i would watch that one. Just saying.

[autisticcassandracain]

🔥 kori

dickkory sucks but not for any of the reasons dickkory haters say it sucks. most dickkory hate is literally just ppl hating on kori disguised as a 'personal opinion' on ships and usually those opinions make it extremely obvious that they never bothered to like, actually read The New Teen Titans lmao. 'dickkory was mostly sexual' is especially a terrible take because not only is it blatantly untrue, it's also based in the slut-shaming Kori has received over the years for being sexually open, and the mischaracterization she's received bc people saw an opportunity to reduce a female character to a sex object with a thin veil of plausible deniability in the form of 'characterization' and took it.

Most arguments against dickkory I've seen focus on the idea that Kori didn't offer Dick much, which is HILARIOUS because you have a MUCH better argument for the reverse, which is exactly what I will now proceed to argue.

got long, is under the cut, you know the drill. TL;DR Kori and Dick's relationship was badly built up, Kori provides more emotional support for Dick than Dick provides for Kori, Kori was more important to Dick's development than Dick was to Kori, and I don't think it's ever even been stated why Kori likes Dick.

Also donnakory was built up way better than dickkory and I'd argue Donna has had more of an influence on Kori than Dick ever did. That last one isn't explained in-depth it's just important to me that you know this.

Dick and Kori barely interacted prior to getting together, and yet we were supposed to believe this narrative that Dick was definitely in love with Kori and just couldn't admit it. I literally did a double take the first time Kori mused to herself about being confused Dick 'wouldn't admit to being in love with her' like I'm sorry WHEN did that get established??? I'm too aro for 'love at first sight' bullshit you have to actually make them interact or I won't buy it. This lack of build-up was my first problem with dickkory, but I was willing to ignore it if the actual relationship appealed to me.

It didn't. Dick and Kori's relationship is marked by a pattern of what, to me, is incompatibility. Dick is the type of person who, when stresses, lashes out at others and pushes them away. He's seen doing this multiple times to Kori in The New Teen Titans, most notably shortly after they got together when he was stressed due to having too much on his plate, and in the Return to Tamaran/Karras/Marriage arc. Kori consistently reacts to this behavior by blaming herself for it. The first time, she comes to Donna to ask her if she's done anything wrong, after which Donna reassures her that Dick's just Like That, and Kori resolves to be as supportive as she can.

The second time bothers me much more; on Tamaran, Dick is so mean to her she ends up having a full-on breakdown, which she first seeks support for from Joey, but later, she just stays depressed until she can return to Earth. While Dick's behaviour was influenced by his brainwashing, we never get confirmation of how much of it was influenced, and on top of that, the comic repeatedly and consistently frames Kori as having 'hurt Dick' during this arc afterwards, making her say this repeatedly, while never refuting it or addressing the ways Dick has harmed Kori during this arc.

While Dick did man up and apologize in both circumstances (I think the second apology was lacking, but the first was quite good), it still established a pattern that I find uncomfortable. Dick is rude to Kori, Kori takes it personally and wonders what she's done wrong, Kori tries to talk it out with Dick, Dick snaps at her and pushes her away, but eventually realizes he's been mean and apologizes. What bothers me the most in this pattern is the part where Kori consistently blames herself for Dick's behaviour, and assumes she's done something wrong to make him behave this way. Every time this came up in the comics, it made me deeply uncomfortable, because I've seen enough real-life relationships with a very similar dynamic to this that were deeply unhealthy to make this set off all my alarm bells.

I want to stress that I don't think dickkory is actually unhealthy in canon, but it reminds me of enough unhealthy relationships I've known for me to be personally uncomfortable with it.

That's not the only part that reminds me of those relationships: I feel like Dick is getting way more out of this relationship than Kori. Kori is consistently shown to support Dick when he goes through tough situations, even when Dick responds by trying to push her away or being rude to her. Similarly, Dick has stated that Kori was the one who helped him open up about his emotions, and has had a tremendous positive effect on his character development as a result; he even goes so far as to name her one of the elements of his Nightwing identity. Kori pushes Dick to explore new areas of himself, and supports him when he has problems.

Dick, by contrast.... doesn't really do this with Kori. When Kori needed support, Dick was consistently either absent or actually rude to her. Again, this is most prominent during the Karras arc; during a time when Kori desperately needed someone to support her, Dick was only concerned with his own hurt feelings. And again, yes, he was brainwashed during this, but again, we never actually got confirmation on how much of this behaviour was due to brainwashing, and much of the writing afterwards framed Kori was the one in the wrong here, so my point stands. This was the singular most important moment Kori needed support, and Dick blew it, and the narrative basically let him off the hook for it.

The only time I can think of when Dick supported Kori in non-battle related situations was right after the Wildebeest arc in New Titans, but that was also the start of Kori's character massacre for the break up arc, so I don't exactly have fond memories of that. I'm sure there's been more minor moments where he's supported her that I'm forgetting, but I shouldn't have to have this much trouble coming up with times Dick has emotionally supported Kori.

Furthermore, Dick hasn't had a similar effect on Kori's character development to Kori's effect on Dick. While Kori did develop while she was with Dick, this wasn't really due to Dick. Her short-lived change of heart about the morality of murder was due to her personal experiences, and while Dick probably aided in this decision, so did Donna and even the rest of the Titans. It was not something that was uniquely Dick, the way Dick opening up about his emotions was uniquely Kori. Her distancing herself from Tamaran and embracing Earth was also not uniquely Dick, and was in fact a realization that mostly took place in his absence. Other parts of her character development follow this pattern.

I'm not saying Dick has had no effect on Kori's character progression, but he wasn't instrumental in it the way Kori was instrumental in his. Kori's character would've likely progressed in an extremely similar fashion even without him, and I can't say the same for Dick. If anyone influenced Kori's development in a similar way Dick influenced Kori's, it was Donna, who was the one to introduce her to Earth culture, supported her through various tough times and insecurities, helped her find a job (albeit it on accident) and frequently worked with her later, etc. etc. And even then, I don't think Donna's effect on Kori was quite as dramatic as Kori's effect on Dick.

The final nail in the coffin for any interest I may have had in dickkory is the fact that I, honest to god, have no idea why Kori likes Dick. I don't. Dick has several internal monologues about how much he loves Kori for her passion, her drive, her openness, and the way she pushes him to explore new parts of himself and open up, but Kori... doesn't really do the same for Dick. I can make guesses as to why I think Kori likes Dick, even fairly educated ones (I think Kori likes Dick at least in part because his intellectual approach to life is new and interesting to her, for example), but they've never stated it explicitly the way they've stated what Kori likes about Dick. And for a series that'll state practically everything explicitly if it can, up to and including what's happening on the panel right now, this is very weird to me.

Any of these problems, isolated, I could've gotten past; even a two of these problems I could've probably ignored. Three would've been pushing it, but all of them? No chance. Any good will I had towards the relationship was buried with the Karras arc, and then shot in the head for good measure when they continuously talked about it as if Kori was the one at fault there.

All of these problems combined make it very clear to me that Kori was not the primary concern in this relationship. Kori was invented as a love interest for Dick, and it shows. This entire relationship is about what it does for Dick, how it helps Dick. The only thing Kori gets out of it, at least to me, is the happiness she gets from being in love, and frankly, she could get that with literally any other character.

The fact that people keep reducing her character to this relationship also infuriates me and makes me even less inclined to like it, especially when they can't even bother to remember Kori was the one who broke up with Dick and instead treat Kori as the one who was left heartbroken and has never gotten over it, while Dick gets to move on with his life and other love interests.

I think this relationship had potential; I think their contrasting personalities could've made for an interesting relationship, and I've enjoyed some isolated moments and fandom portrayals of them before. But after reading The New Teen Titans, I just do not understand why so many Kori fans like this relationship so much. I went into the series neutral on the relationship but hopeful about being won over, to straight-up hating it.

Also that one time they used a relationship between a man who was about to shoot his wife for cheating on him as a direct and obvious parallel to dickkory was SO GODDAMN AWFUL. why the hell did they think that was a good idea. why.

[redwinterroses]

it is time! to talk about Void Walkers, End Cities, and to spice it up a little, Watchers as well!

Voidwalkers: Status: Very Rare Classification: Player Void Walkers have become incredibly rare after the fall of the great end civilizations, presumably even fewer still live in the End to this day. The Void Walkers of the Overworld rarely reveal themself either, rather disguising as other species to avoid unwanted attention. As their naming suggests, Void Walkers are the only known species to have developed a resistance to the Void, capable of surviving in it for a significant amount of time. Their original habitat was on the underside of bigger End islands, along with wild shulkers.

Void Walkers are one of the few player species capable of (limited) shapeshifting. Their base shape are tall humanoids covered in "void marks" which differ from individual to individual, with supposedly no two Void Walkers looking the same. These dark colorations spread the more time a Void Walker spends close to or in the Void, with those who have never left the Overworld only sporting freckles. Their wings remind of elytra, being of a similar insectoid shape and chitinous material, though colors differ. A more detailed description is near impossible, as they subconsciously shapeshift their appearance at all times. Void Walkers who grew up around other players for example usually mimic those they grew up with or whoever they currently feel a close familial bond to, while stories suggest native End Void Walkers mimic Endermen or the Void itself, with black-stained limbs and sharper claws and teeth. Their intentional shapeshifting is limited to a general humanoid shape and their actual size, along with imagination and practice in holding a form. Adding or hiding limbs is said to be incredibly hard, but Void Walkers hiding their true nature still often choose to shift their wings away.

The evolution of Void Walkers is a complex web of other, older End species, with the most accepted theory being them originating from hybrids of Lesser End Avians, early Endermen and Mirage Ray (Phantom ancestor) Hybrids*. Like Endermen, a diet of chorus fruit gives them the ability to teleport.

Void Walkers are so adapted to the harsh environment of the lower End and Void that they cannot survive in any of the other dimensions without at least masks to filter excess oxygen out of the air. Thermoregulating armor is also recommended, as the lower End and Void are incredibly cold.

End Cities:

Before the End was turned into the empty wasteland we know today by power-hungry dragons, raiders and greedy elytra hunters, End Cities were busy settlements in all shapes and sizes, spread out across the dimension with busy trade routes between them. The not-quite-Endermen of the past were their main inhabitants, along with End Hybrids, Void Walkers and the occasional Avian. Trade happened not only between the cities, but also with the Overworld, as the End has neither wood nor ores (though chorus plant stems, if prepared right by skilled craftsmen, were quite sturdy building material similar enough to wood, or alternatively quite soft fibre for cloth). Around the cities were carefully tended to forests of chorus plants for their useful stems and fruit alike, shulker farms to harvest their bullets to keep the end ships flying and their meat to feed the people and finally roosts for Mirage Rays for simpler transport or once again, meat. The farmed goods were sold in markets inside the endstone towers of each city, the tall buildings being clear landmarks and docks for the flying ships alike. A shame that chorus stem crafts do not preserve well over time, leaving only purpur and endstone behind.

The fall of the End Cities began with the Endermen, their minds stolen by the dragon, their cities left abandoned. The remaining Hybrids, Void Walkers and Avians tried to stay afloat, but raiders from the other dimensions arrived as soon as word of the Endermen's fate got around, looting all unprepared settlements they could find. The elytra hunters were the final nail in the coffin, raiders who were only after the legendary wings finally resorting to hunting down anything in the End capable of flight.

Finally, the portals were closed, by who is unknown, but for most inhabitants of the End it was far too late. Void Walkers hid below the bigger islands, basically within the Void, while some Avians may have flown far enough out to survive as well. And the empty cities remained, silent monuments to a fading past.

bonus Watchers: Status: ??? Classification: ??? All that is known for sure about the Watchers is that they came from the End. Some speculate they are the last truly free Endermen, warped beyond recognition by the Void. It is unknown where exactly they reside, how they acquired their powerful magic and wings, or what motivates their seemingly random actions. All players know is that the presence of a Watcher, no matter their intentions, is never a good sign.

* mob hybrids and actual hybrids of two different species aren't the same thing. "mob hybrids" are actually a mix of standard player data and the data of a mob and spawn into the world like that, counting as full players with some interesting additions. actual hybrids tend to get really weird because different species codes can clash and glitch something fierce

And thats it for the End headcanons! Just to be clear these are completely free for anyone to use (i sure aint doing anything with all these ideas) just nobody go and copy them word for word and say they're their own. For more fun overly detailed headcanons about all things minecraft do not hesitate to ask, send a pigeon or just think really hard in my general direction

you have put so much work and imagination into these and _I love them._ This kind of worldbuilding takes Minecraft lore out of game mechanic territory and into epic fantasy lands and I am HERE for it.

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #32 - Nobody’s Ever Actually Dead in Comic Books

Our band of merry guys-who-weren’t-on-the-Lost-Light-in-issue-#1 approach the shattered husk of the Lost Light, in a gruesome scene that is only slightly marred by the graphic design.

Font doesn’t really suggest danger, does it? Here, for comparison, is something I slapped together in fifteen minutes (including recreation of background) using a font I got off a free font site.

Now, one could say that my version is rather derivative, flat, and arguably cliche, but you know what else it is? Appropriate for the fucking mood of having found a destroyed, hemorrhaging ship after everyone you knew disappeared.

I’m available, IDW! Hit me up.

Theorizing that this is the ship that the Coffin Rodimus came from- remember that? It was a few issues ago- the gang flies in for a closer look. The ship blood is actually something called quantum foam, which allows for quantum space travel to happen. It’s not supposed to be outside of the quantum quills, but the ship’s pretty junked up, so it is.

Because the ship is so very full of holes, the gang can set down for repairs pretty easy. They land in Swerve’s, finding it in less-than-pristine condition. They also find evidence of Crosscut having gotten creative, as a poster for the play he was working on is hung up in the room. Considering he was still writing it when he disappeared, this might seem a bit odd. But then you remember that this is a ship from the future, and it stops being so odd.

Because this is a future ship, with evidence that Crosscut did some stuff, it stands to reason that, at some point, everyone is going to come back from being disappeared.

Just to die.

Which is a bummer, but one crisis at a time.

Megatron disembarks the Rod Pod, with Ravage following, and everyone is just a touch put off by the duo. Everyone but Nautica, who proceeds to commit a microaggression.

Nautica, that’s Soundwave’s father you’re petting like a common animal.

Ravage, angered by this over-familiarity, swats at her. Skids questions letting an active Decepticon roam around, but Megatron brushes off these concerns, saying that finding any still-living crew members is more important. With that, the search begins.

The gang splits up to look for clues, despite Riptide thinking this is a horrible idea. They’re on the clock for this one- the quantum foam is liable to explode if it touches anything, and there’s an awful lot of the stuff floating around right now.

Nightbeat and Nautica leave the rest of the group to their own work, seeing as Nautica has the most appropriate alt-mode for traversing the gaps in the ship.

Man, that’s pretty cool. Wish Nautica hadn’t been regulated to being “girl best friend” for her character arcs, I would have loved to see her do some neat stuff for her own development. Guess that’s what happens when you get introduced as main cast late, and have to compete with all the faves who had dozens of issues to be established and who also don’t have to deal with the whole “token girl character” thing.

The rest of the gang- Megatron, Ravage, Riptide, Skids, and Getaway- start looking in the area they’re already in. Seems a little lopsided, but whatever.

Ravage finds someone almost immediately, identifying Ultra Magnus through smell alone. Only, it isn’t just Ultra Magnus.

The Magnus armor lays not terribly far away, having had its hands cut off to prevent the recall signal from being activated before being gut-murdered.

Gut-murdered wiTH A FUSION CANNON, MEGATRON

Of course, Megatron was forced to destroy his fusion canon after it was decided he would be joining the Lost Light, but you can buy these things off the black market like it’s nothing. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brainstorm had a few stashed in his lab.

As it currently stands, nobody can trust the guy who has a storied past of killing Autobots, on a future ship where the only folks who could stop him are dead. Megatron, at least, has the good sense to not argue this fact, and suggests that the boys lock both Ravage and himself up until they suss out exactly what happened.

Meanwhile, over with Nautica and Nightbeat, we run through all the weird shit that’s happened in the last day or so.

Nautica, you’ve been on this ship for months now. How did you miss the fact that the only couple within 800 miles got annihilated by way of Phase Sixer? I feel like that attack might have come up at some point.

Since they’re on the subject of spouses, Nightbeat asks Nautica if she’s married, or if she has friends. Though noting that such a direct line of questioning might get him slapped with someone else, Nautica reveals that she is single, though she does have a best friend. Nightbeat is also single, probably because he pulls shit like this.

While this conversation is going on, Nautica uses her Sonic Screwdriver wrench to open a door with the literal push of a button. Brainstorm tricked out her wrench so hard it turned into a magic wand, which is good, because they’re going to need all the help they can get now that space is literally warping around them thanks to the quantum foam.

Nautica kicks something on the elevator, and that something turns out to be Brainstorm’s mysterious briefcase. Too bad Swerve is gone, he was so invested in what it contained. Luckily, Nightbeat is just as interested.

Back over on the other side of the ship, it seems as though Megatron kept his word about not resisting, as both he and Ravage have been locked in a cabinet. Wonder how that’s going for them.

Oh, better than I expected.

Ravage is fucking pissed that Megatron joined the Autobots, thereby turning his back on everyone who supported his cause during the last four million years. Despite this grievous betrayal though, the Decepticons haven’t stopped moving. Turns out, Galvatron’s in charge now.

But only if Autobot Megatron isn’t some sort of ploy.

It’s at this point that we learn just why Ravage is here to begin with- to see if Megatron’s truly given up the Decepticons, and if he has, to murder him. But first he’d like to know why this is happening.

Megatron views himself as a monster, having perpetuated a war that ended the lives of billions, destroyed the Cybertronian way of life, ostracized his race from the rest of the universe, and killing just to have something to do. He doesn’t like feeling this way about himself, so he decided to walk away from that life by joining the other team.

Don’t think it’s quite that easy to do, but okay.

Ravage isn’t so sure that this change of heart is going to stick, still convinced that Megatron will snap back to his old self with just a bit more time. Problem is, Megatron may not have a ton of that resource left.

Didn’t they build that body in like an hour so you wouldn’t die? Yeah, no wonder it feels as ill-fitting as a twenty-dollar suit. Thing’s probably made out of pig iron and duct tape.

The lights come on before further self-reflection can be done, and the duo realize that they’ve had guests this whole time.

Someone put the kettle on.

Obviously some fucked up shit happened on this ship. Megatron isn’t so sure that it’s him who did these dirty deeds, however, as he reaches into Ratchet’s mouth and pulls out his brain. Which feels like something that doesn’t really absolve one of guilt, but okay.

Also, ew.

Back with Nautica and Nightbeat, things are getting weird.

Now, this sequence might seem confusing at first blush, but this is because the laws of reality are collapsing around them. Going by clues in the background, we can find the proper, linear progression of time, and thus is conversation. This is what is actually happening:

With the mystery of Brainstorm’s briefcase eluding us once again, we move on to see more graphic aftermaths of violence. Poor Tailgate has been nailed to the wall with a chunk of a metal beam that’s almost as big as he is. The mood lighting for this scene is gorgeous, but I’ve hit my limit for exposing y’all to gore for this issue, so you’ll just have to trust me on this one. Then they find something even more interesting.

Who’s ready for Under Cold Blue Stars… 2!

Back over on the opposite side of the ship, Riptide’s found something nasty. It’s a bunch of dead bodies!

Including, uh, Pipes.

Who already died a while ago.

Hm.

All the bodies in this room are in their alts, and it looks like they’ve all been shot and drilled into, for some reason. Skids brings up that he had a friend who could identify the placement of any robot’s brain module just by knowing what they turned into. Then he reaches into a corpse to see what the drill-hole’s all about. It makes him sick, though maybe not for the reason you might think. He gets on the phone with Nightbeat, who’s called to tell them that they’ve found Overlord.

Still locked in his weird body harness.

And decapitated.

Megatron is on the other line, calling because he’s figured out the same thing Skids has. Someone paid a visit to this ship. Someone nasty.

The gang regroups, and Nautica gets the basics on the DJD, because I guess nobody’s mentioned them even in passing in the last six months, either.

God, what do they even talk about on this ship? Certainly not their feelings.

The reason that one room was filled with alt-modes was because of Tarn’s addiction to transforming; t-cogs are easier to remove when they’ve been used recently.

We get a quick 4/5ths-page gore-fest, then it’s back to making it all about Megatron.

Maybe you should have thought about that before you FUCKING DEFECTED, YOU POOL NOODLE.

Nightbeat’s beginning to put two and two together. There’s an Overlord in the basement. That shouldn’t be, because Overlord got exploded by Chromedome when he mercy-killed Rewind. Something is off about the past of this ship.

Before he can establish his MTMTE everybody-lives-but-then-dies AU though, the quantum foam fucks with the ship. These sons of guns need to get the hell out of here, pronto.

Oh god, what now?

Ravage smells someone inside the Magnus armor, someone who isn’t a part of the usual nesting doll lineup. Megatron reaches into the Crackerjack box and pulls out one hell of a prize.

HE LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES

Chromedome would be so thrilled, if he still existed.

[milk-addicc]

I really liked that post you made about how Capcom feels about Narumitsu. And I'm wondering how do you think they feel about Narumayo? Personally to me it feels like they throw more hints at Narumitsu since with the other one if Takami wanted it to be canon he would of done it at the end of T&T. I also think the team could of made it more obvious in SoJ with Maya's big return but I never really saw the hints but I know I'm biased lol.

oh i’m glad you like my rambles haha;;

ahh... that ship, 

well first, about the whole Takumi “wanting narumitsu to be canon” thing, its not exactly making them canon but have more fanservice leaning heavy towards narumitsu (which was declined by the director(?) who claimed, i sorta agree with, that the game did well even without the narumitsu hinting since in the first game they didn’t have that intention and it was pure coincidence that their relationship was just THAT deep and meaningful which is incredible lmao, Takumi and co managed to slip his warning and still put at least some of the hints in TT tho hhh-). so even then, i doubt the crew actually want the endgame to come so soon hh.

okay, back on topic. what i think about naru//mayo? yea, i’m not keen on that ship personally at all, actually i despise it. like, they first met in the office, in front of their dead loved one, Mia. Maya was 17, Phoenix was 24. you have Maya, who’s supposedly still in HIGH SCHOOL and Phoenix, who has GRADUATED COLLEGE, has a JOB, and most likely has PAID HIS OWN BILLS. from that point alone, it should already feel weird. 

Maya’s an adolescence, a teenager, she just lost her sister and barely grew up, in a way she’s still innocent, notice how she tend to ask random questions and or say things that she thinks makes sense or amusing, she tends to be naive too. its kinda like.. a child.

and Phoenix on the other hand, is a grown man. heck even Maya says he’s an “old fart”, they’re legit aware of their own age gap in game and outright say it. if anything, they both act like self-aware best friends/brother-sister than romantically. even Maya said it herself, she wants to be a good big sister for Pearl and Nick.

now how about we ignore this obvious fact just for a little while and try to see it from only their interactions in-franchise. heres the kicker, you may not see it in game since they only lightly nudges about this ship (usually with Pearl, and was dismissed by Maya right after.), but in some of AA spin off mangas (and from what i heard, one of the stage shows), for some reason, this ship has their own hints despite being completely aware that Maya is a teenager.

but its okay now don’t hold your breaths, 

their “hints” are more of a one-off ish thing, most of the time a gag and not taken seriously, and unlike other ship per say narumitsu, where it actually affects their lives and changed it forever IN-GAME. “i care about Maya and understands her” and “i became an attorney because of you, Edgeworth and i don’t have any regrets” are both literally incomparable, especially given Phoenix and Edgeworth’s history together in-game canon.

anyway, here’s some common arguments i’ve encountered about this particular ship :

“but Phoenix cares about Maya a lot! he literally went through a trial against a hitman and run through a burning bridge for her!”

“Phoenix blushed and goes red when Pearl says he’s Maya’s special someone and he stutters!”

“Well my parents had a huge age gap!"

“well, Maya is 18 in AA2″

“considering Maya is a christmas cake now, Nick better tap that” 

“she’s an adult in AA6 tho”

now lets dissect each of these,

yes, Phoenix cares about Maya a lot he literally did cross a burning bridge for her but people seem to forget that this is the same man who turned his life around, abandon his dreams, study law for four years, and became an attorney to meet one man and willing to defend a girl who looks like his psychotic ex that nearly poisoned him in court. he literally would believe in his clients’s innocence no matter what, he’s by nature would sacrifice anything and even his life for someone. so its normal that he cares about Maya, but is it romantic? i doubt it, he cares about her safety and well being but does it have to be a romantic hint? no, of course not, he’s just very selfless for the people he cares about and Maya has no one to help her but Nick when she’s in trouble, he’s one of few adults she can trust and will help her out.

oh so blushing and stuttering due to embarrassment means having feelings now? and about the stuttering, he literally stutters around Edgeworth a lot lol. i’m starting to feel like people ships naru//mayo not because of their depth but because Pearl said so. Pearl finds them should be together and keep shoving the audience with Nick being “Mystic Maya’s special someone”, well if thats the case, they also explained why this happened, in-game. Pearl grew up very sheltered and among unhealthy marriages she just assumes a girl and a boy together means they’re dating and being “special someones”. she most likely just wants her cousin to be in a happy relationship unlike her parents where her father left both her and her mother but didn’t know any better because she was eight years old.

https://youtu.be/FGAqQkMEKNs?start=674&end=776

now about the parent thing and taking it personal, well my parents too had a huge age-gap of 7 years. but how come is it okay? its because they met when my mum was already a career woman at 26. she’s already an adult when my dad met her. what does this mean? it means my parents were both adults when they’re together, this is why i still like GumMaggey despite their age gap so wide, they first met when Maggey has already had a career, supposedly in her 20′s, she’s a young adult, she can buy alcohol by herself, already knows whats right and wrong and has live life independently, not a still hormonal teenager who depends on one adult figure. did your parents date when your mum is in highschool while your dad is like in his mid 20′s? sorry to hear that.

as for the last three arguments, i don’t even want to touch any of them with a five-foot pole. are you listening to yourself? do you not feel like you’re a creep typing that?

let me give you a benefit of the doubt. yes she’s older and legally an adult, but are you really discrediting the fact they met when Maya was still in highschool? they met and became friends when she’s 17 and he’s 24. sure they barely met during disbarment era, but should that change anything? why should it? how should it? like this?

“Oh this is Maya, i haven’t met her in years but boy she sure has grown up can’t wait to date her since she’s legal now.”

because thats what that argument sounds like, YIKES. 

you know? if they met under a different circumstance and Maya was like 19, i’d let it go. but they didn’t, they met because of a horrible loss, Maya, still in training, 17 lost her big sister and Phoenix, a rookie, at 24 lost his mentor. 

in conclusion, i don’t like naru//mayo at all

pairing them feels like pairing Edgeworth with Kay or Phoenix with Ema, just because they partnered in investigations, make playful jabs at each other, and saved each others’s lives before, people just think they like each other romantically despite their age-gap in first meetings (not to mention Kay sees Edgeworth as somewhat of a father figure, and she’s nearly 18 while Edgeworth is the same age as Phoenix). especially with how Maya, being a zoomer, calls Phoenix an “old fart” and just makes jokes about how so out-of-touch Phoenix is with the modern entertainment.

from observations, i have a huge hunch that almost all of them pair these two because :

1. Maya’s a girl protagonist so its a male protagonist x female protagonist type of deal and despise narumitsu because “yaoi”

2. AA6 she’s an adult so she’s legal which is damn creepy on its own, or last

3. because of Pearl shipping them in game despite being an eight year old and was so sheltered she thought a man and a woman being next to each other means they’re special someones.

either way, i only see them as best friends, sibling-like relationship with self awareness here and there since they tease the audience a lot with their gag “hints” in spin-off mangas and game. 

not only that, it kinda showcase how all male/female bond don’t have to be romantic, they can be just friends or familial and still hang together. another plus for the franchise right after encouraging moving on from ex partners. *glancing at Phoenix//Iris*

and as to the people who pairs this for some odd reasons, sometimes i just want to ask these questions,

“how would you feel if you’re in Phoenix’s shoes? met your mentor’s little sister at age 17 while you’re 24, would you feel romantically interested in this high schooler?” because i don’t, to me anyone 3 years younger than me is like a baby, how would Phoenix feel when Maya’s 7 years younger?

“also... why even? narumitsu and other less questionable pairings are RIGHT THERE in the open!”

but oh well people can like and pair whatever hhh, 

and there you have it, my even longer rambling hahaha sorry;;

Edit : To add the final nail to the coffin, Phoenix outright has said that Maya’s like his kid, like a niece.

Edit 2 : remember that this is simply my personal take, you can somewhat use this to make yourself feel better about your pair nor simply just to hate on the ship itself but do not use this to dictate actual people what to ship and not to ship. 

please don’t be destructive towards others.

[m0mmat0rtle]

Star Light Chapter Four

Pairing: Tech x Pantoran!OC

Words: 1519

Warnings: none

Summary: Tech brings Star a small gift and their relationship deepens

<Chapter Three

"Are those- flowers?" Hunter asked as he saw Tech smuggle something onto the ship before departing once again for Kamino. Tech eyed his brother suspiciously before lying through his teeth. "No." He replied curtly before stashing the vibrantly colored plants away in a small carton of water that he had managed to throw together last minute. He then returned to the cockpit to punch in the coordinates of Kamino in to the hyperdrive. Hunter chuckled as he shook his head. "This is about that girl, isn't it?" Hunter asked but Tech refused to look at him, guilty as charged. "I-I don't know what you are talking about." Another pathetic lie. "You like her, don't you?" Hunter teased and finally a thin blush spread on his cheeks. It had been several weeks and Tech had continued to visit Star Light every single day. His brothers dismissed it as Tech's pure curiosity of the female species but the more he went out of his way for her the more Hunter began to wonder if it was less Tech's curiosity and more of his infatuation with Star that drove him to constantly be around her. "Miss Star Light is good company, that's all." Tech replied and Hunter rolled his eyes. Maker help his brother who lacked all social skills. If he truly did have a thing for the small Pantoran he was absolutely hopeless. However, the flowers were a good start. "What are you going to say to her when you give her those flowers?" Hunter asked, furthering the conversation. "Do I have to say anything to her?" "Well... you should. It would be weird if you just handed them to her and left." Tech nodded as if he were making a mental note. "How would you go about it, then?" Tech asked. "Have you tried telling her how you feel about her?" "No." Tech immediately replied without hesitation. "There is no need for that. Miss Star is a good friend." "And?" Hunter pressed and his brother hesitated. "And I would hate to mess up the friendship we have."

"A little to the left." Star instructed Gink as the gonk droid pushed her work desk closer to the window in her room that looked out over the ocean depths of Kamino. "No no, my left, Gink." She corrected the droid. "GONK." It replied before waddling over to the other side of the desk and moving it in the opposite direction. "Okay that's good, now stop!" She said and the droid moved back from pushing the desk as it was now perfectly symmetrical. Being alone all day in her room didn't give Star many things to do. Especially when she only owned one book and was only allowed a datapad under Lama Su's supervision. Therefore she was currently rearranging her room for the third time in two weeks. "I think that looks nice, don't you?" She asked the droid as she stepped back to get a look at her newly rearranged room. "GONK" "Yeah well, you say that about everything." She replied as she rolled her eyes. The swoosh of her door opening caused Star to turn and a smile spread on her face as her eyes met those of her newest friend. "Tech!" She cheered as she ran over to the clone and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Tech was still trying to figure out her hugs and why she felt the need to give him one every time they saw each other. He was just a clone there was no reason for her to get so excited every time he came by. Blushing slightly, Tech wrapped one arm around her as the other held something behind his back. "Hello miss Star." He greeted the short Pantoran politely. "How many times do I need to tell you, Tech, just Star is fine." Star teased as she finally pulled back from her hugging embrace. "I rearranged my room!" She said as she gestured around her small quarters. Tech looked around the room before looking back to her. "Again?" He asked and Star nodded with a giggle. That giggle was Tech's new favorite sound. If Star was happy, Tech was happy. The pure and innocent sound of Star's laughter caused a slight smile to tug at his lips. "I uh- I brought something for you." Tech began, stuttering slightly. Star's eyes widened as she looked up at him. "You did?" She asked as if Tech bringing her gifts was a foreign concept to her. He removed the arm from behind his back to reveal a bouquet of blue and purple colored flowers. Star gasped with delight as her eyes sparkled, taking in the sight of the beautiful arrangement. "Oh, Tech!" She said as she walked over to him, gently taking the flowers into her hand. "They're absolutely lovely!" She remarked and Tech couldn't help but grin like an idiot. "You like them?" He asked quietly and Star looked from the flowers to the clone, an expression of pure amazement on her face. "I love them, Tech, thank you so much." She replied before jumping up on her tip toes and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

Stunned was an understatement. Tech could not conceal the blush that began to spread on his cheeks from the kiss. He reached a gloved hand up to touch the skin where Star had kissed him and his fingers pressed against the hot skin. Star, however, continued to roll along as if nothing had happened. She took the flowers over to her desk and placed them in a glass of water. A mere thank you he was expecting, not a kiss. It was official, Tech had short circuited. "W-well I have to go... I-I actually have this erm- project I need to work on. It required... research, yes! Lots and Lots of research!" Tech stuttered trying his hardest not to let it be too obvious just how flustered he was. He couldn't help the way his heart dropped when Star turned to him from the attention she had been giving the flowers he had given her and her expression fell. Suddenly he felt guilty. "You're leaving?" Star asked as she turned to fully face him. "Already? But you just got here..." She muttered. "You're more then welcome to do your research in here with me, I mean, if you're comfortable with that." She replied, not wanting to be alone any longer then she had to. "I won't bother you." She added and Tech bit his lip. Here he was, a pretty face asking him to stay and as if the kiss on his cheek wasn't enough for him to loose his mind this certainly was the nail in the coffin. "Well... I supposed I could bring my datapad in here and maybe a few notes, if that's okay with you, of course." He offered and Star's expression lit up once more. "Yes!" She said happily, clasping her hands together over her chest in excitement. "I don't mind at all!"

The more the evening went on the more Tech felt himself fall for the Pantoran beauty who now rested her head on his shoulder as she tiredly watched him work away on his datapad. "What's that?" Star asked as she pointed to the datapad. Tech looked down at the girl who rested against his shoulder. "You're actually interested in what I'm working on?" He asked as the expression of surprise washed over his features and Star smiled. "Tech, my dear, I've been alone all my life besides the company of Gink," She gestured to the Gonk droid who had powered down for the night, "And the occasional check up from Lama Su. My only resource to learn about the world around me is an outdated atlas and the occasional supervised use of Lama Su's datapad for medic training. I am beyond curious about all the things you know and hearing you talk about them would make me the happiest girl in the universe." Tech's stomach filled with butterflies. A pink tint threatened to take over his face but he did his best to keep it at bay. "Why do you do that?" Tech suddenly asked, his filter completely dropping as he was blunt with the Pantoran. Star furrowed her brows as she looked up at him, lifting her head from his shoulder. "What do you mean?" "You treat me like a person." "Well... You are a person." She replied and Tech set the datapad aside, dropping his arms to his side as he looked at Star, studying her with curious eyes. "But I'm not." He said. "I'm a clone, and a defective one at that." Star felt her heart soften for the clone. She moved to sit on his lap, facing him as her golden eyes stared intently at him. "Well you're a person to me at least." She leaned closer to him, wrapping her arms around his torso and bringing him closer to her as she hugged him and nustled her face against his chest. "And you're my favorite person at that."

Chapter Five>

[rhmg-au]

Prequel part 2.

Man this was sitting here uncompleted for around, I don’t know, a month? Really need to get better at this.

This AU belongs to @rhmg-au . Please follow them, reblog their art, give them fanart, support them in any way possible, etc.

TW: Mentions of emotional manipulation, blood and gore

Mod Swanno: Read more due to length and content! :]

———

This isn’t right. None of this is okay.

Those were Charles’s first thoughts when he found out what happened to Right Hand- Green.

No amount of counterarguments can ever change his mind on one fact, that being that he never, ever deserved this. It’s not okay, they stripped him from who he used to be and turned him into a puppet, making him dance to their strings without realizing it.

But he never dared to approach the general about it.

He would get overpowered easily and he can guilt-trip him into going along with what he believes, though it never lasts long thankfully. He doesn’t know what could happen if he was under his influence permanently.

He would always say things like “it’s for the world’s own good” or “it’s in the name of the law”, but none of this feels like it. This is utterly wrong in every form.

He may be naive, but not that naive as most thought. Even when it gets to him sometimes.

Everyday he had been trying to help Green out from his brainwashed state, he wanted to help, no, he needed to help. He couldn’t let this go any further.

But he doesn’t want to die either. If he dies, he can’t help anymore.

Days after days of planning, strategizing, ways he can help the cyborg out of this while also still hanging onto his privilege of life.

There has to be a way, there has to be. There’s always one right?

———

“We have to find him! He has to be out there somewhere!” Charles practically begged, concern written all over his face, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

He had been at it for couple minutes at most, or was it hours even? He couldn’t remember, the argument felt like it lasted an eternity but it also had the feeling of quickness to it simultaneously. It’s just been a few hours and he noticed that there was something wrong with Rupert, he couldn’t find him anywhere on the premises. He called him multiple times, and all he hears is a voice message saying that he should call back later. None of his co-workers haven’t seen him either, or aren’t concerned whatsoever. It’s like he vanished off from the face of the earth entirely.

Galeforce shook his head, the pilot doesn’t know if the pity on his face was genuine or another facade made by him to play with his emotions. It was definitely the latter possibility, or maybe it isn’t. Maybe he really did care for the soldiers. “Charlie, even if there’s a chance he’s still alive, we’re not going to go and try to find him, heartless I know, but it’s for the better good.”

“Better good?!” The male let the water stuck in his irises escape when he blinked, the bubbles streaming down his cheeks as his voice raised. “He’s one of your best soldiers and you’re not concerned with him missing?!”

“Charlie, if you still think he’s just missing, then how do you explain this?” The general held up a hat with the emblem that signifies someone’s position in the government, but there was a difference to it - it was covered in dried stains of blood.

Charles felt his body stiffen, almost unmoving like a statue. “N-no, are you sure it’s just from his struggling?” He refused to believe this, he refused to, he refused to! This can’t be happening…

Galeforce sighed, still holding the bloodied hat out for him to see. “Unfortunately, a possibility like that is impossible to consider as long as this is still around.” His expression held guilt, genuine or not, it doesn’t matter at this point. What matters is the safety of his co-worker.

But is he still alive?

That’s one question he desperately wanted to seek for.

“We, we can’t determine his condition based on one thing!” He protested, more tears were shed as rage boiled inside of him to a dangerous degree.

Galeforce’s stare never left him, it was almost - actually no, unsettling. “There’s nothing we can do, Charlie. This hat is irrefutable proof that he’s no longer here with us…I’m sorry.”

“He has to be alive…”

“I said it once, and I’ll say it again, you need to let it go. He’s not coming back. I’ll leave you be to think about what I said.” The general then left, taking the blood stained and ruined hat along with him, leaving the pilot by himself and his tears and emotions.

Impulsively, he squeezed his elbow with one hand so hard he was surprised no blood came out from the amount of force he was putting on his limb. Was Galeforce this heartless to not care about his soldier? Would he go as far as that?

What happened to the caring one he knew?

Why had it come to this?

Why…

———

Charles doesn’t know anything anymore.

Okay, maybe not anything, but he felt like he lost so much purpose  for not being able to help Green…

…or him.

The only times he can truly feel at peace is when he flies around in his helicopter. In the sky, all of his troubles fade away. The clouds give him some form of hope that somehow, someway, he’ll find a solution to this.

He always liked the sky, no one can hurt him up there.

Anyways, the air isn’t what’s bothering him at the moment.

Something horrible happened just yesterday.

The Toppats attacked the government to get Green back.

Now, under normal circumstances, he would’ve been relieved, as this gives Green a way to escape the government’s grasp and return to his former self.

But what occurred wasn’t what he would call “normal circumstances.”

Henry Stickmin, the leader of the Toppats, was captured.

Galeforce intended to use him as bait to get his right hand lady to initiate another attack so he can get both of them and ship them off to the Wall, as part of a deal he had with the warden, Dmitri Petrov, he believed that was his name.

Henry hadn’t said much since his capture, which is most likely because of Green. The distraught look he had when he heard and seen what had become of his former friend…it reminded him of when he heard that Rupert’s dead (he still doubts this, but he’s starting to believe it with every passing day).

Charles’s determination to save Green have increased since this event, he couldn’t afford to endanger anymore lives due to his fear of getting killed, he couldn’t…he was supposed to be someone who protects the helpless right? And at this very moment in time, the Toppats are the ones who are helpless.

The pilot headed to where the cells are located, nodding to the two soldiers who were put on guard duty to let them know he’s trustworthy, and allowed him to pass.

These cells used to contain Toppats, he remembered every one of their faces, how utterly defeated they looked, every little word he managed to pick up…now these confined places no longer have them. Executed for not obliging with the interrogations. By their own friend no less.

How many lives were ruined or taken away because of Galeforce’s actions?

Countless, that’s the only word he can find to describe it.

Charles stopped at the cell that contains the leader, sitting on the bed provided in the small and cramped confines, facing away from him and by the looks of it, he was fiddling with a piece of clothing, the collar of his shirt if he glances at him in the right angle. “Hey, Henry.”

Said man slowly turned around to get a glimpse of his new visitor, then whipped back to lock his gaze on the wall again, like it somehow became more important than anything else in the world. “What do you want?”

Can’t back out now. Charles reminded himself. You asked for this. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. This isn’t Galeforce or Dr. V or anyone who’s scary, he’s okay, it’s just Henry.

“I wanted to let you know that…you’re not alone.” No one’s listening, it’s them both alone.

His words prompted Henry to turn back around, eyes wide with disbelief. “You’re joking right?” He asked with a scoff. Apparently he hasn’t believed him yet, understandable.

Charles masked his face with a look of determination, hoping that it would be enough to let the leader understand his intentions. “No, I’m completely serious about this.” His tone was firm, if his expression wasn’t the key, then his voice should be the nail in the coffin.

Silence reigned for while, sitting on its throne as the two males stared blankly at each other, every now and again the pilot broke eye contact to see if anyone was in the hallway or listening in on them, and thankfully neither of those had been activated yet.

Eventually, the silence was kicked off the chair of power when Henry spoke.

“I knew you weren’t under his control after all.”

Charles smiled softly, to of which the other returned. “I couldn’t stand by and watch, none of this is right. I’ll get you and Right out of here.” It felt weird to call Green by his old name, but it felt reliving too.

Henry nodded, standing up from the bed and walked over to him, or at least, as close as he could get when he’s behind bars. “You’ll help us?”

“You have my word.”

“How’s it going to go?”

“I actually haven’t figured that out yet.” Charles said sheepishly, playing with the fluff the encircled his jacket. “I just needed to let you know you’re not alone here.”

Henry’s smile never faltered. “How about we develop one now?”

Charles took one more glance around, making sure to cover everywhere in the hallway of cells before nodding. “Yeah, it feels good to work with you again Henry.”

“Likewise.”

———

Two days now, and nothing of the sorts have happened.

The plan has to be flawless, if executed in a poor manner, there’s no second chances or redos.

Which is why the plan is taking two days, maybe even more if nothing has been figured out today.

“Is there any potential escape routes we can take?” Henry asked, a scrap of paper in one hand and a pen in another, Charles had given him those so they can keep track of the progress they’re making and the possibilities they have to consider.

“My helicopter is one option, but I’ll have to hide you and Right inside, which’ll be difficult since even during the nights and early mornings, soldiers would be patrolling the area, and I’m pretty sure most of them aren’t on our side.” The pilot responded, racking his brain for another way to transport them out of the base before the raid could commence. His right hand lady would be planning it, and Henry wants to minimize as much damage done to the Toppats as possible.

“You think you can get me some military clothing and disguise me as a soldier to take me along with you undetected?” Henry proposed next, scribbling on the piece of paper he was given to rule out the option he wrote.

“Then I’ll have to take someone here with me, knock them out, and put their clothes on you. And how are you going to get your belongings out with you?” Charles questioned, this can’t go wrong, if it does he’ll never forgive himself ever.

“I’ll…figure it out.” The leader said, drawing something on the paper.

“So we’re going along with this, you sure?”

“Absolutely.” Henry glanced up from drawing, eyes widening with fear. “Watch out!”

“Huh?” Charles didn’t react in time and was smacked on the head, collapsing against the steel bars of the cell and slumping onto the ground, black teasing around the edges of his eyes.

Before he could get a chance to get up, he was picked up and thrown to the wall, his fighting spirit fading fast as the darkness was overwhelming.

The last thing he saw before his eyes fluttered shut was Henry’s distressed face, and an evil grin of someone he used to look up to.