#who feels confused and betrayed by the group leader character

[kaiminluu]

happy birthday to our most beloved will byers :) here're some byler grease concept sketches

[epickiya722]

Okay, so at first I was just a tad bit confused that Toga couldn't use Dabi's or Shigaraki's quirks but when I think about it...

Even though the LOV is like family, has she really had a connection with anybody else as close to the one she had with Twice and wants to with Uraraka?

At best, they're just in the same social group.

I feel like fanon got twisted into how they really are in canon.

Oh, don't get me wrong, they are close. But they still each have their goals and whatnot and at best, they're like coworkers who can get along. They have each other's backs. They are a family. But in some families, not everyone is super close. That's the League. They're a family, but they get along enough to survive. They came together because society cast them out.

With that said!

Toga's Dabi clone not being able to use his quirk surprised me more than Shigaraki's because he burned her old home down, yeah, they had their times of going back and forth with snark comments at each other. They even were inspired by Stain in some way and had some bond with Twice. But looking back? That was it. The times they did talk to each other, it was just banter. They were inspired by Stain, but for different reasons (if I recall correctly). They didn't become closer until AFTER Twice had died because before it wasn't really a need to.

With Shigaraki, it was a bit more clear to me as to why Toga couldn't use his quirk. At best, he's just her leader. She agrees with his ideals and he doesn't mind her doing whatever and agrees the League should get what they want. But there wasn't any genuine bonding moments between them. Hell, their first meeting was hostile!

My guess is why Dabi and Shigaraki are the two that Toga cloned next is because they're two of the strongest players on their team. Yet, she miscalculated some things.

On the case of why she can use Twice's and Uraraka's quirks is because they are the two characters Toga does have the closest bonds to.

Toga and Twice were like duo, a pair. You could not have one without the other. Guaranteed the rest of the League mourned for Twice, but Toga? His death hit her the hardest. She's downright vengeful.

With Uraraka, Toga felt they were one in the same (because of the whole Izuku crush thing). And be honest, despite what you think, she has some attraction to Uraraka. Romantic, platonic, however you want to see it! Even while they're on opposing teams, she still wanted to be close to Uraraka. Toga acted like Uraraka betrayed her when Uraraka gave her the answer she asked for (Paranormal Liberation War Arc). You just don't act like someone betrayed you unless that person was someone important to you.

Now, I'm not saying anyone should agree with me. Not saying I'm right. I'm just going off by the leaks and what I do know from the story. That's it.

[animefu]

Pokémon Horizons - The Sudden Turn (Part 1)

Disclaimer: Contains Spoilers from the Anime for those, who haven't seen it!!

Characters: Amethio, Spinel, Friede, Liko, Roy

Pokémon: Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Ceruledge, Cap, Magneton, Corviknight, Umbreon

It was a much likely normal day in Galar. Well, only, if you're part of an rather unusual, but still ordinary group of people, who are traveling all these miles, getting to meet one rather important person at a certain location in that specific region. At least if you're belonging to the Rising Volt Tacklers...

~~~

Currently Liko, Roy and Friede were walking through a forest of what appeared, to be a mixture of palmtrees and cornivers, by walking across a path, which would hopefully lead them to Liko's grandmother, to finally receive more information on that mysterious pendant of hers... Oh and not forgetting the Acient Pokéballs, they were currently holding on to at the moment as well.

"Man, how long are we still going to walk like that, Friede? My legs are getting sore!!" a rather excausted Roy whined out, as the three of them, plus Sprigatito, Fuecoco and Cap, despite the fact, they not really being people, were walking for a rather good while now, probably 30 minutes to an hour.

"Don't worry too much, Roy. I'm sure, it won't be taking much longer." Liko answered to his question instead, while holding Sprigatito in her arms. "Nyahoja!" the Grass type Cat Pokémon meowed, in terms of some sort agreement with its Trainer.

The next words came indeed from Friede, the leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers:

"Liko is right, Roy. According to the coordinates on the map, we just have to walk for about 1 hour, until we arrive at her Grandma's. Just think positive." he now said as well.

"Aww, mohh ..." just a relatively unagreed sigh came from the young boy, who's Pokémon Fuecoco was meanwhile comfortably chilling on his head.

After walking for another 20 minutes or more, Liko suddenly stopped walking, as of all sudden Sprigatito jumped out of her arms, as if it sensed something, despite this surten movement. "Nya."

Confused of her Partner, Liko turned her back towards Friede and Roy, wondering, what was going on with the little Grass Cat. "Huh? Sprigatito, what's wrong?" she asked, but instead of putting it's attention to her, the Pokémon started, walking towards a completely different direction, than the one, the group was originally going to take.

Although, not wanting to take the risc of getting lost and possibly worrying Friede, Liko still decided, to just follow her Starter, determined to find out, where it was going of all sudden...

~~~

Meanwhile, a little afar from the treetops of the forest, a Corviknight was flying over them, with an rather skinny looking teenager having two colored, black and silver hair, being none other person, than Amethio from the mysterious group called 'The Explorers' sitting on its back.

He and his two grunts called Zir and Conia were originally send out by his boss Gibeon, to deliver Likos mysterious pendant, given to her from her grandma. But due to rather a row of unseen circumstances, he was removed from that specific mission and forced to hand it over to his rival, at least he appeared like that to him in Amethios eyes, Spinel. Because after reporting to his boss about his failure again snatching Likos pendant from her, he mocked him in front of Gibeon and the other Admins, since he didn't believed Amethios words about seeing a black Rayquaza, wich unfortunately interrupted his battle with Liko at the beach back then.

Feeling betrayed, the young teen then decided, to take this task into his own hands now and going after Rayquaza instead. And the pendant. Because he WAS going to show Master Gibeon, that he was indeed capable of, doing a mission right and fulfilling it!!

After flying for about an hour or more above the treetops, keeping an eye focused on the group, Amethio suddenly noticed, that his Corviknight started giving rather akward noises from itself, stopping midair flying on the spot. "What is it, Corviknight? You've heard something?" he asked, as he let his gaze wander over the forest, wondering what could've startled his Steel type Crow Pokémon.

As he looked further down, where Friede and the others where walking past the treetrunks, Amethio then noticed, that something or rather 'someone' was following them from a further distance. 'No way... You've got to be kidding me!' he thought to himself, as he suddenly spotted Spinel out of nowhere, as one of the other Admins of the Explorers was walking with his Pokémon Umbreon by his side onto the same path, as Liko, Friede and Roy. Feeling his senses tensing up by instinct, Amethio instructed Corviknight, to bring him downwards.

The Pokémon did, what it was told by its Trainer, so Amethio glided down it's back, as soon as he was feeling the ground back under his feet again. After returning his second partner back into its Pokéball, the teen quickly stepped behind a nearby standing tree, trying not to give away his presence. Well, at least he was hoping so.

Now, as he kept watching Friede and the two kids out from that spot, he saw, that Sprigatito had jumped out of its Trainers arms and ran into a completely different path deeper into the forest, rather than staying on the path, which went past it, as well.

'Why is it acting like this? ' the teen now asked himself, because even Amethio knew, that Sprigatito usually was very loyal towards Liko and would never do something, that she didn't told it to do or, if there was no particular reason for this behavior. But this time, there WAS something behind it, he just didn't know, what it was yet.

Even though he had planned, to follow Friede, Amethio now followed Liko, who now was following Sprigatito, still not knowing, why it was acting so strange...

~~~

After she followed her partner all the way deeper into the forest, Liko finally spotted Sprigatito again, wich was strangely sitting next to what looked something, like tracks. And they seemed like, they where made by one or multiple Pokémon. She wasn't sure. After approaching her little cat, the black haired girl kneeled next to it, so that she could examine these tracks too. "Why did you ran off so suddenly, Sprigatito? Was it because of these tracks?"

But after a little thinking, she started to become a little sceptical, because there was no way, Sprigatito would've ran off, just because of these tracks. No... There must be another reason for it... But what could've it been?

Liko was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize, that the Grass Cat Pokémon out of all sudden started hissing, because someone was approaching them. And that person was very familiar to both Sprigatito and it's owner as well. Likos eyes where widening in shock, after she recognized the person, Sprigatito was hissing at...

~~~

Meanwhile Amethio, who was still following Liko, growled a little out of frustration and breathed a little heavily, because he lost Spinel after a good taking walk, after noticing him heading into the same direction as Liko, as he started following both the girl and her Pokémon earlier. And the black and silver-haired teen knew, that his rival was up to something... However defenatly not something nice for sure!

So as he kept going after his three 'targets', his tenses started firing up again, after he suddenly heard a loud scream, shortly followed by an evil laughter. He instictivly rushed into the direction, Amethio assumed, this scream was coming from.

However what he saw then, glided shivers down his spine...

Liko was laying there. Dangerously near... A cliff??? She was unconscious. Had several wounds, mostly coming from her leg and stomach, he assumed. Sprigatito was laying a few feet away from it's Trainer, also with visible scars, alltough, they weren't as bad, as Likos were. But it still looked very damaged.

Amethio couldn't believe, what he saw. He wanted to take a closer look, but was stopped in his tracks, as a person was walking towards the unconscious girl. And it was exactly the same person, he noticed following Liko and the others before.

"Spinel..." Amethio growled trough his teeth, after he recognized his colleague. Unfortunately... He didn't know exactly, why, but somehow his legs started, moving on their own, as the teen instictivly stepped out from behind the bushes and in front of Liko, as if he wanted to protect her.

The spoken one turned around and instictivly had a half sneeky, half evil grin on his face. And his look was very... Let's say... Insane too. Clearly not good for sure. "Well, well... If it isn't my reliable comrade. How's it going? Still on the hunt for a mysterious Pokémon, that doesn't exist?" the green haired asked, obviously having a provoking tone in his voice.

At first, there weren't any specific sentences exchanged between the two Explorer Admins. But it was clearly noticeable, that Spinel was slowy getting on Amethios nerves already, because his right eye was twitching ever so slightly.

After a good moment of silence, Amethio spoke up again, while he didn't took his gaze away from his rival:

"What did you do to her?!" he came to the topic right away, while gesturing to the still unconscious and badly hurted Liko.

All, that he got, was just a laugh from Spinel. "Well, then let me tell you the story from the very beginning. After Master Gibeon handed over your mission to me, I immediately began researching all the information, I would need in order to fulfilling it. So I shadowed them, so that I would know, what their next move would be.

When I successfully hacked myself into their ships system, I discovered that they were on the way to that girls grandmother. So I followed on their heels, so I would know, where they would actually go. Then I found out, that they would go trough this particular forest thanks to the tracking device, that I had of course previously attached to their ship.

After I had their location, I instructed Umbreon to make some fake tracks, so that cute little girl would get separated from her friends and come to this cliff. Then I showed myself to her and told her, to hand over her pendant, or else she would have to suffer from the consequences. And now you can see the magnificent result of what happens, when someone doesn't do, what I want." he ended, while Spinel showed neither guilt or any other signs of affection, of what he had done just couple of moments ago.

Amethio just stood there, speechless and completely stunned, of what he had just heard from his rival.

After staying like that for a short while, the teen balled his hands into fists, while he gave his counterpart a real death stare.

"You completely crazy, brutal, mean... ashole!!! I always knew, you weren't completely normal, but that you would ACTUALLY go so far, as to intentionally hurt someone, just to achieve your goals!! Even I would never have expected that from you!!" he shouted out in anger, wich by the way, was rarely seen from him, one of his hands already slowly moving towards the right pocket of his trousers, where Amethio always held Ceruledge's Pokéball.

But Spinel was unfortunately slowly starting, to run out of patience. "I regret it very much, but I don't have much time forever. So, if you'll excuse me, I have to report my success to Master Gibeon." he said, already in the process of taking the still unconscious Liko, completely ignoring Sprigatito, and bringing her to Gibeon.

Amethio on the other hand, reacted immediately and stood in his rivals way. "Oh no, you're not going anywhere, understood?!" he growled, while taking a firm stand. Shortly after, he pulled out Ceruledge's Pokéball, releasing the Fire Swordsman Pokémon in a flash.

However, his colleague didn't seem, to be particularly impressed by this, quite the opposite actually. Spinel even found it quite amusing. As if all of this was like a game at the moment, wich allowed him, to really provoke Amethio.

"Wow, where did this sudden change of heart come from, my dear friend? Just look at It this way. You will never be worthy of the position of a real Explorer Admin as I am. So, why don't you just give up and leave the rest to me, while you can quietly enjoy your time out and watch me complete a mission a thousand times better, than you ever could? How does that sound, Amethio?"

Just the way, he emphasized his name, was the last straw for Amethio. "Alright, just shut up, got it?! Just to make things clear, Spinel!! We, you and I, were never friends and never will be!!! So don't you dare, call me that again!! Ceruledge, use Bitter Blade!!" he now called out for his Pokémon to attack.

Ceruledge immediately swung one of its blades almost in tune with it's Trainers command, to directly strike with it at Spinel. However he had already expected this and now called his Pokémon Magneton out of its Pokéball as well, to block the attack with Electro Ball.

But Ceruledge was quick enough, to avoid this counterattack at the last second, by using Psycho Cut this time, wich caused the Electro Ball to eliminate.

Amethio narrowed his eyes, while watching this process. "You'll never win! Ceruledge, Phantom Force!! And use Night Slash right after!!" he instructed his Pokémon for the second time.

Ceruledge emerged in a dark purple portal and landed a powerful hit at Spinels Magneton with the following Night Slash, after it came out of it again, whereupon the Electro Pokémon collapsed and shortly afterwards a cloud of smoke rose as well.

While his rival was now distracted by this, Amethio turned straight to the still unconscious Liko and very carefully took her into his arms. Right after he called out his Corviknight and placed her gently on its back, followed by Sprigatito. Lastly he sat on it as well and quickly returned his partner and shortly after took off into the skies just in time, before Spinel was even able, to do anything about it...

~~~

In the meantime, it was noticed, that Liko had suddenly disappeared. To be precise, after Friede had briefly turned around, to look at his two protégés and she was no longer on the specified path, the same was true to Sprigatito. Roy seemed to notice that now too.

"Huh? Liko? Wasn't she there a few moments ago?" Friede now asked, sounding a bit confused. Roy looked at him, at least as confused and now also looked around for the girl. But it was true. There was no trace of Liko or even Sprigatito at all.

Roy answered to his question. "Actually, yes... Strange, where could she have gone? And Sprigatito too..."

The young man scratched his chin thoughtfully. "It's not like her, to just disappear like that. She would definitely have told us before." he said, a little sound of worry in his voice.

Roy nooded in agreement. "You're right! But if not for this reason..." his sentence was interrupted midway, as Friede began to speak again:

"Wait! Oh no... What if, something happened to her and that's why she disappeared?!"

Roy's eyes suddenly widened. "You're not saying... That the Explorers might have kidnapped her and Sprigatito?!" he didn't even want to think about it!

But Friede only gave a determined nod from himself, his face now twisted into a serious expression. "I actually didn't want to imagine it... But now that I think about it again... It would definitely be a possibility!"...

To be continued...

~~~

Sidenote: Sorry, it has to end so suddenly, but I am afraid, I won't have much space for one post, so I decided, to split this up into 2 Parts. But I still hope you will be reading it anyway and waiting for Part 2.

Let me know your thoughts so far in the tags and stay tuned for Part 2!!

See you very soon, guys!!!

[gravity-knight]

Ok DFF finished and I’m mad

Started off so good, I was hooked. But that ending… 😒

Story was definitely interesting. The concept. The characters. All good. But the direction from possible supernatural, to whodunit, to a delve into the human mind kinda fell flat.

I guess it’s my fault for expecting something that just wasn’t gonna happen. I stopped my investigaytions when I realized what was happening. But it was still fun picking characters apart

Por. Poor spoiled little rich kid. Had you been a better ring leader things wouldn’t have escalated

Top. I dunno I thought there could’ve been more to his shitty actions. Thought he was secretly in love with Tee or White. Thought he was a secret agent for Tee’s uncle. Thought he would have some kind of secret. But nope.

Tee. Oh man there was a lot going on for this kid. I really went in liking him but when he started to manipulate Non I took a step back. I still felt bad for him for some reason. Then we find out more and how he and White met and started to pity him. Even his ending is just sad.

White. Poor Snow White did no harm. He came to play in the woods and had his heart stabbed. Finding out that someone you loved isn’t the person you thought they were hurts. Then having to go through all that stuff in the cabin ESPECIALLY when you didn’t even want to go? He really gave off final girl to me but in the end just an innocent bystander. Had he mustered up some courage though, ALOT of things could’ve gone differently.

Tan. Idk guys, manic is definitely a good look on this man. The irony of playing the older brother though. I think he may be first on the list of who had the most fucked up experience. Coming back home to your family like that. Leaving you all alone. Nothing but revenge on your mind.

Non. This guy really did a number on me. All he wanted was to make his movie. I don’t think he even really wanted friends. I think he just wanted to be needed. Cause if he wanted people around him who cares about him he would not have done that to Phee. I really didn’t think we’d get a character like that from Non. I thought he’d be painted as a troubled weirdo and that would be it. And to find out that was his fate? I really thought he’d just appear in the end. Or wake up somewhere in the forest. Also Mr. Keng too?

Jin. Omg did you guys see that hallucinoJin (😉) so much ass. Jin definitely has the most secrets out of the group. The rawness of it all. Boy is obsessed. I’m glad that he confessed what he did to Non and why he did it. I was afraid that would be swept under the rug or suffer a premature conversation interruption. Also there’s something kinda nice about falling in love with your crush’s boyfriend. Like you both loved the same guy. That’s not weird right? I mean sure but it’s like poetic weird right? Ironic? Am I using that right?

Phee. Boy. Like. What? He was soooo in love and so hurt. He helped Non and was betrayed. He had every right to feel the way he did. And still he. Blamed himself. His hallucinations showed Non dying in multiple ways. All suicidal. And him not being able to save him no matter how many times he tried to. Sorry I’m still standing by JinxPhee. Need them in like a gay killers sort of project

(Dead) End. Ok so I’m wtf. Like that was so unnecessary. It made no sense really. Everyone was drugged and Tan placed weapons all next to them to which they ended things. Now Fluke. Top and Por I had already lost all hope for, for a long time. Tee and Phee was up in the air, so were White and Jin. I ultimately thought Jin would be the last one standing or atleast one. He felt very main character out of the main characters. And I thought the film’s end with him being the only one that made it out the house was foreshadowing. White being as submissive as he was I thought he’d power up in the end at the critical moment. But when it turned out to be Tee. I thought Tee would pull a Romeo and Juliet. So now this two year jump confused me.

I was already thinking why none of them are in jail and why we don’t see the aftermath of Jin’s hand. And why would Tee just be at home

Phee pulling the “maybe we never left” card got me so upset. Because why. Was the drugs actually poisonous? Did they all consume too much? Why are Jin and Phee connected and with Tee? Was the antidote actually fake? Phee told Jin to wait for him while he went back for Tee. So was Phee “waking” from his hallucinations actually not him waking up? Because I questioned why the smoke wasn’t affecting him after he woke up. And then we hear the puff. For all we know there was never an antidote

I just wished they gave us a bit more than a shot of the house for an ending. Like the ambiguity wasn’t needed. Just say they all died and show all the bodies.

[laf-outloud]

They can’t cancel WIndy, this show gets better every week omg.

First off, am I the only one who is annoyed at the way Gus, Hoyt and Kate are treating Abby? It’s not her fault you guys followed her pretty blindly. And while I can understand that reaction initially, personally the moment I saw Shane I would have been like “oh wow, Abby was right. There’s two Tom Davidsons, what a reasonable thing to be confused about!” They made it even worse by treating her like a small child when she wanted to help out with Kai. Abby’s not even my favorite character and I still think her friends are doing her dirty…and chased her right into Tom Davidson’s arms.

At least Calian is a true friend, and the only one with wise words and support to offer even when he’s going through it. I thought it was so sweet that she went to check on him, and by his reaction I’m guessing no one else has yet. I love Abby and Calian’s friendship. To me, their chemistry has mellowed out and they’ve gone from potential love interests to twins souls. They’re both wise people who despite their on the surface stoicism are soft hearted and both are destined to be leaders, even if they don’t feel like they’re up to the task. Taza dying and his faith in Calian to guide their people had me tearing up. Calian walks a hard road, especially because there’s really no right route and suffering at the end no matter which way he goes. But Taza was right, him being pulled between two worlds make him the right leader to guide people into the uneasy new world. I also loved the one door closing, another opening with Taza dying and Calian potentially finding his sister. Lots of siblings popping up in Independence these days, I’m half expecting Hoyt to have brother next week lol.

We finally got the Kai centric episode we’ve been waiting for, and they did not disappoint! Even though I was suspicious of Lily from the get and figured she betrayed him for the Tong, they were pretty cute together so I was hoping it would all work out. I loved that he called Kate out for using him and proving that he knows a lot more than he lets on. And the detail about the change in his cadence! I thought his halted, accented English going to fluid Mandarin was a great detail, and it became 10x better when we found out the accent was all an act. So happy they didn’t shy away from badass Kai, a man who can dish it out whether it’s violence in streets or business negotiations. I want a whole season dedicated to a Kai and Tom partner ship and the two of them running Independence. I was shocked that Kate was so disgusted with him though. Ma’am, get off your high horse.

Shane Davidson was not what I was expecting. I thought he was going to be the competent golden child, not the party boy recklessly skating by on his family’s name/wallet and his ego. With every episode, I’m more convinced that Tom is trying to make a name for himself beyond his family, and that in his own way he really does care about Independence. I wonder what he was going to confide in Abby about, maybe warning her away from his brother? It must have stung to have disinterested Abby appear so into his brother. I was not expecting Abby to go to Tom about her suspicions regarding Shane! I wonder how her relationship with Tom is going to change going forward, and if that’s going to prevent her from making up with the rest of the group whose distrust of Tom runs too deep. I also wasn’t expecting Tom to have already hung his brother up! Like Tom, why do you have a murder shed? I figured last week it was a one time thing, but two people back to back? Tom you rascal. It shouldn’t make me like him more, but it does lol.

And while we saw a decent amount of Gus and Hoyt this week, there wasn’t much going on with them. I liked the hint of Hoyt’s more serious side, and the two of them work so well together I hope they continue to have more side storylines. Hoyt is a great character because everyone brings out a different side of him. Abby and Kai bring out his protective nature, Kate brings out his humorous side (they’re like bickering siblings, I love it), and Gus and Calian bring out his potential to be his own man who would make his father proud.

Another beautiful review! I know there was a lot going on this week, but I felt like it flowed a better than the previous week and had a bit more focus.

As for they way Abby's friends treated her? I think there's still an element of Abby being an outsider. Hoyt, Gus, and Kate have been in Independence longer and have a stronger relationship with Kai. They all went into protective mode and maybe they weren't sure how willing Abby would be to help Kai. (Though it was still rough to see them not even giving her a chance.)

The chemistry between Abby and Calian is ridiculously hot! I loved hearing Abby speak a bit of Apache. Even if they don't become love interests, their friendship is incredibly sweet.

My heart absolutely broke for Kai in this episode. They took us through the emotional and character gamut with him. Kai is a man of many talents and I can't believe Lily played him like that. The last thing he needs after going through such a harsh betrayal is for Kate to turn her back as well.

I will forever be confused by Tom. He seems to have so many righteous intentions, but his penchant for torture is pretty worrisome. How long before he turns on one of our WIndy favorites if they cross him?

Loved your analysis of Hoyt! It's so fun to see the different way each relationship develops.

[rowanthestrange]

Oh this bitch will absolutely drop Welsh folklore on us, you’re so damn right. He’s SO Welsh. You’re the rightest person in the room.

(Note for readers: pronounced like Vahri, cus you’re gonna want to just read Mari like Mare or Mary which does make sense but it isn’t.)

It’s also just one creature, so makes sense just one I guess.

The custom was first recorded in 1800, with subsequent accounts of it being produced into the early twentieth century. According to these, the Mari Lwyd was a tradition performed at Christmas time by groups of men who would accompany the horse on its travels around the local area, and although the makeup of such groups varied, they typically included an individual to carry the horse, a leader, and individuals dressed as stock characters such as Punch and Judy. 

…Also…they were already inside, right? The creatures. That’s the point, she goes out to escape them? So are these two (for a given meaning of two) the Punch and Judy-esque side characters? Albeit not a chosen acquaintanceship.

The folklorist Iorwerth C. Peate believed that the term meant "Holy Mary" and thus was a reference to Mary, mother of Jesus.

hello Themes my old friend

The men would carry the Mari Lwyd to local houses, where they would request entry through song. The householders would be expected to deny them entry, again through song, and the two sides would continue their responses to one another in this manner. If the householders eventually relented, the team would be permitted entry and given food and drink.

The Mari Lwyd party would approach a house and sing a song in which they requested admittance. The inhabitants of the house would then offer excuses for why the team could not enter. The party would sing a second verse, and the debate between the two sides – known as the pwnco (a form of musical battle similar to flyting) – would continue until the house's inhabitants ran out of ideas, at which time they were obliged to allow the party entry and to provide them with ale and food.

Yeah this feels the sort of thing Rusty’s going for with the physics creatures. And that’s very Toymaker. That’s very Rules. That the Guardian Creatures (let’s just call em that to save time) don’t have the rules of physics to obey, but some rules nevertheless. Count the salt.

Note that in modern Welsh, the Mari Lwyd is referred to with definite article y,

Uh huh.

the Mari Lwyd tradition came under the influence of mystery plays, thus explaining why later recorded examples from those counties contained characters known as "the Sergeant" and the "Merryman"

These are Time Lord and Rusty style names.

And this is all done at Christmas. Next Christmas special maybe? Bit of skeletal spooks, we do love our Nightmare Before Christmas.

Mari Lwyd, Lwyd Mari A sacred thing through the night they carry. Betrayed are the living, betrayed the dead All are confused by a horse's head.

— Vernon Watkins, "Ballad of the Mari Lwyd", lines 398–400

This feels like Things.

In parts of Wales a horse's head – sometimes with horns attached – was featured as part of the charivari processions designed to shame those who were deemed to have behaved in an immoral manner.

Ooh this could be important. Because that’s the same sort of backstory Russell gave the Weeping Angels. That it’s a punishment, a shame, a thing people are turned into.

Yeah…this is gonna turn up again.

You think she was alive but just in super low power essentially dead mode out there? Like we find out later they can’t really die like that, Doctor mirror style, there was no evident food on board because she didn’t need it. And then she was blown to ash. Which would have been her own plan anyway, no need to blame the Doctor, but they probably would blame themselves anyway. Bit of hindsight drama?

I hope we meet the Bipedal Skeleton Horse species, and they are indeed skeletons.

[onyourhyuck]

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐊ᵃ𝐫𝐦𝐚. | Season 2

synopsis; park areum is a journalist who happens to get her life involved with the mafia leader war and havoc, lee jeno. areum’s brother was kidnapped by the japanese mafia na yuta and areum was able to successfully get jisung back— however with a price that she betrays lee jeno by selling out important information of his base whereabouts. it’s been a year ever since that day and areum happens to get involved in the mafia world again.

warning: mafia au/theme, thriller, action, romance, smut!!, lots of fighting here and mentions of blood, park areum is a bad bitch ykyk, dreamies are here for plot, love triangle!!!!, angst.. massive angst, death mentions of characters, alcohol mention, guns mention, switch!areum, switch Jeno!, rough kissing, gripping, degrading, praising, love scenes, unprotected seggs [wrap your willys sons pls, use it 😃], slowburn romance, prepare for a long ass ride.JEALOUSY, Exhibitionist scenes (almost caught etc) semi public scenes with sexual tension. PLOT TWISTS AND CLIFFHANGERS <3 THIS IS SEASON 2, CHECK SEASON 1 OUT BEFORE READING THIS SEASON PLSSSS.

PART 22 / 25. PART 23 LINK.

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Seoul went back to its normal calm state, everyone was moving on with their life. streets became more alive, citizens were more free and calm as the war ended. everything seemed to return to its old ways…

all except them.

areum sighs as she saw every soldier dress themselves in all black clothing, carrying gifts and flowers as well as offerings with food and alcohol. the heavily pregnant woman who is bursting to pop any day now, or so she feels, looks in the reflection at the mirror. wearing a simple black dress.

her attention trips to the background when a taller boy with a shorter girl that resembled a cute little ferret almost approach areum. “noona,” jisung calls.

areum turning to Mina and jisung with a short welcoming smile, coming forward her hands fiddle with jisung’s tie— having to fix it like his mother would. mina glancing to see jisung mutter protests such as ‘I thought I did a good job with my tie, why are you fixing it?’

areum sighs. “clearly not Ji, but it’s fine. you have Mina to take care of you, isn’t that right?” Mina opens her lips as she grins. “you’re right, by the way…”

the younger girl shares a glance with jisung, areum seeing the small eye convo between them; she felt like she was interrupting something intimate. jisung looks confused at Mina before turning to areum with a ‘oh yeah’ escaping the lips. “so, noona! we have news to tell you.”

areum hums now intrigued, raising an eyebrow at the two. “wait…don’t tell me you got her knocked up because that’s the least thing i wanna hear from you— that and you committing murder.”

jisung looks away off guard by the intense comments from his overthinking protective sister, Mina putting her hands forward in a big cross. “not at all areum!” Mina adds, areum sighing in relief.

“we’re moving in together!” jisung shouts back, holding matching couple key chains, Mina smiling happily, clapping. Areum surprised with happiness shared for her brother and his girlfriend, she hugs both of them tight. “oh my god, I’m so happy for you.”

the three let go off the hug as jisung chuckles. “it took me a while to say it properly, but, yeah. we’re moving into our new apartment soon.” mina would slightly nudge jisung, “he cried a lot, actually- WE cried a lot haha.” she admits forward.

the two are very sensitive, jisung and mina easily tear up— hence why they seem to match each other’s energies so well. emphatic and chaotic, both understanding and loving too. only difference is, Mina has pent up anger issues secretly.

“yeah well— shhh, It’s scary proposing an idea to someone.” jisung said and areum awes at the couple. “well, you know what, it ended in a good note that’s all that matters.“

the taller boy looks around the gloomy miserable people in their own groups, no one spoke much. the happy aura fades as areum looks down. she might be happy for them, but she isn’t actually that happy overall with herself or today.

“noona, is jeno hyung going to the funeral with you?” jisung asked quietly in a whisper manner, areum shaking her head. “he doesn’t want to go with that many people attending, so he’s definitely going alone after.” areum explained forward.

haechan approaches with an arm wrapping on areum’s neck, he was eaves dropping as per-usual.“which is why I’m going with areum.”

the woman rolls her eyes at the friendly boy who is her stupid best friend, she’d push him away and haechan dramatically gasps. “I can’t believe you would push me!”

areum scoffs before teasingly mimicking haechan’s lines. “or what? you’ll use the ‘these hands are rated for everyone’ on me”

the tan boy pouts looking away with hands crossed. “no, I’ll cry because daddy jeno would kill my ass ten folds and un-alive me from existence on this forsaken planet.”

areum scoffs once again, not believing those words. little does she know that jeno would in fact go through harsh beyond lengths for areum! haechan knows it just by the way jeno looks at areum. “Yeah right hyuck don’t be dramatic, let’s go to the funeral it’s about to start.”

changing the topic everyone shifts to the same mellow depressing atmosphere, their energy shifting low vibration as everyone follows to leave the base. All but Jeno.

the man would watch his windows by the curtains, seeing the coffin carried as the guests walk in synch towards the graveyard where nayoung is buried too. his eyes took a glimpse of areum and haechan together walking ahead.

his eyes sinks even more knowing that he refused to go. he can’t break down in front of everyone and show that he’s able to feel such emotions; it’s uncomfortable for him to be this way.

but it is what it is, he’s human, and jeno sometimes can’t accept the fact that he is human with human emotions.

time passed, funeral ended so the leader came out of his room sneaking out in casual clothing. dressing up for a funeral felt even more discomforting and unreal to jeno, he wishes to see them informally as if it were him talking to his friends.

when he’s arrived to the graveyard with the two gravestones “Kim nayoung” and “Na Jaemin” appears, his eyes falter to the feminine figure standing by them alone, hoodie with shorts on, he knew who this was immediately.

his voice swiftly shifts as he lays on his knees. “areum, you’re still here?” jeno would ask, her nodding as she whispers. “ i didn’t want to leave you alone.”

he would’ve smiled in the moment but his body felt so numb and lifeless, like a part of him died when jaemin left. jeno muttering. “I’m fine alone areum, i promise.” the woman turns to jeno, not believing one word coming out of the man. she’d watch jeno start praying at the two graves once he saw areum complementing if she should or shouldn’t speak back.

the man goes in for his third bow, this now not lifting his face up, jeno pausing in the position for two minutes in silence— till a small sob escaped. areum averts attention to him where she automatically huddled to jeno, letting the man curl to her body like a broken down child.

he couldn’t handle it anymore.

jeno embracing areum, she whispers encouraging words. “You’re always acting so strong and unbreakable, when will you admit to me that you’re able to hurt?”

the thoughts adding on to those words, he was left wondering why he self isolates everytime he suffers. it’s a mechanism to deal with the situation.

he speaks out weakly, shaking his head. “I’m sorry areum. i promise to open up to you more, but..I couldn’t bring myself to do it at the time.”

she completely understood him, she wasn’t asking much, though she wouldn’t want to force him either. areum rubs his back in slow motions, humming softly. “it’s okay jeno, just remember that I’m here for you. I’ll visit this place with you if it helps!”

jeno had a sudden flashback, jaemin telling him way back that he won’t stop coming to visit nayoung’s grave until the day he dies, and that he himself was going to do the same.

but now, areum unknowingly is doing the same. jeno smiling softly. “that would help, let’s go here every year together..?” Jeno trails, areum nodding more than happy to do that with him.

“I’ll be by your side, jeno.”

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MASTERLINK FOR HIS KARMA.

REBLOG! LIKE! FOLLOW ME FOR MORE~

Y’all gonna hate me sm for killing him off </33 I’m sorry! You ALL SIGNED UP FOR ANGST SO THAT IS WHAT YOURE GETTING—

@onyourhyuck please refer from copyrighting and plagiarising my work! REBLOG, SHARE AND LIKE THIS TO SEE MORE CONTENT OF THIS.

[palidoozy-art]

@interstellardragon

haha there's still some stuff left to resolve with Kasimir in our group. Patrina is actually roaming free (she is actually the one who tattled, resulting in the rakshasa that's currently hunting the group down) and one of Kasimir's flaws in our group is that he refuses to do anything about her, even when it's clear she's in the wrong.

More Kasimir/Rahadin rambling below cut.

He is so burdened by his own guilt in the involvement of her death that he can't say no to her, even when it's clear that she does not give a shit and means harm. He will make up every excuse in the book for her. Part of his arc, if the players choose to pursue it, will be slowly overcoming his guilt and realizing the abuse he faced from her (more on that here).

I actually like the idea that he and Rahadin are exes tbh. In our game I actually floated the idea to my players of Barov and Rahadin having been nebulously involved. My players rejected this because they felt like Barov doting over Rahadin as a beloved son with no other problematic ulterior motives* was actually a weird good spot in a monstrous character, and they wanted to keep that intact.

As Kasimir and Rahadin's relationship stands currently: it is tenuous. Kasimir was the deciding vote in the choice between the group choosing to execute Rahadin after his capture. The party felt it best to leave to the leader of the dusk elves, and Kasimir made a vow to end what he views as the cycle of violence his people keep living through (Kings torture Rahadin -> Rahadin betrays dusk elves to Barov -> Dusk elves stone Patrina for smoochin' Barov's son -> Barov's son orders a genocide that Rahadin assists him with, and mutilates the instigator).

HOWEVER, it is hard to forgive someone for taking part in that. Even for Kasimir. It is a test of patience to be able to wake up every day and watch the man who stared you in the eyes as he mutilated you find happiness while you still feel broken, even if it is morally a "good" thing to do. I don't think there's a world in which Kasimir will ever fully forgive Rahadin, and I don't think any of the players will ever ask him to.

On Rahadin's end -- Kasimir confuses him. Rahadin's entire worldview is built around the premise that everyone in the world, especially dusk elves, are monsters that will be cruel to you by default. And in spite of Kasimir and the party being given every opportunity to do so, they haven't. Kasimir made a choice to spare him in spite of being justified in killing him. Ireena gave him food in spite of being justified in giving him nothing. And the party returned two of his most precious belongings, in spite of being fully justified in burning them. He is at the point where he is willing to admit that Kasimir did not deserve what happened to him. He is still convinced that his actions against the dusk elves was just him enacting "justice," rather than calling it what it is. I don't know whether or not that's something the party is going to confront him on, or Ireena will do it off-screen/in a comic, but in order to grow as a character I think he will eventually have to address it.

*Note: To be completely clear by 'problematic ulterior motives' I mean the quasi-incest, the power imbalance, and the manipulation, not the fact that they'd be two dudes.

[constellationmelody]

Beauty and the Guard AU

An AU on Beauty and the beast but there’s no beast unless you want to count belos as one but he’s not the focus character Hunter just refuses to take off his mask the whole time.  

Takes place when luz is trying to save Eda from petrification, Luz strikes a deal with Belos, Giving the portal but manages to destroy it. She’s instead taken captive and warned by Belos that if she escapes, He’ll send an army to capture not just Eda but everyone she ever met and befriended. 

- Has to stay in the Castle as to answer Belos’ questions about the human realm and any other information gathering.

- Hunter is assigned as her chaperone but not all the time. Not when he’s on missions. Steve fills in. 

- Luz agrees with Hunter to not ask about his mask. She says that she doesn’t have a desire to get to get to know him and Considering how the majority of citizens are under the monster category, she understands that he doesn’t want anyone to look. Hunter is not sure if he’s relieve that she will keep her promise not to look under his mask or feel insulted that she basically called him ugly. 

(Long post)

- When not 'helping’ Belos information gathering, She puts to work as a cleaning lady, Luz is furious about it. She can’t believe she has to clean more there than she does at home in a dusty castle. The other cleaning witches can do their job well with magic, meanwhile it’s all manual labor. Not to mention she shares quarters with them and they snore.

- Tries to convince Hunter to let her go out even if its around the castle grounds, of course, He says no and shuts down her attempts.

- While doing her cleaning duties, Luz wanders around the castle to look around any valuable information on Belos for any way to help eda/or whatever without the Golden Guard following her. She finds the forbidden library and is amazed by the goldmine of BI’s forbidden knowledge! She only gets to look through some books before she gets caught by Hunter which he angrily yells at her about being in a place where she’s not supposed to be in. Drags her out and locks the library.

- She tries to run away but often gets stopped by Hunter, the threat of going to the dungeon doesn’t scare her (”I escaped there like twice”). He relents and allows her to go on these ‘adventures’ when he’s not in a mission, He finds it to be fun but would not admit it.

- Luz manages to get the freedom to go back to school but is secretly spied on by Hunter, though he sometimes get caught by the monsters or students roaming around. Hunter picks her up after school. (weak sauce, idk what to put here to make it more interesting)

- When he’s not chaperoning her in the outside world, Hunter gets envious how much fun Steve is having with Luz when they go on an adventure. Detailing their bounty adventures, using the snails to shop and buy things. He can’t really do much about it but when he does go, Steve gets sad; Luz promises him that she’ll get him souvenirs.

- Somehow finds out that Hunter is a magicless witch and Luz shows him that she can do magic through glyphs. Hunter is amazed and they start geeking out about it until he stops himself since it’s a forbidden knowledge.

-  Luz had succeed running away from the castle but its to the beach to stare at the boiling waters. She tells Hunter that the castle life was suffocating her and needed to go out. Hunter stayed with her until they were ready to go back. 

- Hunter secretly takes her to the forbidden library to cheer her up so she can learn more and the boiling isles history. Hunter is happy to have someone with the same interests as him to talk to about wild magic. Gets more comfortable around her and talk in secret more about it. During their time together get bond over varies subjects, the library becoming their sanctuary when its not in use, which is most of the time. They share about each other’s realms constellations, history, what kind of magic is around, creatures and about the titan. Luz scolds him for this, referring back when he got angry at her for being curious when he basically did the same thing in secret.

- After some time getting comfortable and know each other through mutual interest and deep talks. Hunter gets bothered that since she doesn’t know his name, She has no choice but to call him by his title. When they are coming back from doing errands, He tells her his name and she’s allowed to call him by it when they are together/in private. His heart fluttered when he hears her say his name.

- Luz starts to grow feelings for him despite not knowing what he looks like. She had opportunities to see what he looks at the times when he’s asleep during their time in the library or when his mask gets knocked off during a temp job but kept her promise to not look at his face which leads to uncomfortable situation where she accidentally gropes him when she was looking for him to give him his mask back, luckily never below the belt. What she finds is his built felt normal. No hidden spikes, slime or what-have-you to suggests that he’s in the monster/demon category. Hunter obviously flustered. 

- (Following the plot of Hunting palisman w/ some changes to the plot cause obviously Eda)  At school Luz can’t find the palisman that suits her and is upset about it. Hunter, although he still hesitant about his feelings towards wild magic, tries to comfort her. (convo from the Hunting palisman) Luz  talks about What happened at the school, and questions Hunter about how he manages to know what he wanted for his future and How he came to the emperor’s coven, to help her get some guidance from him. He tells her about himself and lack of future and Although she isn’t sure about hers, at least she gets to choose. Luz feels sad for him and hugs him. Hunter melts in her embrace. 

- Just as he’s about to fall asleep in her arms, Rascal pops out of his hiding place and gives Hunter a heart attack. Rascal chooses Hunter to be his palisman. Obviously Luz feels a bit disappointed that hunter got his palisman when he doesn’t want it, the look of uncertainty he has with the palisman makes her determine to get him used to it. She can always be a teacher since she has experience with Owlbert.

- With his new staff that he’s still unsure of, Hunter decides to take Luz out somewhere out of the ordinary routine after school, somewhere special (think like events like the wailing stars but something else) but that turned romantic. At some point he slightly lifts his mask to kiss Luz’s hand. She’s obviously swooned. May have peeked and sees that he has loose strand of medium blond hair sticking out and that his Lips felt like normal. Starts to think he looks like more like human(or witch?) like some of her classmates.

- They become even more friendlier as it becomes a usual thing for them to be seen together in the castle when Luz is or isn’t working, even the coven members are noticing this, especially Kikimora. Coven leaders are just shocked that someone liked him enough to be his a friend. 

- Kikimora start planting seeds of doubts in Luz’s mind about whether Hunter really is being her friend or just fulling his duties as he was told by Belos. What if their talks where his manipulative ways to get her to tell him about her and other information gathering. Was he really talking to her as she clean because he’s really saw her as a friend or just keeping guard to make sure she doesn’t run away. Kiki does this to mess whatever good thing Hunter has since she can’t kill him.  Luz tries her best to ignore her, rationalizing that that’s quite an investment for Hunter to go through to manipulate her.

- Somewhere a long the line, Luz finds out the truth about day of unity and the truth of Kikimora’s words of Hunter’s actions that she assumed was just lies that Kiki told her. She’s hurt to think the guy she grown to love had any knowledge about it and betrayed her. “I though you were a good guy [mentions all the stuff they do together and such] I guess You’re not my friend, you’re just the golden guard.” It kills him when she said that.

- alternatively he finds out that she has the key to the partially fixed portal door. Is conflicted on whether to break their bond for belos or not especially after learning that she’s homesick and wants to see her mom again. Fought with Kikimora over it with lead to Luz finding out their fight and gets heartbroken that Hunter has it, assumes the worst that kikimora was right.  Again, “I though you were a good guy I guess I was wrong. You’re not my friend, you’re just the golden guard.” His feels his heart breaks. 

- Luz gets rescued by Eda, Lilith, king, hooty, her friends. Hunter doesn’t try to stop her but apologizes to her for everything and for what it’s worth, he’s happy to got to know her and that he loved her, whether she feels the same or not. Luz obviously shocked but couldn’t give a response because the gang were fleeing.

- Back in the owl house, Luz is a mess because of the mixed feelings she has for hunter. In one hand, she knew him as this cold person who was very dedicated to his job while the other as an intelligent, funny, (other more things) and is confused on which hunter is the one she grown to love. ( Feels devastated about it because she thinks that he faked his feelings for her to get knowledge on the key or whatever although hunter didn’t really know she had it.)

- Lilith is dumfounded that Luz has feelings for him because she known him to be a brat. Luz argues that He is but much more than that. As she explains why, she gets hits with the epiphany that she does indeed had fallen in love with him. Eda laughs, “Not sure If I approve catching feelings for your nanny, I thought you were being tortured or something but I see now what you have been really doing.” wagging her eyebrows. Luz: “They have me clean the castle from top to bottom! By hand!” “I don’t approve then.” Luz shares her knowledge of wild magic with the group that she learn from the castle’s library.

- Weeks later, Luz tries to sleep but hears small knocking on the window, She opens it and sees Rascal with the key with him and a note from Hunter apologizing again for what happened. Belos doesn’t know about the key. She sends a note back, telling him to meet her. 

- idk how they makeup. (Working on it) Luz walks up to Hunter and asks if she could take off his mask which he agrees to. Luz takes his mask off and smiles, “well look at that, Magenta eyes. You aren’t ugly as I thought to you were!” hunter frowns, “But you’re handsome as I imagined,” leans up and kisses him first. Hunter tosses the mask away for good and hugs her close to kiss her better. Luz pulls back,  “and... I love you too.” Hunter isn’t sure what his new future holds but knows for sure that Luz is a part of it. 

-------------

( Had an idea in an alternative story plot around the part where they went out to a ���date’. They confessed their love and started to kiss lol imagine them having to use a blindfold to keep her eyes closed. But it was a bit too sensual? Or Sensuous? It just didn’t fit in the flow of the storyline. Why did this became a dabble? )

Hunter, for the first time, gets self conscious about his looks. He tries not look into mirrors, though hard when his mask reflects the face he tries hard to avoid looking at when putting it on, He doesn’t really thought much about his looks, except for the scar that’s plastered over his cheek. The ugly scar that he rather forget he has.

As Hunter looks down at Luz’s face, blindfolded to prevent her from accidently opening her eyes during their ‘make out session’, He’s starting to believe that Luz lied about being magicless. He can’t help but feel enchanted over how beautiful she looked by the way the moonlight cast a heavenly glow over her cute features. He can only imagine how her eyes would look like if she didn’t have the blindfold on. “I wish I can stare into your eyes,”

“Why can’t we?”

“You know why”

“Right, I’m not allowed to look under the mask.” she pouted.

“And... well,” Luz attentively waits for him to continue, “I may not look... pretty as you think I imagine. If that makes any sense.” He sheepishly confessed

As Luz wraps her arms around his shoulders, Hunter feels her hands feeling up up his neck, tenderly cradling his face. Hunter fails to resist the blush spreading across his cheeks and the warm pleasant feeling in his chest

“I have other senses to “see” you,” She says sliding her fingers along his jawline, “Strong jaw, ... No scales, or slime... just soft skin” 

She found one patch on the left of his face in particular that caught her interest but before she could take her time to feel it, Hunter quickly shook her hand away from it. Sensing its something he feels uncomfortable with, she decides to leave it alone. 

She continues, “I can hear your voice; sound hot,” He suddenly felt shy at the comment. He was always self-conscious as he has been told that it was annoying. He felt relieved that it wasn’t the case for her.  “Heh, Thanks”

“I can smell you, " She nuzzles against his neck and scrunches up her nose, “... you need a shower.” Hunter frowns, that was certainly killed the mood a little. She pulls back, “But I like that you smell like pine forest sometimes,” weak save.

 “And,” she hums as grazes her thumb over his lips, licking her own. Hunter subconsciously sucks in his breathe, feeling himself getting hotter by the second.

“I can taste you.” finishing off her sentence by pressing her lips against his; briefly misses his lips by kissing the corner of his mouth before correcting herself. 

Hunter smirks in amusement. 

Alright, He admits that was pretty smooth of her to end it the way she did, even though she fumbled at the end. 

He feels a bit confident on that fateful day where he feels brave enough to show her his face, He just hope it lives up to her expectations despite her reassurance to the contrary. 

Luz, on the other hand, is glad that he’s feels like a normal person underneath the mask, she can’t help but feel a bit disappointed that hunter possess no fangs. 

[amerrierworld]

in dreams (pt 1)

The Hobbit fanfiction

note: just for fun, this tid-bit takes on the classic ‘reader falls into middle-earth’ trope during the hobbit. you’re in rivendell, with the Company, and then the most beautiful elf in the whole fucking world appears. wohoo!

Summary: You meet the Lady of Lothlorien for what you think is the first time, but she’s already very acquainted with who you are.

Characters: Galadriel x fem!reader, the Company, Gandalf

Word Count: 1,123

You dangled your feet into the cool water of the fountain as a rugged group of dwarves around you stripped with no care in the world. A few kept some clothing on, but others, like the younger, brassier ones, didn’t really worry about anyone, especially you, seeing them in their birthday suits. 

You’d been their traveling companion since the beginning of this quest, and you quickly grew fond of them, despite their loud and medieval behaviour at times.

“Lass, quit yer staring!” Dwalin shouted at you. You snorted with amusement, because you hadn’t been staring anywhere inappropriate, but rather watching the low sun in the distance.

“Aye, what’s on our ol’ lass’ mind, then?” Gloin asked. “The Elven wine get to yer head?”

“By Durin, if you could even call that shite wine,” Dwalin responded. “Give me ale over fruity elf drinks any day!”

You chuckled, “they’re really not that bad, I really don’t see why you all have such a problem with Elves.”

“Oh, that tale goes back centuries, dear,” Balin said, squeezing droplets of water from his snow white beard. He was doing the same as you, rolling up his trousers to stick his feet in the water while lounging on the stone edge. “Now’s not the time, unless you want a few heads to start rollin’ around on the floors here.”

You continued, “I mean, sure, Elrond can be a bit prickly with you lot, but that’s because you’re all feasting on his food and drink like pigs.”

“He’s not as bad as the other one,” Fili shouted. 

“That one’s just a prick and nothin’ else,” Kili cackled in response, clapping his brother on the back and proceeding to wrestle him under the water. You were sprayed with a haze of water as they thrashed about.

“Who?”

“Thranduil,” Balin sighed, nodding to Thorin. The Dwarf King-in-exile snarled in response to the name, crossing his arms over his chest from where he was leaning against the edge of the fountain.

“Oh, well, yes, he’s a real asshole, obviously,” you said, earning a few chuckles. “So, Elrond’s a bit uptight, Thranduil can go die in a hole, but, what about Lothlorien? The other Elven realm,” you picked at your thumbnail, “what do you know of that leader?”

“Strange, I’ve heard,” Gloin piped up. “A real elf witch if ye ask me. Ye do so much as make eye contact with her, and yer under her spell for the rest of time!”

“You don’t say. I’d like to see that happen,” you grinned.

A glimpse of white light caught your eye. In the distance, crossing one of Rivendell’s bridges was a tall blonde being dressed in impeccable white. You could barely catch a glimpse of her face, but instantly you knew who she was.

Blushing, you wondered if she had heard everything that the Company was speaking of. 

“Anyways, why are you so interested in the Elf leaders? Getting tired of us Dwarves? We’ve got plenty of kingdoms to talk about, you know,” Kili threw his hands in the air and splashed you, as if you’d betrayed them in the most devastating way.

“Don’t be absurd!”

“I don’t believe her, boys. Come on!”

Fili and Kili lunged forward and before you knew it, your arms were being tugged and you fell face first in the water with a startled shriek. When you came up, soaked, your first instinct was to whip around and see if she was still standing on that bridge. 

She was. You turned beet red, because now she was staring at your strange party, frolicking in the water after you no doubt attracted attention due to your undignified scream.

“I’m gonna kill you,” you growled at the two brothers, eyes twinkling. You splashed more water at them, and they spluttered indignantly before moving to chase you again. 

-

Standing on the bridge, Galadriel stared at your strange party for a little while, before moving out of sight slowly, like wading through molasses. Her mind was racing. Your appearance in Rivendell had, quite honestly, startled the Lady of Light. She hadn’t expected you to be real. 

Your face and voice had only appeared in deep sleeps of hers, haunting her steps with your laugh, and yet you were never close enough for her to truly see or encounter you. 

Celeborn had been concerned for his wife, when she’d wake, restless, pondering. She’d barely spoken of you to him, but it didn’t take a genius, especially being her husband, to figure out what she was dreaming of.

“It is not uncommon to bond with more than one in a lifetime, my love,” Celebron had muttered during one dark and late night.

“Celeborn, this is not a bond like that of those married,” she’d retorted haughtily. “Whoever this is, isn’t real. She cannot be. I do not even know her.”

It went on for months, years. The sight of you here had frightened her to the point where she avoided greeting the Company altogether, no matter the importance of their quest, because how could you be here? Real, breathing and seemingly thriving. She had believed you didn’t even exist. 

And now here you were. A human from some faraway place, dazed by the sheer beauty of Rivendell’s magic, surrounded by burly and loud companions.

Galadriel wrung her hands. She made her way to stand on one of the balconies overlooking Rivendell’s forestry. Trying to tune out the shrieks and laughter of you and the Dwarves in the distance and keeping her own stoic, noble appearance.

“Something on your mind, my lady?” Gandalf had approached her and stood next to her on the ledge as the sun slowly set behind the trees. He leaned against his staff as a cool breeze wafted over them, ruffling his beard and her golden locks.

“Your human companion, Mithrandir,” Galadriel began quietly. “Who is she?”

“Oh, Y/N? Why, she’s quite a lovely companion, actually. I’m still not entirely sure how she came about our quest, and this place, but here we are. I do believe she was meant to be on this journey with us, but for what reason I do not know.”

The Lady remained silent. She felt young, and small, and unsure, as if she weren’t thousands of years old. You had unearthed an old and surprising feeling that not even her husband, her best friend of many centuries, had brought up in years. 

Butterflies. 

She cleared her throat, heat rising in her cheeks, yet she remained vigilant.

“My lady?”

“Will you bring her to me? I would like to get acquainted with her myself. Her circumstances seem odd and I wish to discuss them, learn more of her,” she drawled, eyes kept on the horizon. 

“Of course, Lady Galadriel.”

“No others, please, my friend. I do not wish to be judged by some lowly Dwarves who think I am a witch. And do not tell her it is me she is seeing. I do  not want to frighten her.”

“It takes a lot to frighten her, my lady, trust me,” Gandalf chuckled. “But I will do as you say. Hopefully you can make more sense of the girl than I can. I may be wise, but I am old and confused with the things she tells me.”

Galadriel’s face pulled into a smile and she breathed a little deeper. 

“Thank you, Mithrandir.”

-

A/N: hi, yes, welcome to me: procrastinator extraordinaire. I will post my scheduled fics soon! This was just to get myself back into the game because real life is hell, wouldn't you say? Bear with me, friends. Also, vote, if you’re American :3 I’m not, but I still think it’s important. Stay tuned for pt 2, lovelies <3

[padme-parker]

Collide / Anakin Skywalker x Reader (Chapter 6)

[a Star Wars x Avengers crossover]

Summary: You go to Onderon and meet someone you’ve been longing to see. Another call to home ensues and hearts get broken.

Warnings: angst, maybe cursing, I can’t think of anything else. oh and bad plot lmao

WC: 4.0k

A/N: this isn’t proof read so it might be scuffed. 

read chapter 5 here

C O R U S C A N T

After the nightmares began, Anakin was rarely around, only making you more susceptible to the dark side. You truly did want to tell him about what had been keeping you up at night, but how were you going to contact him when he was never around and the connection the two of you shared was seemingly cut off? You weren’t able to feel his emotions nor feel his presence. It was as if he had blocked you off, almost like he was dead, but he wasn’t. You knew that he went on more campaigns as he was barely spending time in the temple, wanting to stay as far away from you. And if the two of you ever were in the same room by sheer luck, he pretended that you didn’t exist.

On days where both Anakin and Obi Wan were gone, you trained with a girl named Xin. In a way, she reminded you of the mandalorian Sabine: intelligent, strong, and creative. She was skilled with her lightsaber, but also greatly skilled in hand to hand combat, making her an excellent training partner. When all three of them were gone, you spent time learning binary after shortly being gifted a droid. R2-KT, or Kaytee as you liked to call her, accompanied you on your walks around the Jedi temple, often telling you random facts about it or Coruscant.

As time passed, you noticed how the council became weary of your presence. After noticing the color of your saber, which wasn’t hard to miss, the Jedi Masters seemed to focus their attention on you whenever you were in the room with them. You would have liked to believe that you had begun to earn their trust, but you understood their cautiousness towards you. Hell, you would’ve probably reacted the same way if someone came to Earth using a big stone hidden in the middle of nowhere claiming that the fate of the universe rested in their hands.

The halls of the temple were empty- excluding the sentinels- as you roamed around with Kaytee at your side. It was still so surreal being in the Jedi temple. Six months ago you were on Earth, spending time with your family. It seemed so long ago since you were first introduced to Star Wars.

You were foreign to the concept of bonding, spending time with your peers. After spending almost 17 years in foster care, you learned to not attach yourself. To become cold, detached, and observant of your surroundings. With your arrival to the tower, it became a shock to you when you found out that the team spent time together willingly. Some nights they played games like Uno and Cards Against Humanity. You would always sit in the corner and watch them, not comfortable enough to be engaging with them in such a way like that. On the nights where they watched movies, you would always sit in the furthest seat away from the group. It stayed like that until Peter started coming to the bonding nights.

Due to the fact that he was still young, he stayed with his Aunt May. Only coming to the tower to help Tony with his projects. So it was a surprise to see him there, but you couldn’t help feel more comfortable knowing that someone else your age was there.

“So, what’re we watching tonight?” He asked. The team let out a couple of groans, unsure of what they were getting into. “How about we watch Star Wars? I bet you those two grandpas haven’t seen it yet.”

“Hey! Watch it, Peter.” Steve said, putting his hand over his heart to feign hurt. All it took for him to apologize was one glance at Bucky. “Sorry Mister Winter- uhh James- Bucky-- no. Sir Barnes. And Steve.”

He goes to sit down, but before he does, he takes a survey of the room. He notices you sitting alone on the couch, “Hey, why don’t you come sit closer?” He asked. You shake your head, telling him that you were alright where you were. “What about you? Have you seen Star Wars?” You quickly shake your head, you see Peter’s eyes widen and he takes off to sit in the empty spot next to you.

“OMG. WHAT? How have you never seen the movies?”

“Not everyone has the privilege to have a normal childhood. I just so happened to be one of those kids.” You informed him.

“Right, sorry.” He apologized, his hand awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. “I’m sure you’ll love the movies though.”

Peter was right. After watching A New Hope, the team had retired to their respective rooms, but the two of you had stayed up all night finishing the movies. After watching all three trilogies, you had a new found obsession, especially for a certain Skywalker. Even though some people thought that Anakin was a bad character, and sure the script was really bad, you really did love him. So when he betrayed Obi Wan to save Padme, your heart couldn’t help but break. Poor man was so whipped for the pussy :( I guess you could call it to die for.

Although your time on Coruscant was limited, you did your best to enjoy it. The six months you had spent here so far had been a gift. The environment was truly mesmerizing, and you wanted to share it with Peter. You tried not to call him often, the time difference was just slightly confusing. While six months might’ve passed for you, it had only been a month for your family back home.

You were broken out of your reverie by the buzzing of your holocom, requesting your presence in the council room. Making your way into the room, you told Kaytee to wait by the doors. You stood in the middle of the room with your hands clasped behind your back, waiting for them to address you.

“Nice to see you it is.” Master yoda said. “A task for you, we have.”

A task? What could they possibly want you to do? There was no way they’d be sending you on a mission, they never did.

“We want you to travel to Onderon. They are celebrating their liberation from the separatists. I don’t know why but Anakin and Obi Wan would like for you to be present-” Before Mace can finish his sentence he is cut off.

“I believe what Master Windu is trying to say is that they would both like for you to experience what our galaxy has to offer.” Shaak Ti answered for him. “There will be other Jedi there too, but you will be traveling on your own.” She said. “Oh, and please keep in mind, this celebration is also being held in remembrance for Steela, their fallen leader.”

“Understood, may I leave now?” Master Yoda gave you a nod, allowing you to leave. You made your way to the hangar, Kaytee following close behind you. Well, it looks like it was time to see Anakin again.

-

O N D E R O N

Your journey to Onderon is short, but you take the time to fiddle with Kaytee. Cleaning her up to make her look presentable. Weeks after you were gifted the droid, you took the time to fix her up and reprogram her to your liking. With the touch of a button, you could make her record a hologram, send her your location, or gouge out someone's eye if needed. You truly did love your droid, and you thanked the stars that Stark taught you how to code, program, and build trinkets of your own.

Kaytee lands the ship with a heavy thud, “I know you're excited to see Artoo, but we need to be careful with this ship. It’s not ours.” You told her, and in return you get a series of apologetic beeps. The door opens with a hiss, you signal for Kaytee to follow you. Stepping off, you notice all of the other ships outside of Iziz. It was like all the entirety of the galactic senate was here, which you really didn’t doubt. You felt out of place in your Jedi robes. People were arriving in magnificent, mind blowing outfits. Gowns with tails that trailed far behind them and tuxes with flowy capes. This ball was going to have it all.

The bustle of the market only intensified with the oncomers. You had to make your way to the temple before you got distracted. By the time you reached the temple doors, the crowd lessened, or so you thought. Entering the temple, you were greeted at the sight of hundreds of people. You felt blood rush to your cheeks as people began to turn and stare at you. Screw the Jedi Council for not giving me a nice outfit to change into. Just as you were about to turn around and wander through the market, you heard your voice being called out. You tried to find where the sound was coming from, only to get confused and jolt your head around violently as if you were a loth cat.

“Alyra! Over here!.” Your feet began moving on their own accord. As if you were being drawn to a presence. You come to a screeching halt in front of.. Anakin, of course it's him. Why am I not surprised that the force has literally brought me to him? Along with Obi Wan, R2, and Padme. Oh my god, wait, it’s Padme. I could kiss her right now if I wanted to. But I won’t. That would be weird, won’t it. Kissing her in front of her husband, who is my-

“Alyra, are you alright?” Obi Wan asks, breaking you out of your internal ramble.

“Yeah, I was just...trying to take all of this in. I’ve never seen anything like this.” You responded, pretending to look around the temple.

“It seems like you space out a lot.” He jokes, a smile on his face before he realizes no one else is laughing. He rolls his eyes before continuing, “Anyways, welcome to Onderon. This is my good friend, Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo.” He turns to face her while he introduces you to her. You hold out a hand, expecting for her to shake it. Instead she walks up to you and takes you within her hold. She hugs you tightly, you can feel her protruding belly.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you! Anakin has talked a lot about you.” Both you and Obi Wan furrow your brows at the mention of Anakin speaking of you. Padme is quick to notice this and corrects herself, “I mean of what he’s mentioned to me about you today. Right, Ani?” She validates.

“Yeah, only good things though.” He testified, avoiding your gaze. It was weird that he was mentioning you to his pregnant wife, what was there to talk about? Not to mention the fact that he had been avoiding your presence for months now.

You squinted your eyes at him, “I could only hope so, seeing as though we haven’t spoken in awhile.” you accused. What in the world is he up to now?

You can practically see the gears turning in his head as he tries to come up with a comeback, before he can utter a word, he’s interrupted by Padme.

“C’mon, let’s go to your room and get you changed.” Once again, you furrow your brows.

“Changed, what do you mean changed?” You ask her.

“What, did you think I’d just let you roam around the ball in those ugly Jedi robes? Come, I’ll let you borrow one of my dresses.” She drags you away by the arm, Anakin and Obi Wan shouting at her. Something about Jedi robes not being ugly, you couldn’t really hear with Padme’s giggles silencing them. Kaytee let’s out a giggle of her own as she follows you, Artoo’s personality rubbing off on her.

Padmé all but practically throws you onto your bed as she ushers one of her handmaidens, Teckla, to bring the dresses into your room. Teckla wheels in a rack filled with elegant looking dresses, along with a bunch of different heels. All looking like they could snap your ankle in half if you walked the wrong way. The first dress she hands you is body conforming up until it reaches your knees, from there it fans out creating a mermaid gown effect. While the dress itself was very beautiful, you thought of it to be too plain for an event like this. You and Padme both share a look before agreeing that this was in fact not the dress.

However, the next dress she hands you is a proper ball gown. You slip it on, taken aback by how heavy the dress was. She walks up behind you to tighten the corset of the gown. She does her best to tighten it up without hurting you, but you can’t help let out a wheeze as she gets closer to tying it off.

“Sorry, as much as I love this dress, I also hate it. I’m so glad I’m pregnant so I don’t have to feel it stabbing me at every given chance.” She said, breaking the silence.

“How many months are you?” You asked.

“I’m six months along now, almost seven.” She finishes tying up the corset before stepping aside. “What do you think?”

“Well, it certainly is fit for an event like this and I do think it’s beautiful. But it’s crushing me with every breath I take. I feel like if I sit down, I won’t be able to get back up.”

“Right, well I can fix that.” This time she takes her time picking out the next dress. She lets her fingers brush across the different fabrics, stopping at one that caught her eye. “Here, try this one!” She suggests. By the look on her face, you can already tell that this is the one. The dress is flowy and soft looking. You step into the dress, pleased to find yourself correct. It feels like you have nothing on. Padme helps you zip the dress up, along with clasping together the leather pieces. The light blue tulle layered over the dark blue, almost purple material complimented your skin tone. The dress had a deep v-neck, showing off your cleavage. Right below your collarbone laid a strap of leather, connecting to either side of your thick shoulder straps. From those straps, a thin piece of tulle was stitched on, giving you two separate mini capes for your arms. Aside from a strap of leather covering your spine, the dress is completely backless. It feels like you could go frolicking in this dress. Who am I kidding, Padme probably went frolicking in this dress with Anakin.

“So, what do you think?” Her tone is hushed, as if she was trying to figure out whether you hated or loved the dress.

“It’s beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.” You respond. “Kaytee, what do you reckon?” The droid let’s out a series of delights beeps, showing her contentment towards the dress.

“Great!” Padmé says before ushering you into a chair. “Now, we're going to do your hair and makeup. So sit still.” For once in your life, you shut up and sit still, allowing Padme to work her magic.

“Do you know the gender?” You asked, your question breaking the silence, and while the atmosphere wasn’t exactly awkward, it wasn’t comfortable either.

“Oh no, I’d rather not. It’s not like it matters to me anyways. As long as my child is happy and healthy, then so am I. But it’s ironic because I haven’t been to a check up yet.” Padme gently pulls your hair back, leaving two pieces in the front to frame your face. It was simple, not taking any attention away from the dress.

No check up? Maybe that’s why Padme didn’t know she was having twins. “So you haven’t seen a doctor or a medical droid yet?” Your eyes follow her as she pulls makeup out of her bag, her collection vast.

“No, not really. I don’t have very much time to myself due to the fact that I’m a part of the senate. But I do my best to make sure I stay healthy for my baby and me. I also just want it to be a surprise.” Padme finds a foundation shade similar to your skin tone and blends it in.

“What if you have twins? What will you do then?” You probably weren’t supposed to be asking her questions like these, but you couldn’t help it. Maybe you should’ve asked why she had so much makeup instead.

“Well..” She sighed while blotting powder all over your face. “..I suppose if it happens, then it happens. It’s the will of the force.” She finishes powdering your face before moving to your eyebrows. Padme takes an angled brow brush and begins to fill them in, giving it a naturally fuller look.

“So, you believe in the force?”

“How could I not? I work so closely with the Jedi, I’ve seen what you guys have done. The father is very close friends with the Jedi.” Padme said, implying that the father was in fact a Jedi. It felt like you were intruding, but then again, you weren’t necessarily forcing her to tell you this. You had only met her moments ago and she already trusted you enough with her secrets.

“Really? I thought the Jedi weren’t allowed to form attachments?”

“Oh… we weren’t really together. It was sort of a one night thing. But he’s going to be in the child’s life.” She covered up.

The conversation went on like that for a while before Padme announced that she was finished with you. After finishing your makeup and adding some finishing touches to your hair, she finally stepped aside, letting you see yourself in the mirror.

The second you saw yourself, your mouth fell open in shock. You looked absolutely ethereal. Padme kept your makeup very natural to bring out your features. She also added small, white flowers into your hair. You excitedly thanked her and got up to hug her as a way to show your gratitude.

“Shall we get going now?” She offered

“Oh, if it was alright with you, I was going to stay behind. I have to contact somebody.” You asked

“Of course, I’ll see you later then.” She said before gathering all of her belongings and leaving with Teckla. As Padme arrives, Anakin notices that you weren’t with her.

“Where’s Alyra?” He asked her, eager to see what she would look like out of her Jedi robes.

“She said she had to talk to someone.”

Meanwhile, in your room you were getting ready to call Peter. Honestly, you had no idea if you had connection on Onderon, but you were about to find out. Taking off your necklace, you were pleased to see the green light, indicating that you were indeed connected to the bridge. You scroll through your contacts before finding Peter’s name. You hit the dial button and wait for it to connect.

-

E A R T H

Peter is sleeping when he gets a call, the bracelet on his left hand vibrating. He thinks nothing of it and almost declines the call. That is until he realizes it’s you calling on the bracelet he had designated just for you. He jumps up from his sleeping position and quickly answers your call. Peter can’t help but let out a gasp of awe the very second your face pops onto the hologram.

“What? Is there something on my face?” You move closer towards the camera and inspect your face, only to find no flaws.

“Nothing...it’s just been so long since I’ve seen you like this.”

“Like what?” Your eyebrows scrunch together, the confusion clear on your face.

“All… dolled up.” Peter’s response makes your face blush a hot red. You let out a shy laugh as your hand comes to rest at the back of your neck. He was right, it had been so long since you’ve felt this pretty. It felt good, for once you had felt good.

“Thanks, Pete. It feels good to be in something other than Jedi robes.”

“Not that I’m saying you can’t be dressed up like this, but exactly why are you so dressed up?” He pondered, he knew it wasn’t like the Jedi to go about their duties in exquisite gowns.

“I’m actually on Onderon.” You pan the camera towards the view outside of your window. “The Jedi have invited me to a celebration of Onderon’s liberation. But also in memory of Steela I believe. I really wish you were here with me. I still don’t understand why they couldn’t have sent both of us.”

“I miss you too, but you know I have a duty here on Earth.”

“Duty? So did I Peter!”

“You know I didn’t mean it like that. With me being Spiderman-”

“It’s not like they don’t have any other superheroes. I mean come on, admit it! You know more about Star Wars than I possibly could. You should be here with me.” You huff out before changing the subject, “Anyways, how are you? Did you end up fixing things with MJ?”

“I’m fine, but no, we didn’t. We both agreed that we’d be better off as friends. Besides I’ve already moved on.” He confessed, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. It’s now or never Peter, you’ve gotta tell her.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear about your split. But hopefully you and this new person will work out-”

“It’s you.” He says, abruptly cutting you off. Peter watches you tilt your head as your brows scrunch together again.

“Excuse me?”

“It’s you,” He repeats, taking a deep breath before speaking again, “It’s always been you. I didn’t realize it until you had left… I didn’t think I could miss someone so much.”

“Peter…. I don’t know what to say.” You uttered out,

“Please, say something- anything.” He begged, hoping he hadn’t just ruined years of friendship. Peter watches as you open and close your mouth, searching for the right words.

“...I can’t.” You say as you shake your head. “I can’t be with you, Peter.”

“Why? Is it because of my age? Come on, Y/N, I’m only two years younger than you.” He pleads

“It’s not that. You’re just not the right person for me, Peter. I know it in my very soul.”

“Oh yeah? And who is, Anakin?” He taunts, he can feel his eyes water as he watches you look away from him. “No freakin’ way. You’ve got to be kidding me.” Peter lets out a scoff.

“You’ve got to understand Pete, I love him. I really do.”

“NO! You don’t love him. You’re just obsessed with him. You think you can save him but you can’t! No one can! You can’t change his destiny.”

“What do you even know about love? You can’t tell me who I can and can’t love. It doesn’t work like that. You know nothing about it-”

“I LOVE YOU!” He screams, breaking the silence in his Queen’s apartment, surely waking up May. “Why isn’t that enough?” Peter watches as tears slowly stream down your face as he lets out a few of his own.

“I’ve got to see this out until the end, you know that Peter...I could only wish that it was enough, but it’s not. You’re like a brother to me, don’t do this to me. To our friendship...I’ve got to go now.”

“No, you don’t get to leave again-”

“I’m sorry, goodbye, Peter.” You end the call and Peter is left staring at the wall, mouth hung open in shock. He couldn’t believe this just happened to him. He faintly makes out the sound of Aunt May knocking on his door.

Without waiting for a response, she cracks open his door. She takes notice of the tears falling off of his face and closes her mouth. Aunt May is silent as she makes her way across his room, holding her arms out for him. Peter gratuitously accepts her embrace, his sobs muffled by her clothes.

No words are spoken as Peter cries his heart out, never in a million years did he think you’d be the one to break him.

--

collide tags: @deepcollectionmagazine​ @amesstm​ @haileyybird​

[dreamteamspace]

So this stream I got a bit confused with what was going on with the whole spiel with schlatt and dream, and I dont actually think theres a traitor. However if there was one why not niki ya know? I mean, he kept saying how it would be way more unexpected than eret in the independance war, and literally everyone so far has been thought of as a potential traitor to pogtopia,, except well,, why not niki? She also had this letter to her "dear friend" that sounded like a new turn for her character and idk man why not?

Alright I’m a very texting type of person and you’ve got my started on my hyperfixation here we go-

My thoughts on the whole situation and why I think Fundy is the traitor:

I think from Dream’s perspective: Everything makes sense. I’m HIGHLY certain that Schlatt’s deal, which Dream said is “Something Wilbur and Tommy would never give him”, was that L’Manburg will either cease to exist (become part of the Dream SMP, and we know neither Wilbur not Tommy would ever do that), or that Dream would essentially become leader of it.

That’s why, in this flip situation, if he wins, he wins all of it. This also makes sense, as Dream is 100% alright with Wilbur just blowing it up, too: Because essentially he achieves the very same thing: L’Maburg/Manburg is no more.

Dream is absolutely right that he was never on their side or really on anybody’s side. Dream is his own side. It’s his server. He IS the Dream SMP, in that sense, just like Tommy is the spearhead of the rebellion right now.

I’m also fairly certain Dream will pull a lot more people than they think into this, and I think they ALSO know, in a meta-way, that they won’t be fighting only Schlatt and Dream and one traitor. He’s just letting them wallow in their security, although I have to say he LOVES dipping in his dramatic implications about what he’s doing or will do. In this case, he might’ve managed to keep quiet to let them think they’re safe.

So for Dream: Either they win, and L’Manburg is his/no more, or Wilbur sees they start losing, and L’Manburg is also no more. Honestly? He just has to make Wilbur panic hard enough to hit that button... and then he wins. It would be bad if he loses, though, so I do think he’ll pull together for this. He’s very competitive.

(Lot more juicy theory as to who the traitor is under the cut)

I predict that a good portion of BadboyHalo, Georgenotfound, Sapnap, Punz, potentially also people like Thunder or Alyssa?, are going to join Dream’s side. Sam seems close to the rebellion, but he’s also friends with George and Sapnap, but I just can’t see those two seriously fighting against Dream. If the stakes really are high, they’ll flip over to him, although I also can’t see them convincing Sam.

Most likely, George and Sapnap are just going to stay out of it entirely, and let Sam fight on the side of the rebellion. Maybe the current pet war might change that, though, say if Sapnap develops a new hatred against Tommy or even Sam? (I dont know what the pet war’s at atm but didn’t Sapnap and Sam fight over pets?), he would join in on Dream’s side. George? I have no idea. Most likely he just won’t be there. He doesn’t want to go against Sam (Who provides him with like. Everything), but he also doesn’t wanna fight Dream. IF he fights, though, I’m tempted to say he’d be on Dream’s side, but I’m honestly not up to date enough on his streams to say for certain.

As for the traitor: I actually haven’t seen Niki’s letter (to my great regret, I saw the news float around though), since I’m very focused on watching Tommy and Wilbur’s POVs. Honestly, if it’s Niki? That would be MASSIVELY surprising, and the biggest brain move I’ve ever seen. It’s possible, but I honestly don’t think it’s likely.

They’ve kept their characters fairly consistent, and while this IS kindof meta to say, I don’t think (with how things are atm), that Niki would betray L’Manburg, UNLESS she’s doing a double-agent thing and plans on tricking Dream in the end. That I could potentially see happening.

But knowing that she changed the anthem from Wilbur’s posessive “My L’Manburg” to just “L’Manburg”, that she’s been loyal even when they kinda half left her alone with Schlatt to tax her, and even during the pet wars she never strikes blood, but rather takes hostages and wants a sincere apology... I don’t see it right now. Then again, I don’t watch Niki’s streams on the SMP, so I could be wrong, as I’m not quite familiar with the intricacies of her character on the SMP besides the surface level.

On on hand... I also doubt whether there is a traitor at all, and Dream is just hoping to drive them apart and make sure they don’t get things done as efficiently as they could, because they’re busy pointing fingers at eachother, suspecting eachother, potentially even throwing somebody out once the tension between them snaps.

He needs to win this fight. If he does, he gets EVERYTHING. What they think of him after that point doesn’t matter, so the lie doesn’t matter. They can laugh at him afterwards, but he’ll still have won. I don’t know how many actually highly important details Dream would drop into conversation like that.

Consider, he does have a traitor. Why would he tell them he has one there? Why tell them that they’ll never guess? It just sows chaos in their group, and that’s what he wants. If he DID have one, he might just not say anything.

On the other hand: He might just be dramatic like that honestly. We all know they’re meta-fighting for the next spot in a sad-ist animatic, so Dream could very well be taking a more active role to insert himself into the story and cause some drama. Even if he DOES have a traitor on the inside, saying it still sows chaos. It’s a little risky, but if it really is something they won’t guess, then the chance that they’ll suspect the wrong person might be high enough, and make it worth it.

If he DOES actually have a traitor, my top sus are honestly Fundy, Tubbo, and maybe Ponk. I’m very sure it’s NOT Wilbur, Tommy, Sam, or Quackity.

Ponk doesn’t seem like the type of person to be reliable enough. He’s just kinda in it for the ride, and he’s too quiet to set a focus on. I don’t think Dream even considered him on the side of the rebellion for certain until today. It is, however, still possible. Tommy seems to trust him, and he’s not in deep enough for them to intently interrogate him on his loyalty, cause they know he’s more laid back when it comes to that. He feels only half in the rp to begin with, just wanting to fuck around with everyone. And then, BOOM, he’s actually been playing a massive role this whole time. It’s a little bit of a safe target, too, albeit a little underwhelming.

Tubbo... listen. We all love Tubbo. Tommy loves Tubbo, and we know Tubbo cares greatly for Tommy. Tubbo also seems(?) to care for L’Manburg. But I just....

It’s Tubbo, man. I have no idea. He seemed SO close to ACTUALLY flipping over to Schlatt before the festival. Everyone keeps pushing him around like this innocent tiny kid when he has the biggest third eye out of everyone and is the only one actually doing any work.

Tubbo has stated before that his official motivation is that he just wants peace for everyone. He just doesn’t want to fight and wants to do fun stuff. So of course he sounds horrified at the prospect of having to hunt down Tommy after Tommy was exiled, but happily went along with the festival. He was excited to do his speech. Schlatt actually placed responsability on them for once. He truly did seem happy about that.

It doesn’t matter as much to Tubbo who’s who. What matters is that the fighting preferrably stops, and they all just have a good time. Dream gave the line “I’m very convincing”, so I think he did actually have to convince the traitor, if there is one, to join his side. It wasn’t automatic.

Technically speaking, if L’Manburg is no more, and they’re all part of the Dream SMP again, doesn’t the fighting stop? If there’s no nation to fight over, then there’s no reason to fight. If L’Manburg is no more, then Schlatt has 0 power, and if Dream takes over, he could’ve promised to un-exile Tommy and Wilbur. And then they’re all part of the Dream SMP! No more fighting! Everyone’s on the same side!

Tubbo seems to care less for nations or sides, and much more for people, and for the people around them to be happy. His switch to enthusiasm at Schlatt’s festival came quickly, because many of the people he cared about still partook in it, and he never did hurt Tommy, because he does care about him.

But Tubbo DID say the line “may the festival begin” after his speech, and they knew what that would start. So why? In a way, I think Tubbo waged his options. Who does he care about more? Tommy, to his knowledge, is on Wilbur’s side. He might’ve decided in a moment of uncertainty that Wilbur and Tommy’s opinions of him are more important to them than the opinions of the other people there. Mostly Tommy, because we know those two would die for eachother. They chose Tommy over everyone else at that festival, potentially even over their own motivations, over their own gut.

Fundy, in fact, has MANY reasons to be the traitor, but isn’t quite obvious in that sense. They thought he was a traitor, actually, but once he showed them his diary, he essentially convinced all of them very certainly that he’s not the traitor, and they believed him. Dream joined the call later, so it’s possible he heard that part or Fundy told him about it (They’ve all been known to listen in on convos sometimes to know whats going in. They have to in order to build a good story line.)

Fundy has all the reasons. Reason number one, to me, is Fundywastaken. It’s canon in the Dream SMP lore, they just surprisingly haven’t done anything with it. During the independance war, that wasn’t a thing yet, and since they ARE a thing in canon now... they’ve never actually fought eachother. In fact, as things are now? We’re EXPECTING to see Dream fight his canon fiancé. Fundy officially joined the fight when Tommy asked him, confirming that they can count on him and that he will fight. We know for certain that Dream will fight.

If Fundy isn’t the traitor and doesn’t become one, then Dream and Fundy are inevitably meeting in battle on the 16th.

Consider his storyline: We’ve all been highly expecting Fundy to either punch Wilbur in the face or at LEAST be dissapointed in him or SOMETHING. He hasn’t, as far as I’m aware. He’s just standing there near him, very very quietly, giving a firm but quiet “yes” when Tommy asked him if they could count on him.

Fundy hasn’t expressed much to Wilbur at all, despite heving been left alone with Schlatt by him, despite how much he deserves to be angry at him for being patronized and not trusted with anything.

And, y’know... He’s officially Dream’s fiancé. The others don’t seem to know yet, and I don’t know how many people do know or not. It’s possible they just don’t know, and of course Dream wouldn’t tell them anything, not even tell anyone, this close before a fight. Dream might not even tell his close allies out of fear that the information could spread or that they could turn on him.

So honestly... Fundy seems the most likely for me to be the traitor, especially because there’s been plenty of foreshadowing for it, there’s a good setup, he has good reasons, and it wouldn’t seem like a cheap plottwist, but rather a gradual change.

Not to mention that meta-wise, Fundy has been actively involved in the rp and been dropping some pretty good lines himself. This isn’t something that Dream would have some non-rping person do.

I’m also kindof sure it’s not Technoblade, because Dream laughed it off and half-indicated that it is (Tommy: “I bet it’s Technoblade” Dream, cracking up: “I didn’t say that, you said that”), because he profits from doing so. He profits from them thinking Technoblade is the traitor. And also I really, really don’t think Techno would team up with Dream in this rp. Then again, Dream recently proclaimed to be on the side of chaos.... so who truly knows? I’ll definitly be surprised if it’s Techno, but I suppose it is a possibility. I just don’t think Techno can be convinced to much of anything, unless of course all it took was saying “Hey it’s Schlatt and Me against like 6 people so if we want an actual fight for once-” “Finally some bloodshed and war. I’m in”. I mean, I doubt it, but I’m leaving the possibility open.

TLDR: Dream wins if he wins the fight OR if Wilbur blows everything up. The traitor is likely either Fundy, Ponk or Tubbo, and I think there will be more people fighting on Dream’s side than just Schlatt and one traitor.

[sokayisaidiot]

Dream SMP Assumption #7

Today’s topic: Everybody is suffering and you know it.

Please DO NOT read if you’re uncomfortable with the themes of death, depression and suicide. It’s a very complicated theme. I did NOT study it and do NOT know some aspects of it. I just go off the things I saw in the smp and made my own theories about it. If you’re even slightly triggered by this, please stop and do NOT try to read it. Please do NOT put yourself in some kind of uncomfortable zone.

Please do not. Thank you

(This is all assumptioning from the fictional world of dream smp)

(Heavy spoilers on the resent events)

(Also just assumptions, when you know something, you can always drop it :))

(Mainly around the lmanburg way, sadly need to learn more about badlands ): )

(This Series is created by another person, that’s just too fuckin lazy to move her butt)

Trigger warning today:

Suicide thoughts

(PTSD)

Depression

War

Child Neglect

Betrayal and Trust Issues

Death

Lets get this straight, no one is pure evil just because. Everybody has something happening and BOOM, finished chaos and sadness and strange behavior and aggressiveness and- You get me? Good. I will take on EVERYBODY who says that a person in the story didn't suffer. I aint a Apologist either. I just want to make some things clear who suffered how. Understand? Good.

Stop saying “[Character] didn't suffer!” Hell yes somehow everybody, close in the lore, fuckin did.

LET’S GET STARTED

__________________________

Tommyinnit

Lets start with one, who should be pretty obvious. Tommy. In my second Assumption, I explained symptoms of PTSD and Depression. 

He was never really trusted by any point

Was just as used as Techno, because who had Tommy controlled was pretty powerful

He was exiled by a country, he HELPED saving MULTIPLE times

He saw his brother get killed by his father

He experienced so many deaths (Tubbo’s, in the final control room, Schlatts, 

He lost his pets 

He lost his belongings

Has to be on edge constantly

Gets accused by someone and then MOSTLY EVERYBODY believes, it was him

He isn’t really taken seriously

He gets seen as power-hungry person

People literally having him on the Hitlist

He nearly saw his best friend dying, on a mission, that was started by him

His older Brother, who he has an confused relationship with, doesn't even want to be revived.

Lost his brother to insanity and had to sit in the FRONT ROW of this spiral

PTSD

Depression

Suicidal thoughts

Betrayal

next to no one on his actual side

got left by almost everyone

was stuck on a island with an amnesiac ghost, who is a shell of his older brother

gets told his comfort items he had before everything else didn't matter

constantly has to live on the edge because he runs around with one just fuckin heart

Tubbo

Next to Tommy, he also suffers from PTSD, Depression and Suicidal tendencies. And that doesn't mean you kill yourself. It means you are too careless to give a fuck. And that can happen. TUbbo was way too easy to give up his OWN LIVE for something his best friend has passion in it.

He got publicly executed in a place HE DECORATED by someone he considered his Allie

Had the burden of Presidency on his YOUNG shoulders

The People who had to teach him about it, were also there for the tyranny

Got constantly considered a pawn, a throwable item

The adults use him as a figure head and proceed then to use him

He HAD to exile his best friend, or Tommy would have died sooner than ever

PTSD

Suicidal in a way of being okay for dying

Depression

Betrayal

Never gets taken seriously

Gets over-spoken a LOT

GETS COMPARED TO FUCKIN MANIACS OFTEN

Didn’t get nice words after his manipulator told him down, just SILENCE

He nearly died

He heard 

Got left by everyone, when they didn't see anything in this place anymore

got told by his best friend, that the discs were more worth than him

As Tommy, he is always on the edge of death

Technoblade

Techno is one of the most powerful people here on the server. No doubt about it. However, if someone, even a God, tries to refuse they have feelings, it’s impossible. And those feelings, when they get something terrible done to them, get hurt.

BETRAYAL

Loneliness

A bloodlust he sometimes seriously can't control, no matter how much he tries

His best friend (Wilbur), died before his eyes

He thought he could trust his (little brother figure) friend

Gets used often for material

betrayal

Has a hard time understanding his feelings

Gets talked over

Is socially avoiding talking

Gets seen as a bad guy many times

Trust issues, yay!

Also BETRAYAL

has at least some people who want to kill him

Wilbur Soot

Our favorite maniac! Yay! We can all see how he fell from a proud Leader of a family to an lost in himself man, with nothing left to loose

Had to countdown his brothers death

Was killed by his father

His OWN SON disowned him

He wasn't able to get help, especially not from his younger brother

His Allies were not really trust worthy

He got betrayed by a close comerade

His dear Brother was sometimes really chaotic

He had to lead an army to war, not one, but two times

He lost the election

He had to run away from a country he helped create

Had a hard time with this father (with how it’s shown, that he maybe was neglected and had to raise Tommy)

Ranboo

Our favorite Memory-Minutes-Boi! I think EVERYBODY in this community will protect him

His first days on the server were pure Chaos

Had to see a person, he considers a friend, being rotten away and not being able to do anything about it

A sister figure who just went angry

He isn’t trusted by anyone really

He knows things others don’t

ALSO LOSING YOUR MEMORY AND HAVING CONSTANT MEMORY LOSS FUCKIN SUCKS, TRUST ME

Has serious issues

GETS TALKED OVER

Is often forced to take a side, even if he's against it

Phil

He has a hard time. Especially with the death, failed resurrection, disowning one of his son, he didn't got even close to. Being 

Also on the edge of death every day

Was in the end peer pressured into killing his own son

Suffering from the loss of his son

Couldn't help his youngest son in exile, because he thought Tommy hated him

Wasn’t there for L’Manburg glory days

was ridiculed in his house arrest

Dream

Of course, we all know how mad he is now and shit, but you gotta think, he has some points here, that are infecting his behavior LARGELY

His friends left him, without considering helping him

He had lost his dear pet before

He actually wanted peace, but fell into the fun of destruction and chaos without someone knowing or helping him

He is homeless

Probably, he is a old being, that already suffered for millions of years

Sapnap

He’s actually one of my favorite Characters and I think we know he has a place in here.

Third wheels a  l o t

Constantly being referred as the THIRD person, who isn't important

Fought his friend, who took the side of a child

Said friend had one of his beloved fishes by his side the hole time

Said Fish got thought as dead

Fundy

Some of you guys forgot how sad actually Fundy’s character is. He IS one of the most hurt characters. And he gave up hope

constantly being talked over

disowned by his hole family

GREW UP IN OLD L’MANBURG, WHICH WAS AT WAR

doesn’t think he is a part of a group

had to disown his father, to help fight a tyrannt

Got babied his whole life

His dead father is still running away from their problems

Doesn’t know where his mum is

Lost his home so often

Nihachu

Actually the person I watched for the first long time as in the SMP

Again, being talked over

Doesn’t get taken seriously

Lost her Best friend (Wilbur)

Got betrayed by her friend, Karl, by him selling their Land to L’Manburg

Gets used as a hostage or Maid in Distress, even when she isn’t

Got her pets killed

Then constantly being used for her niceness

Jack Manifold

He has a pretty big Role now, and he's very VERY angry. And you might ask why

Got left behind by his country

doesn’t get taken seriously

Got his most powerful items removed in one thing

His land somehow is near a crater

got told he didn't suffer somehow

Went to mf hell

Quackity

Quackity, despite his funny demeanor, he's one of the hurt character

with him staying with Schlatt, he had a uncomfortable relationship a long time

got killed by the festival

somehow helped organize the death of a child

Said kid helped a revolution against him

he helped a tyrant come to power and will probably never get it live down

fought for a country so often, but, two times, it got exploded in front of his face

had to face war, also in a young age

Eret

Our favorite King is here too! Yes, he may have started the distrust spiral of Eret, but somehow, someone would still have led them to the FINAL CONTROL ROOM. Somehow History will always be happening.

Had one of the hardest time, getting forgiven

Was never really given a chance

got accused of something

gets used as a pawn

He has shown often regret

got left alone

I think we all can say they are just having MULTIPLE communicate, trust and self worth issues. Like goddamn, Puffy, please help them, you’re one of the only sane people in the lore-

[mugi-chan]

❞Dorms playing Among Us❝

ლ  Tea Order: All the boys: The Dorms Playing Among Us! 

ლ  Warnings: None! 

ლ Shop owner notes: I’m honestly not having a good week, everything is just seeming to go wrong so to cheer myself up I watched one of my favorite twitch streamer playing among us and thought what would the dorms be like playing among us. I know there is like fanart out there of dorm heads as among us characters and that also inspired me to write this! 

Sorry for not severing up any orders yesterday, like I said things just been going downhill for me right now! 

After playing a few rounds this dorm would develop trust issues with each other 

Out of everyone Trey is best at being imposter

Everyone trusts the Vice dorm head right? 

And Trey would take that to full advantage 

Deuce is possibly the worst when it comes to being an imposter 

He would try to lie but everyone would see right through his lies 

Ace would totally point blame at a crewmate and get them voted off 

Riddle is just confused, he never played video games before and Among us is a nice simple game to play with the Dorm

At least that’s what riddle thought 

Riddle is sus of everyone

He's that guy that goes “idk man he’s kind of sus” 

Cater is someone who takes a little to long to do task but great at doing vent murders 

Almost everyone round they are yelling over each other and not a single coherent sentence 

“IT’S DIAMOND-SENPAI, IT’S DIAMOND SENPAI”

“I WAS IN REACTOR, TREY WAS BEING CAMERAMAN ANDY AND SAW ME GO TO REACTOR” 

“I got off camera’s around that time” 

“THEN WHO WAS ON CAMERAS?!” 

They are a chaotic group

after an intense game they would all laugh about it over tea.

They are mostly a very tame group when playing Among us 

Savanaclaw would be all chill but very smarty about there plays

“Hey are you the imposter?” 

“Nah” 

“Eh idk man he’s kinda sus right now” 

Leona may seem lazy but he’s really good at switching the blame to another person

Jack is probably the best at being detective 

Sometimes Jack would stalk people to make sure their doing their task and not faking it 

He can deduce who is clear and who may the be imposter

Ruggie is best in Savanaclaw at being imposter 

He’s really sneaky and really good at vent kills

It’s crazy how good Ruggie is, every time he’s imposter he wins the game 

After some rounds of Among Us there is probably a fist fight going on in Savanaclaw over the game 

“I think leona is the imposter”

“Eh? Why do you think it's me?”

“I mean you were the last one out of spawn, and the body was found in spawn”

“You do know there is a task right outside spawn right?”

There really isn’t any yelling involve unless there are some hard accusations 

Then it’s whoever is that loudest 

When they start to yell over each other most people would have to turn down their volume or take their headphones off since their ears would hurt over how loud it was. 

Most of the time if the next room is playing Among us you can definiatly hear it 

So much threatening to hurt people just so much

This dorm is crazy good at getting imposters out 

Imposters can not win a single game in this dorm

Azul just knows who it is just from the first kill 

He would talk so much that it would eventually convince everyone to vote out the imposter

Azul is also the best at being imposter, he would do the same strat he does to get out the imposter

Everyone would believe him because he’s just that good at talking his way out of sticky situations

Jade is normally on the cameras seeing if anyone would commit a murder

When someone those kill in front of cams, he would pressure the imposter to come out 

And they always confess, Jade has a threatening voice that would even make Azul confess to being an imposter

Floyd is probably the worst at playing Among Us 

He probably gets vented out first because he couldn’t defend himself 

After some rounds he may be annoyed but when he gets imposter

Oh boy it’s genocide 

If Floyd and Jade are imposter they would win 

The only duo that can make the imposter wins

Mass genocide, they would double kill everyone 

And their master plan is to kill Azul first since he’s most likely the only one who can get both of them out 

If Floyd and Azul are imposters they would be arguing and throwing each other under the bus over everything 

If Jade and Azul are imposters they would be so manipulative and change the narrative so they would be clear

This dorm would definitely learn how to be manipulative after playing Among Us

Kalim is the worst at playing Imposter, he would lie right out of his teeth and everyone can see right through it 

Kalim may be bad at being imposter but he’s really good at being crewmate 

Jamil is really good at being imposter

I mean he manipulated his whole dorm into believing that he would save his dorm 

Jamil is super good at vent kills 

He would kill and slip in right before someone walks in

Trust issues was already there at first but now trust issues are high 

Jamil wants to do genocide but Kalim and the rest are like 

“Oh yeah we’re just doing tasks that’s all” 

“So Jamils the imposter?” 

They may be bad at being imposter but their super lucky on voting out the imposters 

“Hey so Jamil is acting kind of sus right now”

“Why am I being sus?” 

“Idk man you looked like you faked a task”

Jamil was An Imposter (1 imposter remaining) 

“Nooo Jamil why would you betray me like this (´；ω；`)” -Kalim

If Jamil and Kalim are imposters, Kalim would be the nice imposters who would barely kill anyone, while Jamil is out on a killing spree

If there’s one thing Kalim is good at it’s convincing people that Jamil is good person 

And people would believe Kalim 

Because our dorm leader is so sweet and kind that he wouldn’t defend a killer right?

Well Kalim also got that little dark side in him (that one sprite if ya know what I mean)

Why would Pomefiore play such a weird game? 

Uhh apparently Epel and Rook 

Epel heard Ace and Deuce talking about it once and wanted to try it out 

He knew Vil wouldn’t allow him to play it so he asked Rook if he wanted to play with some other pomefiore students

Rook thought this would be a perfect opportunity for Epel to open up to Pomefiore

When playing the game Rook found it really interesting 

He may have slipped it up to Vil about the game 

Vil would roll his eyes because he has heard about it from the other dorm heads

Rook would invite Vil to play a round with them if he feels like it

Vil would at first say no but after watching Rook play a round of Imposter, Vil was intrigued 

This imposter role is very interesting to Vil

Once Vil does come to try out the game he is very hooked on the idea of all of this 

A chance for him to shine above everyone

If Rook and Vil area duo it’s over

Their going to win no matter what

Rook is always backing up Vil and everyone just believes him

If Epel and Rook are Duo it’s just Chaotic, Rook would just kill everyone and epel would just not know what to do

Out of the three Vil is probably the best at being imposter

Rook would never vote for Vil so everyone would pretty much just lose 

If the imposter was not Vil or Epel they would kill Rook first just so they can even the votes

As soon as the game is release, Idia was already playing it with some of his online friends 

When it started to get popular at NRC he started to get a little shy on playing the game since that means there’s a chance that he has to play a round with someone from another dorm 

Unless it’s with Octavinelle trio 

Then he’s fine with them 

When he plays a round where he is really confident he feels really bold and starts arguing with people 

Out of everyone Ortho is the best at being imposter

I mean he’s super cute

Why would he ever kill someone?

Well clearly that was a lie, he acts super innocent that in fact Idia wouldn’t even believe that Ortho was the imposter

Idia and Ortho is deadly duo 

Idia would go on a killing spree while Ortho would be distracting the rest of the crew 

If people are accusing Idia for being imposter Ortho would go full cute little brother 

That would make everyone feel guilty for ever thinking that Idia was an imposter

If people were accusing Ortho for being imposter, Idia would hard defend Ortho over everything 

Ortho really loves playing this game because that means he gets to spend time with his friend and his brother at the same time! 

Ignihyde probably has like 3 Among Us servers going on that is always so full

Ohhh boy this dorm is old but they really enjoy this game

But it is always split

Sebek being Sebek would defend Malleus up and down 

Not even Lilia can convince him that Malleus might be the imposter

“NO NO MALLEUS-SAMA WOULD NEVER”

Everyone has their volume really low because Sebek’s voice is so loud that at low volume it sounds like Sebek is arguing at a normal voice level 

Silver is probably AFK most of the round 

Lilia would always be taking his sweet time doing task

Sebek ABSOLUTELY hates the admin task (the card swiping one) he wants to get his task done so he could be by Mallues 

Malleus is just wandering around wondering how to do all the task, especially simon says 

If Sebek and Silver are a duo, they are really good imposter duo

They would vote Sebek out first since he has a loud mouth 

But since Silver is almost always AFK he can kill people that check if he’s still afk

Silver is best at playing imposter 

His afk tactic is always so smart 

Sebek is the worst at playing imposter 

All it takes is Malleus asking him if Sebek is the imposter and he would confess

Lilia and Malleus is probably the worst at playing imposter 

Since they are who knows how old, technology is really hard to control 

Especially trying to control the  WDSA keys 

Lilia would always love playing this game with everyone since he wants to know what the kids are up to these days 

Would you like to order something? Look at our Tea shop rules first!

[allthingsdarkanddirty]

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About Sinistre Ange

Sinistre Ange is a USA Today Bestselling author and the alter ego of Golden Angel. She explores some of the darker sides of romance and erotica - kink, fetish, supernatural creatures, breeding fantasies, etc. You might find some love in these books, but they are not necessarily romances; the focus is on the fantasy and the physical interactions between characters. Come to the dark side... we have cookies.

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[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps - Volume 8 “War”

Hello, everyone! Story time.

Yesterday food was delivered for my two idiot dogs (they’re thrilled about it) but, because it was delivered by Fed Ex, shenanigans were bound to ensue. These particular shenanigans involved realizing that the food had not been left at the front door like tracking said it had. Instead, it was down the very long driveway by the mailbox. Specifically, it was on a low wall beside the mailbox, currently inaccessible due to a mound of plowed snow.

Now, how the delivery guy managed to get it there I’ll never know, but given that our postal system is currently killing itself to get us our Amazon orders for Christmas, I shrugged, let it go, and resigned myself to lifting an 18 pound bag plus box over that snow without dying. Which meant that in reality I just dragged it, uncaring what bumps the bag might accumulate along the way. What are the dogs gonna do? Complain about presentation?

Snow successfully circumvented; I was home free!

… until I was lifting the box into the car, hit a patch of black ice, and was suddenly looking up at the sky, my right hip and leg screaming.

I’m fine. Bruised, but fine. It’s 2020. Did I expect to not fall? C’mon, Clyde. Be sensible.

The reason I'm telling you all this is because falling on ice at 10:00pm with an oversized bag of dog food was less painful than watching this episode. 

I jest... but only a little. To be fair to RWBY, it admittedly wasn't painful in any new way. Everything that's a problem this week has been a problem for years now: confusing motivations, changing semblances, unpersuasive character beats, etc. So in some ways this episode — especially as a hiatus episode — is rather underwhelming. I expected RWBY to do something big before taking six weeks off, but this episode simply set the (unstable) stage for what's to come. With the exception of Ren, nothing changed this episode, which makes for a rather "Okay..." note to end on. It's not inherently bad, it's just a bit of a letdown after hyping ourselves up over the expectation that something even crazier than grimm soup will happen. Which, to again be fair, is on us as opposed to the writers. But that feeling of, "If this was last week, what in the world will we get right before an unpredicted hiatus?" was palpable. Turns out the answer was, "A pretty tame episode." 

As always though, let's start at the beginning. This episode is titled "War" — straight to the point — and it's actually a little shorter than our last three episodes, adding to that "Okay..." feeling overall. We open on the outskirts of Atlas, amidst what appears to be a wheat field, or something similar. Upon reflection, it makes sense that the bubbled city would be able to grow things not normally growable in the tundra. This might also explain Cinder's strange beginning. Perhaps her orphanage existed on these rural outskirts and then she was brought into the city proper? We'll probably never know for sure, but at least this is a simpler answer than, "The Madame went off to an entirely different Kingdom to secure her child slave." Occam's Razor and all that.

Ironwood's army has assembled to hold off Salem's army. Wow, aren't we glad Ironwood invested in thousands of trained professionals rather than a handful of independent fighters? Seriously though, this is now a battle of numbers. May says later in the episode that Ironwood's forces are doing their best to assist Atlas, so they should go help Mantle... but that help only exists because years ago he recognized that the tiny class sizes of the Academies, this 

wasn't going to be enough if grimm attacks suddenly increased. Sure enough, now they're in a situation where Ironwood needs even more men to keep up with Salem's creation magic. The fact that he has any at all is crucial to what little hope is left. How do Jaune, Yang, and Ren think they're going to get the time to look for Oscar without everyone dying while they're gone? Because Ironwood's army is keeping the attack at bay. I love how the story keeps angling for the "Military people are evil" message while actively showing us how much a military is needed in this world. If Ironwood had been a generic Good Guy who dismantled his armed forces because others wanted to ignore that they've always been at war against objectively evil creatures — both the grimm and Salem — then there would have been nothing to hold Salem off until small team rescue/bomb plans could be implemented. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. As usual. The army is on the front lines and one guy is scared enough that he's shaking. Can't say I blame him. As always, RWBY functions best when it leans towards horror, with skeletons rising alongside the normal grimm and intense music playing to convey the stakes. Ironwood watches the onslaught and immediately calls for a civilian evacuation into the subway system. Get people below ground, behind a few, defendable entrances, rather than wandering about the city where land or sky grimm can pick them off easy-peasy. Makes sense. Yet I'm already seeing fans make snide comments about how Ironwood is "still running," which just demonstrates how many viewers take the emotions of the show at face value — who is Good and who is Bad — rather than considering the situation and deciding for themselves. What's far more egregious than viewers enjoying a story however they'd like on a Saturday before the holiday though (seriously, my salt aside, no one has to enjoy RWBY any one way) is that RT again tries to paint Ironwood as crazy when he's... just not? Beyond the choice to animate him with scary expressions 

once he gives the order the soldier starts to say, "But sir — " and Ironwood yells for him to obey right now. The scene makes it look like Ironwood is doing something shady again. Here's this goon balking at the order, but we're not told why. What's bad about getting the people to (relative) safety? Why is this order treated like something to question at all? We're not told and, from what we do know, it's not something that would be questioned, so unless we learn something new post-hiatus, that line exists only to make Ironwood look bad. It's a (nonsensical) excuse to have another ally turning against him (slightly) and to give Ironwood the chance to look scary and violent again. Nevermind that his city is under attack and if a subordinate started questioning a completely sensible and time-sensitive order? I might yell too. 

So we're off to a great start. The above looks particularly stupid given that we immediately see the flying grimm arriving in a populated area, terrifying all the civilians there. Everyone bolts for the subway and we cut away from a man trying desperately to reach his daughter, unsure if either of them survive. But people want Ironwood to not use what few resources he has? See, this is why generic messages like, "You have to stand your ground" don't work. Sometimes there are situations where you should run and that doesn't automatically equal being a coward. It means you're smart enough to take the actions necessary to save as many lives as possible. 

Later on we'll have a similar issue with the message, "You have to trust people" when my darling Oscar briefly loses his mind.  

Now though, we see that the "fugitives" Yang, Jaune, and Ren have been taken into custody. Of course they have. Look, when the preview dropped yesterday I saw a number of takes along the lines of, "How dare the Ace Ops do this. They need to put aside their differences until the attack is over!" but no, they really don't, because it's no longer their responsibility to extend trust towards this group. Especially when doing so, to their mind, has a high chance of making a horrific situation that much worse. What are they going to do if, in the middle of a Salem attack, the kids they decided to trust betray them, attack them, and leave them knocked out somewhere while the world burns? 

...Oh wait, they already did that. 

See, the group broke trust first. Numerous times. The Ace Ops listened to Yang admit that she and Blake had betrayed Ironwood days ago. Then they watched Ruby betray him again by alerting the rest of the team, turning them against him. They swore they wouldn't attack, so Team RWBY attacked them first. They learn that Qrow had a hand in murdering their leader. They encounter the group again and Weiss gleefully asks if they want a second defeat. They watch Ruby tell the entire world to dismiss Ironwood because he’s the one who can’t be trusted. Outside of JYR not immediately attacking them when they arrived to help (something I praised them for), this group has never put their trust in the Ace Ops. So why do they — and we — expect the Ace Ops to do so now? Imagine for just a moment that it was reversed. We find out that someone betrayed the group for no good reason, set themselves against them, continued to do so as everything fell apart, told the rest of the world they’re the enemy, and then a close associate is involved in Ruby's murder. How many people would expect the group to just shrug all that off? Would they put their differences aside and embrace these people because blind trust is (supposedly) the right thing to do? Of course not! Yang would punch their lights out and everyone would cheer, but that's because they're the established heroes. Outside of that role, no one else is allowed to mistrust those who have proven themselves untrustworthy and take precautions against getting betrayed again. To say nothing of how these characters don’t have our meta perspective. Meaning, they live in a world where this trio is not a part of a protagonist group destined to remain a part of the plot because that’s how story conventions work. They’re three random teens who were promoted to huntsmen early. They’re three soldiers out of many who can, at any time, be taken out of the fight. No one on the Ace Ops is working under the belief that they “have” to be a part of this fight. From their in-world perspective, you could toss them in jail for the rest of the battle and that’s that. Outside of their fugitive status they are entirely unimportant. 

So yes, Jaune, Ren, and Yang are in handcuffs. They deserve to be. Don't worry though, they get out very soon. 

Yang makes a snide comment about Winter "Still just following orders" and honestly? I've lost the love I used to have for her as a character. Yang is just an exercise in frustration whenever she speaks now. Thus far she's blamed Ruby for everything that's gone wrong (ignoring her own choices there), did a 180 to yell at Ren for acknowledging how bad things are, worried nonsensically about Blake being disappointed in her even though Ruby is the one she fought with, and is now back to the "You just follow orders" shtick. Yang will label anything she personally doesn't like as evil order following, but conveniently ignores how following Ruby's orders helped get them into this mess, and how the one time she went AWOL made things even worse. These characters don't actually have  beliefs they stand behind, they just say whatever is currently necessary to make themselves look good, even if that contradicts previous statements or actions. 

She also gets mad at Vine for saying that grimm don't take prisoners, ignoring that she only found this out a few hours ago. No one in the group is equipped to navigate the emotional minefield that is this war because they can't even take two seconds to put themselves in another’s shoes. Weiss doesn't bother to consider Whitley's situation. Jaune points at the snow and gets frustrated that Harriet doesn't magically know there's grimm soup flowing nearby. Yang snaps at Vine for stating what she also knew to be a basic fact about grimm up until Oscar's kidnapping. It's all framed as, "How can you be this stupid?" rather than, "Oh yeah, these people haven't had the experiences I have. If I was randomly told this I'd doubt it too. I should try to explain this in a way that will make sense to them and increase my chances of being believed." 

This is the group who decided it was a good idea to tell the whole world about Salem and did it just as badly as I suspected they would. The story has shoved a delicate, information-based war into the hands of punch-happy teenagers and refuses to grapple with how that's a bad thing. 

Anyway, Ironwood comes on the radio to say that the whale is pretty indestructible on the outside, but it might be vulnerable from the inside, so let's get a bomb in there. Seems like a good enough plan as any, especially given that the grimm is currently on the very outskirts of the city, away from the civilians if/when it's blown up. What kind of bomb might this be though? 

Could it, perhaps, end up being a now severely damaged android who is based off of Pinocchio? 

Time will tell. For now, the group is quite obviously upset that Ironwood is planning a big BOOM while Oscar (and Ozpin! Tellingly, no one mentions Ozpin...) is still inside. Here's the thing: Both sides are right here. YJR are right to be worried about their friend, while the Ace Ops — who have no emotional ties to Oscar and, as just established, are questioning whether or not a grimm really kidnapped him — are right that they cannot prioritize a single life over the entirety of Atlas. They just can't! And any hero worth their salt is going to recognize this. You cannot knowingly sacrifice thousands of people (if not more) for one (admittedly awesome) farm boy. It would be a different situation if the people of Atlas volunteered to remain in danger to give Oscar a chance at escape, but that obviously isn't the situation here. If someone told me, "Sorry, Clyde, we can't get you out because the place you're in is super dangerous and attempting to extract you would likely cause the rescue party to die. Also, the longer we don't blow this location up the longer lots of other people die" I'd be like, "Fair enough. Have a nice life!" I mean, obviously anyone would be terrified and devastated by the news, but if you're still thinking straight and have even an ounce of compassion for others, you don't trade all those lives for your own. Spock does not open the door to flood the whole Enterprise with radiation!

And notably, neither does Kirk. Oscar isn't given the chance to sacrifice himself — ignoring his choice to try and undermine Salem's forces rather than escaping — so Jaune, Ren, and Yang are deciding that for him. Which, again, makes sense for them emotionally, but it's still a selfish choice. They're prioritizing their family over everyone else's. If someone ever told me they’d risked a whole city for my sake I’d be touched, but also pissed as hell. Because what were you thinking? 

Which is really my biggest issue with this divide. It would have been nice if the show had done more to make me believe these three are that ride and die for Oscar. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that they are and I'll take this characterization over the apathy we had in the past, but let's be real, it kind of came out of nowhere. The group as a whole pretty much ignored Oscar up until the movie invite and two of these characters — Yang and Jaune — have actively hurt him in the name of getting at Ozpin. Now suddenly they're willing to toss aside their huntsmen duties — protect the people — in order to save him? Nice sentiment, it's just that, as always, we have very little development for it, especially given the level of emotion shown. Particularly when it comes to Ren. The prospect of someone sacrificing Nora? I 100% believe that he draws a hard line and this kick-starts a change in his semblance. Ren is shown to be thinking about how he lost his teammate Pyrrha? Totally believe it! Someone is sacrificing the kid I'm not sure he's ever had a conversation with? That's less persuasive. At the very least, it would have been nice to have the trio grapple with whether they can or should prioritize Oscar over everyone else, rather than taking such a black and white stance of, "Of course taking the time to save this one guy while everyone else dies is worth it. You're evil for thinking otherwise." 

We even get a shot of Winter's hand shaking and clenching like Yang's used to, just to hammer home who the correct party is. 

While they begin this argument we cut to Salem who is literally conducting her grimm in their attack against Atlas. 

Very nice. I love when a villain has 

Emerald watches her, clearly freaked out, and then sneaks off to where Oscar is held. In the hallway she encounters one of the jellyfish grimm, so she casually makes it not see her until it has passed. 

Her semblance works on grimm, but not “real girl” androids? Okay. 

We all realize how crazy powerful Emerald is though, right? The stuff that she could do in a fight is staggering and I'll be forever salty that all she managed in the Penny battle was to create a couple different Cinders. Emerald, Marrow, Salem herself... RWBY has a real problem of having the antagonists conveniently not use the power at their disposal when the heroes need to win. 

So Emerald starts listening in on Ozpin's torture. We learn that Hazel was recruited when he tried to kill Salem numerous times and had to watch her keep reforming. Which, if I remember correctly, is a technique she used back when she and Ozma were playing at Gods. It worked and now Hazel believes that they "share a vision. She's going to create a new world order," one without Kingdoms or Huntsmen Academies. No, says Ozpin, she's going to divide humanity past reform, summon the Gods, and hopefully die when they take out all of Remnant. 

...My god, did we finally get Salem's motivations after seven years? 

Seriously though: seven years. It's way too late, especially when we now have so many questions attached to this supposed goal. If Salem always wanted to divide the world irrevocably, why didn't she attack, oh, say, a thousand years ago? Why has she kept to the sidelines until now? None of this answers why she held off until our simple soul was conveniently ready to fight her. We also have the issue of Salem's knowledge, or lack thereof. So she obviously knows about the Relics and that they'll summon the Gods, but not how to work them? How did that come about? Even Ozpin's motivations are murky now. He repeats Salem's curse word-for-word — though notably, minus the "You must learn the importance of life and death. Only then may you rest" part — yet unless Salem told him this herself when they first reunited — and we know they both hid things from the other — Ozpin could have only gotten this line from the lore episode, something he witnessed along with us just a few weeks/months back. So is he only now realizing that this is what Salem wants the Relics for? Might he be wrong? Or did he somehow figure this out lifetimes ago and we're just not told how? If this is the case, why haven’t Salem’s motivations come up before now? 

This sudden, "Oh yeah, she's always wanted to die" feels pretty tacked on. Like RT had Salem arrive last Volume because that's ~cool~ and then suddenly realized that they have to deal with her motivations now, so they hastily cobbled this together. But, as said at the start, this is entirely expected for RWBY nowadays. A problem to be sure, though one we've been putting up with for a couple of years now. 

During all this, Hazel shouts that this is what Ozpin deserves and the first word out of his mouth is, "Yes." 

But Oscar and the rest of Remnant don't deserve it, so make the right choice for them. How did RT think they were going to make this guy an antagonist? Ozpin has so much self-hatred and yet is still trying SO HARD that he makes Ruby Drinking Tea While The World Burns Rose look laughable. 

Oh yeah, we'll be getting to that scene in just a second, but for now I just want us all to appreciate Ozpin as a character, even if the story won't. 

....

.......

..............

...Okay, moment done lol. Sorry, Oz, there's a lot to cover this episode. 

We cut to a semi-conscious Nora who asks Weiss, "Now what am I good for?" So that’s a double serving of oof. That's when Ruby arrives with fine china steaming with tea. Or coffee. Or hot chocolate. Whatever it is these girls are drinking. What comes next is accompanied by a strange kind of vindication for me. I mean, the fandom dragged me so hard for taking issue with their snuggly smiles during Ruby's message, yet now we literally have the girls sitting back in a mansion as everything goes to shit around them. I know the knee jerk reaction to this will be, "They have to watch over Nora" and “They deserve a break” but really? All three of them need to watch her? And a break during the height of the action? Blake says she hopes everyone else is okay, but who is actually out looking for information about the rest of their team? May. Who's going to do something to get Nora help? Whitley. These characters are so good at telling us they're the heroes while rarely ever displaying those traits. They all (somehow) saw the attack on Atlas and have the ability to get out there and defend people — the job they wanted — yet Ruby looks out the window and asks, "What can we even do?" while taking a long sip of tea. The people of Mantle are (supposedly) freezing to death, yet one of the few with aura, Weiss, sits by a roaring fire going, "Do we just wait for someone to come? If they even come.” I'm sorry, you didn't consider this before you told the whole world about Salem? No one questioned whether asking for potentially non-existent help was worth the risk and what they'd do if it never came? Or even just what they’d do in the meantime? I’m not saying the girls can’t have basic necessities like drinks, or that it can’t be done in style when that’s conveniently available. I’m saying them enjoying the food, warmth, and relative safety of the Schnee household (built on racism) while casually talking about what, if anything, they should do for the people dying outside looks a bit Not Good. "Should we wait for the fire department?" Asks the character as their kitchen burns, sitting beside a number of water buckets that could help slow things down. "If they even come," they sigh, taking another sip of tea. This is ridiculous! The city is currently under attack by the series' Big Bad and half our heroes are just sitting around, watching the evil lightning, wondering if they should try to do anything about it. 

"How did it all get like this?" Ruby asks her cup, ignoring the many steps she took to make things this bad. It continually boggles my mind that Ironwood is out here trying to keep people safe in the subway, coming up with a plan to blow up this whale, sending out an army to kill countless grimm... yet "What can we even do?" Ruby is supposed to be the hero here. You know, the one who has silver eyes and could one-shot huge numbers of Salem's army if she actually went out there and tried to help.  

Ironwood is taking action... and so is May. As said, she's the one out looking for info on their teammates and when she returns says that they should all get back down to Mantle. Why? Because, as mentioned earlier, Atlas at least has an army to help with things. Mantle only has them. 

Yet suddenly, Weiss doesn't want to leave. 

Where did this come from? They succeeded in their preferred plan of telling the world what's going on over Ren and Yang's plan of helping what people they could, and now they're looking for something to do. Why wouldn't they head back to help? (Especially now that the shields are down.) Weiss yells that there are people dying in Atlas too but, as established, Atlas has the army. And where was this concern when they refused to let Atlas leave? After a Volume and a half of pro-Mantle content, this seems to come out of nowhere. Worse, Weiss tries to guilt May by asking if she has family in Atlas, which leads to the reveal that she's trans. Her family rejected their daughter. 

I want to be clear that I'm very happy RT made this canon. For what she is — a side character we know incredibly little about — I really like May and the fact that they were clear in her identity rather than keeping it to twitter deserves recognition. Yet I'm not going to pretend that the reveal didn't leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, simply because we have this incredibly privileged cis girl, who knows a great deal about shitty families, hearing how horrible May's was and still trying to tell her she needs to suck it up and help Atlas over Mantle. When May angrily asks whose side she's on, Blake makes a comment about hearing that before, comparing her to Ironwood. May is painted as the misguided one here, but can you imagine if someone told Weiss to go help Jacques over her found family, Team RWBY, regardless of what he's done to her? The fandom would explode, and rightly so. There's something to be said for realism here, showing us Weiss and Blake's inability to see where May is coming from... but it doesn't feel like a commentary on that. It feels like another Penny situation: May is put in her place for being inconsiderate, even though this time it's her choosing to help people who are ALSO in danger over the people who represent family she's broken with. 

I wanted conflict this Volume and I absolutely got it, but damn if it isn’t badly thought out at times. 

Because rather than grappling with these personal motivations, Ruby brushes them aside by yelling, "There are no sides! We want to help everyone." 

Does that extend to Ironwood? Ruby's speeches started falling flat when she betrayed Ozpin, attacked Cordovin, betrayed Ironwood, attacked the Ace Ops... This girl does not want to "help everyone." She wants to help those who agree with her. 

Yet her rock solid optimism generates the question, “So how exactly do we get out of it?” which, as expected, Ruby has no answer to. The story keeps showing us how bad a leader Ruby has become, yet no one is actively responding to that. They kinda disagree about lying to Ironwood, but still go along with it. Yang kinda criticizes her sister, but that's then lost to general worry as they split (on Ruby's end, anyway). They want to know how she'll lead them next and are seemingly fine when Ruby continually says, "I don't know." At this point I'd be like, "Well... you didn't like May's plan of going back to Mantle, but apparently can't come up with a plan yourself... so I'm going to go with her." 

This is the same conflict we had last Volume: Ruby spoke optimistically about saving everyone, yet was unable to come up with a way to do that. Ironwood had a plan that, while horrific, might save a lot of lives. Yet Ruby is presented as the one to back. Now here she is, hours later, still unable to figure out a way to achieve her perfect outcome. Ruby wanting things to be a certain way is not going to make them so and I’m wondering when someone within the group is going to recognize and act on that. 

As Ruby fails to answer this crucial question, we pull back to see Whitley listening in at the door. 

Cutting back to Ozpin and Oscar, Hazel has listened to all this craziness about Gods, immortality, the destruction of Remnant... and literally goes, "Cool story, bro." 

Okay, he says "Nice story" but the emotion is the same. Which I'm really happy about! I mentioned in a recent post that, as far as we know, Hazel hasn't been told anything about the Gods up until now. What Ozpin is telling him sounds like gibberish at worst, incredibly hard to believe craziness at best. Now chuck in Mercury's point that as a tortured prisoner he'll say anything to get free, as well as the fact that this is Ozpin talking to Hazel... and I'm really glad Hazel just ignored his speech (for now at least). It wouldn't make sense otherwise. Granted, this means that the plan literally amounted to, “Let’s info dump a bunch of nonsense-sounding lore on our enemy in the hope that he’ll believe us and betray Salem.” It’s something to try, certainly, and it admittedly is a much better plan than what Oscar is about to cook up. 

So since Hazel won't listen to Ozpin, Oscar wants to try instead. Why did you two switch in the first place? It's really obvious that RT is having the characters do weird things in order to stretch out the plot. 

Either way, our farm boy is in control again. What new strategy will he try? 

"Her name is Jinn." 

This is BEYOND stupid. No, none of this "You have to trust people" nonsense. This is not “people,” this is Hazel. There is a Grand Canyon's width of difference between learning to trust your allies and blindly trusting an active villain who just rejected your "Please defect :(" speech. Even if we remove Hazel from the equation, this is still a monumentally foolish move. I mean, has Oscar considered where he is? This isn't some random warehouse he's been taken to, this is a semi-sentient grimm, a creature creating other creatures out of its ceiling

and whose doors automatically open when people need them to (Mercury). This is a living being created by and connected to Salem herself. How does Oscar know Salem can't hear everything he says? Or that the whale can't relay information to her? That the grimm in the walls won't pop out and run to their master? Or even that a normal person isn't listening in at the door — like Emerald is. If that had been Tyrian instead, that's it. They're done. Game over. 

Someone: "Wow. Salem got the Lamp and managed to ask where the Beacon Relic is. Since the school is still overrun by her army, she snatched it up quick, finished destroying Atlas, and is now on her way to Vacuo. She's nearly completed her plan in days! How did all this happen? 

Oscar: I, um... told her what she wanted to know?

Someone: You what?

Oscar: But not Salem! I just told Hazel! ... and then the information somehow got back to her. 

Someone: "Somehow?" You deliberately told one of Salem's henchmen this crucial piece of information, in a place where there was a good chance you would be overheard by conventional or magical means, and you're surprised that she "somehow" learned it and used that information to doom us all? 

Oscar: ...Yes? 

This is so staggeringly stupid it... well, it could only have been done by a kid. So at least that fits lol. Oscar, I love you, but Ozpin should have been screaming in horror the second those words left your mouth. Generations of precautions undone because a kid wants to believe the best of the guy currently pummeling him. Sweet, but stupid. I’m all for optimistic characters, they just can’t risk the whole world on that optimism. Oscar risking himself on the seemingly doomed plan to turn Hazel is one thing, Oscar risking all of Remnant on the seemingly doomed plan to turn Hazel is another thing entirely. 

Even though you know this is precisely how the story will go. Oscar willingly hands over Jinn's name to Salem's forces, but happily none of the THREE who hear about it will tell her. The story's unwillingness to follow through on consequences doesn't change what a bad move this was. I mean, Oscar himself accused Ironwood of playing into Salem's hands by disagreeing with them about how to not die, yet a few hours later he will willingly give Hazel the one piece of information Salem needs to move closer to world-wide destruction? That's uh... well, that's something. 

They should have just had the poor boy be tortured, spill the beans to make it stop, and start an arc of self-forgiveness. Oscar can be awesome without coming up with world-dooming plans. 

So yeah, Oscar is hoping that Hazel will use the Lamp himself and find out the truth. He wants Hazel to trust him and the man he despises most in the world enough to go against the immortal woman he's terrified of, get the Lamp away from her somehow to use for himself, wasting a once in a generation question to confirm all this, so that Salem will lose a guy with muscle who, to be frank, is absolute insignificant in the grand scheme of her power. Fantastic. 

As said, Emerald overhears all this and immediately runs to Mercury, who is less than convinced by her "Salem wants to destroy the world" talk. Just as he's expressing doubt, Tyrian appears to confirm that this is exactly what she wants to do — and he's loving it. 

“Of course she is! You’re surprised? Salem is destruction incarnate!” 

It's a legit point. Are our villains so dense they never considered that Salem might do something to the world they didn't like? It's like the group not thinking about how Salem is still around if Ozpin has been fighting her for a thousand years. RWBY continually gives the impression that these characters don't think about their situation past what they're doing at any given moment. 

Tyrian maintains his title as best villain though, simply because I understand what he's doing, why he's doing it, and he's so damn good at it. 

Also, can we appreciate Mercury's face here? 

Amazing. This is the kind of humor we should be getting in such a tragedy-laden Volume. 

The two of them, Tyrian and Mercury, head off to Vacuo for the Secret Mission, despite Mercury's newfound hesitation. I quite liked these quiet moments between him and Emerald. It has a very "Do what you've gotta do" vibe while showcasing their care for one another, something we haven't seen in a while. 

Back with the airship group. YJR are still horrified that Ironwood would blow up Oscar (even though he has no idea Oscar is there), begging the Ace Ops to give them "a chance to try to rescue him first.” Ren goes pretty hard on the "no one is replaceable" bit, which is frustrating not being what he’s saying is inaccurate (it’s not), but because that's not the issue here. The writing has Harriet start yelling about Marrow replacing her old teammate and Winter replacing Clover, but the question is not whether you'll just forget a teammate and move on with someone new, but whether you're willing to sacrifice them for the greater good. That's the stance: Should we sacrifice one life to save thousands? Will you, as a protector of the people, put those people before your own found family? Yet what RT has Harriet say is: Oscar is replaceable. Which obviously makes her come across as an ass. Like the random soldier questioning Ironwood — or making Elm about to punch a defenseless Ren in her anger — it exists solely to show how bad these character are... even as they say pretty persuasive things. 

The writing also continues to be confused about whether the Ace Ops are friends or not. Yang certainly didn't think so... up until she asks (rhetorically) whether Marrow would sacrifice himself for Elm, Harriet, and Vine. Since their introduction, the story has loudly insisted that the Ace Ops aren't friends... up until it's revealed ("revealed") that Harriet is actually gutted about Clover. So which is it? Are we supposed to believe that these are cold soldiers who only work together out of duty, or that they're a team who clearly love one another? I'd say that show has shown us the latter, but it doesn't seem to understand what point it's trying to make. Does this look like a soldier who doesn’t care? 

It’s especially weird when Ren again makes the claim that this is why they lost to Team RWBY. Because they're not a team.

...So is this why they did such a fantastic job fighting the geist, demonstrating such perfect teamwork that the group was open-mouthed impressed? Is this why they nearly took down a Maiden together? Is this why Ren, while furious at Yang and Jaune, was still able to work seamlessly with them to try and rescue Oscar? Do we think if Yang was suddenly beside Ruby again that the two would fail spectacularly in a fight because they had a minor disagreement? 

This is now the third time RT has tried to excuse nerfing the Ace Ops with, "They disagree about things and are thus not friends and thus can't fight well together" — despite all evidence to the contrary — and it's getting really old. 

At one point Harriet tells Ren, "I had you pegged as the most level-headed of the bunch, but I guess you’re just as naïve" which, ignoring her then random claim that people are replaceable, is correct. I also pegged Ren as the most level-headed of the bunch considering he was just yelling at Yang for how much damage they've caused, all the mistakes they've made, and that maybe — just maybe — they should have tried harder to work with Ironwood. Yet now here he is, in a position to start that process, and the Ren we got in the snow is simply gone. He's fully Team Yang and Jaune again, facing off against the evil Ace Ops. 

I knew this was going to happen, but it's still disappointing. The story gave Ren a great speech to appease those of us frustrated with the direction the story has taken... and now we’re back to ignoring that. Ren was told off for daring to question how great the group is, apparently thought it over in the snow, and is now of the opinion that yes, they are that great. People are going to die because of us? Who cares about that anymore! We will absolutely, single-handedly rescue Oscar and there's no reason why this might be a questionable choice when an entire city is on the line. Again, emotionally understandable (if we buy into the group suddenly loving Oscar this much), but it rings hollow right after making Ren the one person who was willing to look at the big picture. 

Good news though: Jaune got the braincell this week! He suggests that they go in to try and rescue Oscar/provide intel, but won't stop the Ace Ops from launching the bomb when necessary. 

See, this is heroic. This is what the group should have done during the Mantle conflict: Volunteering to take the personal risk of facing off against Salem while letting Atlas try to escape. Basically, not forcing everyone else to risk their lives for their pipe dream, which is what Ren and Yang want by rejecting the bomb entirely. Jaune recognizes here that they can't prioritize Oscar over an entire city, but also that they may still be able to save him before the bomb is complete and ready to go. So they compromise, with JYR the only ones at risk. 

Good job, Jaune! 

Winter agrees to this plan with a firm, "I outrank you" to Harriet. People are going to love that. 

Oh, but in his anger Ren's semblance suddenly changes. So we're back to the ridiculous. 

Truthfully, I like this direction. Granted, I would have liked some buildup to it, especially since this is the second time this Volume that RWBY has dropped a major semblance change on us, but the idea itself is really cool. Ren can now see emotions! Awesome! And I don't mean that sarcastically. I actually think that’s a neat extension of his original semblance. 

Too bad the story seems to think he's a mind reader. 

Seriously, take a look back at the dialogue. What Ren sees are confetti-like petals floating around a person, their color seeming to determine their emotional state. Red means Harriet is mad, blue is sadness for Marrow, etc. But what Ren ends up saying is a great deal closer to mind reading. Harriet is angry about Clover and is gutted at his loss. Marrow is questioning his place here and wants to leave. These aren't base emotions, they're targeted thoughts and feelings about situations not immediately apparent from the verbal conversation. “In fact, you don’t want to be a part of it at all anymore." How does Ren know that? They just gave him telepathy instead of the cool power with firm limitations that the imagery suggests. 

There are also some, uh... iffy implications in all this. For example, Ren allows Yang privacy by not reading her mind emotional state, but has no qualms about reading every one of the Ace Ops’. So privacy is only for the people you care about, huh? 

We could also say something about RT perpetuating unfortunate racial stereotypes: the two women of color are pure anger, the marginalized man is pure sadness, the Asian coded character is pure calm... and the white woman set to turn against the others gets a mix of all emotions. AKA, human complexity. 

To be clear, I don't think RT is doing this deliberately. Rather, they’re writers who have demonstrated time and time again that they don't have a good handle on depicting the sort of sensitive material that RWBY is infused with, and that extends to the mild, but still unfortunate, implications in scenes like this. Even if we ignore the iffy details — a benefit of the doubt that, at this point, many fans aren’t willing to grant — we're still left with the continuity errors. Visually, we're presented with a woman who is experiencing multiple emotions at once and is, therefore, torn. Yet Ren reads Winter definitively: "I know you [don't want this] either." It's yet another moment that makes me wonder how much communication there is between the writers and the animators, because too often the two seem to be at odds with each other. 

As the group prepares to go into the belly of the beast (literally!) we return to Ruby who is, once again, failing to make me believe she's this super compassionate person. 

“Wait! What about Qrow and Robyn? Maybe if we get them out of wherever they’re held—”

Please tell me I'm not the only one who took issue with this? Ruby doesn't express an ounce of worry for her uncle, not even when she learns he's been arrested, and the one time she brings him up it's in the context of what he can do for them in this fight? Ruby doesn't grapple with whether to rescue her uncle (personal desire), or get the message to the world (her version of the heroic action) and then realize that, now that her duty is done, she can finally turn to the more selfish act of helping her immediate family. Instead, Ruby seems perfectly happy to let Qrow stay in prison up until she's unsure what to do next and thinks that maybe he has the answer. Heaven forbid Ruby think about rescuing him because she loves him.

Sadly, this Ruby is long gone. 

In recent years she's expressed no gratitude for him saving her life, no respect for him as her teacher, demonstrated incredibly little compassion for his own struggles, and outright told him that if he wasn't going to listen to her then he doesn't need to be part of the team. Then he's arrested and she doesn't care until she deems him useful again. Like the fandom wondering where the sisterly bond between Ruby and Yang went, I'm likewise wondering where the bond between Ruby and Qrow went. 

May outright rejects this though, yelling that they still don't get it. “This is not a situation where everyone wins!" 

She tells the trio they have to choose for once: Are you going to help Mantle, or Atlas? 

...which means there's immediately a knock at the door, interrupting the moment where they have to decide. 

See, this is just like Ren. The story keeps giving us moments where characters speak absolute truth, dangling the potential for the group to grow from these realizations... only to pull back before it goes anywhere. Ren is once again aligned with Yang and Jaune in their desire to save Oscar. May's demand is interrupted by the plot. If means nothing to give us these moments unless the story acts on them. 

It's Klein at the door. Whitley called him to help with Nora because I guess he's a doctor now, as well as a butler? Fine. Let’s run with it. Weiss is super pleased to see him and hugs Whitley for the good deed. 

Why so shocked that Whitley would look out for another, Weiss? Could it be because he's had so little reason to be kind when everyone, including you, has treated him horribly? If Klein always had these medical skills — if you’ve grown up with a doctor — why didn’t you talk to your brother and ask if he knew how to contact him? And of course, she apologizes to Klein for her father’s actions, but not to Whitley for her own. Whitley's surprise isn't cute to me. 

Weiss stuck a weapon in his face, insulted him, sent him to his room like a toddler... and now is randomly hugging him because he did something she liked. The context of this scene doesn't paint Weiss in a good light. Like the rest of her friends, she only extends basic respect and kindness towards others when they're assisting her. Whitley was nothing to her until he suddenly proved himself useful. That's not cute sibling love, it's a love that's going to run out the moment Whitley puts a toe out of line, according to Weiss' unspoken list of what behavior keeps him in her good graces. 

I believe that Klein cares for Whitley because he greets him kindly and gives him that shoulder pat on the way up. Whitley didn't need to first prove himself to Klein somehow and Klein didn't start this interaction by shoving a gun in Whitley's face, just in case he wouldn't let him through the door. They feel more like family than this hug does. 

So yeah, Whitley and May have done more good this episode than our entire main cast. How about we just make this story about the side characters instead? 

We then hear a massive boom and the group runs out to find a crater. Penny has landed in front of the manor, which is pretty convenient considering we saw her pass out as she fell. 

She's somehow still in control despite the hack and apologizes to Ruby, then falls unconscious (again). 

And that's where we end! Definitely a cliffhanger, though a rather underwhelming one considering we already knew Penny was in serious trouble. As said at the start, this episode felt rather underwhelming to me, especially as a halfway point before a hiatus, and compared to some of the stuff we've seen previously. It's not bad per-se — especially if we ignore the issues that have been around for an age now, which is most of what this recap deals with — it's just not terribly exciting either. Everything of importance — Salem's attack, Oscar's rescue, Penny's demise, subordinates turning, Nora's condition, etc. — had already been established in previous episodes and very little of it moved forward. Ren's semblance is the only thing the episode gave us that we couldn't have (generically) guessed for ourselves between last Saturday and now. 

So yeah, underwhelmed is the mood of the day, with a hefty dose of salt for everything that continues to be a story-breaking problem in this show. I will say though that, as has become the trend for this Volume, all the establishing shots are gorgeous. RWBY is, at the very least, pretty to look at. 

As a final note, in lieu of the Bingo board (since, again, not a whole happens plot-wise) I want to point out something mentioned by a friend: how absolutely bonkers our timeline is now. We began the second day last episode with the sun rising (recall that Jaune had tried to sleep that night at the outpost. So it’s definitely sunrise as opposed to sunset).

And we re-confirm that it’s sunrise at the start of this episode.

Yet throughout the episode many of our shots take place at night (note the stars behind the trio).

These moments with Ruby can't take place in the past because they're talking about the attack, an attack that only happened after Jaune's group met up with the Ace Ops and the geyser attacked — during early morning. I doubt I'm supposed to believe that it has been another full day of Salem starting an attack, a full day for the group to fly to the whale, a full day for Penny to fall, a full day which would put us at the end of the Volume’s timeline at only the halfway point... so I think RT is just going for the aesthetic of night shots without thinking about what that does to the continuity. It's a mess. 

Not the highest praise to end on, but I’m working with what I’ve got lol. I feel as naïve as Oscar when I say that maybe Part II will be better. 

I will, of course, see you all in six weeks. Until then, I'll do my best to catch up on asks. Another doomed endeavor, but one can try!

A very Happy Holidays to all of you who celebrate and, as always, thanks so much for reading! 💜

[Ko-Fi]