#will i ever do a guys version? highly unlikely but i suppose not impossible

[vagabondart]

Resident Evil color wheel because Capcom really does love to color-code their characters.

[caemthe-a]

Some differences and similarities ( in physical appearance ) between Myth Cú and Fate Cú

So I know I like to joke about all of the Fate Cú Chulainn’s character design and their terrible fashion sense but, in all honesty, and surprisingly, they aren’t that far away from the truth in a couple aspects. Though in another ( and the most important from my point of view ) ones, they completely missed the point. But the only thing I’m 100% certain about is that here is that it’s practically impossible to come up with a character design that is faithful to the original because, for starters, Cú Chulainn’s appearance is never the same when he’s described and it’s not even a minor contradiction like saying he had one hair color in one story and another similar color in the next one, I’m talking about from going of ‘melancholic, dark, short, pale’ to ‘this freaking kid had 3 different hair colors! and also 7 bright, red dragon-like pupils! and also !!!!’ Listen, I love it.

Alright, so now that I mentioned how ??? was Cú, these are the constant characteristics that Myth Cú had and how Fate Cú is either a bit similar or if we were robbed.

Myth Cú was tiny! Extremely tiny! The tiniest tiny that ever tiny! Just a little hound, a Cúcuc, a little lad, a little deer... Like I joke you not, this guy was a smol and this is something Fate and a lot of other modern media that have their own Cú refuse to acknowledge, which I find incredibly terrible because, despite being depicted as the manly protagonist of the story, his appearance was that of a small, pretty, beardless boy. Yes, Cú has always been very anime. And this is important because his youthful, ‘unmanly’ appearance was the reason why Cú had to constantly prove himself as a capable warrior and something that caused conflict ( that end with murder -thank you, Cú, never change- ) in his tales. Also, this is probably why he was angry and throwing hands all the goddammed time, the guy was practically a chihuahua.

The only possible explanation I can think of why any of the Fate Cú is above the 1.80m is that he got so tired of being mocked for his short height is that, when given the opportunity, he decided to make himself appear at least one whole foot taller than what he actually was. Ritsuka vc: Weren’t you supposed to be a short guy? Cú Chulainn vc: NO! I’VE NEVER EVER BEEN SHORT IN MY LIFE! WHO’S THROWING THIS SLANDER-?! 

Myth Cú was beautifulTM! Alright, so all the Fate Cú are very handsome ( uwuwuwu ) but handsome isn’t the same as beautiful and Fate doesn’t put much emphasis on how beautiful Cú actually was unlike the Myth version. So the thing is that Cú had this youthful, ethereal and somewhat feminine appearance and that he was beautifulTM. But just how beautifulTM was Cú? I already mentioned on other posts that he was so beautiful that the men of Ulster feared that he would ‘steal their wives and ruin their daughters’, but also was so beautiful that people would go *sighs dreamily* whenever he walked near them. He was so beautiful that one time when he put on a festive attire, the women were climbing on top the men because they also wanted to look at that limited edition Cú. He was so beautiful that a fomorian ( or pirate ) that had arrived to take a princess as his slave also looked at Cú and spontaneously decided that would take him as well ( but no worries, Cú murdered the guy a minute after ).

And this is when things get a little creepy! He was so beautiful that Uathach, Scathach’s daughter, was practically heavy-breathing outside his door while he slept. And he was so beautiful that staring at him too much could make you go mad and curse you so staring at the pretty boy wasn’t very wise. He got plenty of undesired attention which kind of lead him to his death tbh. So maybe... that wasn’t a good thing.

Myth Cú was an Eldritch Abomination! But Liri, wasn’t Cú Chulainn supposed to be beautifulTM? Yeah... listen, monster-fuckers are valid and deserve rights. So the thing is that Cú could do this very cool thing that was called the ríastrad, which was some kind of battle frenzy in which he went absolutely feral and killed everything in sight and he was very, very angry and his body temperature skyrocketed to the point where he could evaporate water when it came in contact with his skin, and he bleed and he SCREAMED and also his insides turned outside so it was a very fun thing.

Though I already mentioned at the start that in a couple cases that his not-ríastrad appearance isn’t consistent in the stories but in some of them he supposedly has dark hair and very odd and bright eyes. Fate kind of got that right. Fate Cú’s eyes are red, which isn’t technically wrong because it’s a bright color; and his hair is ‘naturally’ blue, which, again, not wrong because it’s a dark color. And while it’s far from the ( sometimes ) real Eldritch-like appearance of Myth Cú, it does serve the purpose of showing that Cú’s appearance wasn’t that of a human or natural. After all, he was a monster demigod! Also, bonus points for the sharp teeth and cute fang because honestly who doesn’t love them?

Myth Cú had... an interesting fashion sense? Listen, I don’t know how to word this but... uhh.... sometimes Myth dressed normally but other times he used plenty of layers of armor and clothing and sometimes 20+ shirts. Why? I suppose he wanted to look broader ( and less tiny ) ? The funny thing is that sometimes Emer helped him dress up so I can’t help it but assume that neither Emer or Cú knew what the fuck they were doing or how one is supposed to dress for a battle or what the hell is happening, someone save them. Proto Cú got that ‘too many layers of clothing’ thing right to a certain degree so kudos for him. And we all know of the neon Hawaiian shirt + leather pants combo and many other things and it’s exactly what Cú Chulainn would’ve wanted. So I’m pretty it wasn’t intentional but Fate kind of hit the target here.

But what about the blue spandex? Why does FSN Cú look like a stripper dipped in blue paint? Alright, so!!! Polybius and Diodorus Siculus pointed out that some celtic tribes preferred to fight naked as it gave them a boost of confidence, thought it gave them an advantage over the armored ( and therefore slower ) enemy, and it also was highly intimidating. The blue paint came from berries. Since Fate couldn’t make Cú walk around completely naked, blue spandex was the next closest thing? I kind of get it but Myth Cú would’ve rather use 20+ shirts.

And finally...

Myth Cú was super trans-coded! Which is kind of unrelated ( not really, this is of great importance and extremely valid ) to what I’ve been writing so far but my blog my rules and I love making reminders that I headcanon Cú Chulainn as trans. And... I think that this part is pretty self-explanatory with what I’ve been writing about Myth Cú’s physical appearance and how he had to constantly prove that he was man enoughTM in his stories? Other interesting parts of Myth Cú on this topic include: Being the only Ulster warrior that wasn’t affected by the curse that affected all Ulster men; people don’t recognize him nor believe he’s the real Cú Chulainn until he proves himself; having only one kid ( Connla ) despite being married and have plenty of lovers in a time when birth control wasn’t that effective and heroes tended to have many, many children; Medb comparing him to an adolescent girl; the manner in which some of his actions are described in his battle against Ferdiad, like when Cú was keening like a woman, which is intensely interesting because of the Irish tradition of keening women. Thank you very much.

[bestsuccessstories]

STORY 1

TRUE SUCCES STORY OR “OUT OF THE WOODS”

When you decide to hunt your dream, sometimes you may feel like Prince Charming.You have to go into the dark woods alone, get lost, then climb to the tallest treetop to actually see your path (Prince Charming, as well as success hunters is not provided with a map)Afterwards, it is required to defeat several very wicked withes and train your dragon, meanwhile, the magic volcano continues erupting behind you.Only after these entertaining activities have finished could he have an entire Kingdom in addition with a pretty Princess.

Yes, a way to your dream can be covered with fear and doubt.That’s why  very important to remind yourself, that this road dotted with mountains will lead you to the most beautiful destination you have ever seen and the harder your path is, the more beautiful view you will admire in the end.What truly helps success hunters, is an example of those, who managed to get out of the darkest woods and made come true the most impossible dream (leaving all very wicked witches and dragons crying behind).

This is a story like that (a real story of a successful company, try to find out the name in the end)

Once upon a time, two success hunters decided to completely change their routine and moved to San Francisco, ready to realise their dream. As it should be, when your dream is big enough, there are always difficulties arising.Without employment, it was quite hard to pay the rent and they were looking for a way to earn some extra money.They noticed that all hotel rooms in the city were booked, as the local Industrial Design conference attracted a lot of visitors.

True success hunters always sees the opportunity in every difficulty.Our heroes bought a few airbeds and put up a website. The idea was to offer visitors a place to sleep and breakfast in the morning. They succeeded and the first guests were sleeping on their floor (a 30-year-old Indian man, a 35-year-old woman from Boston and a 45-year-old father of four from Utah)

After they had those guests, they did nothing for about four months.There were no more bookings through their website, so they didn’t think the ‘airbed thing’ would work and they decided to came up with another idea.They were trying to build a roommate matching website.It supposed to be Craigslist meets Facebook, for roommates with profiles. Then one day they typed roommates into Google and realised that someone had already built that site. And this was about four weeks after they started working on it.

The main secret of all success hunters is that their dreams are bigger than any obstacles, so they kept working and returned to the original idea. Deciding to stick with the ‘airbed thing’ they found a corder and a third success hunter got to their team.

The major problem was that the site only had two users, one of them was its co-founder. First time they launched at SXSW(Conference & Festivals celebrate the convergence of the interactive, film, and music industries), and only received two bookings(almost a year they had original idea). They built three versions of a website.There is a saying: if you launch and no-one notices that, just launch again so they did.

By the third version it was the Demographic National Convention, all the hotels in Denver were sold out.They decided that was a right time to do a big launch. Barack Obama was coming to Denver, and 80,000 people were expected to visit, but there were only 27,000 hotel rooms.That weekend their website received 80 bookings. The weekend after, they received no bookings.

The same pattern repeated itself for months. They got to about 30,000$ in credit card debt. Our success hunters would go and get credit cards and max them out, and then they would keep getting more credit cards until the bank stopped giving them to our heroes. They were tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

Everybody thought they were crazy, no-one supported them, they had no money. One of our hunters would wake up in the morning and have a panic (Later, he admitted that it was the best weight lost program ever, he probably lost 20 pounds) Every morning he felt his heart pounding, but over the course of the day he would convince himself that everything is going to work out fine (I’ve got a plan, it’s all good-affirmation, he highly recommends) and by the night he would go to bed really confident. The next day, there was like a receipt button and every morning started with panic again.

The day they launched, they had a meeting with a well known investor.There site was down, they didn’t bring a slide deck and that wasn’t a super successful pitch.“It was mostly me and him staring at each other for an hour and he did not invest” will say one of our hunters a couple years later in the interview.

They reached about 20 investors about 15 even didn’t reply to their emails.

They managed to organise another meeting in the cafe.In the middle of the conversation, their potential investor gets up and leaves (that was the last time they have seen him).

They were in debt and trying to figure out how to pay the rent, after the convention they returned back to zero.They built a website, spend a year on it and no-one using it, no one want to come or list their homes because there were no travellers, no traveler want to come to the website where there are no homes.No one wants to be the first person to try the idea like this.Most people thought that was insane.

People around them were receiving funding and developing their companies. The story of our hunters was nothing like that, but they kept working when most people would give up.Very well-known fact (every success hunter must follow) that if you don’t believe in yourself, pretend that you do and, at some point you will.

One night, they were thinking how they are going to pay the rent and keep the company working. They had an idea to provide a breakfast to people going to Demographic National Convention. They were thinking that would be nice to have  a branded breakfast like cereal and they came up with idea Obama’s O’s and Cap’n McCain’s cereals. The front of the box was stamped with “Hope In Every bowl” and on the back it called itself the “Breakfast of Change.” The side of the Cap’n McCain’s box sang the praise of eating squares (Os may look pretty, but have you ever noticed there’s something missing? That’s right, there’s a hole in the middle of every O. With Cap’n McCain’s you get a whole piece of cereal in every bite).They called local cereal companies which said ‘Great, we would like to work with you, all we need is non-refundable deposit’(which was a huge amount of money for young startup)

Another one success hunter’s statement claims that when one door closes, another opens. Finally, they meet a guy who has got a print shop (not a cereal company).He wanted to help and said that he could print a 1000 examples for free (If you succeed and sell this, just give me the royalty).They were literally assembling these boxes in their kitchen (thousand boxes assembling with hot glue).Sitting on the kitchen, they were wondering whether Marc Zukemberg was assembling cereal boxes when he first launched Facebook (unlikely). Was that a good or a bad sign?

So, they had to fold a thousand boxes, pack cereal in them, and sell them for 40 dollars a box. They thought, ‘who is going to pay 40 dollars a box’ but they were limited edition, and they ended up selling about US$30,000 worth of this cereal. But the money they earned only went so far, and in November 2008 the company was broke once more. It got to the point where one of the success hunter’s mother called him and said, ‘look, if you need money I will send you. You don’t need to have strangers in your home to make money’. This was the moment when he started to question the decisions he made in life to get him here. He didn’t felt successful, or smart, or talented. He only felt that the world was against him.

It was a time they decided to enter famous startup accelerator Y Combinator. When they met Paul Graham ( co-founder of Y Combinator),first question he asked was ‘people are doing this?’. They told yes, and he replied,’what’s wrong with them?’ (In the end the interview he thinks it’s the worst idea ever). About to live, they handed him a box of Obama O’s and he said,’if you convince people to buy a box of cereal for 40$, maybe you will convince them to stay in another people’s rooms’. So he let them to Y-Combinator. The company spent the first three months of 2009 at the accelerator, working on perfecting their product.

Over the course of 2010, the site’s weekly revenue doubled. Then it doubled again.They renamed the company and soon received another $600k in a seed round from Sequoia Capital and Y Ventures.

However, not everyone was as impressed with company’s business model.Even during Y Combinator, they still got rejected by investors.The young startup was turned down by Fred Wilson and Union Square Ventures—a decision he now admits wasn’t a good one (in 2011 Union Square kept a box of Obama O’s in their conference room to remind themselves not to make the same mistake again).

Also, the website wasn’t gaining much traction in New York, so our hunters flew out and booked spaces with 24 hosts to figure out what the problem was. As it turned out, users weren’t doing a great job of presenting their listings (the photos were really bad, people were using camera phones).There were no bookings because users couldn’t see what they were paying for. Success hunters got used to challenges, so they found a solution.They rented a $5,000 camera, planning to take professional pictures of as many New York listings as possible and by the end of the month startup’s revenue in the city had doubled.That’s gave them an idea to launch a photography program (hosts could automatically schedule a professional photographer to come and photograph their space).

Four years after the first air mattress guests, company was already in 89 countries. It also won the break-out mobile app award at SXSW (and that’s after its lukewarm launch at the festival in 2008).The same year, one of the valley’s biggest VCs put $112 million into the startup, valuing it at over $1 billion. That made company  a “unicorn” in Silicon Valley.

After years of doubts, debt and disappointment, success hunters came out of the dark woods and showed the world what the true success supposed to mean. In 2011 startup closed a US$112 million round of venture funding. Three years later, it received US$475 million more. In 2015, it collected another US$1.6 billion dollars in the financing alone.

Company has  reached a US$25.5 billion valuation. That makes it bigger than Hilton Worldwide, InterContinental Hotels Group, or any other hotel chain on the planet Earth.

Our success hunters are famous not only for disrupting an industry, changing the game in hospitality, and generated billions of dollars in revenue for themselves, and their users.The main thing, is that they gave a faith to young people all over the world.They showed us, that no matter how huge is your dream, it can become reality. No matter how difficult and hopeless your situation is, it’s all going to work out in the end if you will keep trying. Because every failure brings you closer to success.When you stop believe you actually could reach the top, remember, it always seems impossible until it’s done (Then, you can write a manual called ‘Through the dark woods’ which could help future generations).

You don’t need a supernatural power or a pixie dust to make your dream come true, just be desperate for success and success will be desperate for you, this will be a mutual love in the end. As you know Fortune, is a Lady and Ladies requires dedication.So she will need some time to check whether you are ready to keep going when things will get harder (definitely they will, because very wicked withes are payed well to do their job)but if you show a bit of persistence, she will become your Godmother.You always will hear her kind voice whispering to your year and lightening up your way in the dark woods when very wicked witches will try to lead your astray.

So be it

P.S.You probably guess that the company name was Airbnb and success hunters that inspires us are:Brian Chesky ,Joe Gebbia, Nathan Blecharczyk

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Early birthday gift for @bluerosesburnblue:)

“Sora vanishes, dims, fades at the end of Kingdom Hearts III--much like the Master of Masters did in Back Cover--and this is because Sora is him via a paradox. And when Sora disappears at the end of KHIII, he gets sent back to the Key era and lives out his time as the Master of Masters there--trying to get back to his beloved Kairi, all the while. But one of the things that becomes complicated for him, is the fact that one of his Foretellers, Ava, seems to be Kairi's original incarnation.”

Nothing really sketchy here guys. Despite how it seems and how it could've turned out. Don't worry.

insanity at its best

…It wasn’t- right, the way that he was treating the Foretellers. And Sora knew it.

And he hated himself for it… And maybe the darkness was seeping into him for that, ever so slightly, and making his Rage Form even stronger. But it was what it was.

He didn’t mean to be so ho-hum about the fate of the world, since he knew just how much it had sucked when Xehanort had done that to them.

If there was any way to stop it—and make sure that everything ended up as it was meant to, with his friends and him—Sora would have been the first trying to discover it…

But even before some strange paradox, that had led to his eye being on the Keyblade he had hated most of his life (and still did) and had allowed him to see the future (aside from having experienced it himself)… he had known it was impossible.

He also didn’t mean to be so upbeat about everything—as his pupils (gosh, that was still weird to think about) were falling apart at the seams. And who wouldn’t be?—but that was just always his personality, even when things were at their most dire. And Sora felt that if he tried to repress that now, he’d go even more insane than he was already becoming.

As for why he was secretly being mean to some of his apprentices… Sora had no idea. And this was what scared him more than anything, and made him think that maybe the darkness really was getting to him.

Because why would he do this? Was their youth and optimism such a funny thing to him now, because he’d seen where that got everyone?

Gods, if that was the case… what would Kairi ever see in him now?

…And there was the crux of a lot of this, wasn’t it? Sora had accepted so much of this—so he could finally get back to his beloved Kairi, who he never should have been separated from to begin with.

It made Sora… bitter, to think about that second chance he thought that had been given to them—when they’d been holding hands more intimately than ever before, on the paopu tree—just for it to be ripped away again.

And to imagine Xehanort ki-

No.

He wouldn’t go there.

He wouldn’t.

Sora would get back to her… they’d finally be happy and together, like they’d always deserved to be… and he wouldn’t become besotted to Ava in the process of getting there.

As it turned out—and how this had tortured Sora when he’d first discovered it, and still did now—Kairi was actually a reincarnation of one of the Foretellers: Of Ava.

And there had been a traitorous part of Sora, that had—at first—dreamed about telling Ava everything, and just being with this Kairi here.

…Except that she wasn’t exactly his Kairi yet—they certainly weren’t the same here (and, in fact, they had a bit of an age difference now, that Sora felt uncomfortable about)—…and it just wouldn’t work, and be disingenuous if he tried it…

And surely muck up timelines, so there was a chance neither one of them would even be born!

So as hard as it was, Sora made the wise and best decision to stay away from Ava—though he couldn’t help loving her all the same, even if she was simultaneously stronger and weaker than his Kairi—but he was still attracted to her more than he would have liked to say. (It wasn’t fair, since Kairi had just opened the door to him wanting romantic love… only for them to get pushed away from each other right after it had happened. So now he had all these feelings that he had no way of dealing with yet.)

And he despised that he now had to let Ava march to her death—as fate said she must—just so she could be reborn into Kairi.

Was he even letting it happen—if he could somehow stop it, with no ill effects—so she wouldbecome Kairi? Sora wasn’t sure.

But he did know that when he began telling her about the Union Leaders—and the person circled in red—that she’d argue with him… for a plethora of reasons.

And a part of him was glad for it. Because even though this was right(?), and it would lead them back to the way everything was supposed to be…

Sora wanted to die for the lives he was toying with, and going to destroy—even though they had already been that. This had already happened—and he wanted her to call him out on it, and the other reasons she shouldn’t trust him.

And she did.

Not as much as Sora had been hoping—not like his Kairi would have—but maybe enough (and he prayed she was doing more of it in her head), when she asked him if taking everyone’s memories away would just make them repeat the Keyblade War here.

…Sora didn’t really have an answer to that. He just knew, through Naminé, that having memories of dangerous things (like his false obsession with her) wasn’t a good thing, so he was banking on this being the right decision here.

And he gave some crazy explanation about it—that he could barely follow himself, and that he knew was the kind his enemies had used to use to string him along.

And it seemed to work.

Not long after that, Sora disappeared like he thought he would—the way he had from Kairi all those years in the future—as he slowly but surely was brought back to the present.

As that happened, he dreamed:

Of Kairi’s beauty and her full heart, that had saved him so many times—and how beautiful she’d looked as she’d cried for him and he angled his body closer to hers. Sora wondered if they might have kissed there, if fate hadn’t chosen that exact moment to intervene—but he also found himself imagining Ava more than he would have liked to: The sad goodbye he’d shared with her—playing it off like it was normal and natural, when he’d known it would be their last and his heart nearly broke for it—and how desperately he’d needed to comfort her that she was the only one to help the Dandelions carry out their mission, when she’d doubted herself. He’d needed to do it for Kairi’s sake (who also was way too hard on herself, and didn’t give herself enough credit), and hers.

And proving he wasn’t completely gone, he also thought of Riku, Donald, Goofy, the King, Roxas, Naminé, Ven, Aqua, Lea, Xion, Terra, and all his other friends.

He even thought of all of those he’d maybe damned, because he wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

And when Sora got back… Things weren’t as they should have been at all: He found he was somehow twisted, and still wanted to lash out a bit: like he had with the Foretellers.

And somehow, some way, another, younger version of himselfdid exist (the Master of Masters thought it was a trick at first) and wanted to fight him… until they realized that—unlike what had been done with Roxas—they neededto merge.

…Also, that Luxu had been Xigbar or vice versa (how Sora had missed this, he didn’t know), so that guy had been a thorn in his side of his own making.

And had still been when Sora came back, thinking he needed to bring the Master of Masters back (not knowing that this older Sora was him, and so he was already here), and that he needed to follow that half-baked persona Sora had made back in the day.

It was all a massive headache.

But nothing was as bad as Kairi—for whatever reason—somewhat acting like Ava now. (Or had she always, and he just hadn’t put two-and-two together until now?)

And while Sora knew he should have rejected that, and once had… he was now moved by it, and had no idea where his head was anymore.

Though maybe this was what he deserved… That someone who had played with fate—for the “greater good”, be damned—have his life be just as much a toy to some higher power.

They had finally gotten their happy ending… and mostly it was that: happiness and love: The day that he and Kairi had finally married on the beach—her just in a simple white dress, with paint brushes in her hair and still being the most beautiful vision Sora had ever seen—was the epitome of that.

But sometimes Sora bowed his head under the showerhead and cried, while his past self (did he still exist? yelled at him. Or was it just his conscience?

And Kairi (Ava), still so pure—something he would always love and protect her for—would never know any of this.

Sora promised himself.

Author’s Note: So... as fun as this story was, I don't believe any of it (of course). I thought I'd say that, since the summary might have made it seem like I do. I don't really think that either theory (Sora being the Master of Masters or Ava being Kairi or vice versa) is a thing. But either of them are, I highly doubt they are at the same time. And more likely than not... Kairi is Ava or has some sort of connection to her, over Sora being the Master of Masters. But it's still fun to play around with, all the same!

Also, this is for my best friend's birthday! Hope you liked it, dear!

[phantom-le6]

Film Review - Wonder Woman 84

Carrying on with my film review interval quickly so I can get on to reviewing the Batman animated series, it’s time to join DC a bit early, albeit in the live-action world of the DCEU as we take a look at Wonder Woman 84…

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

A young Diana (Wonder Woman) participates in an athletic event on Themyscira against older Amazons. After falling from her horse due to looking back at her opponents, Diana takes a shortcut and remounts, but misses a checkpoint. Antiope removes her from the competition, explaining anything worthwhile must be obtained honestly.

 In 1984, Diana works at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. while secretly performing heroic deeds as Wonder Woman. New museum employee Barbara Ann Minerva, a shy geologist and cryptozoologist, is barely seen by her co-workers and comes to envy Diana. Later, the FBI asks the museum to identify stolen antiquities from a robbery that Wonder Woman recently foiled. Barbara and Diana notice one item, later identified as the Dreamstone, contains a Latin inscription claiming to grant the holder one wish.

 Barbara wishes to become like Diana, which unwittingly results in her acquiring the same superpowers, while Diana unknowingly wishes for her deceased lover Steve Trevor to be alive, resurrecting him in another man's body; the two are reunited at a Smithsonian gala. Failing businessman Maxwell "Max Lord" Lorenzano tricks Barbara and steals the Dreamstone, hoping to use its power to save his bankrupt oil company. He wishes to "become" the stone and gains its wish-granting powers, becoming a wealthy and powerful figure who creates chaos and destruction as his powers trigger worldwide instability.

 Barbara, Diana and Steve discover that the Dreamstone was created by Dolos/Mendacius, the god of mischief, also known as the Duke of Deception. It grants a user's wish while exacting a toll unless they renounce the wish or destroy the stone. Although Diana's power and Barbara's humanity diminish, both are unwilling to renounce their wishes. Learning from the U.S. President of a satellite system that broadcasts signals globally, Max, whose powers are causing his body to deteriorate, plans to globally grant wishes to steal strength and life force from the viewers and regain his health. Diana and Steve confront him at the White House, but Barbara, now aligned with Max, betrays Diana and knocks her down, escaping with Max on Marine One. Steve convinces Diana to renounce her wish and let him go, restoring her strength and gaining an ability to fly.

 Donning the Armor of Amazon warrior Asteria, Diana flies to the satellite headquarters and again battles Barbara, who has transformed into a humanoid cheetah after wishing to become an apex predator. Following a brutal match, Diana tackles Barbara into a lake and electrocutes her, then pulls her out. She confronts Max and uses her Lasso of Truth to communicate with the world through him, persuading everyone to renounce their wishes. She then shows Max visions of his own unhappy childhood and of his son, Alistair, who is frantically searching for his father amid the chaos. Max renounces his wish and reunites with Alistair and Barbara returns to normal. Sometime later in the winter, Diana meets the man whose body Steve possessed.

 In a post-credits scene, Asteria is revealed to be secretly living among humans.

Review:

Unlike a lot of people, I have enjoyed a lot of the DC Extended Universe to date.  Granted, most of their films have been flawed to varying extents, more-so than I’ve known with the MCU, and in truth only Man of Steel and the first Wonder Woman solo films cleared top marks.  Warner Brothers and DC are clearly trying, and while they might not succeed with live action the way they do with their animated DC films, I think we can all at least commend the effort.  Certainly, that effort shows through in this film, which is both sequel to the first live-action Wonder Woman film and a further prequel to Wonder Woman’s present-day self in Batman vs Superman and Justice League.  It’s well-cast around a decent plot, and offers both the action and character most audiences expect from films of this genre.

 However, the film is not without flaw, and these become more prevalent looking at the behind-the-scenes stories and features than through watching the film itself.  First, let’s tackle the couple of controversies that have come from the observations of others.  According to Wikipedia, the film has been criticised heavily on two counts.  First, Steve Trevor is brought into the film by possessing another man’s body in a plot thread analogous to 80’s era body-swap films like Vice Versa.  Because Steve and Diana have sex at one point during this time, this aspect is likened by some to rape despite that not being the intent of the film makers.  The second point of controversy is a scene where Wonder Woman saves Muslim children from being run over, something that is apparently controversial because actress Gal Gadot once served in the Israeli Defence Forces and has spoken in support of them.

 With regards to the first, I think the film makers needed to make it clearer that while Steve is doing his possession bit, the body’s native soul is totally elsewhere, as that might have changed how some perceived the scene.  Me, I’ve taken it from the first as just Steve and Diana without that exposition, and I think we can be a little too quick to assign the concept of ‘rape’ to certain sci-fi and superhero fantasy concepts.  This criticism strikes me as people wanting to be louder on a subject that is better tackled by being smarter about it, but I do think it’s probably something story tellers need to be mindful of going forward.  If you’re going to set up something that could look like rape if not explained fully, make the time to do that, no matter how it may hurt other aspects of your story.

 With the second, I tend to look at every religious conflict now and in the past and think “will you just grow up and stop having such massive-ass hissy fits over a bunch of stories that might not even be true?” Honestly, I don’t get why so many Christians, Muslims and Jews have to have massive conflicts with each other supposedly over faith.  You’re all worshipping the same deity, for crying out loud, and odds are 50/50 as to whether that deity even exists or not.  That’s honestly not worth keeping up a bunch of rivalry and hatred that started thousands of years ago; these days, it’s just an excuse.  Got land that’s holy to more than one religion?  Just share it.  Don’t like someone else’s religion and want to stick to your own?  Just say “thanks but no thanks” and carry on about your business.  That’s the mature, adult approach, and by the same token, just accept that it’s Wonder Woman saving some kids and leave the personal politics to your own story-telling.

 So, having dismissed the quibbles of the possibly over-reactionary viewers, let’s get into the bigger issues.  In terms of adaptation accuracy, the film is mostly good, but falls a bit short on Maxwell Lord.  The guy’s supposed to be a pretty irredeemable slimeball going by the comics, and while I can accept the film giving him some justification for taking things too far, I have a hard time buying into him effectively doing the ‘right thing’ at the film’s climax. It feels highly out of character, not to mention a bit anti-climactic.  Then again, that’s why I’ve never enjoyed superhero match-ups that pit a massively over-powered hero against a villain who is all about brains.  Such clashes make it impossible for the superhero to win in classic physical combat and gain the catharsis that comes from that.  It almost feels like that part should have come first and the grudge-match with Cheetah should have followed it.

 More significant an issue than that, however, is the idea that the whole wish fulfilment aspect of the plot was somehow people seeking lies and needing to accept the truth.  Wishes are not lies; wishes are wishes and have no set place in the truth-versus-lie dichotomy.  As such, truth is not by any means the answer to things when wishes go wrong.  Wishes going wrong is simply a literary device used to convey the idea that somehow wishing is bad, but it’s not.  After all, how many people who worked on this film wished at some point they’d be able to bring Wonder Woman to life on the big screen? Every film, every TV show, every book, every story anyone has ever created is the execution of a wish.

 The reality is that wishes only become a problem as a result of greed, which is the problem created by Max Lord in this film. If he’d just wished to hit oil to save his company, he’d be fine and things wouldn’t have escalated.  Instead, he takes on the Dreamstone’s power itself so he could exact his own price from future wishers, and as a result he upsets the stupidly precarious balance that keeps the world going.  It’s an interesting idea, albeit not all that original; leaving aside the classic “monkey’s paw” legend and others like it, you’ve only got to look at the Jim Carry film Bruce Almighty and Carrey’s character Bruce granting all prayers while using God’s powers to know wish fulfilment is dangerous in excess.  However, anything in excess is dangerous, and it’s not like wishing worked out so badly for Aladdin if we go by Disney’s versions of that story.

 The reality of WW84 is that it’s a decent film that’s mostly well-acted and has a decent story, but with a flawed underlying message that gets bogged down by various flaws in execution.  If I had to pick out a film that illustrates why the DCEU needs the Flash solo film to reboot it, this one would have to be right up there with Justice League, Aquaman and Birds of Prey.  Like those films, this one only warrants 7 out of 10, and much of that is down to a lot of the actors performing so well, especially Lilly Aspell as the kid version of Diana in the opening scene.  Only 10 years old at the time of filming and she did every stunt herself; an impressive feat to say the least.

[i-know-you-can]

Love to Hate You - Chapter 8

Summary: AU - There is something about the way she looks at him. The way her cheeks flush and her beautiful green eyes sparkle. Like she wants to wrap her hands around his neck and strangle him, but she thinks better of it. It amuses him like nothing else. No other woman has been able to fire him up like Betty Cooper. And yet he hates her.

Rated: T

Chapters: 8/11

A/N: Thank you to everyone who commented on the previous chapters. Today I’m bringing you a chapter that is a bit longer than usual as Betty and Jughead are heading to a non-date date. What will it bring?

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“I still can’t believe you asked him on a date,” Veronica says excitedly as she wraps a strand of Betty‘s hair around a curling iron.

“It’s not a date.” Betty rolls her eyes. She knew that her best friend would make a big deal out of it when she told her that she and Jughead were going to dinner together. But it was not meant to be a date. She doubts Jughead would agree to it. Though after Veronica's initial freaking out, Betty started to wonder whether he did think it was a date. And whether she wants it to be. “We were working really hard on this article. And now that the investigation is over, I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate it.”

“When you started working on it together, you couldn’t stand that guy. Now you’re trying to spend more time with him outside of work? You may not want to call it a date, but I think you’re catching some feelings for him.” Veronica grins and runs her fingers through Betty's hair to loosen up the curls. “And I'm not saying you have to start dating him. But at least get some celebratory sex out of it.”

“Veronica!” Betty exclaims and swats her friend's hand away. “I'm not gonna have sex with him. That one kiss haunted me long enough. I don't need things to be awkward between us again,” she says and her face grows red as she thinks back at the kiss she and Jughead shared a couple of weeks ago. She tried so hard to forget about it. To pretend nothing ever happened just like Jughead told her to. But it was impossible. And the moment she thought she was getting over it, he kissed her again. Of course that brief kiss at the restaurant was just a cover and she couldn't read much into it, but ever since that night all the feelings she tried to push away before came flooding back and they were even stronger. Not that it made them any more understandable. She knows something has shifted in the way she looks at Jughead, but she doesn’t know what she wants from him and even if she did, it seems unlikely he would want the same. Even though he’s not a complete asshole to her all the time anymore, he also doesn’t seem to show any more interest in her than he did before. Or at least she hasn’t really noticed. He can be a very hard person to read. And Betty doesn’t want to make a fool out of herself by assuming he’s interested. Despite how hot the kiss was, it was most likely just a moment of passion caused by their fighting rather than anything else. Right?

“If I recall correctly it was a heavy make out session and not just a single kiss. And secondly, so what if things get awkward? You'll get over it.” Veronica waves her hand dramatically. “But I need to know if this brooding emo guy you've been telling me about for months is as good in bed as I imagine.”

“I'm never telling you anything. Ever again.” Betty folds her arms and glares at her best friend. “And I doubt he’s interested,” she adds, trying not to get her hopes up.

“Sure you’re not.” Veronica grins at her in the mirror. “Well you’re a total smoke show tonight. He’ll be stupid to not at least try.”

  “You really can't lose that hat even when you're going on a date?” JB asks from the couch when Jughead emerges from his room, heading towards the full length mirror that hangs by the front door.

“It's not a date,” Jughead repeats for what feels like the hundredth time. At this point he's not sure whether it's more to persuade himself or his sister. It's not like either of them is buying it anyway. “And the hat is a part of my style.”

“What style is that?” The brunette scoffs, watching her brother with amusement. “Emo hipster?”

“Oh, shut up,” Jughead mutters, readjusting the dark curl that somehow always manages to escape his beanie. It's been over twenty-four hours since Betty invited him to dinner and he's pretty sure his stomach hasn't stopped flipping. It's not like he lacked experience. For some reason girls found his gloomy appearance and sardonic humor surprisingly endearing. Even if he never managed to keep a relationship going for more than a few weeks. But going out with someone he already knew, someone he may have had one or two dirty thoughts about was different. Even more so when Betty suggested it as a purely friendly matter. He doesn't know how to make friends. Especially out of people he had seen as enemies until recently. What are they even going to talk about? Does she expect him to walk her home afterward? Questions he has no answer to keep popping up in his head.

He adjusts the collar of his flannel shirt, wondering whether he's too dressed down. The restaurant he picked is not fancy, but he expects Betty to be all dolled up. After all, she always is. What if she wears a skirt? The last time he saw her in a skirt, he could barely keep it in his pants. The memory of her body pressed to his as he pushed her against the kitchen cabinets and kissed her senseless fills his mind. It was a moment of weakness. She wants to forget it and so should he.

“God, you're a mess.” Jellybean's laugh pulls him out of his thoughts. “Whatever happens, don't forget to text me if you're bringing her over. As much as I'm rooting for you two to finally get it on, I don't wanna witness it.”

 When Jughead arrives to the restaurant Betty is already waiting outside, looking more beautiful than ever. Her hair falling around her shoulders in soft waves, the sunset making her look like an angel. Jughead gulps as his eyes trail up and down her body. She's wearing a pastel pink dress, the skirt barely reaching mid-thigh and he already knows it will be a challenging evening for him.

“Hey,” Jughead says as he steps closer to her, trying hard to maintain eye contact and not let his eyes slide lower. “I hope I'm not late.”

“Nope, I've just arrived,” Betty replies with a beaming smile that makes his chest contract.

He wonders how he has managed to work in the same company as Betty for months and not feel like this until recently. Then again, he never really gave her a reason to smile at him like this. “You um... You look very nice today.”

“Thank you,” she replies, a blush creeping up her cheeks. “You look quite handsome yourself.” She bites her lip as she shamelessly checks him out. While his outfits isn't too different from what he usually wears, a plaid shirt and dark jeans, somehow he looks more polished. Like he put a lot of effort into it. Betty feels her cheeks growing hotter as she thinks about it, but she quickly dismisses that thought. They are going to a nice looking restaurant. That's surely the reason he tries to look extra good. Not because he's trying to impress her. That's also why she put in an effort. Well, at least partially why.

“Shall we?” he asks pointing towards the entrance and she nods.

 “It looks very nice in here,” Betty says as she looks around while the usher leads them to their table.

“It is.” Jughead nods as he pulls out the chair for her and she smiles at the gesture. “And the food is to die for,” he adds as he takes a seat across from her.

“Hopefully not literally,” she quips.

“Don't you trust my recommendation?” He grins at her, cocking his head to the side. Now that her long legs are hidden beneath the table he feels like he can breathe a bit more easily.

“I do. But how do I know you didn't bring me here to get rid of me so you can take all the credit for our article?” She narrows her eyes at him and bites her lip to stop herself from laughing when Jughead pretends to look offended.

“You were the one who called it a peace offering. Shouldn't you have a bit more fate in me then?” he answers with a question.

Instead of replying she just smiles at him and Jughead feels his stomach clench harder. Shortly after they're interrupted by a waitress that brings them their menus and while Betty quickly starts scanning hers, Jughead keeps his closed, knowing exactly what he wants to order.

Betty can feel his eyes on her the whole time, but doesn't let it show and instead tries to focus on all the different meals the restaurant has to offer. “So, Mr. I know all the best food in New York, what can you recommend?” she asks after a moment, unsure what to order. While Betty loves to cook and experiment in her own kitchen, when it comes to eating out or ordering take out, she always goes for the same few things.

“How about you show your trust in me by letting me order for you?” he suggests and after a moment of hesitation Betty agrees. She's a bit worried about what Jughead may have in store for her, but lets out a sigh of relief when he places the order for both of them as 'his usual'. If one of New York's favorite food critics likes the food, then it surely can't be bad.

While they wait for the food they resort to talking about the restaurant and their work, trying to predict the impact their article may have. Both highly aware of the fact that they’ve never had a non-work related conversation that didn’t end in a fight of some sort, they try to stick to safe topics at least for a moment. After all, tonight they’re supposed to turn over a new leaf and hopefully embark on a new kind of relationship. Even if neither of them really knows what kind that is.

“Is this just a fancy version of a burger?” Betty asks once the waitress who brought them food is out of earshot, cocking her eyebrow. On the plate in front of her there is a beef patty, some vegetables and a golden brown bun, all covered in cheese and a delicious smelling sauce that makes her mouth water instantly.

“It's called a deconstructed burger and it's the best thing ever,” Jughead explains. “Well right after a regular burger.”

“Then why are we here and not in a regular fast food?” she inquires.

“I didn't take you for someone who would want to go to a fast food,” he answers simply, shrugging his shoulders. “It isn’t fancy enough.”

“You really don't know me at all, do you?” she says only half-jokingly. A lot of their fights have been based on assuming things about the other person and while some of them might be true, they never really bothered to get to know each other.

“Well...” Jughead starts, not sure what to say in his defense. He knows that Betty is right. That he doesn't actually know anything about her. He only knows people like her. Or people he assumes she belongs to. “I could say the same for you though.”

“True.” She nods before taking a bite of her food and chewing thoughtfully for a few seconds. As the rich flavor spreads across her tongue, she can’t deny that if Jughead is good at judging anything, it’s definitely food. “For starters, I don't even know your real name,” she continues once the initial astonishment of the food fades away. “I highly doubt your parents actually called you Jughead.”

That's not an information I usually disclose on a first date. He almost says, but stops himself in time and grins at her instead. “You couldn't have picked an easier question to start with?”

“That bad, huh?” Betty giggles, trying to think of names that could be so bad that Jughead wouldn’t want to share them.

“Worse.”

“Well, you don't have to tell me. But if you don't, I'll just keep trying to guess it, Horace,” she says, closely watching for his reaction, but his face is still as stone. “Okay, maybe you're not Horace so how about Cyril? Cyril Jones sounds like a name you may despise.”

Jughead laughs at her futile attempts and shakes his head. “It's neither of those and I really don't think you can guess it.”

“You have no faith in me. I'll give it one more try.” Betty bites her lip as she thinks hard for a couple of seconds, trying to think of the strangest yet believable sounding name. “How about... Alastor.”

“Does that name even exist outside of the Harry Potter universe?” He scoffs and scrunches up his face. “I'm no Mad Eye Moody.”

“You are pretty moody, though.” Betty sticks out her tongue at him playfully and he can’t help but laugh at her antics. “So just tell me, because I can keep coming up with ugly names all night long.”

“Okay, okay.” He raises his hands in mock defeat. “But only if you swear to never use it and never tell anyone about it.”

“I don't think I can swear to that. But I can promise to try. Unless you give me a reason not to,” she adds the last sentence with a grin.

Jughead thinks about it for a moment, wondering why he's even considering sharing this information with Betty. Kids in school gave him enough crap for his name and while the nickname Jughead wasn't the best one either, over the years he tried to stick to it as much as possible. But there is something about Betty. Like a gut feeling. Instead unlike all the other times when it told him to stay away from her and her smile that was too wide to be real, it tells him he can trust her. And maybe he’s an idiot to trust his feeling this time, but the smirk on Betty’s face makes his stomach clench so hard he would do anything at the moment if it meant he could keep this moment forever. “It's Forsythe,” he mumbles finally, averting his eyes and he feels his face slowly turning a crimson shade of red. “Forsythe Pendleton Jones the third, to be exact.”

“For-what?” Betty covers her mouth with her hands as she tries to stop herself from bursting into laughter. “I'm so sorry. I just...” She reaches out to place her hand over his in comfort. “You're right, I never would've guessed. But to be honest, I had some even worse on my list,” she says with a giggle.

“That's hard to believe.” Jughead laughs and shakes his head.

“I appreciate you telling me,” she adds with a smile and notices a faint blush raising on his cheeks. Despite their mutual hate, Betty has always found Jughead attractive. Hot even. But now the best word she could use to describe him is cute and she wonders whether it’s because he’s finally letting his walls down a little.

“How about we move on from this topic? I feel violated enough.”

“Alright.” Betty shrugs her shoulder. While seeing Jughead embarrassed may be her new favorite thing, she feels it’s only fair he gets to ask her something personal as well. “I got my answer. It's your turn now.”

“Why Clickfeed?” Jughead asks after a second of consideration. “Or rather, why have you stayed so long even though you have to work in that god-awful position? Nobody really wants to work there.”

“I believe that working hard will bring you what you want. So I guess I assumed that I would spend a few weeks writing stupid articles before someone noticed I’m better than that,” Betty answers simply. She has given it a lot of thought and even though her decision may seem silly, she’s still trying to believe that her hard work will eventually pay off. After all, it finally seems to be happening. “Like maybe it could be that terrible first job where I gain my experience before I move on to something I actually want to do.”

“You may have watched The Devil Wears Prada too many times,” Jughead murmurs and shakes his head. While working with her, he noticed that Betty's talents are being wasted at their company and the question why she's even there keeps popping into his mind frequently. Then again, he likes to hope for a more fulfilling job in his future as well. But for the time being it’s almost good enough.

“The Devil Wears Prada?” Betty cocks her eyebrow with an amused grin. “Is Jughead Jones a secret chick flick fan?”

“Is that your next question?”

Betty shakes her head with a smirk. “I think I know the answer already.”

“Well just for the record, my sister made me watch it with her,” he says defensively. “But it's a pretty good movie.”

“How is she? Your sister I mean. She seemed pretty upset that night I met her,” Betty asks with concern. While she has only met Jughead's sister very briefly, she noticed how much he seemed to care about her. A side of him she's not used to seeing.

“She's... Alright. Given the circumstances. But she's staying with me until she can find some better roommates,” he replies. “She's a tough cookie,” he adds with a proud smile. There aren't that many things in his life that he can be proud of, but his sister definitely makes the top of the list and he feels somewhat satisfied with himself for helping to raise her.

“You are a good brother to her. I... I never would've guessed,” she admits sheepishly. Betty always liked to hope that there is more under the tough, cold mask that Jughead wears, but it was only after she met Jellybean and saw the two of them interact that she truly started to believe it.

“Why? Because I'm such a dick to everyone else?” Jughead asks half-jokingly. He's very well aware of why Betty may think that. He wanted her to think that for a long time. Now, not so much.

“Well... Yeah.” Betty laughs, not trying to deny it. “So why are you?” The question has been boggling her mind ever since she met him. Sure, not everyone was brought up like her and pushed into being nice to everyone all the time. Jughead, on the other hand, seemed to purposely make people hate him. And while it worked on her initially, given the chance to spend more time with him she quickly started to realize he was actually a fun person to be around. Which only made her question his intentions more.

“I don't go there to make friends. If everyone hates me, at least they don't bother me with anything and I can get my work done quicker.” Not exactly the reason, but Jughead assumes it's true enough. His trust issues are not something he feels like discussing at the moment. “For me there is no point in pretending to be nice. I don’t know how you do it.”

“You think I'm pretending to be nice?” Betty asks, not sure whether she should be offended or not. Sure, her mother has been pushing her to be extremely polite and perfect her whole life, but Betty likes to believe that the niceness Jughead likes to mock her about has always been inside her. “Some of us are just naturally nice.”

“There is no such thing.” Jughead scoffs. “Nobody is nice without some hidden agenda. Trust me, I know.”

“Oh, poor Juggie, everyone is out to get him,” Betty says mockingly, but unlike all the other times when they were teasing each other, he doesn't immediately bite back, nor does he give her a cheeky grin with the promise of revenge.

Juggie. The nickname nobody has used in over a decade makes him feel as if someone just poured a bucket of ice down his shirt. “Oh, Juggie, you will turn out just like your father. There is no future for people like you.” The words flash in front of his eyes so clearly he wonders whether someone in the restaurant actually said them. He has been trying to put it behind him. To ignore the words uttered by someone who clearly didn't care enough. But it only takes that one word to bring him back to why he despised the beautiful blonde in front of him in the first place. He suddenly feels stupid that he ever considered something good could come out of their interaction. Things have been going well for him for far too long and somewhere along the way he forgot to keep his walls up at all times.

“Earth to Jughead.” Betty waves her hand in front of his eyes with a shy smile, but her face quickly grows serious when his blank stare turns into a frown.

“You don't know me at all,” Jughead mutters under his breath and Betty isn't sure whether he's talking to her or himself.

“I think we established that already.” Betty chuckles, hoping to lighten up the conversation again. “That's what we've been trying to change for the past half an hour.”

“This was a mistake. I never should've thought...” he trails off while Betty stares at him silently, trying to figure out what is happening. Their conversation took a slightly more serious turn in the past couple of minutes, but surely there was no reason for Jughead to get upset with her, was there? Betty tries to track back her words to figure out what could've set him off, but her thoughts are quickly interrupted when Jughead suddenly stands up from his chair.

“What are you doing?” she asks and her eyes grow wider when he pulls out a bunch of bills from his pocket and sets them on the table.

“I can't be here,” he answers simply, though he doesn't lift his gaze and she's still not sure whether he's talking to her or just voicing his thoughts out loud. Either way, he offers no explanation and walks away as quickly as possible without sparing her a single glance.

“Jughead, wait!” she yells after him, earning herself nasty stares from a couple of people sitting near her, but for once she doesn't care. For months she's been trying to come up with words that would wipe the arrogant smirk of Jughead's face and now that she managed to do it without even knowing how she feels everything but satisfied. Tears sting her eyes as she buries her face in her hands, wondering what on earth could make Jughead react like that.

 “You're home early,” JB states as she looks up at the clock. She expected Jughead to be away for at least another hour or even the whole night if things went well. “Didn't the date go well?”

“I don't wanna talk about it,” Jughead mumbles as he kicks of his shoes on the way to his bedroom.

“Was it that bad?” she asks curiously. As far as she knows, Jughead has had quite a few shitty dates in his life. But instead of moping about it, he always talked to her about the terrible stuff that went down and they managed to laugh about it together.

“I said I don't wanna talk about it,” he says in almost a growl and shuts the door behind him with a loud thump. He heads straight for bed and has to fight the urge to scream into his pillow in frustration. It would surely only make JB ask more questions and that's the last thing he wants right now. Instead he lies on his back and stares at the ceiling, wondering how the date, he no longer tries to kid himself into believing it wasn't one, went to complete shit so quickly.

Juggie. The nickname he hasn't heard in over a decade. The one that no one but his mother used. It sounded so good on Betty's lips, yet that one simple word opened Pandora's box and all his terrible memories and stupid reasons for hating her came soaring out. As if he got too close and needed to be reminded to stay away from her. All this time he resented her, tried to avoid falling for her charm in fear of getting hurt. He hoped that if only he put enough distance between them, he wouldn't fall for her and she couldn't hurt him. But he did and even though she didn't do anything wrong, he still felt like he was just stabbed in the chest. His mother was right. There was no future for people like him. Definitely not with girls like Betty. She was too nice. Too perfect. Nothing like him. And he was stupid to forget that.

[longforgottenunofficial]

Here Comes the Bride, Part Two: “Beating Heart”

That was her name, or title, I suppose you'd say.  "Beating Heart."  It's on all the blueprints and on the schematics for the figure herself, but somehow it never made its way into public usage.  Oh well. This and the next post have been extensively rewritten several times over the years as new evidence has continued to come to light. With this topic in particular, sometimes we feel like we're barely treading water around  here. The blog format proves extremely useful sometimes. In our last exciting episode, we traced BH's roots from the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall to the red-hearted candle bearer in the attic.  The project had proceeded to scale model phase, and still the attic ghostette wasn't clearly recognizable as a bride.  This final touch to the character was probably added in 1968.  The script for the "Story and Song" album refers to her as a bride, and this script in turn closely follows a '68 show script by X. Atencio.  Whose idea was it to turn this ghost into a bride, anyway? Ken Anderson makes a modest contribution, early in the process.  He wrote four show scripts in 1957-58 (essentially four; some of them have alternate ideas already included in them).  The first script in particular (Feb '57) is often cited as the beginning of our attic bride.  In it, Beauregard the butler directs our attention to a painting and tells the sad story of Captain Bartholomew Gore (aka Gideon Gorelieu) and his young bride Priscilla.

When Priscilla discovers the horrible truth that her husband is, in fact, a bloodthirsty pirate, he kills her.  Her ghost comes back for vengeance and eventually drives Capt. Gore to suicide.  Now the place is haunted.  Bingo, haunted house. Okay, that seems clear.  A tragic bride haunting the house, looking for revenge.  Case closed.  They just borrowed an old Ken Anderson idea.  Well, not so fast.  First of all, there's nothing associating Priscilla with the attic, and more importantly, she's a "bride" by definition b, not definition a.  A bride is a woman soon to be wed or recently wed.  The former wears a bridal gown; the latter wears a purple dress (or jeans, or whatevv), like our poor Priscilla.  Aside from the bare fact that she exists not too far distant in time from her wedding day, Pris really has nothing in common with the familiar attic bride of the finished ride.

Which one is naughty and which one is nice?  I'm not telling.

Anderson's other three scripts don't get us any closer to the attic bride.  Two of them do organize the present day's ghostly activities around a wedding feast.  In one, "Monsieur Bogeyman" is planning to marry "Mlle. Vampire," and all kinds of famous spooks and monsters are showing up (Dracula, Frankenstein, etc.).  She jilts him at the altar, and things get ugly.  (Truth be told, I'm very thankful that one ended up on the cutting room floor.)  In another, the narrator guides you through the house toward a wedding reception.  It seems the ghosts of the luckless Blood family have been trying to complete the tragically-interrupted marriage plans of one of their daughters, and sure enough, you do eventually see a ghostly wedding banquet of sorts taking place. Anderson can be credited with the notion that a wedding gone awry would make a good basis for a haunted house, and notice that in that last scenario, an actual ghost bride would have been represented. This might be a good place to ask the question: "Do we ever encounter a ghost bride in popular (or unpopular) culture before now?" Somehow she feels familiar, or at least not odd, but examples of ghost brides are hard to find. Hard, but not impossible:

From Judy, Or The London Serio-Comic Journal, 1876. Hat tip Craig Conley

Dude, we've even got cobwebs. Okay, so when do we get to see a ghost bride in Haunted Mansion artwork? Well, inMay of 2014 a never-before-seen Marc Davis sketch was published showing a ghost bride on a stairway landing.

D23/Disney Unfortunately, we have no date for this sketch. It does look like it may have been inspired by the old Ken Anderson sketch based in turn on the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall photo.

If it's one of Marc's earlier sketches, it may represent a sort of turning point,as Anderson's creepy ghost is transformed by Davis specifically into a bride. Whenever it was done, it isn't Marc's only ghost bride artwork. One of his many, many unused ideas for a changing portrait involved a forlorn-looking bride corpsifying before your eyes.

(Artwork ©Disney.  Animated gif by Captain Halfbeard)

This gets us even closer to where we will eventually end up. Obviously, Davis liked the ghost bride idea, and we may speculate that one day the light bulb clicked on, and he realized that his rather fierce-looking attic ghostette would actually be a perfect vehicle for the corpse bride concept.

And so it was.  At last our elusive ghost has donned a wedding gown.

They put Beating Heart in exactly the spot occupied by the maquette figure in the scale model; that is, on the left side, and a little ways to the left of the spot where today there is a ghostly piano (I'm talking DL, of course).  For you young'uns with short memories, her heart glowed red and visibly pumped back and forth, while the sound filled the attic:  Lub dub.  Lub dub.

That's where BH was on opening day, and that's where I remember seeing her on August 14th.  New info: A large plastic sheet (called "nylon 6") was in front of her, stretched from post to post and floor to ceiling, probably with the intent of making her appearance fuzzier.  That too jibes with my memory.  I remember her slowly rocking back and forth in an area that reminded me of a door frame, and she was definitely murky. She was only there a few weeks tops.  When the (infamous) Hatbox Ghost, which was located near the exit on the right, failed to perform as hoped and was removed, BH was transplanted to his old spot.  There she remained from Aug-Sept 1969 until May 2006, when she jumped the track to the other side and became Constance, that zany hubby-whackin' axe murderer. What did that original "Beating Heart" bride look like?  She bore a strong resemblance to the corpse phase of the Marc Davis changing portrait above, and so that version of the bride has picked up the name "Corpse Bride." For the Disneyland original, we have a number of good photos of the figure, from pre-opening photos of the figure before installation, down to 1975. Here's a montage of those:

We also catch a fleeting glimpse of her in the background of a scene from the March 1970 Disneyland Showtime episode, which featured the Osmond brothers and showcased the new Haunted Mansion.  The program was filmed in January or February of that year, so we're mere months past opening day.  If we shrink the 1975 CB photo down (center in the montage), blur it, and fade it, it bears an uncanny resemblance to the Osmonds bride.  That's 1970 on the left, 1975 on the right.

However, even that is not the oldest photography of the original bride standing in place in the attic. One day in June of 2011, Disney fan and historian Todd J. Pierce was going through a box of old home movies and photos he had acquired, and there he found a small reel dated August 1969.  To his astonishment, this one-minute film featured a rare glimpse of the Hat Box Ghost, as well as about three seconds of murky footage of the bride, the only known photography of the original bride in her original position.  An edited version of the film was posted at the Disney History Institute on July 9th.  Not much of the bride is visible, but you can see the red heart, beating back and forth, the tip of her glowing candle, and a number of large white smears and smudges.  Occasional details like her hair are visible only in a frame or two here and there.  Here's a GIF with a picture of the Corpse Bride superimposed on a combined still from the film.  The candle tips don't line up, because she's holding it at different points in the arc of movement up and down.  With some other bride photos the alignment is exact, so between that and the heart it's possible to place her pretty accurately in the frame.

The eyes of the Corpse Bride were never very bright, so they don't show up except very dimly in one frame:

Exactly when the Corpse Bride was replaced is not known, neither for DL, nor for her twin at WDW.  Based on what evidence I have, the latest possible date would be the late 80's. There is some evidence suggesting that the Corpse Bride was still in use at WDW in the late 70's, so "sometime in the 80's" cannot be far off. Speaking of WDW, unlike the situation with regard to Anaheim, photos of the original WDW bride are extremely rare. One surfaced in February of 2013 and showed up at the irreplaceable Daveland site. It's the Corpse Bride, all right, but her face in Orlando was never painted with the same amount of detail as the DL version, especially in the lower part of the face.

Remarkably, there exists also a film clip of the original WDW bride from 1976:

[Visit original post to view video clip.]

"Long-Forgotten" threadster Michigan Guy has put together an artist's conception of what the Disneyland original looked like, and based on available evidence I'd say it's pretty accurate.  Kids, hide your eyes!

Starting with that, here's my conception of what she looked like.  I mean it, kids: don't look!

Okay, fine.  Not my fault if you have nightmares.  Where are your parents? ☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆ Before we bring this episode to a close, I suppose that something needs to be said about the photo below. It's sorta well-known, and it's often presented as the original 1969 bride.

There are enough idiosyncrasies about it that at least one intelligent observer has argued that it is a pre-opening prototype and not a production figure.  The most glaring problem is the slit-like eyes.  No other bride photo shows anything like that.  Highly suspect. In fairness, those eyes might be a conservative hold-over from the design you see in the maquette figure, which also has slittish eyes:

Not only that, but as it happens the mechanical design of the lighted eyes would allow for any amount of manipulation of their shape.  You just mask the WALL -E eye box in her head (well, that's what it reminds me of) in any way you think appropriate and get any shape eye you want.

So yeah, I suppose it's theoretically possible that the slit-eyed bride was there as a short-lived experiment, but it's extremely unlikely that she was the original.  Like the round-eyed, dark-faced version that eventually replaced the Corpse Bride (seen above on the left), the slit-eye version has very bright eyes. They would certainly have been visible in the August '69 film footage if she were standing there, but the eyes are only visible in one frame, and even then just barely. I'm pretty sure the mystery photo is either a picture of the second version of Beating Heart (with the eyes narrowed), or it's a prototype.

Next up:  Ol' Round Eyes and the "middle" brides.

Originally Posted: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 Original Link: [x]

[introvert-dragon]

Hiccupy heart (Chapter 3)

Summary: It didn’t matter that Hiccup and Astrid used to be best friends, somewhere in grade school or middle school, back when life used to be fun, with him having plus one leg and one mother, before everyone hit their growth spurt. Until Hiccup finally got his soul mark; And guess who’s name was it? Astrid Hofferson. Soul mate AU.

Previous Chapter | FF.net | Ao3

A/N: An Update in a week!? I did it!

It’s all thanks to your awesome support guys. Keep em’ coming! Even though I got only 1/3rd views compared to the first chapter - you guys are still awesome.

Without further ado,

(No beta for this chapter, watch out for errors.)

It took him all weekend, but Hiccup finally had a plan in mind. A very simple and effective plan; Avoid Astrid Hofferson, in any form or kind (thoughts included), like a plague and eventually move on with the whole Astrid being his soul mate thing, that was it.

In theory, what could possibly go wrong? The less he saw her in his life, the fewer ideas would be getting on his head, that would likely end up with him embarking on another quest for Astrid Hofferson and Highschool Royalty.

With great effort, he managed to do just as he planned. Until Hiccup randomly craved for the cafeteria's infamous 'The Goethi's Soggy Fries' with special yak buttermilk dipping. So Hiccup decided to make a quick stop to the cafeteria before he headed home.

There shouldn't be a problem with that. From what he knew, there was still at least half an hour before Tennis Practice ended.

As soon as he arrived in the cafeteria though, there goes his plan. Astrid Hofferson was there sitting on her boyfriend's lap for all of the cafeteria to see.

That shouldn't be a problem for Hiccup, He simply needed to turn his head around and look the other way. But goddammit! His boyfriend seriously needed some lesson in public display of affection.

Hiccup could clearly see the annoyance showing in her perfect beaut... Astrid's face. He really needed to get a grip. He almost let himself worship her face, and oh my! Look at her freckles they're so– Gah! –and there goes his resolve.

Hiccup reminded himself that She always knew.

Something flared up inside him, the tip of his finger tingling unbearably, his fingers clawing on his palm. He wasn't sure if it was anger or jealousy.

It should have been him.

Astrid must have been feeling so good for herself, having a boyfriend who was a living embodiment of Jon Snow, only with a tattoo on his chin, but a little bit on the brainless side(which he was sure made things easier for her), who, was not a hiccup like him, who was supposedly her soul mate—Soul mate she didn't want. He was Eret son of fucking Eret. Hiccup could tell that Astrid probably... not probably— she definitely wished that the name on her wrist would have been Eret's not him.

Hiccup wondered if Astrid had started dating Eret before or after she got her soul mark. He wished it was the former; not that it mattered.

Hiccup watched as Eret's lips tried to go for Astrid's neck once again, but Astrid just elbowed the muscle-head hard on his ribs. Gods, Eret couldn't get a fucking clue.

Hiccup would have treated Astrid better, but he knew that Astrid was not someone who wanted to be taken care of. She was Astrid Hofferson. She always made clear that she was perfectly capable of herself, and she certainly proved that. In fact, she got hundreds of broken nose, and bones to attest that.

His breathing felt heavier as he felt something burning red in his chest. He didn't realize how hard his eyes were trained on the couple until his eyes met Astrid's for a split second. She diverted her gaze but Hiccup continued to glare as their eyes met again.

This time, Hiccup's resentment wasn't directed to her boyfriend. It was all on the owner of the name written on his left forearm, his 'so-called' soul mate.

Astrid flinched, she tried to hide it but he noticed and for a moment her eyes showed hints of mortification; He was probably imagining things.

Hiccup closed his eyes, breaking the gaze and breathed a long-drawn sigh to calm his drumming heart. He opened his eyes to meet hers again and suddenly felt his left forearm throbbed sharply, causing him to drop the extra large bucket of fries from his trembling hands.

Hiccup ran away with no particular destination in mind. He just needed to leave, anywhere away from Astrid. He just couldn't stand the sight of her ... It was too painful.

Unfortunately, being a one-legged man, he could only run so much and wasn't supposed to run like that in the first place. Pain, soreness, and cramp overcame his left leg—he needed to sit down, and check on it.

Then Astrid was there, standing near him, watching him with her eyes wide, filled with terror. Hiccup almost cowered at her gaze and wished to vanish without a trace from the universe.

No—He wasn't going to be defined by his stupid attraction to his soul mate anymore.

Hiccup took a deep breath and met Astrid's gaze with as much as courage he could muster. Without breaking the gaze, He stood up straight despite his left leg's protest, squared his shoulders, tucked his chin, and walked away with as much as dignity a one-legged man could.

But it was all an act, his refusal to appear weak in front of his soul mate. As soon as he got home, Hiccup didn't even bother changing his clothes as he went straight to his bed, burying himself in layers of pillows and blanket.

Hiccup found himself screaming in his bedroom, self-destructing for all he cared.

After he was done with his self-destruct sequence. Hiccup felt numb and tired in many ways, that he could do no more than stare at the ceiling of his room, while he contemplated his life.

Hiccup had tendencies to tunnel vision, not that he was a narrow-minded minded person. He was just 'too stubborn for his own good' quoting his father and Gobber. And that specific trait probably got him most of his trouble.

Unlike his father, who loved to remind him that 'When I was a boy... I knew what I was, what I had to become –blah blah blah and rest of the story–' and Oh boy... If Hiccup ever had to hear that story again, he might very well bang his head against the rock, probably and get a skull-crushing headache – but it would be totally worth it if he never had to hear that lecture from his father again.

He was rambling, again, even in his own mind. The point was when Hiccup set his mind on something; an objective, a crazy invention, or a very impossible teenage crush turned into first love. He won't stop at anything to achieve it, but... well, only most of it ended up in failure or trouble.

And for once in his life, Hiccup actually got something right. Astrid Hofferson was indeed his soul mate. It was not just his daydreams or fantasy anymore. It was a fact, with physical evidence etched in his own skin.

But this time, he knew when to stop. In most cases, the reason Hiccup could never stop was all because of his curious mind, and the teenage part of him wanting to prove something.

She always knew.

If Astrid always knew that he was her soul mate. And was very clear that she didn't want him to be her soul mate.

What was there to prove for him? So what now?

The wound was still fresh for him, and the 'Pull' was still there, only that he never felt the 'Pull' this powerful, only in a bad way. If before when he would as much as breathe the same air as Astrid – He would feel like oxygen was overrated. But now that he got his soul mark, it was as if his attraction for Astrid was now oxygen itself. And oxygen was no longer overrated. He was like a moth attracted to a beacon of flame even if he knew that it would burn him.

That was why he needed a plan to avoid Astrid, in any form and kind. Even if he could still manage to walk away from his soul mate every time, he could act dignified and strong in the presence of his soul mate his whole life. But–

But in the end...

Hiccup, with all of his heart, still loved Astrid Hofferson.

The whole realization was painful. It was impossible for him to get over all his feelings for his soul mate over a weekend. Not especially when his feeling, had a very strong legitimate root – thirteen years of friendship, followed by a whole high school of worship.

It was impossible. Hiccup would never get over her.

Hiccup needed to do something, anything at all. He needed to be somebody, someone – For himself. This time it was about his life and his alone.

He tried to visualize a much better version of him. Where Hiccup didn't had the need to prove himself, to his father, his soul mate... or even himself. Where he would have Thor's mighty hammer for his arm instead of his noodle arms, both of his legs, and maybe he could play a ball game, and people would accept him.

Wouldn't that be something, Hiccup thought.

Hiccup sighed, getting tired of staring at the ceiling. He let his head drop to his right, his eyes landing on his favorite flying dragon-rider poster.

The one with a one-legged hero flying with his one-tail-finned black dragon.

Flying...

Fly...

Fly. If only he could fly away from berk, leave the archipelago. And in that way, he was sure to avoid Astrid Hofferson that way.

An idea struck to his mind...

Maybe Hiccup could actually do that...

Didn't his father always wanted him to enroll in a 'Real Program Degree' in an 'Actual University'?

He could do just that by studying abroad, where the top universities in the world were. And maybe, for once in his lifetime, his father would be proud of him... His boy enrolling in an Ivy League, Harvard, Yale... or wherever he wanted—with his academic performance it shouldn't even be an issue. Maybe he could get himself a scholarship in one of those universities, though money wasn't a problem for him. It wasn't like Hiccup will be missed either – he highly doubted that. His father barely came home every week.

This new plan of his was perfect—it would definitely work.

Unfortunately, this plan also involved him giving up on his own plans for college. And there goes one of his dreams. The said that dream involved going to the same college as Astrid Hofferson, he figured that his dreams were nothing less a fantasy.

It was a just stupid pinky promise from childhood. It was not like she remembered any of it.

"It was stupid," Hiccup muttered to himself.

"Yes, so stupid," Hiccup repeated as if he was trying to convince himself otherwise.

Besides, it was not like he had a choice – the only way his father would agree on this plan was Hiccup had to take a law degree.

But If it meant getting away from all these, where he could start fresh and try to be a better version of him. It was a compromise he was willing to take.

Million ideas started flowing in his mind on how this plan would just work out for him.

Four to Eight years in law school, give or take – even longer if he decided to take law for post-grad. That was a lot of time for himself – to discover himself.

He could get a dog.

He could travel.

He could meet new people who didn't know him as a Hiccup.

He could start fresh, and there was more to life than just his soul mate.

But none of them would be like being with Astrid Hofferson.

Hiccup shook his head, brushing off the thoughts before it festered his mind.

Hiccup let out a long-drawn sigh, sitting up straight, shrugging layer of blanket off him. At least his mood felt brighter with the notion of the freedom he could have soon.

With nothing more to do, Hiccup plopped back down to the bed, scrambled his pockets for his cellphone and fiddled with it for a while, until he started yawning and eventually dozed off.

The next time Hiccup opened his eyes – he was still dreaming.

After all, There was no way Astrid was in his room, sitting on his bed, watching him sleep. To prove his point, Hiccup reached out a hand to hold the said image of Astrid. And just about Hiccup was about to touch her, Astrid reached out for his hand and held on to it tightly.

The sensation of her hands and the feel of their soul marks resonating... It all felt too real... He didn't want it to end–

–Ding! Dong!

The loud doorbell woke him up, the whole vision in his dreams vanishing into smoke, as he jolted up straight, feeling shivery, goosebumps all over his skin, and cold sweat covering his body. Hiccup shook his head, to clear his foggy head, and calm his breathing.

It was just a dream... Astrid hadn't visited him for over four years, not even when he had an accident – She had no better reason to do so now. And yet, Hiccup couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in his chest.

Ding! Dong! The doorbell rang again.

Hiccup groaned, he didn't really want to step out of his room for the day. He was sure it wasn't his father as his father just sent a message that he won't be back until a week. He contemplated to ignore the doorbell, and try to get back to his sweet dreams–

Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong!

Hiccup grumbled, swearing under his breath. Seriously, even in his dreams, he couldn't spend be allowed to be with his soul mate. Urk. Hiccup needed to get hold of his mind, It wasn't going to happen and was never going to happen.

She always knew, Hiccup reminded himself as if it was his mantra.

Whoever the visitor was seemed determined to continue with the barrage of doorbells – and for some reason, Hiccup had a bad feeling about this.

Begrudgingly, Hiccup stood up from his bed and stretched his limbs exaggeratedly as if he was trying to delay the time. The doorbells continued and Hiccup decided that stretching any longer wasn't going to help. Hiccup didn't bother getting himself appear presentable and just headed straight downstairs to 'excitedly' welcome the unwelcome visitor.

Hiccup sighed as finally, he arrived in the entrance of the house, stopping right in front of the gigantic two-door. He debated to grab a weapon for self-defense, but it was not like people in Berk were bold enough to cause trouble in Stoick Haddock's mansion. And if ever someone was planning something against the law, like, if ever someone was going to kidnap him for a ransom... They probably got the wrong household – they should know better how majestic his relationship with his father was.

So Hiccup finally unlocked the door, wincing when felt his left forearm pulsed when his left hand made a contact with the cold metal of the doorknob. When he was about to twist the knobs, the door was opened from the other side, and he was found himself drowning at a too familiar pair of ocean eyes, and dazzled by the ever so radiant golden-blonde hair.

There was Astrid Hofferson standing on the other side of the door. And before Hiccup could delve on another theory that he was still dreaming.

"Economics Project," Astrid said simply, and walked past him, welcoming herself into his home.

Gotta love dem’ cliffhangers. :P I told you the story will start picking up… and we finally get the real confrontation/interaction next chapter.

I’m not gonna lie, I’m not confident with this chapter…  So it would be great to hear from you guys, feed me with your validations… I need it! the next chapter will be even tougher to write. :D

How was it? Please don’t forget to hit like and/or reblog.

[captainpissofff]

This might be the best fucking Color wheel I've even see

Resident Evil color wheel because Capcom really does love to color-code their characters.