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miraculouswolf99 · 4 years ago

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Breaking Into The Watchtower Part 2

Part 2, and the final part, of my Miraculous-Justice League crossover. Prepare for a long one, readers.

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After recharging, the masked teens all gathered back in front of the heroes. Since the ones that had used their powers had to recharge, their power effects lifted from Dr. Fate and Superman. It allowed both heroes to be free once more. The Justice League and Young Justice all returned to their seats. If Wonder Woman was honored to meet them, then they should hear them out before deciding what to do with them.

The group was about evenly split to be on either side of who seemed to be the leaders of their group. The ladybug and butterfly girls as well as the wolf and black cat boys.

“Introductions would certainly be the best way to start,” the ladybug girl said. “My name is Ladybug and I am one of the leaders of the Miraculous hero team of Paris. Right next to me is my partner, Cat Noir.”

The black cat boy nodded at the heroes.

“My name is White Wolf and I am the co-leader of the Miraculous team along with Cat Noir, Ladybug, and my partner Beautifly,” the wolf boy motioned to the butterfly girl when he mentioned her.

“Pleasure,” she nodded to the heroes like Cat Noir.

“With us are all of our team members,” Ladybug motioned to the rest of the heroes. “To my right is Vulpix, Emerald Shell, Queen Bee, Tigress, Lady Unicorn, and Shadow Cat.”

“To my left is the rest of our team,” White Wolf says. “Viperion, Ryuko, Ocean Mage, King Monkey, Gladiator, and Bunnix.”

All of the other heroes nodded when they were introduced.

“For three years, Paris has been terrorized by a terrorist known as Hawkmoth and as have come to personally ask for your help,” Beautifly says.

Ladybug then stepped forward and took the yo-yo off of her wait. She opened it and typed in a few commands. A hologram appeared out of it, like the holographic screams and projectors that the league uses. Ladybug put her yo-yo on the ground so that the others could use their weapons/communicators to control the images that are seen. Cat Noir took out his staff and used it to punch in a command. The hologram then showed images of a few of the miraculous. The most well-known ones, such as the ladybug and black cat as well as the moth/butterfly.

“The miraculous are an ancient set of jewelry enchanted and bonded to gods known as the kwami,” Ladybug explains. “Each piece, along with the kwami that it is bonded to, represents a specific aspect of magic. Creation, destruction, illusion, protection, and more. But that is specifically the miraculous of ancient China, where most of our miraculous come from.

“The miraculous that are used by myself, Beautifly, Tigress, and Gladiator use miraculous that originate from ancient Greece,” White Wolf says. “Our representations are more general but also more specific at the same time. Mine represents Winter’s Hope, as in the hope that comes when you know and hope about how the frost protects the earth before it gives way to the flowers of spring. Beautifly’s represents Spring Love, coming from the original belief of flowers and Spring being associated with love.”

“My miraculous comes from the mystical creature miraculous, where each represents a magical creature and what their core is all about,” Ocean Mage said. “Mine is the miraculous of the mermaid.”

The Justice League paid close attention to what the group was saying. Most of Young Justice was looking at Kid Flash, who was glaring at the teen heroes. He was probably itching to yell at them that “magic wasn’t real” because of his extreme disbelief in it. But the Flash was next to him and making sure that he did not let his former sidekick’s delusions interrupt the Miraculous Team.

“So, it would be a magical threat, right,” Aqualad guessed. “That would be the only reason why the miraculous would be called into action, correct?”

“Exactly,” Beautifly answered the Atlantean.

Cat Noir punched in a command into his baton and the hologram changed. It now showed an image of Hawkmoth.

“He looks like a Mexican wrestler reject,” Red Hood said.

Most of Team Miraculous had to hold their hands over their mouths to stop them from bursting into laughter and ruining their aura of seriousness.

“This is the terrorist that we have been fighting,” Cat Noir says. “He showed up about three years also, almost four. He has been using the stolen butterfly/moth miraculous in order to turn unsuspecting people into superpowered villains.”

“How can he do that,” Flash asked, curious. “What exactly is the power of his miraculous?”

“The power is originally known as Empowerment,” Cat Noir said. “The miraculous are not meant to be used for evil, so Hawmoth has turned the power into Metamorphasis. He uses it to sense those that are feeling intense negative emotions and takes advantage of them in order to turn them into his villains. Anger, sadness, betrayal, heartbreak, anything negative.”

“His goal has remained the same for the entire time that he has been active,” Viperion says. “He desires to obtain the ladybug and black cat miraculous.”

“What is it about those two that he specifically wants them above all the others,” Black Canary asked them.

“The ladybug and black cat are the most powerful of the ancient China miraculous,” Ryuko tells the league. “They’re the complete opposite of each other with the ladybug being creation and good luck while the black cat is destruction and bad luck. When you combine them, the person wielding them is given the power to bend reality in order to make a wish.”

“So this guy is terrorizing your city just to make a single wish,” Green Arrow raised an eyebrow.

“Must be something that can not be obtained any other way or he is just really desperate for a quick solution,” Red Arrow said.

“If it was a simple wish, there would not be much of an issue,” Ladybug says. “But because the ladybug and black cat need each other to balance the other, the wish itself would also require balance.”

Viperion was the one to put in the next command. How he was able to do that with a harp, none of them ever asked. Three more images appeared, replacing Hawmoth’s. Pompeii, the Black Plague, and even the Salem Witch Trials.

“All of these things were caused by a wish,” Superman sounded skeptical.

“There are many examples of magic throughout history,” White Wolf says. “You just have to know where to look.”

Vulpix took his turn to speak. He used his flute to point at specific images when he was talking about them.

“In Pompeii, someone wished for their family to not be killed by disease,” Vulpix said. “But that ended up causing a volcano that wipes out a majority of the city and most of its population. A man’s wife was sick and he wished for her illness to go away. But then the illness spread since it left one person and turned into a plague. Last was a miraculous holder that was deeply afraid of being discovered and wished to never be accused of using magic. But then dozens upon hundreds of innocent people were convicted and executed during the witch trials.”

“The balance is why the wish is so dangerous,” Emerald Shell says. “Everything that is wished for usually ends in disaster. Even those with pure intentions are not spared. But since Hawkmoth definitely is planning on using the wish, it is either for something extremely wrong or just extremely selfish. Either would end in hell on Earth.”

“It’s so hard to believe that a wish could do all of that,” Black Lightning was shocked.

“Magic does that,” Beautifly says. “It makes the impossible turn possible.”

“If it is the miraculous of ancient China that Hawkmoth wants, why not use the others you have access to,” Red Tornado asked. “It is the logical choice to keep the miraculous that he desires out of his reach. You do have access to the ancient Greek miraculous, given White Wolf, Beautifly, Gladiator, and Tigress.”

“We wish it was that simple,” Lady Unicorn said.

“The problem is that the powers of Hawkmoth’s miraculous can only be undone by the ladybug miraculous,” Ladybug says. “And since the ladybug and black cat have to balance each other, both have to be active at the same time or neither of them can be active. I am the only one that can purify his akumas and then fix all the damage that they cause with my Miraculous Cure.”

Queen Bee typed a command into her top. A video replaced the images of the disasters that the wish caused. The video was from the Ladyblog and it was of the first akuma attack. It showed Ladybug casting her first-ever cure and everything being fixed by it.

“This was only the first of Hawkmoth’s attacks,” she said.

“There is also the added issue that the Greek miraculous also have a wish tied to the most powerful ones,” White Wolf says.

“They do,” Wonder Woman did not know about the Greek miraculous since neither she nor any other Amazon came into contact with them.

“As we have said, the wolf and butterfly miraculous are each themed by elements of Winter and Spring,” White Wolf says. “So you know that would leave the other two seasons. Those two exist in the power of Summer’s Heart for the songbird miraculous along with the Wildness of Autumn for the panther miraculous. Combining all four seasons gives the same wish ability as the combined ladybug and black cat.”

“But there is still the balance issue even with a different set of miraculous,” Tigress added. “Magic always comes at a price. That is the universal law of magic.”

The Justice League all nodded, most of them understanding the price that could come when you use magic. The Young Justice team remembered Zatanna explaining her powers to them when she had first met them. She had said that the power of her spells usually has to come from within, meaning that the more powerful spells would seriously drain her energy. Plus, there is also the known fact that Dr. Fate was never controlled by who wore the helmet. They were like a coat that the lord of order would put on in order to be active. Zatara was still in there but the price he paid was only being able to see his daughter once a year.

“So, what exactly is it that you need from us,” Batman asked the teens.

He was surprised to have heard about the villain in Paris before. Sure, he rarely ever left Gotham unless it was an international emergency, but this was a serious problem. If this villain, or any villain, got their hands on the miraculous, it would be a complete hell on earth. Lord knows what disaster would happen if the Joker made a wish.

“We actually have been requesting help for years,” Queen Bee glared at the league. “Ladybug has called, Cat Noir has called, even the mayor of Paris has called. You all brush us aside and have even told us to stop calling the League to trick them with ‘such an unrealistic prank.’ It’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.”

“While Queen Bee could have been a bit more diplomatic, she is correct,” Ryuko says. “The miraculous are not so unrealistic when you have magic-users like Zatanna as a part of the League while also having Dr. Fate, whose helmet inhabits a lord of order that possesses whoever wears the helmet. That is not unlike the miraculous, only slightly different.”

Guy Gardner looked particularly embarrassed by that. That made the rest of the league realize who had been ignoring their calls for help, waving it off as a prank. You would think that someone with a powerful piece of jewelry himself would believe in the miraculous.

“As much as it pains us to admit, we no longer know what to do,” Cat Noir says. “Hawkmoth has been growing in power ever since Heroes Day almost two years ago. That was also the first time that his partner revealed herself.”

Vulpix was the one that typed in the command this time, into his flute. The hologram changed to show Mayura. The elegant woman looked even more dangerous with her fan allowing only access to her deadly gaze.

“This is Mayura,” Emerald Shell said. “She appeared on Heroes Day and foiled the closest time that the team had ever come to defeating Hawkmoth. She wields the peacock miraculous, which grants the power of Emotion, which allows her to make inanimate objects into guardians. Only they are now called sentimonsters. They are a monster created by a person’s negative emotions just like Hawkmoth’s akumas. While she is not as common as Hawkmoth, the two of them do combine their powers to give akumas a powerful allie.”

Emerald Shell typed in a command and pictures of some of her sentimonsters appeared around the image of Mayura. The moth creature that she usually gives Hawkmoth, Refleckdoll, the lollypop monster, and Feast.

“Why does she not appear as often as Hawkmoth,” Martian Manhunter asked.

“From our own research, and from what our kwami have told us, the peacock miraculous is broken,” Ladybug says. “In an effort to repair itself, it takes away the energy and life force of the person using it. Each time that Mayura transforms, she is risking her life.”

“You think she would actually risk her life just for Hawkmoth to succeed,” Captain Atom asked.

“Mayura has shown to be loyal to a fault,” Shadow Cat said. “The fault being that she is loyal to Hawkmoth. We also suspect that whoever she was had also allowed herself to be akumatized into Catalyst on Heroes Day in order to give Hawkmoth the needed power-up that he needed to do what he did.”

“What exactly did he do,” Green Lantern (John) asked.

“Catalyst gave Hawkmoth a power boost that he used in order to use his power on a massive level, allowing him to become Scarlet Moth,” Beautifly says. “He akumatized almost everyone that had previously been victimized by him. Dozens of his akumas flooded the streets while more of his akuma waited for others to feel negative emotions to infect them as well if they were not under the control of the mind-controlling akumas like Darkblade or Queen Wasp.”

Queen Bee shifted a bit at the mention of her second akuma form, but she got her composure back quickly.

“Hawkmoth had been able to accomplish that when he used a previous akuma to create an illusion of Ladybug being akumatized and killing Cat Noir,” Gladiator said. “All those people feeling the same negative emotion of fear and hopelessness was what allowed him to akumatize so many people at once.”

He typed in a command and the image of Mayura and her sentimonsters were replaced by a clip of what had happened during the parade played.

“And ever since Heroes Day, Hawkmoth has been getting a lot worse,” White Wolf says. “His akumas used to be a lot easier and were relatively harmless to even those affected by them. Like Princess Frangrance only hypnotized those that smelled her perfume and Silencer only took people’s voices. But then you compare that to Syren and Stormy Weather, both have caused natural disasters. Hawkmoth is getting deadly in his desperation for the miraculous.”

He typed in a command and the image changed to show the range of akuma that have happened over the years. Harmless ones like Mr.Pigeon, deadly ones like Queen Of Hearts, and natural disaster ones like Syren.

“We can deal with the akumas,” Ladybug says. “But with Hawkmoth constantly sending them out, we have no time or energy to put toward finding him and taking him and Mayura down for good.”

“Do you have any suspects,” Nightwing asked.

“We had a promising suspect in fashion designer, Gabriel Agreste,” Ocean Mage said. “He lives a secluded life away from people, butterflies are pretty common in a lot of his designs, and there was also that a lost grimoire had also been found in a secret vault by his son.”

“But we had to cross him off the suspect list when he was akumatized,” Tigress says. “But even our only suspect for Mayura puts him right back in the suspect pool.”

“You mean his assistant, right,” Red Robin was looking at the holographic screen over his glove, same as Oracle. “Nathalie Sancoeur.”

“She had had multiple doctor’s appointments ever since this Heroes Day you told us about,” Oracle continued for him. “And every time it is for the same thing. Dizziness, fatigue, constant headaches, and multiple coughing fits.”

“Yes, she is his assistant,” Shadow Cat answered. “She has also shown that she is incredibly loyal to Gabriel no matter how inhumane the things that he wants his son to do are. His diets and constant photoshoots should never be given to a teenager.”

“He also has a motive,” Cat Noir looked to be the most reluctant out of all of them on this topic. “Gabriel Agreste’s wife vanished about six months before Hawkmoth appeared and many assume that she is dead by now. He could desire to use the wish to either bring her back or to bring her back to life. Either would probably cause the balance to cause something horrible to happen.”

“If you suspect those two, do you also suspect Agreste’s son, as well,” Red Robin asked.

“That is the thing that we want to avoid,” Shadow Cat says. “Most of us know his son or have met him because he was targetted by an akuma. Adrien is known as the Sunshine of Paris. There is no way that he is involved even if those two are behind it.”

“We also do not want it to be true because that would also mean that Mr.Agreste put his own son in danger by sending akumas after him,” Lady Unicorn added. “It would also mean that Adrien would probably have his life destroyed if those two really are behind the attacks.”

“I am sure that he would greatly appreciate you all standing up for him,” Wonder Woman smiles at the teen heroes.

Robin had been staring at the group the entire time. He was not only the only blood son of the world’s greatest detective, but he also had a trained assassin’s eye. He noticed things that others didn’t. Like there was an unspoken bond and closeness between the black cat boy and the wolf boy. The other obvious couples seemed to be the horse and tiger girls as well as the dragon girl and snake boy. The fox and turtle boys were also definitely together.

“Is there anything else,” Superman asked.

The teens shared a look with each other. It seemed that this part was probably something that they had discussed before. Ladybug nodded to Cat Noir. He typed in a command and the image of a civilian girl appeared.

“Why does this girl have sausages on her head,” Red Hood asked.

Most of Team Miraculous did not even try to hold in their laughter this time. But they had to soon get back their composure since this was a very serious situation.

“This is Lila Rossi, daughter of an Italian diplomate,” Ladybug said. “She has been akumatized almost fifty times. She is mostly akumatized as Volpina, which is a poor copy of Vulpix and his powers. But she also has been akumatized into Chameleon, which is an akuma that can shapeshift into anyone or anything that she kisses, as well as Miracle Queen, which can create illusions that can hypnotize people. We believe that she is working for Hawkmoth since Volpina is the only akuma that could have created the illusion on Heroes Day.”

“Why does that make her a suspect,” Green Arrow asked.

“Because I didn’t purify Volpina’s akuma that day,” Ladybug says. “And since Hawkmoth had to akumatize another person into Catalyst after the illusion that was created, that meant that she was akumatized and didn’t tell anyone.”

“There is also that the mayor’s daughter, Chloe Bourgeois, sent us this,” Queen Bee types in a command.

Next to the image of Lila appeared a video that was obviously taken on a cell phone while a person was hiding. It showed Lila running toward an akuma and literally jumping up to snatch it out of the air. She then placed the akuma into the necklace that she was wearing and actually smirked as a glowing butterfly outline appeared over her eyes.

“Because of Chloe’s previous reputation of being a bully and a spoiled brat that likes getting others into trouble, she knew that only we would actually believe her when she gave us this video,” Ladybug says.

“There is also the fact that Lila is a pathological liar that puts on a sweet and innocent front that makes it almost impossible for people to see her as the horrible person that she really is,” Emerald Shell of all people basically growled.

“Lila has spent years telling tall tales about being Ladybug’s best friend,” Vulpix said. “As well lies about musicians like Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale, comic book artists like the writers of the Miraculous Adventures comic, fashion designers like Style Queen and MDC, as well as Adrien Agreste himself. Anyone that has ever called her out has had their lives ruined.”

“More research into her revealed that at every single school that Lila has ever attended, there has been either a suicide, a deadly accident, or a person getting greatly injured,” Viperion says. “All of them have been about kids that were once popular and loved, but their lives went to hell once Lila attended their schools.”

“You believe that this Lila girl is behind all of these things,” Superboy asked.

“We connected everyone that we could that was connected to her past victims,” Gladiator said. “They all said the same thing, that Lila came to the school with tales of grand adventures and their friend or child realized that she was lying. Then she would start whispering lies about these kids to all of her loyal listeners. She would make up stories about them bullying her, threatening her, stealing from her, talking behind their backs, anything that she could think of.”

“She would turn everyone that she could against them,” Ocean Mage crossed his arms. “Friends, teachers, principals, even family. There were those that killed themselves over the bullying they received, but it was actually worse for those that were too strong for that. Lila would then either cause an accident that would kill them or injure them in a way that broke them even further.”

“Take a look at this,” Tigress made an image appear of a kind-looking boy that looked to be from Spain from the background of the image. “This is Mateo Santiago. He went to the same school as Lila when she was in Spain. He was once a popular boy that had a gift for singing. He won countless youth singing contests all over Spain. When he heard Lila’s tales, he did his research and found her to be a liar. But just like all the others, she turned everyone but his family against him. But Mateo remained strong and did not let her or anyone get to him, confident because of how much he performed in front of others. So, Lila took that away from him.”

“See, Mateo was allergic to fish,” Beautifly took over the story. “It gave his throat a bad reaction, so he stayed away from it to keep his vocal cords safe. But one day, Lila managed to get into his locker and pour fish sauce all over his lunch salad. So when lunch came, he had an allergic reaction. He was taken to the hospital and the procedure that saved his life also damaged his vocal cords. He would be mute for the rest of his life. All of that because he knew Lila was a liar and tried to expose her.”

“Lila has been trying to do the same in Paris as well,” White Wolf says, making an image of a Chinese-French girl be exchanged for Mateo’s. “This is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Lila’s latest victim. See, Marinette is a fashion design hopeful and has already designed for those like Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, Adrien Agreste, and even been noticed by Style Queen herself for a simple hat. Since she has her own connections, she knew right away that Lila was a liar.”

“You may notice from any research that you do that Vulpix, Emerald Shell, and Lady Unicorn have not always been those that wield the fox, turtle, and horse miraculous,” Cat Noir says, making images of three previous holders appear next to Marinette’s picture. “This is Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Pegasus. They were the previous holders of those three miraculous.”

“Did something happen to them,” Red Arrow asked.

“Lila happened,” King Monkey crossed his arms. “These three used to be friends of Marinette’s. Especially Rena and Carapace. But then Lila came along and Marinette tried to expose her. Lila managed to sway half of Marinette’s class into being her attack dogs to attack Marinette even if Lila looks even the slightest bit upset.”

“Marinette is a sweetheart,” Shadow Cat added. “She was the class president, got some of the best grades in her class, does charity work, babysits, helps her parents in their bakery, and has always bent over backward to help others. But Lila took most of that away with her lies. She probably would have destroyed Marinette if not for her having loyal friends.”

“Marinette has been the victim of physical, mental, and emotional bullying for years because of Lila,” Cat Noir looked ready to hiss. “But she remains positive the entire time. She’s transferred classes, has gotten a new phone number, and even uses a secret identity when she designs to keep Lila from claiming her designs as her own.”

“Lila has also chosen to act as a spy for Gabriel Agreste,” Ladybug’s fists were clenched tight. “She has used her lies to get close to him and he uses her to try and separate Adrien from ‘bad influences.’ Which is basically just Lila using more lies to try and isolate Adrien so that he would only have her. Adrien actually stays away as best she can, especially since she is sexually harassing him, but his father always gives them photoshoots together. She constantly threatens him by saying that with one word, Adrien will be back under house arrest by his father no longer letting him leave the house.

“Between her causing akumas, being akumas, Hawkmoth, and Mayura, we need help,” Beautifly says. “There must be something that you can do to help us.”

The league all shared looks with each other. These heroes have obviously been doing a great help if Paris is still standing, but they also look so tired and in dire need of their help.

“We’ll help,” Robin tells the heroes before the league actually answered.

#crossovers are the best #CrossOver #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous fandom #original character #original heroes #original miraculous #lila salt #i hate lila rossi #i love salt #alya salt #nino salt #ml salt #part 2 electric boogaloo

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nexstage · 3 years ago

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Amphibia’s environment, both social and natural

If there is something everyone knows about Amphibia is that growth and change are two of the most important themes in the show apart from establishing healthy relationships and what makes a friendship healthy or unhealthy.

The four themes are deeply connected and the understanding the girls have of friendship is portrayed in how they interact with one another and with others characters. But while Anne learns through all the hard lessons and experiences with the Plantars how friends should be with one another, Marcy and Sasha are still stuck in their unhealthy ways, no matter if one is more visible than the other.

Her constant character development and the stagnant/static condition of her friends weren't only portrayed in the dynamics they have with multiple characters; the environment, the nature, and especially the temples symbolize the nuance, flaws, struggles each one has faced or are still facing.

Anne's arc, for starters, is everything about maturity and development. Before Amphibia, she was negatively influenced by Sasha and Marcy, unhappy with the dynamics between the three, and even copying Sasha's toxic behavior. However, once she became part of the Plantar family and was confronted with responsibility, Anne started to change for the better. She grew kinder, wiser, and more confident.

That growth is related to the environment she found herself in when she was stranded on Amphibia. Wartwood is a village of farmers, they use their pieces of land to cultivate vegetables, herbs, etc.

The Plantars are farmers too. Let's not forget the twigs and leaves on her hair throughout the whole show that grew a lot when she activated her Calamity Powers.

One could say that is overthinking but if you watched Season 1 and True Colors with this data in mind you would see the meaning behind Anne ending up with the Plantars and in Wartwood of all places. With their influence, she overcame the toxic traits she had copied from Sasha and stood up for herself and the people she cared about when the moment came.

Concerning the temple of Courage/Heart, here is where it gets interesting. The temple was hidden from everyone because it was placed on the top of a tower, in a snow-covered landscape.

The location and the weather symbolize both betterment through hard work and surpassing the hardships of the past respectively. How? In every trial to charge the blue gem, Anne risked her life to protect or save someone despite the dangers: first Marcy from a giant bird, then she tried to warn a stranger from an avalanche, and then she saved Valeriana during their fight. Those three challenges highlighted her caring nature, but the most important one was accepting responsibility for her past actions: stealing the music box, in this case. And it happened at the top of the mountain where the blue gem was charged. By owning up her mistakes, added to her empathy, Anne could pass the trials, she learned from a difficult time of the past and overcame it, which represents the growth of nature after a harsh winter, the spring. And being at the highest place to succeed in charging the blue gem represents how far she had come since she ended up in Amphibia.

With Marcy we could say is the opposite, though. It has been implied in her debut episode and with the seashell on her coat that water is the element for her character arc. Besides, Newtopia, the place where she ended up, is surrounded by water, kind of like an Amphibia version of Atlantis.

Now water is an invaluable element. Water is life, remember the motto? So, where could be the cons if it's rooted in Marcy? Simple, water changes.

It does it ALL the time. It can be liquid, gaseous, or solid depending on the weather and place. It can also take any shape because it doesn't have one. You pour water inside a square, spherical, or cylindrical container, and that's the form it will take.

The irony is glaring because Marcy is connected to an element that changes so many times while she's averse to change. It's because she didn't want to be separated from her friends and planned to keep things as they always were that the three were stranded in Amphibia. That is another tragic irony for the sole reason that she refused to accept this change in her life, moving to another state because of her father's job, but decided to change her and her friends' life forever by sending them all to Amphibia.

As well as this elemental circumstance, we cannot forget how influential, positively and negatively, has been Newtopia for Marcy. The whole place spelled history and scholars everywhere, it was where her thirst for knowledge thrived, where she became an important figure thanks to her improvements for the city, and where she met King Andrias, the supposedly kind ruler who stabbed her later.

And water makes its appearance once more. How? With King Andrias. He who manipulated and enabled Marcy's escapism tendencies. He represented the poison, the toxicity while Marcy, despite being toxic in her own way, was the water, dirty already but then contaminated much more by Andrias. There is also the fact that he gained her trust for his own gain, which represents pouring water into a container of your liking to give it shape.

Let's go now to the first temple. Like in any typical movie with ancient places filled with traps and treasures, the temple of Wisdom is shown as this mystical site of a few millennia surrounded by dense vegetation.

Nothing has changed outside or inside of it, and that's the thing. Nothing. Has. Changed. The temple covered in moss, a once-imposing place in history, represents Marcy's desire for things to remain static, because, as stated before, change means to be torn apart from her friends which is her biggest fear.

But aversion to change is not the only flaw and theme in Marcy's arc, two others of her obstacles are her narrow-mindedness and hyper focus on one thing at the cost of the others' wellbeing. It was shown on the trials how concentrated she was, ignoring how she put Anne and the Plantars in danger while solving the magic Rubik cube, and then shrugging off Sprig and Polly's worries over Anne and Hop Pop's fight.

In the end, because of those flaws, she ended up in a cryogenic tube, in stasis, and look at that! Surrounded by water.

Last but not least, Sasha. As the most complex character and the most directly toxic, her arc is intertwined with an element that encompasses the best and worst of her, her duality and contradictions. Fire.

Pretty obvious because the third temple is inside a volcano.

Just like her, fire can be both a tool and a weapon, it can warm you and it can burn you. It is a source of energy but also it can become an inferno. And, using the words of the sun warrior chief from Avatar: "Fire is life, not just destruction."

This phrase might be applied in Season 3 once Sasha learns to lean on her better qualities instead of doubling down on her mistakes and toxic traits. Learning to be supportive and kind instead of controlling can represent the phrase above, that Sasha, despite her flaws and the bad things she had done, can get and be better, healthier, and wiser.

One of the most prominent aspects of her arc is how obsessed she is with control. Controlling her friends, her decisions, controlling the situation, everything has to be her way. But now, what can someone say about these two Avatar quotes?

"The flame will go out if you make it too small. Make it too big, and you might lose control."

"But fire will spread and destroy everything in its path if one does not have the will to control it!"

Don't they sound ironic concerning Sasha?

It's because they are. Sasha loves to be in control, to have power, but when it is needed from her, she can’t control herself and her toxicity. She lacks discipline and humility which in the end, holds her back and she pushes away and hurts the people she cares about.

Sasha is also arrogant, prideful. She thinks she knows what's best for everyone or even herself when in fact she has no idea what she’s doing but isn't willing to reflect on her actions and the consequences. Her emotional stuntedness is fueled by her selfishness and ego; it is a harmful, self-destructive behavior which is shown in how Anne called her out for being an awful friend, Percy and Braddock leaving her after she endangered them, and Anne breaking off her friendship with her after the second betrayal.

So, one aspect in her arc on Season 3 that she will surely develop is admitting she makes mistakes and working hard to make amends whether she is completely forgiven or not. In the words of Iroh: "Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote to shame."

There is also her severe case of narrow-mindedness/close-mindedness. Sasha is cunning and strategical but she neglects consideration for others' ideas and opinions. That tendency of always thinking she's right is another self-destructive behavior that makes her push her friends away instead of giving them a chance of being open-minded and grow.

Again, with another wise quote of Iroh: "It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale." So, what she needs to develop too in her arc on Season 3 is understanding others, not because she can gain something from it, but because it can help her do better. Comprehension, discipline, and humility are the virtues I bet Sasha will learn more about in her redemption by interacting with the Wartwood citizens.

Now with the environment and the temple. As we know, Sasha was captured and imprisoned in the Southern Toad Tower.

The atmosphere of that place you could say is filled with toxic masculinity because it's all about "the law of the strongest", also the way Grime considers softness a weakness and prefers ruthlessness and cruelty shows how intoxicating it is working there for many soldiers who aren't comfortable with their captain or his methods.

The aesthetic of Toad Tower looks from a horror movie too. Covered in spikes, surrounded by somber nature and steep mountains, with the crimson moon shining above it. Anyone would think the place belongs to hell.

When you added to that a hot-headed, arrogant, reckless, controlling, and manipulative teenager, you got the most explosive mix of all. Once again, the show has hit us with the irony because even when Sasha thrives there as a soldier and gains Grime's respect and support, she's actually digging her own hole.

Her strength and intelligence are used as weapons to terrorize the village, and her better qualities are pushed aside if not completely nullified while her manipulative skills and crave for control are feed by Grime's goals.

There was one opportunity in Season 2 for Sasha to get away from his influence and grow as a person: Toadcatcher. Being far away from Toad Tower wasn't enough because, despite having her pride at the lowest point when Anne was trying to save her in Reunion and kind of an epiphany of how her actions had hurt her best friend, Grime was still there, maybe not as the glory-seeking captain but he was the only thing left for Sasha, besides Percy and Braddock at a less degree, and she actively kept leaning on her flaws and mistakes, reigniting Grime's thirst of power which in turn fueled Sasha's obsession with control.

Apart from that, it was obvious there was a bond between Grime and Sasha despite how much of a bad influence he is, and believing she had lost Anne her attachment went directly to Grime, for that reason, she refused to leave him while Yunan was chasing them.

The other Toad Tower where Sasha was seen was the Northern one, and the appearance just shows us she's getting much worse, digging her hole deeper.

The place is much more threatening and terrifying than the former tower, is surrounded by nature that looks like it is rotting, while the site's display is of a castle partially in ruins that stubbornly keeps standing to showcase its power. It represents Sasha's arrogance trying to cover up how lost she is since Toad Tower and her insecurities.

A curious thing about both towers is the night. They were debuted in the night, making the environment more sinister than it could have been if it were in the morning or the afternoon. The night atmosphere embodies Sasha's worst self that she's letting grow and fester and ruining her along with her relationships. Unlike Wartwood and Newtopia that debuted on the day, the Toad Towers appeared at hours of the night, and it has happened two times, Season 1 and 2.

However, Season 3 will be a huge change because the Northern Tower has been destroyed by Andrias, and in the intro of S3, Sasha and Grime are shown with the people of Wartwood in what looks to be a new rebellion, this time against Andrias. So, being in Wartwood again and for a longer time and interacting with the villagers might help Sasha to find herself and nurture her better qualities while she works for her redemption.

And with that finished, we go now to the Third Temple, the temple of Strength/Power. As stated before, it is inside a volcano. And its trials are fit for Sasha due to her physical and fighting abilities. However, there's much more than that.

As everyone knows a volcano can be in two states: dormant and active. Fitting that with Sasha's personality shows that she is a closed-off person who keeps her feelings and intentions secret whether because of her being hermetic or because she can use it in her favor. In both ways, the image fits.

Honesty is important in a relationship, not only communication and trust, and Sasha has proven to be pretty dishonest with Anne and Marcy. She clearly cares and loves her friends, but her actions erode those feelings and her perspective of friendship is deeply skewed. Like a volcano, she kept her feelings inside instead of facing and understanding them to have a healthier mindset and comprehend others, and when she explodes or shows her true intentions it hurts the people around her.

This is the fourth lesson for her to learn in Season 3, how to be emotionally honest without using that new knowledge to manipulate people.

As the last points to check, if we compare the location of each temple, we can see that Anne is the one who has grown the most from the three girls because the temple of Heart/Courage is at the top of a tower, surrounded by clouds. Meanwhile, Marcy and Sasha's temples are on a lower level which signifies that their arcs will take much more time and work for them to be developed, especially changing for the better and atoning for their mistakes. Talking about that, Sasha is the one who will likely change the most of the three because her temple is inside a volcano, and a volcano's magma comes from the underground where the planet's core is.

There is one curious thing when the elements related to each girl are put together. Anne has the plant life; Marcy, the water; and Sasha, the fire. In a single picture, it's like watching a plant of any kind absorbing the warmth of the sun and drinking the water it needs. Sasha can represent the sun because it is a star covered by fire. With Marcy, it has been stated already. But here is the thing, too much warmth can suffocate the plant, and too much water can make it wither. There must be a balance which there isn't in their relationship as we have seen how toxic and dysfunctional it is from the start.

And the three have their own set of flaws and faults too, some are easier to point than others that can be portrayed in their elements. Plant life, for example, is not only filled with pretty little flowers or juicy vegetables and fruits, there are venomous, carnivorous, parasitic plants too. Fire, as I've listed, can be both a tool or a weapon, it can destroy or be used as an energy source. Water is life, but too much can drown you or it can freeze you because it changes depending on the circumstances.

Anne, Marcy, and Sasha can be pretty toxic and have the capacity to change and grow into better people. Anne has shown us her constant character arc and how much effort she puts in to be a better version of herself every day, and let's not forget that she is surrounded by a kind family, the Plantars, teaching her how relationships and friendships should be.

Now that Season 3 is a few weeks away, it's time for Sasha and Marcy to start their own betterment too, with the support of reliable people they might meet in the way.

#Amphibia #meta analysis #calamity trio #title has been changed #Posted also on Twitter

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nikibogwater · 3 years ago

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Tbh, I don't think we wouldn't have minded that whole "college" ending that they thought about doing. At least it would bring a sense of closure to not only the story and for some, if not all the characters at the end, letting them grieve and just continue on.

Granted, they lost quite a few people during the battle, entire areas, towns and homes were destroyed in the process, even the secrecy of the troll and magic world may be at a higher risk due to people seeing and filming them at the beginning of the movie.

But that what makes the theme of rebuilding that much stronger, with them picking up the pieces to build something new and living on in honor of their loved ones in a world where the current and future generations will grow up in a world where these mystical beings can be more accepted rather than hidden.

After all, if it's one thing that Arcadia Oaks is known for, it's rebuilding.

You. You get it.

You know, one of the things that I loved most about the How to Train Your Dragon movies was that none of them ended in a perfect fairytale way. Hiccup always won in the end, but he always lost something in exchange. In the first movie, he established peace between the Vikings and the dragons, but lost his leg in the battle. In the second, he succeeds in protecting his tribe and the dragons, but loses his father. And then in the third, Hiccup is able to end the war between humans and dragons once and for all, and truly come into his own as Chief of Berk...but he has to say goodbye to Toothless forever. Each of these stories was marked by both victory and loss. It was what I called a Compromised Ending. And those movies always felt so much more real to me as a result, because victory and loss are both parts of real life for everyone. We don't always get the picture-perfect happily-ever-afters you find in Disney movies (though those are certainly comforting to read/watch, and I enjoy those as well). But to me, it's the stories about characters who overcome those losses, who rise above them, that are the most powerful. Up until Rise of the Titans, that was always what Tales of Arcadia was about. Fighting back against the darkness, in all its forms, and never giving up, even when it hurts to keep going. Because in the end, you know good will always win, you know that the evil will be banished once and for all. And I don't know, maybe I'm just a huge sap, but that kind of message resonates with me very deeply, and it's one that I carry with me when facing real life.

For the ending to suddenly erase all of those struggles, losses, and victories of the series, and for it to try to tell the audience "No, but it's actually okay that none of it ever happened! This is good!" ...I don't know, it just felt so wrong coming from the Tales of Arcadia franchise. I think that's why it was so easy for me to disregard this movie as canon altogether (which is something I never thought I would ever be able to do with any franchise). It did not feel anything like the show I fell in love with.

Thanks for the fantastic discussion, @niyana-the-ambiguous-mobian! ✨

#tales of arcadia #toa #rise of the titans #niki answers

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revchainsaw · 3 years ago

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The Crow (1994)

Alright Cult of Cult. Do I really need to introduce this one? Let's get all 90s and gothy and maybe brace ourselves for a bit of cringe, but like in a fun way. It's the Holy Grail of Hot Topic, 1994's the Crow Starring Brandon Lee.

Sermon

Apparently before the auto industry totally crashed Detroit was already a total fucked to death pile of burning shit, or at least that's what the crow would have you believe. Sorry Bruce Campbell, and other people from Detroit, but mostly Bruce Campbell. According to the Crow the city of Detroit is the kind of place where gangs of warlock anarchist arsonists will bomb buildings, and murder and rape whoever they feel like and then walk around bragging about it the next day with absolutely zero consequences. Funny then that if Detroit was so bad they had to go to film this movie in Wilmington North Carolina which is definitely a fucked to death pile of burning shit. I can say that, I'm from there and I got the fuck out. My brother is going to kill me if he ever reads this. (It's okay, these are all jokes people). Did you know they also filmed the Super Mario Bros movie there ... also cuz they needed a really shitty looking distopia. Moving on ...

The ludicrous criminality of the Crow's Detroit is particularly on display on Halloween. In Detroit (apparently) Halloween is known as Devils Night and it's legitimately just a night of pure lawlessness and chaos and kids aren't even safe to get candy, except later when we do see trick or treaters. Eric Draven, hunky goth rocker who sort of looks like he could be Bruce Lee's Kid and his fiance are murdered by a gang of vicious criminals. One year hence, Eric is resurrected by a mystical crow (that is actually a Raven), to exact his revenge on the gang that murdered him.

He paints his face like sad Alice Cooper and refuses to listen to Joy Division, just covers. He murders Tin Tin (a knife guy) just for his long gothy duster, he murders Fun Boy and forcibly ejects heroine from her arms and tells her "Go be a good mom now" which actually works. (have I told you about our Lord and Savior Sting? He gave me the strength to get off drugs), he blows T Bird up dick first, and then comes for Skab? Scraap? Scooby? in a meeting of all of Detroits villains and just about kills them all.

He is supported by the most 90s little girl to have ever graced the screen, and I am here for it, and Officer Albrecht, who's played by Ernie Hudson but I like to call him Zeddemore: The Most Underrated Ghostbuster. The leader of the bad guys, who I cannot beleive wasn't played by Brad Dourif or Tom Waits, is pretty interested in the occult. He keeps his witchy girlfriend around and she makes him fun dishes like smoked eyeballs, and her main use is that she knows that the Crow is the Crows weakness. They set Tony Fucking Todd on the bird, and I guess you just have to hurt the bird and not kill it, and Eric loses his healing factor and other macabre undead powers.

The Crow, Jimmy the Raven, pecks out Dr. Girlfriends eyeballs, I honestly forget how Tony Todd gets offed, and Top Dollar gets Gargoyled (that is impaled on a gargoyle). Funnily enough that is more Gargoyle related impaling on screen then in the actual movie Gargoyle: Wings of Darkness where a Gargoyle is supposed to have impaled a guy.

The Benediction

Best Feature: Injustice League

In the Crow we have not only a set of super memorable villains but they are played by the bad guy all stars. John Polito as the most lowly of the bad guys as a kind of sleazy pawn shop owner who buys ill gotten gains. Tony Todd, who's size is really on display here, the freaking Candy Man is in this movie. T Bird is the head of Top Dollars goons and is played by David Patrick Kelly, you might know as the "Warriors Come Out and Play!!" bottle guy from the Warriors, or as Jimmy Horne from Twin Peaks, and of course Top Dollar himself is played by Michael Wincott. Wincott is not a particularly celebrated actor but has played villains effectively in Robin Hood, the Three Musketeers, and Dead Man.

Best Set Piece: Detroit Style Hot Dogs

The Set design of the Crow is perhaps one of it's most fantastic features. It's very moody and ethereal. It's just real enough to not take you out of the film, but fantastic enough to set mood and theme above realism. From Eric Draven's apartment, to the church where the final battle occurs they are all fantastic. I think that's why I really wanted to shine the spot light on a very minor set piece that would get nary a mention but just as effectively represents the qualities I was just talking about and that is the Maxi Doggs Hot Dog Stand, where a lot of the films exposition for audience surrogates takes place.

Worst Effect: Freeze Frame

At a few points in the movie the film makers made a strange decision to do these freeze frame transitions. I only noticed it twice in the movie where it was particularly stupid. I'm sure the film makers at the time thought it was a moody and atmospheric choice that highlighted the suffering that Eric Draven was going through, but it didn't age well. If you don't have the sensibilities of a goth girl from 1994 then it's very very hard not to laugh at just how self involved the movie is about it's super sadness.

Worst Feature: Tragic Accident

Solely based on the film itself, it is that very gothic and dated sensibility that hurts the Crow. The little sarcastic dance he does when he flees the police, quoting Edgar Allen Poe, and bowing to Albrecht. These affected behaviors that I'm sure seemed snarky and right on to the target audience only serve to make Eric Draven seem like an unbearable neck beard edgelord and not the troubled dark soul he's supposed to be. I'm sure at the time it seemed unique and gothy but that shit went out of style for good reason, people could see through it. It's a shame that the Crow himself was some of the cringiest parts of this movie now that I'm seeing it as an adult and not a 13 year old middle class boy with no real problems.

This however is not the low point of the movie. It's not news now and if you're reading some dudes review of The Crow on Tumblr then you probably already know the story. The worst thing about The Crow is that Brandon Lee was horrifically killed on set while filming this movie due to some negligible prop malfunctions. A series of unfortunate events that lead to the actor spending 6 hours in surgery fighting for his life before eventually passing. It was not a quick or painless death and it's really impossible to watch the movie without an appreciation for the fact that this kind of fun dark adventure was going to be a vehicle for Brandon Lee's career wound up taking his life. He was 28. I really wish I could have just bitched about the goofy goth stuff and moved on, but that's not the world we live in.

Best Effect: The Gargoyling

Maybe I should have called this best kill. But I'm not sure which it is. The slaying of Top Dollar at the Climax of the film was just super effective. The pointed wings impaling his chest and that horn coming out of his mouth, it was morbid and excellent and just fit the tone of the movie perfectly. I mean how many other movies can you say Cause of Death: Impaled on a Gargoyle.

Best Bird: The Raven

I tried very hard to look up the name of the bird that primarily performed in this movie and could not find anything. There was a Raven once upon a time called Jimmy the Raven, but that was in the 50s and I don't think birds live that long. There was a team of Ravens performing as the crow, they were chosen over crows for their larger size, and more imposing silhouettes. I just think it's so wonderful to see these often maligned birds get a chance to show off their talents. Corvids of all kinds are incredibly intelligent creatures. Im a sucker for animals, if you haven't already figured that out. I really liked seeing the ravens hit their marks, particularly the one whos job it was to drop the wedding ring into Sarah's hand at the end of the film. You can see that greedy little bastard do his trick and then look of camera at his trainer like "treat please!". It's very cute.

Best Actor: Top Dollar Performance

I'd love to take this opportunity to just put praise upon Brandon Lee, he truly gave everything for this role, but unfortunately with what was put to film we actually have very few character moments with Eric Draven. Stuff happens to him, and he does killings and fights. There's definitely some personality, but I felt like I walked away knowing almost nothing about who Eric Draven was. He was clearly a good dude but that and a few hobbies and a relationship and you don't really have a character yet. He's unfortunately not given a lot of acting to do, instead just relegated to stunts and action sequences. That were notably cool.

The bad guys in the Crow have a lot more character and among this who's who of character actors, Michael Wincott takes the cake. Hell he was standing next to Candyman himself, Tony Todd and still stealing the scenes.

Best Character: A Few Good Apples

Is the best character in The Crow really going to be the cop? The commissioner Gordon stand in? yeah, it is. Not to be political, but I don't like cops, but I guess in a world with magical birds and eyeball smoking I can suspend my disbelief and let Ernie Hudson be #1 cop dad. His character is really the heart of the film, since all Eric can do is brood and fight, we have to care about someone in this movie.

Best Sequence: Halloween Party

The best sequence of the movie is of course the scene where Eric Draven busts in on the Devil's Night party planning commission. I think Top Dollar brought Scrappy Doo there just so he could lure out the crow, knowing the baddest assholes in all of Detroit would be gathered it was likely that somebody was going to kill the beast, or if they couldn't at least Top Dollar could get a feel for his enemy. It's a bullet flying action sequence with a ton of weight. I can't put my finger on this all to common weightless third act problem that big budget super hero and action flicks have nowadays, but whatever that issue is, the Crow does not have that issue. From this point on the Climax feels earned and I am invested. For that reason, The Crow is honestly better in spite of its awkwardness, than many of the super hero movies out today.

Worst Sequence: My Guitar Gently Weeps

Speaking of brooding or fighting. The best sequence was fighting, the worst is brooding. I get that Eric was in a band or something, but didn't he have shit to do. It seemed like it was a cool idea for a shot, but for like a whole seen, watching somebody play an 80s guitar solo, that stood out so brazenly from the choices of music in the rest of the movie was extra corny. It felt like someone's( dad trying to relate to their kid. Oh you like Music. The Dresden Dolls eh? Oh man, then you're going to love Slash's Snake Pit!

Summary

The Crow is dated. It is iconic but I wonder how many of the people that hang that poster on the wall have watched that movie since they were kids. It's interesting how what i've liked and disliked about this film have changed so much sense I was a kid. It's a cheeseball fiesta. If you have matured at all beyond thinking that being sad is the same as being deep then you're going to like it a little less than you did when you were younger, but it is still solid. There's not much to hate on. I'd watch it over and over again. I was really afraid it would not hold up at all, but returning to The Crow was a completely positive experience.

Overall Grade: B

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randomoranges · 3 years ago

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these always sound better in my head when i day dream. anyways - again more of an intro ish to this sequence ive had in mind for a while. also something something when youre comfs around someone so something something teasing and something something it being easy etc.

is this also an excuse to lowkey write about the playoffs, étienne being extra and the magical mystical beard? probably.

Bleu comme le St-Laurent

July 3rd 2021

They’d agreed, before his visit, that it would be easier and simpler if he simply took a cab over from the airport, all things considered. Mostly, he’d had to convince Étienne and in the end, his boyfriend had abdicated and agreed to wait for him at home. It meant that he was only a little bit nervous as the cab got closer and closer to Étienne’s place and that the butterflies in his stomach multiplied at every turn.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see Étienne, but it always felt a little stilted those first few moments after not seeing each other for a bit. Or – at least, it had been before. For as much as he wanted to cherish the time he had with Étienne, especially knowing that it was limited, it always made him take a step back when he saw Étienne again, as if seeing him in person was always slightly to the left of how his brain remembered him.

And then, even though they hadn’t seen each other in a little over two months, it somehow still felt like a lifetime. So much had changed and happened since Étienne had returned home that it could have been decades since he’d last held him in his arms and it would have been the same. Still, he supposed that a little over two months was nothing, in the grand scheme of things, and this time around, they had been in contact practically every day, via either text messages or video chats.

However, those did nothing compared to being able to hold Étienne in his arms.

“On est arrivé,” The driver said and effectively got Edward out of his reverie. He braced himself for whatever version of Étienne would greet him, paid the driver, got out of the cab, and retrieved his bags, before taking a deep breath. It was blissfully, unexpectedly cool out today and it was a pleasant change from the heat wave he’d suffered the past week.

He took out his phone to send a message to his boyfriend to let him know he was there, when he finally noticed, and heard, Étienne descend the few stairs from his front door to run up to him.

“Eddy!” He practically shouted as he approached him. Edward was taken by surprise – by Étienne’s energy, by his unexpected appearance, as though he’d been waiting on the front steps and of course – by his majestic beard.

It was one thing seeing it in photos and videos – another one seeing it in person.

Étienne stopped short a few paces away from him, wide smile on his face, excitement bubbling on the surface and did his utmost best not to rocket launch himself in Edward’s arms. If anything, Edward was surprised he’d managed to show this much restraint and then put down his carry-on to take a step forward and open up his arms, waiting for the impact.

It was all the invitation Étienne needed and soon, Edward found himself with an armful of excited Étienne giving him the tightest of hugs and – how he’d missed this.

“I can’t believe you’re here!” Étienne said, moments and maybe hours later, as he pulled back a few inches to look him in the face.

Edward smiled kindly at him and let himself be held for a moment longer. He’d said it once and he’d say it again, but spring and summer truly suited Étienne. He looked – invigorated and healthy and happy and it was such a pleasant change from last time that it settled some anxious part of him that had been worried for him.

Then of course, there was Étienne’s beard. It was well past his chin now and curled in thick coarse hair that felt blissful on his skin.

“And look at you!” He said, finally, finally daring to bring a hand up to his boyfriend’s face and finally, finally getting a chance to touch it.

Étienne crinkled his nose and Edward laughed, “I had forgotten all the things I don’t like about the beard, but I am also quite excited to still have one.” He beamed at that and Edward couldn’t say he hadn’t noticed. It would have been hard not to.

Just in Étienne’s front window, he saw one Habs flag next to another flag with a giant Stanley Cup and all the years the Habs had won written in the white space on both sides. Then, of course, there was the other flag hanging from the front, swaying with the breeze. There wasn’t even a game today and Étienne was still wearing one of his multiple Habs themed t-shirts. Edward couldn’t say he blamed him – it had been twenty-eight years and there was nothing quite like a final playoff rush.

“Y’know, for someone who can actually grow a beard, I’m surprised you never had a phase.”

Étienne let him go to pick up his suitcase and started heading towards his front door, “My phases were and always will be during the playoffs. Too much maintenance, too much trouble, and too much blegh.” He grimaced at that and opened up the door, while Edward laughed at his antics. “Anyways, I’ll go put your stuff in the bedroom and I’ll let you get reacquainted with Mercury – I swear she’s missed you.”

Just as he opened the door, Mercury came barrelling down to see who it could possibly be and when she saw Edward, she went right for him, barking excitedly. Truth be told, he had also missed her incredibly – and not just because he loved dogs in general. Plus, there was also the fact that he had spent most of her first year of life with her.

As Mercury licked his face and tried her best to tackle him to the ground in her excitement, Edward noticed the new decorations to Étienne’s place. He had forgotten just how much paraphernalia Étienne had of his beloved Habs and it seemed as though every last item had been brought out to be displayed. There were trinkets and figurines on every last piece of furniture, framed photos had been put up on the walls and every other household item that came themed in something Habs was there. Then again, Étienne had been a fan of them since day one and it was easy to collect memorabilia when one lived as long as they did and had a team with such history and clout.

“Sorry about that; I forgot how excited she gets,” Étienne said as he returned to the entrance, “Mercury, ça suffit. Laisse-le tranquile.” Surprisingly, Mercury stepped back with a whine and then trotted back to her master’s side. Étienne scratched her behind the ears and she then returned to see Edward, but was calmer.

“Hey you,” Étienne added as he walked over to Edward and gently pulled him in for a softer hug of his own. Now that they were behind closed doors, ensconced safely in Étienne’s home, Edward had no qualms in greeting him properly with a first kiss of many.

“Nice décor,” He teased gently when they pulled away for a moment.

“Excuse-toi; I am simply celebrating this magical run no one literally saw coming for as long as I can.”

Edward grinned, endeared by the way Étienne’s crinkled his nose and the way he frowned at him, as if vexed and insulted. He’d missed this – missed this side of Étienne who went all in for his team – or for something he enjoyed. Missed his over-the top attitude towards the things he loved. Missed being held by him.

“I know, Sweetheart.”

Étienne’s face softened at the pet name and he leaned in for another kiss, which Edward was more than happy to indulge in.

“Missed you,” Étienne murmured from the crook of Edward’s neck.

The hairs from his beard both tickled and thrilled him and not for the first time, he realised just how very long it had been.

“Missed you more.” He added, making his boyfriend chuckle softly.

“Maybe, but not all of us have a second boyfriend we can go to when the first one goes back home,” Étienne pressed another kiss to Edward’s neck and the scrape of his beard against his skin sent shivers down his spine.

“And when has that ever even stopped you before from going after anyone you wanted?”

“There’s a plague running rampant, Edward, I wasn’t about to hook up during a Global Pandemic,” He chided and looked up to his face – all serious like. Edward couldn’t tell if he was teasing him or not, but he was somewhat still surprised by what Étienne had just told him.

“You mean you haven’t – not even once hooked up with anyone since you left Edmonton?”

“Non; I wasn’t going to take any chances,” He admitted and – Edward was really impressed.

“Well, in that case then, it’s a good thing I’m here – I can help remedy that,” He grinned, tugging on Étienne’s shirt a little.

“That sounds like a really good plan. I also have it on good authority that you seem to have a thing for this new look of mine so - lucky us we have a full weekend of catching up before the game on Monday.”

Normally, Edward would have had the decency to look flushed, but that was the old him. “You got me on that, so why don’t you lead the way and we can take care of that as well?”

Étienne laughed and took his hand, before doing just that.

FIN

#pc: montreal #pc: edmonton #edward murphy #étienne maisonneuve #fic #projocanondoko #title comes from a Song #might use more Lyrics of Said Song for Future Parts of whatever This Sequence iS #idk dont look at me

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otterplusharchive · 4 years ago

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rey! do you have any recs for kdramas? i have never watched any, but i like lovable characters and romance ? thank you in advance!

I DO IN FACT HAVE DRAMA RECS HII not all of these will be kdramas, but ill start with the kdramas ive watched and enjoyed and ill include all the warnings for them that i can remember off the top of my head and a brief synopsis for u!

kdramas-

1. weight lifting fairy kim bok joo

this was probably one of the first kdramas i saw people post about in like 2015 and i watched a little bit of it in 2016 but then only just got around to finishing it last year. the basic gist of it is its about a young sports college weight lifter, kim bok joo, centering around her navigating through her life and trying to figure out who she is and what she wants in life and what she wants to be. her romantic interest in the show is a swimmer and they have a sort of rivals to friends to lovers, he is SO in love with her and its adorable. i absolutely loved the side characters in this show theyre all so fun and kim bok joos best friends and weight lifting team are especially delightful. my main warning would be that this show addresses eating disorders and theres a lot of mention of both weight gain and weight loss, theres also a plot point early on where kim bok joo has a crush on her eventual love interests older brother but it gets resolved and the older brother literally goes "i didnt realize you had a crush on me and if i knew that i wouldnt have been so friendly with you, it would be completely innapropriate for us to be in a relationship". overall its a really sweet and emotional fun show but if you have issues with weight talk id skip this one

2. tale of the nine tailed

this one is really recent from last year and i didnt expect to be so hooked by it but boy howdy did i get attached to all the characters and the wild plot. it feels hard to explain the plot but basically a nine tailed fox named lee yeon is living in modern day seoul and is working for the underworld finding paranormal spirits/creatures/other rogue foxes that are causing havoc on the world, hes resigned himself to living this life while waiting for his girlfriend who died tragically 600 years ago to come back to life because he traded his status as a mountain god in order to ensure that her soul would one day be reincarnated. a plucky investigative journalist named nam ji ah figures out that hes not human and shenanagins ensue because she looks exactly like his dead girlfriend oooooo whatll happen. the plot beyond that gets really wild and its hard to explain and is easier to just watch. if u enjoy paranormal adventures this one is good. my one big complaint and issue with this is that the immortal mountain spirit meets his original girlfriend when shes a child and she continues to visit him off and on as she grows up which is Hm I Dont Like That! but thankfully the present time romance our female lead meets him when shes about 30 if im remembering right. also warnings for general fantasy violence, references to child abuse, animal death, and abandonment issues

3. extraordinary you

HUGE unreality warning for this. if you have issues with feeling unreal or have paranoia/delusions about not being a real person id avoid this one just because of its premise

ok i know i said tale of the nine tailed was a hard plot to explain but BOY extraordinary you is even HARDER to explain. because its so wild but so good. its about a girl who realizes that she is literally a side character in a comic book, and the story becomes her trying to change the story to save her character from dying but it becomes a lot more than that. the romance in this is literally tooth achingly sweet and the show itself is very pretty, i loved the side characters in this one and the show was engaging and interesting to watch it became really layered and meta. super reccomend this one honestly. my main issues/warnings that i can remember off the top of my head were just one character being the classic controlling boyfriend stereotype, bullying someone specifically for being poor, unreality like i mentioned before, and then at the very end there was this love interest for a side character who got reincarnated from a past piece of writing that they had been in and put in the comic but she was a student and he was the school cook which is weird but thankfully they like barely interact at all and theres no real romance he just like recognizes her and its barely a thing at the end of the show but its still weird

4. mystic pop up bar

big warning for suicide, sexual harrasment (which is framed as being bad and the guy whos harrassing the girl literally gets thrown off a roof)

i havent finished this one yet and thats mainly because im not emotionally ready because this one makes me soooo emotional. if you like found family this is a good one. its about a pop up bar run by a woman whos been tasked with solving the problems of a certain amount of people in order to atone for her crimes in the past before dying, shes able to enter the dreams of people and solve their issues using the information she gets in the dreams. paranormal shenanagins ensue, she acquires a son and a husband and it kills me its so fun and quirky and fun despite handling dark themes and peoples problems. also very sweet the found family murders me

5. kingdom (netflix original)

i literally am not going to be able to watch any other zombie media because kingdom and train to busan are the best pieces of zombie media ive ever seen. warnings for gore and violence and just general horror aspects.

i absolutely love this one its so thrilling and well done, i love the acting and the way that this show looks its absolutely gorgeous. a zombie plague breaks out in joseon period korea where the emperor has died and then was brought back to life by the queen and her father in a ploy to try and keep their family in political power, the crown prince must find answers. a lot more happens and its very dramatic and good i love the characters in this one

cdramas

1. the untamed. if you follow me and you havent watched the untamed im begging you to watch the untamed. literally one of the most beautiful stories ive experienced in my life i am not joking when i say i cried multiple times over it. the main characters are canonically gay in love and have a son together please watch the untamed. handles a lot of dark themes, heres a tw guide

2. the sleuth of the ming dynasty

this is another one i havent finished but its fun so far, very gay, found family, food, and solving murder mysteries during the ming dynasty

3. hikaru no go (also known as qi hun)

havent finished this one, there is some propaganda about hong kong in the first episode but as far as i know thats the only instance of something like that in the show

this ones about the game go and so far its very sweet and fun, local boy awakens a ghost who was a master of the game of go hundreds of years ago and eventually is persuaded to learn how to play go with the aid of the ghost. im really liking this one so far its very cute and i love the characters in it. if youve watched the untamed nie huaisangs actor ji li is in this one!

4. the legend of yunqian

this ones very short and on youtube, all the episodes are about 5 minutes long and its a lesbian time travel fantasy adventure with a happy ending! funny and cute

jdramas

1. cherry magic

please please please watch cherry magic. the premise sounds very much like a weird yaoi kind of thing but trust me on this. trust me. it is so heart warming and sweet and i was so emotional about it and the growth of the main character.

adachi gains the power to read peoples minds on his 30th birthday based off a urban legend that if youre a 30 year old virgin that youll become a wizard. after gaining this power he accidentally finds out that his extremely popular and handsome coworker has a crush on him, and shenanagins ensue along with adachi having blossoming feelings in return. this show was really refreshing in a lot of ways, adachi is a main character who like.. is unsure of himself and insecure in a very kind of realistic way, he closes himself off and is afraid to reach out to people and through the course of the show we see him slowly come out of his shell and realize that hes likeable and lovable and that people want to be around him and its so nice to see. my main complaint about this show is that i dont really like the background couple, but otherwise this is a very sweet and refreshing gay romance that has a happy ending!

some others that i myself havent seen but that ive seen people talk about a lot and that i want to watch eventually:

- the legend of fei (cdrama)

- the wolf (cdrama)

- gaurdian (cdrama, not the kdrama one called goblin)

- healer (kdrama, i did watch some of this one but it was in 2016 and i never finished it so i barely remember any of it but i do remember liking it)

- nobody knows (kdrama)

- its ok to not be ok (kdrama)

sorry this is so long but i hope youll be able to find a drama u enjoy!!

#long post

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ofcloudsandstars · 4 years ago

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Happy Yule!

I have plans to cook a nice Yule Feast tonight for my family and I, but I don’t really know what to do beyond that. I know that I don’t have to do anything if I don’t want to or don’t feel up to it, but I genuinely enjoy doing activities to celebrate the Sabbats and such. Any suggestions?

Also, I had really vivid dreams last night. I don’t fully remember them but I get bits and pieces and it’s just very odd. They were so fantastical and there were definitely elements of survival, overcoming difficulty and obstacles, even a concept of like war in some ways, and it was full of magic and mysticism and fantasy themes. It was very intense, and as I’m waking up, I am definitely noticing it affecting the tone and emotions of my day.

sorry if this is weird but first of all you are really beautiful

secondly I agree that cooking at least 1 nice dish really makes the day. It’s just any other day we really don’t have themed dinners so it kind of makes it more special.

When planning feasts I take into account how many people I am serving and dietary restrictions so if it’s a feast for myself I usually think of like 1 main dish including some veggies and a dessert since I can’t eat too much alone (I’ve tried and ended many sabbats with stomach aches lol). If it’s family/friends gathering then it’s usually like 2 veggie dishes, usually 1 being cooked veggies, another being a salad of some kind or for the colder months a puree like mashed potatoes, a meat main or if they are non meat eaters then a casserole bake of some kind and then I love baking for dessert cause it fills the house with a nice smell.

For yule’s 2 veg dishes you can do like roasted parsnips and brussel sprouts with rosemary and pine & mashed potatoes (add truffle and/or cheese if your fam eats cheese). Everyone likes 1 whitish veg with cheese on it for this time of year for some reason like maybe it’s the visual of it being wintery. In England cheesy cauliflower is like a staple for food this time of year.

Then for a main you can do a roast with red wine, chopped shallots and butter. If you guys do not eat meat then maybe something like a mushroom pot pie. I think you can get vegan puff pastry from a super market and just roll it out on top of a pie dish with sauteed veggies and mushrooms and voila lol. I think it’s the same vibe for mushroom wellington but I’ve never attempted at making a wellington in my life (let alone knew what it was until I moved here) but it looks like a nice filling vegetarian/vegan main dish for yule. (It’s basically a ‘meatloaf/veggieloaf’ wrapped in puff pastry). An even easier thing you could put together could be a veggieloaf and add some seasonal sauces on it and make it super buttery and full of spices.

Depending on how much you like to cook and how much work you feel like doing you can either get a nice yule log at the market (they usually have some good creamy ones) or if you know a nice bakery by you check if they have any. Yule Logs can be sooo incredibly good, super easy to dish out at the end of the night and have with some icecream. If you can’t find one nor feel like buying it, you can toss together some red velvet cake. It’s the easiest festive cake I can think of that will be nice to put together next to all the food you’ll have to cook. Either red velvet (which is just a red chocolate cake with cream cheese lets be honest haha), a black forest cake (chocolate, cherries and cream) or a ginger bread cake depending on your preference. You can find the mixes ready made or if you have the flour, sugar, baking powder, eggs, oil and milk its not too hard to make the batter for a plain cake and add the additional flavorings/colorings after. Alternatively you could end the feast with an array of cookies and hot chocolate since this holiday is big on cookies. Cookies can take way more effort to put together but they are a chance to be creative, combine arts and crafts with food and definitely make the house smell incredible.

Another dessert idea is a sugar pear tart (get yourself the roll-out pastry and save yourself the time), it can be really easy to put together cause all you have to do is chop some pears and put them in a bag to soak with sugar, spices and wine. Let it sit for a few hours (probably as you cook the other stuff) then just throw the pastry over your pie-tin, add some jam to the bottom if you have any and line up the pears inside and bake for like 30min.

Also I don’t know if your family enjoys drinking but maybe dishing out some mulled wine before the food can get them feeling festive and build up an appetite for the food to come. You just got to simmer some red wine with spices and sliced fruit. (It’s like a hot sangria haha). Alternatively there’s a lot of festive easy drinks you can toss together if they would like a cocktail like gin + cranberry and ginger ale will taste like a holiday candle. Whiskey + Ginger beer and cinnamon will work amazingly too. White Rum + Eggnog will go great for sweeter and creamier drinks, just add some simple syrup to the mix to smooth it out (or apply like light amounts of rum cause it could overpower the eggnog). Anyway if your family already has ~the liquor cabinet~ maybe see if there is anything in there you can turn into a festive drink or just get some mulled wine going.

Also about your dreams it’s interesting you brought up war cause I definitely felt that vibe. Your dreams sound really insightful though. I am working on my 2021 year spread right now and there is some intense themes but that also could be cause of my Saturn Return is this year :/

Anyway I hope you have a great Yule! It’s wonderful that you are cooking for your family.

#yule #une-satinsilhouette #recipe #ideas #food

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bookcityhq · 3 years ago

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Dermot is a fifteen-year-old boy living in a remote village in the land of Denú. He has always longed for something more in his life. Now, everything changes after he sees a renowned creature – a gryphon – in the sky, and then crosses paths with a reclusive healer who harbors a secret.

Soon, he and his brother have no choice but to leave the only home they’ve ever known. They travel with new friends across the land through several great forests, along the way meeting an old man, a family of unicorns, and witnessing an important birth. They must evade fire-breathing dragons and dark-armored soldiers hunting them down, all serving an evil sorcerer determined to subjugate the kingdom, and who will stop at nothing to destroy them.

Denú’s only hope is if a renowned coven returns to face the enemy after years in hiding. Dermot however suspects their own role may be more significant than he thought, as he slowly discovers a power which exists amongst the trees and creatures of every greenwood. Can they save those they hold dear? Will Dermot find what he has sought? Or will all that’s free and good be consumed by darkness?

Amazon Reviews:

“The mythical Greenwood a mighty kingdom, where thy great magic doth abound…” Between the amazing visual imagery and unique Celtic folklore, Andrew McDowell provides his readers with a spectacular literary journey from beginning to end. I found myself becoming lost in various passages, exploring the forest alongside protagonist Dermot and his younger brother Brian and impatient to know what perilous events or natural wonders would surface in the next several pages… McDowell is a talented architect of entire villages and lands that make you believe they existed but a few centuries ago. I certainly do not want to give away any important pieces of the plot, so you’ll simply have to pick up a copy yourself! I thoroughly enjoyed devouring “Mystical Greenwood” and look forward to the upcoming literary pieces by Mr. McDowell! – KatieThe use of older, Celtic-oriented language gave this story a more ancient and mysterious feel. I have not read any other book that centered around gryphons and really enjoyed the focus on them. I also loved the nature-centered themes in this story. This book was what I read when I needed to center myself and feel more at peace, and I rooted for the characters the whole time. There was adventure, excitement, heartbreak and triumph. I can’t wait to see how Andrew McDowell develops both in his writing and with the story in the next book! – Rose

I really started to route for Dermot during his adventures in Greenwood. The story is cleverly told with a balance of intrigue, challenge and family ties. I loved the links to the natural world and environmental understanding. The world was fascinating and filled with interesting characters, wonderful settings and heart-stopping dilemmas. – mr j adams

Get your copy now at:

Amazon | Merchandise on Deviant Art | Booksamillion | Barnes & Noble

Find Andrew online at:

Facebook | Twitter | Tumbler | Goodreads | Website

Authors: Get YOUR Books Featured Here Today!

#amreading #celticfolklore #fantasy #adventure #fantasynovel #mustread #KindleUnlimited

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musicallisto · 4 years ago

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without fail tag

THE “WITHOUT FAIL” TAG — List five things that you, WITHOUT FAIL, weave into or explore in your stories, whether it be specific themes or tropes, character archetypes, allusions to other literary works, what have you! It really can be anything that you consistently include in your narratives for whatever reason. Then invite others to share theirs by tagging them!

I was tagged by @deadlymodern - thank you so much for tagging me, this tag is amazing and I loved reading your answers! I can tell you have a very thorough approach to your writing & themes, it’s so cool!

(tagging people at the bottom of the post if you want to skip)

1. flowers, skies & words

grouping them together since they're all related to a wider, general literary device: symbols and allegories in my stories. Without fail, I’ll always use flower symbolism to evoke certain themes, places, characters... withered petals for death, blossoms for youth, you name it, it’s probably been in one of my stories. just consider my main WIP’s title, The Grave of Roses (Le Tombeau des Roses). It’s a little basic, and has been used time and time before in literature, but I still love it.

Other elements that often make it into my stories as symbols are planes (because I love aviation obviously, but also as a symbol of breaking free, independence, of man’s domination on mortality, what with having tamed the skies, but also his frail condition and how everything hangs on a thread). Also, the sky is pretty.

And lastly, words, stories, novels always have their place in my stories, and more often than not one of my characters is a writer, or someone who uses words and stories as some kind of comfort, outlet, or a driving force.

At its [the tombstone] foot, below the name, red roses piled up, enough of them to cover ten graves. A single vermilion bud, a wind-swept poppy, clashed with the rest of the bouquet, and Samuel knew that it was William's children who had placed it there. Only they knew that he didn't even like roses anymore, and that he would come to lay poppies on his father's memorial every time he returned to London...

The tomb was both smaller and prettier than Samuel imagined, less opulent than England would have wanted to give its precious child. The morning sun, like a caress, illuminated the epitaph, a Latin verse that Samuel had known in the past. “Bury me southward,” he heard William say so clearly that he almost turned around, "so that I can look at England and France in the same breath." His name, however, was drenched in full light, facing east, and inexplicably this saddened Samuel.

“And there it is... it's pretty, don't you think? I don't know if he would have liked it... You probably know it better than I do...”

“And why do you care about that, huh? You don't even believe in God.” “He's a writer. He believes in symbols.” “He believes in vanity, alright.”

“I think he would have liked it anyway,” he nodded in agreement, his eyes glued to the lonely poppy. (Translation)

2. parental roughnesses

this was bound to come, because I feel like we were all pretty fucked up at some point in our lives from our upbringing. I didn’t go for straight up “parental issues” because I don’t deal with like, abusive or absent parents or anything, just complicated relationships between parents and their children, but who still love each other. Oftentimes it has to do with one of the children idealizing the heck out of their parent and slowly realizing that they make mistakes and are not a hero at all, and/or unmeetable expectations and parental pressure. but it’s not like I’m projecting or anything lol

“You never knew Father, William,” Grace stopped him immediately [...]. “Don't you dare pretend you know what it's like.”

“Growing up without a father is not necessarily better than losing him in childhood! Everyone here has suffered from his disappearance, Grace. You have no idea how much I miss him, despite never meeting him. But that's all in the past now. And there's no reason for there to be another war.”

“Of course there is!” she retorted ferociously, despite the tears spilling from her eyes. “Of course there is, and they're going to send you there like Father, and you'll want to play hero like Father, and then you'll get shot down like a dog! Where's it going to be this time, huh? Above Luxembourg, just like him, or maybe somewhere in your beloved France?” (Translation)

3. patriotism

One way or another, all my stories always deal with patriotism, nationalism, pride in one’s country and more broadly speaking one’s relationship to it. It questions what it means to belong to a country, to share one culture, one language; does it justify acting in the benefit of one’s country, and where do you draw the line before you intentionnally harm others’; what even is a country, a nationality, and it what sense do you belong to one, and what do you owe it, if you even owe it anything? Is it wrong or right to feel love and attachment to your place of origin? And what does it mean to fight for your country, for its values, for its people? & other things of the like. It probably stems from my own experience as a binational person; growing up, I was always asked stuff like “but who do you root for in a football game” “but are you like really French or not?” “if Spain and France got into a war what would you do?”, and this all lead me to question “am I more French or am I more Spanish - which one am I, and which one would others perceive me to be - do I need to pick a side? And how can I express my affection to these places that raised me both differently, without undermining the other - or others? can I still be proud of my heritage given the horrors my countries have committed in the past?”. I still haven’t found a definitive answer, so my writing is just me throwing trails out to the world and hoping I’ll figure it out someday. that’s why my stories often have a war setting; firstly I just love historical fiction, and secondly it’s the perfect backdrop for all these questions to unfold.

William laughed at the idea - he, a true Frenchman! It was a very silly thought. He may have loved what he had seen of Charlotte's country, but England was not to be ashamed of any other land, for it was the only one he would love until his last breath. (Translation.)

4. just a hint of supernatural

I love me a good ghost story, and I’m a fan of everything spooky, but what’s subtly spooky, and not the gory, in-your-face horror. This particular theme may have increased since I saw The Haunting of Hill House which completely OBLITERATED ME with how it uses the house and its ghosts to tell a story of family and trauma and memories... but I’ve loved ghost stories forever. Another piece that truly resonated with me was One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad) by Gabriel García Márquez. It was my first dive into the world of magical realism and I didn’t make it out of there the same person I was when I entered. This one is not necessarily included in every piece without fail, because some are just too anchored in reality, but if it’s not a straight-up spirit or an otherworldly creature, I’ll always find a way to include an aspect of superstition, a myth, a legend, a tale from faraway that is neither proved nor disproved throughout the story. It truly adds to the atmosphere of the world, even in a very realistic and gritty setting, I believe.

I hear murmurs of legends among the soldiers. [...] One of those stories caught my attention, I must admit... It is not very special, nothing more than a children's tale, but I thought it was beautiful enough to please your Romantic soul. Some pilots speak of a cemetery, somewhere in the countryside north of London, which has something mystical about it, lost in the flowers that sway as far as the eye can see, in the calm rhythm of the wind, wrapped in the heady scent of eternal spring, and where the bravest warriors would go to rest forever, tired of their exploits and the continual explosions. No one knows exactly where it is or what to do to be buried there, but this beautiful image simply floats like a dream in the minds of many and, I confess, in mine as well since I first heard about it.

It is said that there only flowers dare to disturb the heroes in their sleep... This fragment of silence is called the Grave of the Roses.

So if I were to leave you, if you were to hear that I am gone...

With a bit of luck, that is where you will find me.

5. love

this one is broader and less obvious than you might think. Of course, I’ll always, always implement an element of romance to my story (and more often than not it’s angsty with star-crossed lovers or insurmountable obstacles or forbidden romances and whatnot), but there’s more to it. I don’t think I have ever written a story that is entirely grim and bleak, simply because I do not believe the world is built like that. I’ve said time and time again that love is my favorite thing in the world, and I believe it is the force that drives us all forward and connects us all together; love is, to me, the truest power of humanity, and its inherent purpose. And love covers all subjects and all types of relationships, but my absolute favorite ways to explore and show love in my stories is through long-lasting, rock-solid friendships (because friendships are often overlooked both in fiction and real life), and just a grandiose love letter to humanity as a whole. I’m an optimist, and many people who have suffered more than I have would deem me naive for thinking this - and I cannot blame them -, but as Anne Frank put it more bravely than I ever could, “despite everything, I still think humans are good at heart”. My stories are always born out of love and made for love. For the love of humanity and kindness and literature and love of myself, too, because sometimes I just like rereading the words and thinking, “wow, I’ve made it this far. look at me go.” In a word, yes, I would say that is what it boils down to; my work, but also what I hope my entire life and being will be. An ode to love.

“He admired you and truly loved you, you know. You were a good leader, I'm sure, and a good friend, above all.”

He thought she was going to put her hand on his shoulder, and prepared to bend to avoid it, but instead she came to rest on the polished marble of the tomb, which was already beginning to erode at the corners. The soft light bathed her hand, and Samuel's on the other corner, still resting above William's surname, the only thing he had been proud of from beginning to end.

“And I loved him too. I loved them all. If you only knew...”

well, I got carried away, as I always do when talking about my writing, but it made me miss it so much. I haven’t worked on any of my projects since literally October and I’m feeling the void rn. anyway, thank you again for enabling me to ramble about what I love most, Thais! and I’m tagging @softeninglooks, @lxncelot, @myriadimagines, @swanimagines & @randomfandomimagine + plus any writer who wants to talk about their marvelous work <3

#tag game #mywriting #long post #writing #ltdr

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netherlady · 4 years ago

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I’m watching movies/TV shows I used to watch as a kid in the 90s. Specifically, non-Disney animated media. These are my thoughts as they come.

I’m on to a Filmation Associates film called Happily Ever After. It’s a continuation of what happened after the end of Snow White. I actually used to watch the Disney film and this one back-to-back because that’s how I felt things should be done.

Right off, the mirror is recounting Snow White’s story—but get this. The prince didn’t kiss Snow’s corpse to awaken her. With love in his heart, he touched her hand and it was enough to break the spell.

Can I just appreciate the fact they didn’t wanna be like kissing sleeping and/or dead people is okay if you’re supposedly in love with them. Not cool, charming.

Dom DeLuise is the mirror, and a shady bitch right off. Straight up is like lol I don’t know you.

This animation is beautiful, tho. Fluid, expressive, they’re all individual character desiiigggnnn.

Malcom McDowell is iconic in this. Also, adding the dimension that the Evil Queen has family—and not only that, but a good strong relationship to her brother? To the point that he doesn’t even know this Snow White situation other than what he’s heard from his sister over the years, day in day out, holy shit are you STILL talking about this fucking teenager give it a rest maybe? And when he learns that aforementioned teenager is RESPONSIBLE for the death of his beloved sister? No questions, not even any real monologuing; Lord Maliss really said just where is this pasty little fuck I’m gonna set fire to her entire goddamn life.

I never understood why the Bat felt sorry for the evil queen. Seriously, she spent a good week trying to murder a teenager and failed. Over vanity. Just.

Speaking of the whole teenager thing, Snow is supposed to be 14. In lore, and in the Disney film. The prince is over 18. Super not okay. However, the way Snow is animated in this film, she looks older, acts older, and is clearly not a child. She is also voiced by Irene Cara (yes, THAT Irene Cara), which lends an unmistakable maturity to her. I honestly think they mean for her to be older in this. 18 at least. And I appreciate that.

Also, damn is this child traumatized. In the span of a few months, she was nearly murdered by the huntsman, her step-mother (four times), resurrected from a hell-sleep, and when she and the love of her life finally have a moment’s peace, she gets carried off by a giant fucking dragon, chased into another dark and terrifying forrest, and her prince gets kidnapped.

Her prince looks like He-Man with red hair. By the way. That aside, my favorite moment of him is how they animated him watching Snow pick flowers for her dwarven friends. It’s not creepy or possessive. It’s so damn affectionate.

I love the dwarfelles, and every actress that voiced them. Fuck.

Low key, I always thought Sunburn and Muddy were married. Like, knew it, accepted it, moved on from it.

And again, the radical bops of 90s non-Disney animation. Gotta love this shit, sing about your feelings Thunderella.

Phyllis Diller as Mother Nature is also iconic. She is made of bitch. Good for her.

Remember when I said the Prince looked like He-Man? He got turned into Orko. I just saw it and i can’t unsee it now. Fuck.

Anyway, I always liked the Shadow Man, and while I did love that he was the prince, I also would have loved him being a separate entity. Idk.

Maliss is so fucking extra with the magic mirror, like “STFU YOU INSOLENT PIFFLE lol you right tho imma go sic demon wolves on this bitch brb”

The bat is supposed to be the moral one, right. Calling the owl, Scowl, out on his bullshit. Honestly, this bat is an asshole. Straight up a piece of shit.

Man, Snow really out here, fighting wolves, saving dwarfelle lives, being agile as hell. I think about the scene where she gets up in the morning and twirls in front of the dwarves’ mirror, happy to be safe somewhere she calls home. A lot. Like? This is the same bitch. It’s great.

There’s a lot of themes about vanity in this story. I find it so interesting that after being invited to travel with them by Snow, the prince, cursed like to be the shadow man, is so horrified at his new visage, he runs off in shame. In doing so, he leaves Snow vulnerable, and without her mystic companions—and she gets hella kidnapped by Maliss.

Who, again, is a competent villain. No speeches, no posturing, he transforms and grabs her while he has an opening. Like, Maliss legit did not fuck around.

Batso continues to be an asshole.

When Maliss/evil prince says ‘You will look out on this forever’, it always hits. I used to rewind this particular segment up here on the parapet a lot. I loved the betrayal, the final stand-off. But that? That moment? I think about that line on the daily still. Chilling.

The cloak came out of nowhere, but it’s no less terrifying.

Seriously, I want background on the cloak. We got a whole bullshit song out of the chain smoking owl, I wanna know where Maliss got this cloak, and if all the statues in his sister’s castle are because of it. That’s a fucking story.

Straight up, wtf does he do to the prince/shadow man with the eye beams. Like. Mad scary and super fucked up. Maliss is powerful AF, and he wanted the woman responsible for killing his sister to suffer so bad, he gets real angerblind real fast.

This movie went hard. Killed the prince and the dwarfelles right there. Like. They were banking hard that the Magic undo button with the death of the villain was gonna sell right.

I was always low key confused when Snow said she loved the shadow man ‘as dearly as the prince’ when she mourned him. I’m sure it was supposed to be a soulmate hand-wavey kind of thing, but still.

My brother used to make fun of the way she cried. Irene tried, okay.

Ah, yes, the 90s non-smoking PSA. Everyone had one. Now with more owl.

Happily Ever After. I wouldn’t blame Snow if she legit had a guard who’s only job was to test her food and clothing for poisons, and another to watch the sky for fucking dragons for the rest of her life.

I loved watching this again. I forgot how much I loved it. The cast is huge and stellar, with a ton of legends. And the pop ballad at the end is, of course, performed by Irene Cara.

There’s only three songs in this whole thing, and the pop song at the end. I always wished there were more.

Either way. I loved this movie as a kid. Next time I’ll probably watch the Princess and the Goblin.

#things involving me #happily ever after #non disney #90s animation #90s nostalgia #snow white #malcolm mcdowell #irene cara #phyllis diller #dom deluise #i review things for fun

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