#you know...when the hero triumphs blah blah...

[before-you-are-gone]

sometimes it becomes hard to tell when i am marcel, and when marcel is me it feels different when we are each other, yet ‘it’ also feels different when i feel tired versus awake (still staying as ‘me’) so what is there to compare? 

not even knowing how to appease that part who restricts relationships...there is no appeasing, we are the same...or, as much the same as two things that have nothing in common, which is the same in our case (it makes sense if you read between the lines, or else it sounds weird) 

[princeescaluswords]

Currently thinking of certain factions of fandom who tend to demonize Laura Hale. What exactly did she do that was so awful?

Leaving her injured and catatonic uncle in a care facility? Do they think he would've miraculously healed in New York if she brought him along (if that was even an option)? They seem to think she abandoned him or should've done more. What exactly, dear fandom?

Laura was a young woman who suffered a devastating loss and had to be the leader and look out for her younger brother and injured uncle. Cora was assumed dead too. Similar to Scott, she didn't ask to be alpha.

What did they expect her to do? Wage war against the perpetrators? She didn't know who was involved but she did return when Peter lured her. Fandom thinks she was unfit for the role of alpha because she wasn't ripping throats out and hunting down culprits, that she ~abandoned~ her uncle in a vulnerable state, blah blah.

The way they get angry at Scott disobeying Peter and Derek, you'd think they'd be livid over Peter killing his alpha who was also his niece who was the ~heir~ to Talia. Sacrilege!

Scott didn't ~trust~ Stiles? Well, Petey didn't trust his alpha! Why the secrecy? Why not report in immediately upon gaining consciousness?

*dons the stylish hat of Fandom Logic* Oh, oh Peter was involved in the Hale Fire! He always craved the mantle of alpha and needed Talia out of the way. But he got betrayed by Kate in the end and locked in with the rest of the family. That's why he insisted he's always been the alpha, he was promised the power if he helped destroy the pack. It's why he lured Laura back and killed her instead of communicating, he just wanted the power.

Your question puts me in mind of an argument both This Discontented Winter and Athena Dark have made to counter my indictments of fandoms worship of Peter Hale. To paraphrase TDW, "does all entertainment have to be a morality play?"

The simplistic answer to their bad faith riposte, is "No, it doesn't." You can watch two people sit in a room and not talk to each other. You can watch art hang motionless on a wall or paint dry, but these wouldn't be particularly popular forms of visual entertainment. What excites an audience is how the actors, the characters, the players treat each other, which is governed by principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior. In other words, morality.

People watch the Real Housewives franchise because they want to watch rich women behaving badly. People watch John Wick movies because they want to watch ultra violence performed without regard for human life and instead operate on a different code of behavior. Telenovelas, true crime documentaries, space operas, super hero movies -- all the pleasure their audiences gain from it revolve around decisions people make about how to treat each other. They watch it FOR the morality -- or the LACK of it.

The only forms of modern entertainment I can think of that don't focus on morality are professional sports and talent shows, and both of these take it as a given that neither side is cheating. Even Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom proposed to show us the behavior of animals so we can recognize their beauty and right to exist. My apologies to the BNF, but that's morality, too.

When This Discontented Winter bemoans the idea of all entertainment as morality play and Athena Dark that storytelling doesn't have to have a message, what they are in fact arguing for is the ability to celebrate evil. To freely indulge in the type of moral equivocation that allows them to take pleasure in the triumph of a man murdering his niece for power. You know how I know this, because if they truly wanted to enjoy something without the moral dimension, they wouldn't go to such great lengths to protect their blorbos from any moral condemnation.

Thus, we get the idea that Laura deserved death because she abandoned Peter in the long-term care facility, in which he rested safely for six years without the Argents even being aware of his location. We get the idea that Laura deserved death because she didn't seek vengeance for her family, even though she was absolutely looking for the person responsible for the death of her family -- we saw actual physical evidence of it. Thus we get the idea that Peter had no idea what he was doing, that he was out of his mind, only to find out later -- when none of the other characters believe that anymore -- that he was aware of what he was doing all along.

Remember Master Plan (2x12):

Peter: No. It's a laptop. What century are you living in? A few days after I got out of the coma, I transferred everything that we had. Fortunately, the Argents aren't the only ones that keep records.

Wow, that's a remarkable amount of foresight for a person who was supposedly so out of his mind that he shouldn't be held responsible for what he did.

The true problem with BNF trying to argue that we don't have to approach the show with an eye toward morality is because the show absolutely did. It was baked into the substance of the show from the get go. The characters are formed to make choices about how they treat other people. To use their own words, we have to treat the entertainment that is called Teen Wolf as a morality play because it IS a morality play. Every story is.

And this is the problem with fandom, which I've noted again and again and again in regards to Star Wars, Shadow and Bone, and now Loki. They want to extract the characters from the moral schema in which they were situated and put them in a new situation, yet pretend that there isn't a moral dimension to this act. And there is, because this new situation is one where only certain considerations are treated as valid, mostly exploitation of the baser instincts of human nature for the benefit of a very small class of stand-ins, defined by race, class, and gender.

[zelda-cooper]

Thoughts, Headcanons and Comments on Bushroot (My AU).

This here is more of a commentary blog and maybe a rant, it can also be considered as a headcanon blog and also for Bushroot fans. For those who want to, they can read it as they wish, but I'm already advancing that it's LONG and will have some low-level words (I'll censor it, but it's still worth it). Feel free to leave comments about your opinions...

So... These days I was looking at the Darkwing Duck wiki, more specifically the Bushroot one, until I got to the curiosities... And I came across this...

Then the thought came to me: "Wait wait wait... IS THE BUSHROOT A WORSE KILLER THAN NEGADUCK?!?!?! 0-0"

"WHAT THE F-"

Okay... Sorry... But actually it wasn't like that... I already knew a little bit about it because of Annie that Bushroot was in a way kind of... A bloodthirsty killer... But then a question came to me: How much was that on purpose and how much was accidental? See, I know Bushroot is a villain and is basically insane, but... Considering his personality... Do you really think he kills KILLS on purpose most of the time?

Obviously Disney wouldn't even dream of putting it in a children's series, but... Darkwing Duck tackles death a couple of times like it's nothing! Bushroot itself has "died" a few times and people speak verbally! I don't want to get into how much Disney is very childish to the extreme and how this makes current productions a little worse, but that's not my point... The point is... I don't believe that Bushroot did the murders knowingly or WANTING. And here I get an idea from another cartoon, this time a current one: The Owl House. More specifically... Willow and Gus.

I'm not going to go into the merits of how I love TOH and blah blah blah... But one thing that I found interesting about this series is this characteristic of when the character is having a breakdown or is out of control, the powers apparently get stronger and the eyes of the staff are shining. I particularly like the way Willow looks, basically it's Bushroot. Here comes my Headcanon...

When Bushroot ends up with some extremely strong negative emotion, the most common being anger or fear, he ends up losing control of his powers and this makes him completely lose reason and attack everything in front of him. Be it allies, enemies and even innocent people... And here comes a very heavy question... He may be a murderer, but he's not a sociopath or a psychopath.

Let's face it... Bushroot only killed his Bullies because they harassed him ALL DAY. This one he had a taste for killing them first! The DWD is obvious, the hero was always interfering with his plans (which I honestly think he stopped caring, because Darkwing is not one of the most competent heroes...). But it's JUST THESE people we know he wanted to kill... What about the other victims? Did he mean to kill them or was it an accident?

For me, I think that most of the victims were accidental and, after he got out of that frenzy, if he found out... I think he would go into despair with so much blood. Here is also the question of his remorse and guilt, he would probably cry in despair and Liquidator would be comforting him (although he is not the most emotional person... Then more Liquidator headcanons) or any of the other Fearsome, except for Negaduck, who shouldn't even have feelings anyway.

To wrap up this whole thread... Let's go to Bushroot's weakness... I know everyone knows that this plant zombie is basically immortal in the series, but here I thought of a good weakness for him... Fire.

Reasons? Zombie in most movies is defeated with fire. Plants are easily burned by fire. There are forests that are burned. I think you get the point... It would also serve as something for Negaduck to use as a triumph for him against Bush and could threaten him. This is something from Negaduck, but not giving too much spoiler... Basically the Fearsome Four didn't betray him before in our AU because they were constantly threatened by Negaduck, everything for the negative duck was a matter of having control of everything. He knew the weakness of the four and always used threats and intimidation to get what he wanted. And let's face it... Bushroot didn't have much attitude, so he was easily manipulated by ND. Otherwise...

Yeah, you get the idea... Anyway, I want to thank Annie for the arts and I also want to thank you for reading everything... That's it... Bye!

Arts for @anniesilveratl2

(Tea for the poor guy to relax...)

[boom-bakugou]

‘Wedding Crashers’ - Katsuki Bakugou

A/N: Sorry for my inactivity but here’s a little sorry and thank you present for me hitting 1k! I love you all sm <3

Pairings: Pro Hero!Bakugou x F!Reader

Warnings: 18+, ooc deku; but it’s more of a headcanon, semi-public sex

Summary: Your ex-boyfriend Izuku Midoriya inviting you to his wedding is a definite stab in yours and Katsuki Bakugou’s backs. But you’ll show him.

Word Count: 5k

masterlist

You had considered your morning to be relatively normal, breakfast not burnt, coffee just that right amount of bitter to stir you awake. But those happy moments of peaceful bliss were soon to be fleeting as your mail arrived. Sifting through the pile to what you assumed would be bank statements and bills; your fingers landed on a cream white envelope. Your name printed neatly in a cursive font that when you followed it with your eyes for too long it almost made you want to puke. Tearing it open haphazardly, you read the perfumed content inside.

‘Dear Y/N Y/LN,

We are very proud to invite you to the blah blah blah wedding of pro hero blah blah Izuku Midoriya and blah blah blah.

RSVP blah-‘

Wait what? The taste in your mouth was pitiful. Yes, you and Izuku had dated years prior and after being childhood friends, yet it didn’t end… swimmingly. But this didn’t feel like inviting a childhood friend to your happiest day, no, this felt like a backhanded swipe at your ex-girlfriend who was well known to the media to be single. Pro-Hero gossip magazines made sure of that.

Throwing the invitation onto your countertop, your eyebrows furrowed with spite. You felt weak almost, watching your ex-best friend grow up to be this bountiful hero with merch in every store that you went to. Though you had triumphed well in the hero charts yourself, nothing ever seemed to compare to him. The golden boy. You never really got over the fact that he ended things because being a single hero was more postable than one who was tied down. Until now. Mr. Big shot getting married. It really made you question your integrity,

Recuperating your thoughts, you realised your phone was buzzing on the couch next to you. Checking to see the influx of text messages, you saw Katsuki Bakugou’s name fill up your lockscreen with notifications.

Bakugou: tell me you got the stupid fuckin invite too

Bakugou: the nerve that nerd still fuckin has

Bakugou: inviting his childhood ‘friends’ after all this time

Bakugou: tch, one big publicity stunt if you ask me

You chuckle as you scroll through the messages, gladly knowing that you weren’t the only one feeling this way.

Y/N: so what’re we going to do about it?

Bakugou: what do you mean?

Y/N: well we can’t show him up at his own wedding but we can sure stir something of our own

Bakugou: well that idiot is marrying some nobody extra

Bakugou: probably to show how ‘great’ he is

Bakugou: so how about if two top pro heroes rsvp’d together?

Y/N: you mean us?

Bakugou: no, midnight and grape juice. of course us you idiot

The idea brewed in your head for a moment. Izuku had always been nice when he was younger, and Katsuki hadn’t exactly been the nicest towards him in return. You were always the mediator in those situations. However when Deku grew and grew in the hero charts he started to lose touch with reality. Not really remembering what being a hero was about besides having his face stuck on a lunch box and raking in the dough for it. It was sad. You didn’t know who he was anymore.

Y/N: fuck it, i’m in

-

“You know, don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a tux before.” You chuckle, arm linked around Bakugou’s as you stepped out of the chauffeured car together. You were here to make a scene. Paparazzi glistened everywhere like a moth to a candle flame. You couldn’t wait for the tabloids in all honesty.

“Shut up.” Bakugou grumbled, almost in embarrassment. But his smile didn’t show a hint of it. “Not looking too bad yourself.”

You had coordinated well. Your maroon dress flowed in the gentle summer breeze and matched perfectly to Bakugou’s equally coloured tux. You two were such a pair it was nigh impossible to not think that you two were together today. And the paparazzi made sure of that indefinitely.

You couldn’t lie about how the service was beautiful, because it was. However you didn’t need to hear the shutter clicks of a camera go off every few words they spoke. It was distracting, and you and Bakugou shared a glance each time it occurred. Stifling a giggle, you hoped no camera would pick that up. Even if they did, they’d probably pin it to ‘look at these other heroes wishing that they were the next to get married!’ they’d eat that shit uplike ambrosia.

“Can’t wait to see the reception.” You mumbled towards Bakugou, your plastic smiles never fading for the cameras. Izuku making a show of himself and his new bride.

Watching him was almost bittersweet. The happy memories of you three as children flashing behind your eyes. Now replaced with a fame hungry number one hero. Where had all the time gone?

“What’s got you so perplexed?” Katsuki asked, filtering your way through the crowd, making your way to the cars that would deliver you all to the reception.

“Just-“ You sigh, allowing the cover of other heroes to hide you from the all seeing eyes of the paparazzi. “I miss him, y’know? Miss how we used to be.”

“Tch.” Bakugou didn’t care about the scowl present on his face, your words ate him up like some sort of bacteria. “Thought you said that he was the most selfish guy you’d ever dated?”

“He was but like-” You watched Izuku’s back as he held his new partner’s hand. Waving to the cameras and not watching her, as lovely as she looked in her wedding gown. “As weird as it sounds, I sometimes miss high school.”

Bakugou’s eyes scanned your face, following your eyesight to Midoriya. Fucking extra. The thoughts swam around his head, polluting his mind. He knew Izuku’s break up with you had been a massive toll on your mental health and your ego. He made you think that you weren’t good enough for him, and Bakugou never got over that fact. How could he pass up on you for anything else?

Breaking apart from the conglomerative of wedding-goers, Bakugou lead you to one of the specially hired cars to take the guests to the reception. Despite Bakugou’s abrasive and rough nature, you couldn’t help but notice how delicately he held your hand. Not tugging you along or haphazardly grabbing you by your wrist, making you follow him. No, his fingers interlaced with yours and you felt the coarseness of his palms due to the explosive nature of his quirk.

“Katsu?”

“Hm?”

“You can let go of my hand now, we’re in the car.”

“Yeah- whatever.”

Catching up in the car, you both realise how little time you have to actually spend with each other. Though you and Bakugou communicate 1000 times more than you do with Midoriya, heroing keeps you both busy. No times like these to goof off and be with each other. You missed it, you missed your hot-headed idiot friend.

“Hope there’s less fuckin’ paparazzi here. Think I’m gonna go blind with those extras pointing them in my face.” Bakugou rolled down the tinted window a smidge to watch as the car drove into an old looking manor hall where guests had already begun to arrive.

Flowers decorated the ground and just as you two got your hopes up, you saw a line of paparazzi at each side of the staircase leading to the double-doored entrance.

“Well, it was worth a try.” You remark to him, patting his back as you chuckled to him.

Bakugou was the first to exit, standing beside the door so he could reach for your hand to help you out while you fixed your dress. Just as the two of you began to reach for each other's arms to walk into the reception together; there was a brusque tug to your dress. Upon further inspection, a member of the shutterbugs had stood on a long section of your dress. Allowing himself to get pictures of it stretched out and flowy.

“Hey!” Bakugou didn’t waste time on pushing him off the tail end of the dress. “Try anything funny like that again with my girl and say goodbye to that shitty camera of yours!”

The man nodded, slowly letting his camera hang loose on his neck. The rest of the cameramen easily caught the scene but you both couldn’t care less. What’s a wedding without a little drama?

“Thanks Katsuki.” You note with a soft smile.

Bakugou’s hand tenderly makes its way around the small of your back until his arm is holding you close to him as you walk inside. His hand sitting in a caring way at your hip to assure that nothing could come between you both. You could not wait for the media to plaster this fake-ness on every outlet that they could! However, you liked the thought of relishing in the attention right now.

Once the dining festivities had come and gone. It was time for their first dance. Watching as he held her under the blue lighting had your heart hurting slightly. The thought that that could’ve been you. But Bakugou was right. He’s probably marrying some quirkless nobody not only to make himself look better, but being with another hero is messy. You both had media eyes on you; but… you couldn’t help but wonder how different your life would be like if Midoriya was how he used to be.

You didn’t even notice Bakugou’s eyes on you the whole time. Not wanting to waste a second of his eyesight on the show Izuku was putting on. You were a sight of your own. How could you not see that you deserved someone better? Someone like him. You always spoke about how everyone was under a facade when supporting Deku, but you never correlated that to yourself.

After a short while, others began to join in on the large dance floor. Perfectly spacious for all the famous faces and their egos. Bakugou’s hand traced down your arm until his hand clasped with yours, gently leading you to the floor yourselves.

“What’re you doing?”

“Come on, who’s to say we can’t have some fun too huh?”

Smiling at him, you followed his lead. His hand occupying your waist before pulling you in closer to his chest. Flowing with the music, you couldn’t help the cheesy smile on your face; nor the one that spread to Bakugou’s.

“Why’s no one ever tied down Mr. Ground Zero then?” Your question takes Bakugou by surprise, showing a small blip in your combined graceful swaying to the music.

“No ones good enough.” Such a Bakugou answer.

“You’re sounding like Izuku, but he probably got that from the old you.” You jested, earning an eye roll from Bakugou. “I’m being serious! Come on you can tell me.”

It takes him a moment to figure out an answer, so much so that he doesn’t focus on dancing anymore. He just stands there holding you before locking eyes again.

“Just haven’t found the right person to deal with my bullshit I guess.”

There’s a beat of silence and your eyes search his face for answers. You didn’t even realise how close you were to him. His breath fanning your face, the smell of oak and fire and burning sweetness engulfed your senses. You also didn’t realise how the two of you sank closer and closer into one another.

“Hey Kacchan, mind if I steal her from you?”

Izuku’s voice almost sends you two flying away from each other like same sides of a magnet.

“Ask her yourself she’s not mine.” You turn from Bakugou to give a friendly smile to Midoriya, allowing your hand to rest in his. “I’ll be at the bar. Free drinks and all.”

His answers are short, curt. Yet before you can ask him if he’s alright Deku spins you and begins to dance with you in his arms at the tempo of the new music track that’s playing.

“Long time no see Y/N!” His manner has always been so chipper, despite the facade of it all. Though Bakugou and you went there to purposefully to cause discourse; you don’t think you have it in you to be mean to Izuku’s face.

“Yeah, look at you! Married man now, must be scary.” You chuckle, almost nervously. It was like speaking to a stranger.

“Well I guess I’ll find out! But come on that’s been the subject of the whole day! I wanna know about you and Kacchan.” You felt like Bakugou right now, the old nickname boiling your blood as it did his. There was no doubt Izuku took influence from Bakugou and his fiery personality; but he took it in all the wrong ways. Using confidence to become cold, uncaring.

“Oh- haha, Katsuki and I aren’t-“

“Y/N. Don’t lie to me! I can see the way he’s burning holes in my tux from over here.”

Turning you to the music so you could face where Katsuki was standing, you peaked behind Midoriya’s arm to see Bakugou with an all too familiar scowl on his face. Chasing down a beverage in a crystalline glass in one easy gulp.

“If you ask me Midoriya he’s always looked at you that way.” You laugh your statement off but you meant it with malice.

“Midoriya? Feeling formal today are we Y/N?” He had completely lost touch of who he used to be. “I used to look at you like that when I saw you with other guys, I know what that look is.”

His comment stops you dead in your tracks, not allowing for him to swing you to and fro to the music.

“Actually Midoriya I don’t even remember you looking me with jealous intent other than when I was higher than you on the hero charts.” Shaking yourself free from his towering position on you, you stormed off to the patio doors, letting yourself be eaten by the oncoming darkness of night.

Crying at your ex’s wedding. Not something you’d think you’d ever do in your lifetime but here you were. Thankfully you couldn’t see any reporters or such outside so for now, it was just you and your tears. Maybe you were too harsh on him? You used to be friends right? What happened to that kid who wanted to be a hero who you looked up to? What happened to the boyfriend you had who kissed you goodnight and ignored you when your face was on the TV more than him or snapped at you when he was announced lower than you and broke up with you because ‘heroes dating are messy!’ No. Bakugou was right. He was a self-righteous bastard now.

“Y/N?”

You half expected Midoriya to come out after you but he was probably entertaining other guests. Luckily, as you turned you saw Bakugou standing outside with you, signature hands in his pockets with a dumb, sympathetic smirk on his face.

“Hey.”

“I promise I didn’t punch that asshole at his own wedding but I can tell you he got a fuckin’ earful from me. Hope the paps got a good pic.” His tone was joking but it hadn’t cracked a smile from you yet.

“S’alright. Wouldn’t give two shits if you did.” You sniffled, collecting mascara tears on your fingers and wiping them on the decorative concrete bannisters of the balcony. “Shouldn’t’ve fucking come. This was stupid I have too much baggage for this shit.”

You turned away from him, allowing yourself to lean out on the barrier, looking into the distance on the warm night. You could hear Bakugou give a small sigh before his arms snuck around your waist, pulling your back into his chest before placing a chaste kiss on the top of your head.

“That fuckin’ idiot didn’t know what he lost and it’s my fault for influencin’ him.” The pain in his voice was evident. Did Bakugou blame himself for the hurt Midoriya caused you?

“Katsu-“

“No. That extra is so blinded by the shit everyone has to say that he’s forgotten what real life is. Doesn’t care about his stupid fans or his friends or the best most understanding girl in the whole fucking world. A girl I know does the best for everyone no matter what her own situation is.” You turn around to face him, not wanting to leave his embrace. “Y/N. No matter how much I’ve always wanted to fuckin’ win I’ve just wanted the best for you. And when that bastard did what he did to you- I- fuck. You look at him, like you’re waiting for him to just notice you; but every time I see you it’s like I’m seeing you set the stars in the sky every fuckin night. You just- you’re fuckin’ everything to me Y/N.”

It was completely silent on the balcony besides the low thump of the music from indoors, but it was deafening. But it all faded when his lips attached to yours. It was so clear. All that pining over Midoriya when he was just copying the one who actually saw you for who you were. He even copied Bakugou’s crush on you, most likely to make him jealous. But your mind had no time to think of that when all you could feel was Bakugou.

It was like you had never been kissed before, never felt the love and sensuality behind it. Soft and moist but breathy and warm. For once Bakugou didn’t wish to win a battle, he wanted unity and to be together with you. His hands danced over the delicate curves of you in your dress; taking in every inch of your perfect body. The gasp that fell from your mouth was perfect entrance for Bakugou’s tongue to mingle with yours. The sparks hot and electric between you both was like liquid lightning.

Just as your hands found home in his hair, you heard the all too familiar sound of today of a photo being taken. Bakugou is the first to break the kiss to find the intruder of your special moment. Your lips already feel blushed and bruised but your heart was nearly pounding out your chest.

“Fuckin’ print that in your gossip magazine you extra!” Bakugou couldn’t help but heartily laugh at the man as he shook with worry after catching the intimate moment. He wanted to show you off. He wasn’t ashamed that his lips had captured you to be his.

“Let’s go somewhere more private.” He whispers into your ear and you eagerly nod, grasping his one hand with your two as the both of you manouvered your way through the wedding guests until you finally found a small closet down a hallway where no one from the party had entered.

Slamming the door shut behind you, your eyes drank in Bakugou’s frame. How had you missed that small boy you once knew had now become this beefy, beautiful man? Who was looking at you with the same awe and intent? Bakugou cornered you against the door of the supply closet, latching his lips together with yours once again as if he was scared he’d never be able to taste you again.

“You’re fuckin’ perfect.” Katsuki’s lips mashed with yours as his hands slid up your dress, the coarseness of his fingers against your soft skin sending shivers down your spine.

All those years of being a hero really showed on Bakugou, he lifted you with ease as your fingers traced scars on the back of his neck; holding on for support. His hips pin you against the door and you feel his cock hardening between the fabric of your underwear and his suit pants, you can’t help the whimper escaping your lips at the friction of him.

Bakugou’s hands slip under the straps of your dress, letting them fall delicately to your sides as his lips ensnare yours. His grunts and your whimpers enough to make any passerby know what was going on in the confined space of the closet. His fingers glide beneath the dress which allowed it to fall further as Bakugou felt the weight of your breasts in his palms.

“God you’re fucking everything princess.” His fingers slide beneath the lacy fabric to thumb your nipples, perking and tugging it with his forefinger.

Breaking the kiss, his head lowers to encapsulate the bud in his mouth. Gently suckling it before rolling it feverishly between his teeth. Your hands snaking through his hair only spurring the assault on your supple flesh. Biting your lip to stop the obvious moans that were threatening to spill out of your mouth. You swore you could see stars as his tongue flicked against the pointed nub- sending your nerves wild.

“Bet that fucking extra never treated you like this baby.” He matched your height, his gaze never leaving your own as he took both of your tits out of your bra; kneading the flesh and buds of your nipples as he spoke. “Just wanted to get himself off, I know how to fuckin’ treat you right.”

“Then do it… Kacchan.” You spoke with such gusto in your breathy state, knowing that the old nickname would make him see red. And god did it send him feral.

His body pressed you further into the door, even if it felt like he couldn’t. The aching feel of his cock rubbing against your clothed core made you mewl in want of him. His fingers slid beneath the hem of your dress and made little pricking motions into your inner thighs until he traced a slit over your panties.

“Shit you’re fucking wet.” The pads of his fingers kneading against where you wanted him most, a chuckle falling his lips as your hips did their best to try and get any sort of relief.

“Katsuki please- please fuck oh my god-“ Your neck craned back as you felt your body take control. The low growl in Bakugou’s throat at the sight of you barely touched and already begging for him.

Tracing his fingers along your décolletage he stopped when he met your parted lips before roughly shoving his fingers in your mouth, pressing down the body of your tongue.

“Please please please-“ Katsuki mocked. “Please what princess? Better use your fuckin’ words or else.”

An insufferable smirk played upon his lips as he felt your cunt clench around nothing at his dirty words. Pulling his fingers from your mouth, he wiped the remnants of your spit across your tits; awaiting for your response.

“Fuck me Katsuki- please you’re all I want. God you’re all I need.” Although said in your aroused state. You meant it- and he knew that.

Not wasting any more of the precious time you two had before you were inevitably found out considering your blatant disregard for being quiet; Bakugou used his hand to tug off his belt. Nearly setting his suit pants on fire as his quirk crackled in anticipation for you.

Your body clung to Bakugou’s for support, his whole body easily keeping your pinned high between himself and the door. Once his lower half was sufficiently stripped, it was easy enough for him to rip the sides of your underwear off.

“Katsu-“

“Shut up.”

Not wanting to disagree; you did. Hips bucking against nothing as the cool air prickled at your hot cunt. Bakugou held his manhood in his hand, rubbing the head of it in your slick and providing stimulation to your clit. Your thighs tightening around his waist like a vice grip at the well needed attention.

“You’re fuckin’ soaking baby. So needy.” Bakugou mumbled against your neck, allowing himself and you to get off momentarily at the friction. You could only nod to his words which were making you more and more wet for him. He was such a tease.

“Come on princess. Tell me you want my cock. Tell me.” His voice growled as he repeated himself, leaving marks upon your nape that would surely bruise because of his harsh bites and sucklings.

“Katsuki I need you- only you. Only you.” Your repetition is barely a whisper but he heard it, and despite his rough nature Bakugou confines your lips in a kiss as he sheaths himself inside of you.

Taking a few slow thrusts to allow yourself to adapt to his size, it’s only a moment before Bakugou completely bottoms out inside of you. He watches your face shiver in pleasure which he mirrors. He clasps your hips so firmly his knuckles turn white; it didn’t even hurt as all you could focus on was him inside you. Your hands find their way to his biceps, gripping on for some tension relief and you could still feel his muscles flex even beneath his suede blazer and the shirt.

“What a good fuckin’ girl, taking my cock like this.” Bakugou’s voice is a low growl as he thrusts into you, the sounds of your clothes brushing against one another and the slaps of your skin interacting was like a sinful symphony.

The smell of caramel danced in your brain as Bakugou worked up a sweat absolutely pummeling himself into your sex. You grasped onto him as if your life depended on it, moaning into his neck as his cock slid in and out of you. You didn’t even know how much time was passing as he rutted himself into you relentlessly- yet as you both came to your highs, you could both barely move from the thrill of it all.

Steadying your breaths back to a regular pace; Bakugou slid you down from where he had pinned you against the door and let you fix yourself as he then did himself. You sorted your dress and pulled any tugs from your hair when he had pulled it before slapping Bakugou’s arm.

“You dick! You ripped my underwear!”

“Hot.” He chuckled, fixing his belt loops and stuffing the ripped panties into his pocket.

“Not funny! I’m not parading about with no underwear on!”

“We’re getting the fuck out of this extras stupid wedding. You can wear my clothes at my place.” Suitably sorted and not looking like you had just had the brains fucked out of you in a closet (despite the reddening bites and bruises that were now appearing on your neck), Bakugou held you close. Yet instead of taking the corridor to the exit, he was leading you back to the main dance hall.

“Where’re we going?” You hashly whispered to Bakugou, your thighs still wet from your slick and the cool air against your unclothed pussy making you heat up from embarrassment.

“Gots to do one thing before we go.” There’s a shit eating grin on his face, you couldn't help but wonder what on earth he was planning now.

Midoriya stood talking to other heroes all dressed in their formal attire and Bakugou (with no consideration of their conversation) roughly tapped his shoulder to get his immediate attention. His arm around your waist was so tight but being see with Bakugou like this made you feel almost proud.

“We’re just heading off.” Bakugou had replaced his smile for his usual scowl, something he had always looked at Izuku with.

“Going so soon? It’ll be a shame you guys!” Izuku’s voice was plastered in falsehood. He probably regretted trying to gloat over you two. Bakugou held out his hand for Midoriya to shake it, your brows furrowed on what was obviously a stepping stone to Bakugou’s plan.

“I know I might not be better at you right now in the hero charts.”

Uh oh.

“I’m glad you’ve finally come to recognise that Kaccha-“

“But I am better at you at something for sure.”

Bakugou used Midoriya’s hand in his to pull him closer, readying himself to whisper in his ear.

“Cause I just fucked the shit out of your ex-girlfriend and I know you never made her come as hard as I did.”

Your face burned with the heat of a million suns, but the glower on Izuku’s face was priceless. And you couldn’t help but see the flash of a camera capture the moment as Bakugou’s hand fell from his and slipped once again around your waist.

[strixop]

cw // bhna 362 manga spoilers, possible character death

ok!!! i have a long, loooong time theory i’ve been meaning to speak about on this blog, and even one of the reasons i started this blog, and with 362 it’s getting more relevant than ever.

call it a sin, but i haven’t watched that much of the subtitled version of bhna seasons 1-4, and it’s been a while since i saw seasons five- i watched it when it was released, and have yet to rewatch it, in favor of the manga.

so i can’t comment as much on the japanese va’s and roles, and i also haven’t reread most any of the early chapters in the manga. but, the english dub of the early seasons, present mic (and occasional aizawa) have been the ones to voiceover and explain peoples quirks. sometimes it’s in a scenario at that current moment (ex. aizawa explaining class 1-As quirks to blood king s5 ep1) but more often than not it’s apparent that it’s just them talking to the viewer.

more than this, when the shows opening plays, deku speaks in the past tense. “when i was young i realized that all men are not created equal” blah blah blah, whatever, we just know that he said that pretty often throughout the show (probably to keep viewer retention, but whatever).

nevertheless, he speaks in past tense. that might not mean anything on surface level, and yeah, it might just be a inner monologue, but why would he say this? besides typical tv purposes, whenever he reflects during the story, he never speaks this way. he thinks of supporting roles, or moments of significance up to his current action, not that he wasn’t equal. so that implies further, complete reflection. we haven’t seen him do that, not really.

honestly, when i had this idea i hadn’t really thought about it past surface level fluff, but then i started reading more tumblr analysis. (unfortunately i lost the blog that made this post, but thank you, op!!)

there was a specific post that caught my eye, speaking about the toga confession chapter. this has been touched on by a lot of people, but there’s a specific log of dialogue that sounds suspiciously like bakugou.

“because for all his triumphs, he was still just a damned nerd.”

that got me thinking, even more. the fact of the matter is, bakugou is one of, if not the only characters to say something like this. “damned nerd”, has both damned and nerd in it, both words bakugou very frequently uses.

though i was more convinced, i let it stew. until bam. 362. besides the obvious whiplash, i basically drowned myself in tumblr posts, until i came across this post.

https://chandralia.tumblr.com/post/691959313676304384/why-does-it-sound-like-both-deku-and-bakugo-are

in other words, it sounds as if bakugou & midoriya are narrating, and that is why im writing this now.

ladies and gentlemen, i believe that bhna is narrated podcast style.

because honestly? it makes sense!!

all of these people, these prominent characters working together to tell the story of the worlds greatest hero. to say that deku isn’t just another all might, and that greatness isn’t born from lucky circumstances and no self preservation. to say that someone “worth nothing” can show their worth.

and it would make more sense!! present mic literally has a radio show, aizawa is literally one of his mentors, and bakugou is his kacchan, his other half. if you ship them or not is your opinion, but regardless of subjectivity, they hold a bond indescribable compared to almost any other character, canonically.

yeah it might just be because i’m obsessed with the image of them all in a recording studio, and yeah it might be that i refuse to accept the possibility that katsuki might be dead, but if there’s even a chance that something like this could be a possibility i will not stop speaking about it.

if all of this is just brainrot, so be it, but it would be so inspiring to see something like this, and would be huge for such a popular and such an iconic shoujo manga to pursue something like this, and hey, that would be amazing for a future au!! :)

[toweroftickles]

Reimagined Tickling #1

Prince of Egypt/Breath of the Wild

Ok, so, let me explain real quick. Haha I've got a ton of requests that I'm working on right now...more Ghibli stories, Digimon, Balan Wonderworld, etc. But in the midst of all that I had this idea and just wanted to write it out really quick. A lot of times when I see a tickling scene in a movie or TV show, I imagine how fun it would be to see other characters in those same situations. You know, like "Oh I wanna see X character get tickled like that." So I thought I'd try writing a few drabbles where I'll take a famous tickle scene and reinterpret it with new characters in new settings.

Now, as I've said before on this blog, one of my favorite tickle scenes ever is the one from The Prince of Egypt. XDDD

So I thought for my first one, I'd do a variant on this scene with...

Link...

...and some lovely Gerudo women. ;)

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

With an eardrum-splitting rumble, the massive Molduga burst through the sand and knocked Link high into the air.

On the urging of Riju, the young hero had gone deep into the sands of Gerudo Desert to slay the great beast, which had been ransacking nearby settlements, gorging itself on collected fruits. Nothing he couldn’t handle. But this Molduga in particular was proving to be a challenge. As he thrust his spear into its underside, it rose to its full height, snapping its jaws, and yanked him up with it. But he knew better than to give up. Plunging his weapon further into the monster’s underbelly, he ripped it open from chin to groin, sliding down it and leaving a gash in his wake.

Link returned to the sand below in triumph and watched as the enormous monster crashed down into the dunes.

And then he was hit.

Stinking green and purple goo burst from the Molduga’s ventral wound and splattered Link from head to foot. Viscera and corkscrew-shaped innards sloughed off his arms and into the sand.

Great. Just perfect.

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

Link sputtered when a cauldron of water spilled out on his head. Strings of golden hair flattened down into his eyes, until one Gerudo woman aggressively pushed them out of the way with a soapy rag across his forehead.

This was so embarrassing. He was trapped in the Hotel Oasis’ spa area, stripped down to his trunks, and reluctantly allowing some Gerudo women to scrub him clean. (Again, at Riju’s insistence. She even paid for the deluxe spa treatment herself.) Romah, her assistant Olu, and one other pirate lady were wringing out sponges, dunking them into clay bowls and vigorously scrubbing the blood from their Champion’s body. In the midst of these women…unnaturally tall, muscular, dark-skinned beauties with flaming hair…Link’s average height and pale skin stood out quite a bit. Sometimes the girls had to kneel down to bathe him.

His ears grew hot with embarrassment and he felt the color of his face going pink. One of the sponges grazed his dripping arm; its texture was rough and unpleasant. His near-nudity didn’t help matters. Bubbles covered him all over.

“Um…blah! Hng…uh…l-ladies, really, I can do this myself…” he stammered.

Link looked down and gasped – one of the Gerudo ladies had grabbed his right ankle and lifted his foot off the ground. He couldn’t bring himself to speak in protest, but the woman’s warm, rough sponge scrubbed frothing bubbles against his bare sole. His whole body wiggled.

“Wait…no…Heh! Heh-Heh Heheh!” Link couldn’t stop himself from giggling.

“Uh-oh, girls; I think this voe’s a little bit ticklish,” laughed the woman scrubbing his foot.

“Yes, we can tell,” Romah replied with a sly smile. Link felt his arm lift, and another sponge struck his abs. It scrubbed and scrubbed and caused involuntary spasms below his ribcage.

“Heh-Heh Ha! Hngk! Hh-Heh! Heh-Heh Ha-Ha Ha-Ha!” the boy hero laughed helplessly. It was already difficult enough for him to speak to other people, but these girls…giggling at him, teasing him, all of them half-naked and with him forced to stand there laughing…there was nothing he could do. He wanted to beg them to stop but the words wouldn’t come.

“Awww, cootchie cootchie coo!” Olu was so excited, teasing Link mercilessly as she scrubbed his armpit. The woman beneath him had allowed his right foot to drop to the ground, still wet, and had moved on to tickling his left. He jumped in place in a way that told her, much to her amusement, that she’d found his weak spot.

“Heh-Heh Ha-Ha! H-Heh! Gkhn! L-heh…ladies, pl-hease, I really…Heh-Heh Heh-Ha Ha!”

“Ooo, he’s so cute when he laughs,” the girl giggled and batted her eyelashes at him.

“I like how muscular you’ve gotten, Link,” flirted Romah.

“He looks like a squirmy little boy…”

Link couldn’t take anymore. It was unbearable. His entire face had gone red, his whole body trembled. Wet sponges and rags dragged soap over his arms, his tummy, his back, his feet.

“Heh-Ha Ha! Please, you’ve cleaned every inch of me…”

Or so he thought. Olu, in the midst of all their cooing and playing with him, decided to get a little bit too friendly for Link’s comfort, and he felt a sponge scrubbing his inner thigh. He almost leapt out of his skin. It tickled, but that wasn’t his primary concern.

“WAH!! I…I…uh…” the Hylian boy stammered, blushing profusely.

Outside the spa room, peering in from behind a curtain, Riju, Urbosa, and Zelda were all covering their mouths to stifle their giggling. They were a little nervous that Link would notice them, but the slight trepidation was a more than worthy price of admission.

It was another few minutes before the impromptu bathing session ended. Link was left standing there, still soaked to the bone and covered in suds, when Romah doused him with another pitcher of warm springwater and threw a towel around him. The other Gerudo ladies tried to look like they hadn’t enjoyed themselves too much as they sauntered out.

“Don’t worry, I won’t stay to watch you change,” Romah winked at him.

Link lowered his face into the towel, hoping to hide his embarrassment. Between the laughter, the tickling, and the humiliation, Link’s heart was beating so fast he’d barely been able to breathe for 10 minutes.

With one last playful chuckle, the Hotel proprietor finally left him be.

Sooo, what do you think? If you've got any ideas for this, ie "put this character I like in the tickle machine from BNHA" or something, I'd love to hear them.

[parismystere]

Hoping that the finale (or maybe season five if the whole thing about season four having a shocking/sad ending is to be believed) will have a point of showing that no matter how many people she recruits by her side she can’t replace her actual partner, who was all she needed all along. The other half. Maybe predictable, but I really do miss when it was just the two of them as well.

oh, anon, how do i answer thee without being salty (sal-thee?).

if you had asked me this summer (i mean. this blog didn't exist this summer, but moving on), i would have said that's exactly what's going on and what the show is trying to do with the rena storyline. i would have subscribed to the popular theory that chat blanc caused the rift in their relationship. i would have told you to keep an eye on the end of the season, perhaps even the 100th episode. well. what can i say, i love clowning.

remember when the script leaks for 'ephemeral' came out, and all of us thought that since ladybug needs only his cataclysm, then maybe that's a sign that there would be a ladynoir fallout, or that adrien is so hurt that he refuses to show up to akuma fights, blah blah? welp. that came and went.

hm, my controversial opinion is that perhaps ml just isn't the show we signed up for anymore, and it's up to people to decide if they want to keep up with it and enjoy the ride, or move on. because let me tell you, i've been seeing bits of s1 episodes the past few days, and the difference is staggering. i don't blame anyone for not liking ml anymore.

i'm just personally saddened about it, i guess, because, once again, ladynoir supremacy, and because to me ml is losing its charm, kind of. growing up, i had all the female protagonists i could want. i refused to watch things without girls in them. i had the superhero teams, the trios, and so on. what i didn't have was a cartoon whose sole point was the romance, because i was desperate for romance for at an early age, and children's shows didn't expand on that front, or relegated the romance to a subplot for a few episodes here and there. so ml felt revolutionary for me, because, holy shit, it's a CARTOON and its whole plot is ROMANTIC LOVE??? where was this when i was a kid??? and they'd be super daring with the ladynoir flirting, them falling on top of each other and other visual cues and so on, once again, WHERE WAS THIS??? i love it so much. it's exactly what little me needed and would have loved.

but what's the point in including the fifty-eleven superheroes, the ginormous cast of side characters and so on, if the idea is that they have to be discarded in the final season for... what? for ladynoir to triumph stronger than ever? they were already as strong as it's possible. and i just dislike it because it turns into your run-of-the-mill superhero show. the idea of the franchise, the 328718349 miracle boxes, the american superheroes and fei, whose existence i blocked out, isn't my tempo, and idk. i don't know if anybody even watches ml for that stuff, since the love square is the drawing point of the show, and maybe the agreste mysteries keep some of us occupied.

i understand that they wanted to make ladybug the leader (idk how you can be a leader of a partnership, but what do i know, please, astruc, tell me how i'm a dumb woman again) and make her the central character in the show, and that's fine. the yin and yang thing is for purely aesthetic purposes, it seems like. but at this point... what is the difference between chat noir and the other heroes, in terms of powers? ladybug is the only one essential. chat noir's cataclysm is usually seen as a hindrance in battles with sentimonsters. the bee can actually freeze them. i don't think that people were overdramatic about rena this summer, because she also has one power only like chat noir, but was allowed to showcase this strategic acumen that chat never did, except maybe in 'miracle queen'.

i think that either the show doesn't know what it wants to be, or it started as one thing, and is going to end up as another. i'm going to refrain from judgement because, hey, i do try to be a graceful person and i do have a lot of hope, but i'm also a lil wary of how things are going, and i hope nobody misconstrues this as me being salty. i think i'm just confused with what the idea is.

[back-and-totheleft]

‘There’s still a presence out there reminding people not to speak about JFK’s killing’

Oliver Stone is not a fan of “cancel culture”. “Of course I despise it,” the Oscar winning filmmaker says, as if utterly amazed that anyone needs to ask him such a dumb question. “I am sure I’ve been cancelled by some people for all the comments I’ve made…. it’s like a witch hunt. It’s terrible. American censorship in general, because it is a declining, defensive, empire, it (America) has become very sensitive to any criticism. What is going on in the world with YouTube and social media,” he rants. “Twitter is the worst. They’ve banned the ex-President of the United States. It’s shocking!” he says, referring to Donald Trump’s removal from the micro-blogging platform.

It’s a Saturday lunchtime in the restaurant of the Marriott Hotel on the Croisette in Cannes. The American director is in town for the festival premiere this week of his new feature documentary JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass, in which he yet again pores over President John F Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963.

“I am a pin cushion for American-Russian peace relations… I had four f***ing vaccines: two Sputniks and two Pfizers,” Stone gestures at his arm. The rival super-powers may remain deeply suspicious of one another, but Stone is loading himself up with potions from both sides of the old Iron Curtain.

He has recently been travelling in Russia (hence the Sputnik jabs) where he has been making a new documentary about how nuclear power can save humanity. He also recently completed a film about Kazakhstan’s former president Nursultan Nazarbayev which – like his interviews with Vladimir Putin – has been roundly ridiculed for its deferential, softly-softly approach toward a figure widely regarded as a ruthless despot.

Dressed in a blue polo shirt, riffing away about the English football team one moment and his favourite movies the next, laughing constantly, the 74-year-old Oscar-winning director of Platoon, Wall Street, Natural Born Killers et al is a far cheerier presence than his reputation as a purveyor of dark conspiracy thrillers might suggest. He is also very outspoken. For all his belligerence, though, Stone isn’t as thick-skinned as you might imagine. I wonder if he was hurt by the scorn that came his way when his feature film JFK was released in 1991.

“I was more of a younger man. It was painful to me,” the director sighs as he remembers being attacked by such admired figures as newscaster Walter Cronkite and Hollywood power broker Jack Valenti for listening to the “hallucinatory bleatings” of former New Orleans DA Jim Garrison when JFK came out. “It was quite shocking actually because I thought the murder was behind us. I did think there was a feeling that 30 years later, we can look at this thing again without getting excited. But I was way wrong.”

Garrison, of course, was the real-life figure portrayed by Kevin Costner in the film; he was the original proponent of the theory that the CIA were involved in the killing of the US president, after his 1966 investigation. Garrison wrote the book On the Trail of the Assassins, on which the movie was partly based.

Even the director’s fiercest detractors will find it hard to dismiss the evidence he has assembled about the JFK assassination in the new documentary. Once I’d seen it and heard him hold forth, I came away thinking that only flat-earthers can possibly still believe that Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy all on his own. It’s that convincing.

Stone blitzes you with facts and figures about the Kennedy killing and its aftermath. At times, he himself seems to be suffering from information overload. “I am sorry. There are so many people,” he apologises for not immediately remembering the name of Kennedy’s personal physician, George Burkley, who was present both at Parkland Hospital, where Kennedy was first taken, and then at Bethesda, where the autopsy took place. Burkley was strangely reticent when giving evidence to the Warren Commission.

“I think there’s still a presence out there which reminds people not to speak. I’ve heard that in, of all places, Russia,” Stone says. He was startled to discover that the Russians knew all about his new documentary long before it was discussed in the mainstream press. “They said, ‘We heard about it.’ I said, ‘How?’ They said, ‘We have our contacts in the American intelligence business. They are not very happy about it.’”

Stone believes that no US president since Kennedy died has been “able to go up against this militarised sector of our economy”. Even Trump “backed down at the last second” and declined to release all the relevant documents relating to the assassination. “He announced, ‘I’m going to free it up, blah blah blah, big talk, and then a few hours before, he caved to CIA National Security again.”

The veteran filmmaker expresses his frustrations at historians like Robert Caro, author of a huge (and hugely respected) multi-volume biography of President Lyndon Johnson, for ignoring the evidence that has been turned up about the assassination.

“I can’t say [LBJ] was involved in the assassination,” explains Stone, “but it certainly suited him that Kennedy was not there anymore and he covered up by appointing the Warren Commission and doing all the things he did.”

Stone tried to cast Marlon Brando in JFK in the role as the deep throat source Mr X, eventually played by Donald Sutherland.

“I realise now I am grateful that he turned it down because he knew better than I that he would make 20 minutes out of that 14-minute monologue and it wouldn’t have worked.”

Nevertheless, he filled the film with famous faces. He thought that having familiar actors would make it easier for audiences to engage with what was an immensely complicated story.

Getting Stone to stop talking about JFK is like trying to pull a bone from a mastiff’s jaws. To change the subject slightly, I ask if he is still in touch with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. He is and is utterly horrified at how Assange is being treated, especially given that Siggi the Hacker, a key witness in the extradition case against Assange, admitted recently that he lied. Stone praises Assange’s partner Stella Morris as “the best wife you could ever have. She really is smart, she’s a lawyer … he has two children. He can’t even touch them or see them. It’s barbaric. It indicates America is declining faster than we know. It is just cutting off dissent.”

The mood lightens when I invite Stone to discuss some of his favourite films. He recently tweeted a list of these, which included Darling starring Julie Christie, Joseph Losey’s Eva starring Stanley Baker and Jeanne Moreau, and Houseboat, a frothy comedy starring Cary Grant and Sophia Loren. “I love films, always have. People don’t know that side of me. I could go on forever.”

Between his darker and more contentious efforts, Stone has made a few genre films himself, for example the underrated thriller U-Turn starring Sean Penn and Jennifer Lopez. He notes, though, that even when he tried a sports movie, he ended up right back in the firing line. The NFL was furious about his 1999 American Football film, Any Given Sunday. “They (the NFL) are arrogant, very rich people who close down any dissent, so I had to change uniforms and names… but they got the point.”

Last year, Stone published the first volume of his autobiography, Chasing the Light, which took him from childhood up to his Oscar triumph with Platoon. It was well received but it didn’t make nearly a big enough splash for his liking. “There was a curtain of silence about that. Maybe it is Covid… it was not reviewed by many people,” he says. “I wish the timing had been better. The publisher was terrible. They didn’t really promote anything. So now I have to start over again if I am going to do a second book, which I would love to do. But I have to find the right publisher.”

The book contains a barbed account of Stone’s experiences as a young screenwriter working in London for British director Alan Parker and producer David Puttnam on Midnight Express. “I wrote about it in the book, so you got my point of view. They were not very friendly people. I gave my criticism of Parker that he had a chip on his shoulder. He was from a poor side of the English. There is this phenomenon you see in England of hating the upper classes until they approve of you.”

No, they didn’t stay in touch. “And Puttnam is a Lord, right? He reminds me of Tony Blair. He is such a weasel.” For once, Stone feels he has overstepped the mark. He doesn’t want to call Puttnam a weasel after all. “Put it this way, Tony Blair is a weasel. I wouldn’t trust Tony Blair. Puttnam is a supporter of Blair. Let’s leave it at that.”

On matters English, he isn’t that keen on soccer either. He watched the semi-final between England and Denmark but had no intention of tuning into the final.

“Soccer is a different kind of game. It’s a different aesthetic. It is constant movement. The United States game allows you to re-group after every play and go into a huddle and so it becomes about strategy. I still enjoy it although people think I am brutal.”

Ask him why he so relishes American Football and he replies that he “grew up with violence in America … we were banging – cowboys and Indians, a lot of killing and that stuff. How do you get away from that? We weren’t playing with dolls.”

Stone’s feelings about the US are deeply ambivalent. He is old enough to remember a time in the late 1940s and early 1950s when “everything in America was golden” and part of him still seems to love the country but his mother was French and he talks about the US as a nation now in near terminal decline.

Perhaps surprisingly, his real political hero isn’t JFK. It’s the former President of France, Charles de Gaulle. “He said no to NATO and he said no to America. He understood the dangers of being a satellite country to America. You have no power in Europe. Don’t kid yourself. The EU is just an artificial body that was amazingly stupid in cutting off Russia and cutting off China too now.”

He doesn’t much like Boris Johnson either. “Boris, listen. He’d simply throw you in jail in a second.” He rails against the English for holding Assange in Belmarsh prison.

When he is not on a crusade or unravelling a conspiracy, Stone relaxes through Buddhist meditation. “Moderation in all things,” the man who came up with the phrase “greed is right, greed works” says with no evident sense of irony. He enjoys hanging out with his friends. “I have a nice life. I’m lucky,” he says before quickly adding, “I wish I had been more honoured and respected in my lifetime, but it seems that I took a course that is in conflict with the American Empire.”

Stone’s films have had relatively few strong female characters. Ask if he welcomes the #MeToo movement and the challenging of old gender norms and he gives a typically contrary answer. “It cuts both ways, though. There are reasons for patriarchy through the centuries,” he says. “Tribes tend to have a strong leader. You need strong leaders, but I do see the feminine impulse as being important, especially when situations become too militant. The feminine impulse, I’m talking about the maternal impulse not the Hillary Clinton/Margaret Thatcher version of feminism. They’re men. They’re not women,” he says. “I don’t want women in politics who want to be men. If a woman is a woman, she should be a woman and bring her maternalism. It’s a leavening influence.”

The director deplores the rush to judge historical figures about past misdeeds from a contemporary point of view. “I am conservative in that way… don’t expect to rejudge the entire society based on your new values.”

He met with Harvey Weinstein in Cannes a few years ago to discuss a potential Guantanamo Bay TV series. “At that point, maybe he knew he was on the ropes; he was delightfully charming and humble.” The project was scuppered by the scandal that that engulfed the former Miramax boss, who is now behind bars as a convicted sex offender. Stone’s gripes with Weinstein are less to do with his sexual offences than with the way that he attacked films like Born on the Fourth of July and Saving Private Ryan to boost his own movies.

“The press loved him [Weinstein]. Don’t forget, they loved him in the 1990s,” he says, remembering the disingenuous way in which Weinstein portrayed himself as the underdog taking on the big, bad Hollywood system.

“I think he robbed Cruise of the Oscar, frankly,” Stone huffs at the intensive Weinstein lobbying which saw Daniel Day-Lewis win the Academy Award for Best for My Left Foot, denying Tom Cruise for Born on the Fourth of July in the process.

Stone acknowledges his status in Hollywood has diminished. “All that’s gone. The people have changed,” he says of the days when the studios doted on him and his films were regularly awards contenders. Now, he’ll often finance his work out of Europe. He is developing a new feature film (he won’t say what it is). “Never say die, never say it’s over,” he says of his career.

Stone is based in Los Angeles and also has “a place in New York”. During the pandemic, he still managed to travel to Russia to make his nuclear power/clean energy documentary. “I got my shots over there because the EU is so f***ing stupid,” he says of the of the Europeans’ refusal to recognise the Sputnik vaccine. “It’s ridiculous, part of the political madness of this time.”

Now, he is putting all his energy into his new documentary about nuclear power. He waves away the idea that the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters show what can go wrong – they were accidents.

“Accidents you learn from. If there were not a few crashes, how would you fly?” he says. It’s a line that somehow seems to express his entire philosophy of life.

-Geoffrey Macnab interviews Oliver Stone, The Independent, Jul 15 2021 [x]

[escapereality2002]

Challenge’s Accepted

A/N: The inspiration came from the JPN server event: SMASH SMASH SMASH! It’s when MANKAI Company did a sentai (superhero) themed play! There’s no Main’s or the event’s story spoiler, only Azami’s appearance if you haven’t read Act 6. Details of this idea is on different post~ 

“Blooming Sentai Mankai Rangers!”

Enthusiasm permeates the air through kids’ shouts and cheers. They rejoiced for Mankai Rangers’ victory over Evil Bear’s recent exploits. Parents who stood on the back gave pleased smiles and clapped along. It was another successful show for the Mankai Rangers. 

Among the parents standing were several MANKAI members on stand by as backstage crew. Kazunari was checking on the video camera and Yuki was muttering to himself about the costumes. Citron was talking animatedly with a person from the neighborhood association, and Sakyo was discussing the acting part of the show with Tsumugi and Izumi.

“Even with a small stage, they manage to make an impact on their entry. Azami’s landing and Tsuzuru’s slide did give a glimpse of their rangers personality.” Izumi commented.

“I agree with you, Director. Even in a short time, you can already imagine what type of ranger they are. They also manage to position themselves well, so the children can easily see all of them.” Tsumugi added.

“While Bon’s ranger has a smug in their personality, he still needs to slip one smile or two. It could show his smugness and satisfaction in defeating the villain. Good thing he smiled on the final pose.” Sakyo, arms crossed on his chest, pointed out.

The brown haired woman mused, “You really paid attention to Azami’s performance, huh, Sakyo-san?”

“He’s still low in stage experience, so we have to give input to him every time he stands on the stage.”

“Ahaha, that’s typical you, Sakyo-san. Still looking out for him on every chance that you have.”

“Ah? What are you saying, Tsukioka?”

“Hey hey! Let’s take a picture with everybody!” Kazunari, who has changed the video camera with Omi’s camera on the tripod, voiced his idea to the crowd.

“Okay! Let’s go everyone! Kazunari-kun, please arrange our positions!”

“Yeah, you got it, Director-chan~ OK, c’mon kids! Make two lines in front of the rangers! Hey! Yeah, you, Miss! Yeah you! It’s okay, you can be in the picture too! OK, let’s see...ah, you, boy with a blue shirt please...”

~*****~*****~*****~*****~*****~*****~*****~*****~*****~

When the audience began to disperse, the MANKAI members gathered on the back stage.

“You did great, Tasuku! I already took some notes like you asked.”

“Thanks, Tsumugi. Let’s discuss it when we got home.”

Sakyo, of course, directly went to Azami’s side.

“Bon, your entry with Minagi was already good but your movement on the fighting scene needs to be toned down. We already went through that scene in practice and you still missed that on the actual play. Next, is blah blah blah…”

Azami, unsurprisingly, was not impressed. “Tch, I’m not even out of the costume and you already nags about everything.”

Sakyo didn’t seem to care about Azami's complaint,  “The sooner you listen, the better you’d remember. There’s a high chance that you will forget the details in your performance when we get back.”

“So you’re underestimating me?!”

“You lack experience on stage, so you better learn from all your performance. You won’t catch up to the rest of us if you don’t.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you! Hah! As if you got experience in sentai-theme play!”

“Unlike you, brat, I learn from various sentai-themed media to teach you that very same move you just pull on stage.”

“Hah, yeah to cover your lack of real experience on stage. I bet you can’t even do their catchphrase.”

“You’re challenging me, bon?” Sakyo stepped closer to Azami, leering to him behind his glasses.

Azami didn’t even flinch and meet his leer head on, “And if I am?”

“Now now, you two...keep it easy.” Omi, still in his Bear outfit, placed himself near Sakyo. Banri did the same with Azami, both ready to intervene if needed.  

After a while, Sakyo backed up. Azami smirked in triumph and Izumi thought it was over. 

Until Sakyo took a stance and...

“Akai hono wa seigi no akashi! Makka ni moeru inochi no taiyou! Ryusei REDDO! Morisawa Chiaki!”

Tsuzuru heard the catchphrase he had become accustomed these days and pitched in, “Aoi hono wa shinpi no akashi~ Aoi umi kara ya dekita~ Ryusei BURU, Shinkai Kanata! Kira!”

Both held their stance for a while before they dropped it. “And that’s...how you do a catchphrase as a hero in a sentai-themed play.” Sakyo stated in the end.

Their example of catchphrase left other MANKAI members stunned, before various responses erupted. 

“OHO! Very unuse of Tsuzuru and Sakyo to do mentai dance!”

“Unusual! And it’s Sentai!”

“That is right, Tsuzuru!”

“What the hell, Shithead Sakyo?! Don’t you remember your goddamn age?!”

“HAHAHAHAHA WHERE THE HECK DID YOU LEARN THAT?!”

Banri guwaffed behind a wide-eyed Azami. Omi and Tsumugi--they tried, definitely tried--to contain their laughter, to no avail.

“Frooch! Tsuzuroon! Do it again, I need to video that!”

“Hm! That movement inspired me to make my own move! Velvet rose, strike in--”

“Please don’t start…”

“Excuse you, Tasuku-kun!”

“Hack, don’t you even think of making one.”

“H-hey I didn’t want one anyway! I’m fine with the MANKAI Rangers one!”

“Honestly I don’t expect you guys to do that, but that’s great work, Sakyo-san and Tsuzuru-kun!”

“Ahahaha...thank you, Director. The catchphrase is kinda imprinted in my mind too...”

“I can do better than that as long as you watch me, Director.” 

Amidst the chatter, Sakyo was trying to calm his beating heart. Citron was right, it was unusual for him to do this. He just got reeled by Bon’s taunt, resulting him to do something to prove him wrong. He may not have got a role in this sentai-themed play but he rigorously learnt from many sources about it, to help other members with the play. A subtle way to help the director and Azami, coated in his ardent interest in all theater-related subjects.

“Hahaha! That’s one energetic catchphrase you did, Furuichi-san!”

“Excuse me…”

Sakyo turned and saw two figures standing a meter away from them. “Ah, it’s you two. Good afternoon.”

“Furuichi-san! Never thought you’d demonstrated my catchphrase!” The brown-haired young man stepped closer to Sakyo, taking the shorter woman along by the hand. 

Sakyo pushed his glasses further on his nose, “I was demonstrating on how to do a sentai-themed catchphrase to a member of our company. Again, I thank you for allowing us to ask about sentai-themed show back then.” 

“Ah, it’s fine! Well, you know how passionate Chiaki-senpai is about tokusatsu and sentai shows.” The short, chestnut haired young woman smiled. “We’re happy to help our fellow entertainer. Thank you for inviting us to watch the show too, Furuichi-san.”

Seeing the two conversing with Sakyo, Izumi walked up to them. “Hello! You two were watching the show, right? Thank you for your support!”

Both the young man and woman bowed in return, “Thank you for inviting us! We really enjoyed the show you guys put together. Ah, here’s my card...”

“Eh, ah right.” Izumi fiddled with her purse and pulled out her card, “here’s mine.”

“Thank you.”

Izumi read the name card, before meeting her eyes to the brown-eyed young woman, “So you’re...Anzu-san, a producer huh. I’m curious though, how did you know Sakyo-san?”

“Oh! He and Minagi-san went to one of our shows in the theme park. After our show, they approached me to ask about the sentai-theme play we did. Of course, a hero is always ready to help! So I answered their question and even taught them our catchphrase. You know, to get the whole sentai feeling! Hahaha!” Chiaki explained, putting his hands on his hips in the end as he laughed. 

Izumi chuckled, “Oh, the lengths you do for Azami-kun…”

“Shut up! He’s not the only one that I discussed about what I learnt!”

“You were more intense when you trained Azami-kun, though. I saw that~” the director teased.

“Tch!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~FIN~*~*~*~*~*~*~ A/N: Long story short, Jose Yuuichi (Sakyo’s Seiyuu) also voiced Morisawa Chiaki and Nishiyama Koutaro (Tsuzuru’s Seiyuu) also voiced Shinkai Kanata, both were idols from an idol group with sentai-theme, RYUSEITAI from the game Ensemble Stars. Seeing both similarities, I decided to make a fic out of it hehe~

[ioannemos]

i figured out part of why frequency hits me so hard: the most important relationships aren’t romantic ones [spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen it]

so often in a movie that involves time travel and multiple timelines, i’m used to the impetus to fix the timeline being “my wife/girlfriend no longer knows who i am.” the hero wakes up alone after saving whoever and freaks out- all his wedding/couple pictures are gone! he rushes to his wife/gf’s job to see if she recognizes him and she freaks out bc he’s acting so familiarly with her when they’ve never met! (i have always hated this scene so much, by the way, for several reasons.) curses! horrors! they have to fix this right now immediately!

i’m not saying that’s inherently bad or anything, by the way. that’s a valid plot (...if overused and usually lifeless and tending to be a little too macguffin-y in my opinion *coughcough*). it just doesn’t click with me

in frequency, john contacts his father frank over the radio and is able to warn him of his impending demise and thus saves his father’s life. this indirectly results in his mother julia’s death and the rest of the movie is those two men doing their damnedest to save her life. that’s a plot i can get behind 100%. i’m invested in a man trying to save his mother and a husband trying to save his wife (which is romantic, i grant you, but the driving force of the movie is the relationship between father and son as they work together). the fact that john is married/committed to sam and a dad himself in the best timeline is gravy- the important thing is that both his parents lived, that those relationships were saved and are still thriving

maybe the majority of people get catharsis from the moment when the hero goes downstairs in depression or trepidation only for the coffee to click on or toast to pop up or something and he sees she’s back with that special smile, golden sunlight streaming in through the window and tangling in her hair as the music swells, there’s a triumphant kiss and “what was that for?” “oh nothing” and blah, blah, blah. it’s supposed to be a magical moment, but i don’t connect with it beyond the superficial satisfaction of yay, success. congratulations, you carried off the plot. good for you?

in frequency’s climax, frank blows the bad guy away with a shotgun to save john’s life, then helps him to his feet and says “i’m still here, chief” before pulling him into a tight hug, then the scene transitions to a game of baseball involving all the people important to john, including julia and frank jr almost more prominently than sam... this is the moment of triumph! they did it! he worked together with his dad and they saved his mom! look, they’re not just alive, they’re still a close family! that takes me out at the knees. that is a dynamic i understand and fully empathize with and really care about being restored. that makes me wheeze through the credits

thank you for coming to my ted talk

[existential-queers]

Our Hero, Satan

A very silly paper written by a very silly person about a very silly poem

Thank you and goodnight

Modern interpretations of Lucifer Morningstar are overwhelmingly that of a sexy, misunderstood bad boy with daddy issues. Look no farther than Netflix's Lucifer or The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina for example. While it would be undoubtedly easier to sell one's soul to a tall, dark, attractive, chiseled beefcake, this is not Satan's long-established depiction. From the days of early Christianity, Satan was a monstrous and horrific creature of the deep—not so much tempting as terrifying. The question is then, of course: what changed? Enter John Milton's highly kudosed fix-it fanfiction, Paradise Lost, and its unlikely protagonist, the Morningstar.

Paradise Lost chronicles the biblical genesis from the perspective of none other than he who has been called Wicked One, Adversary, Father of Lies, and Prince of Darkness: ya boi, Satan. From his very introduction directly proceeding the Fall, Satan is undeniably charismatic. He is certainly the most dynamic of the ensemble cast with even some critical claims that “Satan is superior in character to Milton’s God,” an omniscient, omnipotent, all-benevolent, blah, blah, non-human, blah, blah, perfect, blah, blah, flat and boring character (Kaiter and Sandiuc 452). There are no excuses, Milton. In rousing speeches of revolution and sly temptations in the garden, he gains the audience's sympathies, though perhaps not trust. He is still Satan and his words should probably be taken with a grain of salt, or maybe a whole block, just to be on the safe side. Wading through the suave and sympathetic, the question often raised and hotly debated is: is Satan a hero or a villain? 

Satan begins the poem in pain, chained in a lake of boiling sulfur, surrounded by fallen friends. After getting yeeted “headlong flaming from th’ ethereal sky,” free-falling through primordial Chaos, and crash landing in the wretched abyss, he is bound to straight up not be having a good time (Milton 1.45). Now you may be thinking: well that’s what he gets for rebelling against God and being, you know, Satan. What, then, would you say about an unsuccessful revolutionary who rebelled against a cruel dictator and was jailed and tortured indefinitely? This is the picture Satan paints, at least. Even after all this, he holds out hope to learn from prior mistakes, gather up his comrades, and

To wage by force or guile eternal war

Irreconcilable, to [their] grand foe,

Who now triumphs, and in th’ excess of joy

Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heav’n. (Milton 1.121-124)

They all live to fight another day, and even in a place where hope cannot reach them, their leader inspires it once more.

This is terribly reminiscent of Greek tragic heroes the likes of Odysseus and Jason. Satan is a brave and clever leader, trekking through Chaos to the garden himself rather than sending a poor redshirt. After a bit of kitty shape-shifting and spying, Satan gets to work on infiltrating the garden in the most effective way imaginable: fighting battle-ready angels head-on. Again. After that predictably fails, he heals up in Hell while the demons build a cannon. A cannon that also fails. Come on, Satan; only a third of Heaven fell with you. Face it, you just don’t have the numbers. Back to pre-Plan A, Satan fits himself with another animal disguise but with fewer limbs this time. There must be something thematic about the number three—wonder what that could be—because it finally works. Humans: tempted, God: thwarted, Satan: could probably use a nap.

Satan may be the protagonist, but that does not necessarily make him a hero. One of the most important aspects of the Greek model of a tragic hero is hamartia. This is not to say that he does not have flaws—of course he does, he’s Satan!—but that his flaws are the same as all of his more admirable qualities. What gives Satan his complexity is his paradoxes and contradictions such that “envy, pride, ambition, [and] self-glorification give the character his singularity and magnificence but also pass the rigorous sentence on him” (Kaiter and Sandiuc 453). He is the protagonist in that he is the main character of the work, but he is also the antagonist in that he “drives the plot with his machinations” (Kaiter and Sanduic 457). Satan is just self-aware enough to realize: “Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell” (Milton 4.75). Of course, he tosses self-reflection off the not-so-proverbial garden wall moments later in favor of some mischief, but at least he recognized it.

Satan’s way of fighting what very well may be an authoritarian overlord is petty at best and truly evil at worst. In the narrative, he fights not for justice but for “desperate revenge” through the destruction of innocents (Milton 3.85). The humans were not involved in the first war, but Satan seems to play by the logic that ‘if I can’t play with you anymore then no one can.’ So, like a cat or a toddler lacking enough attention from father dearest, he throws a fit and breaks daddy’s favorite toy. That is if daddy’s favorite toy is an entire species now damned to eternal torment until someone else is brutally murdered. How barbaric. But, to be fair, that last bit is God’s fault. If you’re omniscient and omnipotent, can you not just design a better world? Are you not more powerful than sin, a literal child of your own creation? So then, are you not omnipotent or not all-benevolent? Either way, Satan’s actions are rather villainous.

On a more meta note, it is such an interesting detail that Satan is a supreme orator in regards to Milton’s beliefs on writing. Certainly, Satan had to be a phenomenally eloquent speaker and rhetorician to fit the narrative (i.e. rallying comrades in Heaven to go up against God himself, tricking Eve to eat an Edenic tide pod, etc.), but the way that Milton executes it inspires *chef’s kisses*. Milton, who found the heroic poetry format of rhyming couplets to be constricting, who deliberately chose to write his epic in plain verse, puts the rare and only rhymes in Satan’s speeches. He basically shouts to his audience: I hate when people write poetry in this style, oh and here’s a character I wrote whose speech emulates this style (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). You are not that slick, Milton. Okay, you’re kind of slick.

Milton may have set the precedent of Sexy SatanTM, but that is not all his Satan is. He seems to be in the my-book-started-a-genre-with-flat-tropes-and-cliches-I’m-blamed-for-but-are-not-representative-of-my-book club alongside JRR Tolkein and Suzanne Collins. The Satan of Paradise Lost is more complex than the bad boy who wrote his name on God’s blacklist. Milton “creates a character who is at once someone we tend to appreciate as heroic, and someone we want to see defeated” (Kaiter and Sanduic, 456). Satan is not an Enjolras, but he is not a Hope-less Pandora’s box of pure evil either. In the same vein, Satan is not properly a hero or a villain either. The most fitting label for him may just be that of an anti-hero: one who employs deplorable methods to do what is considered good and righteous but often succumbs to hubris anyway. Milton’s representation of Satan is almost nebulous in motivations and moral center, if such a thing could be said about Satan. While this makes him difficult to pin down, it continues to inspire religious and literary critique to this day.

[katedoesfics]

Shadows of Hyrule | Chapter 48

“Tell me again why you’re dragging me out here in the middle of fucking Faron?” Link hissed at his sister.

“Because,” Aryll started excitedly. “We’re gonna meet Camilla and get our money!”

“There won’t be any money,” Link said dryly. He winced as Aryll hit a pothole. “Watch it!”

“Hey, I’m driving,” she barked.

“Do you even know where you’re going?”

“Yes,” Aryll said. “That’s why I’m driving.”

Link settled back against the seat and sighed. “What if she’s crazy? What if this is all a trap?”

Aryll gave her brother a skeptical look. “A trap? To what? Give us warm cookies and milk? That’s what old ladies do.”

“Maybe Telma was on team Yiga,” Link said. “And Cremia is the last remaining one, and she’s going to kidnap us, take the Triforce from me, and -”

“Dude,” Aryll cut him off. “Fucking chill. For the love of Hylia!” She checked the GPS on her phone, then slowed in front of an old, Victorian styled house. She perked up, grinning, and pulled into the drive. “This is it.” She cut the engine, then bounced out of the car excitedly and up the stairs, not waiting for her brother to follow. She knocked three times on the door, then glanced at Link over her shoulder as he begrudgingly followed behind her.

“This is -”

But the door opened, cutting him off. An older, dark skinned woman stood before them, her dark, salt and pepper hair pulled back in a large bun. Camilla put a hand on her hip and smiled. “Well, if you ain’t a sight,” she said. “You look just like ‘im.” She gestured for them to enter, stepping aside as they cautiously crossed the threshold. “I’m glad you both came by,” she started. “Your father made me promise to give you some stuff.”

“What kinda stuff?” Aryll asked curiously.

“I honestly don’t know,” she said. She walked through the old house, gesturing for them to follow her. She spoke as she lead them through. “But, a promise is a promise, hm?” She laughed lightly. “You know, your father was always my mother’s favorite,” she said. “I was so sorry to hear what happened to him.” She stopped at a door and pushed it open. The walls of the room were lined with boxes stacked on top of one another. They were all clearly labeled with various names and dates.

“Telma was so attached to the kids that came to her,” she continued. She started to sift through the boxes casually, selecting a few of the photos that were contained inside and smiling at them. “She shared in all their joys and triumphs, and all their failures and pain.” She laughed lightly. “Sometimes, it seemed she liked them more than me, her own daughter.” She frowned. “We lost too many too young. She always felt like she had failed them when that happened.” She moved across the room and looked through a few more boxes before selecting one to place in the middle of the room. On it, the name ‘Rusl’ was scribbled on the side.

Aryll opened it and looked through the photos, smiling down at them. Some of them were of when their father was much younger, playing with some of the other boys in the barn, or chasing after chickens. There were many of him riding bareback on various horses, or playing with them in their paddocks.

“He really took a liking to the horses,” she explained. “So much so, that Telma promised to let him ride and give him lessons if he worked hard enough. And he did. And whenever he got his free time, he would jump right on and take off.” She laughed. “I always told Mum that one day, he’d never come back. But he always did. He took care of those horses like they were his kids. He made sure they were nice and cooled off, fed and happy before he went right back to do his chores.”

“He never really talked about Telma,” Aryll said with a frown. She held a picture in her hand of some young kids gathered around a woman who she assumed to be Telma. “Why was he in foster care?”

“Both his parents spent a lot of time in and out of jail,” she said. “Drugs and the like. He was a troublemaker himself when he came to Telma. At that point, he had been bounced around to a few different places. He was a rotten kid when he was younger.” She laughed. “Goddesses, how he would torment me. I was in high school when he came around, and he just loved to scare off my boyfriends.”

“That seems so unlike him,” Aryll said.

“I guess he didn’t turn out to be so bad,” Camilla said. “Mum always hoped for that.” She reached into a box and pulled out a disc, then smiled. “She was obsessed with documenting everything.” She slipped the disk into a player, then turned on a small tv screen in the room. “She tried to take some videos before he joined the army. Before he left, she gave ‘em all a day off. A little send-off party, I s’pose.” She played the video. A young boy’s face appeared, his brows knit together angrily.

“Say somethin’ nice, Karsen,” Telma’s voice said.

Karsen grinned. “Hey, Rusl. Kill all those fuckers dead! Kill ‘em all, man!” He made a head sawing motion with his hand.

“That’s that same guy?” Aryll muttered. “Yikes.”

“Lovely,” Telma said dryly. “Where did I go wrong with you, you twisted little child?”

Karsen’s grin widened. “And come back soon and get me outta here, man! Telma’s gonna make me go crazy!”

The video darkened for a moment, then a younger Rusl came into view. He looked at the camera with an annoyed and exasperated expression.

“Can you please stop with that thing?”

“Never,” Telma said. “I’m gonna need something to show those kids of yours someday.”

Rusl rolled his eyes and moved his hand to block the camera’s view. “Right,” he muttered.

The camera lowered, giving them a view of the ground.

“Hey,” Telma started. “Don’t you keep running away.  I know you’re scared, ‘unnie. But you are not just a pawn in a war that waits on our horizon. You are so much more, Rusl. And that boy - he’s gonna be the greatest thing in your life, hero or not. His future - his destiny - none of it will matter, because he will be your son, and I know you will do everything for him. But don’t think you’re doing him any favors by running from him. Don’t try to stop him from coming into your life. You need him. And he needs you. Understand? And when he comes around, you better let me meet him. You hear me?”

Rusl was hesitant. “Yeah, Telma. I will.”

The camera shifted, then the screen turned dark.

Aryll frowned. “I wish we could have met her.”

“Me too,” Camilla said. “She would have loved on you more than me.” She grinned at them, then removed the disk from the player.

Aryll continued to sift through the box until she came across a small bag. “What’s this?” She held up the bag, inspecting it. Inside was a small card that she recognized.

Camilla peered at it curiously. “Dunno,” she said with a shrug. “Nothing I’ve seen before.”

“It goes in a phone,” Aryll said, already taking it out and inserting it into her own phone. She tapped on the screen and opened the file. A twenty year-old Rusl’s face appeared, his brows furrowed.

“Hey, Kid,” his voice started. “You’re not around yet. Who knows when you’ll come around.” He grinned. “I don’t even have a girlfriend. So, you know, that’s going well.” His face turned serious. “Unless you’re like, really young when you’re watching this, then use protection and shit.” His face softened. “But hopefully you’re not young. Because you shouldn’t be seeing this until after I’m gone.” He hesitated, then cleared his throat. “Look, this is where I grew up.”

The camera moved around as he stepped outside, giving them a view of Telma’s farm. “I promised Telma I’d let her meet you. I guess this is as close as it gets.” The camera turned back to face him. “Anyway. Going through all her shit made me realize she wasn’t as crazy as she seemed, sometimes. And, I dunno. I felt like I should leave you with something. Because one thing’s for sure; there’s a lot you’re not gonna know. About me, about you. About this fucked up destiny that’s been thrust upon us.” He sighed. “I’m not telling you any of it. You don’t need to know. You have enough shit to deal with then to know the truth about me.” He shrugged. “But I guess I can’t leave you with nothing, either. Unanswered questions and shit. I know that would drive me crazy. But you need to understand that there’s a reason I couldn’t tell you this before, when I’m… was… alive. Because if you’re anything like me, you’ll try to stop it. You’ll try to save me. And that can’t happen.” He paused for a moment before continuing.

“See… we all serve a purpose in this life, I guess. And mine is to bring you into this world… and leave. As long as I’m alive, you will never be able to access the full power of the Triforce.” He shook his head. “For reasons D tried to explain to me. Hylia’s power is weakening, blah blah blah. I’m sure you’ll learn some of this. I’ll tell you as much as I can, when I can. I won’t leave you in the dark about everything. But the point is, if you’re going to be able to save the world, I will need to die. I’ve known this for a while. Well, I’ve had my suspicions, anyway. I’ve accepted it. Because even though you don’t even exist yet, and I don’t even know when you will.” He hesitated. “I love the crap outta ya. I will do anything and everything for you, especially to give you a normal a life as possible. I never got that. Not that I was born a hero destined to save the world or anything. But you deserve better than the crap I went through. You know, a father who’s actually around. I’ll give you everything that I can. I just want you to understand why things will happen - or, happened - the way that they will, or did, or something. I’ll give my life for you, kid, hero or not. It doesn’t matter to me who you are. That’s why I can accept this, I guess. Because I’d do it in a heartbeat. Again and again and again. Anything to give you the life you deserve. Hopefully, a life of peace and happiness. And I know you won’t accept it. That’s why I can’t - couldn’t - tell you. I’m sorry that this is the way it has to be, but I know you’ll be fine. If I can survive this shit, you can, too. You’ve got a lot more going for you than I do, anyway.” His gaze moved beyond the camera as he looked over the farm.

“I guess she was right. I need you. I just hope everything I do will be enough.” His gaze moved back to the camera, and he shrugged. “Alright, well, I guess that’s it, then. You know the truth. Don’t be mad at me. I did what I had to do. Just know that. Everything I’ll ever do in this life is for you.” He smiled. “And that’s all I’ve ever wanted, really, so it’s okay. Okay?” He paused. “I love you, kid. I’ll see you soon.”

The video ended.

Aryll stared at her phone until the screen darkened. She jumped when her brother got to his feet, and he abruptly left the room.

Link stormed outside angrily. Leave it to his father to bring secrets to his damn grave. He was furious at him for not telling him the truth. Of course he wouldn’t have let his father make such a sacrifice. If he had just been honest with him, they could have found another way. His father could have still been alive.

But he was right. As Link looked back at the battle that had taken place only a week ago, his father was right. Link didn’t stand a damn chance against the Yiga. Not without the Master Sword. And certainly not without the full power of the Triforce. Surely, if there was anything he could have done to bring that power forth sooner, Impa would have trained him for that. She would have beat the power out of him. Despite it all, Impa knew of their destinies. She knew how to prepare them for the approaching war. Which meant that she knew Link would not be able to use his power like Zelda could, so she had to compensate in other ways.

There was nothing he could have done. As long as his father remained alive, he would not have been able to access that power that allowed him to stop Kohga once and for all, and he would have failed to protect Hyrule. To protect Aryll. To protect his friends. Which was all he really wanted to do. Just as his father only wanted to protect him.

He cursed loudly and kicked at the tire of the car. It didn’t matter how much he justified in, or how logically he looked at the situation; he was still furious. He never wanted anyone to have to sacrifice their lives for him, his father most of all. But he wasn’t angry with his father. He was angry that he was the one to be thrust into such a destiny. That his father had to pay the price, regardless of whether he wanted to or not. Why in the hell did it have to be him? And who else would have to die so that Hyrule could stay safe? He couldn’t do it anymore; he couldn’t fight another war. For the love of Hylia, let it all be over with…

He turned to the house as Aryll stepped outside. Her eyes were wet, but she regarded Link fiercely, her phone in her hand.

“There’s something else on here,” she said. Her brows furrowed. “It looks like info to a bank account. There’s a phone number on it, too.”

Link moved to her side and peered at the information on her screen. Curiously, he dialed the number and gave the account number to the woman on the line.

“Ah, yes, here we are,” she said, her voice light and cheery. “This account is fully mature. It looks like it opened up for you just a couple of weeks ago, and will remain open until you wish to close it. Would you like the money wired over to you now, Link?”

“Money?” Link echoed. “What money? How much is in there?”

“Your account balance is one million, two hundred -”

The phone dropped from Link’s hand. He stared at it, his mouth gaping.

“Link? What’s wrong?” When her brother did not respond, Aryll picked up the phone. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the voice said. “I can only speak to the holder of the account.”

“Of course,” she sneered. She glanced at her brother, still seemingly in shock, though he met her gaze. “Link’s gonna have to call you back.” She ended the call and handed him the phone, her brows knit together. “What is it?”

“There’s… over a million…”

“A million?” Aryll shrieked. “I knew it! An inheritance!” She jumped up and down excitedly. “Oh my Goddesses. I can go to college?”

“He fucking robbed a bank,” Link muttered. He turned to his sister. “Where the fuck would he have gotten that kind of money?”

Aryll frowned. “I can’t go to college using dirty money.” She hesitated. “Do you really think he stole it?”

“Well,” Link started slowly. “Either that, or he was a drug lord.” He shrugged. “Maybe he was a serial killer who harvested and sold organs on the black market. Or sold secrets to the Yiga Clan. Or -”

“Yeah, alright,” Aryll snapped. “He wouldn’t have done any of those things.” Her gaze softened. “What are you going to do?”

Link met her gaze. “I don’t know,” he said slowly. “What would you do with that much money?”

“Send me to college! Buy me a car! Pay the damn electric bill!”

A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “You have to graduate high school, first.”

“Alright,” Aryll pressed. “I’m gonna graduate, okay? Jeez, Link! Give me my money!”

“Right,” he said. “When you graduate and figure out what the hell you want to do, then we can talk.”

Camilla appeared in the doorway, her gaze hesitant. “So, I love my mother and all, but I can’t keep holdin’ on to this shit. You want it?”

Aryll took the steps two at a time as she bounded to Camilla’s side. “Yes,” she said quickly. “Give me.” She grinned up at Camilla. “Thanks for tracking us down.”

“Ah, well,” Camilla started. “It’s the least I could have done for Rusl’s kids.”

[crusherthedoctor]

Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 10: INFINITE

There are some villains I like. And there are some villains I don’t like. But why do I feel about them the way I do? That’s where this comes in.

This is a series of mine in which I go into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the villains in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and why I think they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions! I don’t bite. :>

Anyhow, for today’s installment, we’ll be sharpening our blades and resisting the pain as we discuss what it takes to be the right-hand henchman of Sonic Forces: Infinite.

The Gist: Dr. Eggman was minding his evildoing business when one day, from thin air emerged a particularly strange jewel that seemed to be drawn to him. Realising this was no mere Chaos Emerald, due to both its peculiar shape and its bizarre reality-distorting effects, Eggman immediately contemplated how he could effectively utilise this new gemstone for his purposes.

Suddenly, jackals!

“Go forth, Red Shirts!”

Eggman's base was under attack by the imaginatively titled Jackal Squad, a group of thieving mercenaries who figured they could profit from the theft of the doctor's equipment. Unfortunately for them, Eggman had Main Character Immunity, so their efforts to kill him send him to the Shadow Realm fell flat. Despite nearly getting killed by them, Eggman knew an opportunity when he saw one, and he offered the role of apprenticeship to the squad's heterochromia-inflicted leader. His fellow jackals insisted not to take up the offer, because even they knew the risks, but the leader signed up immediately, because he's not all right in the head if you know what I'm saying.

In a cruel twist of fate, Eggman's first request for his new stooges was for them to take care of Shadow the Hedgehog. That Shadow the Hedgehog. Ultimate Lifeform Shadow the Hedgehog. Fast, immortal, capable of stopping time, drops his bracelets to grow even stronger Shadow the Hedgehog. They had to defeat that Shadow the Hedgehog.

They did not succeed.

BOOOONESAAAAAW’S READYYYYYYYY

After metaphorically and literally murdering the rest of the already forgotten squad, Shadow gave some parting words to their defeated leader, and those parting words were responsible for what happened next, and everything after. As someone who prided himself on being the ultimate mercenary, Mr. Jackal was bloody well peeved off about coming to terms with his physical shortcomings, and thus decided to give himself an upgrade in the form of sticking a gem on his chest, putting on a mask worthy of a heavy metal cover, and rechristening himself as... Infinite. Infinite power. Infinite possibilities. Infinite memes.

The upgrade paid off. With the aid of the gem, known to us as the Phantom Ruby, Eggman's latest minion was able to distort the environment, summon past foes, and do what no other villain not retconned out of existence had ever managed to achieve: defeat Sonic the Hedgehog.

Eggman was delighted. The past foes were delighted too, as evidenced by how they stood there to take it all in.

This is a very sentimental moment for them.

With Sonic out of the way, Eggman was able to take over 99% of the planet, because Sonic's friends were tragically all on holiday at the same time. During the subsequent six months of suffering and strife, Infinite relished in the doctor's conquest, but not as much as he relished in killing and terrorizing innocents. One incident in particular involved him leaving behind a scared youngster for the sake of letting them know fear. This would turn out to be a big mistake on his part, when - with the ever reliable power of friendship - said youngster would go on to oppose him as part of the Resistance. (This franchise isn't known for creative group names.)

“L’Oreal: Because I’m not weak.”

The formerly incapacitated Sonic also managed to eventually break free from his captivity, and proceeded to do what he does best alongside his new friend. Infinite was having none of this, and so he made absolutely certain to... leave him alive. Despite Eggman's insistence that a freed Sonic could cause as much trouble as a freed Sonic could in every other situation since 1991, Infinite remained confident that he couldn't be beaten. Three guesses for how that turned out. The first two don't count.

He was serious about crushing the Resistance though, and together with Eggman, not only did they summon a whole army of clones, they also summoned an artificial sun that, upon reaching the ground, would ensure the Resistance would meet a terrible fate. Good always triumphs however, and the clones were fought, the sun was vanquished, and Infinite himself was defeated once and for all.

It was at this point that Eggman decided to reveal that Infinite was a sham, a distraction, a red herring. For all his power, Infinite was little more than a glorified mook the whole time. Infinite was never the doctor's endgame. He was. Infinite didn't even have true mastery over the Phantom Ruby... but he did.

Death Chad Robot.

In just a few minutes, Eggman tapped into the power of the Ruby more than Infinite ever did, and overclocked it to turn his Doc Ock-looking mech into a beast. But through thick and thin (and a second Nega-Wisp Armor), Sonic and his ambiguously named friend teamed up to take the madman down, because we're Sonic Heroes.

The world was saved from further tyranny, and Eggman went on to either lose his memory or shrug it off to take part in racing spinoffs depending on the continuity. But Infinite - or rather, the jackal who called himself Infinite - remains absent. He could be alive. He could be dead. He could finally get a haircut. His fate is a mystery that we may never know the answer to. Maybe he's spending his retirement climbing the tallest of mountains.

The Design: Careful you don't cut yourself with all this edge.

You could have gotten yourself an eyepatch for half the price.

Demonic eyes, dark colours, anime hair... he's a villain alright. Infinite's design is unashamed of itself. It knows it's ridiculous, and it goes all out with it, which - let's be frank - matches the character in general pretty reasonably. Funnily enough, I don't have much else to say about it. It's not my favourite character design in the world, but I can credit them for pioneering loudspeaker ears. And at least he's not a hedgehog. Or an echidna.

If you listen carefully, you can hear Shadow sighing in relief under the knowledge that he's no longer the edgiest guy in the room.

The Personality: What's an easy way to make a villain a villain? By making them pointlessly sadistic, of course.

"You may call this the Sonic Chronicles soundtrack... in the brief moments that remain to your eardrums."

And I don't speak lightly when I say pointless. Infinite's penchant for sadism is actually treated as a character flaw, as it contributes heavily to his ultimate downfall. He wastes time by drawing out his kills, and his decision to leave his greatest foes alive because they're supposedly "not worth killing" bites him in the ass on more than one occasion. Even Eggman calls him out on his shitty decisions.

"Don't get cocky with me, son. This ain't the Adventure Era anymore.”

And this ties in with how he is in general. Infinite, for all his delusions of grandeur and nihilistic waxing, is a bit of a fuck up. Him and his squad combined couldn't even take on Eggman on his own (albeit with a Phantom Ruby in his possession), and when the mask comes on, it becomes clear that he only defeated Sonic through the element of unfamiliarity. Once Sonic starts to know about him and fights him for real, Infinite doesn't rely on the Phantom Ruby nearly as well as he could. He has a jewel that can do all sorts of distortions, and all he can think to do with it is use basic lasers and blasts for the most part. He's a thug at the end of the day. A powerful thug, but a thug all the same.

Despite this, though it's only hinted here and there, it seems that he has an Inferiority Superiority Complex. His passionate response to Shadow calling him pathetic (ironically, he never actually said he was weak) goes without saying, but then there's his dramatic speeches about having no hope, and how you can't count on anyone, and blah blah blah eat a Snickers already.

The Execution: Much like Erazor Djinn, you may have gathered that this character has a lot in common with everyone's favourite Ice Age antique, Mephiles the Dark. Like Erazor, Infinite is a better (albeit flawed) take on Mephiles' schtick, but whereas Erazor better emulates the success that Mephiles tried to go for, Infinite better represents the failure that Mephiles actually is... right down to showing how Silver would react if he had actual brain cells.

Above: Character development.

Hell, they both share the fate of getting swatted by Omega.

Not bitter at all.

Anyway, to explain this requires some elaboration. I'm aware that a lot of what I've said about Infinite sounds negative, and that's not entirely untrue, since I'll be the first to admit that he could have been handled a little better, and fleshed out a bit more, especially with all the pre-release hype and attention he was given. At the same time however, he's still leagues above the likes of Mephiles, for one simple reason that we discussed previously: his incompetence is intentional.

Maybe not fully - the pre-Infinite breakdown probably wasn't meant to be as comedic as it ended up being - but you can't tell me his setbacks weren't there on purpose. Eggman lost the war because Infinite left his enemies alive and free. Eggman lost the war because Infinite clumsily left a Phantom Ruby replica behind. Eggman lost the war because Infinite kept messing around when he had better things to do, didn't know what to do other than blindly attack when the chips were down, and got disposed of with little fanfare by the doctor after having failed him enough times. Compare all this to Eggman himself in the same game, who despite being known for his childishness and occasional shortsightedness, had a lot of genuine foresight to share around, and went from backup plan to backup plan like it was nothing.

In other words, Infinite could be seen as a well-needed deconstruction of villains like Mephiles, and why they're not as great as they look at first glance. And in that respect, he's kind of a genius concept.

“Ugh, MORE shitty friends...”

Infinite is a very divisive character, and I can see why. Alongside his far from perfect execution, many fans were expecting and hoping for a straight example of late 00's Sonic villains, in part because that's what the marketing and his infamous theme song set him up as and partly because '06 is now considered better than everything afterwards because Baldy McNosehair is literally oppressing all Sonic fans across the world. If you're like me on the other hand, and don't have the slightest unironic interest in those kind of villains, you can probably respect Infinite a little more for addressing the elephant in the room. And even though he is indeed flawed, I think most of that has to do with the wasted potential of the plot itself rather than anything inherently to do with Infinite's own character.

He's no Eggman, Erazor, Metal Sonic, or Hard-Boiled Heavies. But he's above Mephiles, Black Doom, Eggman Nega, and so many others who blend together after a while. Still, maybe someone should assist Shadow the next time he decides to insult somebody.

Crusher Gives Infinite a: Thumbs Sideways!

[swanqueeneverafter]

After The Sunset, Pt.33

Enchanted Forest. Medusa’s Lair. Continued. (Snow stands holding the remnants of her sword.) Snow White: “How are we gonna cut off her head now?” David: “Well, we're not, Snow. It's fine. We just need to find a way out of here. (He picks up a helmet and throws it in another direction. Medusa draws towards the sound:) Go, go.” (He and Snow White attempt to escape. Medusa uses a tentacle to grab Snow White's leg and trip her. As she is being dragged away, David grabs a shield and throws it at Medusa, who deflects it. Snow White is let go, but before David can flee as well, Medusa forces him to look into her eyes. He turns into a stone statue.) Snow White: “David!”

Storybrooke. (Hiding from the deranged citizens of Storybrooke, Robin and Alice eventually poke their heads out and look around.) Alice: "When you told me about Storybrooke, you said warm hugs and apple pies, not cross bolts to my head!" Robin: "Yeah, well, I guess the effects of the dark cloud are still wearing off." Alice: "Hm, I hope so." Robin: "We need to get off the streets and regroup." Alice: "What about down there?" (Alice points toward a side street and, seeing no reason not to, Robin agrees.) Robin: "Okay." Alice: "Okay." Robin: (Stepping out from their hiding spot:) "Go! Go, go." The Dragon's Lair. (Alice and Robin enter to find the place empty.) Robin: "Come on, there has to be a phone or something around here somewhere." (They walk further into the club, past the bar and back towards the offices. Coming to a door that reads: 'Boss', they knock.) Maleficent: (From inside:) "We're closed!" (Alice pushes open the door. Inside they find Maleficent sat at her desk reading a magazine.) Alice: "Please, you have to help us, there's a-" Maleficent: "Blah blah evil villain emergency blah." Robin: "Maleficent, you may not remember me, but I'm Regina's niece?" Maleficent: (Glancing at her:) "Why of course I remember. It's been ages. Not a letter, a telegram, a smoke signal. I've been worried sick about you. (As Robin smiles:) Not really. (She goes back to reading her magazine:) Spit it out cupcake, I'm in the middle of something." Alice: "Look, we don't have time for your attitude. All the realms of story are in danger and we can't find any heroes." Maleficent: "So naturally you came to me. If I had any feelings, I'd have the chills right about now." Robin: "We came through a looking glass with Rumplestiltskin, Emma, Regina and Hook and somehow we ended up separated." Maleficent: "Trust me, dear, being separated from the pirate isn't the worst thing in the world." Alice: "Are you going to help us or not?" Maleficent: (Puts down her magazine:) "Totally. Maybe later we can braid each other's hair and talk about boys. (Notices how close Alice and Robin are stood together:) Or girls. You know, Thursdays are ladies nights around here." Alice: "Ugh. This is a waste of time, let's go." Maleficent: "I'd love to help, but I'm wearing my favourite shoes." (Robin makes one last effort.) Robin: "Look, I get the whole 'I live in darkness' thing you've got going on, and I get it. But don't you care about anyone? Your daughter? Regina? Hook? This effects everyone. Don't you see, this could be your chance to be the hero." Maleficent: (Stares at her a moment:) "Did I miss something? Did I get drunk and join a book club and read some chick lit memoirs and now we're bound together by sisterhood or estrogen or some other feminist drivel?" Alice: "I'm surprised you can read. Come on Robin." (The girls leave.) Maleficent: (Glaring after them:) "She was extremely annoying." (After a moment however, Maleficent begins to think about what Robin said and, sighing, gets to her feet.) Enchanted Forest. Recent Past. Forbidden Fortress. (Hook writhes in agony as Maleficent magically removes the bullet from his shoulder. Waving her hand to close the wound, Maleficent stands and walks to her mirror, removing her jewellery.) Maleficent: "You stood me up in favour of getting yourself shot?"

(Hook, hissing in pain, gets to his feet and grabs the bag containing Maui's fishhook.) Hook: (Holding the fishhook up:) "I had to prove that I haven't lost my edge. Besides, this thing could come in handy one day." Maleficent: (Glancing at it:) "What the hell is that thing?" Hook: "This 'thing' is a magic weapon with the power to shatter any prison. So you see, it wasn't a completely wasted evening after all. Cmon, give us a smile." Maleficent: (Turns to him:) "Clearly you don't know me that well. My mad face and my happy face are the same." Hook: "Oh come on, Mal." Maleficent: "Don't you 'Come on, Mal' me. You would rather have your precious reputation than keep your word to me." Hook: "Mal, we can go out any night." Maleficent: (Scoffs:) "I wouldn't be so sure of that." Hook: "I don't know what you're so upset about. I've already given up everything that I used to be to make this thing between us work. I just had to send my crew off on the Jolly Roger to stretch their sea legs or face a mutiny. I can hardly recognise the man I see in the mirror anymore and what do I get in return for my sacrifices? A daughter I barely see and a sullen sorceress who sometimes, quite frankly, is more tolerable in her dragon form!" (At this, Maleficent uses her powers to send Hook crashing back against the wall.) Maleficent: (Stalking towards him:) "If you find my company so displeasing, perhaps you should be without it for awhile. (As Maleficent rages at him, Hook sees a message in a bottle appear magically beside him. Opening it, he hears Henry's message:) And, seeing as you don't like what you see in the mirror these days, another form might make you see things differently." Hook: "No, Mal, wait!" (Before he can stop her, Maleficent uses her powers to transform Hook into an ogre.) Maleficent: "There. Maybe a few days spent as a creature nobody can stand will change your perspective on things. Now get the hell out of my fortress!" (Chasing the ogre from the room with a fireball hurled in its general direction, Maleficent's eyes glow yellow in anger.)

The Enchanted Forest. Medusa’s Lair. Present. (Behind a wall, Snow White peeks out at the frozen statue of Prince Charming.) Snow White: “I won't leave you. And I won't let her scare me away, either.” (As Snow draws her bowstring, a familiar voice speaks.) Jabberwocky: “You're going to have to do better than that.” Snow White: “No.” Jabberwocky: “Enjoying yourselves?” Snow White: (She glances down and sees the Jabberwocky's reflection in the discarded shield:) “I don't remember inviting you.” Jabberwocky: “What's the matter, Snow? Cranky now that your prince is a statue? (She chuckles:) I can barely tell the difference.” Snow White: “You're really enjoying this.” Jabberwocky: “Immensely.” Snow White: “This is all your fault.” Jabberwocky: “No, dear, it's yours. Oh, and I have to thank you, because you saved me so much trouble. I didn't realize I could just sit back and let you destroy your own happiness.” (The Jabberwocky laughs, and then disappears from the shield.) Enchanted Forest. (Rumplestiltskin picks up the large hammer and enters his old family home. Inside, he sees the spinning wheel in motion. Placing the hammer on the floor, he walks over and stops the wheel.) Rumplestiltskin: "I really do hate this place." Jabberwocky: (Entering:) "Bane of your existence, I'd say. And yet, after everything you've been through to escape it, all you seem to want to do is drag yourself right back. Might as well hobble both your legs this time." Rumplestiltskin: “I didn't come here to revisit history. Or repeat it.” Jabberwocky: “Of course. I know that. I know you.” Rumplestiltskin: “Well enough to impersonate me to my grandson it seems.” Jabberwocky: (Transforms into the Dark One version of Rumplestiltskin:) “Indeed. You’re here to make a deal regarding your wife and child.” Rumplestiltskin: “Well, perhaps you don't know me as well as you think. That's not the loophole I'm here to discuss.” Jabberwocky: “Really?” Rumplestiltskin: “I've been trying to rid myself of my dark magic for quite some time now. And every time I try to do it the right way, someone like you turns up, and my magic is needed once more.” Jabberwocky: “That sounds like such a burden.” Rumplestiltskin: “But you, you want the darkness. Giving it to you, I'm not spreading it, I'm not burdening anyone. I think the real loophole I've been looking for all this time is you.” Jabberwocky: “So, you want to make a deal and give me your darkness now. What could possibly have changed?” Rumplestiltskin: “Well, I've finally realized the one enemy I can never defeat is myself. So, you take the darkness from me and everything that goes with it, and I get to go free and have the happy ending I deserve.” Jabberwocky: “Well, it's not exactly the way I expected this to play out, but I'll take it.”

Rumplestiltskin: “Excellent. (Reaches into his pocket, then showers the Jabberwocky with a black liquid, freezing her in place. Chuckles:) Squid ink. Now who's weak?” Jabberwocky: (Frozen:) “This can't hold me for long.” Rumplestiltskin: “It doesn't have to. You see, you made a miscalculation bringing me here. It did remind me of my weakness, but not because of that hammer. Because of you. You see, without love, you are just a pathetic beast who needs to be put out of her misery. (Drawing a dagger from his pocket:) And I'm the only one who can do it.” Jabberwocky: “Is that?” Rumplestiltskin: “The Dark One dagger? No, it’s a replica. But, thanks to my wife’s penchant for reading, I’ve done my research. The Vorpal Blade, the one that so brilliantly kept you imprisoned all those years, was forged through belief. Belief that good could triumph over evil.” Jabberwocky: (Scoffs:) “The Vorpal Blade was forged by The Lady of the Lake.” Rumplestiltskin: “Yes, and who do you think made this replica for me? She was only too glad to do it, after what you did to her sister.” Jabberwocky: “You won’t dare use that on me. Only an immortal can kill me. You use that dagger, and you will never see your precious Belle again.” Rumplestiltskin: “If that means ridding the realms of you, that's a risk I'm willing to take. (As he rears back with the dagger, the door opens:) Regina!” Regina: “What the hell are you doing?” Rumplestiltskin: “Get out of here.” Jabberwocky: (The squid ink wears off:) “Too late. Impeccable timing, Dearie. (Uses her magic to knock out Regina. Then chokes Rumplestiltskin before he can use the dagger:) You know, I thought with the Author doing my bidding I'd be invincible. But, the brief time I spent inside your head was most enlightening. Haven't you figured it out? Thought the hammer would have jogged your memory. The day you hobbled yourself, you met a seer, and she gave you a prophecy.” Rumplestiltskin: (Struggling for breath, remembers:) “The boy will be my undoing.” Jabberwocky: “Yes. And today's the day that prophecy finally comes to pass.”

Enchanted Forest. Medusa’s Lair. (Snow White stares at her reflection in the shield where the Jabberwocky just disappeared from.) Snow White: “She's right. I did this. I defeated myself. Wait. (She takes the shield and rips off the fabric on it. As Medusa spots her, Snow White raises the shield:) Come and get me!” (Medusa charges and meets her own reflection in the shield; turning herself into stone.) David: “Snow.” (Snow turns around to see David is no longer a statue, and they kiss.) Snow White: “Are you okay?” David: “Now I know what Frederick felt like.” Snow White: “I thought I lost you forever.” David: “How did you do it? How did you defeat her?” (They look at the statue of Medusa.) Snow White: “I didn't. I made her defeat herself. I'm sorry. I was so focused on finding a way to beat the Jabberwocky that I almost lost the thing that could never live without—you.” David: “You damn well almost did. Almost.” (They kiss again.) The Dark Castle. (Emma and Hook continue their search for Henry.) Hook: "Just how big is this place?" Emma: "Well you'd know better than I would." Hook: (Shakes his head:) "No, when you and I went back in time, that was the only occasion where I managed to make it inside the Dark One's lair." Henry: (Appearing behind them:) "Looking for me? (When Emma turns to face him:) Hello, mother." Emma: "Henry! Oh thank god, we've been searching for you everywhere. (Notices his attire:) Henry, you look just like-" Henry: "A man who's achieved greatness?" Emma: "Henry, listen to me, I don't know what you think is happening here but-" Henry: "What's happening here, is that I've finally found the path that's right for me." Emma: "No, this isn't like you. You know that this is wrong." Henry: "What I know is that I tried finding my happiness the right way, but I got desperate."

Jabberwocky: (Still appearing as the Dark One, enters the room:) “And now that you've gotten caught up, what do you say, Henry? I think it's time we started a new story. Mine.” (The Jabberwocky waves her hand and Regina and Rumplestiltskin appear inside the room.) Regina: “Oh, God. (Moving toward him:) Henry.” Henry: (Motions for her to stop:) “I prefer: ‘Your Majesty’.” Regina: "Oh, no, no. Henry, don’t listen to-" Jabberwocky: "Such poise, such anger. I'm riveted. Aren't you riveted?" Rumplestiltskin: (Notices the quill in the Jabberwocky’s hand:) “The Author's pen." Hook: (As Henry takes a seat at the desk:) “What’s he gonna write?” Rumplestiltskin: (To Henry:) “Look, whatever deal you made with this imposter, you do not have to honor it. Trust me, there's always a loophole. And I'll help you find it.” Henry: “Why would I break a deal that's gonna give me what I want?” Jabberwocky: “Smart boy. And now we must attend to my humble needs. (To Rumplestiltskin:) I have immortality and power and yet, as both of us know, you can never have enough power.” Emma: (To Henry, pleading:) “Don't do this. We can help you. This isn't the right path for you. Look deep inside yourself, you know I’m telling you the truth.” Jabberwocky: (Suddenly beside Henry:) “Take a letter, boy. It goes something like this: As per his truest desires, Rumplestiltskin’s magical powers are taken from him.” Henry: (Frowns:) “Are you sure?” Jabberwocky: (Looking at Rumplestiltskin:) “Positive. (Slightly confused, Henry nonetheless writes the words and Rumplestiltskin can feel his powers taken from him. Chuckles:) Oh, oh, oh! My eternity feels eternal again. And now, enjoy a taste of winter in your tiny prison.” (The Jabberwocky waves her hand and Rumplestiltskin and Hook disappear in a cloud of smoke.) Regina: “Where'd they go?” Jabberwocky: “I reunited Rumple and Hook with your family and friends. It’s bound to be quite the reunion.” Emma: “Then why are we still here?” Henry: (Stands:) “Because we're finally back to what I'm getting out of this. I’m so close to obtaining everything I could ever want, and yet you two are here to stand in my way. To complete my quest, and to truly achieve my happy ending, I must defeat the Evil Queen and the Savior.”

[kayoi1234]

I was bored and going through my wips. Found some quality lines that might make no sense without context.

So you sit on the train, and wait for the stop at Yogen-Jaya to arrive. There’s only one question on your mind.

Who were you?

-A Persona 5 thing that was based around the idea of “What would happen if you started a NG+ file with corrupted data?”. The end result, for some fucking reason, is a BOTW-inspired retelling of Persona 5, complete with memory loss.

All right guys, we’ll start from the beginning.

My name in Ren Amamiya, I come from 2018 Japan, and I did get bitten by a radioactive spider.

And, for the past year or so, I have been the one, and only Spider-Man.

(Now, I know what you’re all probably thinking. “But Ren, what about Peter Parker? Isn’t he Spider-Man?” Which I respond with “Multiverse Theory.” That probably doesn’t explain anything but oh well.)

So I saved the city, busted some drug rings, saved the city again, blah, blah, blah you know how it goes.

Then, when I was walking home from cram school, not as Spider-Man but as measly little Ren Amamiya who cried about seahorse documentaries, I notice something.

-Another Persona 5 thing, this time inspired because I watched Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse and I went completely hog wild before running out of steam.

Izuku Midoriya sits in his chair, a pair of mint green headphones on his ears with a microphone in front of him. Behind him, there’s a few posters of several game characters, but some of several heroes as well, the largest being an image of All Might, with the text “I AM HERE” in big block letters.

However, that’s only the camera footage that sits in the corner of the screen, out of the way from the real action happening on the main screen.

The game in question is a round of Overwatch, and Izuku is absolutely carrying his own team. He’s playing the gamer and mech pilot D.va, and currently has the highest objective time and third highest eliminations, right after the team’s Genji and McCree.

In the stream chat, there is an evermoving wall of text, most saying things about the game,

- A BNHA thing about, apparently, making Izuku a streamer. No idea where this even came from. 

“Wow, you’re a worst detective than I thought! And here I thought there might be someone who can match my intellect!” a voice calls out, and eyes turn to the person at the back, who is wearing a brown hat and cape, black hair framing a face that hold closed eyes, an easy smile gracing his face as he holds a half-empty ramune bottle in one hand.

“I mean, it probably wasn’t fair anyway. I am the best detective in Japan, maybe even the world.” The man says, eyes opening just a bit to show intelligent green eyes.

“And, who might you be?” Akechi asks, smiling. Ren looks at the man behind his glasses, narrowing his eyes.

“I’m Rampo Edogawa.” The man introduces himself. Behind him, a man with blonde hair tied back into a ponytail is reading a notebook. “This is Doppo Kunikida, my partner for this case.” Rampo says, gesturing to him.

- A BSD and Persona 5 fusion, where all I wanted to do was have an excuse for Ranpo to meet Akechi and drag him through the mud. Good times. 

She’s looking at him like she’s found someone important.

The boy looks up at the woman on the wall, and asks “Who are you?”

The woman smiles, and says “I’m Atsuko, what’s yours?”

The boy looks at her, and he says “I’m Atsushi Nakajima!”

The woman looks him over, and says “So, Sheikah Kid, want to tell me why you’re outside in the rain?”

Atsushi grins and says “Well…”

- A BSD and LoZ fusion, where Atsushi is part of the Sheikah tribe. I honestly have no idea where this one is going.

The Law of Cycles demands that a cycle of life and death is kept, that despair cannot triumph over hope, that the scales shall not tip. But when half of the universe is killed, the scales begin to drop on one side. Madoka Kaname watches from her plane of existence, and frowns as she watches more and more despair crop up from the ashes, as the Witch of Salvation draws near.

A grinning god, one that controls the Laws of Equivalent Exchange, demands that the price of power be met. The Infinity Stones are not Philosopher Stones after all (Except, perhaps, the Soul Stone, but even then, that is a dubious theory). There is a demand that must be met. The Truth sits at the gate, grinning, for his dues shall be paid.

-Something I wrote after watching Avengers: Infinity War. The document title is literally “spite shall fuel me.”

And so, with the social tact of a squirrel, and the mentality of a toucan, he goes “So wait, which one of you is Markus?”

A dark-skinned fella (why fella, why did he call him fella that weird) in a trench coat blinks and says “I’m Markus.”

Lukas studies his face for a moment, sees a blue eye and a green eye, and, again with the social tact of a squirrel, says “You look like one of those bad ass anime characters that have the different coloured eyes. Bet you’re gonna say ‘It’s time to duel’ or something, and I’ll agree, and I’ll lose, and you’ll say something like ‘You’re a third-rate duellist with a fourth-rate deck.’ Or something like that.”

Markus blinks again and says “No. I wouldn’t.”

Lukas goes “Oh.” And then wisely keeps his mouth shut.

-A OC-centric story for Detroit: Become Human. Looks like it was written on a whim and the OC itself reads like a self-insert. youch. 

[avengers-nextgen]

Prometheus XV

The others were busy preparing for bed. They’d handle the clean up tomorrow and prayed that none of the Asgardians decided to kill each other.

Piper had managed to clean up her mess from working on a new project and was lounging in bed scrolling aimlessly through her phone. Part of her wondered what the others were up to but at the same time she figured it couldn’t be too important.

Time ran into hours of unintentional time wasting until a little green notification sprung up.

Meet me outside. I have a delivery.

The vagueness of the text was all Piper needed to scramble out of bed. Having broken focus on her phone she finally heard the thrum of rain and the gentle roll of thunder. How was Gen outside during a storm like this? The girl hated the New York streets when they were full of nasty water and smelling of sewage.

Whatever it was Piper figured it had to have been important. Pulling on a jacket she slunk soundlessly down the hallway to the lift. The heavy duty elevator carried her down to the main floor.

Hardly anyone was still awake and a closed sign hung in the large glass doorway. Outside Piper saw Gen soaked to the bone bouncing up and down trying to stay warm. Mumbling a curse, the youngest Stark drew up her hood and stepped outside.

Rain hammered on the sidewalk and the gentle noise was now a roar in her ears. Droplets attacked her jacket with a vengeance and lightning overhead ignited the sky. Piper wondered if it had to do with the conversation going on upstairs.

“You were awake!” Gen smiled. A backpack was slung snugly on her back, and her jacket hood was down. She must have given up on trying to stay dry.

“You know my schedule is shit,” Piper laughed, “but that doesn’t explain why you’re out here.”

“I...uh-well I brought these.” Piper watched the other girl struggle to take off the backpack. With an amused sigh Piper helped her out of it. Gen plopped it down onto the wet pavement drawing out a clear cylinder tube. “Blueprints.”

“You could have dropped them off tomorrow morning,” Piper rolled her eyes. “These must be important. What is it? A nuclear toaster?”

“No.” Gen shook her head. “It’s all of my recent work.”

Standing up once more Gen held out the container like a peace offering. Piper arched a brow taking the cylinder and examining it carefully. It was sealed alright. No water damage. “Why do I need all of this? If it’s for projects we can just compare notes.”

“That’s the thing...” Gen awkwardly brushed her hair behind her ear, “...I can’t do anymore projects with you.”

Piper’s eyes went wide with surprise before her expression morphed into a frown, “What? Why? Is it your parents being anal about your science again?”

“No!” Gen hurriedly interrupted before Piper could ask anymore questions. “I’m going to school in Europe Piper. I got a scholarship that literally no one gets. It’s a once in a lifetime thing.”

“Still, you have time to finish these.” Piper went to hand back the cylinder but Gen tucked her hands into her pockets.

“That’s the other thing...I leave in three hours.”

“What?” Piper gaped at the other girl looking very much like a fish. “And you didn’t say anything?”

“You were busy with hero stuff. I didn’t want to burden you. Not to mention you needed my help for the mission. I couldn’t afford distracting you.” Gen explained, kicking half heartedly at a small puddle.

“Gen, I’m only a hero second to being normal Piper Stark.” Piper felt her chest deflate at the idea of Gen being all the way across the world. “You should have told me.”

“I know that. And I feel like shit.” Gen sighed, “but that’s why I’m here now. I was going to just go but-I don’t know. It didn’t seem right.”

“Yeah. I’d have been pissed. I’d have flown my ass all the way over there just to kill you.” Piper snorted, crossing her arms. “I always pegged you as a New York girl, you know.”

“I am.” Gen assured, “it’s only temporary.”

“Things are going to be weird.” Piper mumbled. “Is there no way to get you to stay?”

“I don’t know Pipes....”

“What if I hired you?”

“You have before.” Gen reminded,

“No. I mean permanently. Full time.” Piper decided.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. I decided it just now.” Piper nodded firmly, “full time. Right here and now. It’s up for grabs.”

“Piper.” Gen gave her an incredulous look but when Piper didn’t move she knew that the Stark wasn’t joking.

“You could go anywhere. No school needed. You could learn anything and everything you wanted. Make anything. Do whatever you wanted. I can fund it all too.” Piper’s eyes glinted with a childish light, “all you have to do is say yes.”

Piper watched anxiously as Gen pursed her lips getting lost in thought. She could practically see gears turning in the other girl’s head.

“Okay,” Gen replied hesitantly, “you want to hire me full time? Okay.”

Piper’s smile was the widest one she’d ever worn. She tackled Gen in a tight hug and cheered in triumph. “I knew my methods of persuasion were impeccable.”

“You give yourself a lot of credit.” Gen snorted.

— — —

“You know sitting and staring at that isn’t going to make it any better.” Alex jumped in surprise and glanced over her shoulder to find Sage leaning in the bathroom doorway with a bandaged hand.

“Yeah.” Alex nodded, turning her attention back to the bathtub. It’s warm water was most likely cold now. She’d been looking forward to washing up but then the memories came back. “What’re you doing here? I thought the storm would have driven you off to hide in Bianca’s room.”

“It’s not so bad in here,” Sage shrugged, “it’s quiet.”

“Did the family meeting go well?” Alex asked.

“Not exactly.” Sage admitted.

“You know you’re going to have to forgive them one day. The only person being hurt by your anger is yourself.”

“Hurt people, hurt people.” Sage sighed, “I know. I just can’t bring myself to do it. It’s hard.”

“That’s the point,” Alex snorted. Sage rolled her eyes and plopped down onto the ground next to Alex.

“You gonna drain the tub or still stare at it?”

“I was hoping to actual wash up.” Alex mumbled, “but I can’t- I can’t do it. I just keep picturing the water again and the burning of my lungs and the helplessness...”

“Is showering any different?”

“It’s better but still-“ Alex shook her head, “it’s hard.”

“I’d imagine.”

“You know, I didn’t have any nightmares like everyone else did. But now everyone’s fine and I can hardly sleep. When I close my eyes that stupid masked face is still there and I’m underwater again.” Alex’s hands played nervously with the hem of her shirt. “He said he’d never really go away and I thought that was stupid-“

“But as long as he exists to one person he’s not dead.” Sage concluded.

“Yeah.” Alex nodded. “Something like that.”

“Guess we both have tough things to work out.” Sage frowned.

“I guess.”

A long pause settled between them all the while the bath water grew colder. It was Sage who finally broke the silence with a question Alex never thought she’d hear.

“How do you forgive someone?”

— — —

Bianca was attempting to give Arthur a pep talk along with Enzo. The two were failing miserably.

“And if she says no then it’s okay. I mean most girls reject people but that’s alright.” Enzo assured the older boy.

“And we’re here if you want to cry about it.” Bianca promised, patting Arthur on the shoulder.

“You guys really know how to make a guy feel like crap.” Arthur shook his hands out nervously.

“Okay, I don’t normally get into business I find stupid but these idiots are idiots.” Fox glowered poking her head into the room having over heard the conversation. “Ask her out. Be honest about it. All of it. If you’re awkward just say ‘I’m sorry if I’m a bit awkward about this. I’ve never asked a girl out before. Anyways I think you’re cute and blah blah blah.’ It’s endearing rather than awkwardly stammering.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Arthur nodded. “Thanks.”

“You stole my job.” Enzo glowered at Fox.

“Oops.” She smirked before leaving the trio behind.

Arthur straightened his shoulders and after a few nervous breaths he headed down the hall to pause at his sister’s doorway. His knuckles tapped against the frame and Chloe opened the door a few seconds later. “Hey.”

“Hey, is Penny there?” Arthur asked, feeling his throat go dry.

“Yeah, one second.” Chloe stepped aside and collected the other girl from her bed where she’d been attempting to teach Chloe Smash Bros.

“Hey Arthur, what’s up?” Penny grinned setting the controller aside. “Dude your sister is actually really good at this game. It’s freaking crazy! She’s already memorized the combos! I don’t understand!”

“That’s great!” Arthur laughed. “Hey I was wondering something and you don’t have to answer right away. I also don’t want you to feel pressured into a response. But would you maybe like to go out sometime? Like to lunch or something? It can be a date or a hang out or whatever you want. I just haven’t really asked anyone like you to hang out before.”

Arthur held his breath in anticipation and watched as Penny pursed her lips. “That depends on where we’re going. Does the place have bacon?”

“It can!” Arthur replied hurriedly.

“Then I’m sold.” Penny smiled. “Also ice cream is good too. Unless you’re lactose intolerant. Then you can forget about the ice cream.”

“You’re rambling Pen.” Chloe called from deeper inside the room. “Focus.”

“Right. Yes. Lunch is good.” Penny decided.

“Great. Twelve tomorrow?” Arthur asked, feeling like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

“Twelve tomorrow.” Penny agreed.

— — —

“You just did a nice thing.” James grinned.

“Shut up.”

“You just helped Arthur get a date.”

“Not a word.” For huffed.

“I am proud.” James sighed, mirroring his mother’s look of pride.

“I will castrate you.” Fox’s threat seemed to do the trick and James stopped talking. “That’s what I thought.”

“I knew you were a good person.”

“Okay mister you have three seconds to run and hide.” James took off laughing like a maniac before Fox could finish her threat. He’d learned all of the best hiding spots from Scout. The boy found the craziest places to read.

— — —

“Listen to this one.” Orion suggested passing over the head phones. He was trying to create a Playlist for his boyfriend. One that was soothing and relaxing since he worried so much. “Like it? Thumbs up or down?”

“Like it.” Scout decided. Orion nodded and added it to the label ‘Scouty’s’.

“Next one.”

The two went back and forth for nearly an hour until Orion was satisfied with the list.

“How’s it look?”

“Great.” Orion smiled, scooting over on his bed to show Scout his phone screen. “Now you can favorite ones you like and unfavorite them when you get bored. You can also add other songs to the playlist and this is where the software recommends other choices you might like based off of what you listen to.”

“I’ve never thought about doing this. It’s really cool. But are you sure you won’t mind if I have your phone on me most of the time?” Scout worried. “I know you like your own music.”

“I go old school babe.” Orion reminded him. “I have my cassette player. As long as I have that I’m all set. And you of course.”

“Suck up.” Scout teased, but he didn’t mind. Orion really was better than most of his books. Not all of them but most of them. He was certainly entertaining and more loveable than any of the characters. “But at least you’re a cute suck up.”