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docgold13 · 3 years

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365 DC Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

Suplemental - Villains Who Are Sometimes Heroes

Often times, the best villains are those who do not necessarily seem themselves as such. They are the heroes of their own stories and believe their villainous actions are in the service of some form of a greater good. As such, there are numerous instances in which a villain will come to act in the role of hero or antihero, where the bad guy is actually the good guy, or a former nemesis becomes a sudden ally. Following the jump are some of my favorite villains who frequently end up playing a heroic role…

There can be no doubt that both Deathstroke and Bane are bad to the bone. Yet each have acting in the role of antihero more times than can easily counted.

Poison Ivy is less villainess than ecological warrior. Her actions may be evil in the minds of many, but for her she is merely defending the wellbeing of plant life and attempting to stave off mankind’s thoughtless efforts to make the planet inhospitable to both flora and fauna alike.

The Flash’s Rogues, especially Captain Cold, HeatWave, The Pied Piper and The Trickster are most certainly cads… yet they all abide by their own particular code of honor and conduct. As such, they have been many a time where these rogues have fought along side heroes as opposed to against them.

The Shade has been one of the Justice Society’s most formidable of adversaries. And yet it was later revealed that he isn’t that bad a guy and it was the malignant possession of the devious Culp who was responsible for most of his villainous deeds.

Both The Star Sapphire and Goldface each began as villains but ended up heroes.

Knockout and Scandal are wonderful and I’ll hear no bad words about them.

Brainwave Junior‘s turn as a villain was initially attributed to his difficulties with mental illness, but it was later revealed to be the machinations of the evil Mr. Mind. Once the little creep was expelled, Brainwave Jr. became good again. whew!

The second Tattooed Man started off a villain but later became a hero, only to be killed in Heroes in Crisis (hopefully he’ll get better like most of the victims of Sanctuary). As for Harlequin, she only acted as a villain to get the attention of her crush, Green Lantern (Alan Scott)… boy was she barking up the wrong tree.

Bizarro is not necessarily bad, rather he’s naive and easily manipulated and the majority of his evil acts have been the result of coercion by way of more purely evil villains. And under the right direction, Bizarro can very much be a force for good, such as the time he served as a hero among The Red Hood’s band of Outlaws.

Anarky is a political extremist and Thorne suffers from some sort of psychological malady. Sometimes their on the right side of a conflict, sometimes on the wrong. Are they bad guys… whose to say?

This guy… where do I even start? Lex Luther certainly does not see himself as a villain; he’s out to save the world. And there have been many a time where he has achieved exactly that. He could have been hero on par with the greatest in the DC Universe… if only he hadn’t stolen all of those pies!

Plastique began as a terrorist and villain yet spent a brief time as a hero, a result of her romance with Captain Atom. Alas the affair between the two proved to be short live, and so time did Plastique’s time as a hero. As he Deadshot, he’s a stone-cold killer, yet his time with The Suicide Squad and Secret Six has hoisted him into the role of antihero… a role that proved a surprisingly good fit for the deadly marksman.

Cheshire is a deadly assassin who has proven formidable nemesis of The Teen Titans. When he daughter’s wellbeing is on the line, however, the killer is quick to aide her one time rivals.

Painkiller started off as a villain yet has recently turned to the role of antihero; mostly a result of the character’s involvement in the Black Lightning television series. As for Manchester Black, I’m never going to be convince to trust this creepy peet… yet Superman has decided to do just that, recruiting the cad into his new team The Elite.

Both Fataly and Bleez have very good reasons to be as angry and vengeful as they are. And though both have battled the Green Lanterns on multiple occasions, they have also assisted the corps in joining forces against common enemies.

Thomas Blake made for a rather lousy super villain during his early years as Catman. After a much-needed Gail Simone make-over, however, he became a truly terrific antihero. Plus, anyone who likes cats as much as he does can’t be all that bad, right?

Although technically villains, I wouldn’t classify Jenette nor Black Alice as necessarily bad… They both just have a different way of looking at the matter of morality.

Don’t mess with Lady Shiva… let’s just leave it at that.

Polymath’s tenure as a villain was merely a result of her desperation to save her father. Once the Wonder Twins helped her do just that, she resigned from her villainous ways. Shado‘s deal is a bit more complicated. The devious archer has proven a formidable adversary to Green Arrow, but there has also been many a time where the two have fought side by side.

So Dex-Starr is a rage-filled murder machine possessing awesome power. Yet that is pretty much the case for all house cats, so I don’t see what the big deal is…

Both Killer Frost and Magenta fell into the antiquated trope of powerful women becoming evil due to some sort of hysteria. Sure they’ve been bad guys plenty of times, but they have each also acted as heroes as well.

Just like his father, Icicle Junior has taken the road of villainy, becoming a member of The injustice Society of America. When The ultra Humanite took over the world, however, Icicle joined forces with The Justice Society and played a pivotal role in saving the day. As for Junior’s baby-mama, Tigress, she remains a villainess… in the DC Animated Universe of Young Justice, however, Artemis is very much a hero. Feels like only a matter of time before the comic book universe follows suit, turing The tigress from villain to hero.

Both Clayface and Man-Bat are less villains than they are victims of circumstance. And while each have battled Batman more times than can be counted, there has also been times where the pair have aided The Dark Knight.

Once heralded as the greatest of The Green Lanterns, Sinestro’s path to villainy came as a facet of his quest to bring order to the galaxy. His tyrannical notions aside, there has still been plenty a time where he has once more joined forces with his former allies among the corps.

Both The Rubber Band Man and Major Disaster began as villains, but switched over to being heroes. Major Disaster even served for a brief while as a member of The Justice League International.

Lobo is a genocidal trashbox who has most likely had inappropriate relations with space dolphins. Yet people seem to like reading about this jerk which has foisted him into the role of antihero. I still think he’s garbage, but will admit that his daughter is super cool.

These three don’t even require particular mention. Catwoman, Black Adam and Harley Quinn’s roles as hero/antihero have been enough that they receive placement on both the 365 Villains list as well a the 365 Heroes list. Quite the accomplishment!

A rarity on this list… Terra started out a hero but it was later revealed that she was a double agent, a villain sent by Deathstroke to infiltrate and betray the Teen Titans. She perished but later returned again, either cloned or resurrected or something like that. In any case, she’s a hero again so yay…

So there you have it, a collection of scum and villainy who have, on occasion, acted in the role of hero. Have I missed anyone important? Let me know.

#365 DC Comics Heroes #cut-outs #paper art #DC Comics

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thevictorianghost · 3 years

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If you could rewrite legend of korra and make it your own(or just in general better) how would you do it? The villains would stay the same and korra and crew are the same(personalities you can definitely tweak a bit. I would definitely not have any love triangles and make korra and asami happen in the beginning) how would you do it with your ships being canon as well?

Okay so I’ve never actually watched LOK. I’ve heard A LOT about it through watching countless video essays on Youtube and reading Tumblr posts about it. I know the who, the what and the how, I just haven’t wanted to watch it because, even though it looks cinematically gorgeous, the story was written by Bry/ke and there’s a LOT of it, worldbuilding and storywise, that I just can’t bare to watch.

So here goes. This got long. Enjoy!

1) Remove the Decopunk world.

A Decopunk world is a world where technology is 1920s-ish, but very advanced. We have cars, tanks, radio, bobs and faux bobs, cloche hats, short skirts, nice suits, etc. I adore Decopunk. The 1920s are one of my favourite eras. An optimistic way of looking at the world, partying, illegal alcohol, the remnants of the Great War... I love it. I really do. But it doesn’t work in the pre-established world of Avatar. It brings elements that are far too imperialistic and colonial in nature (which prompted the comics to be imperialistic and colonial in nature, with the Northern and Southern Water Tribe, you can find many posts about that), which came along hand in hand with the Industrial Revolution, as this article puts it so well. Please read it, it’s awesome.

Why did they feel they had to denature Avatar’s world? They already had everything they could possibly want.

The Fire Nation could be more Steampunk, which is a little less advanced than Decopunk (First Industrial Revolution vs Second Industrial Revolution) because there were elements of Steampunk in the Fire Nation Army (such as the tanks, the navy and the dirigibles). But it could be for them only. It could show us how Zuko transformed the Fire Nation from a war industry to a steam-powered country. This could be the new way to channel firebending (and please, no more “anyone can do lightning bending”, you don’t need lightning bending to get electricity and it makes Zuko, Iroh, Ozai and Azula weak in the show!).

We’ve seen waterbending used in clever ways in the Northern Water Tribe. How could Katara’s waterbending and Sokka’s engineering influence the Southern Water Tribe to make them use waterbending more? Canals, waterfalls, waterways, etc.? In new and different ways? Could the Southern Water Tribe use hydroelectricity, but in a clean, sustainable way? Why does the Southern Water Tribe port look so... mundane?

The Earth Kingdom already had a working train system in Ba Sing Se. And the postal system in Omashu. Toph could have taught earthbenders how to follow the Badgermoles way and dug tunnels throughout a nation in peace. Then boom. Subways. But instead of machines pushing the people along, you can have benders do it. Instead of messenger hawks, the postal system could run through the entire kingdom instead of just Omashu and be much more efficient. The Earth Kingdom could be praised for its fast postal system that could, maybe, work as telegrams.

I’ll come back to the Air Nomads.

Those are just examples from the top of my head. I don’t mean “never allow technology to “””progress””” (I use that word veeeeery loosely because it has huge imperialistic undertones). I mean instead of trashing the fun parts of bending to make way for Decopunk technology that doesn’t need bending, work with it! Get creative! This worldbuilding feels... too easy. When Avatar: The Last Airbender was praised for its worldbuilding.

I adore Decopunk. I enjoy it far more than Dieselpunk and it’s much less known that Steampunk. But it has no place in the Avatar world.

2) That doesn’t mean “remove Republic City”.

First of all, it should honestly have a better name. It’s kind of like naming a city “Democracy City”. Which is way too on the nose. Harmony City sounds better, and that’s the first thing that came to mind. Anyway.

I really like the idea of a city being built in the spirit of Iroh and the White Lotus. To allow the Four Nations to live together in harmony in one city. But why is Republic City literally New York City with an “““Asian””” flair? What is up with that? I know New York is the MOST Decopunk city ever (you can’t encounter anything Decopunk without seeing New York, with its Art Deco buildings, the Harlem Renaissance, the Prohibition, etc.). But they do NOTHING with it! They just take New York, change some names, add some Asian flair, and call it a day.

I don’t want 1920s New York for Republic City. I want Zootopia.

What happens in a city where all the Four Nations are represented? How does Water, Earth, Fire and Air work together? Big cities tend to be quartered in neighborhoods, so each neighborhood could be a smaller version of their nation. We could have a Northern Water Tribe next to an Earth Kingdom next to... you know what I mean? Each neighborhood could be a small-scale introduction to the nation for Korra first, then you can send her to that nation afterwards!

Which leads us to this.

3) Have Korra follow a traditional Avatar’s journey.

I really don’t know why they decided that Korra would learn three elements before the age of sixteen (when that’s the age Avatars usually START their journeys) and then only have her learn Airbending during the entire show. Wasn’t the structure of each Book being about Aang learning one element at a time a good structure? Why go out of their way to NOT do that? Why was it the White Lotus’ prerogative to train the Avatar in the first place, too?

So let’s have Korra know waterbending first (and show Katara teaching her, please!), then she can learn Earth, Fire and Air. By going to the Earth Kingdom, to the Fire Nation, and to the Air Temples. This could help develop each nation and show us how they have grown through the years. And it could lead Korra and the audience to figure out that there’s not only Aang who has had children to represent the Air Nomads, but there were other Air Nomads who survived the genocide and we can actually see the Air Nomads as a thriving culture.

So about Republic City. As I said, we could keep it. But now that Korra is going on a traditional Avatar journey, you could have, say, one episode at the beginning and one episode at the end of each season taking place in Republic City. To show us how each Nation’s neighborhood works and as an introduction to Korra before she actually takes the plunge to travel to that nation.

Please! Build upon the Avatar world at large more! Come on!

4) Stop it with the love triangles.

Many have talked about the Mako, Korra, Bolin and Asami love triangles. I’ve read once that they don’t exactly feel like friends, they’re only colleagues who share the fact they all dated Korra at one point. Which is sad. Knowing that the Gaang is so beloved because they’re such GOOD FRIENDS first!

So work to build strong, healthy friendships first, THEN start thinking about romance if you have to. And please, if you want a ship to be endgame, don’t have it so you have to confirm it on Twitter.

Don’t.

Oh! And also. Bolin and Eska’s relationship was unhealthy as all hell and treated as “funny” and “comic relief” because a woman was being emotionally abusive to a man. That’s terrible. Please don’t do that.

5) Don’t let Katara fall to the side like she did.

Many, MANY before me have talked about how Katara got the short end of the stick in LOK. Where’s her statue? Where’s her recognition as the Greatest Waterbender in the World? Why is she day in and day out in the healing hut, when she said “I don’t want to heal, I want to FIGHT”? Does she even have a waterbending school? Or is that completely fanon? Why does she allow Aang to take one of their children on life-changing field trips while leaving their other kids behind? Aren’t they also Air Nomads by birth??

It’s okay to worship the old Gaang because, well, we all love them! I do love Aang, even if I give him a hard time a lot, but I love the character. I just don’t like the way Book 3 Aang was written. But some characters shouldn’t have everything while others have nothing. Aang is LITERALLY THE STATUE OF LIBERTY. But where was Katara’s statue? And also, what happened to Suki?? What happened to Mai or Ty Lee, too?? Or even Sokka?? He died some time ago and... that’s it??

Which brings us to this.

6) Zutara, Taang, Sukka and Mailee.

I’ve seen that picture of Toph, Aang, Sokka and Katara being edited with Zuko and Katara next to each other, Toph and Aang next to each other, and a (suddenly alive!) Suki next to Sokka. I think that’s so good! It feels so healthy!

Not all relationships that started when people were kids work out. Sokka and Suki seem the strongest relationship at the end of the show and they’re probably the only ones I could see working out in the end. Sokka could become the Southern Water Tribe Chief and Suki could become his Queen when she’s retired from the Kyoshi Warriors.

Katara and Aang would be lifelong friends, of course they would be, but I don’t really see them lasting. Aang was twelve when they started dating. They’d date a few years, then they’d decide they want other things. That’s a good thing to show kids!

I’ve written many metas about Zutara, but Ambassador then Fire Lady Katara would show a changing world, where the Fire Nation, now no longer a war industry but a Steampunk country, is moving forward, with Zuko literally marrying a woman the Fire Nation tried to wipe out. They would be equals and leave an equal mark upon the world. Together.

Toph and Aang would be amazing together. They’d be a great team, working in the Earth Kindom, helping rebuild the old Temples when the Air Nomads came out of hiding, and bringing peace around the world. I don’t think they’d be a conventional relationship. They’d do their own thing for a while, find each other for a while, work together on some projects, then continue doing their own thing. Aang being the Avatar who travels the world and Toph teaching metalbenders and working with the King in Ba Sing Se and Bumi in Omashu and wherever she’s needed. I think Toph would be much more fulfilled than what we’ve seen of elderly Katara. She doesn’t have Katara’s abandonment issues (I’ve talked about them here) and she’s more independent, I believe.

I know I haven’t talked about them much yet, but I want Mai and Ty Lee together in the end. Badass ladies challenging their respective stereotypes and create a new world for themselves. Mai could find herself away from the Fire Nation court (I don’t know what she’d do, but circuses love people who throw knives, don’t they? She could be a circus performer for a while), and I think Ty Lee, in this version, could work at the circus and with Aang to rebuild the Air Nomads. I love the idea of Ty Lee being a descendant of the Air Nomads.

All of them should be shown creating Zootopia-like Republic City. Because of course they should be! They’re the Gaang!

So yeah, that’s how I would see the world of Avatar grow beyond the borders of the original show! :)

#atla #avatar the last airbender #anti-lok #anti-bryke #zutara #sukka #taang #mailee #darkcrowprincess

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angelicamerlinbarnes · 3 years

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Albus Dumbledore being an awesome teacher and human being

Bubblegum Bitch - MARINA

(Imma be honest with y’all, it’s mostly just him being a crackhead.)

He tells stories about Grindelwald, about their marriage and their beliefs and their lives together. All of the stories have lessons - sure, a lot of those lessons are about how NOT to make pasta, but they’re still lessons!

He likes to matchmake students using seating charts and certain magical spell assignments. He’s very good at it. I mean, he’s shit at figuring out who likes each other, but he is great at meddling, so Mcgonogall tells him who to mess with and he does as he’s told. They make a great team (and are invited to a lot of weddings). Couples they’ve helped include but are not limited to: Dean and Seamus, Luna and Ginny, Hermione and Harry and Ron, Sirius and Remus, Peter and Maxwell Needles, Peter and Regulus (that was later), Lily and Severus and James, Fred and Lee plus George and Lee, Charlie and Newt (queerplatonic), Leta and Newt (queerplatonic), Harry and Luna (queerplatonic), and Sirius and James and Remus (queerplatonic). They’ve been very busy.

He and Mcgonogall have teatime almost every day. They talk about their students and work on their matchmaking plans. There’s a lot of sass and deadpanning involved. Sometimes they invite Remus, Sirius, and James. (Not Peter. He doesn’t need the same level of torturing that they do.) Bubbles of all shapes and sizes and colors float around the room the whole time. It’s fantastic.

He accepts gossip in exchange for extra credit. He’s a really good secret keeper too, so a lot of students go for it. (It hasn’t broken any friendships. There’s an understanding among the student population that Dumbledore is like Ms. Potts from that Muggle film Beauty and the Beast - well-meaning and trustworthy, but terribly, terribly bored.)

Everything in his classroom is pink. And glittery. And covered in sequins. Once a student asked him why and he just smirked for a solid minute before whispering, “Lemonade.” (As if that makes any fucking sense.)

He once taught class in a full-fledged glittery ballgown that faded from light pink to deep purple. He did not once acknowledge it or act like anything was out of the ordinary. One student raised their hand and asked timidly, “Professor? Why are you wearing a ballgown?” And his brow furrowed as he frowned, looked down at himself, and muttered, “Thought it was a bathrobe.” (Harry does not let him live this one down. His dad is not much help - Severus took many, many pictures.) (Not that it mattered. On Wednesdays Dumbledore wears pink (glittery ballgowns).)

He speaks to kids who have parents, friends, and relatives in prison, whether for being Death Eaters or otherwise. He chaperones visits to Azkaban for them so they can see their loved ones. He casts protective and invisibility charms on them so only the one they’re visiting can see or hear them, and he teaches them Patronuses (with Remus’ help, of course). He often spends these visits on the other side of Grindelwald’s bars, playing wizard’s chess against him. (Sometimes Grindelwald gives him flowers. It always makes Dumbledore smile. There may be no one left in the world who understands why they love each other, but they don’t need to understand it for it to be true.)

He stands at the front of the classroom and makes funny faces during tests and waits to see how long it takes for a student to look up. His latest record is seven minutes.

When he’s teaching Grindelwald’s history, he makes snarky comments about his husband. They range from “I mean really. Who the fuck thought wizards ruling Muggles was a good idea?” (Rest in peace that one student who thought it was a good idea to say, “You did, Professor.”) to “Honestly, that man has no concept of romance. I ask him for a nice night out and he takes me to a Muggle rally about witchcraft and tries to impress me by playing practical magical jokes on the speaker. A toddler could do that.” (He often gets mushy during those stories though, usually trailing off like “But that time he took me to my childhood home for my birthday was sweet… brought me flowers for Ariana’s grave and everything. Sure, he killed her, but… he has a sweet side…” and from there on out he’s basically a lost cause and you might as well go to your next class because he’s not going to stop humming that fucking Elvis song).

He “loses” his glasses all the time by casting an invisibility charm on them and forces his students to search the classroom for them when they’re on his face the whole time. He thinks it’s funny. Harry does not. (But Severus and Mcgonogall do, and that’s really what matters.) (Severus and Mcgonogall and Dumbledore are a fantastic trio full of snark and sarcasm and shit, I have just decided.)

He makes little animals out of multi-colored magical dust and they fly around the classroom and perch on his favorite students’ heads. Once a dragon fell asleep on Newt’s head and wouldn’t leave even when class was over. Newt had to wait for the magic to wear off so it would disintegrate. (Of course, he had named it by that point and had a meltdown when it disappeared, so Dumbledore recreates the dragon (Robert) every class and just lets Newt coo at it, even during tests.)

He conjured and charmed two giant (I mean Egypt half-animal half-man guard statue size giant) fluffy pink teddy bears that are alive and stand on either side of him like bodyguards during class. A Slytherin student punched one in the stomach once and it vomited enough M&Ms over their head to completely bury them. The student’s partner, a Ravenclaw student, punched the other one in an ill-advised burst of illogical thought and received the same treatment, but in Skittles. (Luckily their Gryffindor aro-ace friend and nonbinary Hufflepuff friend stayed after class and ate until they could move again. Safe to say no one has dared punch the bears again.) (Though I hear they do give very good hugs. And they eat homework if you ask nicely enough!)

He has a bunch of cloaks that act as portals to realms like Merlin’s Celestiums (S.G.E., Soman Chainani). He gives one to each student for tests, and they are transported to their ideal test-taking environments, complete with whatever song they feel like listening to at any given minute playing all around them. Unsurprisingly, his students have the best grades in all of Hogwarts. (He also has a secret cloak that he uses for himself, to see Grindelwald. Grindelwald has his own matching one so he can always make it home for Thursday date night.) (They have been caught. Of course they have. But no one is going to challenge Dumbledore for his right to see his husband, even if he did marry a murderer.) (Sirius and Remus used to steal the cloak for their own dates. And later on James would steal it to take the two of them on friend-dates. Inspired by that, Dumbledore made a special cloak for Mcgonogall that he gifted her on her fiftieth birthday. The smile she gave him then is his favorite of all time.)

He bickers with Fawkes constantly. This often evolves into full-fledged screaming matches with spastic hand gestures, gratuitous spit, and angry hops on both sides. Once Dumbledore drew wand on his “useless babbling bastard of a bird”. No one has bothered to tell Dumbledore that Fawkes probably can’t understand a word of their arguments. (They do evacuate the classroom when these fights start though. The last time they stayed their hair was gone for a week, and when it grew back it was glittery and pink.) (Harry looked especially fantastic. Sirius thought he looked great. He laughed until he was in tears. Harry was not amused.) (Remus was.)

Sometimes he’s absent from class and Mcgonogall teaches them instead. When asked if he’s alright, Mcgonogall simply answers, “My partner is away on personal business for the day. Now, turn to page -” Soon enough people figured out that “personal business” meant “conjugal visit with Genocidal Maniac Husband™ in prison”. They stopped asking.

He gives all of his students the red button test (without knowing what it does, do you press the red button?). Those who pass get automatic A’s and a lollipop. Those who fail get a talking pet pygmy puff. The thing that usually trips people up is that Dumbledore considers the “correct” answer to be pressing the goddamn button. (Seamus is the only one who has ever passed (enthusiastically too!). Newt half-passed because Niffy the Niffler sat on it.) (Sirius and James would have passed too if they had not been the life partners of one Remus Lupin, whose creativity with threats and extensive curse-word vocabulary rivaled Mcgonogall’s even at the tender age of fifteen.)

He has floating war maps just lying around. He plays battleship with his students on them. What he neglects to tell them is that their moves have actual consequences in the world, as the maps are magical and reflect real battles and places. When Harry finds out (he blew up Denmark, completely unawares) he shows up at Dumbledore’s door soaking wet at five-thirty in the morning with a newspaper, his fists clenched, his face red, and his chest heaving. He wouldn’t stop glaring for weeks. (Alas, Dumbledore’s glorious beard has great resistance to fire spells.) (Following an incident involving the original four Marauders in their third year. Shhh… we do not speak of that.)

He has a habit of walking into random classrooms, gesturing for a student to come with him with his finger, and then taking them to his office for teatime. He usually asks them inane questions about a specific theme (fish, pasta strainers, socks, throw pillows, mooses, etc.) for hours until finally dismissing them. It drives Mcgonogall crazy. (She’s yelled at him plenty for “kidnapping students to ask them questions you know you could easily find on that Muggle infer-het thing! They have exams, Albus -” but he just smiles at her while calmly sipping his tea and she always ends up collapsing in the chair across from him with a sigh, taking the tea from his hands and chugging it before wiping her mouth, slamming it down on the desk, and asking, “So. Fish. What’s up with them?” and Albus just beams.)

He spends half of his class lessons babbling on about how Merlin was gay for Arthur and Arthur was gay for Merlin, but not in long tangents. Just a bunch of random comments without context, warning, or explanation. (He mentions “poetry” a lot and waggles his eyebrows for some reason, so… what’s up with that? (Merlin BBC))

He overshares A LOT about his and Grindelwald’s lives. It’s a problem because 90% of the time it’s something sweet or innocent like “Oh, he brought me a tiger lily that bloomed open to show a gold and ruby ring nestled inside on our first anniversary. That’s how he proposed to me” and “He used to hum while he did the housework, you know? He’d stand in the middle of the house and close his eyes and just hum. Almost entire symphonies too, just waving his wand in the air like a conductor” to “This one time in bed he…” and there is NO warning. The amount of things these poor children’s ears have had to endure… (*shakes head in mock disappointment*)

He often cooks during class using wandless magic. The pots and pans heat themselves and float around in the air. Sometimes Dumbledore dances and then they start dancing too. He whistles and creates a base beat for the sizzling, popping, clanging, and other kitchen noises to follow. This usually happens during tests. Oh joy.

He leaves the windows open when it rains, but somehow nothing ever gets wet. Harry and Hermione have a theory that it’s protection charms. (Really it’s a spell Severus made up when he was drunk because he was angry that umbrellas don’t have enough room under them for three, and he’s always been the most self-sacrificial person in his marriage.)

He regularly makes bets with Mcgonogall about the students’ love lives. Not money, but little things the other doesn’t want to do or buy. Dumbledore usually has to handle the Marauders’ detentions or give up one of his teddy bear guards for Mcgonogall’s experimental enjoyments. Mcgonogall has to do something embarrassing or let him borrow one of her glittery hats. They should really stop making bets at this point; the stakes and the winners are dreadfully predictable. He always wins when the bet is on a student’s sexuality or gender and she always wins when the bet is on who a student will end up with. Nonetheless, the bets continue. So too does their grumbling amusement.

He figured out how to make a broom invisible when he and Grindelwald first fell in love, so they could be showy with each other at their Greater Good rallies. They later used it for dates, prison breaks, and daring escapes complete with kisses under the moon. Once Grindelwald went to Azkaban, Dumbledore used it to find some privacy where he could grieve. Now, he uses it to travel around his classroom and Hogwarts and trick everyone into thinking he can fly by sheer will. Only Mcgonogall knows his secret. (And Severus, but Dumbledore doesn’t know that because he told him when he was black out drunk. So.)

He lets pygmy puffs sleep in his beard. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.

He once taught class while teetering on his feet because he had somehow gotten himself tangled in Christmas lights from shoulders to ankles and couldn’t move. (Sirius wandered in and saw this, cried he was laughing so hard, and then warbled his off-key way through as many Christmas carols as he could remember for the rest of class.) (Dumbledore tried to Silencio him but just fell over trying to make the wand movement. He broke his nose. Sirius almost had a panic attack because he couldn’t breathe from how hard he was laughing. By the end of this he had curled up in a fetal position on the floor, Remus was lying down next to him and muttering jokes to him, Mcgonogall was trying to fix Dumbledore’s face, and Severus had taken over the class. Not that they got much done - James was visiting that day. And him, Sirius, and Remus all laughing about the same thing rarely leads to a quiet and calm learning environment.) (They gave him a joint present of rainbow Christmas lights for his birthday - “Happy Gay Day, Professor!” - and he was not amused.) (Grindelwald was though. So was everyone else.)

He tends to mix up holidays in his head and often decorates for the wrong one. He goes all out too. He’s kind of a disaster, and so is his classroom. It became such a problem that the Marauders actually took pity on him and made him a very big calendar with all the holidays marked on it in glitter and fake jewels and flowers. It sits behind his desk and occasionally works.) (Occasionally.)

He’s queerplatonic partners with Mcgonogall. They held a friend-wedding and forced Severus to be the flowergirl. Harry officiated, Remus was Dumbledore’s best man, Sirius was Mcgonogall’s, James wasn’t given a job cause he was crying too much, Lily was in charge of taking care of James, and Peter was the ring bearer (he only lost them TWICE and they were ring pops anyway). Mcgonogall screeches at him a lot and Dumbledore can be depressive and neglectful because he misses Grindelwald but they love each other so it works. (And they’re the prime source of advice for James, Sirius, and Remus regarding their own queerplatonic relationship, for better or for worse.)

He puts his feet up on the desk even though it’s bad for his knees. Mcgonogall told him it’s bad for his knees and he has stubbornly put them up there every class since. (His knees are killing him but he will not give in to “a paranoid, batty old witch who doesn’t know shit about what’s good for me and wouldn’t if she was hit with an Imperio and I told her -” “I’M YOUR FUCKING PARTNER, YOU BLASPHEMOUS ARROGANT BRAT OF AN OLD FART!”)

Instead of walking around his classroom, he struts. (Yes, it worsens his knees.) He does strike poses, he does make obnoxious expressions, and he does look fabulous. WORK! (Yes, that was a Hamilton reference.)

He once taught class without a face because Mcgonogall cursed him for “fucking up the alphabetical organization of my tea, you old twit. Honestly, Albus, it’s not that hard”. (How did he teach without a mouth, you ask? Easy, he used intermediate BSL (deaf students, plus Azkaban isn’t great on old men’s ears and he and Grindelwald are both gettin’ up there) and Sirius interpreted.) (Incredibly wrongly, crudely, and foul-mouth-ly, but nonetheless he interpreted.)

He has difficulty understanding the straight people in his class. He is fully accepting of everyone and wants the best for all of them, but when it comes to relationship advice, he’s shit.

Excerpt pulled from Pensieve of a conversation he had with a student who identified as female:

Dumbledore: “So your boyfriend is a dick, is what you’re saying?”

Student’s best friend: “Yes. Merlin, he’s such a dick. Would you believe he -”

Dumbledore: *looks at student and points to her best friend* “Why don’t you just date her?”

*cue red faces and sputtering*

(They did not take his advice.)

He wears bowties ALL THE TIME. If he’s not wearing a bowtie, there are bows in his hair and tying the ends of his beard together. Once he wore pigtails. It was great.

He has a habit of bursting into song randomly and performing full-blown Broadway musical numbers (yes, he can rap Guns and Ships at full speed). This usually involves all of the complex moves to be expected in a musical - dramatically climbing up the stairs while looking forlorn, leaping onto the desk and squatting as you launch into a whispered limerick, speedy costume changes - you know, the works. Sometimes Sirius and James back him up, if they’re there. Severus will take over teaching with a bored look on his face (“What are you looking at, Harry?” “Dad, there’s -” “I don’t see anything interesting happening, Harry.” *glares*) while Mcgonogall screeches at Dumbledore to “GET THE FUCK DOWN, YOU NARCISSISTIC HEATHEN!” It’s a problem.

When the Marauders challenge the dress code, Dumbledore is the first Professor to encourage it. While Sirius is perfectly confident in a skirt and Regulus isn’t far behind (neither is Severus, surprisingly), James and Remus are far more insecure. Dumbledore wears a tutu to class one day to show his support, and Remus wouldn’t stop smiling the rest of the day. (James just turned bright red and beamed when Sirius started laughing.) He also backed Lily up when she wore pants (along with Marlene, Dorcas, and Mary) by convincing Mcgonogall to wear pantsuits for a week. (Sirius, despite being a hardcore gay, was quite affected by this. Remus did not appreciate the water spit in his face and refused to kiss Sirius for a week.)

He plays Cecily Smith (Will Connolly) on the ukulele on late nights and stares out at the stars thinking of Grindelwald. Sometimes he forgets to turn off the Sonorus from earlier that day and ends up broadcasting his little song to the whole school. Sirius and Remus will dance to it in the common room while James watches his partners with a happy smile on his face (and Peter sleeps, because he’s tired and doesn’t force himself to stay up simply for the purpose of being cool or finishing that one assignment that isn’t due for another two weeks) (I’m sorry, do you feel called out?).

This man has weed brownies stashed away in his desk and he does eat them during class. He also offered one to Remus once, who is the only student that knows about the stash and tends to use marijuana for medical purposes (helping with anxiety and pain regarding the full moon, courtesy of my beautiful girlfriend who has never read nor seen Harry Potter but nonetheless insists to me that Remus Lupin is a stoner who wears red beanies). This prompted Sirius to ask for one, which Dumbledore refused, but then James joined in and they started a riot by standing on their desks and pumping their fists in the air and screaming, “BROWNIES FOR ALL!” while Remus giggled into his hand and was no help at all, so Dumbledore gave them each a brownie just to shut them up. (Sirius wouldn’t stop rambling about how pretty Remus’ eyes were, James was babbling on about unicorns, Severus was hissing at something no one else could see, Regulus was hissing at the same thing for some reason, Peter was crying because he couldn’t tell the difference between hamsters and gerbils and guinea pigs, and Lily was muttering pi under her breath until she fell asleep.) (Mcgonogall was unimpressed.) (No teatime for eight weeks. Damn.)

Dumbledore cares about all of his students, however little he shows it. He wants them to lead a better life than he did. And maybe fall in love with better people than he did.

#albus dumbledore #albus wulfric percival brian dumbledore #mcgonogall &x dumbledore #&x means queerplatonic i have just decided #grindledore #wolfstar #james &x remus &x sirius #severus & mcgonogall & dumbledore #james x lily x severus #albus dumbledore is a crackhead 2021 #i dunno please enjoy this shit #i'm really fucking tired #harry potter #have a nice day y'all

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crystalstar8 · 3 years

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Knights of the Night (ch 11)

Chapter 11

Ch 1, ch 2, ch 3, ch 4, ch 5, ch 6, ch 7, ch 8, ch 9, ch 10, ch 11

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29139240/chapters/71536491

pairing: Jungkook x oc

genre: vampire au, college au, twilight, romance

word count: 2,054

warnings: blood (obviously), kidnapping, child kidnapping, needles, France

notes: vampires, vampire au, college, college au, so many twilight references, blood, needles, kidnapping, children, homelessness, dance, ballet, flashbacks, romance, slow burn, probably no smut, idk yet tho, France, French things, attempted genocide, inaccurate French history, bisexual main character, @strawberriewithchocolate-blog @mozy-j @daechwitad-2 @zobadak

summary: Catalina starts college in a small town all the way across the country. She doesn’t know anyone and isn’t exactly looking for friends. She just wants to focus on dance. But when she meets fellow dance major, Jimin, and adventurous, fellow freshman, Jungkook, Catalina ends up discovering a whole new side to the small college town; one that is dangerous but oh so enticing…

tw: France, attempted murder, death, it’s a vampire story so...

When Catalina and Jungkook came back to the rooms wrapped in towels, hand in hand, everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and stared.

“Did you guys fuck in the hot tub?” Jimin asked, breaking the silence.

“Jungkook! That is irresponsible and inappropriate!” Jin screeched.

“We didn’t fuck in the hot tub!” Catalina yelled over the chaos, trying and failing to contain her laughter. “Everyone calm down.”

“We were just about to do some slumber party activities,” said Taehyung. “I got us some popcorn from downstairs and I heard of a game called spin the bottle-“

“Or we can just talk,” said Jimin. “I want to hear about you guys, since you’re immortal and all.”

“And we can braid hair,” said Taehyung. Jimin giggled.

“Well, we’re gonna go change first, then we can do whatever you want,” said Catalina.

After changing into some warm clothes, everyone gathered into the room with the largest floor space and sat around wherever they could. Catalina was sat on the ground in front of Taehyung, who was braiding her hair. Jungkook sat beside her, close enough for their arms to brush every time they moved.

“So, what happened out there?” asked Jimin. “Give us the deets. I know I said not to go find him, but it looks like it went well.”

“It did go well,” said Catalina. “We made up.”

“And made out,” said Jungkook. Catalina elbowed him, but he just laughed.

“Yeah, we…” Catalina felt breathless again as she looked over at the boy making her heart flutter. “Yeah.”

“I mean, I don’t think we need the deets,” said Jin.

“Yeah, I’m more interested in you guys,” said Jimmy K, pointing to the four vampires. “You guys have been around a while. You must have plenty of stories.”

“Sure! What do you wanna know?” Hoseok said with a shit eating grin on his face, leaning back on his hands. Namjoon, who was sitting beside him, swatted at him.

“Oh please,” he said. “You’re practically a baby.”

“He’s right,” said Hoseok. “I was born in 1973. Turned in ’95. I’m still not used to the whole ‘no aging’ thing. Definitely not used to living with people who are literally hundreds of years old. That’s a trip.”

“How did you get turned into a vampire?” Catalina asked him.

Hoseok completely ignored her, turning to Namjoon and saying, “Yeah, tell us your story.”

“I-she…” Namjoon stuttered, pointing at Catalina. Then he sighed and said, “Well, I was turned when I was twenty-three. The year was 1580. I guess I should give some history. So, during those times, there was a lot happening in Europe to the vampire community, specifically in France. This was called The Great Hunt, but it definitely wasn’t great for a lot of people. The vampires living there at the time were being relentlessly hunted and killed, rounded up and tortured. It was a massacre, and it led to a lot of vampires leaving the country and travelling the world to get away from it. That’s how I met Pierre. He escaped the hunt and fled, ending up all the way in northern Korea. I lived in a seaside village, mostly working on the water. One day, I ended up in a swampy area of the shoreline and my boat got stuck. Then this ghostly man came out of the water and sat on a rock. I had never seen anyone like him in my life; he was unnaturally beautiful and pale. I ditched my boat and swam to him, I couldn’t even control myself. We talked for a while and he told me about where he came from and then he bit me. He was going to drain me if it weren’t for the search party arriving, looking for me. He ran away and my fellow fisherman took me back to the village. I was half dead, but his venom was already doing its work. The transformation was excruciating. It felt like my veins were on fire, my head felt like it was going to explode, my jaw ached like someone was prying my mouth open, and it went on like this for days. Finally, when it stopped and the pain went away, I had this uncontrollable thirst. I could hear people’s hearts beating. I could taste their heat, just by being near them. I ended up killing three people in my village before I was captured. They were going to behead me, but I was stronger and faster now, so I got away easily.

“I was on the run for so long, but eventually, I made it out of the country. I ended up in Bangladesh-“

“How?!” Jin interrupted. “That’s…that’s all the way across China!”

Namjoon shrugged and said, “I was fast and I never got tired. I was able to feed off of people along the way, as long as I kept moving. Anyway, I ended up by the ocean, the Indian ocean, and I met another vampire there. She worked on a ship and offered me a job. She turned out to be a pirate, and the crew was a mix of vampires and humans, all working together. We sailed the sea, taking ships and feeding from their crews. It was dirty, living like that. And it wasn’t how I wanted to live my life, so I left them and lived in India for a few years. Then one day, I took a boat to America and built my house in the mountains, using the riches I had from my pirate years. From there, I spent my days studying and getting degrees, learning as much as I can about everything.”

“That’s incredible,” said Catalina.

“So cool. I can’t believe you were a pirate,” said Jungkook. “You just don’t seem like the type.”

“It was mostly about the community,” said Namjoon. “A lot of vampires were drawn to piracy during those times because they felt safe together. We couldn’t engage in regular society because the French were still hunting us across Europe and even into India for a while. But on the water, no one could touch us. But you’re right, I wasn’t the type. I didn’t like the bloodshed and pillaging and the dirty lifestyle, so I left as soon as I felt it was safe to live in society again, which was right around the time the Renaissance period began.”

“That’s when I met Adrianna,” Taehyung said quietly behind Catalina. He had finished the braid and was tying a hair tie at the end.

“Who Adrianna?” asked Jimin.

“The vampire who changed me,” he said. “Ah, she was incredible. I miss her every day still.”

“She’s not around anymore?” Jimin asked.

Taehyung shook his head. “When we moved to the United States, the town we lived in found out we were vampires and they were going to lynch us. I got away, but she didn’t.”

Jimin crawled over to him and gave him a hug.

“I’m so sorry,” he said.

Taehyung pouted and said, “It’s okay. It gets easier over time, especially now that I’m making new friends and doing things again.”

“How did you meet her?” Catalina asked.

“She found me in Korea. She was travelling the world, avoiding the hunts in France and Europe, and she ended up there,” Taehyung began. “I was only about sixteen at the time. I was painting and doing calligraphy for the royal family, but most of my time was spent on my grandma’s farm. She raised me so I wanted to help her out as much as I could. Adrianna found our farm and we let her stay with us, since she seemed unwilling to go into the town. She didn’t speak Korean at the time and I didn’t speak French, so we couldn’t talk much. She taught me French, and once I got decent at it, I taught her Korean and we became close friends after that. She stayed with us on the farm for a few years, helping with the chores and everything, and teaching me different art styles. She was an incredible painter. I found out she was a vampire one day when I saw her sneaking out of the house at night, so I followed her. She went into the village and drank from someone, hypnotizing them so they couldn’t remember. I told her I would keep her secret.

“After my grandma passed away, I sold the farm and Adrianna took me to France. The hunts had ended and people were becoming more interested in art and science. We lived well in France, staying in a big house and studying under great painters. I even got to see the grave of Alexandria the Annihilator.”

Namjoon, Yoongi and Jimmy K all gasped.

“No way,” said Namjoon.

“What was it like?” asked Yoongi.

“Was her sword really on display there?” asked Jimmy K.

“How do you even know who she is?” asked Taehyung. Jimmy K just grinned. “Anyway, yes, her sword was there. It was so big! It even looked like there was old blood on the blade. It was in a glass case, resting on a bed of her real fur capes.”

Namjoon and Yoongi both erupted into a chorus of “so cool”s and “I’m so jealous”s.

“Okay wait,” Jimin interrupted. “Who is Alexandria the Annihilator?”

“Yeah, she sounds awesome,” said Jungkook.

“She was,” said Jimmy K. “I did my history thesis on her. She was a famous vampire who led the resistance in France against the church. She saved hundreds of vampires by hiding them and smuggling them out of the country, but she also killed thousands of humans. She was slain in the early 16th century, ending the resistance and the hunts for good. Her lineage still lives though; she supposedly had a daughter with a human man, but it was in the midst of the resistance, so her daughter was smuggled away, kept in hiding for a long time. No one knows if she was a human, or a vampire, or something in between, but she’s said to still be alive today.”

“Anyway,” Taehyung continued. “Adrianna and I lived in France during the early 17th century, so almost a hundred years after all that bad stuff. We had a lot of fun together. I had a little dog during those years, Yeontan, and I got to learn all about vampire history and culture. I wanted to be a part of it, and I wanted to be with Adrianna forever, so I kept asking her to turn me. She kept reminding me that immortality becomes a curse if you’re alive too long, and that I should wait to make a decision like that. We studied philosophy together, and I learned about life and death, and what our purpose was on this earth, I learned about critical thinking and how to form arguments. And when I was in my early twenties, I asked her again to turn me. I gave her a proper argument and everything. And she did.

“And then, during the 1800s, we came to America and she…” Taehyung trailed off, his smile fading. “And then I was alone for a while. But then I travelled west, met Namjoon, and have been living here ever since.”

“Were you and Adrianna lovers?” asked Catalina. Taehyung shook his head.

“No. We loved each other dearly, but I was in love with her. I think she might have been gay though,” he said. “She liked to dress as a man when we travelled, she called herself ‘Adrien’ when she did. Or maybe she might have been trans. Well, either way, she wasn’t interested in men.”

“She sounds like she was a very interesting person,” said Jimin.

“She was,” Taehyung said with a small smile.

Catalina then automatically turned her attention to Yoongi, hoping he’d share his story next. Apparently, everyone had the same idea, because when Yoongi looked up, he said, “Why are you all staring at me?”

“Aren’t you going tell us your story next?” asked Jimmy K.

“Oh, it’s really not that interesting,” Yoongi said with a wave of his hand. “I don’t even remember it.”

“Oh, you’re so funny,” Hoseok said with a laugh. “He’s lying.”

Yoongi let out a deep sigh and sunk into the couch he was on.

“Where to start?” he asked.

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travllingbunny · 4 years

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The 100: 7x10 A Little Sacrifice

After The Flock - the show’s weakest episode in a long time - and an unfortunate hiatus after that episode, A Little Sacrifice helped get season 7 back on track. It’s one of the best episodes of the season: it was exciting, things finally happened - a lot, we got a big revelation about what the endgame is likely to be all about, there were fights, an attempted mass murder/genocide (what would a season of The 100 be without those?), some really good character work, and the first major death of the season.

Yes, Charmaine Diyoza was not a main character. but after being introduced as a villain in season 5, she has grown into one of the most memorable and interesting characters on the show - in large part due to Ivana Miličević’s charismatic performance - with a complex and morally ambiguous characterization and backstory (which I really hope to maybe learn more about one day in the prequel flashbacks? Please?). She has been one of my favorite characters since season 5, and I loved her development and her relationship with Octavia, her mother/daughter relationship between her and Hope, her past fights to protect “expendable” prisoners and her S7 attempts to find peace and renounce violence, and hope (!) that at least her daughter will get to have a different and better life where she wouldn’t need to resort to it. She became a (not so little) sacrifice for the better future we saw her dreaming of in season 5 in that conversation with Kane - maybe that dream is something we will see the new generations live in the series finale?

The one thing I wasn’t too happy about (I was OK with the lack of Bellamy cliffhanger since we got him in the promo for 7x11 right afterwards) was that Clarke did not have any more screentime than in the other recent episodes. But, especially on rewatch, she had some great subtle little moments.

You know what is not subtle? Sheidheda. He’s finding new ways to be completely OTT. This time he can finally stop pretending to be Russell, so he gets a makeover, more in tune with the...interesting Grounder fashion styles, chews the scenery even more, and then - thanks to Madi - he loses an eye (just as he did during his original lifetime), getting closer to his season 6 Emperor-like look, though he’s missing a cloak this time. He also doesn’t have enough facial hair to twirl his moustache, but he actually hisses at one point. This part of the episode was, this time, really fun and intense, including a really good fight scene and some really emotional and important moments for Indra, Madi and Murphy, but doesn’t need much analysis and doesn’t require attention on rewatch.

I’m still not sure how/if these two storylines will connect. But I can see a thematic connection of sorts: Sheidheda is the embodiment of the worst parts of the Grounder culture, with the worship of violence and power and killing all those who oppose you; and not just that - he’s all egotism taken to the extreme, the kind of “wild beast” as Anders would despise, but in this case, he would actually have good reasons to. On the other hand, we have the Disciples with their sterile white rooms, order and the propaganda of the abnegation of self in the favor of the collective, and dreaming of “transcendence” instead of trying to get back to the “old ways”. But they really come off as two sides of the same coin: both ideologies are about worship of and subjugation to a leader, both believe violence is the solution, and both are against love and see it as a danger.

Brand new opening titles - these opens start with a shot of Sanctum and end with the Bardo Stone Room with the Anomaly Stone - and guess what makes a cameo near the end of the credits? That’s right, Earth. I was starting to think that any return to Earth won’t happen, but now I’m not so sure.

Sanctum

The episode opens with the immediate aftermath of Shady’s massacre of the Faithful. We see Madi’s friend Rex (that’s his name according to the credits) - the Sanctum boy who offered Madi’s other friend, the null boy, to play soccer - mourning someone, probably his mother. This scene had to be there so we’d feel some sympathy and sadness over the deaths of the Faithful rather than just be relieved they’re (mostly) gone. One of the wounded ones is Jeremiah, the same guy who developed deep gratitude for Murphy for saving his son. Although the Faithful have been very annoying, I do feel a tinge of sympathy for this guy, who’s so clueless that he never understood he had any agency in what happened to his son and seemed really convinced it was all about the will of the “gods”. He now asks Murphy to take care of his son when he dies, but Murphy insists he will not let Jeremiah die. (Trey, the annoying a-hole who was brainwashing Jordan, and used to act as the leader of the Faithful, is credited in the episode but I didn’t see him anywhere - so I have no idea if he’s among the dead, or he survived and was in a deleted scene.)

Madi has a really nice mini arc in this episode. She already had PTSD from her experience and possession by Sheidheda in season 6, so she is absolutely terrified when she learns he is back, and when he threatens her in a really creepy way. Excellent acting by Lola. Later, after being comforted by Murphy and joining the survivors,she shows strength in comforting Rex for his loss; and in the end, overcomes her fears and risks her life to save Indra.

Not that it matters, but Sheidheda’s real name is Malachi. (I’m still gonna keep calling him Shady.) We learn that when he recites the lineage - the names and clans of all the previous Commanders, which we know from S3 is a Grounder custom for a new Commander to do. Of course, we only get to hear some of the names in the middle (a couple of random Commanders called Maffei kom Boudalankru - the Rock Line and Kemji kom Trishanakru) and the end, when he mentions Lexa and Madi. The show wasn’t going to spoil the prequel by revealing the names of early Commanders,

The fight itself was really intense and maybe the best Grounder-style duel in the show (yes, I prefer it to the 3x04 one, which involved too much showmanship to look as a real death match). Shady is obviously going to be there for a while and things aren’t going to get so easily resolved, so he wins and is about to kill Indra - who refuses to kneel to save her own life - but just as he’s about to kill her, Madi finds the courage to come as the Big Damn Hero at the crucial moment, pluck out Shady’s eye and save Indra’s life. But then as he is about to kill Madi, Indra decides to (metaphorically, since she’s lying and about to pass out) kneel in order to save Madi’s life. Indra’s arc with Shady has come full circle: this may finally make her understand her mother’s choice and realize she was unfair to her. She grew up blaming her mother for agreeing to kneel to Sheidheda and considering her “weak”. The battle had been lost, her father was already dead, and her mother made the best possible decision and wasn’t just saving herself but her daughter, too. Otherwise, as we see in this episode, Shady would have ordered the daughter to be killed, too, after the mother - as he thinks children of the people he killed should also be eliminated so they couldn’t pose a threat and seek revenge.

That last order even shocked Knight, who may be having some second thoughts about the awesomeness of “Sangedakru’s greatest champion” (but this doesn’t mean he won’t keep obeying him). Penn and the other Trikru guy we know, who are loyal to Indra, reluctantly knelt when Indra asked them to.

Madi, Rex and the other Faithful (including Jeremiah, who has indeed survived) have gone into hiding with Murphy and Emori - and hiding at the abandoned reactor. We didn’t see Jackson, but i’m sure he’s there. (Sachin is a guest star and must skip some episodes he’s not really needed in.) So now we’re finally reached the part of this storyline where Shady is in power and our heroes are the resistance. And Murphy is now, with Emori, a part of a power couple protecting these people and taking care of them (who would’ve expected that back in season 1?) - much like we’ve seen Clarke and Bellamy do over the seasons - even though most of the same people resented them for being fake Primes just a few hours earlier. Maybe they’re finally starting to get a clue and feel respect and gratitude to people who are trying to save them just because it’s a decent humane thing to do, rather than for being self-proclaimed “gods” who participated in their murder, oppression and exploitation.

Bardo

After 4 episodes, Clarke, Raven and Miller finally left the Stone Room! Yay! Jordan and Niylah stayed in it, and as it turns out, Jordan has a much more important and interesting role to play by reading the Anomaly Stone, while Niylah’s role in S7 has been to be exposition machine for Grounder history and have bad one-liners while Miller has the good ones. I’m glad there was no prolonged “OMG are they really brainwashed and on their side?” misunderstanding, as Clarke and the rest of the group, after learning about MCap from Gabriel, quickly realized that Octavia, Echo and Diyoza are only pretending, since they haven’t blown the secret that Clarke doesn’t have the Flame.

Speaking of one-liners, Miller’s “Get the flock out of here” really made me laugh out loud.

Callie is known as the Pramfleimkepa - the First Flamekeeper - which should mean she was never a Commander (I imagine that would supersede the position of the Flamekeeper or at least be as worthy of mention). I was afraid for a moment that Niylah had given the game away when she told Cadogan that - but fortunately, he didn’t understand what it meant, as he never knew that Becca called ALIE 2.0 “the Flame”.

Gabriel and Cadogan have a long conversation over dinner (or breakfast or lunch of whatever) about Earth before the bombs and Cadogan’s beliefs. The two of them are one of the few remaining humans who knew life before the apocalypse. (After Diyoza’s death in this episode, the only other people left from that time are the Eligius prisoners in Sanctum.) But while Cadogan is chronologically ‘older’ than Gabriel, as he was a Millennial, while Gabriel was born a couple of decades later, and because Cadogan has technically been alive for thousands of years on Bardo - Cadogan spent most of that time in cryo (same as Diyoza and the other prisoners). Gabriel is the real Old Man - at least 260 years old, having lived and experienced all those years. We learn a bit more about Gabriel’s background - that his family were from Colombia and his grandmother was poor, making him a “self-made man” - another contrast between him and the love of his life Josephine (which makes their season 6 parallel to Clarke/Bellamy even more perfect). Gabriel is the go-to-guy this season for having conversations about the worship of false gods and trying to challenge the Disciples’ beliefs. Cadogan, again, denies that he’s a cult leader (sure), reveals he doesn’t believe in God, and claims he doesn’t consider himself one (he sure doesn’t mind being treated like one, though). Instead, he claims his purpose is for everyone to “transcend” and become like gods - though he doesn’t really explain what that would consist of, and he also doesn’t offer any explanations as to why there is supposed to be a “Last War” and who the enemy in that was is supposed to be. Seven episodes have gone by with the characters talking to the Disciples, and no one has ever asked that question: who is the enemy? I guess they don’t even know that, they just think that, when they type in the code, they will learn who the enemy is and the war will begin, for... reasons? He also adds some BS about “this life” being unimportant compared to afterlife. (Now, to be clear - I actually do believe in the afterlife in general (though I don’t know in which form), but I really, really hate it when religions make the afterlife the focus and treat the life we actually know and are sure we have as less important, use it as an excuse to teach people to accept any sort of crap in their lives and not ask for more instead of living their lives to the fullest and trying to build something worthwhile in this life.) Gabriel is less than impressed with Cadogan, and challenges him by pointing out that “You can’t fight a war for the soul of the human race with an inhuman army” and that a life without love, individuality or freedom is pretty worthless, but Cadogan has the afterlife as a ready excuse, even though that doesn’t really answer the question.

The most important revelation that we finally get in this episode is that Cadogan has most likely mistranslated and completely misunderstood the ancient Bardoan text that he’s based his entire belief system on. And his mistake was in large part due to confirmation bias - he saw what he wanted to see, even though the idea of ending wars and violence by starting and fighting a war is absurd. (Niylah, for once, has a good line, when she points out that every major war is supposed to be the “last” but it never is.) Jordan’s interpretation - that it is really about a test that the species needs to pass - makes a lot more sense. Not a literal test - I really can’t imagine the show introducing some kind of godlike “higher beings” - but, I think, something that will require the characters to use all their strength and moral sense and all the experience they’ve had and wisdom they may have gained, to find the best solution to save the human race and rebuild the civilization, hopefully into something better (and it’s really not too hard being better than the mess of tribalism and constant wars and conflicts we’ve seen on the show). I don’t know what this will be, but the words “the orb becomes like a star” make me thing of a natural phenomenon.

It’s also cool that it was knowledge of the Korean language that helped Jordan decipher the text - proving how helpful it is to be familiar with multiple languages and cultures and how much it expands one’s way of thinking. Do Disciples speak any languages other than English? They seem to foster cultural uniformity, so probably not. (it’s also confirmed now that Monty was half-Korean on his father’s side - Chris Larkin is Korean, but the actress who played his mother, Donna Yamamoto, is Japanese, so I assume Monty is half-Japanese.)

If you doubted that 7x09 flashbacks were a waste of screentime, we get a confirmation early on that Echo has just been pretending to be loyal to the Disciples, while plotting revenge all the time, when she kills a Disciple and saves Hope from being sent to Skyring. This plot could have continued straight from 7x07, when Echo’s Azgeda ritual was strongly hinting that she’s out for revenge. (And yes, the writing in 7x09 was just that clunky as I feared - of course that Chekhov’s WMD that Levitt mentioned for no reason would be used in the very next episode for someone to try to kill all the Disciples in another Mount Weather parallel.)

A tiny bit of info about the Disciples - a Disciple addressed Hope as “Seeker Diyoza”. I don’t know if that’s a title for those trying to reach Level 1 or something else.

Hope, with her usual anger and impulsiveness, reminiscent of how Octavia used to be once, and her naive black and white views, is all for revenge-genocide, too, in spite of Octavia’s and Diyoza’s disagreement. Her mother tries to, again, teach her the lesson she tried to in 7x07, that she should turn to love instead of violence and killing (which carries a lot more weight when it comes from someone like Charmaine Diyoza rather than a hippy): “I know what it's like to kill innocent people for a cause, and I promise you, it's not gonna fill that hole in your heart. Only we can do that.” But Hope retorts that “There are no innocent people here”, echoing Nikki’s words to Nelson that “There are no innocent people at the end of the world”. It’s not that Hope doesn’t have a point that everyone in Bardo is a part of the society that’s been kidnapping and torturing her family and that stole her childhood, but collective responsibility is a concept that only works in terms of moral responsibility, not as an excuse to commit genocide because you’ve decided that everyone in the other group is evil and the “enemy” and deserves death. Some people have compared it to Maya saying “None of us is innocent”, but I don’t think this comparison works, because that line changes the meaning entirely depending on whether you are holding yourself and your society morally accountable for its failings and complicity in crimes against humanity, or if you’re using it against others, in order to justify hate and commit crimes against humanity.

Even though neither Clarke nor Octavia had huge screentime in this episode and may not have done anything big (like Diyoza sacrificing herself and saving everyone, or Jordan figuring everything out), they had some wonderful, subtle little moments that spoke volumes:

I loved the hug between Clarke and Octavia - where Clarke said her condolences to Octavia and then Octavia said them back, letting Clarke know she knew what Bellamy meant to her and that she is grieving just as much. (”I’m sorry, Octavia” - “So am I”)

Raven and Miller exchanged a wordless look - probably because of how awkward it was for Miller to see Octavia again. Although these 4 people all go back to season 1 (and it was the first time in a while they were in the same room), for Miller it’s been just a few weeks since she was Blodreina and he was her follower, and the last time they saw each other (in season 6), he yelled at her that he’s not following her orders anymore - which was about him struggling with his guilt and seeing her as an embodiment of it. But for Octavia, it’s been over 10 years and a huge character development, which Miller doesn’t know about. But they had no time to go over it - instead, she just hugged him and asked him to hug her back, and he did.

When the group went to find Levitt - still tied up and bloody after Echo had tortured him and killed two Disciples in front of him to force him to tell her about Gem9, the WMD that can destroy everyone on Bardo (he must be really traumatized one - Clarke obviously immediately realized what was going on when she saw Octavia come to check on Levitt, going by the look on her face, and her look when she turned to go and the others went after her, while Octavia was still there -as if saying "I realize you need a moment with this guy, but don't wait too long". Although Levitt looked disappointed and shocked that Octavia didn’t untie him, she was really doing what was the most reasonable way to try to protect everyone - the priority was to stop Echo from killing all the Disciples, which would include Levitt, but also to stop Levitt from alerting Anders, which he would’ve done, because Octavia also wanted to save Echo and her people. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t care for Levitt, but she’s not the 17 year old girl who’d go: “I just met you but you’re immediately the most important person to me and I’m going to prioritize you over everyone I know”.

And then we get to the final and most dramatic scene of the episode... Echo’s attempt to commit genocide out of revenge, while Octavia, Clarke and Raven tried to talk her down.

Octavia tried to reach Echo by, again, talking about their shared grief over Bellamy, as she did in 7x07, but again, it did not work - because Octavia and Echo, and Clarke and Echo, are different people, who grieve in different ways and think and act in different ways. It doesn’t mean that any of them are grieving more or less than another one - but their responses are very different. Octavia - this mature Octavia who is more able to empathize with others and doesn’t react with impulsive violence as she used to - responded by trying to reach out to others who were also grieving for Bellamy, Echo and Clarke, and validating their grief, too. Clarke reacted - after the initial shock and grief - by sucking it up, as she does, in order to take care of the others, and focusing on saving the people Bellamy loved, telling Raven “We do this for him” and focusing on saving Octavia and Echo. Echo, on the other hand, reacted destructively and violently and by killing people for revenge and then plotting genocide as revenge for 3 months. This is the only way she knows how to process grief - she’s never known a different way, as I’m sure Azgeda weren’t known for compassion and sharing feelings. When Bellamy was grieving Clarke in season 6, she asked him “When do we attack?”, because that’s what she expected him to do, too. She’s also lost because she hasn’t lost just a boyfriend, but a leader and anchor in her new post-Praimfaya life, and because she had made saving Bellamy her mission she was waiting to fulfill during the 5 years on Skyring. If she had carried out her plan, I’m not sure she’d know what to do with herself. (I don’t know what it says about the mindset of us, humans of 2020, that so many fans have decided that Echo’s way of grieving is the superior one and the one that shows that she loves Bellamy the best. It certainly doesn’t show anything good.)

Octavia’s next argument - that there are many good people on Bardo she’d be killing - was even less successful, as Echo threw her relationship with Levitt back in her face, pointing out that he stole her memories, talking of him as one of their enemies, and then even saying: "Way to honor your brother's memory!" Echo came off as very judgmental here, and more than bit hypocritical - after all , she personally almost killed Octavia twice, and Bellamy started trusting her and dating her on the Ring, after she had given them both far less reason to trust her than Levitt did. Levitt actually took a risk and was helping her against Anders just out of his feelings for Octavia, while Echo only helped Bellamy and others after she was exiled and had to in order to survive. She seems to value forgiveness only when it’s others forgiving her (”Who knows more about forgiveness than us?”), even though she never expected them to and was a bit shocked that they did.

Clarke then tried to use her standard “This is not who you are” plea, but it didn’t work with Echo, since Clarke doesn’t really know Echo, and the words felt empty. There really is very little reason for Clarke to think this is not who Echo is, except for her tendency to assume Echo must have changed for the better because she’s Bellamy’s girlfriend and Bellamy loves her (see their conversation in 5x12). Clarke also tried to use her own experience - as she did with Raven earlier in the season - telling Echo that “a choice like this” would haunt her forever (of course Clarke would bring up MW, it always goes back to MW for her), but Echo rejected that comparison and, for a moment, channeled me by pointing out that Clarke’s motivations were to save her people, while Echo’s are purely revenge. Which was, however, a strange argument in context - pointing out that Clarke’s reasons were much better and she had no choice but to kill all of the Mountain Men or let them kill all of her friends and family, while Echo wasn’t achieving anything good and could just save all her people and not take revenge on the Disciples. But Echo seemed to be telling Clarke that they different, and she cannot assume that Echo will feel the same way about mass murder Clarke does.

Then Clarke finally brought up Bellamy, pointing out that he would not want a genocide to be committed in his memory. I don’t know how anyone who’s watched the show for 6 seasons could disagree with Clarke. But Echo did. What’s more, she yelled "You have no idea what Bellamy wanted!" in a really angry, resentful way. It felt personal. I don’t know if Echo has felt romantic jealousy of Clarke over Bellamy - she has sure kept it close to her chest - but it certainly felt like some kind of possessiveness, like resenting the idea that Clarke was as close or closer to Bellamy and knew him better. In any case, this was a moment of extreme dramatic irony - because we know (and really, Echo should know as well) that Echo is the one who doesn’t seem to know, or is simply ignoring, what Bellamy would have wanted and who he was. And she should know. She was there when he talked down Riley from killing Roan, telling him “War made me a murderer, don’t let it do it to you too”, she was there when Bellamy refused to kill 283 prisoners in cryo sleep and said “Clarke didn’t die for us to go back and make the same mistakes”. And she was there when Bellamy was grieving Clarke but decided not to take revenge for her death - not even by killing the man who murdered her, Russell - but to try to honor her memory by doing what she would want and surviving and keeping their people alive. Which directly contradicts Echo’s statement that Bellamy would be doing the same she is if one of them (Clarke, Octavia or her) were killed. Does she really not know him? Most of the time they spent together were in a time of peace and boredom with just 7 people on the Ring. She seems to be projecting her own ideas and views and character into him.

Then Raven went on to agree with Clarke (but Echo did not resent her for saying it), pointing out how Bellamy has grown and changed and that the post-season 3 Bellamy certainly would never do that. I was slightly annoyed when she said that Bellamy of season 3 may do that - but to be fair, she did say, “maybe”. Now, season 1 or season 3 Bellamy was certainly angrier and more prone to black and white thinking when it came to enemies, and he may very well have agreed to kill all of the adult Disciples if he thought they were likely to be a threat to his people (which is what he did when he agreed to help Pike kill Lexa’s army), but he sure wouldn’t agree to kill any of them just for revenge, or to kill children and non-combatants (the one time he did it was MW, when he and Clarke knew there was no other way to protect their people from being horrifically killed, and he hated it and was haunted by it then). Nevertheless, that’s a minor thing as the point of Raven’s speech was the way Bellamy has grown and developed. Echo hasn’t really changed, certainly not as much as Bellamy wanted to think in S5. Is there still time for her to change?

In the end, love did save the day - but it wasn’t Echo’s love for Bellamy, it was her non-romantic love for Raven and Raven’s for her. Raven calling her a sister only helped pave the way - but she had to actually threaten to stay there and force Echo to choose between killing Raven and giving up her revenge, for Echo to finally stand down. The fact she did shows that maybe there’s still hope for her to change and give up revenge and violence for things like friendship.

But then Anders had to appear and ruin everything, He could have just tried to arrest the group, rather than threatening them and giving them speeches about how he despises them for being “beasts raised in the wild”. (I’ve wondered many times since 7x05 is Anders is supposed to be smart or a complete dumbass. He was definitely a dumbass.)

Diyoza took charge, as the most experienced and tactical one, and almost. And then Hope was again being her impulsive, angry, out of control self - Anders is always the person most likely to set her off - killing Anders (which I wouldn’t mind) but then also making her own attempt to commit genocide. (It’s funny that the four Disciples just froze and did nothing while all of that was happening.)

What happened then was both a heroic sacrifice and one of the best and most heroic death scenes on the show, a fitting ending for Charmaine Diyoza (even a visually beautiful death in a creepy way, as Diyoza turned into a crystal statue), with her final message to her daughter to be “better” than her in the future - and a heartbreaking loss for Hope, who has just been punished by the narrative/fate for her devotion to violence and hate and attempt at genocide, by causing her own mother’s death. She was obsessed with revenge for her lost childhood and the fact her mother was taken from her - instead of focusing on the future and what she still had. I’m sure that Hope will survive to the end of the series, and will have to question herself and change. She still has Aunty O to help her and be her family.

As we’re approaching the endgame, the show here made an obvious point about violence, hatred and revenge and having to give up those things - not for Anders’ unemotional duty to the collective, but for love and compassion/

Rating: 8.5/10

#the 100 #the 100 7x10 #a little sacrifice #the 100 season 7 #charmaine diyoza #clarke griffin #octavia blake #gabriel santiago #jordan green #indra kom trikru #indra #john murphy #madi griffin #sheidheda #emori #bill cadogan #hope diyoza

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dascarecrow · 3 years

Text

Death Battle - Oscar Pine

Wiz- Since humanity’s earliest age the world of Remnant has been plagued by the creatures of Grimm.

Boomstick- AKA a cheap rip off of the Heartless. These bad boys are destruction incarnate which sounds awesome at first but it really just means they live to ruin your day.

Wiz- Yet for as long as the Grimm have haunted humanity they have been protected by the elite warriors known as Huntsmen.

Boomstick- These kick ass fighters are the best of the best and the baddest of the bad. They also wield some of the most awesome weapons ever made. Because nearly all of them? Are also a gun.

Wiz- Huntsmen are trained at combat academies across the world. And the greatest of them are trained at the main academies of each major kingdom. Shade Academy in Vacuo, Haven Academy in Mistral, Atlas Academy in Atlas-

Boomstick- Real original there.

Wiz- And Beacon Academy in Vale.

Boomstick- Man a school where you learn how to beat the snot out of people, hunt evil monsters and build cool weapons? If they had that kind of curriculum when I was in high school I definitely would have paid more attention. At least try to get a B+ on something instead of all those Fs and Cs.

Wiz- Unknown to the public however is that the headmasters of each Academy are part of a secret alliance dedicated to protecting the people of Remnant and ensuring their prosperity led by the headmaster Beacon Academy, Ozpin.

Boomstick- And like any good conspiracy the Ozluminati knows a whole bunch of secrets. Like the true origin of Dust and who faked the moon breaking.

Wiz- One of the greatest secrets that they have kept is existence of magic in Remnant.

Boomstick- Like actual wave your hand and make stuff happen magic. Which I don’t really get keeping hidden. I mean Huntsmen can do a whole bunch of stuff that’s pretty much magic anyways. And even stuff that magic doesn’t do. So why hide it from people?

Wiz- That’s actually because of the prospective dangers that magic could bring.

Boomstick- Oh yeah like what?

*Scenes play of Raven, Penny and Fria using their magic and devastating their enemies*

Boomstick- Never mind. I’ll take being able to call up hurricanes whenever I want over a scythe that turns into a rifle.

Wiz- Ozpin led the other headmasters and select other agents in keeping several secrets, including magic, hidden away because he feared the turmoil and destruction that would result if they were ever discovered.

Boomstick- And it actually went pretty well. Remnant had it’s problems but it was actually looking pretty good. Until some crazy fire lady *a picture of Cinder appears* found out about magic, went “I want me some of that”, teamed up with a terrorist organization and decided to get her hands on the nearest available bit of magic. Which was hidden under Beacon Academy.

Wiz- Dark forces would attack in the tragedy that would become known as the Fall of Beacon. The school would be devastated, the students harmed and traumatized beyond measure and Ozpin himself would fall during the battle. But this would not be the end for Ozpin.

Boomstick- Yeah turns out Dumbledore here actually had quite a few secrets of his own. One of which is that he was at this job a lot longer than anyone ever knew.

Wiz- In ancient times the Gods of Light and Darkness who had created Remnant saw the trials humanity endured to survive with each passing day and sought to give their creation a chance at salvation. They reached into the afterlife and returned to Remnant the greatest warrior to ever walk its surface, a mage knight known as Ozma.

Boomstick- Of course because Gods are kind of jerks they gave the Wizard of Oz a skewed deal.

Wiz- The Gods tasked Ozma with uniting humanity together and calling them to return to Remnant so they may pass judgement. Should humanity be in harmony upon their return the Gods would walk alongside them once more and grant to humanity grand gifts as reward.

Boomstick- Not a bad deal really. Everyone plays all nice and you get some sweet magic powers out of it. Why wouldn’t you want to do that?

Wiz- But if the Gods returned to find humanity divided and selfishly demanding that which was never theirs then it would be final day Remnant would ever see for humanity would be destroyed.

Boomstick- Oh right. How is that supposed to work then? I mean the gods come back and they see some guys arguing over their favorite sports team and they just go “Your no good. Gonna kill you all”. I mean I get the appeal of having magic powers but does that really outweigh complete genocide? Huntsmen have their own personal superpowers and Dust is as good as magic anyway.

Wiz- Regardless Ozma agreed to the gods request, motivated by his sense of justice and belief in the inherent good of humanity.

Boomstick- And the chance to see his ex again. *Picture of Salem appears* Can’t forget about that.

Wiz- Indeed. Of course the Gods recognized that the work they tasked Ozma with could take quite some time so they made arrangements which resulted in a rather unusual return for him.

Boomstick- The Gods kind of have a thing against full blown resurrection so they didn’t just zap their newest employee back to Remnant. No they decided to stuff Ozzy Osbourne’s soul into some random sucker so he could get to work.

Wiz- The Gods did not wish Ozma to bear the burden of his work alone so they made it that he would return in the body of another, which carried a like minded soul that his own would merge with. In the course of his work Ozma would discover that death was no longer the same for him.

Boomstick- The Gods basically made him the Avatar. *Shows picture of Aang* Whenever Willy Wonka wound up biting it his soul would crop up again in some other schmuck and merge with whatever soul was already living there. Rinse and repeat for the next few thousand years.

Wiz- The man known as Ozpin would wind up being the latest in this long line of reincarnations, continuing his past lives work in uniting the people of Remnant so they may pass the Gods Judgement.

Boomstick- And once Gandalf here was down for the count it was time for another round of musical souls. Where he stops who the heck knows.

Wiz- Ozpin’s would wind up reincarnating in a young farmhand known as Oscar Pine, who would find himself continuing the work that Ozma had began millennia ago and the inheritor of his countless lives knowledge and power.

Boomstick- Man I don’t know who to feel worse for. Pinecone for having an old dude stuck in his head that can see all of his private thoughts. Or the Clockwork Wizard for being stuck in the head of a kid that’s just starting puberty.

Wiz- As a result of this merger of souls Oscar would inherit Ozpin’s memories and more importantly his fighting skill and powers.

Boomstick- As the headmaster of a school for hunting literal soulless monsters Ozpin knew how to throw down with the best of them and Oscar got everything the old professor knew downloaded straight to his brain, none of that pesky learning stuff the hard way needed. He would even be given Ozpin’s own personal weapon... a cane. A cane. That was seriously this guys weapon? He fights for thousands of years to protect humanity, counter hordes of dark mosters and try to make it so the Gods give Remnant a passing grade and his personal way of beating people up was with a walking stick. Starting to see why it took him so long to get people up to snuff.

Wiz- Don’t be so quick to judge Boomstick. Ozpin was supremely gifted with his weapon, often using it like a rapier to rapidly jab at enemies and wear them down faster then they could respond. *Scenes of Ozpin’s fight with Cinder* And because he has Ozpin’s memories Oscar can do this just as well. *Scenes of Oscar’s fight with Hazel* However Oscar has chosen to focus on his own fighting style instead of simply repeating Ozpin’s. Oscar’s own personal style has a greater emphasis on striking power than speed, being centered around strong, focused blows instead of the rapid fire technique Ozpin preferred.

Boomstick- Finally someone who gets that the best way of doing things is by hitting the crap out of them as hard as possible. And it works pretty well for the farm boy. He was able to one shot a Sabyr, which was about two and a half times his size. And keep in mind Grimm are pretty much all bulk. Oscar pretty much killed that thing by stabbing it with a blunt object. Not to mention that he was able to smack someone so hard that they tumbled down the stairs and made Hazel stagger back a few feet when they collided with him. Hazel, who was able to catch the mini wrecking ball that is Magnhild and was stabbed through his stomach by a giant ice wasp and got back up like it was nothing.

Wiz- Given the loss of energy that would have resulted from rolling down the steps and Hazel’s own notable durability then we can safely say that Oscar used an extreme amount of force in this one attack.

Boomstick- And if Alpine gets tired of trying to whack people with a overhyped brake lever than he has some decent hand to hand skill as well. He was able to round a corner, close the distance and punch Neo so hard that she went flying down the hallway, all faster than she could react. And Neo’s whole thing is that she can literally dance around just about anyone like they’re moving in slow motion. Oscar was able to outpace her a few times during their fight and that’s immediately after he’d already taken some bad hits. She’d have done even worse if he’d been starting fresh. Not bad for a farm hand.

Wiz- Oscar’s impressive performance is probably helped by his Aura.

Boomstick- You mean that rip off of the force from Pokemon? Wait do Pokemon live on Remnant? Are the Grimm actually Pokemon and they’re what happens when humanity doesn’t learn how to make Pokeballs? Does this mean animal slavery is actually perfectly justified?

Wiz- No. On all acccounts.

Boomstick (disappointed)- Aaaaah.

Aura

- Grants shielding

- Empowers strikes

- Environmental Protection

- Heightened Awareness

- Enhances Healing

Wiz- Aura is the soul made manifest, the user’s essence rendered into tangible form.

Boomstick- Is that supposed to be arousing or the complete opposite?

Wiz- Aura grants anyone who possesses it a great many benefits, primarily in terms of defense. Anyone with an active Aura automatically receives a shield that protects them from harm and damage. Oscar was able to take hits from flaming boulders and barely showed any hint that he even felt the attack.

Boomstick- Wait, wait, wait. You mean that if someone gets this Aura stuff they automatically become invulnerable to being hurt? Wiz I’m calling in three of the favors you owe me to give me some of that stuff.

Wiz- Aura doesn’t just prevent users from coming to harm though. It can also enhance striking power, be channeled through weaponry to increase it’s power, protect the user from harsh environmental factors like extreme cold, give someone heightened awareness of their surrounding to the point they can detect approaching enemies and even boost one’s healing.

Boomstick- Alright Wiz I’ll make it seven favors and I’ll use Jocelyn’s credit card the next time I get drunk and come up with an awesome idea. Man thousands of years of of combat experience and a personal force field that increases strength and healing? This kid must kick all sorts of-

*Montage of Oscar getting attacked by Ruby, Qrow, Jaune, the Hound and ends with him being shot by Ironwood*

Boomstick- *now depressed* Oh right. Aura kind of sucks.

Wiz- While Aura is formidable it does have it’s limits. Every blow it takes will cause one’s Aura to wear down and deplete. The stronger the hit the more damage Aura will take from it. And even those gifted with extraordinary amounts can’t maintain it indefinitely.

Boomstick- Yep. Take it from me folks it doesn’t matter how big the bottle is. If you keep drinking from it, sooner or later you’re going to run out.

Wiz- And once it’s completely depleted Aura will break, leaving the user vulnerable.

Boomstick- How the heck does that work? I mean it’s your soul. You always have it. So shouldn’t this Aura stuff always be going? And if it breaks shouldn’t you I don’t know die or something?

Wiz- To be exact Aura isn’t actually the user’s soul, but rather a type of energy harnessed from it. So it’s depletion and breaking isn’t actually fatal to the user. It also isn’t something that runs automatically. Aura has to be consciously activated and dismissed by the user. So it is possible for someone to be caught off guard because they don’t their Aura running.

Boomstick- Figures. You find a super cool energy that can give everyone super powers and it turns out to suck eggs.

Wiz- Well just because your Aura runs out doesn’t mean it’s the end of fight. It does recover over time and trained users can speed up how fast it rebuilds with just a bit of focus and willpower. Oscar’s teammate Jaune has shown the ability to restore his Aura after focusing for a brief moment. And given Ozpin’s countless lifetimes of experience it stands to reason that Oscar has the ability to do this as well.

Boomstick- And even if Oscar’s Aura does wind up failing him he still has a few tricks up his sleeve. Magic ones. Remember Ozma wasn’t just a highly skilled warrior he was also gifted mage. So his whole conga line of souls also gets cool magic powers.

Magic

Controls the elements (fire, ice, wind , lightning, etc.)

Energy blasts

Creates shields

Telekinetic movement

Wiz- Quite right Boomstick among all the denizens of Remnant, Oscar is one of the rare few gifted with magic in the current age. While the exact abilities Oscar can use are nebulous we can infer some details going by what other magic users have done. He can unleash streams of pure power as an attack.

Boomstick- And these emerald streamers pack a punch. Salem was able to shrug off Hazel literally splattering her all over the ground and returned the beating without missing a beat.

Wiz- While Salem can regenerate from any damage done to her she still feels pain and can be hurt, even if the damage is undone.

Boomstick- Oscar brought her to her knees with one blast of his magic, which also left her in visible pain. So it’s safe to say he hit her way harder than Hazel was able to. And that guy dropped a friggin meteor on top of her. *Shows clip of Hazel doing just that*

Wiz- We have also seen magic be shaped into different forms so presumably Oscar can do this as well. His past lives have been seen creating fields of magic that can move others in a telekinetic fashion and there’s no reason to believe Oscar can’t still do so in present day, albeit not quite on the scale Ozma was once able to.

Boomstick- Yeah one of the lives of Doctor Who did something kind of dumb. A bunch of sisters came by his house and were all “hope, joy and love” and he decided to give them almost all of his magic because of good vibes or something. I mean why would you give up actual magic powers that made you such a kick ass knight in the first place?

Wiz- (annoyed) Anyways... Oscar lacks the reserves of magic power that Ozma once held and while we don’t have an exact measure we’re going to go with about a rate of 5 to 10 percent remaining. Fortunately for Oscar magic doesn’t deplete the way Aura does so he can use it almost without limit. And the power of the Maidens, that is the sisters he gave his magic to, gives us a view of what Oscar can accomplish. Namely the power of the elements

Elemental Magic

Fire

Ice

Lightning

Wind

Plant life

Boomstick- Most folks on Remnant can do stuff like throw around fireballs or lightning bolts with the use of Dust. But magic lets you do that stuff all on your own and with no limit either.

Wiz- Mind you Oscar’s lesser reserves mean he can’t do anything on the scale of the Maidens but he does still have the capacity to control the elements, just to a lesser degree than most magic users. But the greatest asset magic grants Oscar is his shield.

Boomstick- Don’t let the fact that it looks like a glass bubble fool you, this mystical barrier is actually pretty sturdy. It’s stood up to the full power of the Fall Maiden, allowed Oscar to survive a several miles long fall without any injury whatsoever and is so strong that it let him crash right through the bottom of Atlas and keep on going with no problem.

Wiz- Actually Boomstick that last feat wasn’t a result of Oscar’s magic.

Boomstick- Oh? I guess you’re going to tell me that glorified bike handle of his did it.

Wiz- It did as a matter of fact.

Boomstick- Wait what? How is that possible? It’s a cane for crying out loud. It’s something old people use for getting around and whupping the young, not the tool of a seasoned warrior and mage.

Wiz- Oscar’s cane, much like it’s holder, far more than it appears and has quite a few surprises.

Boomstick- Oh this should be good.

The Long Memory

Oscar’s personal weapon

Once wielded by Ozpin

Incredibly durable

Focus for magic

Stores kinetic energy

Wiz- Oscar’s weapon, known as the Long Memory, is a collapsible cane that he carries at almost all times. The cane itself is highly durable, able to take hits from a Dust empowered Hazel without any sign of strain or damage. Hazel boasted immense physical strength on his lonesome and the benefit of Dust significantly increased his damage output.

Boomstick- Okay so it’s a pretty strong cane. But it’s still just a cane.

Wiz- The Long Memory is also a channel and focus for Oscar’s magic, enabling him to use it on a higher scale than he would be able to on his own merits.

Boomstick- Oh like a magic wand.

Wiz- More like a scepter.

Boomstick- Like a magic staff?

Wiz- Scepter.

Boomstick- I get you, it’s like a magic rod.

Wiz- Boomstick I swear if I have to get the shock collar again...

Boomstick- Geez calm down Wiz I’m just funning ya. So this walking stick is pretty much a *Wiz glares at Boomstick* “magic scepter” that lets pine tree use magic better than he can by himself. That’s kind of cool actually but why make it something that looks like an emergency brake?

Wiz- The Long Memory has one more special trick, completely separate from Aura and magic. It can store and carry kinetic energy.

Boomstick- I’m sorry what kind of energy?

Wiz- *exasperated* Stuff that make bullets go shoot.

Boomstick- I know what it is Wiz. No need to get snippy. Man you are so juvenile. Anyways why is that so special?

Wiz- *trying to be professional* With each passing moment and every blow struck The Long Memory accumulates kinetic energy and having been crafted centuries ago it has quite a reservoir of power to access. Oscar can access this stored up energy whenever he wishes, unleashing bolts and waves sheer power. This allowed him to blast a hole through the bottom of Atlas when he was sent plummeting to his doom in the Vault of the Winter Maiden.

Boomstick- Huh. Not a bad parlor trick I’ll admit but how much damage can he really do with that thin-

*Scene of Oscar destroying Monstra plays*

Boomstick stares in open mouthed shock while Wiz looks on with a smug grin.

Wiz- You were saying?

Boomstick- HOLY MOTHERF*BLEEP*ING S*BLEEP*T! Did that kid just fire off a magic nuke?

Wiz-To be fair Oscar can’t throw around attacks like that too often. This particular instance used up the majority of stored up power that the Long Memory had available. And that power was gathered across several lifetimes if not centuries. He definitely wouldn’t be able to use an attack on this level repeatedly. He would be able to recover some of the kinetic energy however because the Long Memory gathers and stores it away automatically. Smaller expenditures may not necessarily be reclaimed but the cane would definitely avoid running completely out of power with this aspect of it’s abilities. Anything you’d like to add Boomstick?

Boomstick- *still in shock* I-, Yeah not really, my mind is going to be stuck on that nuke thing for a while.

Wiz- *shrugging it off* Okay then. Come back in a few days where we’ll cover Oscar’s opponent, Izuku Midoriya.

#Death Battle #RWBY #Probably a bit wordy #But I feel I've captured the spirit of the show well #Plus they have to be concise to release weekly #I get the benefit of going over a bit with dialogue

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vaguely-concerned · 4 years

Text

I am reading the Rogue One visual guide and I’m going to ramble at you about it

Starting with Baze and Chirrut facts because nothing is more important than Baze and Chirrut

- The Guardians of the Whills believe very deeply in the Force but their cosmology doesn’t center any fight between light and dark and they believe mortal minds can ‘encompass the totality of the Force’ with the right training (seemingly even for non-Force sensitives). *thinks of a little green baby who’s going to need some help with his place in the universe one day and how reductive the light/dark side dichotomy can be* good to know good to know. yes everything eventually comes down to baby yoda and his poor stressed out dad. protect them

- “Opposites in balance. Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus share a homeworld and a history, although they strike a compelling contrast. Baze is a hardened pragmatist, while Chirrut’s faith flourishes even in trying times. They both claim to act as the protector of the other.”

in every way they are #goals. bffs/partners to lovers is Everything. ‘They both claim to act as the protector of the other’ is very funny and very sweet and very true; my favourite thing

- this book describes chirrut as baze’s ‘best friend and moral compass’, which is a funny way of spelling ‘husband of 30 years’ but who am I to criticize

- baze is just. he’s so good. they say here pragmatism is his biggest trait but you can tell how much love has been at the center of him (and probably continues to be under it all) from the totality of his rage. I don’t think you can be this deeply hurt without loving just as deeply first. (like chirrut says, he used to believe more than anyone and now he’s thrown aside literally everything about the guardians except chirrut) it’s like he’s suffered a moral wound just seeing what’s happened to his home and it won’t heal and it never does, he just loses chirrut too and then at least it’s over. jesus christ it’s so soul crushingly sad in a quiet undramatic way

- “Though both are Guardians of the Whills, Baze and Chirrut could not be more different in their approach to combat. Traditionalist Chirrut still carries weapons associated with the ancient order, while Baze adopts an implement of modern warfare. Their methods suit them individually, and both are effective extensions of their distinctive personalities. Though Baze may chide Chirrut for his antiques, and Chirrut may decry Baze’s reliance on soulless tools, they trust each other’s defences to such weapons.”

THEY TRUST EACH OTHER’S DEFENCES TO SUCH WEAPONS. YOU HAD TO WORD IT LIKE THAT HUH. YOU HAD TO GO AND MAKE IT CLEAR THEY’RE EACH OTHER’S MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WHOLE WORLD. WHAT. THE FUCK

- it’s implied baze’s hair used to be shorter when he was a Guardian! he’s just let it grow past what’s customary for them (and an excellent choice too his hair is wonderful)

- his repeating blaster is described as ‘modified and highly illegal’ hahaha

it also weighs 30 kg and is meant to be mounted on a tank

baze is the best

- chirrut built his own lightbow! apparently used to be a thing the guardians did to symbolize the end of their training. I wonder if baze used to have one too? even more I wonder if they’ve always been part of the same uh ‘divisions’ or what have you within the guardians, because I think there are some implications that baze has been more of an assassin/focused on violent conflicts even before the empire came and chirrut hasn’t

- this book does not adequately capture chirrut’s trickster/funny side, making me wonder how much of that was an addition by the actor and how much was planned out

- honestly... more baze & chirrut (well baze/chirrut let’s not play here) prequel books WHEN. what does their living room look like (because we do know they live together) how did they meet, when exactly did baze lose his faith and chirrut his sight, what was their first kiss like

inquiring minds want to know (it’s me I want to know)

- unless the wording is deliberately misleading here chirrut was not born blind (though he won’t discuss how he ended up this way) and he’s learned his current fighting technique over a prolonged period of time

- bodhi is a bit of a gambling addict! and specifically one who’s pretty good at it; even after the empire knows he’s a defector he gets past their restrictions because he’s saved up all the credits/favours/even id-vouchers he’s owed by other imperial grunts fsdhfksdjf precious I love him

- saw gerrera’s medical droid a) has been modified so its programming won’t stop it from being able to dispense drugs at dangerous intervals, b) professes sheer bafflement that saw is still alive and c) is ‘frequently deactivated to prevent it from building an ethical case to discontinue treatment’. I find the whole thing darkly hilarious.

- there are literally whole subplots going on in the crowd scenes on Jedha about a mad evil surgeon who ‘decraniates’ people (essentially turning them into mindless servile husks with all of their head above the nose cut off, somehow), a masked cop from the Milvayne Authority who’s gone rogue to do the right thing and hunt him down against orders, a death cult, a bunch of different religious sects, a translation droid who has befriended a group of local orphans and shares his credits with them so they can eat and he’s SAVING UP FOR A PROCESSOR UPGRADE SO HE CAN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF SPIRITUALITY ;_____; what the fuck I want a tv-series about this droid IMMEDIATELY

- this book shows you just how crucial K-2 is as an asset and what a masterstroke cassian’s reprogramming of him is... and it says some very, very sweet things about cassian as a person under all the trauma and spy stuff that he essentially treats him as his best friend instead of a tool. cASSIAN he deserved to survive and have SO much therapy ;_____; ah well at least we’re getting a prequel series about him right? pls be good

- oh cassian was a proper separatist during the clone wars! he probably has some very interesting points of view about the republic pre- and post empire huh (this is what I love about the clone wars era; they have built SUCH a believable and interesting political world here, all shades of grey. there were separatists with very valid points even thought they were lead by a guy named COUNT DOOKU played by CHRISTOPHER LEE, the first sign that you should look inwards and ask yourself... wait are we the bad guys)

- it’s so much more understandable to me now who in the rebel leadership is for following jyn’s plan and who is not. (namely: the ministers of finance and industry are both Not Into challenging the empire directly, kind of understandably)

in depth description of weapons technology... I sleep. deep dives into the political structure of the alliance leadership and their backgrounds and motivations? I have never been happier

(this. sort of should have been in the actual movie tho things would have made more sense)

- BAIL ORGANA Leia’s actual dad out there lookin’ fiiine, being righteous and good, almost making me forget he’s going to die SO SOON oh fuck :(

- orson krennic is, presumably straight faced, described as ‘a cruel but brilliant man’ which is PATENTLY LUDICROUS because krennic is by literally every indication a fucking idiot, he needs galen to do all the real work for him, he mouths off to DARTH VADER and then tarkin just effortlessly swoops in and fucks him over in the end, easily outmaneuvering him... orson krennic is a fucking loser I don’t care if he’s the one who introduced brutalist architecture to coruscant

lol lol lol *arrow pointing towards krennic’s head* ‘Keen mind dissects architectural puzzles and conspiratorial plots’ okay I see what happened here orson krennic wrote this book

- oh galen erso is kind of one of the most interesting and heartbreaking characters in all of star wars. (and I do not say this just because of mads mikkelsen’s cheek bones) he’s incredibly intelligent but from a really poor family and wanted to eliminate the difference between rich and poor and invent a new form of infinitely renewable energy... and technically he did achieve that, except his old college buddy orson krennic immediately found a way to use his technology for genocide and he didn’t realize until it was too late :’) there is something so comforting in the fact that in the end galen still got the last laugh in the most epic but unsung way. he’s the sort of quiet Magnificent Bastard who doesn’t even care he’ll never get the credit as long as it worked. u did good on that one jyn

also several of the scientists galen is leading on eadu are in the same category as him -- captured and forced to work for the empire. so that’s great and not at all upsetting

- galen and lyra’s falling in love story is kind of sweet (though naturally it pales against baze and chirrut’s whole deal but then who could compare) and the sheer effort and detail that’s gone into building the farmstead in the beginning we end up seeing for 5 minutes... dude (it feels very convincingly like somewhere a family would live though)

- *sees that ‘databook’ is a concept that exists apparently; groans in fic research I thought ‘holodisc’ might do the job but maybe this is a better fit*

- I will say that my largest gripe with this movie is how glaringly unnecessarily male it is. there’s literally no reason for most of the rebels and ESPECIALLY all of the scientists to be male but here we are.

well the stormtroopers could all canonically be any gender behind the armor so uh that’s. something lol

- despite being all desert-y jedha is apparently quite cool! temperature-wise I mean though the huge ancient statues lying everywhere are pretty awesome too

- wow stormtrooper armor really does just suck huh. it’s like ‘well it might protect you from a blaster bolt if you stand upwind and angle yourself just right, who knows’. I guess this is why everyone and their grandmothers are drooling over mando’s beskar lol

- star wars’ insistence on sticking to single-biome planets is so silly and I love it. stick to that incomprehensible world building decision lucasfilm I respect you

- mon mothma! basically the most important character in the star wars universe who most people won’t know about lol she’s like the anti-palps. for the most part she is one of the most Big Goods in all of star wars (along with bail) but also she’s played by the actress who voices moira in overwatch so I do instinctively distrust her whenever I hear her talk haha. called palpatine a ‘lying executioner’ to his face which is both admirably bold and remarkably restrained, considering all the things palpatine is.

- oof the two people mentioned the most on anakin/vader’s pages are palpatine and obi wan. that’s. hurtful and bad and awful. the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was making me watch ‘clone wars’ because watching ‘clone wars’ actually made me care about anakin skywalker :(

-ah shit this is a lot of pages about pasty empire dudes i’ll uh come back to these lol

#first post of 2020! keeping it on rambling brand into the new decade #star wars #rogue one #baze x chirrut #meta #if you're here for information about baze's hair and how overwatch has coloured my view of a star wars character...#boy have I got a post for you lol

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medea10 · 4 years

Text

Medea Plays Pokemon Sword: Part IV

So since last time, I earned my eighth and final badge and so I can compete in the Challenger’s Cup.

So...no Elite Four?

Not to complain, but even Alola had an Elite Four.

Instead, we get something that’s almost similar to what the anime does during Pokemon League arcs. Whatever! Off to Wyndon...

You’re not fooling anybody. This is fucking London!

Huh.

I seem to recall obtaining an in-game trade during the Red/Blue games involving a Mr. Mime with that exact, same name.

Nice call-back, guys.

What the shit?

I would not put the fat squirrely with the apple pokemon in the same room.

Fat Squirrely can’t be trusted.

Well, before I go to the stadium, I think it’s time I do some last-minute training and exploring in the wild area again.

And flee for my life! Gallade is a fast fucker. Meanwhile...

Gardevoir doesn’t chase me. I guess some pokemon aren’t scary in this area.

And then this happened...

A trainer by the name of Tracey gave me something in his pocket and disappeared.

*sniffles*

Life just loves to give me an invisible Tracey. Life, thou art cruel.

Oh yeah, because it was Thanksgiving a few days ago, I thought I would have a few family get-togethers.

Father Zoro and daughter Rei were quite peaceful during their time together.

Then I got a bunch of Eeveelutions together (they’re all brothers and sisters btw).

Mic liked what Leafy’s done with his hair.

And Bolt kept challenging everyone to a race.

Pokedex entry time?

Nice, you made that reference! At least this reference didn’t involve a Dubwool being turned inside-out like in South Park.

So...it’s doing self-harm in order to “play” the guitar. Dang!

Okay, time for Champion Cup!

FINALLY, SOMEONE AGREES WITH ME!

I have my own speculations of who the dude might be. Right now, the top choices are Professor Oak, Samson Oak, or that one guy at an anime convention that dresses like a buff Diglett.

First match is against Marnie. I kicked her butt.

And then I put Hop in his place (for the whatever number it was) time.

After two battles, the champion decided to pay us a visit.

Not before hamming it up for the peanut gallery. Hey, at least he’s treating us to dinner. However...

Turns out Leon is with the chairman.

This is awesome. Piers, Marnie, and the fat bastards of Team Yell are going to team up with us.

As expected, I can’t trust this bitch. And I was right to believe so because she has hired goons to “take care” of us at every turn.

And what have we learned from the Red/Blue games? Never trust a goon who’s staring at a wall or poster on a wall.

We end up at the monorail station with more of Oleana’s hired goons blocking our path. This looks like a job for Piers!

I just love how he pulls out a microphone out of literally nowhere and starts singing in the middle of the station.

It worked though.

See, even Marnie is suspicious. This guy has gotta be a shifty mother fucker!

Yeah, this is totally not an innocent meetup between Rose and Leon.

Oleana’s hired goons are totally threatening. I think the bloke on the right really wants my corpse.

Why, do you plan on throwing our bodies off the edge?

Your hired goons all had steel-type pokemon. My level 70 Cinderace laid waste to these fuckers in 5 minutes or less.

Jesus Shit!

Okay, if the anime ever gets to this plot, PLEASE have Oleana be played by Miki Itou.

See, I knew this woman and the chairman are full of garbage. And to add to my point...

This bitch has a pile of garbage as a dynamaxed pokemon.

Called it.

Lysandre and Cyrus vibes, guys! Come on, I called it months ago that this guy was going to be the bad guy!

Anyone else still trust this guy? Show of hands!

OH FUCK ME, NOT THIS TURD AGAIN!

Okay kid, let’s see if you can redeem yourself.

Blaming me for shit that was your own fault. Yeah, I still hate you. But you’re down a few tiers, so there’s an improvement.

But you’re still at the same shit-level as Dilandau Albatou. You two both desperately need a punch in the face.

After that little disruption, on with the actual battles.

Okay, I’m on board with shipping Sonia x Nessa.

After taking on Nessa. I took out Bea...

And Raihan’s selfie-obsessed ass!

So now it’s time to take on the big ham, Leon.

Or not!

Oh gee, this guy is the bad guy. Who could have seen this coming?

Um, I did. The second he was shown in the PV, I knew this fucker was bad news. I don’t mean to lay it on thick, but...

This.

Afterward...

Hop and I returned to that spot near Route 1 and run into legendary doggos.

And go grave-robbing (taking the sword/shield on the ground).

When we went to Hammerlocke, we came across some actual concern.

You sent literal hired goons to try and shut me down. I’ll deal with you later, lady. Right now, I gotta take down this genocidal dickhead.

I have to admit, I expected more from Chairman Rose and the Marco Cosmos group in this game. I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but it feels a little light compared to a lot of the other bad teams in the past, and that includes Team Skull and Aether Foundation.

So after I kicked the chairman’s ass in a battle, we came across this hammy dumbass doing something stupid.

He tried to catch a mythical beast in a regular pokeball.

This. This is what happens when you try to do that.

Plus, you’re up against Satan’s tapeworm here.

Now we gotta take care of this demonic fucker and I can’t even use an attack on it.

This looks like a job for the legendary doggos!

They take the rusted sword and shield and turned into the actual promotional legendaries we know them for.

And after a long battle, I caught it...

With what you’re supposed to use! Geez, even Brandon in Pokemon Generations had enough sense to use an Ultra Ball on a Deoxys.

I guess homie’s gonna be in the slammer for some time.

Oh well, on with the final match.

Take a seat, junior. It’s time for me to take your ass out to the cleaners.

Yeah, kinda make sure your pokemon are higher than this level.

Regardless, I still won.

I made a grown man cry!

Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure I’m way older than Leon by at least 10-15 years. That would probably look bad, but whatever.

He shook it off.

Thank you. Now hopefully he’ll stop acting like a show-boating, ham every time he’s in front of a crowd.

Oh nice, my “mum” came with Munchlax.

I gotta do this.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

NO TIME FOR LOSERS

BECAUSE WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

Or is it?

To be continued.

#pokemon #pokemon sword and shield #chairman rose #leon #hop #piers #marnie #team yell #oleana #charizard #eternatus #machoke #leafeon #gallade #gardevoir #bede #nessa

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deadlyflan · 4 years

Photo

...5 years ago, during the events of TMNT 2: Secret of the Ooze, TCRI, the mysterious chemical company which created the mutagenic ooze, lost control of its dangerous samples to Shredder and The Foot. The Turtles defeated Shredder in 1991, but TCRI, its chemicals, its personnel, and its secrets vanished without a trace. Half a decade later, the Turtles race against time to unravel those secrets and rescue the last survivors of large scale mutant experimentation...

CHAIN REACTION (an excerpt from the wip)

Setting: April’s ancient Massachusetts farmhouse kitchen. First week of January 1996. Late afternoon. Splinter and the Turtles have been working in shifts distilling the TCRI dossier information and planning the raid on the extensive, government-funded complex. Michelangelo is off shift and picking at his late lunch.

“Mike?”

“Mhm?” Michelangelo regarded his brother over the edge of his bowl full of leftovers. Bleary eyes watched Leonardo, exhaustion and stress clear as day.

Leonardo poured himself a glass of water and settled in across the table from Mike. “You ready to talk about it?”

“Mhm.” Mike shoveled another fork full of cold casserole into his mouth. He didn’t look up.

“That’s fine.” Leo drained the rest of his glass and inspected the table top. “I just want you to get some real sleep before this all goes down.” Leonardo watched his brother roll his fork across his knuckles. Leo would not be more explicit with his offer to help. Michelangelo knew the offer to listen wouldn’t expire.

Michelangelo kept his eyes on his bowl and the silence stretched.

Leonardo nodded, pushed back his chair, and stood.

“...It...” Mike still did not look up.

Leonardo waited.

“...It’s not-- I’m in this, Leo. One hundred percent.” Mike started uneasily, but as he spoke, he gained momentum and conviction. “I’m not a coward. It’s the right thing to do. It’s important as hell. We’re the best there is. We’re gonna go in there like a scalpel and leave like an atom bomb.”

Leonardo waited.

“...I just keep having... these dreams. And these thoughts... And screw it, I’m stronger than--” He looked up with desperate eyes, willing his leader to understand. “Even if it was just me against the psycho-science-soldiers, I’d freaking do it.”

Leonardo sat back down; Mike had his complete attention.

“...But it ain’t just me, is it?” Mike’s gaze dropped again as he pushed the casserole in his bowl in circles. “It’s me and my bros.” He collected his thoughts. “I get that they need us. The kids--the girls--the mutants.” The unspoken ‘but they’re not as important as my family’ lingered in Mike’s guilty silence. Instead he looked to Leo for confirmation, “We’re the best.”

Leonardo held fierce eye contact with Michelangelo and with utter certainty, he nodded. “Cowabunga,” he deadpanned.

Mike blinked and snorted, “Yeah, alright.” The hint of a grin quirked the corner of his mouth, “You got that right. Cowabunga.”

Leo’s answering smile spoke volumes of reassurance, and as he stood to leave, he thumped Mike on the shoulder. He paused at the kitchen doorway. “Mike? I’m not willing to trade any of my brothers for any other mutant. Four turtles go in; seven turtles come out. We won’t fail each other and I won’t fail us. Everyone comes home.”

Michelangelo released the breath he’d been holding all day. Leo got it; Leo had considered it too, and Leo’s confidence buoyed his own. Mike knocked a quick drum line on the table top in sharp confirmation. “Damn straight everyone comes home. Home to the Turtle House. Turtle. House. Party.”

Leo’s smile deepened, but his planning voice said the conversation was shifting gears. “Donatello, Sensei, and I assembled the list for April. She’s coming to the farm first with long-term supplies. She and Sensei will take care of Dinah and prepare for our return. We’re headed back to New York to equip ourselves and pick up Casey. Be thinking about what gear you want for the raid.” Knowing that they’d be fully-loaded and launching out from their home base went a long way to reassuring all of Leo’s team, Leonardo included.

“Awesome.” Confidence back in place, Mike resumed scooping lunch into his mouth. He and his bros had this on lock. His feet tapped out a drum solo and his mind raced through all the weapons options in their armory. Those genocidal jackasses wouldn’t know what hit them.

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gffa · 5 years

Photo

DO I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS PAGE? YES, I DO. I’m tempted to go, “OBI-WAN, IT IS THE MIDDLE OF THE WORST DROUGHT ANYONE CAN REMEMBER, WHY ARE YOU MEDITATING OUT IN THE DESERT LIKE THIS? EVEN IF IT DOES LOOK REALLY FLIPPING AWESOME.” But I think the point is that context is important here--this is one of the worst times for Obi-Wan, that the entire issue has been about how lost he feels, that he feels aimless and purposeless, that he’s a relic of a culture that was genocided out of existence and his presence here is difficult because he cannot be who he truly is, not without risking the entire future of the galaxy. It’d be easy to say, oh, Obi-Wan is broken or, oh, Obi-Wan’s trying to get himself killed or whatever, but I don’t think so. He shows a continued warmth and resilience, a desire to find something specific to do. During Master & Apprentice in From a Certain Point of View, he tells Qui-Gon that he’s looking forward to being a Jedi, as well as we see him in a really stable place. We see him be kind to Ezra and Chopper and Maul in Rebels, where he cannot be moved from his path or his emotional stability and balance. We see him still trying to help people get water from the gross fruit that grows in the desert in this very issue, too! He’s trying to find something, it’s just not going well. Instead, I think this is about pushing himself for the moment to a place where he doesn’t have to think, where he can push himself into exhaustion so that he doesn’t have to deal with the oppressive weight of everything for awhile. It’s not a bad idea, to give yourself some breathing room of not having all that shit blaring around your head while you can’t handle it. But it only takes one instance of seeing Luke in danger, willing to stand up to the bandits, for Obi-Wan to find himself again, to remember his purpose and how much he cares about others. That’s someone who just needed something, any small thing, to grab onto. And once he has it, Obi-Wan can do the rest himself. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH, OBI-WAN KENOBI HAS THE KIND OF PERSONAL STRENGTH THAT I WISH I COULD HAVE EVEN A FRACTION OF. NOT TO NEVER HAVE A BAD DAY, BUT TO ALWAYS COME BACK FROM IT, TO ALWAYS FORGIVE, TO ALWAYS KEEP FACING WHAT HE’S GOING THROUGH, TO ALWAYS FIND BALANCE AGAIN, TO ALWAYS GET UP AGAIN. HE IS THE BEST I LOVE HIM SO MUCH /CRIES ABOUT OBI-WAN KENOBI FOREVER

#obi wan kenobi #meta #comics #reading comics: star wars ongoing

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valkyrieofsmut · 4 years

Note

It’s been a while how have things been?

I promise I didn't ask myself this just so I could talk about what I've been up to! But I was going to make this post and got this, and it seemed like the perfect time...

It has been a while! ... and mostly things have been busy.

I've been packing, selling a house, looking for a house, buying a house, moving, dealing with the pandemic breaking out, we had a big (for us, 5.7) earthquake last week with a lot of higher level aftershocks, and all that while running my work house and working 6 day weeks! Also going to the chiropractor 2-3 times a week.

I am not kidding when I say that we desperately need people to work here! We desperately, desperately need people.

I've been trying to write, but honestly, I'm not having a lot if time, and I'm also having trouble getting all the details straight because I keep having to run away from it.

Plus... I've been pulled into a new fandom.

I'm a huge nerd, and play games, a lot of different kinds. I finally, finally got Undertale for myself now that's on the Switch, and decided to do the genocide run first so I can get it out of the way and have fun playing the game and unlocking all the secrets, but... 😭 how do I kill this cute face?!

I have no determination to do so, except to get it over with so I can just cry and go to pacifist route to be his best buddy! 😭 #dying 100 times while slacking off from moving

Not only is he the hardest boss in the game, but he's my favorite character! So I looked for tips to get it over with quicker, found a funny video, got sucked into a hole- and then found a story... A really good, AU character, story. That was last updated a year ago, and was just getting to the climax. So... Now I have the urge the write a story that will give some satisfaction of completion... 😓

I noticed a rise in likes of my stuff during this time, and wanted to maybe do a story dump to help provide some relief by entertainmart, but it'll take some time to get one ready for that. Also, I had a request for "how I see you" to be done as a recording with a guy and a girl both speaking, I'm working on that, but everything is packed from the move at the moment.

I'm trying to find ways I can help out in this shit show that is going on around during the the pandemic/ emergency, and have brought up some of the old things I've had interested in, and thought of doing over the years, but don't know how any of it (most of it having to do with entertaining, though I do have a couple crafting skills) will help. I did also start a TikTok but don't have anything on it yet since I don't know what I should put on it lol.

I hope that all of you are safe with whatever kind of lockdown/ quarantine y'all are doing in your area, stay safe, stay healthy, stay warm/ cool (it's hailing here at the moment), and remember not to be an asshole; we're in this together just by living in the same place, and on the same planet. Only take what you need of low supply items like toilet paper, soap, and cleaning items, others need them, too, to keep you and themselves healthy, and that extra, extra bottle of cleaner you have sitting on a shelf gathering dust while you wait for your other two to run out, might have gone to the very at risk people, such as people fighting auto immune diseases, cancer, people with asthma, heart or other respiratory problems, someone's grandparents, or someone who has multiple of the things on that list (like the people I work with), or the healthcare workers that are overworked, undersupplied, and in constant contact with the risk of contracting, who don't have any. PS, even the healthcare workers can't get tested for the virus, and they straight out refused to test me.

Preaching over, I love you all, stay awesome, stay safe, stay sane.

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s-bitty-place · 5 years

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Getting Fabrics for bitties (kinda long)

As the day went on, Inky bitties would go between Demeter, Kehinde, and Tart until it was time to close up shop and finish the Inky’s dinner, Ambrosia waving to the others before going on Dracaena’s head, the skele-dragon humming at him. Major took the others into the house while leaving Tam and Bam with the newest family members.

“Why’re we not following them?” Kehinde asks as Dracaena looked in a box that she had taken with them.

“Oh, we’re going to go get fabrics so we can sew up you guys new clothes.” Dracaena told Kehinde who nods, in anticipation and exhaustion, their new owner wasn’t kidding when the Inky Bitties had energy along with being ‘spaz-nuggets’. Taiwo had put his brother’s head on his shoulder, as to let the other rest.

“Gonna look for fabric that everyone likes so we can ride in a pouch?” Tam asks and the skele-dragon flushes a dark green, nodding at the bitty. She needed to get pouches so everyone could be near her body and not worry about them falling. There’s a reason Erratic was her personal- after so many soul attacks from him splattered onto the ground from her head. It was deserved. Dracaena had walked to the local shopping mart, about two blocks up and had went in.

“Little lizard, how are you?” A sweet old woman asks, Dracaena smiling at her.

“I’m doing well Baba, just came in town for some cloth.” The skele-dragon told the human who chuckles and nods, going to a small bakery shop near the entrance. Ambrosia had disappeared to the table and Dracaena saw the old Lady, Baba, give him a small piece of a sweet before lifting him up into her hand and given back to the monster.

“It seems as though Hija won’t be the only one to get my desserts anymore.” Baba chuckles and Dracaena nods as the Horror bitty indulged himself.

“Ambrosia, thank Baba for the snack little one. We’ll come back later to buy some sweets.” Dracaena purred, Ambrosia purring back as he thanked the woman. Baba smiles and nods, going back to her stall.

They went and checked other stalls; some antiques interesting some while gorgeous gems did others. Stopping, the bitties saw the fabric store in wonder, amazed at how many varieties they had.

“Find a fabric you all like, I have enough gold for it,” Dracaena told the bitties, all staying near but still browsing and feeling it. Tam and Bam helped them, Kehinde and Tart finding that the soft fuzzy fabrics were delightful to touch as well as some cotton. Ambrosia and Taiwo didn’t mind what their brothers picked out, as long as they were in eyesight with one of them.

After a while, Taiwo came over to Dracaena who was feeling jean-like cloths. He has had a question on his mind since last night.

“That faerie you have, he can interact with dreams, so why adopt us?” Taiwo asks, Dracaena smiling slightly.

“You seen him disappear after dinner, right? Yasha demands to be patrol during the night and I let him be nocturnal, even when Koga brings him out before dinner. I thought it would be comforting for him to have another who understood dreams but had a larger pull to them. That and the shop interested me quite a bit.” Dracaena answered honestly, Taiwo nodding in silence before the others came back to her. Each of them had different fabrics and most were soft, Dracaena smiling at Kehinde who had a dark purple(almost black) cotton fabric with a piece of almost golden fabric. Tart brought over a carnelian soft cotton fabric with a patterned fabric that had sheep against a rainbow background. Demeter had brought a calming purple fabric for a dress or otherwise a calm outfit.

Tam and Bam held a soft jean fabric to make a bag for the bitties. Dracaena hums and got about four yards per fabric, five yards for the jean fabric.

“A couple gold pieces.” The cashier told Dracaena, already used to the skele-dragon’s payment method. Once bought, the fabrics were put on her tail, the bitties amazed as they were got into riding positions.

“How did we not realize the tail?” Ambrosia asks, Dracaena chuckling at the awe radiating from the new bitties.

“Mama hides it when she wants to, some humans don’t like the idea of dragons and skeletons mixing,” Bam tells his new friend. Taiwo nods, watching out for dangers as Dracaena walked, the other bitties talking about clothes and what they wanted. It wouldn’t be such a problem if Kehinde and Bam were only talking, but they were worrying Dray by bouncing around as she walked.

“Bam, settle down, you’re making Mom tense and nervous with all that bouncing.” Tam scolded, Bam realizing what his brother was talking about. The other looked sheepish at feeling the shoulders tense. The other bitties were surprised that Tam could feel that.

“How did you know?” Demeter asked the PJ bitty who flushed immediately.

“Bam and I were her first bitties, kinda hard to not notice body language of the creature that spoiled your brother and you. She tends to adopt bitties in two or more if she can help it. I think Blue smoke’s the only bitty that she adopted being a singular besides Xee. Xee tends to be extremely calm these days, now knowing that Mom won’t stop adopting bitties that seem to call to her.” Tam explains, smiling as he remembered when and how the others were adopted. It was always amusing when others came home.

“What about Erratic?” Tart asks and Bam giggles.

“He was one of the first Inky’s, for some reason giving mom a few soul attacks when he splattered to the ground.” Tam says and Taiwo chuckles at the mention of unintentional fear, he only chuckled because he now understood why there were a lot of bitty-proof areas now. Dracaena coos at the explanations, stopping by Baba’s stall to get some pies (Ambrosia was drooling over them while they were picked up). When they got outside, it was dark and the bitties looked at Dracaena who was looking thoughtful.

“Get in my horns sweets, flying time.” Dracaena told them, five of them doing so, Tart too big to grab a part of the ram-like horns while Taiwo didn’t want to be in a crowded place. Tart was picked up and Taiwo held close as they watched a pair of glistening wings emerge from the slits in Dracaena’s shirt/hood in the back.

The horn-grabbers held on, Bam squealing happily as the others gained an insight of what happens when it was dark. Taiwo held on, not that it scared him at all, the speed was exceptional. Once the liftoff was done, they noticed how nice it was as well as serene. The town was only slightly lit but it was gorgeous to Kehinde, Taiwo amazed as Ambrosia was in complete awe. Tart was kinda looking but seemed to be a bit afraid, Tam and Demeter looking at the stars that were brighter due to not being as close to streetlights. It always seems that the best to look at stars would be out of electrical lights area.

Dracaena landed far better than Tam expected, and Major was up, awaiting their arrival. Taiwo noticed how tired Major was and wouldn’t comment on it….yet. Tart was cuddled as they went in, Dracaena cooing at him as they got to the couch. It was calm as Major gave the others dinner.

“Tart, darling, are you afraid of heights?” Dracaena asked her only Pap bitty who slightly nods. Dracaena nods, telling him,” We can look if we can use a carrier, so you don’t see how high we are or we’ll try not to fly. Xee might think he’s so awesome, but he’s afraid of heights too.”

“Really?” Tart asks and Dray nods, Ambrosia smiling at the interested eyes of his brother.

“Really really, he hides in my rib-cage when we take off.” Dray chuckles and Tart nods, yawning after getting full. Ambrosia was pleased that Dracaena had a hanging cabinet made for the two Horror’s so they could eat anything in there, not having to worry about starving at all.

“Bathtime; Tam, Bam you two can head to bed. I’ll bathe them sis,-

“Major, you look like the walking dead, go up to your room.” Dracaena orders, Major nods, tired even though he wanted to help and argue, it would always end up with Dracaena putting him to bed before he knew it.

“Alright, night sis.”

“Night bro.” Dracaena giggles, Taiwo nearby. Once they were bathing, Taiwo came over to Dracaena who was drying a sleeping Tart.

“Is Major okay? Or should I look into his dreams?” Taiwo asks, Dracaena smiling slightly.

“He’s also a reason that I adopted you twins, Major tends to have nightmares about his parents, having seen a few genocidal resets before one of the nicer Error’s helped him with inter-dimensional magic. It also doesn’t help that depression can be hereditary, his pops had it.” Dracaena told Taiwo who nods, knowing that concern about a makeshift family was good, especially if it was a happy one. Dracaena would never lie to her own bitties if she could help it at all. Taiwo could help with Major's sleep if Dracaena agreed.

“Would it be okay if I put a collective lucid dream together for everyone?” Taiwo asks and Dracaena nods. That was permission enough for Taiwo. Once everyone was clothed and put in their beds, Kehinde was leaning on his twin before they began lucid dreaming.

Taiwo(Nightmare!Bitty);Kehinde(Dream!Bitty); Tart(Teeth!Bitty); Ambrosia(Horrortale!Sans Bitty); Mumcher(Horrortale!Toriel Bitty)

by @dotchi13

Tam/Tapper and Bam(PJ!Bitties)

by @7goodangel

#story #undertale #bittybones #Bam and Tam PJ bitties #Paperjam bitties #Taiwo and Kehinde #Tart and Ambrosia #Dreamtale bitties #Horrortale bro bitties #Demeter #Mumcher bitty #Major #storytime

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svynakee · 5 years

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Promare thoughts/impressions

Watched Promare. Overall, enjoyed it very much and it was everything I expected it to be (extremely TRIGGER, basically). A visual feast that definitely satisfied my shonen action hunger. In summary though, I really wish it’d been a 12 ep anime.

Spoilers ahead.

LIKES

Visuals: Loved the stylisation. The vivid, pastel flames and the polygonal ice made a nice contrast and it looks so different not only from other anime films but also from other animations by the same studio? Brilliant.

TRIGGER being themselves: Illogical story with a grand scope, bombastic action hero, easily distinguishable character designs.

Hiroyuki Sawano: His music is just what you’d expect from someone of his calibre. Absolutely floored; also, quite a range in the soundtrack! I remember especially when Galo starts talking about the Japanese firefighters the music shifts to something more traditional.

Galo not being racist: Well, not being prejudiced. While its pretty par for the course to have a protagonist learn to overcome his prejudices in this sort of story, the fact that a person in the rescue ops doesn’t, you know, hate the victims who cause the disasters he’s meant to respond to is very logical.

Kiss follow-up: The no-homo fake out. Not gonna lie, they had me in the first half when Galo recoiled and seemed disgusted. But it would’ve made no sense because like he said, it was a medical procedure he’s been trained to do. Putting his mouth on anyone, regardless of gender, should not have grossed him out. And it didn’t! Being unhappy that he ‘started a fire’ makes more sense because his entire job (passion) is about stopping Burnish. There’s a real lack of hetero-signalling here actually. Promare’s not afraid to let its viewers decide how Galo swings.

Female gaze: Yeah sure there’s that shot where Aina’s butt is on display but the camera sure seems magnetised towards Lio’s crotch.

Lio’s refreshing morosexuality: Once they start working together in earnest, Lio is quick to just indulge in Galo’s quirks. He trusts the guy easily but not to the point that he stops calling him out for stupidity. Very movies end with me knowing that characters from opposing sides have a strong friendship ahead of them. Promare is one. I might talk more about Lio’s match with Galo more elsewhere, but for now, I do like how he isn’t shutting Galo down/constantly arguing which is what you usually see when a serious character has to work with a boisterous one.

DISLIKES

So most of my dislikes come from the fact that it’s a movie. There’s no way they could’ve done otherwise in a 1:51 timeframe, but knowing what the studio’s capable of, I can’t help but wish I saw their full potential.

Character development: Nobody really grew. Not every story needs it and not every character needs to change, but the lack of flaws addressed hurt Galo and Lio’s memorability I think. I kept expecting Galo’s impulsiveness to bite him in the ass. Didn’t see it much except for his confrontation with Kray. I even thought the ‘don’t pose and focus’ thing might come back, notably during the Lio de Galon fight when Kray keeps justifying his robot’s weaponry as terraforming equipment. Galo and Lio are just the type to shut him up and point out ‘If it’s being used to hurt people, it’s a weapon! If you hurt others, you’re a villain! Nothing can justify that!’ since it fits thematically into that fight as well.

Streamlined plot: TRIGGER has been shown to have a good grasp of story pacing. It can feed you one bit of ridiculousness at a time until they bring out something awesome but extremely stupid, knowing that they’ve tempered you enough it’ll just be epic. In this timeframe, that just didn’t happen. Not enough foreshadowing, too many crazy concepts introduced too late, and there was more than one Deus Ex Machina if you know what I mean. Instead of a proper build up that ended on a strong final note, it felt like a brief but sudden blaze that flickers out to leave darkness.

Less dynamic camera: Made it hard to follow the action sometimes. In a way it’s like the plot; too much momentum and not enough time to process it. A good spectacle is worth nothing if there’s no chance to digest it.

Flat supporting cast: Again, this is because TRIGGER’s animes have been strong in this aspect. The movie timeframe means limited screen time, but Mad Max Fury Road had only ten more minutes and managed to set up its supporting cast well. In Promare, they’re mostly reduced to archetypes. What are their relationships? Motivations? They feel more like talking props, like the NPCs you have milling about the map shouting flavour text. There might be more in the supplementary material but for the movie itself, I didn’t like most of the characters not named Lio or Galo. In fact-

Don’t like Galo: Or rather, don’t find him compelling. Unlike Ryuko or Simon, I don’t think he could carry a series. He lacks depth and drive beyond ‘I am a firefighter’. Sure, he’s stupid and loud, but those are personality traits, not a personality. Being nice, determined, having a love of pizza…these all feel so generic and TRIGGER is capable of so much more. Galo feels like an alright lead in a movie where a lot is happening, so he doesn’t have to carry anything in terms of emotion or drive, but he’d be boring in a full-length series. Or even a movie trilogy.

Don’t like Lio?: While I don’t agree that every conflict has two equal sides, I dislike how squeaky-clean Lio is. He feels more like the shonen protagonist than Galo sometimes. He’s caring, skilled, honourable, intelligent, determined. His flaws? If you shoot him then try to commit genocide he’ll knock on your door and ask to fight you. It’s unclear if there’s any casualties during his rampage, which makes sense because we know his flames can be harmless (by his choice) and he was specifically threatening to destroy Kray’s city unless Kray listened. On the other side you have Vulcan and Kray. He could’ve afforded a bit more ruthlessness and still come out clearly heroic. It would have given him more intensity to better contrast Galo.

WHAT I WANTED

In summary? Promare as an anime instead of a film. I’d give up smooth fights and shiny CGI any day for stronger writing and characters with impact.

Longer timeframe in-universe: The plot essentially takes place over a week, which limits how much development characters and relationships can undergo. Lio feels too ready to trust Galo. Galo can’t process Kray’s betrayal. The sisters’ story is just kind of shoved on you like unwanted vegetables spooned out by a health-conscious mother. Dr. Exposition suddenly comes in and starts tying up loose ends so abruptly I had to check my phone to see if the movie was almost over. The short timeframe means Promare feels like a marathon-length sprint.

More moral ambiguity: The Mad Burnish are still righteous and try to minimise damage. However, their plans don’t always work. They leave escape routes but fail to account for impaired mobility. Young Burnish lose control while they’re on the run, endangering ordinary humans. Lio is forced to make tough choices. He becomes more jaded, which leads up to the betrayal where he can truly break and begin rampaging. I’m not saying he needed a full Satsuki Kiryuuin thing, but damn do I miss her sheer badass aura. Lio lacks that dangerous feeling. You know he’s apologising inside if he steps on you.

Galo’s popularity: Galo is shown to have great PR and love playing the crowd. Kray has good PR. The Burnish have bad PR. Instead of Prometh looping a vid with his hacking powers, Galo could’ve convinced the city of Kray’s evil the traditional way: a big speech about humanity and believing in yourself (and not Kray because Kray is evil).

Promare: Lio tells us the fire is alive. Interesting. Prometh says the fire is actually aliens from a parallel dimension whose prime directive is to burn also they feel pain if the Burnish are hurt. My reaction is like Galo’s: I sleep. The entire concept of the promare…I just don’t like it. Maybe I don’t like how they al disappear at the end and fix the Burnish.

In my ideal Promare, the things I love TRIGGER for would all be present. Strong supporting cast. Multifaceted characters. Build up that just gets more ridiculous and epic at a steady pace. Good fights but also quieter breather moments. More jokes.

More Promare, basically.

#promare #long essay

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soullistrations · 4 years

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okay, @mithrilwren, since you expressed interest, here it is! (no need to respond--it’s just late and days later, so I figured you’d like to know)

my reactions to ep9 below the cut. spoilers, obviously.

Full disclosure before i go on: I read a spoiler that led me to believe finn was going to die in this one, so basically everything we got was an improvement to what i was expecting going in. The only other thing i knew was that KMT was criminally underused, as well. Other than that, blank slate with incredibly low expectations

I loved the theme of not being alone. It was heavy handed, sure, but the fact that each of the core trio started the film believing they were alone in some way (rey’s “i can’t feel them”, isolating herself bc she believes no one understands; finn’s “I thought i was the only one”; poe saying that last time they asked for help, no one came), and then each of them finds out they’re NOT, UGH let me tell you I cried. Actually, i started crying when Jannah mentioned her stormtrooper call sign, and basically didn’t stop crying after that. I’m just a sucker for that trope, y’all.

on that note, though, finn’s ‘believing he was alone’, like many other things with finn, could have been better executed/more obvious before the actual conversation with jannah--even just a mention in a previous scene, like rey and poe had, would make the parallel stronger

also, finn saying “you don’t understand, not like leia and I do”--I’m simultaneously so happy that we HAVE FORCE SENSITIVE FINN and so frustrated that it...didn’t go anywhere? i’ve had a couple days to think about it, and it’s so exciting, so vindicating that finn is force-sensitive, but at the same time, he only used those powers to sense when rey was in danger, but never once got the chance to help her out in those instances--or help himself out! Could you imagine how cool like a “danger-sense” thing on the battlefield would be? A half-second shot that shows that his connection to the force is more than just ‘Rey fell down a well!’ I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if rian johnson hadn’t nerfed finn’s storyline in tlj--would we have gotten more development of force-sensitive finn if there was more time for that development?

I get the sense that this is an incredibly new realization to him in tros, even though we’ve been seeing the evidence since ep7. I just want a scene where he got to tell rey. or something even more explicit then “how do you know?” “a feeling.”

but also, can you hear han solo screaming “that’s not how the force works!” from the afterlife, even as finn proves that that is, in fact, how the force works?

But looping back around to ‘you don’t understand, not like leia and I do”--HOW does finn understand? What is he feeling from the force? what pulls him? what does he notice? He can clearly sense both rey and kylo (even if neither of them can sense him....), but what else? Did he and leia talk about it when rey refused to talk to him about it? did leia sense something in him, but wanted him to come to her? was he going to tell leia after he told rey, but then never got the chance? there is so much wasted potential here, guys, and i know they were trying to tell some story about palpatine and skywalker bloodlines righting the wrongs of their ancestors or whatnot but....why bring in force sensitive finn and not give him that connection? why not do something other than just go “he’s got it! the force! yup!” and leave it at that? it would have been so EASY to do more! ESPECIALLY if tlj hadn’t had some half-assed rehash of finn’s emotional journey from tfa instead of like, a logical continuation of his character.

(can you guess my favorite character, guys?)

BUT REALLY, others have talked about it more eloquently than me, but finn deserved a more central role, because he is the emotional core of the movie. and has the most compelling backstory and character trajectory (that is sadly ignored). and is clearly positioned as a foil to kylo ren, but then NEVER GETS TO BE THAT FOIL after that first fight in ep7.

but seriously did you see that hug at the end? with finn in the middle, on the verge of tears, holding onto the two people he’s been trying to keep safe for the whole film? I’m gonna cry again.

poe and rey sniping at each other was very ‘i’m closer to finn’ ‘no i’m closer’ ‘finn take my side’ like did you see how rey looked when finn agreed with poe in that first scene? they figured it out eventually, but it was....unexpectedly great to see the growing pains in that relationship.

More things, unrelated (or less related) to Finn:

KMT deserved better.

Carrie Fisher’s lines were really shoehorned in in some of those scenes. The “be optimistic” line? That was a REACH. I know they’re working with what they’ve got but sheesh.

I may be one of the few people that did not enjoy Adam Driver’s choice of loose, almost flippant body language once he Decided to be Good. The way he shrugs when he comes face to face with the Knights of Ren? It was annoying. I thought that, even though he was trying to change, he shouldn’t have dropped the intensity Kylo Ren has had up to this point. It just...rides the line of being a completely different character, and that’s not fair to the narrative. because ben solo is not a different character. ben solo is kylo ren, and he killed his dad and committed multiple genocides. you don’t just like...shrug and huff and smile in life or death combat because you decided to toss your emosaber into the ocean.

other than that, i didn’t think that kylo ren’s ending was bad. giving his life to atone for his original sin? Resurrecting the future of the jedi after massacring all hope of a future for the jedi so long ago? and then promptly dying and not kissing anyone? i thought it was poetic. and let me tell you i’ve never been a fan of kylo, and i don’t think he was redeemed in this act, or absolved of his crimes. and yes i’m staying out of the main tag and have no idea what others are saying, but i thought it was a fitting end.

also....say what you will about the force bond, but that moment with the lightsaber? was undeniably awesome.

(okay okay, i was talking to my husband later, and he was like “i didn't see the kiss as romantic. I saw it as a moment of ‘i finally see you’ before he died” which i’ll go with, honestly.)

but also....the force bond shut out finn from the force narrative of this last movie. and it didn’t need to. which is annoying.

i’m confused about poe’s backstory (and also it’s racist). weren’t his parents heroes of the resistance? didn’t he grow up with the resistance? wasn’t this previously established? jj what are you doing.

I loved jannah and the defected stormtroopers. the fact that the whole battalion laid down their weapons together...just another ‘we are stronger together’ moment that had me weeping.

but also....why is jannah the one getting the moment about finding her parents, and rey gets like, sooooo many backstory dumps about her parents and no one even mentions the fact that finn’s parents are out there somewhere too?

red racer chick’s line ‘they took all the children years ago’ was just....so quietly heartbreaking. can she talk to finn? or jannah? or one of the others? do the people of the galaxy know that the stormtroopers that attack them are kidnapped, brainwashed child soldiers? do they know? do weeping mothers pull on stormtroopers’ guns during raids, pleading with them to bring their baby back? do stormtroopers know that they were once taken from loving families? do they know intellectually and just not realize what that means until they are deployed (and by that point in most cases it is too late)? i need more on these stormtroopers.

there was probably more to mention, but i’ve forgotten it...so summary: i enjoyed some of the themes, and extremely low expectations did a lot for my enjoyment of the plot. there was a lot of info dumping and strange pacing that could at least partially, if not mostly, be blamed on inconsistent vision from abrams and johnson, but like...you’re adults working on an enormous movie trilogy. freakin’ sit down and communicate, and don’t just try to undo what the other has done in the previous film. so i mean...i had fun with my dad and husband on a long holiday weekend, but it’s not like, a work of art or anything. and i’m not saying it has to be, but at least there was some attempt in this movie to continue threads of character development. ....for some of the characters. so. inconsistent, with crumbs of The Good Stuff, but not enough to make it an actually good movie.

also KMT deserved better.

#this is a lot but here you go!#rebamble #becca watches things #.#..#tros spoilers #star wars

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